bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Interaction Between Helicobacter pylori and Atopy: Does Inverse Association Really Exist?
Authors: Cam Sebahat , Ertem Deniz , Bahceciler Nerin , Akkoc Tunc , Barlan Isil , Pehlivanoglu Ender 
Published: January 2009

AbstractAim:  To date, cross‐sectional and case–control studies suggest an inverse association between Helicobacter pylori infection and atopic diseases, whereas the immunologic basis has not been studied yet. In this study we investigated T helper (Th) cell function in H. pylori‐infected children and compared cytokine responses in atopic and non‐atopic groups.Methods:  The study groups was recruited from a cohort of 327 healthy children evaluated and followed‐up for 6 years to assess the natural history of H. pylori infection. Seventy‐four of 136 healthy children who underwent 13C urea breath test were eligible and accepted to participate. All participants were evaluated by a questionnaire, and skin‐prick testing. According to the results, children were divided into four groups with respect to the presence or absence of H. pylori and atopy. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells isolated from 34 of 74 children were cultured with H. pylori, Der p 1, and phytohemagglutinin (PHA). Interferon‐gamma (IFN‐γ), interleukin (IL)‐4 and IL‐10, transforming growth factor‐beta (TGF‐β) levels were measured in supernatants.Results:  The frequency of atopy was lower in H. pylori‐infected group (31.9% vs. 48.1, p = .22), while atopic symptoms were similar between infected and non‐infected children. While PHA and H. pylori induced IFN‐γ levels were significantly higher in H. pylori‐infected children, concomitant presence of both atopy and H. pylori decreased the level of PHA and H. pylori induced IFN‐γ production. PHA and Der p 1‐induced IL‐4 levels were higher in atopic children, and IL‐4 production was suppressed when they were concomitantly infected with H. pylori. The production of TGF‐β was found to be suppressed in atopic children irrespective of the presence of H. pylori infection.Conclusion:  The results of the current study demonstrated a counteractive Th1 and Th2 cytokine interaction between H. pylori infection and atopy. However, this counteractive immunologic balance did not protect against atopy.
Effects of Alcohol on Performance on a Distraction Task During Simulated Driving
Authors: Allen Allyssa J. , Meda Shashwath A. , Skudlarski Pawel , Calhoun Vince D. , Astur Robert , Ruopp Kathryn C. , Pearlson Godfrey D. 
Published: January 2009

Background:  Prior studies report that accidents involving intoxicated drivers are more likely to occur during performance of secondary tasks. We studied this phenomenon, using a dual‐task paradigm, involving performance of a visual oddball (VO) task while driving in an alcohol challenge paradigm. Previous functional MRI (fMRI) studies of the VO task have shown activation in the anterior cingulate, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex. Thus, we predicted dose‐dependent decreases in activation of these areas during VO performance.Methods:  Forty healthy social drinkers were administered 3 different doses of alcohol, individually tailored to their gender and weight. Participants performed a VO task while operating a virtual reality driving simulator in a 3T fMRI scanner.Results:  Analysis showed a dose‐dependent linear decrease in Blood Oxygen Level Dependent activation during task performance, primarily in hippocampus, anterior cingulate, and dorsolateral prefrontal areas, with the least activation occurring during the high dose. Behavioral analysis showed a dose‐dependent linear increase in reaction time, with no effects associated with either correct hits or false alarms. In all dose conditions, driving speed decreased significantly after a VO stimulus. However, at the high dose this decrease was significantly less. Passenger‐side line crossings significantly increased at the high dose.Conclusions:  These results suggest that driving impairment during secondary task performance may be associated with alcohol‐related effects on the above brain regions, which are involved with attentional processing/decision‐making. Drivers with high blood alcohol concentrations may be less able to orient or detect novel or sudden stimuli during driving.
Response Inhibition Moderates the Relationship Between Implicit Associations and Drinking Behavior
Authors: Houben Katrijn , Wiers Reinout W. 
Published: January 2009

Background:  Contemporary dual‐process models of alcohol abuse propose that alcohol abuse develops because of dysfunctions in the impulsive system, which generates automatic impulses to drink alcohol, and disruptions in the reflective system, which becomes unable to inhibit the influence of these automatic impulses. Based on these insights, this study investigated whether individual differences in the ability of the reflective system to exert response inhibition moderate the relationship between automatic cognitive processes and drinking behavior. Specifically, it was examined whether the interaction between implicit alcohol‐related associations and response inhibition predicted drinking behavior.Methods:  Seventy‐one university students completed the study online via the Internet. Implicit alcohol associations with positive affect and with arousal were assessed with variants of the Implicit Association Test. Response inhibition was measured using the original Stroop task. Participants also reported their weekly alcohol use and alcohol‐related problems.Results:  As predicted, implicit associations were unrelated to drinking behavior when response inhibition was high. In contrast, when response inhibition was low, stronger implicit associations between alcohol and positive affect predicted increased alcohol use and alcohol‐related problems.Conclusions:  These findings indicate that the relationship between automatic cognitive processes, originating in the impulsive system, and drinking behavior depends on individual differences in response inhibition exerted by the reflective system. As prolonged alcohol abuse is known to impair response inhibition, alcohol abusers may benefit from interventions that increase response inhibition, thereby restoring inhibitory control over automatic impulses.
The Impact of Gaming on the Indian Nations in New Mexico*
Authors: Conner Thaddieus W. , Taggart William A. 
Published: January 2009

Objective.This study examines the economic and social impact of Indian gaming on the residents of the 22 pueblos and tribes in New Mexico.Method.We employ a naturally occurring quasi‐experimental design that classifies each of the Indian Nations into one of two groups, gaming and nongaming, depending on the continuous operation of a “Las Vegas” style casino for multiple years in the 1990s. For these two groups we compare aggregate, primarily U.S. Census, data spanning 25 indicators in both 1990 and 2000.Results.Although improvements were evident for both groups, nine of the 12 economic measures and six of the 13 social measures revealed a growing disparity favoring gaming nations during the 1990s, while six other measures suggested declining but continuing differences. These findings persisted in light of controls for population and urbanization, though many of the economic differences disappeared for the rural nations.Conclusion.Gaming has had a positive economic and social impact on the gaming pueblos and tribes in New Mexico, especially for the more urbanized nations. The gaming nations are enjoying higher incomes, lower levels of poverty, and improvements in selected social areas compared to those nations opting not to pursue casino gaming in the 1990s.
A U.S. Holy War? The Effects of Religion on Iraq War Policy Attitudes*
Authors: Froese Paul , Mencken F. Carson 
Published: January 2009

Objective. Throughout the course of the Iraq War, the Bush Administration has consistently framed its war policy in religious language. Therefore, we investigate the extent to which public religiosity predicts neoconservative foreign policy attitudes.Method. We use the 2005 Baylor Religion Survey to estimate OLS models predicting the effects of religious measures on support for a neoconservative Middle East foreign policy.Findings. We find that support for U.S. Iraq policy is partially an outcome of what we call “sacralization ideology,” as measured by the belief that religious and secular institutions should be more closely in collaboration.Conclusion. We argue that the religious framing of U.S. foreign policy appeals to a certain religious type who is not fully Republican or conservative evangelical.
¿Amigo de la Raza? Reexamining Determinants of Latino Support in the U.S. Congress*
Authors: Knoll Benjamin R. 
Published: January 2009

Objectives.This study updates and extends research on substantive Latino representation in the U.S. Congress. An improved method of measuring “Latino interests” is proposed.Methods.Using a scorecard from the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda as the dependent variable, standard OLS regression is employed to determine the variables that best predict how members of the 108th Congress vote on issues that are salient to the Latino community.Results.The findings indicate that Latinos are substantively represented overwhelmingly by Democrats and those from majority‐Democratic districts or states, while religion and level of constituency poverty also play a notable role.Conclusion.This study adds strong support to the “party as a substantive representative” model of minority representation. It also shows that Latinos are not more likely to be substantively represented by fellow Latinos, nor do larger Latino constituencies affect a lawmaker's propensity to vote in favor of Latino interests.
Fractional integration in agricultural futures price volatilities revisited
Authors: Sephton Peter S. 
Published: January 2009

Abstract Jin and Frechette (2004) examined the degree to which agricultural price volatilities exhibited evidence of fractional integration and concluded it was important to consider both long‐run and short‐run memory when modeling conditional variances. The purpose of this note is to revisit the issue using new methods and techniques which generally reaffirm the view that return volatilities are fractionally integrated and conditionally heteroskedastic, with many exhibiting significant leverage effects, a result not previously reported.
Immune responses of bumblebee workers as a function of individual and colony age: senescence versus plastic adjustment of the immune function
Authors: Moret Yannick , Schmid‐Hempel Paul 
Published: January 2009

Senescence may evolve in response to externally imposed schedules of survival and reproduction. It may result from cumulative damage to several tissues and organs leading to the progressive malfunction of somatic defences including the immune system, which is a relevant and accessible trait to study the evolution and the mechanisms of senescence.In social insects, reproduction of workers is negligible and their fitness relies on the colony reproductive success, which depends on workers’ longevity. Consequently, evolution of senescence in workers will rely on age‐dependent survival rate and the residual reproductive value of the colony. Using the bumblebee, Bombus terrestris, as model system, we investigated changes in constitutive and inducible immune defences. Such changes were monitored in relation to worker age and colony age and as well under a high, persistent level of parasitism. The results show that the inducible production of antibacterial peptides was not affected by the age of individual worker or the age of their colony. In contrast, constitutive defences such as haemocyte density and phenoloxidase (PO) activity decline with individual worker age and potential accumulation of physiological defects due to high and persistent levels of parasitism did not explain this pattern of immunosenescence. Interestingly, levels of worker constitutive defences were found to increase with colony age. We found antibacterial activity was strongly traded‐off against PO activity. Such a relationship was not caused by resource shortage. Overall, these data suggest that patterns of variation of immune defences with worker age and colony age are likely the result of plastic temporal adjustments of immune responses in accordance with life history predictions. Hence, control of pathogenic threat in a social system may involve optimal adjustments of immune defences at both the individual and colony levels.
Comparison of tissue viability imaging and colorimetry: skin blanching
Authors: Zhai Hongbo , Chan Heidi P. , Farahmand Sara , Nilsson Gert E. , Maibach Howard I. 
Published: January 2009

Background: Operator‐independent assessment of skin blanching is important in the development and evaluation of topically applied steroids. Spectroscopic instruments based on hand‐held probes, however, include elements of operator dependence such as difference in applied pressure and probe misalignment, while laser Doppler‐based methods are better suited for demonstration of skin vasodilatation than for vasoconstriction.Objective: To demonstrate the potential of the emerging technology of Tissue Viability Imaging (TiVi) in the objective and operator‐independent assessment of skin blanching.Methods: The WheelsBridge TiVi600 Tissue Viability Imager was used for quantification of human skin blanching with the Minolta chromameter CR 200 as an independent colorimeter reference method. Desoximetasone gel 0.05% was applied topically on the volar side of the forearm under occlusion for 6 h in four healthy adults. In a separate study, the induction of blanching in the occlusion phase was mapped using a transparent occlusion cover.Results: The relative uncertainty in the blanching estimate produced by the Tissue Viability Imager was about 5% and similar to that of the chromameter operated by a single user and taking the a* parameter as a measure of blanching. Estimation of skin blanching could also be performed in the presence of a transient paradoxical erythema, using the integrated TiVi software. The successive induction of skin blanching during the occlusion phase could readily be mapped by the Tissue Viability Imager.Conclusion: TiVi seems to be suitable for operator‐independent and remote mapping of human skin blanching, eliminating the main disadvantages of methods based on hand‐held probes.
The interdental gingiva, a visible guide for placement of mini‐implants
Authors: Chun YS , Lee SK , Wikesjö UME , Lim WH 
Published: January 2009

Structured AbstractAuthors –  Chun YS, Lee SK, Wikesjö UME, Lim WHObjectives –  To determine whether the tip of the interdental gingiva can serve as a visible guide for placement of mini‐implants.Setting and Sample population –  Computer tomography (CT) images from 15 males and 15 females (mean age 27 years, range: 23–35 years) were used to evaluate the distance from the tip of the interdental gingiva to the alveolar crest from the central incisor to the 1st molar. The distance from a reference point to the tip of interdental gingiva was recorded from study models using a caliper. The distance between the reference point and the alveolar crest was recorded using CT and added to the model recordings thus providing the distance from the tip of interdental gingiva to the alveolar crest for the various interdental sites. Two‐way anova and Student–Newman–Keuls test for multiple comparisons were used for the statistical analysis.Results –  There was no significant difference in the distance from the tip of interdental gingiva to the alveolar crest between maxilla and mandible. The distance between the tip of interdental gingiva and the alveolar crest at the central/lateral incisors was the shortest compared with that of other sites. There was also a statistically significant difference between the male and female groups except for the maxillary 2nd premolar/1st molar interradicular site.Conclusion –  The tip of interdental gingiva appears a reasonable visual guide for the placement of mini‐implants for orthodontic anchorage.
Ichthyoses – Part 1: Differential diagnosis of vulgar ichthyoses and therapeutic options
Authors: Krug Markus , Oji Vinzenz , Traupe Heiko , Berneburg Mark 
Published: January 2009

SummaryIchthyoses are a group of genetic disorders with defective cornification, clinically characterized by scaling of the skin. Additionally, distinctive cutaneous inflammation can often be observed. For most of the patients these diseases lead to a significant restriction in quality of life. The diagnostic criteria include clinical and histological findings, often confirmed by specialized tests. Because many of the ichthyoses are extremely rare, their accurate diagnosis is often carried out in specialized centers. We summarize isolated vulgar and congenital ichthyoses both with and without associated symptoms and focus on the common genetic changes and their clinical phenotype. Specific therapies are still not available for most of these genetic disorders. The use of different topical agents (e. g. urea, retinoids and salicylic acid) and baths followed by mechanical keratolysis (sometimes in combination with systemic retinoids) reduce symptoms. Patients with uncommon congenital ichthyoses often benefit from interdisciplinary management which involves specialized dermatological centers.In this first part of the paper the vulgar ichthyoses as well as the diagnostic and therapeutic options are discussed. The second part focuses on the congenital ichthyoses and their differential diagnosis.
Ichthyoses – Part 2: Congenital ichthyoses
Authors: Krug Markus , Oji Vinzenz , Traupe Heiko , Berneburg Mark 
Published: January 2009

SummaryCongenital ichthyoses are a group of genetic disorders with defective cornification, clinically characterized by scaling of the skin. Additionally, distinctive cutaneous inflammation can often be observed. For most of the patients these diseases lead to a significant restriction in quality of life. The diagnostic hallmarks are discussed. The diagnostic criteria include clinical and histological findings, often enhanced or confirmed by specialized tests. Because many of the congenital ichthyoses are extremely rare, their accurate diagnosis is often carried out in specialized centers. After discussing the vulgar ichthyoses as well as the diagnostic and therapeutic options in part one, in this second part we review congenital ichthyoses both with and without associated symptoms, focusing on the common genetic changes and their clinical phenotype. Specific therapies are still not available for most of these disorders. The use of different topical agents (e. g. urea, retinoids and salicylic acid) and baths followed by mechanical keratolysis (sometimes in combination with systemic retinoids) reduce skin symptoms. Patients with uncommon congenital ichthyoses often benefit from interdisciplinary management which involves specialized dermatological centers.
The diagnostic protocol in children and adolescents with syncope: a multi‐centre prospective study
Authors: Zhang Qingyou , Du Junbao , Wang Cheng , Du Zhongdong , Wang Li , Tang Chaoshu 
Published: January 2009

AbstractAim: The appropriate diagnostic protocol for children with syncope has not been well established. A diagnostic protocol was developed and prospectively implemented to improve the diagnostic performance of paediatricians.Methods: The study population included 474 consecutive patients (range 6–17 years) presenting with a syncopal spell in one of the five participating hospitals of China. In step 1, all patients underwent initial evaluation for history, physical examination, standing test and standard electrocardiography (ECG). In step 2, priority was given to cardiographic tests for possibly cardiogenic syncope, or electroencephalographic examination and brain imaging for suspected neurological syncope, or psychiatric tests for suspected psychiatric syncope. Patients with unexplained syncope underwent head‐up tilt testing (HUT).Results: The initial evaluation gave a definite diagnosis in 59 (12.4%) and possible diagnosis in 54 of the 474 patients. Further testing gave a definite diagnosis for 326 patients (69.7%). After the entire diagnostic protocol, definite diagnosis was established in 385 patients (81.1%). Autonomic‐mediated reflex syncope (AMS) accounted for 73.0% of cases. The average cost of diagnostic results per patient was RMB 1030.24 ± 150.09 ($118.42 ± 17.25).Conclusion: The use of a simplified diagnostic protocol for children and adolescents with syncope improves diagnostic yield.
Vagal bradycardia at term
Authors: Delcò Cristina , Beghetti Maurice , Pfister Riccardo E 
Published: January 2009

AbstractWe discuss the case of a newborn boy presenting well into term with severe bradycardic events and sinus pauses up to 5.4 sec. Sinus bradycardia below 80 bpm and sinus pauses or asystole of more than 2 sec are considered pathologic at term. After exclusion of specific causes, the diagnosis of vagal hyper‐reflectivity (VHR) was retained, a state caused by unbalance between sympathetic and parasympathetic activity, the latter overriding the former. It is thought to be a functional and transitional anomaly of the sympathetic and vagal tone during the first months of life and may lead to prolonged monitoring and delayed hospital discharge. This form of rare bradycardia can be treated with atropine and allowed in our case immediate resolution of events and safe discharge from hospital.Conclusion: When VHR is diagnosed, atropine is the treatment permitting resolution of symptomatic episodes of bradycardia and early and safe discharge from hospital.
Immune Response in Infants to the Heptavalent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine against Vaccine-Related Serotypes 6A and 19A
Authors: Lee Hyunju , Nahm Moon H. , Burton Robert , Kim Kyung-Hyo 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT
The currently available 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) elicits good immune response to and is effective against vaccine serotypes. However, its effectiveness against vaccine-related serotypes is variable. Serum samples were obtained 1 month after the last vaccination from 31 infants immunized with PCV7 at 2, 4, and 6 months of age. The sera were used to determine immunoglobulin G antibody levels to eight serotypes (seven vaccine serotypes and serotype 19A) with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and opsonic capacity against 11 serotypes (seven vaccine serotypes, serotypes 19A and 6A, and nonvaccine serotypes 5 and 7F) using a multiplexed opsonization assay. ELISA results showed antibody concentrations varied between 1.84 and 10.49 μg/ml, and all subjects had antibody concentrations of ≥0.35 μg/ml for all serotypes, including serotype 19A. In contrast, the opsonic index was detectable (i.e., opsonic index ≥ 8) in all children for the seven vaccine serotypes, 81% for serotype 6A, and merely 19% for serotype 19A. PCV7 shows good immunogenicity for vaccine serotypes in infants after a primary series. PCV7 does not elicit opsonic antibodies to serotype 19A. ELISA may thus be an inadequate surrogate assay for evaluating the response for cross-reactive serotypes in infants.