bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Cognitive bias in systemic lupus erythematosus
Authors: Denton Fiona J. , Sharpe Louise , Schrieber Leslie 
Published: March 2004

AbstractEvidence of cognitive bias in depression and anxiety has sparked an increasing interest in the potential for pain‐related bias in patients suffering from chronic pain and/or illness. Research to date has been somewhat inconsistent, and the vast majority has been conducted on just two patient populations: rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and chronic pain patients. The present study investigates cognitive bias in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) patients, particularly in relation to disease activity and depression. Forty‐three SLE patients are compared to RA patients and healthy controls on their endorsement and recall of pain/illness words relative to depression and control words. Patients are first divided according to their disease activity, and secondly according to depression. SLE and RA patients self‐endorsed more negative illness words and fewer positive illness words than did healthy controls, regardless of disease activity or depression status. Groups did not differ in their recall patterns, although all groups demonstrated a recall bias for positive words and illness words. Post‐hoc analyses revealed a significant recall bias for disability‐related illness words compared to sensory pain words in ill, depressed patients compared to ill, non‐depressed patients and healthy controls. Consistent with the most recent research, it appears to be both the nature of the illness stimuli and the depression status of the patient that determines cognitive bias in chronically ill populations.
Single-target echo detections of jellyfish
Authors: Brierley Andrew S , Axelsen Bjørn Eric , Boyer David C , Lynam Christopher P , Didcock Carol A , Boyer Helen J , Sparks Conrad A.J , Purcell Jennifer E , Gibbons Mark J 
Published: March 2004

Abstract
Acoustic target-strength (TS) measurements are presented for tethered and free-swimming individual Chrysaora hysoscella (Scyphozoa) and Aequorea aequorea (Hydrozoa) medusae in Namibian waters. Tethered individual C. hysoscella (17–54 cm total umbrella diameter) and A. aequorea (19–28 cm total umbrella diameter) were ensonified at 38 kHz using a portable echosounder. Mean TS values for individual medusae at this frequency ranged from −67.3 to −52.8 dB for C. hysoscella and from −65.4 to −50.1 dB for A. aequorea. There was a positive relationship between medusa diameter and TS for both species. TS of individual medusae varied cyclically over time by about 15 dB, probably because of the periodic contraction of the medusae whilst swimming. C. hysoscella was parasitized by hyperid amphipods (maximum infestation >1800 parasites per medusa). A fluid-cylinder scattering model was used to determine the expected backscatter from the parasites, and it suggested that even at the highest observed level of infestation the jellyfish itself remained the major contributor to total backscatter at 38 kHz. Single-target echoes from targets identified by trawling as medusae were obtained from vessel-mounted echosounders at 18, 38, 120, and 200 kHz. Triangulation between echosounder beams to identify targets detected simultaneously at all four frequencies increased confidence that echoes were in fact from single targets. The 38-kHz TS values from free-swimming medusae corresponded with values obtained from tethered animals at the same frequency, providing strong evidence that the TS estimates were robust. TS values at all four frequencies (Chrysaora hysoscella mean umbrella diameter 41 cm, TS at 18 kHz = −60.0 dB, 38 kHz = −65.5 dB, 120 kHz = −68.0 dB, and 200 kHz = −70.5 dB. Aequorea aequorea mean inner-umbrella diameter 6.5 cm, TS at 18 kHz = −66.0 dB, 38 kHz = −65.5 dB, 120 kHz = −68.0 dB, and 200 kHz = −73 dB) were consistent with previously published data. Given these robust TS estimates, the possibility may now exist for multi-frequency identification and evaluation of these jellyfish species in some circumstances, and for the use of acoustic-survey techniques to estimate jellyfish abundance.
International students of Speech and Language Therapy in the UK: do we meet their needs?
Authors: Marshall Julie , Goldbart Juliet , Evans Ruth 
Published: March 2004

AbstractBackground: Informal evidence suggests that many Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) students from outside of the UK and/or Republic of Ireland who come to the UK either do not return to their home country on qualification or do not practise as SLTs in the public sector. Many factors may contribute to this situation. Concern that it may result in part from a poor match between UK SLT education and the demands of the role in other countries led the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT) to fund a study of international SLT students' experiences of UK qualifying courses.Aims: To discover and describe the experiences, views and expectations of current and past international students studying SLT in the UK and past international students' experiences, views and expectations of practising as SLTS, both inside and outside the UK. To consider the implications of the findings for (1) international students planning to work as SLTs; (2) UK SLT students planning to practise outside the UK; and (3) all those involved in SLT education: educational institutions; supervising SLTs; RCSLT.Methods & Procedures: The study involved distributing 166 postal questionnaires (some directly to (ex)students and some to their Higher Education Institutes, or HEIs) and carrying out 23 interviews, with both current students and those qualifying since May 1994. Quantitative analysis was carried out using SPSS using descriptive statistics. Qualitative analysis used content and thematic analyses.Outcomes & Results: Seventy‐one questionnaires were received from current and past students, representing a minimum response rate of 43%. (It was not possible to verify exactly how many questionnaires were distributed by HEIs.) The results describe the diverse range of respondents' experiences of studying and working in the UK, their views of working in their home countries and the UK, and their suggestions about strategies that might be adopted to support them further. The results revealed that students come from a wide diversity of countries, with resulting differences in their experiences. However, there were some commonalities in the perceived advantages and disadvantages of working at home and in the UK.Conclusions: The suggestions for change included practical ideas for change both before and after qualification as an SLT. These included courses about the organization of health, education and social services in the UK, adaptations of course delivery and course work to include cross‐cultural/linguistic work and ‘home‐based’ projects. Implications of the findings and strategies for home as well as international SLT students are discussed.
Children's Communication Checklist (CCC) scores in 11‐year‐old children with communication impairments
Authors: Botting Nicola 
Published: March 2004

AbstractBackground: The pragmatic skills of children with communication disorders and their assessment are currently an issue for speech and language therapy and educational placement.Aims: To explore whether different subgroups of children with communication disorders score differently on the Children's Communication Checklist (CCC) and to study how they compare with published normative data.Methods & Procedures: A sample of 161 eleven‐year‐old children with a history of communication disorders was assessed using the CCC. The main use of this questionnaire was to establish whether pragmatic impairments were part of a child's communication difficulty. Although the checklist was originally designed for research purposes, normative data for this scale have been recently published as well as group data from a number of different clinical groups. Whilst the present CCC data have been previously reported descriptively for a wider sample, they have not been examined in terms of subgroups or compared directly with normative information and similarly diagnosed individuals from other studies.Outcomes & Results: Of the children assessed, 52 (33%) scored in the normal range (within 1 SD) on the pragmatic scale, 40 (26%) fell between 1 and 2 SD below the normative mean, and 64 (41%) scored below 2 SD of the mean of typically developing children (aged 6–16 years). Thus, the majority (67%) scored out of the normal range for pragmatic skill at 11 years of age. The cohort was separated into four diagnostic subcategories: those with a definite diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorder (n=15); those with typical specific language impairment (n=82); generally impaired (n=37); and those with a clinical history of primary pragmatic language impairment (independent of CCC score, n=27).Conclusions: Findings show that those generally impaired and with specific language impairment were less impaired than the other groups on the CCC pragmatic scale. There was a significant trend for those with autistic spectrum disorders to score lowest through pragmatic language impairment, generally impairment to specific language impairment. It is argued that a cut‐off of 140 may prove more useful at this age than the 132 level previously published for 8 year olds. Results suggest that the CCC can be used as a clinical tool, but in conjunction with other reliable measures.
Literacy outcomes for students with speech impairment: long‐term follow‐up
Authors: Leitao Suze , Fletcher Janet 
Published: March 2004

AbstractBackground: Theoretical and empirical support now exists for the finding that many children with expressive phonological impairment experience problems in acquiring phonological awareness and early literacy skills. Few studies, however, have examined the long‐term academic and literacy outcomes for this population, in particular as the students leave the final stages of primary school.Aims: The reported study forms the final stage of a longitudinal research project that tracked the phonological processing and literacy skills of a group of children with specific speech impairment from their first year at school (aged 5–6 years). The earlier data provided evidence of a relationship between speech impairment characterized by the presence of non‐developmental error processes and weaker phonological awareness and literacy skills in the first 2–3 years at school. It was hypothesized that the effect of this relationship would continue to be apparent as the students completed the final stages of primary school.Methods & Procedures: Fourteen of the original set of 36 students were available for reassessment of their phonological processing, reading and spelling skills at age 12–13 years.Outcomes & Results: Those children with an original classification of non‐developmental speech errors performed significantly more poorly than those with an original classification of developmental errors on phonological awareness and reading comprehension measures. Reading accuracy and spelling scores also showing a similar trend.Conclusions: These findings provide further evidence for the long‐term impact of speech impairment. The follow‐up data demonstrated ongoing difficulties for students who entered school with expressive speech impairment, particularly those whose speech errors were characterized by non‐developmental error processes. The impact was apparent on tasks measuring phonological awareness, reading accuracy and spelling (skills that depend on good phonological processing skills and clear underlying phonological representations). Weaknesses in reading comprehension were also found. These findings have implications for the early identification of those at risk. In addition, intervention approaches for young children with expressive speech difficulties demonstrating these patterns of error should address weak underlying phonological representations and develop phonological awareness skills.
Interaction training for conversational partners of children with cerebral palsy: a systematic review
Authors: Pennington Lindsay , Goldbart Juliet , Marshall Julie 
Published: March 2004

AbstractBackground: Research has shown that children with cerebral palsy have difficulties acquiring communication skills and that conversation with familiar partners follows restricted patterns, which are characterized by high levels of partner control and children's responsivity. Speech and language therapy often includes training for conversational partners to help to them recognize children's communicative signals and to create opportunities for children to take a more equal and independent role in conversation. However, the effectiveness of this indirect therapy has not been demonstrated reliably.Aims: To review systematically all experimental research on communication training for conversational partners of children with cerebral palsy and to evaluate the effectiveness of this type of intervention.Methods & Procedures: As part of a wider review, health, psychology and education electronic databases were searched up to December 2002 for reports of experimental studies on the training of conversational partners to facilitate the communication of children with cerebral palsy, which contained an element of control. References from identified studies were followed‐up and relevant journals and conference reports were hand‐searched. Identified studies were assessed for inclusion by the first author. Two reviewers independently abstracted data on the quality and content of each study.Outcomes & Results: Four studies were identified from five research reports that met the criteria for inclusion in the review, comprising three group studies and one single case experiment. Common targets for training were observed across the studies. These included positioning of the conversational partner and child for interaction, creating communication opportunities and responding to children's communicative signals. Changes were observed in the conversation patterns used by conversational partners, which should facilitate the communication of children with cerebral palsy. However, the studies contain methodological flaws and as a result they cannot demonstrate that the changes were definitely a result of the intervention.Conclusions: Research on the effectiveness of interaction training for conversational partners of children with cerebral palsy is in its early stages. Training has incorporated common targets, which are widely acknowledged by clinicians to affect the communication of children with motor disorders. Trends in behaviour change have been suggested by research to date, but further studies that address the methodological inadequacies of the original research are needed to evaluate the effectiveness of this type of intervention. Suggestions of ways to improve the design and reporting of future studies, that will allow the mapping of interventions to clients, are discussed in this review.
Dismantling the Lidcombe Program of early stuttering intervention: verbal contingencies for stuttering and clinical measurement
Authors: Harrison Elisabeth , Onslow Mark , Menzies Ross 
Published: March 2004

AbstractBackground: Data have accumulated to show that the Lidcombe Program of early stuttering intervention is a safe treatment with positive outcomes for preschoolers who stutter, and a randomized controlled trial is under way at the time of writing. Program components have not been investigated experimentally so the functionality of each component is unknown.Aims: The aim of this preliminary study was to establish the viability of a programme of research that would assess the clinical value of two program components. These components were parental verbal contingencies for stuttering and severity ratings.Methods & Procedures: In the present preliminary experiment, 38 preschool children were randomized to an experiment involving a 4‐week ‘dose’ of treatment followed by 4 weeks without treatment. The dependent variable was the percentage of syllables stuttered (%SS) obtained from the mean %SS score from recordings on three recording occasions.Outcomes & Results: Some preliminary indications were found that parental verbal contingencies for stuttering contributed to treatment outcomes. No preliminary evidence was found for the contribution of parent severity ratings to treatment outcomes.Conclusions: It was concluded that a robust, statistical demonstration of these result would be desirable, but effect size estimates from the present data show that access to more than 650 families of stuttering preschool children would be required for such a study. Such a project would be beyond the resources of any one research group to complete in a timely manner, and a method to address this problem is proposed.
Protection from the Dark Side of NO: Signaling and Cellular Defenses Against Nitric Oxide Toxicity
Authors: Demple Bruce 
Published: March 2004

AbstractAlthough it is employed in biological systems for intercellular signaling or inflammatory responses, nitric oxide is not readily contained by cell membranes and so might damage surrounding non‐target cells. We have studied the genetic and biochemical basis of cellular resistance to the toxicity of NO. Inducible resistance mechanisms activate defense pathways that diminish lethal damage, prevent apoptosis, and may employ increased repair systems. A key inducible component of the cell response to NO toxicity is the enzyme heme oxygenase‐1 (HO1). The activity of HO1 is necessary for the basic resistance of mammalian cells to NO‐mediated cytotoxicity. However, the critical HO1‐dependent reaction(s) responsible for NO resistance have not yet been identified. The induction of HO1 in response to NO depends on limited transcriptional activation and, in some cell types, on dramatic NO‐induced stabilization of the HO1 mRNA. In human fibroblasts, this stabilization increases directly with the degree of NO exposure. Novel regulatory pathways appear to underlie the pathways of inducible NO resistance and NO‐mediated mRNA stability.
IUBMB Life, 56: 59‐64, 2004
Aneuploidy, the Primary Cause of the Multilateral Genomic Instability of Neoplastic and Preneoplastic Cells
Authors: Duesberg Peter , Fabarius Alice , Hehlmann Ruediger 
Published: March 2004

AbstractCancers have a clonal origin, yet their chromosomes and genes are non‐clonal or heterogeneous due to an inherent genomic instability. However, the cause of this genomic instability is still debated. One theory postulates that mutations in genes that are involved in DNA repair and in chromosome segregation are the primary causes of this instability. But there are neither consistent correlations nor is there functional proof for the mutation theory. Here we propose aneuploidy, an abnormal number of chromosomes, as the primary cause of the genomic instability of neoplastic and preneoplastic cells. Aneuploidy destabilizes the karyotype and thus the species, independent of mutation, because it corrupts highly conserved teams of proteins that segregate, synthesize and repair chromosomes. Likewise it destabilizes genes. The theory explains 12 of 12 specific features of genomic instability: (1) Mutagenic and non‐mutagenic carcinogens induce genomic instability via aneuploidy. (2) Aneuploidy coincides and segregates with preneoplastic and neoplastic genomic instability. (3) Phenotypes of genomically unstable cells change and even revert at high rates, compared to those of diploid cells, via aneuploidy‐catalyzed chromosome rearrangements. (4) Idiosyncratic features of cancers, like immortality and drug‐resistance, derive from subspecies within the 'polyphyletic' diversity of individual cancers. (5) Instability is proportional to the degree of aneuploidy. (6) Multilateral chromosomal and genetic instabilities typically coincide, because aneuploidy corrupts multiple targets simultaneously. (7) Gene mutation is common, but neither consistent nor clonal in cancer cells as predicted by the aneuploidy theory. (8) Cancers fall into a near‐diploid (2 N) class of low instability, a near 1.5 N class of high instability, or a near 3 N class of very high instability, because aneuploid fitness is maximized either by minimally unstable karyotypes or by maximally unstable, but adaptable karyotypes. (9) Dominant phenotypes, because of aneuploid genotypes. (10) Uncertain developmental phenotypes of Down and other aneuploidy syndromes, because supply‐sensitive, diploid programs are destabilized by products from aneuploid genes supplied at abnormal concentrations; the maternal age‐bias for Down's would reflect age‐dependent defects of the spindle apparatus of oocytes. (11) Non‐selective phenotypes, e.g., metastasis, because of linkage with selective phenotypes on the same chromosomes. (12) The target, induction of genomic instability, is several 1000‐fold bigger than gene mutation, because it is entire chromosomes. The mutation theory explains only a few of these features. We conclude that the transition of stable diploid to unstable aneuploid cell species is the primary cause of preneoplastic and neoplastic genomic instability and of cancer, and that mutations are secondary.
IUBMB Life, 56: 65‐81, 2004
Intracellular Proteins and Mechanisms Involved in the Control of gp130/JAK/STAT Cytokine Signaling
Authors: Carbia‐Nagashima Alberto , Arzt Eduardo 
Published: March 2004

AbstractCytokines regulate many cellular responses such as proliferation, differentiation and survival and play regulatory roles in numerous organ systems. The cytokines of the IL‐6 family use the membrane glycoprotein gp130 as a signal transducer and signal through the JAK/STAT pathway. As they share a common signal transducer they show some functional redundancy but also exhibit specific biological activities. Considering that gp130 is ubiquitously expressed, the time and place at which gp130 functions in vivo appears to be determined by spatially and chronologically regulated expression of specific cytokine‐binding receptor chains or cytokines themselves. The study of transgenic and knock‐out mice for different members of the gp130 signaling cascade has revealed they are critical in embryo development and play a role in physiological responses as diverse as hematopoiesis, the inflammatory response, nervous system development and survival and myocardial and pituitary proliferation. gp130 cytokines have also been implicated in cellular transformation and the pathophysiology of many tumors. Recently, two new families of proteins that function as negative regulators of cytokine signaling, SOCS and PIAS, have been extensively studied and could be new targets for the treatment of pathologies originated by gp130 signaling disregulation. The ubiquitin‐proteosome pathway and the new ubiquitin‐like protein SUMO‐1 seem to play an important role in SOCS and PIAS mediated inhibition but the mechanisms still remain to be elucidated.
IUBMB Life, 56: 83‐88, 2004
Structural Aspects of MicroRNA Biogenesis
Authors: Krol Jacek , Krzyzosiak Wlodzimierz J. 
Published: March 2004

AbstractOne of the biggest surprises at the beginning of the 'post‐genome era' was the discovery of numerous genes encoding microRNAs. They were found in genomes of such diverse organisms as Caenorhabditis elegans, Drosophila melanogaster, Arabidopsis thaliana, and Homo sapiens which implies their important role in multicellular life evolution. The number of microRNA genes is estimated to be nearly 1% of that of protein‐coding genes. Their products, tiny RNAs, are thought to regulate gene expression during development, organogenesis, and very likely during many other processes, by hybridizing to their target mRNAs. The cellular functions of mRNAs that are regulated by microRNAs are only beginning to be revealed, and details of this regulation mechanism are still poorly understood. In this article we discuss the possible mechanisms of microRNA biogenesis with special emphasis on their structural aspects. We have focused on the factors and effects that may be responsible for the existing length differences between different microRNAs, and for the observed length heterogeneity within some individual microRNA species.
IUBMB Life, 56: 95‐100, 2004