bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Breast arterial calcifications as an indicator of systemic vascular disease
Authors: Markopoulos C. , Mantas D. , Revenas K. , Kouskos E. , Tzonou A. , Liapis C. , Kostakis A. 
Published: November 2004

Purpose: To evaluate the association between mammographically detected arterial calcifications and systemic vascular disease. Material and Methods: The medical records of 77 women who had either breast arterial calcifications or underwent surgery for carotid stenosis, abdominal aortic aneurysm, or femoropopliteal bypass (study groups A and B) were evaluated and compared with 33 women without breast arterial calcifications (group C). Patients in both arms of the study underwent additional vascular tests or mammography. Results: Currently available data indicate that there is a statistically significant correlation between the presence of arterial calcifications on the mammogram and atheromatosis of the carotid or femoral arteries. Conclusion: Screening mammograms might be useful in the detection of women at risk for systemic vascular disease.
The 6‐49 Lottery Paradox
Authors: Neufeld Eric , Goodwin Scott 
Published: November 2004

The paradox of the preface and the lottery paradox are paradoxes of practical certainty sharing certain features. The paradox of the lottery argues that rational agents are at once practically certain that each ticket in a lottery will lose but also practically certain some ticket will win. The paradox of the preface argues that rational agents are at once practically certain that all facts in a written volume are true, yet are also practically certain that some fact is wrong. A difference between real lotteries and prefaces is that a winning lottery ticket is generally an intended feature of the lottery, whereas incorrect facts are generally unintended.Despite these similarities, Pollock gives a novel argument suggesting that the preface paradox warrants qualitatively different treatment from the lottery, using as a rationale the differences between real lotteries and prefaces. This draws a clear line between the work of Pollock and the work of Kyburg, both of whom have had a prominent influence in recent thinking on nonmonotonic reasoning in AI.This note shows there are real lotteries with the formal structure of the preface paradox and possibly prefaces with the formal structure of lotteries. The surprising conclusion is that within Pollock's framework, the treatment of any problem with a formal structure resembling the lottery (or the preface) depends on the process by which winning tickets (or publishing errors) are generated. The rationales given by Pollock seem to be unrelated to the actual mechanisms implemented.
Embodied Technological Change, Learning‐by‐doing and the Productivity Slowdown*
Authors: Boucekkine Raouf , Del Río Fernando , Licandro Omar 
Published: November 2004

AbstractThe productivity slowdown in the US economy since the first oil shock has recently been associated with a larger decline rate of the relative price of equipment investment and a smaller rate of disembodied technical change. We set up a growth model in which learning‐by‐doing is the engine of both embodied and disembodied technological progress. A shift in the relative efficiency of learning‐by‐doing from the consumption to the investment sector is shown to imply a technological reassignment consistent with the above‐mentioned evidence. This result derives from the interaction between the obsolescence costs inherent in embodiment and the learning‐by‐doing engine.
Bivariate Kurtotic Distributions of Garment Fibre Data
Authors: Hoggart C. J. , Walker S. G. , Smith A. F. M. 
Published: November 2004

SummaryA bivariate and unimodal distribution is introduced to model an unconventionally distributed data set collected by the Forensic Science Service. This family of distributions allows for a different kurtosis in each orthogonal direction and has a constructive rather than probability density function definition, making conventional inference impossible. However, the construction and inference work well with a Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo analysis.
Energy in the Caspian Sea region in the late 1990s: the end of the boom?
Authors: Von Hirschhausen Christian , Engerer Hella 
Published: November 2004

Central Asia (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) have been expected to become important players in the international oil and gas trade. Recent forecasts (1998) still assume net exports of the Caspian region to increase to 75–118 million tonnes of oil and 72–84 billion cubic metres of gas in 2010. However, the real development of the energy sector in these countries, since they gained national independence in 1991, has been dis‐appointing. Oil production so far has hardly recovered from the post‐Soviet slump (52 mt in 1998) and oil exports have remained marginal (18 mt, i.e. just one per cent of international trade flows). The region's gas production fell from 146 bn cu m in 1990 to 80 bn cu m in 1998. Net gas exports diminished from 61 bn cu m in 1990 to a mere 5 bn cu m in 1998.This paper analyses the development of the Caspian region's energy sector over the last decade. It also looks at the reasons why the high hopes concerning its potential have so far been disappointed:–The macroeconomic development of all Caspian countries suffered badly after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Furthermore, the incipient recovery after 1996/97 was stifled by the fallout of the financial turmoil in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) after August 1998.–A number of technical, legal and political obstacles has so far prevented the implementation of large investment projects.–The restructuring of domestic oil and gas companies is further complicated by socio‐economic obstacles, e.g. overemployment, untransparent systems of governance and the need to diversify regions dominated by a single industry.In view of the existing structural problems, the paper concludes that a major expansion of the region's energy output and exports is unlikely in the medium term (this paper was submitted to the OPEC Review in January 1999).
Self creation and the limitless void of dissociation: the ‘as if’ personality
Authors: McFarland Solomon Hester 
Published: November 2004

Abstract:  The concept of the ‘as if’ personality has been used variously in analytic literature without having formed part of a clinically based theoretical development over time.The author discusses the bases of her notion of the ‘as if’ personality, as observed across a number of patients and supervised patients in intensive, long term analytic treatment. In this composite clinical picture, a grouping of elements that form a particular kind of defence of the self is identified in certain patients with an exceptional capacity for creative engagement in the world, surpassing expectations given their background. The picture includes the presence of physical breakdown and illness, as psychic suffering arising from early narcissistic wounding and from a physical, emotional and/or sexual abusive familial environment, was held for too long in bodily memory but not in mind. A distinction is made between the ‘as if’ personality, the persona and the false self. The ‘as if’ personality concerns the action of defensive dissociation deriving from very early experiences of internalizing the presence of an absent object, creating the sense of an internal void at the core of the self. At the same time, the self is capable of acts of self creation through a succession of identifications and internalizations with other sources of environmental nourishment, which substitute for, and are constructed around, the original sense of internal emptiness. Thus are restored, but only up to a point, the resources of the originally diminished self. Until these resources have been used up, the self is often able to excel in activities to an exceptional degree. The countertransference is shown to be the means of both useful but often perilously obtained clinical experience and information, supporting the work along the hazardous analytic journey.
Immunization against sheep scab: preliminary identification of fractions of Psoroptes ovis which confer protective effects
Authors: Smith W. D. , Pettit D. M. 
Published: November 2004

SUMMARY In an attempt to enrich for potentially protective Psoroptes ovis antigens, three separate vaccine trials were conducted in which groups of sheep were immunized three times with various fractions of a soluble extract of P. ovis mites using QuilA as adjuvant. These groups, as well as controls that received adjuvant only, were challenged with P. ovis, and protective immunity was assessed by measuring lesion areas and conducting mite counts 4 and 6 weeks later. All fractions stimulated high titre serum antibodies. Most conferred some protection on sheep with active disease, although there was considerable variation between sheep in all groups, including the controls. Some fractions were more protective than the extract itself, suggesting that the protective components had been concentrated. Indeed the best fraction, obtained by ion exchange chromatography, followed by a gel filtration step, slowed lesion growth to less than a third by 6 weeks after challenge and reduced mite numbers by more than 13 times compared to control sheep vaccinated with QuilA only. However, as judged by polyacrylamide gels, the polypeptide profile of this fraction was still complex, indicating that further work is required to identify the protective components.
Hormonal and immunological mechanisms mediating sex differences in parasite infection
Authors: Klein S. L. 
Published: November 2004

SUMMARY The prevalence and intensity of infections caused by protozoa, nematodes, trematodes, cestodes, and arthropods is higher in males than females. The primary thesis of this review is that immunological differences exist between the sexes that may underlie increased parasitism in males compared to females. Several field and laboratory studies link sex differences in immune function with circulating steroid hormones; thus, the roles of sex steroids, including testosterone, oestradiol, and progesterone, as well as glucocorticoids will be discussed. Not only can host hormones affect responses to infection, but parasites can both produce and alter hormone concentrations in their hosts. The extent to which changes in endocrine–immune interactions following infection are mediated by the host or the parasite will be considered. Although males are more susceptible than females to many parasites, there are parasites for which males are more resistant than females and endocrine–immune interactions may underlie this sex reversal. Finally, although immunological differences exist between the sexes, genetic and behavioural differences may explain some variability in response to infection and will be explored as alternative hypotheses for how differences between the sexes contribute to dimorphic responses to parasites.
Interferon‐γ Mediates Neuronal Killing of Intracellular Bacteria
Authors: Jin Y. , Lundkvist G. , Dons L. , Kristensson K. , Rottenberg M. E. 
Published: November 2004

AbstractNeurons can be targets for microbes, which could kill the neurons. Just in reverse, we, in this study, report that bacteria can be killed when entering a neuron. Primary cultures of foetal mouse hippocampal neurons and a neuronal cell line derived from mouse hypothalamus were infected by Listeria monocytogenes. Treatment with interferon‐γ (IFN‐γ) did not affect bacterial uptake, but resulted in increased killing of intracellular bacteria, whereas the neuronal cell remained intact. The IFN‐γ‐mediated bacterial killing was mapped to the neuronal cytosol, before listerial actin tail formation. Treatment with IFN‐γ induced phosphorylation of the transcription factor STAT‐1 in neurons and IFN‐γ‐mediated listerial killing was not observed in STAT‐1–/– neurons or neurons treated with IFN regulatory factor‐1 antisense oligonucleotides. IFN‐γ‐treated neuronal cells showed increased levels of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) mRNA, and antisense iNOS oligonucleotides hampered the bacterial killing by neurons upon IFN‐γ treatment. This novel neuronal function – i.e., that of a microbe killer – could play a crucial role in the control of infections in the immuno‐privileged nervous system.
Platelet‐Derived Growth Factor‐AA Increases IL‐1β and IL‐8 Expression and Activates NF‐κB in Rheumatoid Fibroblast‐Like Synoviocytes
Authors: Cheon H. , Sun Y. K. , Yu S. J. , Lee Y. H. , Ji J. D. , Song G. G. , Lee J. H. , Kim M. K. , Sohn J. 
Published: November 2004

AbstractThe effect of platelet‐derived growth factor (PDGF)‐AA on the inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and osteoarthritis (OA) was investigated using cultured fibroblast‐like synoviocytes (FLS) obtained from RA and OA patients as well as control nonarthritic (NA) individuals. PDGF‐AA increased the mRNA and protein expressions of proinflammatory cytokines, interleukin (IL)‐1β and IL‐8 in RA FLS. Biological activity of IL‐1 in the culture supernatant of RA FLS was also increased by PDGF‐AA stimulation. Interestingly, PDGF‐AA synergized with tumour necrosis factor (TNF)‐α to upregulate the protein expressions of IL‐1β and IL‐8. PDGF‐induced enhancement of the IL‐1β and IL‐8 mRNA expressions was also observed in OA FLS. However, the expression of these proinflammatory cytokines in NA FLS did not change by PDGF treatment, suggesting that the inflammatory condition might have modified the biological effects of PDGF. In accordance with the enhanced expression of inflammatory cytokines, the activity of nuclear factor κB was also induced in response to PDGF‐AA in RA FLS. These results suggest that PDGF‐AA plays an important role in the progression of RA inflammation, and inhibiting PDGF activity may be useful for the effective RA treatment.
Unique TCRDV1‐Positive Lymphocytes that Infiltrate Colonic Neoplasia Originate From a Selected Cell Population Present in the Intestinal Mucosa and the Peripheral Blood
Authors: Coscas D. , Chowers M. , Levite M. , Amariglio N. , Lang A. , Barshack I. , Bar‐Meir S. , Chowers Y. 
Published: November 2004

AbstractTCRDV1‐positive lymphocytes, which infiltrate colon carcinomas, were recently shown to be cytolytic for tumour cells. However, the immune compartment from which these cells originate is unknown. The aim of the present studies was to determine the origin of TCRDV1‐positive cells in colonic neoplasia. Biopsies were obtained from normal colon, polyps or carcinomas, concurrently with a sample from the peripheral blood. RNA was extracted and a TCRDV1‐specific reverse transcriptase‐polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) was performed. Amplification products were analysed by a CDR3 display and sequence analysis. In five out of six patients, the TCRDV1 CDR3 display of the whole cell population within the neoplastic tissue was distinct from that in the normal mucosa and the peripheral blood. The nucleotide sequences of CDR3 domains from the three compartments were distinct as well. In one patient, a pattern similar to the CDR3 display was detected in neoplastic and normal intestinal tissues. However, using junction‐specific RT‐PCR of CDR3 sequences derived from the neoplastic cells, such sequences could be detected in all three compartments. These findings suggest that in contrast to the current paradigm, a unique TCRDV1 cell population circulates in the peripheral blood and normal intestinal tissue and infiltrates colon neoplasia rather than being restricted to a single compartment as previously thought.
Salivary flow and its relationship to oral signs and symptoms in patients with dry eyes
Authors: Koseki M , Maki Y , Matsukubo T , Ohashi Y , Tsubota K 
Published: November 2004

Objectives:  The aim of this study was to investigate oral symptoms and clinical parameters in dry eye patients. Subjective reports of the sensation of a dry mouth, salivary flow rates, and clinical parameters of oral disease related to three different types of dry eye patients were examined.Subjects and methods:  There were 224 individuals, including dry eye patients and control subjects. The dry eye patients were classified into three types: patients with Sjögren's syndrome (SS‐DE), patients without SS‐DE (non‐SS‐DE), and patients with Stevens–Johnson syndrome (SJS‐DE). Salivary flow rates were measured using two kinds of sialometry. Subjective and objective oral symptoms and signs were also examined.Results and conclusion:  Over half of the dry eye patients complained of a dry mouth. The flow rates of their stimulated whole saliva and parotid saliva were significantly lower than those of the control groups (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). The sensation of a dry mouth and changes in oral soft tissues, dental caries, and oral Candida frequently occurred in dry eye patients.
Coffee (Coffea arabica L.) genes early expressed during infection by the rust fungus (Hemileia vastatrix)
Authors: FERNANDEZ DIANA , SANTOS PATRICIA , AGOSTINI CAROLINE , BON MARIE‐CLAUDE , PETITOT ANNE‐SOPHIE , C. SILVA MARIA , GUERRA‐GUIMARÃES LEONOR , RIBEIRO ANA , ARGOUT XAVIER , NICOLE MICHEL 
Published: November 2004

SUMMARYThe beverage cash crop coffee (Coffea arabica L.) is subject to severe losses caused by the rust fungus Hemileia vastatrix. In naturally resistant coffee plants, a specific hypersensitive reaction (HR) may be elicited early to stop fungal infection. To isolate host genes involved in HR, we undertook an expressed sequence tags (ESTs) analysis. Two cDNA libraries were constructed using suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) and 527 non‐redundant ESTs were generated from 784 randomly picked clones. Classification of the ESTs into several functional categories showed that more than one‐quarter of the predicted proteins might encode disease resistance (R) proteins, stress‐ and defence‐proteins, and components of signal transduction pathways. Twenty‐eight differentially screened sequences (DSSs) were selected after differential hybridization of 1000 cDNA clones from each library. Investigation of the expression patterns of a subset of 13 DSSs showed higher levels of gene expression in inoculated plants compared with control plants. HR‐up‐regulation of transcript accumulation occurred for 9 out of the 13 genes 24 and 48 h after H. vastatrix challenge. Two genes encoded homologues of the Arabidopsis DND1 and NDR1 proteins, suggesting conservation of resistance signalling pathways in perennial plants. Other HR‐regulated sequences matched receptor kinases, AP2 domain‐ and WRKY transcription factors, cytochromes P450, heat shock 70 proteins, glucosyltransferases and proteins of unknown function. The ESTs reported here provide a useful resource for studying coffee resistance responses and for improving C. arabica for durable disease resistance.
Induction of programmed cell death in lily by the fungal pathogen Botrytis elliptica
Authors: VAN BAARLEN PETER , STAATS MARTIJN , VAN KAN JAN A. L. 
Published: November 2004

SUMMARYThe genus Botrytis contains necrotrophic plant pathogens that have a wide host range (B. cinerea) or are specialized on a single host species, e.g. B. elliptica on lily. In this study, it was found that B. elliptica‐induced cell death of lily displays hallmark features of animal programmed cell death or apoptosis including cytoplasmic shrinkage, nuclear DNA fragmentation and the accumulation of NO as well as H2O2. A pharmacological approach showed that B. elliptica‐induced cell death could be modulated by serine and cysteine protease inhibitors including one caspase inhibitor. Blocking phosphatase activity stimulated cell death and concomitant lesion formation, suggesting that B. elliptica‐induced cell death is mediated by kinase/phosphatase pathways. Blocking Ca2+ influx restricted cell death. Blocking steps of sphingolipid biosynthesis delayed lily cell death for several days. B. elliptica culture filtrate (CF) was able to induce lily cell death by means of secreted proteins. Induction of cell death is necessary and sufficient for pathogenicity and host specialization because prior infiltration of B. elliptica CF enabled subsequent infection of lily by the otherwise incompatible pathogens B. cinerea and B. tulipae. The secreted B. elliptica proteins also induced cell death in some but not all Arabidopsis accessions and mutants. Arabidopsis accessions that respond to infiltration of B. elliptica CF also display cell death symptoms upon inoculation with B. elliptica conidia.
Identification of putative homology between horse microsatellite flanking sequences and cross‐species ESTs, mRNAs and genomic sequences
Authors: Farber C. R. , Medrano J. F. 
Published: November 2004

SummaryIn this study the flanking sequences of 1534 horse microsatellites were used in a BLAST search to identify putative human–horse homologies. BLAST searches revealed 129 flanking sequences with significant blastn matches [alignment scores (S) ≥ 60 and sum probability values (E) ≤ 3.0E‐6], also, 25 of these produced significant blastx matches. To provide a reference point in the human genome the flanking sequences with matches were subjected to a BLAT search of the University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC) human genome assembly (July 2003 freeze). Eighty‐three of the flanking sequences showed high similarity to sequence of known or putative human genes and the remaining 46 demonstrated high similarity to human intragenic regions. Interestingly, 87 of the microsatellites showed conservation of the tandem repeat in addition to flanking regions. Overall, 41 of the microsatellites had been mapped in the horse and of these 37 localized to the expected syntenic location. The other four did not and represent new putative regions of human–horse synteny. The results of this study contribute 79 new putative human–horse homologies, increasing the density of markers on the human–horse comparative map.
Quality of life of adolescents suffering from epilepsy living in the community
Authors: Maher Elise 
Published: November 2004

.

Benavente‐Aguilar, I.,
Morales‐Blánquez, C.,
Rubio, E.A. &
Rey, J.M.
(
2004
)

40
,
110
–
113
.
Objectives  To examine the quality of life of a population sample of adolescents suffering from epilepsy.Methods  All people aged 10–19 years diagnosed with epilepsy and without comorbid conditions in the Spanish province of Huesca were considered for the study. Quality of life was measured with the Spanish version of the Qolie‐AD‐48.Results  A total of 66 young people with a mean age of 15 years had active epilepsy and agreed to participate; 30.3% had experienced seizures during the previous year. There were some differences in quality of life according to gender and socio‐economic status. Quality of life decreased with increasing severity of epilepsy (r = −0.63, P < 0.01). Medication neurotoxicity was associated with a lower quality of life over and above the effect of severity of the illness (partial r = −0.58, P < 0.01). Quality of life was negatively associated with the number of seizures per year (r = −0.64, P < 0.01), longer duration of the illness (r = −0.36, P < 0.01) and earlier age of onset (r = −0.29, P < 0.05).Conclusions  The quality of life of young people with epilepsy in community samples varies according to gender and socio‐economic status, but severity of the epilepsy and side‐effects of medication are the main influence. This highlights the importance of optimal control of the seizures with medications with few side‐effects.