bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Bacterial diversity in the oxygen minimum zone of the eastern tropical South Pacific
Authors: Stevens Heike , Ulloa Osvaldo 
Published: February 2008

SummaryThe structure and diversity of bacterial communities associated with the oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) of the eastern tropical South Pacific was studied through phylogenetic analysis. Clone libraries of 16S rRNA gene fragments were constructed using environmental DNA collected from the OMZ (60 m and 200 m), the sea surface (10 m), and the deep oxycline (450 m). At the class level, the majority of sequences affiliated to the γ‐ (53.7%) and α‐Proteobacteria (19.7%), and to the Bacteroidetes (11.2%). A vertical partitioning of the bacterial communities was observed, with main differences between the suboxic OMZ and the more oxygenated surface and deep oxycline waters. At the surface, the microbial community was predominantly characterized by SAR86, Loktanella and unclassified Flavobacteriaceae, whereas the deeper layer was dominated by Sulfitobacter and unclassified Alteromonadaceae. In the OMZ, major constituents affiliated to the marine SAR11 clade and to thiotrophic γ‐symbionts (25% of all sequences), a group not commonly found in pelagic waters. Sequences affiliating to the phylum Chloroflexi, to the AGG47 and SAR202 clades, to the δ‐Proteobacteria, to the Acidobacteria, and to the ‘anammox group’ of the Planctomycetes were found exclusively in the OMZ. The bacterial richness in the OMZ was higher than in the oxic surface and deeper oxycline, as revealed by rarefaction analysis and the Chao1 richness estimator (surface: 45 ± 8, deeper oxycline: 76 ± 26; OMZ60m: 97 ± 33, OMZ200m: 109 ± 31). OMZ bacterial diversity indices (Fisher's: ∼30 ± 5, Shannon's: ∼3.31, inverse Simpson's: ∼20) were similar to those found in other pelagic marine environments. Thus, our results indicate a distinct and diverse bacterial community within the OMZ, with presumably novel and yet uncultivated bacterial lineages.
Clinical features, diagnosis and management of maternally inherited diabetes and deafness (MIDD) associated with the 3243A>G mitochondrial point mutation
Authors: Murphy R. , Turnbull D. M. , Walker M. , Hattersley A. T. 
Published: February 2008

AbstractMaternally inherited diabetes and deafness (MIDD) affects up to 1% of patients with diabetes but is often unrecognized by physicians. It is important to make an accurate genetic diagnosis, as there are implications for clinical investigation, diagnosis, management and genetic counselling. This review summarizes the range of clinical phenotypes associated with MIDD; outlines the advances in genetic diagnosis and pathogenesis of MIDD; summarizes the published prevalence data and provides guidance on the clinical management of these patients and their families.
The North West Diabetic Pregnancy Audit: a practical system for multi‐centre diabetic pregnancy audit
Authors: Young R. J. , Holmes E. M. , Casson I. F. , Maresh M. 
Published: February 2008

AbstractAims  Improving care for women with pre‐gestational diabetic pregnancy is a core objective of the St Vincent Declaration and the Diabetes National Service Framework. The aim was to develop a practicable collaborative audit methodology for pre‐gestational diabetic pregnancy.Methods  In 1999, care professionals in the north‐west of England agreed standards and a simple monthly data collection system. Annual reports are compiled to summarize compliance with the standards. Each hospital receives an individualized report comprising tables and funnel plots that allow between‐hospital comparisons.Results  Data on pre‐gestational diabetic pregnancies are collated from 30 maternity units. Funnel plots and tables presented in the annual reports highlight any large differences between hospitals in booking and outcome measures for diabetic pregnancies.Conclusions  The annual audit reports allow the assessment of current management and outcomes for diabetic pregnancies at a regional and local level. These reports help to identify areas where diabetic pregnancy care requires further attention.
Development of alternative methods of data collection in South Asians with Type 2 diabetes
Authors: Lloyd C. E. , Sturt J. , Johnson M. , Mughal S. , Collins G. , Barnett A. H. 
Published: February 2008

AbstractAims  Previous research in the UK has established the difficulty of recruiting and collecting information from individuals whose main language is spoken and does not have an agreed written form. The aims of this study were (i) to develop culturally competent translations of two questionnaires measuring diabetes self‐care in languages with no written form and to establish their face validity and (ii) to develop acceptable methods of delivery with the potential for providing valid and reliable data for use in research studies.Methods  Adults with Type 2 diabetes from two minority ethnic groups whose main language is spoken (Sylheti and Mirpuri) were recruited via the Birmingham Heartlands hospital diabetes centre. Participants were invited to attend five focus groups to consider the content and method of delivery of two questionnaires measuring knowledge of diabetes and confidence in diabetes self‐care. Delivery methods were (i) pen and paper self‐completion in Bengali/Urdu, (ii) pen and paper assisted completion in spoken language, (iii) partially‐assisted completion in spoken language, (iv) independent audio delivery in spoken language.Results  Culturally competent content was achieved for both questionnaires in both languages. The Mirpuri men and women's groups preferred assisted or partially assisted completion in spoken language. The Sylheti groups’ preference was for independent audio delivery in spoken language.Conclusions  The face validity of two questionnaires measuring diabetes self‐care is established for Sylheti and Mirpuri, in four alternative delivery formats. The questionnaires are now ready for psychometric testing in minority ethnic populations and the methods available for use by researchers to establish within‐study feasibility.
ENHANCING AUTONOMY IN PAID SURROGACY
Authors: DAMELIO JENNIFER , SORENSEN KELLY 
Published: February 2008

ABSTRACTThe gestational surrogate – and her economic and educational vulnerability in particular – is the focus of many of the most persistent worries about paid surrogacy. Those who employ her, and those who broker and organize her services, usually have an advantage over her in resources and information. That asymmetry exposes her to the possibility of exploitation and abuse. Accordingly, some argue for banning paid surrogacy. Others defend legal permission on grounds of surrogate autonomy, but often retain concerns about the surrogate. In response to the dilemma of a ban versus bald permission, we propose a ‘soft law’ approach: states should require several hours of education of surrogates – education aimed at informing and enhancing surrogate autonomy.
WHAT SHOULD RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS UNDERSTAND TO UNDERSTAND THEY ARE PARTICIPANTS IN RESEARCH?
Authors: WENDLER DAVID , GRADY CHRISTINE 
Published: February 2008

ABSTRACTTo give valid informed consent to participate in clinical research, potential participants should understand the risks, potential benefits, procedures, and alternatives. Potential participants also should understand that they are being invited to participate in research. Yet it is unclear what potential participants need to understand to satisfy this particular requirement. As a result, it is unclear what additional information investigators should disclose about the research; and it is also unclear when failures of understanding in this respect undermine the validity of potential participants' informed consent. An analysis of individuals' interests suggests that potential participants need to understand three additional facts to understand that they are being invited to participate in research: 1) research contribution: those who enroll in the study will be contributing to a project designed to gather generalizable knowledge to benefit others in the future; 2) research relationship: the investigators will rely on participants' efforts to gather the generalizable knowledge to benefit others; and 3) research impact: the extent to which participating in the study will alter what participants do and what happens to them.
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH RESEARCH ON HAZARDS IN THE HOME AND THE DUTY TO WARN
Authors: RESNIK DAVID B. , ZELDIN DARRYL C. 
Published: February 2008

ABSTRACTWhen environmental health researchers study hazards in the home, they often discover information that may be relevant to protecting the health and safety of the research subjects and occupants. This article describes the ethical and legal basis for a duty to warn research subjects and occupants about hazards in the home and explores the extent of this duty. Investigators should inform research subjects and occupants about the results of tests conducted as part of the research protocol only if the information is likely to be accurate, reliable, and medically useful. Investigators should warn subjects and occupants about hazards they happen to discover while they are in the home, if a reasonable person would warn the subjects and occupants about those hazards. Investigators should not report illegal hazards discovered in the home to the authorities, unless those hazards constitute abuse or neglect of children or mentally disabled people living in the home. When investigators decide to warn research subjects and occupants about hazards in the home, they should take some steps to help them make effective use of this information, such as providing additional counselling or making a referral for remediation or medical treatment. Investigators should discuss these issues with research subjects during the informed consent process.
Women on Work, Women at Work: Visual Artists on Labour Exploitation
Authors: Kosmala Katarzyna 
Published: February 2008

The aim of this paper is to explore an organizational issue of gender inequality in labour, represented in visual arts, and illustrated by critical artistic practice of Lucy McKenzie, Julita Wójcik and Mary Kelly. The paper seeks alternatives to patriarchal constructions of the gendered identity at work and the associated notions of the idealized managerial masculinities. I attend to working strategies and art making processes that reflect managerial otherness. The artists discussed engage in relational activities that have replaced dominant masculine values of managing and producing by a focus on collectivism, play and relational transmission. Work here is envisaged as a political and cultural category that alters a meaning of value and is considered crucial in formation of identity and a lifestyle choice. The paper reflects on invisibility of alternative ways of working, contributing to on‐going multidisciplinary debate, challenging disadvantage and discrimination at work context and a disproportionate participation and representation of women in arts, management and in society as a whole.In a dim corner of my room for longer than my fancy thinks A beautiful and silent Sphinx has watched me through the shifting gloom.Inviolate and immobile she does not rise she does not stir For silver moons are naught to her and naught to her the suns that reel(From The Sphinx by Oscar Wilde)
Relational and Individual Resources as Predictors of Empathy in Early Childhood
Authors: Moreno Amanda J. , Klute Mary M. , Robinson JoAnn L. 
Published: February 2008

AbstractThe goal of this study was to examine children's cognitive and language development and social engagement of mother as mediators of the relationship between maternal emotional availability at 15 months and children's empathy at the ages of two and four. Participants were 661 low‐income, ethnically diverse mother‐child dyads participating in a trial of home visitation in the Denver area. Using home‐ and lab‐based free‐play episodes, mothers' emotional availability (15 months) and children's social engagement of mother (21 and 24 months) were assessed. Standardized measures were used to assess children's language development (21 months) and cognitive development (24 months). Empathy was assessed using a simulated injury paradigm at ages two (both 21 and 24 months) and four. The predictive models supported the hypothesis that the child's cognitive and social resources mediate the relationship between maternal emotional availability and children's empathy with respect to empathy at the age of two toward both mothers and an unfamiliar examiner. These results indicate that parental sensitive behavior is not the only important condition for predicting children's empathy, and that children's own internalized resources are a likely mechanism of transmission from parents caring for their children to children learning to care for others.
The First‐ and Second‐Hand Effect of Analysts' Stock Recommendations: Evidence from the Swiss Stock Market
Authors: Schlumpf Philipp M. , Schmid Markus M. , Zimmermann Heinz 
Published: February 2008

Abstract This paper empirically investigates the impact of both the first release of analysts' stock recommendations to a limited clientele and the subsequent dissemination of the same information in a major newspaper to a broader audience. For a sample of 1460 stock recommendations published in FuW, Switzerland's major financial newspaper, significant positive abnormal returns on the day of the original release of buy recommendations and on the day of publication in FuW are documented. Tests of the price pressure and information hypotheses reveal that analysts' recommendations contain new information, which is quickly incorporated in the stock prices on the first release of this information. In contrast, the statistically significant announcement effects associated with the subsequent publication can be primarily ascribed to price pressure in the underlying securities.
What Drives Private Equity Returns?– Fund Inflows, Skilled GPs, and/or Risk?*
Authors: Diller Christian , Kaserer Christoph 
Published: February 2008

Abstract This paper analyzes the determinants of returns generated by mature European private equity funds. It starts from the presumption that this asset class is characterized by illiquidity, stickiness, and segmentation. Given this presumption, Gompers and Lerner (2000) have shown that venture deal valuations are driven by overall fund inflows into the industry that yield the putative ‘money chasing deals’ phenomenon. It is the aim of this paper to show that this phenomenon explains a significant part of the variation in private equity funds' returns. This is especially true for venture funds, as they are affected more by illiquidity and segmentation than buy‐out funds. In the context of a WLS‐regression approach the paper reports a highly significant impact of total fund inflows on fund returns. It can also be shown that private equity funds' returns are driven by GP's skills as well as stand‐alone investment risk. In a bootstrapping context we can show that most of these results are quite stable.
TDP‐43, the signature protein of FTLD‐U, is a neuronal activity‐responsive factor
Authors: Wang I.‐Fan , Wu Lien‐Szn , Chang Hsiang‐Yu , Shen C.‐K. James 
Published: February 2008

AbstractTDP‐43, recently identified as a signature protein of the pathogenic inclusions in the brains cells of frontotemporal lobar degeneration patients, is a 43 kDa RNA‐binding protein. It has been known mainly as a nuclear factor capable of repressing transcription and promoting exon exclusion. TDP‐43 also forms distinct nuclear substructures linking different types of nuclear bodies. In this study, we provide the first evidence supporting TDP‐43 as a neuronal activity‐responsive factor in the dendrites of hippocampal neurons. In particular, TDP‐43 resides in the somatodendrites mainly in the form of RNA granules colocalized with the post‐synaptic protein PSD‐95. These granules also contain RNAs including at least the β‐actin mRNA and CaMKIIα mRNA. Furthermore, TDP‐43 is localized in the dendritic processing (P) body and it behaves as a translational repressor in an in vitro assay. Related to this, repetitive stimuli by KCl greatly enhance the colocalization of TDP‐43 granules with FMRP and Staufen 1, two RNA‐binding proteins known to regulate mRNA transport and local translation in neurons. These data together suggest that TDP‐43 is a neuronal activity‐responsive factor functioning in the regulation of neuronal plasticity, the impairment of which would lead to the development of certain forms of neurodegenerative diseases including frontotemporal lobar degeneration.
Endogenous cannabinoid anandamide inhibits nicotinic acetylcholine receptor function in mouse thalamic synaptosomes
Authors: Butt Christopher , Alptekin Alp , Shippenberg Toni , Oz Murat 
Published: February 2008

AbstractThe effects of the endogenous cannabinoid anandamide [arachidonylethanolamide (AEA)] on the function of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) were investigated using the86Rb+efflux assay in thalamic synaptosomes. AEA reversibly inhibited86Rb+efflux induced by 300 μM ACh with an IC50value of 0.9 ± 2 μM. Pre‐treatment with the cannabinoid (CB1) receptor antagonist SR141716A (1 μM), the CB2receptor antagonist SR144528 (1 μM), or pertussis toxin (0.2 mg/mL) did not alter the inhibitory effects of AEA, suggesting that known CB receptors are not involved in AEA inhibition of nAChRs. AEA inhibition of86Rb+efflux was not reversed by increasing acetylcholine (ACh) concentrations. In radioligand binding studies, the specific binding of [3H]‐nicotine was not altered in the presence of AEA, indicating that AEA inhibits the function of nAChR in a non‐competitive manner. Neither the amidohydrolase inhibitor phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride (0.2 mM) nor the cyclooxygenase inhibitor, indomethacin, (5 μM) affected AEA inhibition of nAChRs, suggesting that the effect of AEA is not mediated by its metabolic products. Importantly, the extent of AEA inhibition of86Rb+efflux was significantly attenuated by the absence of 1% fatty acid free bovine serum albumin pre‐treatment, supporting previous findings that fatty acid‐like compounds modulate the activity of nAChRs. Collectively, the results indicate that AEA inhibits the function of nAChRs in thalamic synaptosomes via a CB‐independent mechanism and that the background activity of these receptors is affected by fatty acids and AEA.
Inhibition of ATF‐3 expression by B‐Raf mediates the neuroprotective action of GW5074
Authors: Chen Hsin‐Mei , Wang Lulu , D’Mello Santosh R. 
Published: February 2008

AbstractGW5074 a brain‐permeable 3′ substituted indolone, protects neurons from death in culture and in an in vivo paradigm of neurodegeneration. Using low potassium (LK) induced apoptosis of cerebellar granule neurons, we report here that the protective action of GW5074 is mediated through the activation of B‐Raf. Over‐expression of a kinase‐dead form of B‐Raf blocks the ability of GW5074 to neuroprotect, whereas over‐expression of active forms of B‐Raf protect even in the absence of GW5074. Although mitogen‐activated protein kinase kinase (MEK) and extracellular signal‐regulated protein kinase (ERK) are activated by GW5074, pharmacological inhibition of MEK‐ERK signaling by U0126 or PD98059 does not reduce neuroprotection suggesting that B‐Raf signals through a non‐canonical signaling pathway. GeneChip microarray analyses identified activating transcription factor‐3 (ATF‐3) as a gene whose expression is induced by LK but that is negatively regulated by GW5074. Forced inhibition of ATF‐3 expression using siRNA protects neurons against LK‐induced apoptosis, whereas the over‐expression of ATF‐3 blocks GW5074‐mediated neuroprotection. Not unexpectedly, expression of active B‐Raf inhibits the apoptosis‐associated increase in ATF‐3 expression. We extended our work to include three other 3′ substituted indolones – a commercially available inhibitor of RNA‐dependent protein kinase and two novel compounds designated as SK4 and SK6. Like GW5074, RNA‐dependent protein kinase inhibitor, SK4, and SK6 all inhibited c‐Raf in vitro but activated B‐Raf in neuronal cultures. All four compounds also inhibited ATF‐3 expression. Taken together our results indicate that all four indolones mediate neuroprotection by a common mechanism which involves B‐Raf activation, and that a downstream target of B‐Raf is ATF‐3.
Activation of VIP/PACAP type 2 receptor by the peptide histidine isoleucine in astrocytes influences GLAST‐mediated glutamate uptake
Authors: Goursaud Stéphanie , Maloteaux Jean‐Marie , Hermans Emmanuel 
Published: February 2008

AbstractConsidering the putative neuroprotective role of the vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) and the pituitary adenylyl cyclase‐activating polypeptide (PACAP), we investigated the acute modulation of glial glutamate uptake by the structurally related peptide histidine isoleucine (PHI). Using cultures of cortical astrocytes, we demonstrated that a 6 min treatment with 1 μmol/L PHI strongly increased thed‐[3H]‐aspartate uptake velocity from 24.3 ± 1.9 to 46.8 ± 3.5 nmol/mg prot/min. This effect was found to reflect an increase in the activity of the GLAST, the predominant functional glutamate transporter in these cultures. The combination of protein kinase A and C inhibitors was effective in blocking the effect of PHI and the use of peptide antagonists contributed to demonstrate the implication of the VIP/PACAP type 2 receptor (VPAC2). Accordingly, G‐protein activation measures and gene reporter assays revealed the expression of functional PHI‐sensitive receptors in cultured astrocytes. Biotinylation/immunoblotting studies indicated that PHI significantly increased the cell surface expression of the GLAST (by 34.24 ± 8.74 and 43.00 ± 6.36%, when considering the 72 and 55 kDa immunoreactive proteins, respectively). Such cross‐talk between PHI and glutamate transmission systems in glial cells opens attractive perspectives in neuropharmacology.
Association of cathepsin E deficiency with the increased territorial aggressive response of mice
Authors: Shigematsu Naoki , Fukuda Takaichi , Yamamoto Tsuneyuki , Nishioku Tsuyoshi , Yamaguchi Taku , Himeno Masaru , Nakayama Keiichi I. , Tsukuba Takayuki , Kadowaki Tomoko , Okamoto Kuniaki , Higuchi Shun , Yamamoto Kenji 
Published: February 2008

AbstractCathepsin E is an endolysosomal aspartic proteinase predominantly expressed in cells of the immune system, but physiological functions of this protein in the brain remains unclear. In this study, we investigate the behavioral effect of disrupting the gene encoding cathepsin E in mice. We found that the cathepsin E‐deficient (CatE−/−) mice were behaviorally normal when housed communally, but they became more aggressive compared with the wild‐type littermates when housed individually in a single cage. The increased aggressive response of CatE−/− mice was reduced to the level comparable to that seen for CatE+/+ mice by pretreatment with an NK‐1‐specific antagonist. Consistent with this, the neurotransmitter substance P (SP) level in affective brain areas including amygdala, hypothalamus, and periaqueductal gray was significantly increased in CatE−/− mice compared with CatE+/+ mice, indicating that the increased aggressive behavior of CatE−/− mice by isolation housing followed by territorial challenge is mainly because of the enhanced SP/NK‐1 receptor signaling system. Double immunofluorescence microscopy also revealed the co‐localization of SP with synaptophysin but not with microtubule‐associated protein‐2. Our data thus indicate that cathepsin E is associated with the SP/NK‐1 receptor signaling system and thereby regulates the aggressive response of the animals to stressors such as territorial challenge.