bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Analysis of the Presence ofail,ystAandystBGenes inYersinia enterocoliticaStrains Isolated from Aborting Sows and Aborted Fetuses
Authors: Platt‐Samoraj A. , Ugorski M. , Szweda W. , Szczerba‐Turek A. , Wojciech K. , Procajło Z. 
Published: August 2006

SummaryForty‐fiveYersinia enterocoliticastrains isolated from aborted fetuses and placentas and from vaginal and rectal swabs of aborting sows were subjected to serotyping, biochemical typing and polymerase chain reaction multiplex analyses to detect the presence of theail,yst AandystBgenes. The isolates were recovered from the internal organs (tonsil, lung, liver, spleen, kidney, mesentheric lymph nodes, small intestine and rectal intestine) of 18 (18.6%) of 97 aborted fetuses examined, two (8%) of 25 aborted placentas and 27 (15.8%) of 172 examined aborting sows. Serotyping ofY. enterocoliticarevealed that only six (13.3%) of the examined isolates belonged to serotype O:3, with a considerable number of isolates (31.1%) having serotype O:5, while biochemical studies showed that as many as 40 of the 45 strains belonged to biotype 1A. As expected, theY. enterocoliticastrains of bioserotype 4/O:3 containedailandystAgenes, while strains of biotype 1A contained only theystBgene.
Diagnostic Evaluation of a Real‐Time RT‐PCR assay for Routine Diagnosis of Classical Swine Fever in Wild Boar
Authors: Depner K. , Bunzenthal C. , Heun‐Münch B. , Strebelow G. , Hoffmann B. , Beer M. 
Published: August 2006

SummaryThe aim of the study was to evaluate a real‐time reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) assay for routine diagnosis of classical swine fever (CSF) in wild boar by using 1000 spleen homogenates that were tested previously negative by virus isolation and 26 homogenates from which CSF virus could be isolated. All 26 positive samples in the virus isolation assay also were found to be positive in real‐time RT‐PCR. Additionally further 10 samples were detected by real‐time RT‐PCR out of the 1000 negative samples in the virus isolation. With a commercial CSF antigen‐ELISA only 14 out of the 36 real‐time RT‐PCR positive samples could be detected. The sequence analysis of all ten samples that tested positive by real‐time RT‐PCR and negative by virus isolation revealed CSF virus‐specific sequences. Based on the assumption that all samples with a CSF virus‐specific sequence or positive in the virus isolation test originated from truly CSF virus‐infected wild boar, the following sensitivity values were calculated as antigen‐ELISA, 39%; virus isolation, 72% and real‐time RT‐PCR, 100%. The use of real‐time RT‐PCR instead of antigen‐ELISA and virus isolation as a routine tool for control and eradication of CSF in wild boar populations is recommended.
‘Motor Magic’: Evaluation of a community capacity‐building approach to supporting the development of preschool children (Part 2)
Authors: Priest Naomi , Waters Elizabeth 
Published: August 2006

Background and Aims:  This paper is the second in a series of two that presents and discusses an exploratory evaluation study of the ‘Motor Magic’ program conducted in Adelaide, South Australia. Methods:  A realist evaluation approach was used, and two focus groups (one with parents and one with kindergarten staff) were held to identify program outcomes and to develop and refine key hypotheses about how these outcomes occurred. Results and Conclusions:  Results for kindergarten staff involved in the program are presented and discussed in this paper, including improved early identification and early intervention for children with, or at risk of, fine motor developmental difficulties; increased confidence in the effectiveness of their practice with these children; improved practice of kindergarten staff with both targeted and all children; improved empathy with, and support for, parents; and increased interagency links and ongoing advocacy for further resources. These results suggest that the program provides an effective model for building the capacity of kindergarten staff to support children with, or at risk of, developmental difficulties.
The effect of first year mental health fieldwork on attitudes of occupational therapy students towards people with mental illness
Authors: Beltran Ruth O. , Scanlan Justin Newton , Hancock Nicola , Luckett Tim 
Published: August 2006

Background and Aims:  Despite recent initiatives to reduce stigma towards people with mental illness, negative attitudes persist both in the community and among health professionals. Fieldwork experience has been identified as the most powerful way of modifying the attitudes of health professional students. Research to date suggests that later placements tend to have a more positive effect on attitudes than do earlier placements. However, inconsistencies within the literature suggest that it is the nature of the fieldwork experience that is the critical factor. We set out to investigate whether a program of fieldwork that included a tutorial component would bring about positive attitudinal change in first year occupational therapy students. Methods:  We conducted secondary analysis of data collected from first year students before and after first year fieldwork experience in mental health settings. Student statements were rated to identify positive versus negative attitudes, and attitudinal themes were analysed. Results:  Quantitative analysis revealed that students made significantly more statements reflecting positive attitudes following fieldwork than they did before. From pre‐ to post‐fieldwork, attitudinal themes changed from: people with mental illness as different, fear of people with mental illness, and a deficit focus of mental illness, to: the ‘ordinariness’ of people with mental illness, students’ understanding of people with mental illness, and an enabling approach to people with mental illness. Conclusions:  A program of fieldwork that includes a structured tutorial component can bring about positive changes in the attitudes of first year students towards people with mental illness.
6‐Shogaol, a natural product, reduces cell death and restores motor function in rat spinal cord injury
Authors: Kyung Kang Soo , Gon Jeon Hyo , Geun Kim Yong , Sup Jung Jin , Suk Woo Jae , Ho Kim Jae 
Published: August 2006

AbstractSpinal cord injury (SCI) results in progressive waves of secondary injuries, which via the activation of a barrage of noxious pathological mechanisms exacerbate the injury to the spinal cord. Secondary injuries are associated with edema, inflammation, excitotoxicity, excessive cytokine release, caspase activation and cell apoptosis. This study was aimed at investigating the possible neuroprotective effects of 6‐shogaol purified from Zingiber officinale by comparing an experimental SCI rat group with SCI control rats. Shogaol attenuated apoptotic cell death, including poly(ADP‐ribose) polymerase activity, and reduced astrogliosis and hypomyelination which occurs in areas of active cell death in the spinal cords of SCI rats. The foremost protective effect of shogaol in SCI would therefore be manifested in the suppression of the acute secondary apoptotic cell death. However, it does not attenuate active microglia and macrophage infiltration. This finding is supported by a lack of histopathological changes in the areas of the lesion in the shogaol‐treated SCI rats. Moreover, shogaol‐mediated neuroprotection has been linked with shogaol's attenuation of p38 mitogen‐activated protein kinase, p‐SAPK/JNK and signal transducer, and with transcription‐3 activation. Our results demonstrate that shogaol administrated immediately after SCI significantly diminishes functional deficits. The shogaol‐treated group recovered hindlimb reflexes more rapidly and a higher percentage of these rats regained responses compared with the untreated injured rats. The overall hindlimb functional improvement of hindlimbs, as measured by the Basso, Beattie and Bresnahan scale, was significantly enhanced in the shogaol‐treated group relative to the SCI control rats. Our data show that the therapeutic outcome of shogaol probably results from its comprehensive effects of blocking apoptotic cell death, resulting in the protection of white matter, oligodendrocytes and neurons, and inhibiting astrogliosis. Our finding that the administration of shogaol prevents secondary pathological events in traumatic SCIs and promotes recovery of motor functions in an animal model raises the issue of whether shogaol could be used therapeutically in humans after SCI.
Up‐regulation of PK11195 binding in areas of axonal degeneration coincides with early microglial activation in mouse brain
Authors: Pedersen Mads D. , Minuzzi Luciano , Wirenfeldt Martin , Meldgaard Michael , Slidsborg Carina , Cumming Paul , Finsen Bente 
Published: August 2006

AbstractIncreased binding of the peripheral benzodiazepine binding site (PBBS) ligand [3H]PK11195 in the central nervous system of patients suffering from acute and chronic neuropathology has been associated with reactive microgliosis. However, it remains uncertain which stages of microglial activation occur in conjunction with the increased [3H]PK11195 binding. We used quantitative autoradiography for [3H]PK11195 and quantitative polymerase chain reaction for PBBS mRNA and markers of early and late microglial activation to investigate the time‐course of cellular responses in the hippocampus of mice with degeneration of the entorhinal‐hippocampal perforant path. The axonal lesion evoked an increase in the Bmax for [3H]PK11195 in hippocampus which peaked at 2 days post‐lesion, remained elevated at day 5 and began to decline at 10 days post‐lesion. These changes occurred in the absence of significant changes in affinity in vitro. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis of isolated hippocampi using exon‐specific primers indicated the presence of several splice variants of PBBS mRNA, which appeared to be affected differentially by the lesion. The changes in PBBS mRNA and CD11b mRNA levels correlated with the Bmax for [3H]PK11195 during 10 days post‐lesion, suggesting that microglial activation couples with increases in mRNA levels for these markers. In addition, the onset of changes in PBBS mRNA levels coincided with the significantly elevated tumor necrosis factor mRNA levels present during early microglial activation at 2 days post‐lesion. We conclude that up‐regulation of [3H]PK11195 binding and PBBS mRNA levels coincided with early microglial activation, characterized by concomitantly increased microglial tumor necrosis factor mRNA levels, and persisted throughout the period with reactive microgliosis.
Cognitive modulation of emotion anticipation
Authors: Erk Susanne , Abler Birgit , Walter Henrik 
Published: August 2006

AbstractAnticipating salient emotions is a vital function related to attention, self control and other cognitive mechanisms. Expecting affective events can trigger regulatory processes that prepare an organism, for example, to cope with possible threat. However, there are situations, like waiting at the dentist's or preparing for a public appearance, in which down‐regulation of especially negative emotions linked with the upcoming event is necessary or favorable. A strategy to achieve this is cognitive distraction, a process with up to now barely known neural mechanisms. We used graded cognitive distraction during the anticipation of subsequent negative emotions in order to induce down‐regulation of the emotional response in an event‐related fMRI design. Accordingly, we found down‐regulation of anterior rostral medial prefrontal cortex and amygdala activation during anticipatory cognitive distraction with the anterior medial prefrontal cortex being negatively correlated with the lateral prefrontal cortex. Furthermore, we demonstrated that anticipatory distraction does not influence subsequent emotion processing, i.e. does not reduce subsequent activation in emotion‐processing brain areas. We conclude that effortful anticipatory cognitive distraction effectively down‐regulates emotion processing during anticipation but not subsequent emotion information processing. These results help in the understanding of general mechanisms of emotion regulation and have implications for applied fields like cognitive behavioral therapy.
Temporal and spatial alterations in GPi neuronal encoding might contribute to slow down movement in Parkinsonian monkeys
Authors: Leblois Arthur , Meissner Wassilios , Bezard Erwan , Bioulac Bernard , Gross Christian E. , Boraud Thomas 
Published: August 2006

AbstractAlthough widely investigated, the exact relationship between changes in basal ganglia neuronal activity and parkinsonian symptoms has not yet been deciphered. It has been proposed that bradykinesia (motor slowness) is related either to a modification of the activity of the globus pallidus internalis (GPi), the main output structure, or to a loss of spatial selectivity of the extrapyramidal motor system. Here we investigate the relationship between movement initiation and GPi activity in parkinsonian non‐human primates. We compare neuronal encoding of movement in the normal and pathological conditions. After dopamine depletion, we observe an increased number of neurons responding to movement, with a less specific somato‐sensory receptive field and a disruption of the selection mechanism. Moreover, the temporal order of the response of GPi neurons in parkinsonian animals is reversed. Indeed, whereas muscle activity and movement are delayed in parkinsonian animals, GPi neuronal responses to movement occur earlier and are prolonged, compared with normal conditions. Parkinsonian bradykinesia could thus result from an impairment of both temporal and spatial specificity of the GPi response to movement.
Tonic GABAA receptor‐mediated currents in human brain
Authors: Scimemi Annalisa , Andersson Anna , Heeroma Joost H. , Strandberg Joakim , Rydenhag Bertil , McEvoy Andrew W. , Thom Maria , Asztely Fredrik , Walker Matthew C. 
Published: August 2006

AbstractGABAA receptors can mediate both phasic (synaptic) and tonic (extrasynaptic) forms of inhibition. It has been proposed that tonic inhibition plays a critical part in controlling neuronal and network excitability. Although tonic GABAA receptor‐mediated currents have been well characterized in rodents, their existence in human tissue has yet to be demonstrated. Here we show that tonic currents can be recorded from human tissue obtained from patients undergoing temporal lobectomies. Tonic GABAA receptor‐mediated currents were present in pyramidal cells and interneurons in layer V‐VI of temporal neocortex and granule cells in the dentate gyrus. These tonic currents have cell type‐specific pharmacologies, opening up the possibility of targeted therapeutics.
Peripheral antinociceptive effect of pertussis toxin: activation of the arginine/NO/cGMP/PKG/ ATP‐sensitive K+ channel pathway
Authors: Brito Gerly A. C. , Sachs Daniela , Cunha Fernando Q. , Vale Mariana L. , Lotufo Celina M. C. , Ferreira Sérgio H. , Ribeiro Ronaldo. A. 
Published: August 2006

AbstractThe aim of the present study was to determine the effect of pertussis toxin (PTX) on inflammatory hypernociception measured by the rat paw pressure test and to elucidate the mechanism involved in this effect. In this test, prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) administered subcutaneously induces hypernociception via a mechanism associated with neuronal cAMP increase. Local intraplantar pre‐treatment (30 min before), and post‐treatment (5 min after) with PTX (600 ng/paw1, in 100 µL) reduced hypernociception induced by prostaglandin E2 (100 ng/paw, in 100 µL, intraplantar). Furthermore, local intraplantar pre‐treatment (30 min before) with PTX (600 ng/paw, in 100 µL) reduced hypernociception induced by DbcAMP, a stable analogue of cAMP (100 µg/paw, in 100 µL, intraplantar), which indicates that PTX may have an effect other than just Gi/G0 inhibition. PTX‐induced analgesia was blocked by selective inhibitors of nitric oxide synthase (L‐NMMA), guanylyl cyclase (ODQ), protein kinase G (KT5823) and ATP‐sensitive K+ channel (Kir6) blockers (glybenclamide and tolbutamide). In addition, PTX was shown to induce nitric oxide (NO) production in cultured neurons of the dorsal root ganglia. In conclusion, this study shows a peripheral antinociceptive effect of pertussis toxin, resulting from the activation of the arginine/NO/cGMP/PKG/ATP‐sensitive K+ channel pathway.
Isolation and gene quantification of heterotrophic N2‐fixing bacterioplankton in the Baltic Sea
Authors: Boström Kjärstin H. , Riemann Lasse , Kühl Michael , Hagström Åke 
Published: August 2006

SummaryCyanobacteria are regarded as the main N2‐fixing organisms in marine waters. However, recent clone libraries from various oceans show a wide distribution of the dinitrogenase reductase gene (nifH) originating from heterotrophic bacterioplankton. We isolated heterotrophic N2‐fixing bacteria from Baltic Sea bacterioplankton using low‐nitrogen plates and semi‐solid diazotroph medium (SSDM) tubes. Isolates were analysed for the nitrogenase (nifH) gene and active N2 fixation by nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and acetylene reduction respectively. A primer‐probe set targeting the nifH gene from a γ‐proteobacterial isolate, 97% 16S rDNA similarity to Pseudomonas stutzeri, was designed for measuring in situ dynamics using quantitative real‐time PCR. This nifH gene sequence was detected at two of 11 stations in a Baltic Proper transect at abundances of 3 × 104 and 0.8 × 103 copies per litre seawater respectively. Oxygen requirements of isolates were examined by cultivation in SSDM tubes where oxygen gradients were determined with microelectrodes. Growth, and thereby N2 fixation, was observed as horizontal bands formed at oxygen levels of 0–6% air saturation. The apparent microaerophilic or facultative anaerobic nature of the isolates explains why the SSDM approach is the most appropriate isolation method. Our study illustrates how combined isolation, functional analyses and in situ quantification yielded insights into the oxygen requirements of heterotrophic N2‐fixing bacterioplankton isolates, which were confirmed to be present in situ.
RELIGIOUS REASONS AND POLITICAL ARGUMENTATION
Authors: Moran Jon 
Published: August 2006

ABSTRACTInEvangelium VitaePope John Paul II calls for a renewal of culture to combat the culture of death. He criticizes various aspects of a pluralistic, liberal society—a type of society that he claims is based on moral relativism and a view of democracy that becomes a substitute for moral law. He maintains that such a view trivializes moral choice. In this essay I argue that John Rawls's notion of a liberal society as an overlapping consensus of comprehensive doctrines can avoid relativism while allowing for reasonable debate among opposed positions. While Rawls maintains that comprehensive doctrines, including religions, should employ a form of public reason that is not a unique feature of any one comprehensive doctrine, I argue that this requirement is too strong. One is often justified in appealing to features of comprehensive doctrines other than one's own, features that are unique to the doctrines themselves. Such an appeal does not pretend to be neutral as public reason would seem to be. In the final section of the paper I discuss some suggestions made by the Pope regarding actions in civil society that are independent of debates about legal change and suggest some ways in which they might contribute to desired cultural transformation.
GOD IN THE CAVE
Authors: Wetzel James 
Published: August 2006

ABSTRACTWhen Finite and Infinite Goods was published in 1999, it took its place as one of the few major statements of a broadly Augustinian ethical philosophy of the past century. By “broadly Augustinian” I refer to the disposition to combine a Platonic emphasis on a transcendent source of value with a traditionally theistic emphasis on the value‐creating capacities of absolute will. In the form that this disposition takes with Robert Merrihew Adams, it is the resemblance between divine and a finite excellence that makes the finite excellence objectively of value, and it is the correspondence of an obligation to a divine command that makes the obligation objectively obligatory. I look closely at the complexity of this ethical division of labor—between the good and the right—mainly as it appears in the context of Finite and Infinite Goods, but also with attention to the broader corpus of Adams's writings, particularly his work on Leibniz and the essays of his that have been gathered together in The Virtue of Faith. I argue that there is a creative tension in his work between his desire to secure an objective basis for ethics and his affirmation of the value of grace, a love that is not proportioned to the excellence of its object. This tension, I further argue, ought to be resolved in the direction of grace.
Time Series Modelling of Two Millennia of Northern Hemisphere Temperatures: Long Memory or Shifting Trends?
Authors: Mills Terence C. 
Published: August 2006

SummaryThe time series properties of the temperature reconstruction of Moberg and co-workers are analysed. It is found that the record appears to exhibit long memory characteristics that can be modelled by an autoregressive fractionally integrated moving average process that is both stationary and mean reverting, so that forecasts will eventually return to a constant underlying level. Recent research has suggested that long memory and shifts in level and trend may be confused with each other, and fitting models with slowly changing trends is found to remove the evidence of long memory. Discriminating between the two models is difficult, however, and the strikingly different forecasts that are implied by the two models point towards some intriguing research questions concerning the stochastic process driving this temperature reconstruction.
Epistatic Interactions between Genomic Regions Containing the COL1A1 Gene and Genes Regulating Osteoclast Differentiation may Influence Femoral Neck Bone Mineral Density
Authors: Yang Tie‐Lin , Shen Hui , Xiong Dong‐Hai , Xiao Peng , Guo Yan , Guo Yan‐fang , Liu Yao‐Zhong , Recker Robert R. , Deng Hong‐Wen 
Published: August 2006

SummaryBone mineral density (BMD) is a primary risk indicator of osteoporotic fractures, which are largely determined by the actions of multiple genes. Genetic linkage studies have seldom explored epistatic interaction of genes for BMD. To evaluate potential genetic interactions for BMD at the femoral neck (FN) we conducted a variance component linkage analysis, to test epistatic effects between the genomic region containing the COL1A1 (collagen type I alpha 1) gene and the genomic regions containing genes regulating osteoclast differentiation (e.g. TNFRSF11A encoding RANK (receptor for activation of nuclear factor kappa B), TNFSF11 encoding RANKL (RANK ligand), IL1A (interleukin‐1 alpha), IL6 (interleukin‐6), etc) in 3998 Caucasian subjects from 434 pedigrees. We detected significant epistatic interactions between the regions containing COL1A1 with IL6 (p = 0.004) and TNFRSF1B encoding TNFR2 (tumor necrosis factor receptor 2) (p = 0.003), respectively. In summary, we identified the epistatic effects on BMD between regions containing several prominent candidate genes. Our results suggested that the IL6 and TNFRSF1B genes may regulate FN BMD variation through interactions with the COL1A1 gene, which should be substantiated by other, or population‐based, association studies.