bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Genetic polymorphisms among human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) wild‐type strains
Authors: Pignatelli Sara , Monte Paola Dal , Rossini Giada , Landini Maria Paola 
Published: August 2004

AbstractHuman cytomegalovirus (HCMV) clinical isolates display genetic polymorphisms in multiple genes. Some authors have suggested that those polymorphisms may be implicated in HCMV‐induced immunopathogenesis, as well as in strain‐specific behaviours, such as tissue‐tropism and ability to establish persistent or latent infections. This review summarises the features of the main clustered HCMV polymorphic open reading frames and also briefly cites other variable loci within the viral genome. The implications of gene polymorphisms are discussed in terms of potentially advantageous higher fitness obtained by the strain, but also taking into account that the published data are often speculative. The last section of this review summarises and critically analyses the main literature reports about the linkage of strain specific genotypes with clinical manifestations of HCMV disease in different patient populations affected by severe cytomegalovirus infections, namely immunocompromised subjects and congenitally infected newborns. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A study of science teaching self‐efficacy and outcome expectancy beliefs of teachers in India
Authors: Desouza Josephine M. Shireen , Boone William J. , Yilmaz Ozgul 
Published: August 2004

AbstractElementary and middle school teachers in urban schools in India provided responses to the science efficacy instrument (STEBI‐A). These responses were evaluated using Rasch analysis and parametric tests. Rasch fit statistics and person‐item maps were evaluated. It was found that the instrument worked well for the two groups of teachers, but the differential item functioning analysis found that the teachers utilized several items in the scale differently. Parametric tests suggested that self‐efficacy and outcome expectancy measures correlated highly for middle school teachers, for those that did not have a science degree and a written science curriculum. Significant predictors of self‐efficacy are—minutes per week science is taught, educational level, number of days in the school year, holding of a science degree, and the presence of a science curriculum. From all of the analyses we conclude that teaching experience is important, but not necessarily enough to increase teachers' outcome expectancy beliefs. The results of this study should benefit educators and policy makers with respect to teacher education in India and around the world. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed 88:837–854, 2004
Reflective scientific sense‐making dialogue in two languages: The science in the dialogue and the dialogue in the science
Authors: Ash Doris 
Published: August 2004

AbstractIn this paper I focus on the transition from everyday to scientific ways of reasoning, and on the intertwined roles of meaning‐making dialogue and science content as they contribute to scientific literacy. I refer to views of science, and how scientific understanding is advanced dialogically, by Hurd (Science Education, 1998, 82, 402–416), Brown (The Journal of Learning Sciences, 1992, 2(2), 141–178), Bruner (Acts of Meaning, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1990), Roth (In J. Brophy (Ed.), Social Constructivist Teaching: Affordances and Constraints (Advances in Research on Teaching Series, Vol. 9), New York: Elsevier/JAI, 2003), and Wells (Dialogic Inquiry: Towards a Sociocultural Practice and Theory of Education, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999). I argue that family collaborative dialogues in nonschool settings can be the foundations for scientific ways of thinking. I focus on the particular reflective family dialogues at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, when family members remembered and synthesized essential biological themes, centering on adaptation, from one visit to the next, in both Spanish and English. My approach is informed by sociocultural theory, with emphasis on the negotiations of meaning in the zone of proximal development (Vygotsky, 1978), as learners engage in joint productive activity (Tharp & Gallimore, Rousing Minds to Life: Teaching, Learning and Schooling in Social Context, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1988). Over the past decades, researchers have discovered that observing social activity, conversation, and meaning‐making in informal settings (Crowley & Callanan, 1997; Guberman, 2002; Rogoff, 2001; Vasquez, Pease‐Alvarez, & Shannon, Pushing Boundaries: Language and Culture in a Mexicano Community, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1994) has much to teach us regarding learning in general. To date there has been little research with Spanish‐speaking families in informal learning settings and virtually none that integrates the home with both formal and informal learning. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed 88:855–884, 2004
The persistence of personal and social themes in context: Long‐ and short‐term studies of students' scientific ideas
Authors: Helldén Gustav F. , Solomon Joan 
Published: August 2004

AbstractIn this paper we will examine the persistence of “misconceptions.” We used data from a longitudinal study of personal ideas in 24 students' thinking about ecological processes. The results show students often speaking about personal experiences dating from an early age, to which they had also referred in similar interviews conducted years before. These data are compared with results from a different study of middle school physics students' thinking about energy and steam engines. After the new learning had been “successfull” completed and assessed, old ideas returned. These findings are used to set up a theoretical basis for understanding the longitudinal results. Findings from memory studies are shown to explicate the long‐term effects of the passage of time and prompts for the recall of scientific concepts. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed 88:885–900, 2004
Altered emotional behaviors and the expression of 5‐HT1A and M1 muscarinic receptors in μ‐opioid receptor knockout mice
Authors: Yoo Ji‐Hoon , Lee Seok‐Yong , Loh Horace H. , Ho Ing K. , Jang Choon‐Gon 
Published: August 2004

AbstractAnxiety and depression alterations have been reported in μ‐opioid receptor knockout mice after exon 2 disruption. However, emotional behaviors, such as novelty and emergence responses have not been reported in μ‐opioid receptor knockout mice due to the disruptions of exon 2 and 3. Here, we report that μ‐opioid receptor knockout mice, with deletion of exon 2 and 3, display significant emotional behavior changes; they showed less anxiety in the elevated plus maze and emergence tests, reduced response to novel stimuli in the novelty test, and less depressive‐like behavior in the forced‐swim test. Analysis of the compensatory mechanism in μ‐opioid receptor knockout mice revealed that the M1 mRNA levels were reduced in the cortex, caudate putamen, nucleus accumbens, and hippocampus, and that M1 receptor levels were reduced in the nucleus accumbens, CA1, and the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus, versus the wild‐type. However, 5‐HT1A receptor levels were significantly elevated in the cerebral cortex and in the hypothalamus of μ‐opioid receptor knockout mice versus the wild‐type. These aberrant emotional behavioral phenotypes are possibly related to M1 and 5‐HT1A receptor alterations in the μ‐opioid receptor knockout mice. Overall, our study suggests that μ‐opioid receptor may play a role in the modification of emotional responses to novelty, anxiety, and depression. Synapse 54:72–82, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Senescent phenotype achieved in vitro is indistinguishable, with the exception of Bcl‐2 content, from that attained during the in vivo aging process
Authors: Königsberg Mina , López‐Diazguerrero Norma E. , Aguilar María C. , Ventura José L. , Gutiérrez‐Ruiz María C. , Zentella Alejandro 
Published: August 2004

AbstractSenescent phenotype can be attained by diverse agents, thus suggesting that there might be molecular differences between the senescence achieved in vivo and the senescence‐like state attained in vitro under culture conditions. In this study we compare the senescent phenotype reached by cells derived from young animals when cultured in vitro with the one associated with the in vivo aging process. Several in vitro senescence parameters, including MTT reduction, proliferation rate, DNA synthesis, SA‐β‐gal staining, and both in vivo and in vitro Bcl‐2 content, were determined. Alterations in DNA electrophoretic mobility were evaluated to test differences in bulk chromatin structure. Our results indicate that although it is possible to achieve a senescent phenotype with cells derived from young animals aged in culture, this phenotype differs from the one observed in older animals, due to lack of in vivo damage inducers to which cells are being exposed during natural aging.
GABAB receptors on central terminals of C‐afferents mediate intersegmental Aδ‐afferent evoked hypoalgesia
Authors: Jones Toni L. , Sweitzer Sarah M. , Peters Michael C. , Wilson Steven P. , Yeomans David C. 
Published: August 2004

AbstractThe current study tested the hypothesis that repetitive activation of sciatic Aδ‐afferents evokes a saphenous C‐afferent hypoalgesia mediated by pre‐synaptic GABAB receptors. Tonic activation of sciatic Aδ‐afferents was produced by cutaneous application of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) followed by repetitive thermal activation of Aδ‐afferents on the dorsolateral hind paw. The tonic activation of sciatic Aδ‐afferents produced hypoalgesia in saphenous C‐afferents. Intrathecal administration of the GABAB receptor antagonist, saclofen, attenuated saphenous hypoalgesia demonstrating at least partial mediation by central GABAB receptors. To determine if this central GABAB receptor activation occurs at pre‐synaptic primary afferent terminals or postsynaptic spinal cord neurons, the dorsal hind paws of mice were infected with a recombinant herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV‐1) designed to selectively knock down expression of the GABAB1a receptor subunit (PAGB1a) in primary afferents or a control virus encoding the E. coli lacZ gene (PZ). Four weeks after infection, GABAB receptor immunoreactivity in the superficial dorsal horns ipsilateral to PAGB1a application was reduced and hypoalgesia in saphenous C‐afferents was attenuated when compared to PZ‐infected mice. These findings indicate an intersegmental, sciatic Aδ‐afferent‐evoked hypoalgesic effect on saphenous C‐afferent responses that is mediated by pre‐synaptic GABAB receptors on the terminals of those C‐afferents.
Neurotrophic factors and the pathophysiology of schizophrenic psychoses
Authors: Durany Nuria , Thome Johannes 
Published: August 2004

AbstractThe aim of this review is to summarize the present state of findings on altered neurotrophic factor levels in schizophrenic psychoses, on variations in genes coding for neurotrophic factors, and on the effect of antipsychotic drugs on the expression level of neurotrophic factors. This is a conceptual paper that aims to establish the link between the neuromaldevelopment theory of schizophrenia and neurotrophic factors. An extensive literature review has been done using the Pub Med database, a service of the National Library of Medicine, which includes over 14 million citations for biomedical articles back to the 1950s. The majority of studies discussed in this review support the notion of alterations of neurotrophic factors at the protein and gene level, respectively, and support the hypothesis that these alterations could, at least partially, explain some of the morphological, cytoarchitectural and neurobiochemical abnormalities found in the brain of schizophrenic patients. However, the results are not always conclusive and the clinical significance of these alterations is not fully understood. It is, thus, important to further neurotrophic factor research in order to better understand the etiopathogenesis of schizophrenic psychoses and, thus, potentially develop new treatment strategies urgently needed for patients suffering from these devastating disorders.
Spatial feeding patterns of herring (Clupea harengus L.), sprat (Sprattus sprattus L.), and the three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus L.) in the Gulf of Finland, Baltic Sea
Authors: Peltonen Heikki , Vinni Mika , Lappalainen Antti , Pönni Jukka 
Published: August 2004

AbstractThe pelagic-fish fauna in the Gulf of Finland, Baltic Sea was sampled by trawling and hydroacoustics in September 2002. Spatial and size/age-dependent patterns in the diets of herring (Clupea harengus), sprat (Sprattus sprattus), and the three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) were explored. At night the fish concentrated at thermocline depth but at dawn they scattered over a larger depth range. All three fish species fed on mesozooplankton but nektobenthos, for example, was scarce. In the eastern Gulf of Finland, where there is a strong freshwater inflow, the cladoceran Bosmina longispina was the dominant prey item, but it was also abundant in the diets of young-of-the-year (total length <10 cm) clupeids in the western Gulf of Finland. In these more saline western areas, calanoid copepods, especially Eurytemora affinis, were the most important prey for large (≥10 cm) clupeids. The large clupeids in particular, also fed on Temora longicornis. The diet of three-spined stickleback overlapped with that of the clupeids. However, Cercopagis pengoi, a recent arrival to the area, was much more abundant in the diet of stickleback than in the diet of clupeids.
Prenatal intravenous cocaine and the heart rate‐orienting response: a dose–response study
Authors: Foltz Tara L. , Snow Diane M. , Strupp Barbara J. , Booze Rosemarie M. , Mactutus Charles F. 
Published: August 2004

AbstractAttentional dysfunction is a persistent behavioral abnormality that is emerging as one of the cardinal features in the investigations of the teratogenic effects of cocaine in humans and rodents. The present study sought to extend this work by using a dose–response design with an alternate strain of rat. Virgin Long–Evans female rats, implanted with an IV access port prior to breeding were administered saline, 0.5, 1.0, or 3.0 mg/kg of cocaine HCl from gestational day (GD) GD8–21 (1× per day‐GD8–14, 2× per day‐GD15–21). Cocaine had no significant effect on maternal or litter parameters. At 14–15 days of age, 1 male and 1 female from each litter were tested to evaluate the heart rate orienting response (HR‐OR). Following 20 min for acclimation, pups were presented an olfactory stimulus for 20 s per trial, across four trials, and with an intertrial interval of 2 min. The initial baseline HR was not significantly different across the treatment groups, although cocaine did alter the stability of the QRS complex duration. The magnitude of the HR‐OR averaged across trials increased as a linear function of dosage of cocaine. A more complex (quadratic) interaction between cocaine dose and sex of the offspring was also noted. When examined across trials, the controls failed to display any significant within‐session variation in the HR‐OR; in contrast all of the prenatal cocaine treated groups displayed either sensitization (low and high dose) or habituation of the response (middle dose). Analysis of the peak HR‐OR confirmed that the controls were indeed displaying the response on at least one trial of the session, albeit not consistently on any specific trial. The more vigorous HR‐OR of the prenatal cocaine groups, relative to vehicle controls, most likely reflects an alteration in development of the neural basis of response; as previously shown, the most vigorous response to the olfactory stimulus is seen early (12 days of age) and progressively decreases across the preweaning period. In sum, prenatal exposure to cocaine, at least when administered by the IV route, provides reproducible alterations in attentional processes, as indexed by the noradrenergically‐mediated HR‐OR. The documentation of a linear dose–response function suggests that there is likely no threshold for the drug‐induced alteration. Moreover, the sex of the animal also appears to play some role in the nature of the expression of the altered HR‐OR.
Juvenile 5HT1B receptor knockout mice exhibit reduced pharmacological sensitivity to 5HT1A receptor activation
Authors: El‐Khodor Bassem F. , Dimmler Miriam Hernandez , Amara Djamel Ait , Hofer Myron , Hen Rene , Brunner Dani 
Published: August 2004

AbstractSerotonin is an important modulator of anxiety and thus drugs that act on this system have frequently been shown to be either anxiogenic or anxiolytic. In addition serotonin has important trophic functions during early development and disruption of serotonin homeostasis is likely to have long‐lasting repercussions in the adult. In the present study we examined the contribution of two serotonin receptor subtypes (5HT1A and 5HT1B) to the pathophysiology of anxiety during development. For this, we have studied homozygous knockout mice lacking the 5HT1B receptor and examined the effect of pharmacological manipulations of 5HT1A and 5HT1B receptors on locomotor activity and emission of ultrasonic vocalization (USV) in 7–8 days old mice. As shown before, drug naïve 5HT1B knockout pups showed reduced USV and were hyperactive, in comparison to wild type controls. The administration of RU24969 (a 5HT1A/1B agonist) showed a dose‐dependent decrease in USV in the wild type and a biphasic effect in the mutants and resulted in dose‐dependent increase in activity in the wild type and, to a lesser extent, in the knockouts. The selective 5HT1A agonist, 8OH‐DPAT, dose‐dependently blocked vocalization in both genotypes and also increased locomotion. To differentially activate 5HT1B receptors we first blocked 5HT1A receptors with WAY100315 and then treated with RU24969. At a high testing temperature, pretreatment with WAY100315 resulted in an anxiogenic effect in wild type pups but not in the knockouts. In agreement with our findings that 5HT1B knockout mice were in general less sensitive to 5HT1A activation, 5HT1A receptor binding was reduced in the knockouts in comparison to controls. Finally, treatment with diazepam dose‐dependently decreased USVs in both group with the knockouts showing enhanced sensitivity to this drug. Our results show that important adaptations to a disturbance of serotonin homeostasis occur during the first week of life within the serotonergic system. The observed decreased in sensitivity of 5HT1B knockout mice to 5HT1A and increased to GABAA manipulations are discussed within the context of serotonergic plasticity during development and the implication for clinical treatment of anxiety in genetically predisposed individuals.
Cocaine‐induced inhibition of process outgrowth in locus coeruleus neurons: role of gestational exposure period and offspring sex
Authors: Snow Diane M. , Carman Heidi M. , Smith Jeffrey D. , Booze Rosemarie M. , Welch Marian A. , Mactutus Charles F. 
Published: August 2004

AbstractCocaine use during pregnancy is associated with neurobehavioral problems in school‐aged children that implicate alterations in attentional processes, potentially due to impairments in the noradrenergic system. We analyzed locus coeruleus (LC) neurite outgrowth characteristics following the administration of a physiologically relevant dose of cocaine (3.0 mg/kg) issued during critical phases of gestation (gestational day (GD)8–14, GD15–21, GD8–21). Results showed that cocaine inhibits LC neurite outgrowth and development, as evidenced by a decrease in total neurite length, a decrease in neurite length per cell, and a decrease in the percentage of cells with neurites. Morphological differences between cultures treated with and without cocaine were also evident. Further, the specific gestational exposure period effects were also dependent upon sex of the fetus. Finally, a discriminant function anaylsis suggested that the pattern and magnitude of alterations that defined the GD8–14 exposure were significantly different from that of the GD15–21 or GD8–21 exposures. Collectively, these data demonstrate a direct, disruptive effect of cocaine on noradrenergic neurons and may provide a neurobiological basis for changes in attentional function seen in offspring exposed to cocaine in utero.
Peripheral and central neurochemical effects of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) in humans and nonhuman primates: assessing bioeffect and mechanisms of action
Authors: Anderson George M. 
Published: August 2004

AbstractIt is clear that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) act powerfully to inhibit serotonin (5‐hydroxytryptamine, 5‐HT) uptake centrally and peripherally. However, there are a number of critical unanswered questions concerning the effects of the drugs in adults and children. The influence of age and duration of treatment on the extent of uptake inhibition and on the enhancement of central serotonergic functioning are unclear. In addition, the relationship of these factors and effects to the therapeutic and adverse effects of the SSRIs remain to be clarified. The general clinical utility of platelet 5‐HT measurement is reviewed and studies assessing central and peripheral uptake blockade in infants and children and non‐human primates are discussed. Recent investigations of central neurochemical effects of the SSRIs in primates assessed through measurement of 5‐HT and related compounds in cisternal cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of the rhesus monkey are presented. In summary, the studies described have found that: human fetal exposure to SSRIs has substantial effects on 5‐HT transport in utero; exposure to SSRIs through breastmilk of mothers treated for postpartum depression usually has negligible effects on 5‐HT uptake; prescribed SSRIs appear to exert similar effects on 5‐HT transporter blockade in children and adults; and rapid and sustained increases are seen in monkey cisternal CSF levels of 5‐HT upon initiation of SSRI administration. The implications of the observations in terms of behavioral effects, clinical practice, and underlying mechanisms of action of the SSRIs are discussed.
Targeting serotonin and norepinephrine receptors in stress urinary incontinence
Authors: Thor K.B 
Published: August 2004

AbstractStress urinary incontinence (SUI) in women is prevalent, and there are no globally developed or widely approved drugs for the disease. One strategy for improving urinary continence is to augment the function of the urethral rhabdosphincter through neuropharmacology. The present review describes the innervation of the urethra, and the role of the central nervous system in controlling nerve activity. Targeting serotonin and norepinephrine (or noradrenaline) receptors in Onuf's nucleus is shown to augment the function of the urethral rhabdosphincter by increasing pudendal nerve efferent activity. It is proposed that the ability of serotonin and norepinephrine to enhance the effects of glutamate (the primary excitatory neurotransmitter for pudendal sphincter motor neurons) while having no direct effects of their own, allow facilitation of rhabdosphincter activity during urine storage while allowing complete relaxation during micturition. Duloxetine, a potent and balanced dual serotonin (5‐HT)‐norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI), potentiates these physiological effects of endogenous serotonin and norepinephrine (by inhibiting the reuptake of these neurotransmitters in the pre‐synaptic element) and thereby enhances the central nervous system's natural continence control mechanisms.