bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Analysis of the Genotype and Virulence of
Staphylococcus epidermidis
Isolates from Patients with Infective Endocarditis
Authors: Monk Alastair B. , Boundy Sam , Chu Vivian H. , Bettinger Jill C. , Robles Jaime R. , Fowler Vance G. , Archer Gordon L. 
Published: September 2008

ABSTRACT

Staphylococcus epidermidis
is one of the most common causes of infections of prosthetic heart valves (prosthetic valve endocarditis [PVE]) and an increasingly common cause of infections of native heart valves (native valve endocarditis [NVE]). While
S. epidermidis
typically causes indolent infections of prosthetic devices, including prosthetic valves and intravascular catheters,
S. epidermidis
NVE is a virulent infection associated with valve destruction and high mortality. In order to see if the differences in the course of infection were due to characteristics of the infecting organisms, we examined 31
S. epidermidis
NVE and 65 PVE isolates, as well as 21 isolates from blood cultures (representing bloodstream infections [BSI]) and 28 isolates from nasal specimens or cultures considered to indicate skin carriage. Multilocus sequence typing showed both NVE and PVE isolates to have more unique sequence types (types not shared by the other groups; 74 and 71%, respectively) than either BSI isolates (10%) or skin isolates (42%). Thirty NVE, 16 PVE, and a total of 9 of the nasal, skin, and BSI isolates were tested for virulence in
Caenorhabditis elegans
. Twenty-one (70%) of the 30 NVE isolates killed at least 50% of the worms by day 5, compared to 1 (6%) of 16 PVE isolates and 1 (11%) of 9 nasal, skin, or BSI isolates. In addition, the
C. elegans
survival rate as assessed by log rank analyses of Kaplan-Meier survival curves was significantly lower for NVE isolates than for each other group of isolates (
P
< 0.0001). There was no correlation between the production of poly-β(1-6)-
N
-acetylglucosamine exopolysaccharide and virulence in worms. This study is the first analysis suggesting that
S. epidermidis
isolates from patients with NVE constitute a more virulent subset within this species.
Contribution of the Ler- and H-NS-Regulated Long Polar Fimbriae of
Escherichia coli
O157:H7 during Binding to Tissue-Cultured Cells
Authors: Torres Alfredo G. , Slater Terry M. , Patel Shilpa D. , Popov Vsevolod L. , Arenas-Hernández Margarita M. P. 
Published: September 2008

ABSTRACT

The expression of the long polar fimbriae (LPF) of enterohemorrhagic
Escherichia coli
(EHEC) O157:H7 is controlled by a tightly regulated process, and, therefore, the role of these fimbriae during binding to epithelial cells has been difficult to establish. We recently found that histone-like nucleoid-structuring protein (H-NS) binds to the regulatory sequence of the
E. coli
O157:H7
lpf1
operon and “silences” its transcription, while Ler inhibits the action of the H-NS protein and allows
lpf1
to be expressed. In the present study, we determined how the deregulated expression of LPF affects binding of EHEC O157:H7 to tissue-cultured cells, correlating the adherence phenotype with
lpf1
expression. We tested the adherence properties of EHEC
hns
mutant and found that this strain adhered 2.8-fold better than the wild type. In contrast, the EHEC
ler
mutant adhered 2.1-fold less than the wild type. The EHEC
hns ler
mutant constitutively expressed the
lpf
genes, and, therefore, we observed that the double mutant adhered 5.6-fold times better than the wild type. Disruption of
lpfA
in the EHEC
hns
and
hns ler
mutants or the addition of anti-LpfA serum caused a reduction in adhesion, demonstrating that the increased adherence was due to the expression of LPF. Immunogold-labeling electron microscopy showed that LPF is present on the surface of EHEC
lpfA
+
strains. Furthermore, we showed that EHEC expressing LPF agglutinates red blood cells from different species and that the agglutination was blocked by the addition of anti-LpfA serum. Overall, our data confirmed that expression of LPF is a tightly regulated process and, for the first time, demonstrated that these fimbriae are associated with adherence and hemagglutination phenotypes in EHEC O157:H7.
Identification of a Bile-Induced Exopolysaccharide Required forSalmonellaBiofilm Formation on Gallstone Surfaces
Authors: Crawford Robert W. , Gibson Deanna L. , Kay William W. , Gunn John S. 
Published: September 2008

ABSTRACTSalmonella entericaserovar Typhi can establish a chronic, asymptomatic infection of the human gallbladder, suggesting that this bacterium utilizes novel mechanisms to mediate enhanced colonization and persistence in a bile-rich environment. Gallstones are one of the most important risk factors for developing carriage, and we have previously demonstrated that salmonellae form biofilms on human gallstones in vitro. Thus, we hypothesize that bile-induced biofilms on gallstone surfaces promote gallbladder colonization and maintenance of the carrier state. A colanic acid/celluloseS. entericaserovar Typhimurium double mutant formed a mature biofilm on gallstones in a test tube assay and in a new, gallstone-independent assay using cholesterol-coated Eppendorf tubes. These data suggest the presence of an unidentified exopolysaccharide necessary for mature biofilm development and demonstrate specific binding affinity between salmonellae and cholesterol. Our experiments indicate that theSalmonellaO-antigen capsule (yihU-yshAandyihV-yihW) is a crucial determinant in gallstone and cholesterol biofilms but that expression of this exopolysaccharide is not necessary for binding to glass or plastic. Real-time PCR revealed that growth in bile resulted in upregulation of the O-antigen capsule-encoding operon in anagfD-independent manner. Thus, the O-antigen capsule genes are bile induced, and the capsule produced by the enzymes of this operon is specifically required for biofilm formation on cholesterol gallstones. These studies provide new therapeutic targets for preventing asymptomatic serovar Typhi gallbladder carriage.
Identification of
Salmonella enterica
Serovar Dublin-Specific Sequences by Subtractive Hybridization and Analysis of Their Role in Intestinal Colonization and Systemic Translocation in Cattle
Authors: Pullinger Gillian D. , Dziva Francis , Charleston Bryan , Wallis Timothy S. , Stevens Mark P. 
Published: September 2008

ABSTRACT

Salmonella enterica
serovar Dublin is a host-restricted serovar associated with typhoidal disease in cattle. In contrast, the fowl-associated serovar
S. enterica
serovar Gallinarum is avirulent in calves, yet it invades ileal mucosa and induces enteritis at levels comparable to those induced by
S. enterica
serovar Dublin. Suppression subtractive hybridization was employed to identify
S. enterica
serovar Dublin strain SD3246 genes absent from
S. enterica
serovar Gallinarum strain SG9. Forty-one
S. enterica
serovar Dublin fragments were cloned and sequenced. Among these, 24 mobile-element-associated genes were identified, and 12 clones exhibited similarity with sequences of known or predicted function in other serovars. Three
S. enterica
serovar Dublin-specific regions were homologous to regions from the genome of
Enterobacter
sp. strain 638. Sequencing of fragments adjacent to these three sequences revealed the presence of a 21-kb genomic island, designated
S. enterica
serovar Dublin island 1 (SDI-1). PCR analysis and Southern blotting showed that SDI-1 is highly conserved within
S. enterica
serovar Dublin isolates but rarely found in other serovars. To probe the role of genes identified by subtractive hybridization in vivo, 24 signature-tagged
S. enterica
serovar Dublin SD3246 mutants lacking loci not present in
Salmonella
serovar Gallinarum SG9 were created and screened by oral challenge of cattle. Though attenuation of tagged SG9 and SD3246
Salmonella
pathogenicity island-1 (SPI-1) and SPI-2 mutant strains was detected, no obvious defects of these 24 mutants were detected. Subsequently, a ΔSDI-1 mutant was found to exhibit weak but significant attenuation compared with the parent strain in coinfection of calves. SDI-1 mutation did not impair invasion, intramacrophage survival, or virulence in mice, implying that SDI-1 does not influence fitness per se and may act in a host-specific manner.
Some Fixed Point Theorem for Mapping on Complete G-Metric Spaces
Authors: Mustafa Zead , Obiedat Hamed , Awawdeh Fadi 
Published: September 2008

AbstractWe prove some fixed point results for mapping satisfying sufficient conditions on complete "Equation missing"-metric space, also we showed that if the "Equation missing"-metric space "Equation missing" is symmetric, then the existence and uniqueness of these fixed point results follow from well-known theorems in usual metric space "Equation missing", where "Equation missing" is the usual metric space which defined from the "Equation missing"-metric space "Equation missing".
Children and Religion under Article 14 UNCRC: A Critical Analysis
Authors: Langlaude Sylvie 
Published: September 2008

AbstractThis article examines the text of Article 14 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989 and the work of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. It considers the text of the Article and its travaux préparatoires; it then provides an analysis of the issues considered by the Committee: the concept of the evolving capacities of the child, freedom of religious choice, freedom of manifestation, and education. It also highlights the problems that have emerged in the Committee's work, in the light of a theoretical framework of the right of the child to religious freedom in international law. It concludes that the Committee fails children in relation to their religion and suggests some positive steps to be taken by the Committee.
Kabbalah, Philosophy, and the Jewish-Christian Debate: Reconsidering the Early Works of Joseph Gikatilla
Authors: Lachter Hartley 
Published: September 2008

AbstractJoseph Gikatilla's early works, composed during the 1270s, have been understood by many scholars as a fusion of Kabbalah and philosophy—an approach that he abandoned in his later compositions. This paper argues that Gikatilla's early works are in fact consistent with his later works, and that the differences between the two can be explained by the polemical engagement during his early period with Jewish philosophy and Christian missionizing. By subtly drawing Jewish students of philosophy away from Aristotelian speculation and towards Kabbalah, Gikatilla sought in his early works to lay the foundation for an understanding of Judaism based on kabbalistic mytho-poesis and ecstatic mystical experience.
The ‘Returns to Religion’: Messianism, Christianity and the Revolutionary Tradition. Part II: The Pauline Tradition
Authors: Roberts John 
Published: September 2008

AbstractThe central strength of the Hegelian dialectical tradition is that reason is not divorced from its own internal limits in the name of a reason free from ideological mediation and constraint. This article holds onto this insight in the examination of the recent (and widespread) returns to religious categories in political philosophy and political theory (in particular Agamben, Badiou, Negri and Žižek). In this it follows a twofold logic. In the spirit of Hegel and Marx it seeks to recover what is ‘rational in religion’; at the same time, it examines the continuing entanglements of politics (and specifically revolutionary thinking) with religious categories. That this is an atheistic and materialist project is not in a sense strange or anomalous. On the contrary, it is precisely the ‘secularisation’ of Judeo-Christian categories in Kant, Hegel and Marx's respective theorisations of history that provides the dialectical ground for the atheistic recovery and invocation of Judeo-Christian thought (in particular messianism, renunciation, and fidelity) in recent political philosophy. Consequently, this discussion of religion, or ‘religion beyond religion’, has very little to do with the spread of obscurantism and anti-rationalism in the global upsurge of reactionary Christian and Islamic fundamentalisms, neo-pagan mysticisms, and other retreats from the real, or with the left-liberal denunciation of religion in the recent writings of Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens. Rather, ‘religion’ here, in its Judeo-Christian legacy, is that which embodies the memory or prospect of a universal emancipatory politics.
Prisons et autorités urbaines sous les Abbassides
Authors: Tillier Mathieu 
Published: September 2008

AbstractDeux catégories de prisons coexistaient à l'époque abbasside : celles des cadis et celles d'institutions politico-militaires. Mais cette distinction était largement théorique. L'étude de l'administration carcérale, de ses rapports aux autorités urbaines et de sa géographie montre que les prisons relevaient avant tout des gouverneurs et de la šurta : par leur empreinte sur le paysage urbain, les principales prisons iraqiennes manifestaient la puissance coercitive de la dynastie. Two kinds of prisons coexisted under the ‘Abbāsids: the qādī's prisons and those of some military as well as political institutions. But the distinction was largely theoretical. The study of their administration, of their relations with the urban authorities and of their location shows that prisons depended above all on governors and šurta: by impressing their stamp on the urban landscape, the main Iraqi prisons expressed the coercive power of the dynasty.
Medical Research on Minors in Finland
Authors: Lötjönen Salla 
Published: September 2008

AbstractThis article concerns the legal regulation of medical research on children in Finland. The topic is covered by the Medical Research Act of 1999 and by the Recommendations issued by the Working group on medical research on children in 2003. The Decisions of the Parliamentary Ombudsman also play an important role in this area in Finland. The article focuses on two specific issues: involvement of guardians in decision-making for the child, and the expansion of the right to self-determination of minors. Two case examples on these topics are also discussed. Overall, the author comes to the conclusion that the Finnish legislation, policy-makers, investigators and the industry have succeeded well in taking into account international legislation in this area, although there is also room for improvement.
The Implementation of Directive 2001/20/EC into Belgian Law and the Specific Provisions on Pediatric Research
Authors: Nys Herman , Dierickx Kris , Pinxten Wim 
Published: September 2008

AbstractThe European Clinical Trial Directive (2001/20/EC) was implemented into the Belgian legal system by the Law of 7 May 2004 concerning experiments on the human person (LEH). Apart from implementing the European Directive, this law also broadens the scope of the Directive from interventional clinical trials to all medical experiments involving human persons. This article offers an overview of the requirements for involving minors in medical experiments that are captured in the LEH, illustrates the process of protocol review by an ethics committee, and discusses the dissimilarities between the LEH and the European Directive.
Measuring Children's Rights: An Alternative Approach
Authors: Carvalho Edzia 
Published: September 2008

AbstractThe rights of the child, as recognised by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child have been increasingly reiterated in international declarations and national commitments. However, there exists a disparity in ‘the de jure protection and de facto realization of human rights’ (Landman 2005: 5). The relative absence of systematic engagement within academia and without on the issue of mapping the operationalisation of children's rights by States not only hinders ongoing attempts to identify and explain the causes and variation in the failure to implement children's rights but also weakens national and international efforts to hold States accountable for their obligations. This article seeks to address the lack of utilisation of measures of children's rights and the deficiencies in the measures that are in use. By drawing on the existing academic literature and intergovernmental efforts to measure human rights, the article proposes a measurement matrix that could be used to chart the implementation of States' obligations towards children's rights. The matrix is an attempt to further the emerging international endeavours to develop children's rights indicators.
Human Rights in Light of Childhood
Authors: Wall John 
Published: September 2008

AbstractThis essay argues that children's rights will adequately transform societies only when the very concept of “human rights” is reimagined in light of childhood. In this case, human rights would be understood as grounded, not in modernist ideas of autonomy, liberty, entitlement, or even agency, but in a postmodern circle of responsibility to one another. This “childist” interpretation of rights is constructed by examining various forms of child-centered ethical theory in Western history; their impacts on major human rights theories of the Enlightenment and today; alternative visions implied in twentieth century international children's rights agreements; new theoretical groundings arising out of postmodern ethics; and the possibility of human rights as truly including all humanity.
Simulated Anthropogenic Changes in the Brewer–Dobson Circulation, Including Its Extension to High Latitudes
Authors: McLandress Charles , Shepherd Theodore G. 
Published: September 2008

Abstract
Recent studies using comprehensive middle atmosphere models predict a strengthening of the Brewer–Dobson circulation in response to climate change. To gain confidence in the realism of this result it is important to quantify and understand the contributions from the different components of stratospheric wave drag that cause this increase. Such an analysis is performed here using three 150-yr transient simulations from the Canadian Middle Atmosphere Model (CMAM), a Chemistry–Climate Model that simulates climate change and ozone depletion and recovery. Resolved wave drag and parameterized orographic gravity wave drag account for 60% and 40%, respectively, of the long-term trend in annual mean net upward mass flux at 70 hPa, with planetary waves accounting for 60% of the resolved wave drag trend. Synoptic wave drag has the strongest impact in northern winter, where it accounts for nearly as much of the upward mass flux trend as planetary wave drag. Owing to differences in the latitudinal structure of the wave drag changes, the relative contribution of resolved and parameterized wave drag to the tropical upward mass flux trend over any particular latitude range is highly sensitive to the range of latitudes considered. An examination of the spatial structure of the climate change response reveals no straightforward connection between the low-latitude and high-latitude changes: while the model results show an increase in Arctic downwelling in winter, they also show a decrease in Antarctic downwelling in spring. Both changes are attributed to changes in the flux of stationary planetary wave activity into the stratosphere.
A study of the effects of large doses of glutethimide that were used for self-poisoning during pregnancy on human fetuses
Authors: Petik D , Ács N , Bánhidy F , Czeizel AE 
Published: September 2008

Animal investigations showed some embryolethal and teratogenic effects of glutethimide, a piperidindion derivative non-barbital hypnotic drug. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of very large doses of glutethimide that were used for a suicide attempt during pregnancy on the embryo-fetal development of exposed children. Self-poisoned pregnant women were identified from the population of female patients of the Department of Toxicology Internal Medicine, Korányi Hospital, Budapest who had been admitted from the 3 million people of Budapest and its surrounding region. The rates of congenital abnormalities, intrauterine fetal development (based on birth weight and pregnancy age at delivery) and cognitive-behavioral status of exposed children born to mothers who attempted suicide with glutethimide alone or in combination with other drugs during pregnancy were compared with their sib controls. Of 1044 pregnant women with self-poisoning during pregnancy between 1960 and 1993, 33 used glutethimide for a suicide attempt sixteen of these women delivered live-born infants. The dose of glutethimide ranged between 1000 and 15,000 mg with a mean of 4234 mg. Of the 16 exposed children, five were male and 11 were female. Three exposed children were affected with congenital abnormalities (atrial septal defect type II, pectus carinatum, fetal alcohol syndrome). Of their 16 matched unexposed sib pairs, two had congenital abnormalities. The mean birth weight of the exposed children was somewhat larger due to somewhat longer pregnancy age at delivery. Cognitive status and behavioral scale of the exposed children did not indicate a fetotoxic (including neurotoxic) effect of large doses of glutethimide. Very large doses of glutethimide used for a suicide attempt by 16 pregnant women did not produce teratogenic or fetotoxic (including neurotoxic) effects in their children.
A study of teratogenic and fetotoxic effects of large doses of meprobamate used for a suicide attempt by 42 pregnant women
Authors: Timmermann G , Ács N , Bánhidy F , Czeizel AE 
Published: September 2008

The human teratogenic effect of meprobamate is debated. Thus, the available data set regarding very large doses of meprobamate used for a suicide attempt during pregnancy was evaluated for effects on fetal development. Pregnant women were identified from self-poisoned subjects of a total population of approximately three million people (Budapest and surrounding region) who were admitted to the Department of Toxicology Internal Medicine, Koranyi Hospital, Budapest. Comparisons were made of congenital abnormalities, intrauterine fetal growth, and cognitive-behavioral status in exposed children born to mothers who attempted suicide with meprobamate alone or in combination with other drugs during pregnancy with their control sibs. Of 1044 women with self-poisoning during pregnancy between 1960 and 1993, 107 (10.3%) used meprobamate, with or without other drugs for a suicide attempt; 42 of these 107 women delivered live-born infants. The dose of meprobamate used for the suicide attempt ranged between 1000 and 26,000 mg, with a mean of 3690 mg. Of 42 exposed children, seven (16.7%) were affected with congenital abnormalities, however, of their 27 sib controls, four had a CA (14.8%) (OR with 95% CI: 1.7, 0.5–4.9) of 14 had a congenital abnormality. Of 14 mothers who attempted suicide during the 4–12th postconceptional week, two delivered live-born babies affected with mild isolated congenital abnormality: undescended testis and congenital dysplasia of the hip. However, the critical period for production of these two defects did not overlap with the time of the mother’s suicide attempt. Mean birth weight and pregnancy age, cognitive status, and behavioral scale of the exposed children did not indicate fetotoxic, including neurotoxic, effects of large doses of meprobamate. Very large doses of meprobamate that were used for self-poisoning during pregnancy did not result in teratogenic or fetotoxic, including neurotoxic, effects on fetal development.