bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Bullied by siblings: association with peer victimisation and behaviour problems in Israeli lower secondary school children
Authors: Wolke Dieter , Samara Muthanna M. 
Published: June 2004

Background:  The association of bullying victimisation by siblings with a) involvement in bullying at school and b) behaviour problems among lower secondary school children in Israel was investigated.Method:  Self‐report questionnaires of sibling victimisation, peer bullying experiences and behaviour problems were completed by 921 pupils aged 12–15 (mean age 13.7 years).Results:  Of the sample, 16.2% were directly bullied by their siblings at home and 11.9% were direct victims of bullying by peers at school every week. More than half of victims of bullying by siblings (50.7%) were also involved in bullying behaviour at school compared to only 12.4% of those not victimised by siblings, indicating a strong link between intrafamilial and extrafamilial peer relationships. Children with poor sibling and peer relationships were at a highly increased risk for behaviour problems. Ethnic (Israeli Jewish vs. Arab) and sex differences were small compared to the effects of sibling relationship on behaviour problems.Conclusion:  Intervention strategies directed at reducing bullying in school should take into account pupils’ experiences of victimisation by siblings at home.
Mealtime energy intake and feeding behaviour in children who fail to thrive: a population‐based case‐control study
Authors: Parkinson Kathryn N. , Wright Charlotte M. , Drewett Robert F. 
Published: June 2004

Background:  The essential link between energy needs and energy intake is feeding behaviour, yet few studies have directly observed feeding behaviour in children who have failed to thrive. A cohort of 961 term infants was screened to identify children with first year weight gain below the 5th centile in order to examine their feeding behaviour and food intake.Methods:  A nested case‐control study was used with direct observation at 13–21 months over two lunchtime meals, one consisting of finger foods and the other of ‘spoon foods’. Thirty children who failed to thrive and 57 controls were studied. The video‐tapes were coded for feeding behaviour using a behavioural coding inventory which distinguishes between children feeding themselves and responding to being fed by their mother. The main outcome measures were counts of five feeding actions (give, accept, feedself, refuse, reject) and measures of energy intake, the weight of food eaten and meal duration.Results:  There were systematic differences in feeding behaviour between meal types, with mothers feeding their child more often at meals comprising spoon foods and children feeding themselves more often at meals comprising finger foods. By weight, more food was consumed at the spoon food meals, but energy intake was no higher, showing that the children compensated for the differing energy yields of the foods. Children who failed to thrive took in less energy than controls, and were less likely to sit in a highchair throughout the meal, but there were no clear differences in other aspects of feeding behaviour.Conclusions:  Food type is an important variable when studying childhood feeding behaviour. Children who fail to thrive take in less energy than controls of the same age, despite there being no major differences in mealtime feeding behaviour.
Metabotropic glutamate receptors are differentially regulated under elevated intraocular pressure
Authors: Dyka Frank M. , May Christian A. , Enz Ralf 
Published: June 2004

AbtractGlaucoma is a leading cause of blindness, ultimatively resulting in the apoptotic death of retinal ganglion cells. However, molecular mechanisms involved in ganglion cell death are poorly understood. While the involvement of ionotropic glutamate receptors has been extensively studied, virtually nothing is known about its metabotropic counterparts. Here, we compared the retinal gene expression of metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluR) in eyes with normal and elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) of DBA/2J mice, a model for secondary angle‐closure glaucoma using RT–PCR and immunohistochemistry. Elevated IOP in DBA/2J mice significantly increased retinal gene expression of mGluR1a, mGluR2, mGluR4a, mGluR4b, mGluR6 and mGluR7a when compared to C57BL/6 control animals, while mGluR5a/b and mGluR8a were decreased and no difference was observed for mGluR3 and mGluR8b. Specific antibodies detected an increase of mGluR1a and mGluR5a/b in both synaptic layers and in the ganglion cell layer of the retina under elevated IOP. Because ganglion cell death in DBA/2J mice occurs most likely by apoptotic mechanisms, we demonstrated up‐regulation of mGluRs in neurons undergoing apoptosis. In summary, we support the idea that the specific gene regulation of mGluRs is a part of the glaucoma‐like pathological process that develops in the eyes of DBA/2J mice.
A minimal length between tau exon 10 and 11 is required for correct splicing of exon 10
Authors: Yu Qingming , Guo Jun , Zhou Jianhua 
Published: June 2004

AbstractMutations that stimulate exon 10 inclusion into the human tau mRNA cause frontotemporal dementia with parkinsonism, associated with chromosome 17 (FTDP‐17), and other tauopathies. This suggests that the ratio of exon 10 inclusion to exclusion in adult brain is one of the factors to determine biological functions of the tau protein. To investigate the underlying splicing mechanism and identify potential therapeutic targets for tauopathies, we generated a series of mini‐gene constructs with intron deletions from the full length of tau exons 9–11 mini‐gene construct. RT–PCR results demonstrate that there is a minimum distance requirement between exon 10 and 11 for correct splicing of the exon 10. In addition, SRp20, a member of serine‐arginine (SR) protein family of splicing factors was found to facilitate exclusion of exon 10 in a dosage‐dependent manner. Significantly, SRp20 also induced exon 10 skipping from pre‐mRNAs containing mutations identified in FTDP‐17 patients. Based on those results, we generated a cell‐based system to measure inclusion to exclusion of exon 10 in the tau mRNA using the luciferase reporter. The firefly luciferase was fused into exon 11 in frame, and a stop code was also created in exon 10. Inclusion of exon 10 prevents luciferase expression, whereas exclusion of exon 10 generates luciferase activity. To minimize baseline luciferase expression, our reporter construct also contains a FTDP‐17 mutation that increases exon 10 inclusion. We demonstrate that the splicing pattern of our reporter construct mimics that of endogenous tau gene. Co‐transfection of SRp20 and SRp55, two SR proteins that promote exon 10 exclusion, increases production of luciferase. We conclude that this cell‐based system can be used to identify biological substances that modulate exon 10 splicing.
Quantitative determination of extracellular glutamine concentration in rat brain, and its elevationin vivoby system A transport inhibitor, α‐(methylamino)isobutyrate
Authors: Kanamori Keiko , Ross Brian D. 
Published: June 2004

AbstractThe basal concentration of glutamine in the extracellular fluid, [GLNECF], was determined to be 385 ± 16 μmin the cortico‐striatal region of awake rats. Thisin vivoconcentration was determined by measuring glutamine concentrations in dialysates collected at several flow rates (0.2–4 μL/min), and extrapolating to the concentration at zero flow‐rate. Dialysate glutamine concentrations in the somatosensory cortex, hippocampus and thalamus showed no statistically significant difference. In these brain regions, [GLNECF] was elevated 1.5‐ to 1.8‐fold upon perfusion of 50–250 mmα‐(methylamino)isobutyrate (MeAIB), a competitive inhibitor of glutamine uptake by system A amino acid transporter. The results show, for the first time, that MeAIB causes elevation of brain GLNECFin vivo. The MeAIB‐induced elevation of [GLNECF] provides additional support for the current view that system A GLN transporter (Gln T/SAT 1) is the major pathway for the uptake of GLNECFby neurons, while GLN release from glia is mainly mediated by a system N transporter (SN1) which is not inhibitable by MeAIB. The steady‐state GLNECFconcentration and the effectiveness of MeAIB in inhibiting neuronal GLN uptakein vivo, reported in this study, will be useful, when combined with the knownin vitrokinetic properties of the GLN transporters, for study of GLN transport in the intact brain.
Binding and functional activity of nicotinic cholinergic receptors in selected rat brain regions are increased following long‐term but not short‐term nicotine treatment
Authors: Nguyen Henry N. , Rasmussen Bruce A. , Perry David C. 
Published: June 2004

AbstractChronic nicotine exposure up‐regulates neuronal nicotinic receptors, but the functional consequences for these receptors is less well understood. Following 2 weeks of nicotine or saline treatment by osmotic minipump, the functional activity of nicotinic receptors was measured by concentration–response curves for epibatidine‐stimulated 86Rb efflux. Nicotine‐treated animals had a significantly higher maximal efflux in cerebral cortex and superior colliculus, but not in thalamus or interpeduncular nucleus plus medial habenula. This increase was confirmed in a separate experiment with stimulation by single concentrations of epibatidine (cortex, superior colliculus) or nicotine (cortex only). Chronic nicotine did not alter 86Rb efflux stimulated by cytisine, an α3β4‐selective agonist, or by potassium chloride, in any region. Short‐term (16 h) nicotine exposure caused no changes in either 86Rb efflux or receptor binding measured with [3H]epibatidine. Binding was significantly increased after 2 weeks nicotine exposure in cortex, superior colliculus and thalamus, but not in interpeduncular nucleus plus medial habenula. The increases in epibatidine‐stimulated 86Rb efflux in the four regions tested was linearly correlated with the increases in [3H]epibatidine binding in these regions (R2 = 0.91), suggesting that rat brain receptors up‐regulated by chronic nicotine are active. These results have important consequences for understanding nicotinic receptor neurobiology in smokers and users of nicotine replacement therapy.
CHIP promotes proteasomal degradation of familial ALS‐linked mutant SOD1 by ubiquitinating Hsp/Hsc70
Authors: Urushitani Makoto , Kurisu Junko , Tateno Minako , Hatakeyama Shigetsugu , Nakayama Kei‐Ichi , Kato Shinsuke , Takahashi Ryosuke 
Published: June 2004

SummaryOver 100 mutants in superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) are reported in familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). However, the precise mechanism by which they are degraded through a ubiquitin‐proteasomal pathway (UPP) remains unclear. Here, we report that heat‐shock protein (Hsp) or heat‐shock cognate (Hsc)70, and the carboxyl terminus of the Hsc70‐interacting protein (CHIP), are involved in proteasomal degradation of mutant SOD1. Only mutant SOD1 interacted with Hsp/Hsc70 in vivo, and in vitro experiments revealed that Hsp/Hsc70 preferentially interacted with apo‐SOD1 or dithiothreitol (DTT)‐treated holo‐SOD1, compared with metallated or oxidized forms. CHIP, a binding partner of Hsp/Hsc70, interacted only with mutant SOD1 and promoted its degradation. Both Hsp70 and CHIP promoted polyubiquitination of mutant SOD1‐associated molecules, but not of mutant SOD1, indicating that mutant SOD1 is not a substrate of CHIP. Moreover, mutant SOD1‐associated Hsp/Hsc70, a known substrate of CHIP, was polyubiquitinated in vivo, and polyubiquitinated Hsc70 by CHIP interacted with the S5a subunit of the 26S proteasome in vitro. Furthermore, CHIP was predominantly expressed in spinal neurons, and ubiquitinated inclusions in the spinal motor neurons of hSOD1G93A transgenic mice were CHIP‐immunoreactive. Taken together, we propose a novel pathway in which ubiquitinated Hsp/Hsc70 might deliver mutant SOD1 to, and facilitate its degradation, at the proteasome.
Assessment and optimization of the nutritional situation in Croatian boarding schools
Authors: Gajdoš Jasenka , Gedrich Kurt , Kurtanjek Želimir , Karg Georg 
Published: June 2004

AbstractThe aim of this study was to assess the nutritional quality of the food supply in Croatian boarding schools and to provide suggestions aimed at its improvement. The work is based on a nutritional survey and nutrition optimization. The survey assessed the food supply in female, male and co‐educational boarding schools in Zagreb, Croatia. Particularly, the diets of students aged 15–19 years were investigated and the relationship between students’ anthropometric measurements and the supply of energy, protein, fat and carbohydrates was analysed. Based on the survey results, nutrition optimization was applied to determine diets meeting the recommended dietary allowances (RDAs) of selected nutrients at least cost. The survey showed that the diets provided in Croatian boarding schools are generally characterized by an oversupply of energy and fat to female pupils and an undersupply of many micronutrients to pupils of both genders. This seems to promote the development of obesity in female students. Furthermore, it could be shown by means of nutrition optimization that the nutritional situation in the boarding schools could easily be improved by a reasonable selection and combination of dishes that would also lead to a reduction of food costs. Menu planning by means of nutrition optimization could help to improve the nutritional quality of the food supply in Croatian boarding schools and simultaneously decrease the corresponding food costs.
Food hygiene regulation and enforcement policy in the UK: the underlying philosophy and comparisons with occupational health and safety law
Authors: Howard Michael T. 
Published: June 2004

Editor’s preface Dr Michael Howard is a Lecturer in Environmental Health at King’s College London specializing in environmental health law and compliance strategies. He has undertaken a considerable amount of research into occupational health and safety, and food hygiene regulation. He is particularly interested in the approaches that regulators and enforcement agencies can use to promote an understanding and consensus with businesses that need to comply with the law. In this paper he proposes and argues that the philosophy of self‐regulation, which underpins occupational health and safety legislation in the UK, is adopted for food hygiene legislation. This notion will undoubtedly be opposed by some and alternative views on this subject are welcomed, particularly from outside the UK. AbstractThis paper suggests that there is no specific underlying philosophy for food hygiene law in the UK. It describes the philosophy of self‐regulation which underlies UK occupational health and safety law, and addresses the question of why this has not been adopted for food law. The paper also describes the recent and continuing developments in food law, some of which move towards a self‐regulatory approach. It is argued that a self‐regulatory approach would provide a more appropriate form of regulation than the command and control approach which is currently applied. A major benefit of this would be that self‐regulatory systems are likely to be more effective in controlling food safety management failures, the most common cause of food borne disease. Furthermore, this would remove the inconsistency that exists at present between the food hygiene and occupational health and safety regulatory systems. It is argued that a consistent regulatory approach would benefit duty holders and enforcement agencies. It is suggested that the main reasons for the absence of a clear philosophical basis for UK food safety law are historical.
Competitive service quality improvement (CSQI): a case study in the fast‐food industry
Authors: Lee Seok‐hoon , Kim Yong‐pil , Hemmington Nigel , Yun Deok‐kyun 
Published: June 2004

AbstractThis paper proposes a new model for competitive service quality improvement (CSQI) which is applied to a case study in the fast‐food industry. Current and competitive service quality levels are considered for improving competitive service quality using current service quality levels measured by the SERVQUAL instrument with a ratio‐score scale. Competitive service quality is analysed by customer assessment relative to each service attribute. Subsequently, the entropy method is used to quantify competitiveness. The value of each attribute's entropy indicates the relative importance of the attribute for CSQI. Finally, the attribute priorities are determined by the combination of current service quality level and entropy value. Empirical testing of the model on a fast‐food case study indicates the importance of using the current service quality level and competitive performance indices simultaneously within a CSQI model.
Payment – an undervalued part of the meal experience?§
Authors: Hansen Kai Victor , Jensen Øystein , Gustafsson Inga‐Britt 
Published: June 2004

AbstractThe research presented in this paper focuses on the service performance of the staff in à la Carte restaurants, and how this could influence the meal experience from the customers’ point of view. Following a mainly grounded theory approach, the empirical material that formed the background for this article was five focus group interviews of restaurant customers from the cities of Oslo and Stavanger in Norway. The participants represented persons from different lines of work. Payment is initially considered here as a component of the meal, and the results indicate that payment represents an important part of the service aspect. Hence, payment operations represent the main component within the last stage of the meal experience. When customers experience the payment process in an unsatisfactory way, it can have a negative effect on their meal experiences as a whole. This could in turn have a negative impact on the customers’ incentive to revisit the particular restaurant or even other restaurants. Payment ‘just in time’ as perceived by the customers can have a positive effect on the number of customers in the restaurant in the long term. The data analysis uncovers nine specific aspects of payment that are important to the customers. A conceptual model is developed to show the process from raw data to results.
Pattern recognition methods in human‐assisted reproduction
Authors: Patrizi G. , Manna C. , Moscatelli C. , Nieddu L. 
Published: June 2004

AbstractThe aim of this paper is to present a method which allows to select, more accurately than it is currently done, embryos, at the desired stage of development, which will lead to births, although perhaps with some slight differences in precision, that are deemed to be important. Thus we show that embryos, pronuclei and oocytes consist at least of two types: those suitable for procreation and those not suitable and both types can be recognised easily by an automatic procedure at whatever stage is desired. From their digitilised images before transfer, specific characteristics are formulated automatically and through a particular pattern recognition algorithm the specimen is recognised as belonging to one of two groups with a high precision. The algorithm works in two stages: in the first, the images and their outcomes are used to train the algorithm and in a second stage, on the basis of the rule learnt in training, embryos, pronuclei or oocytes are classified. As multiple transfers and pregnancies occur the training must be carried out with an imprecise ‘teacher’ through a suitable algorithm which can handle this.
Analysing stability and investments in railway networks using advanced evolutionary algorithms
Authors: Engelhardt‐Funke O. , Kolonko M. 
Published: June 2004

AbstractWe consider a network of periodically running railway lines. Investments are possible to increase the speed and to improve the synchronisation of trains. The model also includes random delays of trains and the propagation of delays across the network. We derive a cost‐benefit analysis of investments, where the benefit is measured in reduced waiting time for passengers changing lines. We also estimate the actual mean waiting time simulating the train delays. This allows us to analyse the impact that an increasing synchronisation of the timetable has on its stability. Simulation is based on an analytical model obtained from queueing theory. We use sophisticated adaptive evolutionary algorithms, which send off avant‐garde solutions from time to time to speed up the optimisation process. As there is a high correlation between scheduled and estimated waiting times for badly synchronised timetables, we are even able to include the time consuming simulation into our optimisation runs.
Group decision and distributed technical support
Authors: Norese M.F. , Toso F. 
Published: June 2004

AbstractA group of 45 decision‐makers (local authorities and representatives from the communities) worked together for 16 months, with a facilitator group, to identify relevant criteria to analyze the consequences of a plant location. Two multi‐criteria models, one for an incinerator and the other for a waste disposal plant, were elaborated and an ELECTRE method was used to compare sites and rank them, with the aim of selecting the best sites for which an environmental impact assessment procedure will be activated. A virtual team, from different organizations, supported this work from a technical point of view. This kind of ‘distributed support’ to a multi‐criteria decision required actions of coordination and knowledge filtering and interpreting. The paper proposes an analysis of this participatory decision process and synthesizes the difficulties and results of the multi‐criteria decision aid intervention.
Data mining of the Australian adverse drug reactions database: a comparison of Bayesian and other statistical indicators
Authors: Harvey J.T. , Turville C. , Barty S.M. 
Published: June 2004

AbstractThe Australian adverse drug reactions database is derived from 140,000 reports over 30 years, including many instances of multiple drugs and multiple reactions. There are several thousand different drugs and reactions, and so the drug‐reaction table is large and sparse. To aid rapid expert assessment of new reports, Bayesian approaches are being compared with other statistical methods for the re‐evaluation of historical data and to provide early indications of emerging trends. Bayesian methods provide more balanced detection criteria than either descriptive statistics such as relative risks, which are subject to large sampling variation for rare co‐occurrences, or statistical significance levels which are conversely weighted towards the most common co‐occurrences. In this paper the various methods are reviewed and some indicative early results are presented.
Dissymmetric warfare versus asymmetric warfare
Authors: Stahel Albert A. 
Published: June 2004

AbstractThis paper presents two concepts: asymmetric warfare and dissymmetric warfare. NATO and US Military operations in recent wars in Kosovo and Afghanistan are analysed by means of comparison with old Chinese strategic thinking. No‐Loss‐Strategy and virtual warfare as well as the transformation from asymmetric to dissymmetric and from dissymmetric to asymmetric warfare are reflected upon.
A near‐exact method for solving the log‐truck scheduling problem
Authors: Palmgren M. , Rönnqvist M. , Värbrand P. 
Published: June 2004

AbstractWe propose a solution method for the log‐truck scheduling problem, which is a generalisation of the pick‐up and delivery problem with time windows. Our approach is based on column generation and pseudo branch and price. Each column in the proposed mathematical model represents one feasible route for one truck. We start by designing a priori an initial set of routes. Then, the subproblem, which is a constrained shortest path problem, is solved by applying a k‐shortest path algorithm. Numerical results from a case study are presented.