bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Growth inhibitory effects of interferon‐α subtypes vary according to human liver cancer cell lines
Authors: Yano Hirohisa , Yanai Yoshiaki , Momosaki Seiya , Ogasawara Sachiko , Akiba Jun , Kojiro Sakiko , Moriya Fukuko , Fukahori Suguru , Kurimoto Masashi , Kojiro Masamichi 
Published: April 2006

AbstractBackground:  Interferon (IFN)‐α preparations used in the treatment of viral and neoplastic disease consist of single or multiple IFN‐α subtypes that may possess different biological activity, but there are no data on liver cancer cells.Methods:  Antiproliferative effects and the mechanisms of growth inhibition of five IFN‐α subtypes (α1, α2, α5, α8 and α10) were examined in vitro using 13 human liver cancer cell lines.Results:  The antiproliferative effect of each IFN‐α subtype was different in each cell line. The 50% growth inhibitory concentration (IC50) on an antiviral unit basis showed that α5 presented the most potent antiproliferative effects in 11 of the 13 cell lines, and α8 in two cell lines. On average, the antiproliferative effects were strong in descending order from α5, α8, α10, α2 to α1. On weight basis, the most potent antiproliferative effect was shown by α8 in nine of the 13 cell lines, α5 in four cell lines, and the potency of the effects on average in descending order was α8, α5, α10, α2 and α1. No significant difference was observed between natural and recombinant α2. The mechanism of growth inhibition of each subtype in HAK‐1B and KMCH‐1 cell lines were apoptosis and S‐phase arrest, and their induction levels were related to a certain degree to the antiproliferative effects.Conclusions:  Our findings show that the antiproliferative effect of each IFN‐α subtype varies according to the cell line, but that the cells are relatively or absolutely responsive to α5 and α8 subtypes.
Predictors for squamous re‐epithelialization of Barrett’s esophagus after endoscopic biopsy
Authors: Amano Yuji , Kushiyama Yoshinori , Yuki Takafumi , Takahashi Yoshiko , Chinuki Daisuke , Ishimura Norihisa , Furuta Kenji , Ishihara Shunji , Adachi Kyoichi , Maruyama Riruke , Kinoshita Yoshikazu 
Published: April 2006

AbstractBackground and Aim:  Acid suppressive therapy has been reported to regress Barrett’s esophagus. However, it is still controversial as to whether all Barrett’s esophagus patients respond to this therapy. The factors that might facilitate newly developed squamous re‐epithelialization after biopsy excision of Barrett’s mucosa were evaluated to identity individuals who may favorably respond to the regression therapy.Methods:  Two hundred and forty‐seven biopsy sites from 185 patients with Barrett’s esophagus were examined by endoscopy to investigate possible squamous re‐epithelialization of Barrett’s mucosa after endoscopic biopsy. Before endoscopic examination, all participants were requested to answer questionnaires concerning sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyle habits and drugs usage. The mucin phenotype, Cdx2 expression, cyclooxygenase‐2 expression, cellular proliferation and apoptosis of Barrett’s mucosa were immunohistochemically investigated in the biopsy samples taken from Barrett’s esophagus. The influence of these factors on the newly developed squamous re‐epithelialization of Barrett’s mucosa after endoscopic biopsy excision was evaluated.Results:  By multivariate analysis, the independent factors that favored squamous re‐epithelialization were the gastric mucin predominant phenotype of Barrett’s mucosa and the absence of Cdx2 protein expression. In Barrett’s mucosa with the gastric predominant mucin phenotype, proton pump inhibitor administration, the absence of reflux esophagitis and a low proliferating cell nuclear antigen index were found to be independent predictors for squamous re‐epithelialization.Conclusions:  The absence of the intestinal predominant mucin phenotype was a positive predictor for newly developed squamous re‐epithelialization at the site of biopsy of Barrett’s mucosa. Only Barrett’s esophagus with the gastric predominant mucin phenotype may predict a favorable response to acid suppressive therapy.
417–2α‐Tocopherol and ascorbic acid attenuates the ribavirin‐induced decrease of eicosapentaenoic acid in erythrocyte membrane in chronic hepatitis C patients
Authors: Hino Keisuke , Murakami Yasuko , Nagai Ayako , Kitase Akira , Hara Yuichi , Furutani Takakazu , Ren Fenyu , Yamaguchi Yuhki , Yutoku Kohki , Yamashita Satoyoshi , Okuda Michiari , Okita Misako , Okita Kiwamu 
Published: April 2006

AbstractBackground:  Oxidative damage of the erythrocyte membrane plays an important role in ribavirin‐induced anemia. The purpose of the present paper was to assess whether supplementation of α‐tocopherol and ascorbic acid (vitamins) causes changes in the erythrocyte membrane fatty acid composition during interferon and ribavirin combination therapy for chronic hepatitis C patients.Methods:  Fatty acid compositions in erythrocyte membrane phospholipids were determined by gas chromatography at 0, 2, 4, 8 weeks, and at the end of combination therapy (26 weeks) for interferon with ribavirin in 32 patients with chronic hepatitis C who were randomized to receive vitamins or not (controls).Results:  Good compliance with orally administered vitamins and ribavirin were confirmed by their concentrations in erythrocytes or plasma. The hemoglobin level was negatively correlated with the ribavirin concentration at 8 weeks (r = 0.59, P = 0.01) after initiation of therapy in controls, but not in the vitamin group. Among the 26 kinds of fatty acids analyzed, only eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) significantly decreased at 8 weeks after initiation of therapy (P = 0.03) and at the end of therapy (P = 0.004) in controls. Vitamins did not inhibit ribavirin‐induced anemia, but attenuated the decrease of EPA in erythrocytes. The EPA level was negatively correlated with the drop in hemoglobin levels at 8 weeks after initiation of therapy in controls (r = 0.58, P = 0.015), but not in the vitamin group.Conclusions:  Supplementation of α‐tocopherol and ascorbic acid attenuates the ribavirin‐induced decrease of EPA in erythrocyte membrane phospholipids in chronic hepatitis C patients.
Aid Effectiveness on Accumulation: A Meta Study
Authors: Doucouliagos Hristos , Paldam Martin 
Published: April 2006

SUMMARYThe AEL (aid effectiveness literature) studies the macroeconomic effects of development aid using cross‐country or panel data econometrics. It contains 97 papers of which 43 study whether development aid leads to increasing accumulation. The aggregate results of the 43 studies are that aid increases investment with about 25% of the aid, while most of the remaining 75% of the effect is crowded out by a fall in savings. However, these aggregate results are so variable that it is dubious if accumulation rises.
Were People in the Past Poor and Miserable?
Authors: Kenny Charles 
Published: April 2006

SUMMARYStandard economic theory would suggest close linkages between income, broader measures of the quality of life and ‘utility’. To some extent it is hard to test the link between income and utility given the way that utility is proxied by economists, but we do have measures of objective and subjective wellbeing as a potential guide. When we look at broader measures of objective and subjective wellbeing in both rich and poor countries today, the relationship to absolute income is perhaps surprisingly weak. Turning to the past, we know that most people were in an absolute income sense very poor, and faced a considerably lower broad quality of life using objective measures. However, the link between these two factors is not as straightforward as sometimes assumed. At the same time, from the preoccupations of political thinkers and others, it does appear that relative (rather than absolute) income has long been a concern, and that concerns with absolute income at the national level appear to center around avoiding absolute deprivation rather than the advantage of ever more consumption goods. In short, there is plentiful evidence that people in the past were nearly all absolutely poor and broadly worse off according to other objective quality of life measures, less evidence that these two were intimately linked, even less that everyone was miserable, and less again that those who did feel miserable felt so because they were absolutely poor.
‘Are you allowed to say that?’ using video materials to provide accessible information about psychology services
Authors: Dunn Andy , Kroese Biza Stenfert , Kroese Biza Stenfert , Thomas Gail , McGarry Alison , Drew Pip 
Published: April 2006

SummaryThe White Paper ‘Valuing People’ [Department of Health (DoH) (2001)Valuing people: a new strategy for learning disability for the 21st century, London, HMSO] indicates that people with a learning disability need to become more actively involved in the decisions that affect their lives. This includes being offered active choices in access to health services. Psychologists, therefore, need to think about how to give people with learning disabilities enough relevant information in an accessible way to promote informed consent to treatment. This study investigates how much information adults with mild and moderate learning disabilities understand about psychology services, before and after watching a video designed to explain what seeing a psychologist entails. The video was shown to 19 participants at a local Social Education Centre. Participants’ knowledge increased significantly after watching the video. They were able to answer questions about its content better when asked after short sections of the video when presented, rather than after an uninterrupted presentation.
Kinship and social structure of bobcats (Lynx rufus) inferred from microsatellite and radio‐telemetry data
Authors: Janečka J. E. , Blankenship T. L. , Hirth D. H. , Tewes M. E. , Kilpatrick C. W. , Grassman L. I. 
Published: April 2006

AbstractKinship analysis using 12 microsatellites was compared with radio‐telemetry data to examine the social structure of bobcatsLynx rufusin southern Texas. Genetically identified kinship relationships combined with capture data were used to reconstruct pedigrees. Three family groups were constructed from parent/offspring pairs identified from shared alleles. All parents identified by genetic analysis had established home ranges. Individuals with no distinct home ranges were not genetically observed to have offspring among the bobcats sampled. This suggests that establishing a home range is necessary for bobcats to breed. Of three identified male offspring and three identified female offspring, two female offspring were philopatric. These females became a part of the breeding population in their natal area. Among sibling pairs that included nine female and four male individuals, four females and one male were residents suggesting male‐biased dispersal.
The role of LPA1 in formation of synapses among cultured hippocampal neurons
Authors: Pilpel Yair , Segal Menahem 
Published: April 2006

AbstractWe studied the lysophosphatidic acid receptor‐1 (LPA1) gene, which we found to be expressed endogenously in cultured hippocampal neurons, and in vivo in young (1‐week‐old) rat brain slices. Overexpressed green fluorescent protein (GFP)‐tagged, membrane‐associated LPA1 accumulated in a punctate manner over the entire dendritic tree and caused an increase in dendritic spine density. About half of the dendritic spines in the LPA1‐transfected neurons displayed distinct fluorescent puncta, and this subset of spines was also substantially larger than puncta‐free, LPA1‐transfected or control GFP spines. This phenotype could also be seen in cells transfected with a ligand‐binding, defective mutant and is therefore not dependent on interaction with an ambient ligand. While spontaneous miniature excitatory synaptic currents were of the same amplitudes, they decayed slower in LPA1‐transfected neurons compared with GFP controls. We propose that LPA1 may play a role in the formation and modulation of the dendritic spine synapse.
The Effect of State Medicaid Case‐Mix Payment on Nursing Home Resident Acuity
Authors: Feng Zhanlian , Grabowski David C. , Intrator Orna , Mor Vincent 
Published: April 2006

Objective. To examine the relationship between Medicaid case‐mix payment and nursing home resident acuity.Data Sources. Longitudinal Minimum Data Set (MDS) resident assessments from 1999 to 2002 and Online Survey Certification and Reporting (OSCAR) data from 1996 to 2002, for all freestanding nursing homes in the 48 contiguous U.S. states.Study Design. We used a facility fixed‐effects model to examine the effect of introducing state case‐mix payment on changes in nursing home case‐mix acuity. Facility acuity was measured by aggregating the nursing case‐mix index (NCMI) from the MDS using the Resource Utilization Group (Version III) resident classification system, separately for new admits and long‐stay residents, and by an OSCAR‐derived index combining a range of activity of daily living dependencies and special treatment measures.Data Collection/Extraction Methods. We followed facilities over the study period to create a longitudinal data file based on the MDS and OSCAR, respectively, and linked facilities with longitudinal data on state case‐mix payment policies for the same period.Principal Findings. Across three acuity measures and two data sources, we found that states shifting to case‐mix payment increased nursing home acuity levels over the study period. Specifically, we observed a 2.5 percent increase in the average acuity of new admits and a 1.3 to 1.4 percent increase in the acuity of long‐stay residents, following the introduction of case‐mix payment.Conclusions. The adoption of case‐mix payment increased access to care for higher acuity Medicaid residents.
Topiramate Does Not Affect the Acquisition or Expression of Ethanol Conditioned Place Preference in DBA/2J or C57BL/6J Mice
Authors: Gremel Christina M. , Gabriel Kara I. , Cunningham Christopher L. 
Published: April 2006

Background: Topiramate, an anticonvulsant, has been reported to increase the number of abstinent days and decrease craving in alcohol‐dependent individuals. However, the neurobiological basis for topiramate's effect is unknown. To assess topiramate's effect on ethanol's rewarding and conditioning rewarding effects, the present experiments examined the effects of topiramate on the acquisition and expression of ethanol‐induced conditioned place preference (CPP) in DBA/2J and C57BL/6J mice.Methods: A biased apparatus and subject assignment were used. Mice received ethanol (2 g/kg) or saline paired with an initially nonpreferred floor (CS+) and saline paired with an initially preferred floor (CS−) for 5‐minute conditioning trials. During the acquisition experiments, mice received a pretreatment of topiramate (0, 5, 10, 20, 50, or 100 mg/kg) 1 hour before the CS+ trials. On intervening CS− trials, mice received a pretreatment of saline. For the preference test, all mice received saline injections and were placed on a split floor for a 30‐minute test. During the expression experiments, mice received no drug pretreatment on conditioning trials, but were pretreated with topiramate (0, 10, 50, or 100 mg/kg) 1 hour before the test session.Results: Ethanol‐induced CPP was observed in both strains, but topiramate did not affect the acquisition or expression of ethanol‐induced CPP in either strain. Despite its failure to alter CPP, topiramate produced dose‐dependent locomotor activating effects in both strains. These effects were observed both in the presence and in the absence of ethanol.Conclusions: These findings indicate that topiramate has no effect on ethanol's rewarding or conditioned rewarding effects as indexed by the place conditioning procedure. Thus, these studies raise the possibility that topiramate's efficacy in the treatment of alcoholism results from its impact on brain areas other than those that mediate ethanol's rewarding or conditioned rewarding effects. One alternative possibility is that topiramate decreases withdrawal‐induced negative affective states that normally contribute to relapse.
Alterations of Rat Corticostriatal Synaptic Plasticity After Chronic Ethanol Exposure and Withdrawal
Authors: Xia Jian Xun , Li Jing , Zhou Rong , Zhang Xiao Hu , Ge Yin Bing , Ru Yuan Xiao 
Published: April 2006

Background: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of chronic ethanol exposure (CEE) and withdrawal on corticostriatal plasticity in rats.Methods: We established an animal model of alcoholism using the method of Turchan et al. (1999). A synaptic model of long‐term memory (long‐term depression, LTD) was used as an index and the striatum, which is related to habit learning, was selected as a target region in the present study. The effects of CEE and withdrawal on the LTD were studied in striatal slices of ethanol‐dependent rats using the extracellular recording method.Results: A stable LTD can be induced after high‐frequency stimulation (HFS) in the slices of control rats. Chronic ethanol exposure and withdrawal suppressed the induction of corticostriatal LTD to different extents, with the strongest suppressive effects on LTD occurring in the slices of rats exposed to ethanol for 10 days and in those withdrawn from ethanol for 1 day. Notably, 3 days of withdrawal resulted in the shift of corticostriatal synaptic plasticity from LTD to long‐term potentiation, and the peak latencies of the population spikes were obviously shortened compared with those of control rats. After 7 days of withdrawal, ethanol's effects tended to disappear.Conclusions: These results suggest that the alterations of corticostriatal synaptic plasticity produced by CEE and withdrawal may play a prominent role in alcohol abuse and alcoholism.
Increased Consumption but Not Operant Self‐administration of Ethanol in Mice Lacking the RIIβ Subunit of Protein Kinase A
Authors: Ferraro Frank M. , Sparta Dennis R. , Knapp Darin J. , Breese George R. , Thiele Todd E. 
Published: April 2006

Background: Accumulating evidence indicates that adenosine monophosphate (cAMP)‐dependent protein kinase A (PKA) is involved in the neurobiological responses to ethanol. Previous reports indicate that mice lacking the RIIβ subunit of PKA (RIIβ−/−) voluntarily consume more ethanol than wild‐type controls (RIIβ+/+) using 2‐bottle testing procedures. Although such procedures primarily measure consummatory behavior, operant self‐administration procedures allow analysis of consummatory as well as appetitive or “ethanol‐seeking” behavior (i.e., lever pressing is required to gain access to the ethanol solution). Therefore, we determined whether the high ethanol consumption characteristic of RIIβ−/− mice would be complemented by increased appetitive ethanol‐seeking behavior in an operant paradigm.Methods: RIIβ−/− (n=8) and RIIβ+/+ (n=8) mice were initially sucrose‐faded until they were lever responding for nonsweetened ethanol (10, 14, and 18%). Following the self‐administration testing, RIIβ+/+ and RIIβ−/− mice were given access to 2 bottles, one containing water and the other ethanol to replicate the voluntary ethanol drinking data previously from our laboratory. Finally, immediately after voluntary consumption all mice were again tested for self‐administration of 10% ethanol. Alterations in the reinforcement schedule were also explored as RIIβ+/+ and RIIβ−/− mice were tested for self‐administration of 10% ethanol at FR‐3 and FR‐5 schedules.Results: The RIIβ−/− mice displayed lower operant responding for ethanol and food reinforcement compared with RIIβ+/+ controls. However, this effect was driven by a significant increase in lever responses made by female RIIβ+/+ mice. When the excessive lever responses of the female RIIβ+/+ mice are accounted for, the RIIβ−/− mice show ethanol lever responses comparable to controls. Following operant self‐administration testing, RIIβ−/− mice of both sexes consumed more ethanol solution compared with RIIβ+/+ mice during 2‐bottle testing.Conclusions: Increased ingestion of ethanol by RIIβ−/− mice is likely the result of altered PKA activity within neuronal pathways that control ethanol‐consummatory behaviors. Conversely, the RIIβ subunit of PKA appears not to play a critical role in neuronal pathways that regulate appetitive behaviors directed at obtaining ethanol. Finally, increased operant self‐administration of food and ethanol by female wild‐type mice was absent in female RIIβ−/− mice, suggesting that normal PKA signaling may be part of a general, and sex‐dependent, mechanism involved with reinforcement‐seeking behavior.
Genetic Polymorphism of CYP2E1 and Digestive Tract Alcohol Damage Among Polish Individuals
Authors: Cichoż‐Lach Halina , Partycka Jadwiga , Nesina Irina , Wojcierowski Jacek , Słomka Maria , Celiński Krzysztof 
Published: April 2006

Background: Genetic polymorphism of enzymes involved in alcohol metabolism plays a relevant role in etiopathogenesis of alcohol disease. The aim of the present study was to find in the Polish population the CYP2E1 genotypes that are likely to be responsible for higher susceptibility to alcohol disease of the liver and chronic alcohol pancreatitis.Methods: The CYP2E1 genotype and c1 and c2 alleles frequency were examined in 198 patients. Genotyping of the CYP2E1 was performed using polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism methods on white cell DNA.Results: In the examined population encompassing 198 subjects, the c2 allele was present only in 1.5% of patients. It was found only in patients abusing alcohol. In the group of patients with alcoholic cirrhosis, it was present in 3.5% of cases, whereas in patients with chronic alcoholic pancreatitis, in 2.3%. The genotype c1/c2 was present in 3% of subjects. The genotype c2/c2 was not found in any patient. Heterozygotes c1/c2 were present only in patients consuming excessive amounts of ethanol; in 7% of patients with alcoholic cirrhosis and in 4.5% of those with chronic alcoholic pancreatitis. The c2 allele occurred only in men. None of the examined women had the genotype c1/c2.Conclusions: Our studies suggest that the frequency of the c2 alleles in Polish population is low. Because of their rare frequency, it is difficult to conclude explicitly that the presence of the c2 allele promotes alcoholic damage to alimentary organs among Poles. It seems, however, that they pose the risk of alcoholic cirrhosis; their role in chronic alcoholic pancreatitis is difficult to assess.