bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
TRANSPORTATION REGIONS AND THE EASTWARD INTEGRATION OF EUROPE
Authors: BUCKWALTER DONALD W. 
Published: January 2005

ABSTRACTTransportation facilities and performance indicate the prospects for East‐West integration in Europe. The purpose of this study is to identify and delineate regions that present particular challenges for the optimistic enlargement policy of the European Union (EU). A sequence of statistical methods – correlation, regression, and cluster analysis – reveal that the East‐West dichotomy between former communist and non‐communist countries was still the strongest cleavage in Europe as recently as 1997. Secondary cleavages include western subgroups – more or less road oriented – and three eastern subgroups – a Central and Eastern European (CEE) core, southeastern countries, and particularly underdeveloped countries that also have southeasterly location. Results of four cluster methods persistently reveal differences between the established EU members (15 as of 2003) and the eight former communist countries included in the 2004 accession. They also indicate that the eight are, indeed, the best candidates from the former Soviet bloc.
GEOGRAPHICAL ACCESS TO CHILDCARE AND MOTHERS’ LABOUR‐FORCE PARTICIPATION
Authors: VAN HAM MAARTEN , MULDER CLARA H. 
Published: January 2005

ABSTRACTThis paper addresses the question whether geographical access to institutionalised childcare influences mothers’ labour‐force participation in the Netherlands. The conceptual framework of the paper is based on a time‐geographic perspective of female labour‐force participation. According to this perspective, women are faced with severe day‐to‐day space‐time constraints that form a spatial barrier to labour‐force participation. It is argued that, for many mothers with pre‐school‐age children, access to employment opportunities is partly determined by geographical access to childcare facilities. Using data from the Netherlands Housing Demand survey and a detailed measure of geographical access to childcare, it is shown that, for mothers with young children, the probability of being engaged in paid employment increases as the number of day‐care slots per 100 children in the residential area increases. In the regression model, the effect of access to childcare on mothers’ labour‐force participation is estimated after individual, household, and local labour market characteristics are controlled for.
SAINT HELENA: CITIZENSHIP AND SPATIAL IDENTITIES ON A REMOTE ISLAND
Authors: HOGENSTIJN MAARTEN , VAN MIDDELKOOP DANIËL 
Published: January 2005

ABSTRACTSaint Helena is an extremely isolated island in the South Atlantic. It is connected to the outside world through the Internet, telephone and a shipping link. Its inhabitants, who call themselves Saints, were denied full British citizenship until May 2002. This prevented a large out‐migration. At the same time the struggle for citizenship provided a common cause, which united the people of Saint Helena. With the return of citizenship, an escape route became available. Roughly a quarter of the island's population has since left ‘prison home’ Saint Helena. Two options are now open, which will both bring major change to the island. Air access might bring much‐needed economic development, but it will also have an impact on the Saints’ identity and ‘way of life’. Without air access, more Saints will probably leave and this way of life will be shared by less and less people on the island.
Student retention: an exploration of the issues prevalent on a healthcare degree programme with mainly mature students
Authors: Trotter Eileen , Cove Geoff 
Published: January 2005

AbstractThis article explores students’ experiences during the first year of a degree programme in a department within the school of healthcare professions in a UK university. The numbers of students on the course has increased by 30% between 2000/01 and 2003/04, and the percentage of mature (> 21 years of age) entrants has increased from 46% to 80% within the same time‐period. There is concern at the numbers of students electing to leave the programme within their first year, and this research has been carried out to obtain students’ perceptions of the programme and to determine if there is anything that can be done to curb the attrition rate. Focus groups were conducted with students in the first year of the programme, and students who had withdrawn were interviewed. The main topics focused on by students were integration, issues concerning a mixed age‐group of students, the relationship between education and career, and balancing studies with other life commitments. The results of this study should be of interest to those who are concerned about student retention within the current higher education environment of increasing and widening participation.
The Durawall of Faith: Pentecostal Spirituality in Neo-Liberal Zimbabwe
Authors: Maxwell David 
Published: January 2005

AbstractThis paper considers the nature of Pentecostal spirituality in contemporary Zimbabwe, taking as its case study Zimbabwe Assemblies of God, Africa (ZAOGA), one of the continent's largest and most vital Pentecostal movements. The analysis centres upon a lexicon of key words, phrases and narratives used in song, preaching, testimony and prayer. For example, there is a preponderance of images of security, including the 'durawall', the protective concrete fencing surrounding a factory or a suburban home. The paper demonstrates how Pentecostalism, as quintessential popular religion, is able both to satisfy deep existential passions and to aid those struggling for survival in the specific social conditions of neo-liberal Zimbabwe. While Pentecostalism helps create an acquisitive, flexible person better suited to coping with neo-liberalism's economic agenda, it rejects the neo-liberal cultural project. Instead Pentecostal communities provide believers with security in the face of state retrenchment, the capriciousness of global capitalism and growing levels of violence and crime. Pentecostal religion also offers hope to those suffering from a sense of personal abjection created by the shattered hopes of independence and the elusive promise of modernity.
'"Christ is the Answer": What is the Question?' A Ghana Airways Prayer Vigil and its Implications for Religion, Evil and Public Space
Authors: Asamoah-Gyadu J. Kwabena 
Published: January 2005

AbstractReligion and life, both private and public, remain strongly linked in Africa. This was recently expressed in a prayer vigil organized by Ghana Airways when the staff and management invited a London-based Ghanaian evangelist, Lawrence Tetteh, to lead a 'healing and deliverance' service aimed at exorcizing evil spirits from the affairs of the airline and releasing it from its predicaments. The organization of a healing and deliverance session by a public corporation, it is argued, is symptomatic of the quick African resort to the sphere of religion in the search for solutions to life's difficulties. Religious functionaries including Pentecostal/ Charismatic pastors are important in Africa as purveyors of powerful prayers, potent medicines, and amulets for protection against evil. The Pentecostal 'healing and deliverance' ministry has become popular in African contexts like that of Ghana because it takes African worldviews of mystical causality seriously. This Christianity promises Christian alternatives to the search for security that drives people into the courts of other religious functionaries.
New African Initiated Pentecostalism and Charismatics in South Africa
Authors: Anderson Allan 
Published: January 2005

AbstractThe new Pentecostal churches in South Africa, while not as numerically significant as those elsewhere in Africa, follow similar patterns. Tracing the rise of white megachurches in the 1980s and the subsequent emergence of black Charismatic churches similar to those found elsewhere in Africa, this article outlines their ambivalent relationship with the apartheid regime and the increasing disillusionment of black Pentecostals in the run-up to the 1994 elections. It traces the roles of Pentecostal and Charismatic leaders in the new South Africa and the impact of African Charismatic preachers from elsewhere, pilgrimages to other Pentecostal centres and other factors of globalization. After a survey of different Pentecostal churches, it discusses how new South African Pentecostals illustrate Coleman's dimensions of a globalized Charismatic Christianity.
Redox active plasma iron in C282Y/C282Y hemochromatosis
Authors: Le Lan Caroline , Loréal Olivier , Cohen Tally , Ropert Martine , Glickstein Hava , Lainé Fabrice , Pouchard Michel , Deugnier Yves , Le Treut André , Breuer William , Cabantchik Z. Ioav , Brissot Pierre 
Published: January 2005

AbstractLabile plasma iron (LPI) represents the redox active component of non–transferrin-bound iron (NTBI). Its presence in thalassemic patients has been recently reported. The aim of the present study was to quantify LPI in HFE genetic hemochromatosis (GH) and to characterize the mechanisms accounting for its appearance. We studied 159 subjects subdivided into the following groups: (1) 23 with iron overloaded GH; (2) 14 with iron-depleted GH; (3) 26 with dysmetabolic hepatosiderosis; (4) 33 with alcoholic cirrhosis; (5) 63 healthy controls. Both NTBI and LPI were substantially higher in patients with iron-overloaded GH than in those with iron-depleted GH or in healthy controls. LPI was significantly correlated with serum transaminase increase in this group. LPI was elevated in the alcoholic cirrhosis subgroup of severely affected patients. LPI was found essentially when transferrin saturation exceeded 75%, regardless of the etiologic condition. Transferrin saturation above 75% was related to iron overload in GH and to liver failure in alcoholic cirrhosis. LPI is present in C282Y/C282Y hemochromatosis and may be a marker of toxicity due to its potential for catalyzing the generation of reactive oxygen radicals in vivo.
Rapamycin induces tumor-specific thrombosis via tissue factor in the presence of VEGF
Authors: Guba Markus , Yezhelyev Maksim , Eichhorn Martin E. , Schmid Gerald , Ischenko Ivan , Papyan Armine , Graeb Christian , Seeliger Hendrik , Geissler Edward K. , Jauch Karl-Walter , Bruns Christiane J. 
Published: January 2005

Abstract
Therapeutic strategies that target and disrupt the already-formed vessel networks of growing tumors are actively pursued. The goal of these approaches is to induce a rapid shutdown of the vascular function of the tumor so that blood flow is arrested and tumor cell death occurs. Here we show that the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor rapamycin, when administered to tumor-bearing mice, selectively induced extensive local microthrombosis of the tumor microvasculature. Importantly, rapamycin administration had no detectable effect on the peritumoral or normal tissue. Intravital microscopy analysis of tumors implanted into skinfold chambers revealed that rapamycin led to a specific shutdown of initially patent tumor vessels. In human umbilical vein endothelial cells vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)–induced tissue factor expression was strongly enhanced by rapamycin. We further show by Western blot analysis that rapamycin interferes with a negative feedback mechanism controlling this pathologic VEGF-mediated tissue factor expression. This thrombogenic alteration of the endothelial cells was confirmed in a one-step coagulation assay. The circumstance that VEGF is up-regulated in most tumors may explain the remarkable selectivity of tumor vessel thrombosis under rapamycin therapy. Taken together, these data suggest that rapamycin, besides its known antiangiogenic properties, has a strong tumor-specific, antivascular effect in tumors.
NY-ESO-1 is highly expressed in poor-prognosis multiple myeloma and induces spontaneous humoral and cellular immune responses
Authors: van Rhee Frits , Szmania Susann M. , Zhan Fenghuang , Gupta Sushil K. , Pomtree Mindy , Lin Pei , Batchu Ramesh B. , Moreno Amberly , Spagnoli Guilio , Shaughnessy John , Tricot Guido 
Published: January 2005

AbstractThe presence of a metaphase cytogenetic abnormality (CA) is the key negative predictor of outcome in patients with multiple myeloma (MM). Gene expression profiling (GEP) of such patients showed increased expression of NY-ESO-1 compared to patients with normal cytogenetics (60% versus 31%; P = .004). NY-ESO-1 was also highly expressed in relapsing MM especially patients with CA (100% versus 60.7%; P &lt; .001). GEP findings were confirmed at the protein level by immunostaining of marrow biopsies for NY-ESO-1. We detected spontaneous NY-ESO-1–specific antibodies by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 33% of patients with NY-ESO-1+ MM, especially in CA patients (9 of 13; 70%), but in none of the NY-ESO-1- patients with MM (n = 27) or healthy donors (n = 21). Spontaneous NY-ESO-1157-165–specific T cells (0.2%-0.6% of CD8+ T cells) were found in the peripheral blood of NY-ESO-1+ MM with HLA-A*0201/NY-ESO-1157-165 tetramers. These NY-ESO-1–specific T cells, when expanded, killed primary MM cells (50% lysis, effector-target [E/T] ratio, 10:1). Our data demonstrate that NY-ESO-1 is frequently expressed in MM with CA and is capable of eliciting spontaneous humoral and T-cell immunity. The pool of NY-ESO-1–specific cytotoxic T cells expands easily on NY-ESO-1 peptide stimulation and is functionally active. NY-ESO-1 should therefore be an ideal tumor target antigen for immunotherapy of patients with poor-prognosis MM.
Modulation of human dendritic-cell function following transduction with viral vectors: implications for gene therapy
Authors: Tan Peng H. , Beutelspacher Sven C. , Xue Shao-An , Wang Yao-He , Mitchell Peter , McAlister James C. , Larkin D. Frank P. , McClure Myra O. , Stauss Hans J. , Ritter Mary A. , Lombardi Giovanna , George Andrew J. T. 
Published: January 2005

AbstractGenetic modification of dendritic-cell (DC) function is an attractive approach to treat disease, either using mature DCs (mDCs) to immunize patients, or immature DCs (iDCs) to induce tolerance. Viral vectors are efficient at transducing DCs, and we have investigated the effect of transduction with a variety of viral vectors on the phenotype and function of DCs. Adenovirus (Ad), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), equine anemia virus (EIAV), and Moloney murine leukemia virus (MMLV) all up-regulate costimulatory molecules and major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II expression on DCs, as well as, in the case of Ad and lentiviral vectors, inducing production of Th1 and proinflammatory cytokines. Following transduction there is activation of double-stranded (ds) RNA-triggered pathways resulting in interferon (IFN) α/β production. In addition, the function of virally infected DCs is altered; iDCs have an increased, and mDCs a decreased, ability to stimulate a mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR). Viral transduction of mDCs results in up-regulation of the indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) enzyme, which down-regulates T-cell responsiveness. Inhibition of IDO restores the ability of mDCs to stimulate an MLR, indicating that IDO is responsible for the modulation of mDC function. These data have important implications for the use of viral vectors in the transduction of DCs.
CpG-oligodeoxynucleotides inhibit RSV-enhanced allergic sensitisation in guinea pigs
Authors: Tayyari F. , Sutton T. C. , Manson H. E. , Hegele R. G. 
Published: January 2005

Experimental respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection of guinea pigs is associated with enhanced allergic sensitisation to inhaled ovalbumin (OA) and low-level viral persistence in the lungs. Based on the T-helper (Th)1/Th2 paradigm, in which a Th2 shift is characteristic of an allergic response and less effective anti-viral immunity, the effects of immunotherapy with synthetic cytosine phosphate-guanine-oligodeoxynucleotides (CpG-ODN), which are potent Th1 stimuli, on OA sensitisation with and without RSV infection were evaluated.Measurements included quantitative histology for airway inflammation by T-cells and eosinophils, semiquantitative RT-PCR for lung Th1/Th2 balance (interferon (IFN)-γ/interleukin (IL)-5 mRNA ratios), and serology for circulating titres of OA-specific immunoglobulin (Ig)G1antibodies. RSV antigens were identified in lung tissue sections by immunohistochemistry.CpG-ODN immunotherapy did not prevent OA sensitisation of guinea pigs; however, in RSV-infected, OA-sensitised animals, CpG-ODN administration was associated with significant reductions of airway T-cells and eosinophils, increased lung IFN-γ/IL-5 ratios, and decreased OA-specific IgG1antibody titres to levels observed in uninfected, OA-sensitised animals. Viral antigens were identified in a similar proportion of the lungs of RSV-infected animals, irrespective of CpG-ODN immunisation status.In conclusion, cytosine phosphate-guanine-oligodeoxynucleotides immunotherapy protects guinea pigs against respiratory syncytial virus-enhanced ovalbumin sensitisation and might be a relevant intervention in the context of post-bronchiolitis allergic sensitisation in children.
Latex allergen exposure increases exhaled nitric oxide in symptomatic healthcare workers
Authors: Baur X. , Barbinova L. 
Published: January 2005

The objective of this study was to investigate the clinical and diagnostic impact of baseline exhaled nitric oxide (eNO) levels and latex allergen-induced eNO changes in different healthcare worker groups.Healthcare workers, 31 latex-sensitised and 14 nonsensitised, underwent occupational-type challenge tests with powdered allergenic latex gloves.Sensitised as well as nonsensitised healthcare workers developed a significant eNO increase 1 h after challenge. Conversely, only latex-sensitised employees showed a significant eNO increase 22 h after challenge, which showed a significant relationship with bronchial obstruction (specific airway resistance changes). However, there was no difference in either baseline eNO level or eNO increase after 22 h between asthmatic (n = 13) and rhinitic only (n = 20) responders. The specificity and sensitivity of a 50% eNO increase after 22 h in responders were 100 and 56%, respectively.These results support the assumption that the whole respiratory tract is involved in a combined allergic rhinitis and asthma syndrome. Smoking healthcare workers showed reduced baseline exhaled nitric oxide levels, but, as shown for the first time, an allergen-induced exhaled nitric oxide increase comparable to that of nonsmokers. Corticosteroid therapy inhibited the allergen-induced exhaled nitric oxide change but not the clinical response in the challenge test. These findings suggest that cigarette smoke and corticosteroids initiate distinct molecular mechanisms influencing nitric oxide concentrations in the airways.
Metabisulphite-induced occupational asthma in a radiographer
Authors: Merget R. , Korn M. 
Published: January 2005

There is epidemiological evidence for an increased prevalence of occupational asthma among radiographers. However, the causes of darkroom disease are not yet defined.A 37-year-old female radiographer reported work-related asthma ∼2 yrs after starting work in a local hospital. She was atopic and showed bronchial hyperresponsiveness to methacholine. Occupational-type exposure with a fixing agent, but not with a developer, produced an immediate-type asthmatic reaction. As the fixing agent contained sodium metabisulphite (SMBS), a substance known to cause asthma, bronchial challenges with SMBS were performed in the patient and nine asthmatic controls.The patient showed a positive bronchial immediate reaction on 2 separate days after inhalation of 48 and 96 µg SMBS, and one control also showed a significant fall in forced expiratory volume in one second after inhalation of 12 µg SMBS. The positive reaction in the control subject argues for a greater susceptibility of both persons to SMBS or its reaction product sulphur dioxide, rather than for a new occupational allergen.It is concluded that sodium metabisulphite exposure should be recognised as a cause of darkroom asthma.
Effect of rosiglitazone and 15-deoxy-Δ12,14-prostaglandin J2on bleomycin-induced lung injury
Authors: Genovese T. , Cuzzocrea S. , Di Paola R. , Mazzon E. , Mastruzzo C. , Catalano P. , Sortino M. , Crimi N. , Caputi A. P. , Thiemermann C. , Vancheri C. 
Published: January 2005

Thiazolidinedione rosiglitazone and 15-deoxy-Δ12,14-prostaglandin J2(15d-PGJ2), are two peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-γ ligands. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of rosiglitazone and 15d-PGJ2on the lung injury caused by bleomycin administration.Mice subjected to intratracheal administration of bleomycin developed significant lung injury. An increase in immunoreactivity to nitrotyrosine, poly(ADP ribose) polymerase (PARP) and inducible nitric oxide synthase as well as a significant loss of body weight and mortality was observed in the lung of bleomycin-treated mice.Administration of the two PPAR-γ agonists rosiglitazone (10 mg·kg−1i.p.) and 15d-PGJ2(30 µg·kg−1i.p.) significantly reduced the: 1) loss of body weight, 2) mortality rate, 3) infiltration of the lung with polymorphonuclear neutrophils (myeloperoxidase activity), 4) oedema formation, and 5) histological evidence of lung injury. Administration of rosiglitazone and 15d-PGJ2also markedly reduced the nitrotyrosine, PARP and inducible nitric oxide synthase formation. In addition, treatment with the PPAR-γ antagonist bisphenol A diglycidyl ether (1 mg·kg−1i.p. 30 min before the rosiglitazone or 15d-PGJ2) significantly antagonised the effect of the two PPAR-γ agonists.These results demonstrate that the two peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ agonists, rosiglitazone and 15-deoxy-Δ12,14-prostaglandin J2, significantly reduce lung injury induced by bleomycin in mice.
The changing distribution of occupational asthma: a survey of supermarket bakery workers
Authors: Brant A. , Berriman J. , Sharp C. , Welch J. , Zekveld C. , Nieuwenhuijsen M. , Elms J. , Newman-Taylor A. , Cullinan P. 
Published: January 2005

In the UK, since the mid 1980s, supermarkets have accounted for an increasing volume of bread production. Occupational asthma among employees who produce bread from raw ingredients in supermarkets has not been previously investigated.A cross-sectional survey was undertaken involving 239 (71%) employees from 20 different supermarket bakeries. The work-related symptoms were investigated by using questionnaires and measuring the radioallergosorbent test serum-specific immunoglobulin (Ig)E to flour and fungal α-amylase. A total of 89 employees underwent whole-shift personal measurement of dust exposure.The geometric mean dust exposure for bakers was 1.2 mg·m−3, which was higher than for other bakery employees. A total of 37 (15%) employees also reported work-related chest symptoms. Serum IgE to flour was present in 24 (11%) employees and to fungal α-amylase in nine (4%) employees. The combination of work-related chest symptoms and specific IgE was found in six (9%) bakers, one (4%) manager and two (3%) assistants. One-quarter of all employees, but half of bakers and managers, had previously worked for different, mainly small, bakeries.This population of bakery workers has important levels of sensitisation and work-related respiratory symptoms, despite low levels of dust exposure. Changes in the location and process of bread manufacture have led to a change in the distribution of bakers' asthma in the UK.