bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Indeterminacy and technicality revisited: how medicine and nursing have responded to the evidence based movement
Authors: Traynor Michael 
Published: December 2008

AbstractIn 1970 sociologists Jamous and Peloille proposed that occupational work could be understood as a combination of technical activity and indeterminate judgement and that the professions were characterised by high levels of indeterminacy relative to technicality. They argued that groups with low status or on the fringes of powerful professional groups were more likely to promote technically based reform, whereas elites were likely to resist with assertions of indeterminacy. Subsequent writers claimed that their notion of the indeterminacy/technicality ratio was more useful in analysis of professional ideology than in examinations of work content. During the 1990s the evidence based movement exerted a strong influence within the healthcare professions. Medicine and nursing responded in ways that reflected their differing status; however, both reactions included assertions that evidence based practice (EBP) could not take into account the subtle expertise required in daily clinical decision making. This paper argues that Jamous and Peloille's theories about technical reform and professional elites can help to explain responses to EBP. EBP was initially promoted by a relatively low‐status speciality of medicine while nursing, as an emerging profession, has shown more enthusiasm for its activities being formalised in a technically based fashion.
‘Post antibiotic apocalypse’: discourses of mutation in narratives of MRSA
Authors: Brown Brian , Crawford Paul 
Published: December 2008

AbstractIn this paper we will consider the question of mutation as it is manifested in press coverage of MRSA in UK hospitals. This represents a fertile field of discourse which brings into focus issues relating to microbes, people and working practices as well as the concepts of risk and vulnerability. A regular feature of reporting has been the presence of explanations for drug resistance involving repeated random mutations of the microbe to achieve progressively greater resistance and versatility, largely through a Darwinian process which is ‘clever’ at overcoming human attempts at elimination. More recently a discourse has emerged which foregrounds also the vulnerability of patients who are very young, old or otherwise immunocompromised, or whose own genetic makeup might put them at risk from the microbe. The hospital is decentred as a source of infection, and attention is turned instead to nursing homes and gymnasia as sources of infection in the community. This latter development mitigates the responsibilities of hospitals and statutory healthcare providers and turns the risk back towards the individual as a responsible actor in an ecology of mutation.
Status incongruence revisited: associations with shame and mental wellbeing
Authors: Lundberg Johanna , Kristenson Margareta , Starrin Bengt 
Published: December 2008

AbstractStatus incongruence has been related to poor health and all‐cause mortality, and could be a growing public health problem due to changes in the labour market in later decades. Shaming experiences have been suggested as playing a part in the aetiology. The aim here was to study the risk for shaming experiences, pessimism, anxiety, depressive feelings, and poor mental wellbeing (as measured by the GHQ) with a special focus on shame, in four social status categories: negatively and positively incongruent individuals, and low‐status and high‐status congruent individuals. Data comprised 14,854 working men and women from a regional sample of randomly selected respondents, 18–79 years of age. Logistic regression was used to study differences in risk for negative emotional outcomes. Results showed that the negative incongruent category persisted as the group most at risk for all negative emotional outcomes (OR 1.5–1.9; p < 0.05–<0.001). When testing the risk for poor mental wellbeing among the status categories with and without shaming experiences, ORs for all groups with shaming experiences were elevated. Among groups without shame, only the negative incongruent category remained at risk (OR 2.7; p < 0.05) after adjustment. Negative incongruent status is associated with adverse emotional outcomes, among them shame, which is a previously unappreciated aspect of status incongruence.
Homocysteine, vitamin B12 and folic acid levels in psoriasis patients
Authors: Çakmak SK , Gül Ü , Kılıç C , Gönül M , Soylu S , Kılıç A 
Published: December 2008

AbstractBackground  Hyperhomocysteinaemia is a risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, stroke, peripheral arterial occlusive disease and venous thrombosis. An association between psoriasis and cardiovascular diseases has been reported.Aim  The aim of our study was to examine serum homocysteine, folic acid and vitamin B12 levels in psoriasis patients.Material and methods  We performed a cross‐sectional study in 70 consecutive outpatients with chronic plaque psoriasis and 70 age‐ and gender‐matched controls. Serum levels of homocysteine, vitamin B12 and folic acid levels were measured in both groups.Results  Serum homocysteine, folic acid and vitamin B12 levels did not differ between patient and control groups. In psoriasis patients, homocysteine levels correlated directly with psoriasis severity as measured by psoriasis area and severity index. Serum homocysteine level inversely correlated with serum folic acid levels in the patient group.Discussion  Homocysteine levels correlated with psoriasis area and severity index in the patient group, which shows the disease severity. The increase in cardiovascular mortality with the severity of psoriasis might be also due to the effects of homocysteine.Conflicts of interestNone declared
European ancestry and cutaneous melanoma in Southern Brazil
Authors: Bakos L , Masiero NCMS , Bakos RM , Burttet RM , Wagner MB , Benzano D 
Published: December 2008

AbstractBackground  Similar to other countries, incidence and mortality rates for cutaneous melanoma (CM) are increasing in Brazil. Resulting from centuries of ethnic mixture, the skin of the Brazilian population presents all phototypes, being progressively lighter following the increase of the latitude toward the South, where the highest incidence of melanoma is observed. Studies from the United States and Argentina in whites suggest that European ancestry could represent an important risk factor for CM in those regions.Methods  Questionnaires from a case‐control study involving 119 melanoma patients and 177 controls were reviewed for age, gender, phototype, sun exposure, photoprotection and ancestry. The patients reported the countries of ancestry of their grandparents. Data were tabulated and converted into scores that would reflect the proportion of ancestry for each country in individuals.Results  Patients with German and Italian ancestry presented higher risk for CM [odds ratio (OR), 3.5; 95% confidence interval (95% CI), 1.8–6.7 and OR, 9.7; 95% CI, 3.9–24.2, respectively]. Conversely, Brazilian indigenous ancestry showed a protective effect for the development of the disease, with an OR of 0.16 (95% CI, 0.04–0.7).Conclusions  Some European ancestries, especially German and Italian, seem to be associated to a higher risk of CM in this sample from Southern Brazil. On the other hand, Brazilian indigenous ancestry presented as a protection factor against developing the tumour.Conflicts of interestNone declared
Results of a public awareness campaign in Morocco regarding the sun's deleterious effects
Authors: Meziane M , Ahid S , Azendour H , Ismaili N , Marcil T , Afifi Y , Senouci K , Abouqal R , Hassam B , Belgnaoui FZ 
Published: December 2008

AbstractObjective  To investigate knowledge of the various sun radiation–related risks and awareness of photoprotection measures using a sample of the Moroccan population.Methods  An investigation of prevalence, which was administered while a public awareness campaign on the sun's harmful effects, organized by the department of dermatology of Ibn Sina's hospital in Rabat, was running. The collection of the data was made on the basis of a questionnaire that was filled by the team of the doctors of the department. The logistic regression allowed to identify the explanatory factors for the prevalent knowledge and behaviours related to the subject in hand.Results  Four hundred eleven subjects were included in the survey. The subjects' average age was 40 ± 10 years. Eighty‐four per cent were female. The analysis of the total score of knowledge related to the sunrays’ deleterious effects demonstrated low levels of knowledge among 160 participants (38.9%). Females were clearly more knowledgeable than the opposite sex (P = 0.003) and also those having a higher educational level (P = 0.006) scored high. The use of sunscreens was recognized by 52.8% of the patients and was associated with female gender and higher educational level.Conclusion  Our study reports the results of the first public awareness campaign on the sun's deleterious effects on the Moroccan population, inclusive and relevant to all ages. Awareness of the sun's radiation‐related risks in a country as sunny as ours is low, whereas different measures of photoprotection are rather well known. Messages adapted to the characteristics of our population are a necessity.
CD28 T‐cell costimulatory molecule expression in pemphigus vulgaris
Authors: Alecu M , Ursaciuc C , Surcel M , Coman G , Ciotaru D , Dobre M 
Published: December 2008

AbstractBackground  CD28 superfamily of immune costimulatory molecules could play an important role in autotolerance control. CD28 costimulation seems to be necessary for regulatory T cell (Treg) activation and successive suppressive activities involved in autoimmunity protection. This study investigates CD28 expression, especially inducible costimulator fraction, on T lymphocytes in pemphigus vulgaris (PV) patients.Methods  CD28 expression on T lymphocytes was assessed in 16 PV patients during acute attack. All patients and 10 healthy control subjects were tested for lymphocyte populations, T‐cell subpopulations (T‐CD4+, T‐CD8+), Treg and CD28 expression on T‐cell subpopulations.Results  T, B and natural killer cells average values in PV patients were close to the control group values. Compared with control group, PV values showed lower Treg (2.2% compared with 4.7%), slightly decreased CD4+ CD28+ T cells (91% compared with 95%), higher CD4+ CD28− T cells (9% compared with 5%), decreased CD8+ CD28+ T cells (57% and 73%, respectively) and significantly enhanced CD8+ CD28− T cells (43% compared with 27%).Conclusions  These data suggest that Treg‐mediated suppressor T‐cell effects could be diminished in PV, together with an abnormal or ineffective subsequent helper T‐cell suppression. CD28 high expression on helper T cells and low expression on suppressor T cells are arguments for a potential CD28 role in PV autoimmune response mechanism.Conflicts of interestNone declared
Life satisfaction together with positive and negative aspects in Polish patients with systemic lupus erythematosus
Authors: Kulczycka L , Sysa‐Jedrzejowska A , Robak E 
Published: December 2008

AbstractPurpose  To determinate satisfaction with life together with positive and negative emotions in SLE patients and correlate them with each other and with activity of the disease, duration of the disease and age of the patient.Methods  The study was conducted on 83 SLE patients who fulfilled at least 4 out of 11 ACR criteria. Satisfaction with life was measured by the Satisfaction with Life Scale. Positive and negative aspects were assessed by the Positive and Negative Affects Schedule. Other data were collected from the patients at the same time.Results  SLE patients presented reduced satisfaction with life. Duration of the disease, as well as age of the patients had an influence on it. Correlations between patients’ quality of life emotions and life's satisfaction were present.Conclusions  SLE as a chronic, incurable and unpredictable disease has a great influence on patients’ life. The awareness of this may lead to better compliance and to develop a new strategy of therapy.Conflicts of interestNone declared
Knockdown of m‐calpain increases survival of primary hippocampal neurons following NMDA excitotoxicity
Authors: Bevers Matthew B. , Lawrence Eric , Maronski Margaret , Starr Neasa , Amesquita Michael , Neumar Robert W. 
Published: December 2008

AbstractThe calpain family of cysteine proteases has a well‐established causal role in neuronal cell death following acute brain injury. However, the relative contribution of calpain isoforms to the various forms of injury has not been determined as available calpain inhibitors are not isoform‐specific. In this study, we evaluated the relative role of m‐calpain and μ‐calpain in a primary hippocampal neuron model of NMDA‐mediated excitotoxicity. Baseline mRNA expression for the catalytic subunit of m‐calpain (capn2 ) was found to be 50‐fold higher than for the μ‐calpain catalytic subunit (capn1) based on quantitative real‐time PCR. Adeno‐associated viral vectors designed to deliver short hairpin RNAs targeting capn1 or capn2 resulted in 60% and 90% knockdown of message respectively. Knockdown of capn2 but not capn1 increased neuronal survival after NMDA exposure at 21 days in vitro. Nuclear translocation of calpain substrates apoptosis inducing factor, p35/p25 and collapsin response mediator protein (CRMP) 2–4 was not detected after NMDA exposure in this model. However, nuclear translocation of CRMP‐1 was observed and was prevented by capn2 knockdown. These findings provide insight into potential mechanisms of calpain‐mediated neurodegeneration and have important implications for the development of isoform‐specific calpain inhibitor therapy.
AZD2184: a radioligand for sensitive detection of β‐amyloid deposits
Authors: Johnson Allan E. , Jeppsson Fredrik , Sandell Johan , Wensbo David , Neelissen Jan A. M. , Juréus Anders , Ström Peter , Norman Henrietta , Farde Lars , Svensson Samuel P. S. 
Published: December 2008

AbstractThe presence of β‐amyloid plaques in brain is a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and serves as a biomarker for confirmation of diagnosis postmortem. Positron emission tomography (PET) radioligands such as Pittsburgh compound B ([11C]‐2‐(3‐fluoro‐4‐methylamino‐phenyl)‐benzothiazol‐6‐ol) (PIB) binds selectively to β‐amyloid and are promising new tools supporting the clinical diagnoses of AD. In addition, such methodology may be useful for evaluation of new drugs aiming at reduction of amyloid plaque load. The objective of this study is to develop a new amyloid selective PET radioligand with higher signal‐to‐background ratio when compared with existing amyloid PET ligands. The lead compound, AZD2184, (2‐[6‐(methylamino)pyridin‐3‐yl]‐1,3‐benzothiazol‐6‐ol) was found to have high affinity for amyloid fibrils in vitro (Kd: 8.4 ± 1.0 nM). Two minutes after i.v. administration in rats, about 1% of the dose was in brain. In vitro autoradiography on cortical brain sections from amyloid‐beta precursor protein/presenilin 1 (APP/PS1) mice and AD patients showed that while [3H]AZD2184 and [3H]PIB are mutually displaceable, [3H]AZD2184 displays a higher signal‐to‐background ratio primarily by virtue of lower background binding levels. The ratio of binding ability in prefrontal cortex (high plaque load) to subcortical white matter (background) was 4.5 for [3H]AZD2184 and 0.8 for [3H]PIB at 1 nM. In adjacent cortical sections from APP/PS1 mouse as well as from AD cortical tissue, [3H]AZD2184 and antibodies to human β‐amyloid labeled identical structures. In vivo administration of [3H]AZD2184 to APP/PS1 mice further showed that [3H]AZD2184 labels amyloid deposits with low non‐specific background binding. Taken together, the pre‐clinical profile of AZD2184 in relation to the reference ligand PIB, suggests that 11C‐labeled AZD2184 is a potential radioligand for PET‐visualization of β‐amyloid deposits in the living human brain.
Signaling mechanisms of interferon gamma induced apoptosis in chromaffin cells: involvement of nNOS, iNOS, and NFκB
Authors: Pérez‐Rodríguez Rocío , Roncero Cesáreo , Oliván Ana María , González María Pilar , Oset‐Gasque María Jesús 
Published: December 2008

AbstractPrevious work of our group stated that exogenously added and endogenous nitric oxide (NO) generated by cytokines induce apoptosis in chromaffin cells. In this work, we investigate the specific regulation of the NO synthase (NOS) isoforms, inducible NOS (iNOS) and neuronal NOS (nNOS), and their particular participation in cell death induced by interferon gamma (IFNγ). Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and IFNγ increase iNOS expression, with no effect on nNOS expression. On the other hand, dexamethasone increases basal nNOS expression but decreases LPS + IFNγ‐induced iNOS expression. IFNγ‐induced cell death was abolished by W‐1400, a specific iNOS inhibitor, but only partially by nNOS inhibitors [N‐ω‐propyl‐l‐arginine (N‐PLA), 3‐Bromo‐7‐nitroindazol (7‐NI),l‐methyl thiocitrulline andN‐methyll‐arginine], indicating the main iNOS participation in chromaffin cell death. IFNγ and LPS induce nuclear factor κB (NFκB) translocation to the nucleus, a process implicated in activation of iNOS expression, as inhibition of NFκB translocation, by SN50, decreased iNOS expression. In addition, IFNγ and LPS induce847Ser‐nNOS phosphorylation, inhibiting nNOS activity. Both processes, nNOS phosphorylation and iNOS expression induced by LPS + IFNγ, are regulated by Janus Kinase/Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription (JAK/STAT) pathway, as IFNγ increases727STAT‐3 phosphorylation and specific inhibitors of JAK/STAT pathway, such as AG490, inhibited both processes. Taken together, these results support the hypothesis of an inactivating phosphorylation of nNOS by IFNγ, via JAK/STAT, in bovine chromaffin cells. Low NO concentrations achieved by this event, would activate NFκB translocation, increasing iNOS expression and generating, this last, high apoptotic NO concentrations.
The CREB/CRE transcriptional pathway: protection against oxidative stress‐mediated neuronal cell death
Authors: Lee Boyoung , Cao Ruifeng , Choi Yun‐Sik , Cho Hee‐Yeon , Rhee Alex D. , Hah Cyrus K. , Hoyt Kari R. , Obrietan Karl 
Published: December 2008

AbstractFormation of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species is a precipitating event in an array of neuropathological conditions. In response to excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, transcriptionally dependent mechanisms drive the up‐regulation of ROS scavenging proteins which, in turn, limit the extent of brain damage. Here, we employed a transgenic approach in which cAMP‐response element binding protein (CREB)‐mediated transcription is repressed (via A‐CREB) to examine the contribution of the CREB/cAMP response element pathway to neuroprotection and its potential role in limiting ROS toxicity. Using the pilocarpine‐evoked repetitive seizure model, we detected a marked enhancement of cell death in A‐CREB transgenic mice. Paralleling this, there was a dramatic increase in tyrosine nitration (a marker of reactive species formation) in A‐CREB transgenic mice. In addition, inducible expression of peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor gamma coactivator‐1α was diminished in A‐CREB transgenic mice, as was activity of complex I of the mitochondrial electron transport chain. Finally, the neuroprotective effect of brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) against ROS‐mediated cell death was abrogated by disruption of CREB‐mediated transcription. Together, these data both extend our understanding of CREB functionality and providein vivovalidation for a model in which CREB functions as a pivotal upstream integrator of neuroprotective signaling against ROS‐mediated cell death.
Seeing the forest with the leaves – clues to canopy placement from leaf fossil size and venation characteristics
Authors: BOYCE C. K. 
Published: December 2008

ABSTRACTAlthough a variety of leaf characteristics appear to be induced by light environment during development, analysis of ontogenetic changes in living broad leaved trees has suggested that a number of other traits also lumped into the classic ‘sun’ versus ‘shade’ morphological distinctions, including leaf size, shape, and vein density, are instead controlled largely by local hydraulic environment within the tree canopy. The regularity in how these traits vary with canopy placement suggests a method for addressing a classic paleobotanical quandary: the stature of the source plant – from herb or shrub to canopy tree – is typically unknown for leaf fossils. The study of Ginkgo here complements previous work on Quercus that indicated that leaves throughout the crown are identical in size and venation at the time of bud break and that morphological adaptation to the local microenvironment takes place largely during the expansion phase after the determination of the vascular architecture is complete. Hence, variation in vein density does not reflect differential vein production so much as the distortion of similar vein networks over different final surface areas driven by variation in local hydraulic supply during expansion. Unlike the diffusely growing leaves of the angiosperm, Quercus, the marginally growing leaves of Ginkgo do show some potential for differential vein production, but expansion effects still dominate. The approach suggested here may prove useful for assessing the likelihood that two distinct fossil morphospecies actually represent leaves of the same plant and to gather information concerning canopy structure from disarticulated leaves.
Morphology and wall ultrastructure of leiosphaeric and acanthomorphic acritarchs from the Ediacaran of Australia
Authors: WILLMAN S. 
Published: December 2008

ABSTRACTAcritarchs are a group of organic‐walled microfossils with unknown biological affinities. The wall ultrastructure of the unornamented, smooth Leiosphaeridia sp. and the acanthomorphic Gyalosphaeridium pulchrum from the Ediacaran Dey Dey Mudstone in the Officer Basin, South Australia, was studied by use of transmission and scanning electron microscopy, and transmitted light microscopy. The study of the ultrastructure reveals a complexity in the cell wall not seen in prokaryotes. Wall ultrastructures range from single‐layered to three‐ or four‐layered and from homogeneous to porous. Acritarchs with different wall ultrastructures may be different organisms, but may also reflect different stages in a life cycle. In this paper I review previous ultrastructure studies and discuss possible algal and metazoan affinities for the specimens studied herein.