bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
ADH1B*1, ADH1C*2, DRD2 (−141C Ins), and 5‐HTTLPR Are Associated With Alcoholism in Mexican American Men Living in Los Angeles
Authors: Konishi Tamiko , Luo Huai‐Rong , Calvillo Maria , Mayo Matthew S. , Lin Keh‐Ming , Wan Yu‐Jui Yvonne 
Published: August 2004

Background: The aim of the present study was to use a candidate gene approach to identify the genetic risk factors for alcoholism in Mexican Americans residing in the Los Angeles area. The genes selected include alcohol metabolizing genes and neurotransmitter genes, which have been shown in the literature to be associated with alcoholism in other ethnic groups.Methods: Thirteen allelic variants from seven genes were evaluated for their role in alcoholism using alcoholic (n= 200) and nonalcoholic (n= 251) Mexican Americans. Those polymorphic sites include alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH1B, ADH1C), aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH2), cytochrome P‐450 2E1 (CYP2E1) TaqI, DraI, RsaI, dopamine D2 receptor (DRD2) TaqI A, B, intron 6, exon 7, −141C Ins/Del, serotonin transporter (5‐HTTLPR), and GABAA receptor β3 subunit (GABRβ3).Results: The results demonstrate that Mexican Americans have extremely low allele frequency for both ALDH2*2 and ADH1B*2 and a relatively high frequency of ADH1C*2 and CYP2E1 c2 alleles. ADH1B*1, ADH1C*2, DRD2 (−141C Ins), and 5‐HTTLPR were associated with alcoholism in Mexican Americans (p < 0.05). DRD2 Ins was associated with alcoholism in those alcoholics who carried the ADH1B*2 or ADH1C*1 protective alleles (p= 0.032 in genotype level and p= 0.015 in allele level). DRD2 TaqI A and B alleles were associated with early age of onset for drinking (p= 0.016 for TaqI A1 and p= 0.049 for TaqI B1 allele).Conclusions: Together, the data reveal unique genetic patterns in Mexican Americans that may be in part responsible for the heightened risk for alcoholism and alcohol‐associated health problems in this population.
Ethanol‐induced elevation of 3α‐hydroxy‐5α‐pregnan‐20‐one does not modulate motor incoordination in rats
Authors: Khisti Rahul T. , VanDoren Margaret J. , Matthews Douglas B. , Morrow A Leslie 
Published: August 2004

Background: Ethanol administration elevates the levels of GABAergic neuroactive steroids in brain and contributes to some of its behavioral actions. In the present study, we investigated whether such elevation of GABAergic neuroactive steroids contributes to the motor incoordinating effects of ethanol.Methods: Sprague‐Dawley rats were administered ethanol (2 g/kg intraperitoneally) or saline, and the level of 3α‐hydroxy‐5α‐pregnan‐20‐one (3α,5α‐THP) was measured across time in cerebral cortex and in various brain regions at the peak time by radioimmunoassay. To study whether increases in GABAergic neuroactive steroids are responsible for the motor incoordinating actions of ethanol, rats were subjected to chemical (5α‐reductase inhibitor, finasteride) and surgical (adrenalectomy) manipulations before receiving ethanol (2 g/kg intraperitoneally) injections. The rats were then subjected to different paradigms to evaluate motor impairment including the Majchrowicz motor intoxication rating scale, Rotarod test, and aerial righting reflex task at different time points.Results: The radioimmunoassay of 3α,5α‐THP in different brain regions showed that ethanol increases 3α,5α‐THP levels by 3‐ and 9‐fold in cerebral cortex and hippocampus, respectively. There was no change in 3α,5α‐THP levels in cerebellum and midbrain. The time course of 3α,5α‐THP elevations in the cerebral cortex showed significant increases 20‐min after ethanol injection with a peak at 60 min. In contrast, motor toxicity peaked between 5 and 10 min after ethanol injections and gradually decreased over time. Furthermore, adrenalectomy or pretreatment with finasteride (2 × 50 mg/kg, subcutaneously) did not reduce motor incoordinating effects of ethanol as assessed by the Majchrowicz intoxication rating score, Rotarod test, or aerial righting reflex task.Conclusions: Ethanol increases GABAergic neuroactive steroids in a time‐ and brain region‐selective manner. The role of neuroactive steroids in alcohol action is specific for certain behaviors. Alcohol‐induced deficits in motor coordination are not mediated by elevated neuroactive steroid biosynthesis.
Patterns of Dispensed Disulfiram and Naltrexone for Alcoholism Treatment in a Veteran Patient Population
Authors: Hermos John A. , Young Melissa M. , Gagnon David R. , Fiore Louis D. 
Published: August 2004

Background:Short‐term treatment trials indicate that two Food and Drug Administration–approved agents, disulfiram and naltrexone, may each curtail alcohol consumption, but two large 1‐year Veterans Administration cooperative studies showed no long‐term benefits for these agents over placebo. To assess whether these agents are being prescribed for extended periods, as an indicator of long‐term use in nonexperimental settings, we compared dispensing patterns in a veteran patient population.Methods:The New England Veterans Integrated Service Network outpatient pharmacy files between January 1, 1998, and June 30, 2001, were analyzed; only patients with prescriptions on or after March 1, 1998, were included. Measurements for each patient included data on new and refilled prescriptions of disulfiram, naltrexone, and control medications. Prescription survival curves with right censoring were constructed. Distinct treatment episodes were defined by having six or more months between the end date of a prior prescription and the start date of a new prescription.Results:From eight New England Veterans Integrated Service Network centers, 754 patients were dispensed disulfiram, and 971 were dispensed naltrexone, encompassing 873 and 1075 treatment episodes, respectively. Treatment episode durations were virtually identical for both drugs: more than 35% of episodes were 1 month or shorter, more than 50% were 2 months or shorter, and 75% were 5 months or shorter. Concurrently prescribed neuroleptic or statin medications predicted longer disulfiram and naltrexone treatment episodes. However, for patients newly prescribed common neuroleptic, antidepressant, or statin agents, the risks for discontinuing disulfiram or naltrexone were 1.4 to 2.3 times greater than for discontinuing these other agents.Conclusions:In clinical settings, veteran patients were likely to be dispensed either disulfiram or naltrexone for only several months or less. The contexts and reasons for these predominantly short‐term treatment episodes or the benefits derived were not known and merit further study.
Ethanol‐Inhibited [3H]Thymidine Incorporation via Protein Kinase C‐p44/42 Mitogen‐Activated Protein Kinase/Phospholipase A2 Signal Pathway in Renal Proximal Tubule Cells
Authors: Lee Yun Jung , Lee Jang Hern , Han Ho Jae 
Published: August 2004

Background: Ethanol exposure leads to changes of cell proliferation in a variety of cell types. However, how ethanol affects the proliferation of renal proximal tubule cells is not known.Methods: To examine the effect of ethanol on cell proliferation and its related signaling pathway, [3H]thymidine incorporation, release of [3H]arachidonic acid (AA), and Western blotting of protein kinase C (PKC)/mitogen‐activated protein kinase (MAPK) were performed in primary cultured rabbit renal proximal tubule cells.Results: Ethanol inhibited [3H]thymidine incorporation in a time‐ and dose‐dependent manner. An inhibitory effect of ethanol on [3H]thymidine incorporation was predominantly observed after 12 hr of treatment with 100 mM ethanol. Ethanol increased AA release and prostaglandin E2 production. In addition, ethanol‐induced inhibition of [3H]thymidine incorporation was blocked by phospholipase A2 inhibitors and was significantly blocked by PKC inhibitors. Indeed, ethanol induced a PKC translocation from the cytosolic to the membrane fraction. In addition, ethanol‐induced inhibition of [3H]thymidine incorporation was blocked by PD 98059 (a p44/42 MAPK inhibitor), but not by SB 203580 (a p38 MAPK inhibitor), and ethanol increased the phosphorylation of p44/42 MAPK. Results of phosphorylated p44/42 MAPK by ethanol were consistent with those of [3H]thymidine incorporation and [3H]AA‐release experiments.Conclusions: Ethanol inhibited [3H]thymidine incorporation via PKC, p44/42 MAPK, and phospholipase A2 signaling pathways in primary cultured renal proximal tubule cells.
An Association Between Ethanol‐Evoked Enhancement of c‐jun Gene Expression in the Nucleus Tractus Solitarius and the Attenuation of Baroreflexes
Authors: Wang Xu , Abdel‐Rahman Abdel A. 
Published: August 2004

Background: An increased expression of Fos, the protein product of the immediate early gene c‐fos, in the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS) is associated with dysfunction in baroreceptor reflex control of heart rate. Our previous studies demonstrated that ethanol attenuates baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) in rats and humans. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that enhanced expression of the immediate early gene c‐jun (an index of neuronal activity) in the NTS contributes to the baroreflex dysfunction caused by ethanol.Methods: Conscious male spontaneously hypertensive (SHR) and Wistar‐Kyoto (WKY) rats were used to measure blood pressure, heart rate, and baroreflex sensitivity (Oxford method). The c‐jun messenger RNA (mRNA) expression in NTS was measured by in situ hybridization.Results: Ethanol elicited dose‐dependent attenuation in BRS in WKY rats, which was associated with significant increases in c‐jun mRNA in the NTS. In contrast, ethanol had no effect on BRS or c‐jun mRNA in the NTS of the SHRs; the latter exhibited significantly lower BRS and higher c‐jun mRNA in the NTS compared with WKY rats.Conclusions: An increased basal level of c‐jun mRNA in the NTS may contribute to the reduced BRS in the SHR, and ethanol enhancement of neuronal activity of the NTS, expressed as increased c‐jun mRNA expression, may contribute to its attenuation of BRS, which highlights the NTS as a neuroanatomical target for ethanol action on baroreflexes.
Effect of 5‐HT3 Receptor Over‐Expression on the Discriminative Stimulus Effects of Ethanol
Authors: Shelton Keith L. , Dukat Malgorzata , Allan Andrea M. 
Published: August 2004

Background: Drug discrimination studies using selective antagonists and agonists have suggested that 5‐HT3 receptors may modulate ethanol's discriminative stimulus effects. However, conflicting data between laboratories leaves the issue of 5‐HT3 receptor involvement in ethanol's discriminative stimulus effects in question. The present study utilized transgenic mice that over‐express 5‐HT3 receptors in conjunction with traditional pharmacological techniques to examine the contribution of 5‐HT3 receptors to ethanol's discriminative stimulus.Methods: Ten 5‐HT3 over‐expressing (5‐HT3 OE) and 18 B6SJL wild‐type (WT) mice were trained to discriminate 1.5 g/kg ethanol from saline in daily 15 min, milk reinforced operant sessions. After training, ethanol substitution and response‐rate suppression dose response curves were determined for ethanol, midazolam, dizocilpine, cocaine, mCPP, MD‐354, YC‐30 and MDL‐72222. Antagonism tests combining ethanol with MDL‐72222 and ondansetron were also conducted.Results: The 5‐HT3 OE and WT mice learned the ethanol discrimination in a comparable number of training sessions. Similar patterns of substitution were generated in both groups of mice for most test drugs. 5‐HT3 OE mice were more sensitive to the rate suppressing effects of dizocilpine and MDL‐72222 than were WT mice. Neither of the 5‐HT3 antagonist tested significantly attenuated ethanol's discriminative stimulus effects in either 5‐HT3 OE or WT mice.Conclusions: The results of the present study are consistent with a minimal role of 5‐HT3 receptors in transducing ethanol's discriminative stimulus effects. Over‐expression of 5‐HT3 receptors does not alter the relative efficacy of GABAA positive modulators or NMDA antagonists for producing ethanol‐like discriminative stimulus effects. However, 5‐HT3 receptor over‐expression does appear to modulate the response‐rate altering effects of the uncompetitive NMDA antagonist, dizocilpine, and the 5‐HT3 antagonist, MDL‐72222.
Risk Factors for Harm in Cognitively Impaired Seniors Who Live Alone: A Prospective Study
Authors: Tierney Mary C. , Charles Jocelyn , Naglie Gary , Jaglal Susan , Kiss Alex , Fisher Rory H. 
Published: August 2004

Objectives: To identify risk factors for harm due to self‐neglect or behaviors related to disorientation in cognitively impaired seniors who live alone that can be used in primary care.Design: Inception cohort followed prospectively for 18 months.Setting: Participants were referred by their primary care physicians and community service agencies or were patients of several medical units of a large teaching hospital.Participants: One hundred thirty‐nine community‐residing participants, aged 65 and older who scored less than 131 on the Dementia Rating Scale and lived alone.Measurements: Baseline Mini‐Mental State Examination (MMSE); a social resources questionnaire; presence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cerebrovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, Charlson Comorbidity Index, and medication use were examined as predictors of incident harm. Informants and primary care physicians provided information about the nature of any harm at 3‐month intervals over an 18‐month period. An incident of harm was included if it occurred as the result of self‐neglect or behaviors related to disorientation, resulted in physical injury or property loss or damage, and required emergency community interventions.Results: Based on the consensual agreement of four raters, 21.6% had an incident of harm. The proportional hazards model was highly significant (P<.001) and supported by bootstrapping estimates. Four variables were significantly predictive of time to incident harm: perception of fewer social resources, poorer performance on MMSE, presence of COPD, and presence of cerebrovascular disorders.Conclusion: Predictors of incident harm can be identified in the primary care setting and provide direction for the early identification of those at highest risk. Validation of findings with a new cohort is necessary.
Folk Theories of the Third Kind
Authors: Braddon‐Mitchell David 
Published: August 2004

AbstractThe idea of a folk theory has played many important roles in much recent philosophy. To do the work they are designed for, they need to be both internal features of agents who possess them, and yet scrutable without the full resources of empirical cognitive science. The worry for the theorist of folk theories, is that only one of these desiderata is met in each plausible conception of a folk theory. This paper outlines a third conception that meets them both.1
Self‐Deception and Moral Responsibility
Authors: Levy Neil 
Published: August 2004

AbstractThe self‐deceived are usually held to be moral responsible for their state. I argue that this attribution of responsibility makes sense only against the background of the traditional conception of self‐deception, a conception that is now widely rejected. In its place, a new conception of self‐deception has been articulated, which requires neither intentional action by self‐deceived agents, nor that they posses contradictory beliefs. This new conception has neither need nor place for attributions of moral responsibility to the self‐deceived in paradigmatic cases. Accordingly, we should take the final step toward abandoning the traditional conception, and drop the automatic attribution of responsibility. Self‐deception is simply a kind of mistake, and has no more necessary connection to culpability than have other intellectual errors.
Is Consequential Luck Morally Inconsequential? Empirical Psychology and the Reassessment of Moral Luck
Authors: Royzman Edward , Kumar Rahul 
Published: August 2004

AbstractPhilosophical discussions of the phenomenon that has come to be known as ‘moral luck’ have either dismissed it as illusory or touted it as the evidence for doubting the probative value of our commitment to certain widely avowed views concerning interpersonal assessments of responsibility. In this discussion, we present a third, distinctive interpretation of the moral luck phenomenon. Drawing upon empirically robust results from psychological studies of judgment bias, we argue that the phenomenon of moral luck is demonstrably not illusory. What we suggest, however, is that the phenomenon ought not to be taken to countenance doubts about the standards generally taken to be regulative of assessments of interpersonal responsibility. Rather, its significance lies in foregrounding certain generally unacknowledged obstacles we face in the process of conclusively applying general valid moral standards in making specific judgments of responsibility and desert.1
Consumption Externalities, Habit Formation and Equilibrium Efficiency*
Authors: Alonso‐Carrera Jaime , Caballé Jordi , Raurich Xavier 
Published: August 2004

AbstractWe analyze the welfare properties of the competitive equilibrium in a capital accumulation model where individual preferences are subject to both habit formation and consumption spillovers. Using an additive specification for preferences, according to which the argument in the utility function is a linear combination of present and past values of own consumption and consumption spillovers, we analyze the circumstances under which these spillovers are a source of inefficiency. It is shown that consumption externalities have to interact with habits in order to generate an inefficient dynamic equilibrium. Finally, we characterize optimal tax policies aimed at restoring efficient decentralized paths.
What Determines Real Exchange Rates? The Nordic Countries
Authors: Bergvall Anders 
Published: August 2004

AbstractThe model derived in this paper yields testable implications concerning the long‐run co‐movements of real exchange rates, relative labor productivity, the trade balance and terms of trade. Countries with relatively higher output growth, trade deficits or improved terms of trade are found to have more appreciated real exchange rates, with the main channel of transmission working through the relative price of nontraded goods. Exogenous terms‐of‐trade shocks are found to be the most important determinant of long‐run movements in the real exchange rate for Denmark and Norway, while demand shocks account for most of the long‐run variance in the real exchange rate for Finland and Sweden.
Is the MPC's Voting Record Informative about Future UK Monetary Policy?
Authors: Gerlach‐Kristen Petra 
Published: August 2004

AbstractIt is shown that the voting record of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England helps predict future policy rate changes. This result is robust to the inclusion of market participants’ expectations as measured by the slope of the term structure of money market rates and interest rate futures. Moreover, expectations seem to adjust to the information contained in the voting record, which suggests that publishing the minutes of MPC meetings increases the transparency of monetary policy.
A General Approach to Welfare Measurement through National Income Accounting*
Authors: Asheim Geir B. , Buchholz Wolfgang 
Published: August 2004

AbstractA framework is developed for analyzing national income accounting using a revealed welfare approach that is sufficiently general to cover, both the standard discounted utilitarian and maximin criteria as special cases. We show that the basic welfare properties of comprehensive national income accounting, previously ascribed only to the discounted utilitarian case, extend to this more general framework. In particular, under a wider range of circumstances, it holds that real NNP growth (or, equivalently, a positive value of net investments) indicates welfare improvement. We illustrate the applicability of our approach in the Dasgupta–Heal–Solow model of capital accumulation and resource depletion.
Tax Base and Crowding‐in Effects of Balanced Budget Fiscal Policy
Authors: Linnemann Ludger 
Published: August 2004

AbstractA dynamic general equilibrium business cycle model is constructed with staggered price adjustment, monopolistic wage setting and distortionary taxation. The government purchases goods, runs an unemployment benefit system and balances its budget through a proportional tax on labour income. A temporary tax‐financed increase in government expenditures can lower the tax rate through a demand‐induced widening of the tax base. It is shown analytically that this allows private consumption to rise, under realistic conditions, despite the negative wealth effect of increased fiscal spending.
Public Employment and Regional Risk Sharing*
Authors: Borge Lars‐Erik , Matsen Egil 
Published: August 2004

AbstractWe provide an empirical analysis of regional risk sharing in Norway over the period 1977–90. The approach of Asdrubali, Sørensen and Yosha (1996) is extended to take public employment into account as a possible shock absorber. The other channels of risk sharing are capital markets and commuting, taxes and transfers, and credit markets. The estimated degree of regional consumption insurance is very high. We cannot reject the hypothesis that there is full interregional risk sharing in the short term. Public employment absorbs up to 25 percent of private sector output shocks in our analyses. Generally, central government insurance against regional shocks is relatively more important, the more permanent the shocks are, and vice versa for market‐based risk‐sharing channels.
A numerical comparison of 2D resistivity imaging with 10 electrode arrays
Authors: Dahlin Torleif , Zhou Bing 
Published: August 2004

ABSTRACTNumerical simulations are used to compare the resolution and efficiency of 2D resistivity imaging surveys for 10 electrode arrays. The arrays analysed include pole‐pole (PP), pole‐dipole (PD), half‐Wenner (HW), Wenner‐α (WN), Schlumberger (SC), dipole‐dipole (DD), Wenner‐β (WB), γ‐array (GM), multiple or moving gradient array (GD) and midpoint‐potential‐referred measurement (MPR) arrays. Five synthetic geological models, simulating a buried channel, a narrow conductive dike, a narrow resistive dike, dipping blocks and covered waste ponds, were used to examine the surveying efficiency (anomaly effects, signal‐to‐noise ratios) and the imaging capabilities of these arrays. The responses to variations in the data density and noise sensitivities of these electrode configurations were also investigated using robust (L1‐norm) inversion and smoothness‐constrained least‐squares (L2‐norm) inversion for the five synthetic models.The results show the following. (i) GM and WN are less contaminated by noise than the other electrode arrays. (ii) The relative anomaly effects for the different arrays vary with the geological models. However, the relatively high anomaly effects of PP, GM and WB surveys do not always give a high‐resolution image. PD, DD and GD can yield better resolution images than GM, PP, WN and WB, although they are more susceptible to noise contamination. SC is also a strong candidate but is expected to give more edge effects. (iii) The imaging quality of these arrays is relatively robust with respect to reductions in the data density of a multi‐electrode layout within the tested ranges. (iv) The robust inversion generally gives better imaging results than the L2‐norm inversion, especially with noisy data, except for the dipping block structure presented here. (v) GD and MPR are well suited to multichannel surveying and GD may produce images that are comparable to those obtained with DD and PD. Accordingly, the GD, PD, DD and SC arrays are strongly recommended for 2D resistivity imaging, where the final choice will be determined by the expected geology, the purpose of the survey and logistical considerations.