bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Ghrelin and adiponectin in patients with Cushing's disease before and after successful transsphenoidal surgery
Authors: Libè Rossella , Morpurgo Paola Silvia , Cappiello Vincenzo , Maffini Antonia , Bondioni Sara , Locatelli Marco , Zavanone Mario , Beck‐Peccoz Paolo , Spada Anna 
Published: January 2005

Summarybackground  Ghrelin, an endogenous ligand of the GH secretagogue receptor that exerts orexigenic activity, is negatively correlated with body mass index (BMI) and insulin resistance. Conversely, low levels of adiponectin (ApN), a circulating adipocytokine with antidiabetic, antiatherogenic and anti‐inflammatory properties, have been found in several insulin‐resistant conditions. Although Cushing's syndrome causes several metabolic and hormonal changes leading to insulin resistance and central obesity, few data concerning the impact of glucocorticoid excess on ghrelin and ApN levels are so far available.design  We evaluated ghrelin and ApN levels in 14 women (age ± SE 39·5 ± 3·9 years, BMI ± SE 25·8 ± 1·4 kg/m2) with Cushing's disease (CD) at baseline and after successful transsphenoidal surgery (TSS) and in 14 age‐ and BMI‐matched healthy women.results  Despite similar levels of fasting glucose, insulin, homeostatic model assessment‐estimated insulin resistance (HOMA‐IR) and quantitative insulin sensitivity check index (QUICKI) values, patients with CD had ghrelin levels lower than controls (117·8 ± 21·5 vs. 269·6 ± 51·4 pmol/l, P < 0·01), and ghrelin levels did not correlate with ACTH, cortisol, androgen and GH levels. Patients and controls showed similar ApN levels (11·1 ± 1·6 vs. 11·5 ± 2·0 mg/l), which correlated negatively with insulin, HOMA‐IR and BMI and positively with QUICKI and high density lipoprotein (HDL)‐cholesterol only in controls. At 10·2 ± 0·7 months after successful TSS, patients showed a significant increase in ghrelin levels compared to pretreatment values (342·5 ± 25·6 vs. 117·8 ± 21·5 pmol/l, P < 0·005) along with significant modifications in BMI, insulin, HOMA‐IR and HDL‐cholesterol and no change in ApN levels. In two patients tested on days 2–4 after TSS, no modification in ghrelin and ApN levels was observed, despite a dramatic reduction in cortisol levels.conclusion  Cortisol excess did not directly affect ghrelin and ApN levels in patients with CD. The observation that ghrelin levels were low during the active phase of CD and increased after recovery suggests that glucocorticoids may influence ghrelin levels indirectly by modulating adiposity and metabolic signals over the long term.
Increased levels of serum advanced glycation end‐products in women with polycystic ovary syndrome
Authors: Diamanti‐Kandarakis Evanthia , Piperi Christina , Kalofoutis Anastasios , Creatsas George 
Published: January 2005

Summaryobjective  Women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) carry a number of cardiovascular risk factors and are considered to be at increased risk for atherosclerosis. Elevated concentrations of advanced glycation end‐products (AGE), which exert their effects through interaction with specific receptors (RAGE), have been implicated in the cellular and tissue damage during atherosclerotic processes.design/patients  We investigated serum AGE levels in 29 young women with PCOS as well as the expression of their receptor, RAGE, in circulating monocytes and compared them levels with 22 healthy control women.measurements/results  Women with PCOS had higher levels of serum AGE proteins compared to healthy individuals (9·81 ± 0·16 vs. 5·11 ± 0·16, P < 0·0001), and increased RAGE expression was observed in monocytes of PCOS women compared to controls (30·91 ± 10·11 vs. 7·97 ± 2·61, P < 0·02). A positive correlation was observed between AGE proteins and testosterone (T) levels (r = 0·73, P < 0·0001). The correlation between AGE proteins and T levels remained high (partial correlation coefficient = 0·61, P = 0·0001) after controlling for body mass index (BMI), insulin levels and the area under the curve for glucose (AUCGLU) during an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). A positive correlation was also observed between AGE proteins and the free androgen index (FAI) (r = 0·58, P < 0·0001), waist‐to‐hip ratio (WHR) (r = 0·31, P < 0·02), insulin (r = 0·46, P < 0·001), homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) (r = 0·47, P < 0·0001), AUCGLU (r = 0·52, P < 0·002) and RAGE (r = 0·59, P < 0·01). A negative correlation was observed between AGE proteins and glucose/insulin ratio (GLU/INS) (r = −0·35, P < 0·01), and the quantitative insulin sensitivity check index (QUICKI) (r =−0·50, P < 0·01). In multiple regression analysis T was the only independent predictor of AGE levels (P < 0·0001, b = 0·044) between BMI, insulin, SHBG and AUCGLU (adjusted R2 = 0·59, F = 44·41, P < 0·0001).conclusion  These data clearly demonstrate, for the first time, that PCOS women without overt hyperglycaemia have increased AGE levels and elevated RAGE expression when compared with controls.
Androgen receptor gene expression in leucocytes is hormonally regulated: implications for gender differences in disease pathogenesis
Authors: Sader Mark A. , McGrath Kristine C. Y. , Hill Michelle D. , Bradstock Ken F. , Jimenez Mark , Handelsman David J. , Celermajer David S. , Death Alison K. 
Published: January 2005

SummaryObjective  There is evidence that male sex hormones influence the rate of progression of inflammatory and cardiovascular diseases. We have previously shown that human leucocytes and arterial cells isolated from male donors express more androgen receptor (AR) than those from female cells, with potentially pro‐atherogenic effects. We now investigate whether the gender difference in AR expression is due to genetic or hormonal regulation.Design and Patients  The influence of hormones on AR expression were studied in hpg mice (a mouse model of androgen deficiency) treated with testosterone, oestradiol or dihydrotestosterone (DHT). Blood samples were obtained for leucocyte AR expression and hormone levels from 53 subjects, grouped into: 12 male [six young adult (27–45 years), six elderly (71–79 years)] and six female (young adult 25–45 years) healthy controls; six male‐to‐female transsexuals (M2F; 20–50 years) receiving stable pharmacological oral oestrogen treatment; six female‐to‐male transsexuals (F2M; 31–51 years) receiving stable androgen replacement therapy; five younger men (18–56 years) who had been receiving long‐term androgen replacement therapy for hypogonadal disease; six elderly men (72–88 years) who had undergone medical castration for prostate cancer treatment; and 12 male bone marrow transplant recipients (BMT; 23–65 years) from either male or female donors.Measurements  Serum testosterone and oestradiol concentrations were measured by established immunoflurometric assays from unextracted human serum. AR mRNA levels were measured by RT–PCR and AR protein levels by western blot (cell culture) or immunohistochemistry (mouse arteries).Results  We found that AR mRNA levels were significantly down‐regulated in the leucocytes of hpg mice that were treated with exogenous testosterone, oestradiol or DHT. AR protein levels were also lower in aortic tissue from the same mice. In humans, we found AR expression was significantly down‐regulated by exogenous treatment with testosterone in F2M (31 ± 13%, compared with control) or oestradiol in M2F (22 ± 5%) but was significantly up‐regulated by endogenous testosterone in BMT (128 ± 17%). Low androgen levels measured in castrated older men were associated with markedly increased AR expression (207 ± 26%, P < 0·05) compared with age‐matched older male controls (100 ± 2%).Conclusions  Our results indicate a regulated ability of vascular cells to respond to sex hormones, with the effects of exogenous therapies differing markedly from those due to endogenous sex hormones. We conclude that the gender difference in AR expression in vascular cells is hormonally, rather than genetically, controlled.
Ageing and plasma adiponectin concentration in apparently healthy males and females
Authors: Adamczak Marcin , Rzepka Ewa , Chudek Jerzy , Wiȩcek Andrzej 
Published: January 2005

SummaryObjective  It is well known that ageing is associated with several hormonal alterations. However, the consequence of ageing on the endocrine function of adipose tissue is not fully elucidated. Adiponectin is a new anti‐inflammatory protein secreted exclusively by adipocytes and plays a protective role against insulin resistance and atherosclerosis. Therefore, the aim of present study was to estimate plasma adiponectin concentration in apparently healthy elderly subjects.Subjects  Fifty‐eight women and 67 men aged 20–93 years were included in this study. Subjects were divided into three groups: younger than 50 years, between 50 and 70 years and older than 70 years of age.Measurements  Plasma adiponectin concentration was estimated by an enzyme‐linked immunosorbant assay in blood samples withdrawn in the morning after overnight fasting. In males plasma testosterone and dehydroepiandrostendione sulphate concentrations were assessed by a radioimmunoassay method.Results  Plasma adiponectin concentration only tended to be higher in all elderly subjects (above 70 years) than in the group of all subjects aged between 50 and 70 and the group younger than 50 years of age (12·8 ± 5·7; 9·9 ± 5·7 and 10·7 ± 5·4 µg/ml, respectively). Plasma adiponectin concentration was of similar magnitude in female subjects of these three groups (11·2 ± 5·7; 11·2 ± 6·8 and 11·7 ± 4·9 µg/ml, respectively). In contrast, males over 70 years old are characterized by significantly higher plasma adiponectin (14·0 ± 5·4 µg/ml) concentration than males between 50 and 70 years of age (8·9 ± 4·7 µg/ml, P < 0·01) and males younger than 50 years of age (9·6 ± 5·7 µg/ml, P < 0·05). In the entire studied group a significant but weak, positive correlation was found between plasma adiponectin concentration and age (τ = 0·12; P = 0·04). Additionally, significant correlation was found between plasma adiponectin concentration and age in males when analysed separately (τ = 0·28; P = 0·0007). Such correlation was not significant in females (τ = −0·06; P = 0·5).Conclusions  Plasma adiponectin concentration in females did not change significantly with age. In contrast to females, elderly males over 70 years of age are characterized by significantly higher plasma adiponectin concentration than younger ones.
The process of research use in nursing
Authors: French Beverley 
Published: January 2005

Aim.  This paper describes the process of research use undertaken by groups of specialist nurses involved in the construction of policy recommendations for nursing practice.Background.  A number of prescriptive models of research use have been described in the nursing literature. Previous studies have attempted to measure the instrumental use of research findings in nursing practice. However, there is no evidence on how research use occurs, or why results differ across individuals, settings, tasks or time. There has been little investigation into the congruence of prescriptive models with the realities of research use in practice.Method.  The study used an ethnomethodological approach to describe the practical reasoning undertaken by specialist nurses during research use. The method was participant observation with three clinical workgroups, comprising a series of meetings of practitioners from between 11 and 25 health care provider organizations. Data collected from recording discussions at the meetings were analysed using grounded data reduction, and were subject to external verification of description and inference.Findings.  The process of research use consistently contained four stages of practical reasoning comprising research identification, confirmation, evaluation and application. Each stage involved practitioners in cognitive work to translate the research evidence into practice policy.Conclusions.  While the process of research use described in the findings is not markedly different in outline from prescriptive models of the process available in the literature, inconsistencies are highlighted in the way the process is conceptualized. Prescriptive models of research use do not adequately reflect the task of problem‐setting, use of multiple frames of reference for evaluation, and how information from research is to be integrated with information from other sources.
Adults with autism living at home or in non‐family settings: positive and negative aspects of residential status
Authors: Krauss M. W. , Seltzer M. M. , Jacobson H. T. 
Published: January 2005

AbstractBackground  Very little is known about the context of caregiving by parents of adults with autism or about the perceived impacts of continued patterns of co‐residence vs. out‐of‐family living. In the present study, maternal assessments of residential status, involvement with adult children living in a non‐family setting, and the impacts on mothers of their residential arrangements were examined.Methods  Mothers from 133 families of adults (aged 22 years and older) with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) completed questionnaires as part of a longitudinal study on family caregiving. Mothers completed open‐ended questions regarding the positive and negative aspects of their child's residential arrangement. Mothers also completed scaled questions regarding their satisfaction with their child's residential arrangement, the different ways in which people's lives change after a relative moves from the home, and the frequency of contact with their son or daughter.Results  Mothers found co‐residing with their adult child to be of greatest positive benefit to the family while those living apart found this residential arrangement of greatest benefit to the son or daughter with ASD. The greatest negative consequences for co‐residing mothers were understood to fall on families, while mothers felt the majority of negative consequences for those that lived apart. There was a high level of contact and maternal involvement between the mother and adult child with ASD even after out‐of‐home placement.Conclusions  Residential status, as appraised by mothers, has varying impacts on the individual with ASD, on the family, and on mothers as individuals and caregivers. The present analysis suggests the multifaceted and highly contingent maternal experience associated with where her child with ASD lives. Among families whose children live elsewhere, there is an impressive amount of continued contact between these families and their son/daughter.
Mathematical skills in Prader–Willi Syndrome
Authors: Bertella L. , Girelli L. , Grugni G. , Marchi S. , Molinari E. , Semenza C. 
Published: January 2005

AbstractObjectives  This paper investigates mathematical skills in Prader–Willi Syndrome (PWS), a pathological condition because of congenital alterations of chromosome pair 15. The following questions were addressed: (1) Are mathematical skills in PWS relatively more impaired with respect to other cognitive functions (as has been repeatedly but anecdotally reported)?; and (2) What is the nature of the mathematical impairment?Methods  The first study employed the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) and an extensive battery of cognitive tasks for which norms are known. Both batteries include a mathematical section. The second study used a theoretically motivated series of mathematical tasks specifically designed to individually assess the different cognitive components underlying mathematical skills.Results  Mathematical skills were found to be the most impaired cognitive abilities together with short‐term memory capacity. No specific mathematical domain was seen to be unaffected in PWS participants. The clearest deficits observed concern ‘syntactic’ processes in number transcoding, multiplication, number facts retrieval and calculation procedures.Conclusion  Failure of mathematical skills is the most distinctive feature in the cognitive profile of PWS. However, to determine whether this is indeed a specific pattern of performance related to PWS, results must be compared with those obtained with patients manifesting other genetic disorders.
Host-related genetic differentiation in the anther smut fungus Microbotryum violaceum in sympatric, parapatric and allopatric populations of two host species Silene latifolia and S. dioica
Authors: Van Putten W. F. , Biere A. , Van Damme J. M. M. 
Published: January 2005

Abstract
We investigated genetic diversity in West European populations of the fungal pathogen Microbotryum violaceum in sympatric, parapatric and allopatric populations of the host species Silene latifolia and S. dioica, using four polymorphic microsatellite loci. In allopatric host populations, the fungus was highly differentiated by host species, exhibiting high values of FST and RST, and revealed clear and distinct host races. In sympatric and parapatric populations we found significant population differentiation as well, except for one sympatric population in which the two host species grew truly intermingled. The mean number of alleles per locus for isolates from each of the host species was significantly higher in sympatric/parapatric than in allopatric populations. This suggests that either gene flow between host races in sympatry, or in case of less neutral loci, selection in a more heterogeneous host environment can increase the level of genetic variation in each of the demes. The observed pattern of host-related genetic differentiation among these geographically spread populations suggest a long-term divergence between these host races. In sympatric host populations, both host races presumably come in secondary contact, and host-specific alleles are exchanged depending on the amount of fungal gene flow.
Pollen and sperm heteromorphism: convergence across kingdoms?
Authors: Till‐Bottraud I. , Joly D. , Lachaise D. , Snook R. R. 
Published: January 2005

AbstractSperm competition theory predicts that males should produce many, similar sperm. However, in some species of animals and plants, males exhibit a heteromorphism that results in the production of at least two different types of sperm or pollen grains. In animals, sperm heteromorphism typically corresponds to the production of one fertile morph and one (or more) sterile morph(s), whereas in plants two or more pollen morphs (one of which can be either sterile or fertile) are produced in all flowers but sometimes in different anthers. Heteromorphism has arisen independently several times across phyla and at different phylogenetic levels. Here, we compare and contrast sperm and pollen heteromorphism and discuss the evolutionary hypotheses suggested to explain heteromorphism in these taxa. These hypotheses include facilitation, nutritive contribution, blocking, cheap filler, sperm flushing or killing for animals; outcrossing and precise cross‐pollen transfer or bet‐hedging strategy for plants; cryptic female choice for both. We conclude that heteromorphism in the two phyla is most likely linked to a general evolutionary response to sexual selection, either to increase one male's sperm or pollen success in competition with other males, or mediate male/female interactions. Therefore, although sperm and pollen are not homologous, we suggest that heteromorphism represents an example of convergence across kingdoms.
Reproductive value in a complex life cycle: heat tolerance of the pitcher‐plant mosquito, Wyeomyia smithii
Authors: Zani P. A. , Cohnstaedt L. W. , Corbin D. , Bradshaw W. E. , Holzapfel C. M. 
Published: January 2005

AbstractBecause mortality accumulates with age, Fisher proposed that the strength of selection acting on survival should increase from birth up to the age of first reproduction. Hamilton later theorized that the strength of selection acting on survival should not change from birth to age at first reproduction. As organisms in nature do not live in uniform environments but, rather, experience periodic stress, we hypothesized that resistance to environmental stress should increase (Fisher) or remain constant (Hamilton) from birth to age at first reproduction. Using the pitcher‐plant mosquito, Wyeomyia smithii, we imposed heat stress by simulating the passage of a warm‐weather front at different preadult and adult stages. Contrary to either Fisher or Hamilton, stress tolerance declined from embryos to larvae to pupae to adults. Consequently, reproductive value appears to have been of little consequence in the evolution of stage‐specific tolerance of heat stress in W. smithii.
Variation among populations ofDiodia teres(Rubiaceae) in environmental maternal effects
Authors: Hereford J. , Moriuchi K. S. 
Published: January 2005

AbstractPrevious studies have quantified variation in environmental maternal effects (EME) within populations, but these effects could differ among populations as well. In this study we grew clonal replicates of individuals from three populations of the annual plantDiodia teresin their native and non‐native environments. Our goal was to estimate the effects of maternal environment and maternal population on seed and seedling traits. Seeds that were produced in this field study were then planted in two soil types to quantify effects of the offspring environment on seedling traits. There was substantial variation among populations for seed weight. We found population variation for EME, and maternal environment by offspring environment interactions. We conclude that variation among populations in EME may be an unrecognized component of local adaptation, and that attempts to control maternal effects by statistically accounting for variation in seed weight may be ineffective.
Evolutionary divergence and possible incipient speciation in post‐glacial populations of a cosmopolitan aquatic plant
Authors: Nies G. , Reusch T. B. H. 
Published: January 2005

AbstractHabitat configuration is expected to have a major influence on genetic exchange and evolutionary divergence among populations. Aquatic organisms occur in two fundamentally different habitat types, the sea and freshwater lakes, making them excellent models to study the contrasting effects of continuity vs. isolation on genetic divergence. We compared the divergence in post‐glacial populations of a cosmopolitan aquatic plant, the pondweed Potamogeton pectinatus that simultaneously occurs in freshwater lakes and coastal marine sites. Relative levels of gene flow were inferred in 12 lake and 14 Baltic Sea populations in northern Germany using nine highly polymorphic microsatellite markers developed for P. pectinatus. We found highly significant isolation‐by‐distance in both habitat types (P < 0.001). Genetic differentiation increased approximately 2.5‐times faster among freshwater populations compared with those from the Baltic Sea. As different levels of genetic drift or population history cannot explain these differences, higher population connectivity in the sea relative to freshwater populations is the most likely source of contrasting evolutionary divergence. These findings are consistent with the notion that freshwater angiosperms are more conducive to allopatric speciation than their life‐history counterparts in the sea, the relative species poor seagrasses. Surprisingly, population pairs from different habitat types revealed almost maximal genetic divergence expected for complete reproductive isolation, regardless of their respective geographical distance. Hence, the barrier to gene flow between lake and sea habitat types cannot be due to dispersal limitation. We may thus have identified a case of rapid incipient speciation in post‐glacial populations of a widespread aquatic plant.