bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Efficacy, tolerability and safety of oral eletriptan and ergotamine plus caffeine (Cafergot) in the acute treatment of migraine: a multicentre, randomised, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled comparison.
Authors: Diener HC , Jansen JP , Reches A , Pascual J , Pitei D , Steiner TJ 
Published: December 2004

Eur Neurol. 2002;47(2):99‐107The 5‐HT(1B/1D/1F) agonist eletriptan, at an oral dose of 80 mg, has been shown to be more efficacious than sumatriptan 100 mg and placebo in the treatment of migraine attacks with or without aura. Another commonly prescribed oral treatment for migraine attacks is Cafergot (1 mg ergotamine tartrate with 100 mg caffeine per tablet). The efficacy, tolerability and safety of 40‐ and 80‐mg doses of eletriptan and 2 tablets of Cafergot were compared in a double‐blind, randomised, placebo‐controlled, parallel‐group trial involving 733 migraine patients. Patients recorded symptoms at baseline (before treatment) and 1, 2, 4 and 24 h after dosing. Headache intensity was assessed on a 4‐point scale (3  =  severe pain, 2  =  moderate pain, 1  =  mild pain, 0  =  no pain). Significantly more eletriptan‐treated patients (80 mg, 68%; 40 mg, 54%) than Cafergot‐treated patients (33%; p  <  0.001) reported headache response (improvement from moderate‐to‐severe to mild or no pain) at 2 h. Substantially more eletriptan recipients reported no pain (80 mg, 38%; 40 mg, 28%; Cafergot, 10%; placebo, 5%; p  <  0.001). Eletriptan headache response rates at 1 h were significantly higher (80 mg, 39%; 40 mg, 29%; Cafergot, 13%; placebo, 13%; p  <  0.002 for each comparison). Both doses of eletriptan were significantly more effective than Cafergot in reducing nausea (p  <  0.0001), photophobia (80 mg, p  <  0.0001; 40 mg, p  <  0.002), phonophobia (80 mg, p  <  0.0001; 40 mg, p  <  0.003) and functional impairment (p  <  or  =  0.001) at 2 h. Adverse events were generally mild or moderate and transient. This randomised trial shows that oral eletriptan is more efficacious in the acute treatment of migraine than oral Cafergot and is well tolerated.Comment: As with all comparative trials with eletriptan, this comparative trial raises the important issue of blinding. Was the Cafergot encapsulated (hence potentially hindering the early phase of absorbtion)? This approach has been a major issue with previous eletriptan studies and may potentially make the results from this trial difficult to interpret. DSM One key issue in ensuring methodologically rigorous comparative trials is symmetry of comparative groups. I have come to believe that the controversy over encapsulation for blinding is neither about the pharmacokinetics of encapsulation, nor about the effectiveness of eletriptan, but rather about the methodology of comparison, which requires as much symmetry as possible. As Gawel and Wiebe wrote in a superb article explaining how to critically evaluate a comparison trial, “When faced with a potential confounder … readers need to estimate in which direction the results would be biased” in any comparative trial (Gawel M, Wiebe S. Evidence‐based analysis of a migraine treatment drug comparison trial. Cephalalgia. 2000;20[suppl 2]:33‐38). SJT
B1-Phytoprostanes Trigger Plant Defense and Detoxification Responses
Authors: Loeffler Christiane , Berger Susanne , Guy Alexandre , Durand Thierry , Bringmann Gerhard , Dreyer Michael , von Rad Uta , Durner Jörg , Mueller Martin J. 
Published: December 2004

Abstract
Phytoprostanes are prostaglandin/jasmonate-like products of nonenzymatic lipid peroxidation that not only occur ubiquitously in healthy plants but also increase in response to oxidative stress. In this work, we show that the two naturally occurring B1-phytoprostanes (PPB1) regioisomers I and II (each comprising two enantiomers) are short-lived stress metabolites that display a broad spectrum of biological activities. Gene expression analysis of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) cell cultures treated with PPB1-I or -II revealed that both regioisomers triggered a massive detoxification and defense response. Interestingly, expression of several glutathione S-transferases, glycosyl transferases, and putative ATP-binding cassette transporters was found to be increased by one or both PPB1 regioisomers, and hence, may enhance the plant's capacity to inactivate and sequester reactive products of lipid peroxidation. Moreover, pretreatment of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) suspension cells with PPB1 considerably prevented cell death caused by severe CuSO4 poisoning. Several Arabidopsis genes induced by PPB1, such as those coding for adenylylsulfate reductase, tryptophan synthase β-chain, and PAD3 pointed to an activation of the camalexin biosynthesis pathway that indeed led to the accumulation of camalexin in PPB1 treated leaves of Arabidopsis. Stimulation of secondary metabolism appears to be a common plant reaction in response to PPB1. In three different plant species, PPB1-II induced a concentration dependent accumulation of phytoalexins that was comparable to that induced by methyl jasmonate. PPB1-I was much weaker active or almost inactive. No differences were found between the enantiomers of each regioisomer. Thus, results suggest that PPB1 represent stress signals that improve plants capacity to cope better with a variety of stresses.
Analysis of Detergent-Resistant Membranes in Arabidopsis. Evidence for Plasma Membrane Lipid Rafts
Authors: Borner Georg H.H. , Sherrier D. Janine , Weimar Thilo , Michaelson Louise V. , Hawkins Nathan D. , MacAskill Andrew , Napier Johnathan A. , Beale Michael H. , Lilley Kathryn S. , Dupree Paul 
Published: December 2004

Abstract
The trafficking and function of cell surface proteins in eukaryotic cells may require association with detergent-resistant sphingolipid- and sterol-rich membrane domains. The aim of this work was to obtain evidence for lipid domain phenomena in plant membranes. A protocol to prepare Triton X-100 detergent-resistant membranes (DRMs) was developed using Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) callus membranes. A comparative proteomics approach using two-dimensional difference gel electrophoresis and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry revealed that the DRMs were highly enriched in specific proteins. They included eight glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored proteins, several plasma membrane (PM) ATPases, multidrug resistance proteins, and proteins of the stomatin/prohibitin/hypersensitive response family, suggesting that the DRMs originated from PM domains. We also identified a plant homolog of flotillin, a major mammalian DRM protein, suggesting a conserved role for this protein in lipid domain phenomena in eukaryotic cells. Lipid analysis by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry showed that the DRMs had a 4-fold higher sterol-to-protein content than the average for Arabidopsis membranes. The DRMs were also 5-fold increased in sphingolipid-to-protein ratio. Our results indicate that the preparation of DRMs can yield a very specific set of membrane proteins and suggest that the PM contains phytosterol and sphingolipid-rich lipid domains with a specialized protein composition. Our results also suggest a conserved role of lipid modification in targeting proteins to both the intracellular and extracellular leaflet of these domains. The proteins associated with these domains provide important new experimental avenues into understanding plant cell polarity and cell surface processes.
Fairness in the Mail and Opportunism in the Internet: A Newspaper Experiment on Ultimatum Bargaining
Authors: Güth Werner , Sutter Matthias 
Published: December 2004

AbstractOn 11 May 2001, readers of the Berliner Zeitung were invited to participate in an ultimatum bargaining experiment played in the strategy vector mode: each participant chooses not only how much (s)he demands of the DM1,000 pie but also which of the nine possible offers of DM100, 200,y, 900 (s)he would accept or reject. In addition, participants were asked to predict the most frequent type of behavior. Three randomly selected proposer-responder pairs were rewarded according to the rules of ultimatum bargaining and three randomly chosen participants of those who predicted the most frequent type of behavior received a prize of DM500. Decisions could be submitted by mail, fax or via the internet. Behavior is described, statistically analyzed and compared to the usual laboratory ultimatum bargaining results.
Criteria for defining a complete remission in acute myeloid leukaemia revisited. An analysis of patients treated in HOVON‐SAKK co‐operative group studies
Authors: De Greef Georgine E. , Van Putten Wim L. J. , Boogaerts Marc , Huijgens Peter C. , Verdonck Leo F. , Vellenga Edo , Theobald Matthias , Jacky Emanuel , Löwenberg Bob ,   The Dutch–Belgian Hemato–Oncology Co‐operative Group HOVON,   The Swiss Group for Clinical Cancer Research SAKK
Published: December 2004

SummaryComplete remission (CR) in patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) is the primary endpoint for the evaluation of induction treatment and treatment strategies. However, the choice and application of the criteria for a haematological CR can often become a subject of debate because of regeneration more than 5% blasts may be present at the time of response evaluation; platelet and neutrophil recovery may be incomplete and marrow cellularity can vary. This study examined the individual parameters for CR in 1250 adult patients with de novo AML treated according to three successive study protocols. Patients with ≤5% blasts showed the best overall survival (OS) and the lowest relapse risk (RR). This was independent of blast cells present in the peripheral blood or bone marrow (BM) cellularity. In the same patient group, the presence of extramedullary leukaemia, incomplete platelet (<100 × 109/l) or neutrophil (<1·0 × 109/l) recovery caused a reduced OS and increased RR. In conclusion, ≤5% blasts in the BM, recovery of neutrophils and platelets, and the absence of extramedullary disease constitute the cornerstones for the definition of a haematological CR in patients with AML.
Multiple effects of weather on the starvation and predation risk trade‐off in choice of feeding location in Redshanks
Authors: Yasué M. , Quinn J. L. , Cresswell W. 
Published: December 2004

SummaryAnimals should choose the feeding habitat that allows them to meet their energy requirements while minimizing predation risk, but as weather becomes more severe, animals may choose riskier, but more profitable, feeding habitats.At the Tyninghame estuary, Scotland, Redshanks (Tringa totanus) chose to feed on either a mudflat or saltmarsh. Energy intake rates were 23% higher and thermoregulatory costs were 40% lower on the saltmarsh, but predation risk from sparrowhawks (Accipiter nisus) was 21 times higher.The investigation tested whether the riskier habitat was chosen only when weather conditions were such that individuals were unable to meet their energy requirements in the safer habitat, and how any additional effects of weather affected this choice.When starvation risk increased on the mudflat, more Redshanks selected the saltmarsh where energy budgets alone accounted for 22% of the variation in habitat choice. Temperature and wind may have had smaller additional, independent effects that were probably related to their effects on vigilance behaviour and predator detection.The results show that weather may be crucial in determining habitat choice through its direct effects on starvation and predation risk, and the importance of considering a wide range of weather conditions when determining habitat requirements.
Natural abundance of 13C and 15N in C3 and C4 vegetation of southern Africa: patterns and implications
Authors: Swap R. J. , Aranibar J. N. , Dowty P. R. , Gilhooly W. P. , Macko S. A. 
Published: December 2004

AbstractThe mean annual rainfall in southern Africa is found to explain over half of the observed variance in the stable nitrogen (N) isotopic signatures of C3 vegetation in southern Africa (r2=0.54, P<0.01). The inverse relationship between the stable N isotopic signatures of foliar samples from C3 vegetation and long‐term southern African rainfall is found on a scale larger than previously observed. A modest relationship is found between stable carbon (C) isotopic signatures of C3 vegetation and rainfall across the region (r2=0.20, P<0.01). No such relationship is found between stable C and N isotopic signatures of C4 vegetation and rainfall. The explanation of the relationship between 15N in C3 vegetation and the mean annual rainfall presented here is that nutrient availability varies inversely with water availability. This suggests that water‐limited systems in southern Africa are more open in terms of nutrient cycling and therefore the resulting natural abundance of foliar 15N in these systems is enriched. The use of this relationship may be of value to those researchers modeling both the dynamics of vegetation and biogeochemistry across this region. The use of the isotopic enrichment in C3 vegetation as a function of rainfall may provide an insight into nutrient cycling across the semi‐arid and arid regions of southern Africa. This finding has implications for the study of global change, especially as it relates to vegetation responses to changing regional rainfall regimes over time.
Interactive effects of soil warming and fertilization on root production, mortality, and longevity in a Norway spruce stand in Northern Sweden
Authors: Majdi Hooshang , öhrvik John 
Published: December 2004

AbstractThe effects of soil warming and nitrogen availability on root production, longevity and mortality were studied using minirhizotrons in irrigation (C), fertilized (F), heated (H), and heated‐fertilized (HF) plots in a Norway spruce stand in northern Sweden from October 1996 to October 1997. Irrigation was included in all treatment plots. Heating cables were used to maintain the soil temperature in heated plots at 5°C above that in unheated plots during the growing season. A Kaplan–Meier approach was used to estimate the longevity of fine roots and Cox proportional hazards regression to analyze the effects of the H, F, and HF treatments on the risk of root mortality.The proportion of annual root length production contributed by winter–spring production amounted to 52% and 49% in heated plots and heated‐fertilized plots, respectively. The annual root length production in C plots was significantly higher than in other treatments, while the HF treatment gave significantly greater production compared with the F treatment. The risk of mortality (hazard ratio) relative to C plots was higher in H plots (358%) and F plots (191%). The interaction between heating and fertilizing was strongly significant. The increase in the risk of root mortality in combined fertilization and heating (103%) was lower than that in the H or F plots.The results show that nitrogen addition combined with warmer temperatures decreases the risk of root mortality, and fine root production is a function of the length of the growing season. In the future, fertilization combined with the warmer temperatures expected to follow predicted climatic change may increase root production in boreal forests at low fertility sites.
Clean rain promotes fine root growth and soil respiration in a Norway spruce forest
Authors: Lamersdorf Norbert P. , Borken Werner 
Published: December 2004

AbstractSoil acidification and N saturation are considered to affect the decomposition of soil organic matter as well as growth and mortality of fine roots in many forest soils. Here we report from a field experiment where ‘clean rain’ has been applied to the soil for about 10 years under a roofed plot of a 71‐year‐old Norway spruce plantation at Solling, Central Germany. Reduced amounts of protons (−78%), sulphate (−53%), ammonium (−86%), and nitrate (−49%) were sprayed on the soil surface of the clean rain plot between 1992 and 2001. In an adjacent roofed control plot, throughfall was collected and immediately re‐sprinkled below the roof construction without any chemical manipulation. One year before the clean rain treatment started, live and dead fine root masses (≤2 mm) were determined from undisturbed soil cores down to 40 cm mineral soil depth. Total live fine root mass was significantly lower in the clean rain plot than in the control plot. After the first sampling, the soil holes were refilled with quartz sand and repeatedly sampled in June 1992, June 1996, and October 2001. There were no differences in live and dead fine root masses between the plots in 1992 and 1996. In 2001, both live and dead fine root masses of the clean rain plot were about twice as high as in the control plot, indicating that fine root growth recovered in the mineral soil following 10 years of clean rain treatment. Moreover, the clean rain treatment significantly reduced the total N concentrations of live fine roots and 1‐year‐old needles. Our results suggest that the reduced N input promoted fine root growth to compensate N deficiency. Reduced Al concentration in soil solution may have contributed to the recovery of fine root growth, however, the toxicity of Al species is largely unknown. Mean annual soil respiration rate was 24% higher in the period from 2000 to 2001, indicating that the clean rain treatment increased respiration of roots and heterotrophic microorganisms within the rhizosphere. Laboratory incubation of samples from the organic horizon and the top mineral soil revealed no differences between the plots in the decay rate of soil organic matter. Our results suggest that strong reductions in atmospheric N deposition from about 30 to 10 kg N ha−1 yr−1 and decreasing acid stress can have beneficial effects on growth of fine roots in the mineral soil within a decade. We conclude that biological recovery under reduced atmospheric loads can affect the nutrient and carbon budget of spruce soils in the long run.
Oral bexarotene in a therapy‐resistant Sézary syndrome patient: observations on Sézary cell compartmentalization
Authors: El‐Azhary Rokea A. , Bouwhuis Saskia A. 
Published: December 2004

AbstractBackground  A 63‐year‐old man with therapy‐resistant Sézary syndrome was enrolled in a multicenter trial of oral bexarotene for advanced‐stage cutaneous T‐cell lymphoma (CTCL).Methods  Monthly evaluations for efficacy and side‐effects were conducted and documented.Results  Gradual improvement in erythema, pruritus, and scale was noted during the initial 16‐week trial period and treatment was extended to 40 weeks. From week 20 to week 40, the erythroderma continued to improve and the lymph node burden decreased, but the absolute Sézary cell count inversely increased. By week 40, intractable pruritus and erythroderma abruptly recurred, and bexarotene was discontinued.Conclusions  Bexarotene is well tolerated and can be efficacious in patients with Sézary syndrome. Shifting of Sézary cells between different compartments was noted. Further studies on the interaction between the skin, lymph nodes, and peripheral blood compartments during bexarotene treatment in this subset of patients with CTCL are needed.
Metacognitive development of deaf children: lessons from the appearance–reality and false belief tasks
Authors: Courtin Cyril , Melot Anne‐Marie 
Published: December 2004

Abstract ‘Theory of mind’ development is now an important research field in deaf studies. Past research with the classic false belief task has consistently reported a delay in theory of mind development in deaf children born of hearing parents, while performance of second‐generation deaf children is more problematic with some contradictory results. The present paper is aimed at testing the metacognitive abilities of deaf children on two tasks: the appearance–reality paradigm designed by Flavell, Flavell and Green (1983) and the classic false belief inference task (Wimmer & Perner, 1983; Hogrefe, Wimmer & Perner, 1986). Twenty‐eight second‐generation deaf children, 60 deaf children of hearing parents and 36 hearing children, aged 5 to 7, were tested and compared on three appearance–reality and three false belief items. Results show that early exposure to language, be it signed or oral, facilitates performance on the two theory of mind tasks. In addition, native signers equal hearing children in the appearance–reality task while surpassing them on the false belief one. The differences of performance patterns in the two tasks are discussed in terms of linguistic and metarepresentational development.
Effect of electroconvulsive therapy for the treatment of senile depression with marked pseudohysterical symptoms
Authors: KOBAYASHI Toshiyuki , NOGUCHI Masayuki , ABE Takaaki , KATO Satoshi 
Published: December 2004

AbstractTwo elderly patients with prolonged depression and prominent pseudohysterical symptoms were successively treated using electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Patient 1, a 71‐year‐old woman, developed depression in anticipation of her husband's retirement from his post as a college president and his receiving of a civilian decoration. She became bedridden because of the adverse effects of the antidepressants, and she was admitted to our hospital. Initial treatment was efficacious to some extent; however, after moving from a private room to an eight‐person ward, she began to exhibit passive‐aggressive behavior and seemed to seek attention. Her diagnosis and treatment was difficult, but ECT relieved her symptoms. Patient 2, a 74‐year‐old man, developed depression after experiencing domestic trivialities. Treatment as an outpatient produced numerous adverse effects and was of little effect, so the patient was admitted to hospital. As was seen in patient 1, this patient was moved to a ward room after he showed an initial improvement, but his condition deteriorated and he began to show passive‐aggressive behavior; ECT also relieved his symptoms. A multidisciplinary strategy, including ECT during the early period of treatment, might be effective for the treatment of senile depression.
Aluminum alters cell viability and axonal transport system in Alzheimer's disease pathogenic mutation‐bearing cells
Authors: TANII Hisashi , MATSUMOTO Naohiko , KASHIWAGI Yujiro , OKOCHI Masayasu , TANAKA Toshihisa , KUDO Takashi , KAMINO Kouzin , OKAZAKI Yuji , TAKEDA Masatoshi 
Published: December 2004

AbstractBackground:  We previously reported that pulse exposure of cultured rat neurons to aluminum‐maltol resulted in an abnormal distribution of both neurofilament‐L (NF‐L) and fast axonal transported proteins. It was also found that the presenilin 1 (PS1) missense mutation and aluminum affected early neuronal development of the mouse brain. It has been reported that the presenilin (PS) mutation alters neurite outgrowth, and the axonal transport of the amyloid precursor protein (APP)/PS complex is mediated by kinesin. The present study hypothesizes that aluminum might modulate axonal transport and neurite outgrowth in APP/PS mutant‐bearing cells.Methods:  We treated SH‐SY5Y cells and HEK293 cells bearing FAD mutations with aluminum‐maltol (Al‐mal) (0, 250 µm, 500 µm, 1 mm, 2 mm) for 1 h, followed by propidium iodide (PI) and Calcein‐AM staining, live and dead assay, double staining of NF‐L/synaptophysin or APP/JNK interacting protein‐1 (JIP‐1) 3 days after treatment.Results:  Apoptosis was induced Al‐mal treatment in a dose‐dependent manner in all cell lines. In SH‐SY5Y cells bearing PS1 mutations, there were no differences in the rate of cell viability, except for morphological changes observed by Calcein‐AM staining. The distribution of NF‐L and synaptophysin was modified by PS1 mutations and aluminum, suggesting that the PS mutation induces neuronal dysfunction by disturbance of the axonal transport system. The APP mutation‐bearing cell lines showed significant induction of apoptosis compared to that of wild‐type cells. Oxidative stress might thus influence cell viability in APP mutation‐bearing cells. Enhancement of JIP‐1 staining may reflect a disturbance of the intracellular axonal transport system, as well as compensation due to apoptotic changes.Conclusion:  The present results, when taken together, show that aluminum alters cell viability and the axonal transport system in FAD pathogenic mutation‐bearing cells.