bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Book Reviews
Authors: Short James F. , Marchi Bruna de , Yand Seung‐Bum , Stern Eric , Barton Laurence 
Published: May 2004

Books Reviewed:Christopher Hood, Henry Rothstein and Robert Baldwin, The Government of Risk: Understanding Risk Regulation RegimesKathleen J. Thierney, Michael K. Lindell, and Ronald W. Perry, Facing the Unexpected: Disaster Preparedness and Response in the United StatesFrank‐Jürgen Richter, Redesigning Asian Business: In the Aftermath of CrisisRhona Flin and Kevin Arbuthnot (Eds), Incident Command: Tales From the Hot SeatRachel Briggs (Ed.), The Unlikely Counter‐Terrorists
Age at Acquisition of Helicobacter pylori Infection: Comparison of Two Areas with Contrasting Risk of Gastric Cancer
Authors: Camargo M. Constanza , Yepez M. Clara , Ceron Cristina , Guerrero Nancy , Bravo Luis E. , Correa Pelayo , Fontham Elizabeth T.H. 
Published: May 2004

ABSTRACTBackground.  Helicobacter pylori infection is usually acquired during childhood and is a known risk factor for the development of gastric malignancies in adulthood. It has been reported that early age at first infection may determine a neoplastic outcome in adults. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection in children residing in areas with high (Pasto) and low risk (Tumaco) of gastric cancer in Colombia to evaluate whether differences in the age of acquisition of H. pylori infection were present in the two populations.Materials and Methods.  The study sample was based on a census taken in 1999. Using the 13C‐urea breath test, we compared the prevalence of H. pylori infection among children aged 1–6 years.Results.  Among 345 children in Pasto, 206 (59.7%) were H. pylori‐positive, compared with 188 (58.6%) among 321 children in Tumaco. The two populations share a common pattern of very early age at infection and marked increase in prevalence during the first 4 years of life. No differences in any one year were observed when comparing the two groups.Conclusions.  The prevalence of infection was similarly high and increased with age in both populations. In these populations the age of acquisition of H. pylori after 1 year of age does not appear to be a primary factor responsible for the differences in the rates of gastric cancer incidence in adults. Previous findings in adults showed lower prevalence of the most virulent genotypes in Tumaco compared to Pasto, and bacterial virulence may play a key role in determining cancer outcome.
Lower Prevalence of Helicobacter pylori Infection in Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Disease But Not With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease – Antibiotic Use in the History Does Not Play a Significant Role
Authors: Prónai László , Schandl László , Orosz Zsuzsa , Magyar Pál , Tulassay Zsolt 
Published: May 2004

ABSTRACTBackground.  Patients with inflammatory bowel disease have lower prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection, but the exact reason for this is not yet clear.Aim.  To examine whether the antibiotics frequently used in inflammatory bowel disease are responsible for the lower prevalence of H. pylori infection. Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease on prolonged previous antibiotic therapy were used for comparison.Methods.  Presence/absence of H. pylori infection was detected by a 13C‐urea breath test in 133 patients with inflammatory bowel disease (82 ulcerative colitis, and 51 Crohn's disease) and compared with that of 135 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and with two age‐matched control groups (200 patients each). Primary disease location, duration of disease and detailed analysis of previous and current medication (dose and duration of antibiotics, steroids, 5‐aminosalicylic acid) were analysed in each cases.Results.  Seventeen of the 133 patients with inflammatory bowel disease [12.2% (10/82) of ulcerative colitis and 13.7% (7/51) of Crohn's disease] and 90/135 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (66.7%) were positive for H. pylori. A total of 78/200 (39%) for the inflammatory‐bowel‐disease‐group‐matched controls and 110/210 (55%) for the chronic‐obstructive‐pulmonary‐disease‐matched controls were positive for H. pylori. The history of any antibiotic or steroid therapy had no influence on H. pylori status of patients with inflammatory bowel disease.Conclusion.  The prevalence of H. pylori compared to the age‐matched controls is significantly lower in patients with inflammatory bowel disease but not in those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Antibiotic use is not responsible for the lower prevalence of H. pylori infection in patients with inflammatory bowel disease.
Serum Antibodies to Helicobacter pylori and its Heat‐Shock Protein 60 Correlate with the Response of Gastric Mucosa‐Associated Lymphoid Tissue Lymphoma to Eradication of H. pylori
Authors: Takenaka Ryuta , Yokota Kenji , Mizuno Motowo , Okada Hiroyuki , Toyokawa Tatsuya , Yamasaki Rie , Yoshino Tadashi , Sugiyama Toshiro , Asaka Masahiro , Shiratori Yasushi , Oguma Keiji 
Published: May 2004

ABSTRACTBackground and aims.  Eradication of Helicobacter pylori leads to regression of mucosa‐associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphomas. In this study, we measured serum antibodies to H. pylori and H. pylori‐recombinant heat‐shock protein 60 (rHSP60) in patients with gastric MALT lymphoma to determine whether humoral immune responses to the bacterial antigens correlate with the efficacy of eradication therapy.Methods.  Serum samples were obtained from 33 patients with H. pylori‐positive gastric MALT lymphoma before undergoing therapy to eradicate the bacteria. Anti‐H. pylori antibodies were measured in a commercial assay and in immunoassays to lysates and rHSP60 which were prepared from ATCC 43504 strain.Results.  Helicobacter pylori were eradicated in all 33 patients, and the lymphoma completely regressed histologically in 26 patients (79%). Pre‐treatment titers of serum antibody to H. pylori and to rHSP60 in the patients whose tumor regressed were significantly higher than titers in patients whose tumors did not regress (p = .0011 and .035, respectively). By logistic regression analysis, age (odds ratio = 0.88, 95% confidence interval = 0.80–0.99), endoscopic appearance (0.053, 0.004–0.65), titers of anti‐H. pylori antibodies (67.6, 2.5–1800), and titers of anti‐rHSP60 antibody (6.4, 1.2–36) were identified as significantly associated factors with the outcome of MALT lymphoma.Conclusions.  Measurement of serum antibodies to H. pylori and HSP60 might be useful for predicting the response of gastric MALT lymphoma to eradication of H. pylori.
Absence of Catalase Reduces Long‐Term Survival of Helicobacter pylori in Macrophage Phagosomes
Authors: Basu Malini , Czinn Steven J. , Blanchard Thomas G. 
Published: May 2004

ABSTRACTBackground.  Some Helicobacter pylori strains can survive within macrophage phagosomes for up to 24 hours. The factors that play a role in this survival remain ill‐defined. Therefore, the contribution of catalase in mediating the survival of H. pylori following phagocytosis was investigated in vitro.Methods.  An isogenic, catalase‐deficient strain of H. pylori was generated and tested for sensitivity to hydrogen peroxide and susceptibility to macrophage‐mediated killing.Results.  The isogenic, catalase‐deficient strain of H. pylori was effectively killed by hydrogen peroxide within 3 minutes compared to wild‐type H. pylori which maintained 100% survival up to 21 minutes. The catalase‐deficient mutant was also significantly more susceptible to macrophage‐mediated killing than the parent strain, even when the ratio of bacteria to macrophage was increased.Conclusion.  These results indicate that although some strains of H. pylori are capable of survival within the macrophage phagosome, survival is dependent on virulence factors such as catalase for evasion of innate host defense.
Long‐Standing Gastric Mucosal Barrier Dysfunction in Helicobacter pylori‐Induced Gastritis in Mongolian Gerbils
Authors: Sun Yi‐Qian , Söderholm Johan D. , Petersson Fredrik , Borch Kurt 
Published: May 2004

ABSTRACTBackground and Aims.  Helicobacter pylori infection causes chronic gastritis and leads to peptic ulcer and gastric adenocarcinoma. An impaired gastric mucosal barrier could be involved in these processes. Our aim was to investigate gastric barrier function in H. pylori‐induced gastritis.Methods.  Stripped gastric mucosal tissues of H. pylori‐infected Mongolian gerbils (4 weeks and 70 weeks after inoculation, respectively) and controls were mounted in Ussing chambers. 51Cr‐EDTA (paracellular probe) and horseradish peroxidase (HRP, protein antigen) were used to assess mucosal barrier function. The electrophysiological parameters of the mucosa (transepithelial potential, short circuit current, and transepithelial resistance) were monitored as measurements of barrier integrity and viability. Tissue histology was performed to assess inflammation.Results.  In the antrum, both short‐term gastritis [4.68 (3.88–5.74) × 10−6 vs. control 2.86 (2.34–3.77) × 10−6 cm/s, p < .001] and gastritis of long‐standing [5.72 (3.88–10.94) × 10−6 cm/s, p < .001 vs. control] showed increased permeability to 51Cr‐EDTA. In long‐standing antral gastritis there was also an increased HRP flux [9.01 (2.98–45.02) vs. control 0.52 (0.06–1.20) pmol/h/cm2, p < .001]. In the corpus, permeability to 51Cr‐EDTA was increased only in long‐standing gastritis [4.63 (3.64–7.45) × 10−6 vs. control 2.86 (2.12–3.98) × 10−6 cm/s, p < .01]. Gastric mucosal permeability to 51Cr‐EDTA was correlated to histological inflammation and inflammatory activity. The levels of serum anti‐H. pylori immunoglobulin G were positively correlated to HRP flux and 51Cr‐EDTA permeation.Conclusions.  Helicobacter pylori‐induced gastritis in Mongolian gerbils was associated with a long‐standing gastric mucosal barrier dysfunction. The barrier defect extended from the antrum into the corpus over time. This impaired barrier function may contribute to perpetuation of chronic inflammation and may be involved in H. pylori‐associated carcinogenesis.
Helicobacter pylori Infection in Turkish Children: Comparison of Diagnostic Tests, Evaluation of Eradication Rate, and Changes in Symptoms after Eradication
Authors: Özçay Figen , Koçak Nurten , Temizel I. N. Saltik , Demir Hülya , Özen Hasan , Yüce Aysel , Gürakan Figen 
Published: May 2004

ABSTRACTBackground.  Helicobacter pylori infection is most frequently acquired in childhood. After this organism is eradicated, the rate of reinfection is low. Thus, it is very important to diagnose and treat the disease appropriately in childhood, and to be able to assess eradication with certainty. Eradication of H. pylori infection is reported to reduce or eliminate abdominal pain and dyspeptic symptoms in children.Patients and Methods.  The study involved 102 children who had already been diagnosed with symptomatic H. pylori infection based on gastric histopathological examination, urea breath test, rapid urease test, serology and culture. Each patient's symptoms and family history of gastrointestinal problems were recorded. Using histology as the gold standard for identifying H. pylori infection, we determined the diagnostic sensitivity of each of the other methods. Omeprazole or lansoprazole, amoxicillin and clarithromycin were administered as eradication treatment, and each patient was re‐evaluated by urea breath test 8 weeks later. Each child was re‐interviewed about symptoms after treatment. These answers and the results of drug sensitivity testing were recorded. Cases of failed eradication were re‐treated with a quadruple‐drug regimen of tetracycline, metronidazole, bismuth subsalicylate and omeprazole.Results.  The most frequent symptom was abdominal pain (89.2%). Fifty‐four per cent of the subjects had a family history of dyspeptic symptoms. Sixty‐six patients (64.7%) exhibited nodularity in the antral mucosa. The sensitivities of the diagnostic tests in histologically proven cases were as follows: urea breath test 100%, rapid urease test 89.2%, serology 71.9%, and culture 54.9%. Metronidazole had the highest frequency of resistance (36.4%) and the rate of clarithromycin resistance was 18.2%. The eradication rate after first‐line therapy was 75.5%, and abdominal pain and dyspeptic symptoms were reduced or completely resolved in 75.7% of the successful‐eradication cases. The proportion of failed‐eradication cases that responded well to quadruple‐drug therapy was 93.8%.Conclusion.  Symptomatic H. pylori infection in a child should always be treated. The urea breath test is an accurate and reliable way to identify H. pylori‐positive patients and to determine the response to treatment. Triple‐agent therapy is effective for eradicating H. pylori infection in children and usually helps reduce or eliminate dyspeptic symptoms. The level of H. pylori resistance to metronidazole is high in our region. The significant rate of resistance to clarithromycin (18.1%) may explain the treatment failure observed in this study.
Temporary Employment, Working Conditions and Expected Exits from Firms
Authors: García‐Serrano Carlos 
Published: May 2004

AbstractThis paper analyses two issues related to working conditions and temporary employment. First, why do temporary workers exhibit lower scores in objective indicators of working life? Second, what is the influence of working conditions on mobility? Using information for Spanish workers, the results indicate that differences in working conditions remain after controlling for individual, job and firm characteristics: in particular, temporary workers with short job tenure seem to occupy jobs with poorer working conditions. Moreover, there is evidence that workers with worse working life are more likely to expect to leave their current firms.
The Impact on Inequality of Raising the Minimum Wage: Gap‐narrowing and Reranking Effects
Authors: Angel‐Urdinola Diego F. , Wodon Quentin 
Published: May 2004

AbstractRaising the minimum wage may reduce inequality by increasing the wages of low‐skill workers, but it may also increase inequality due to negative impacts on employment that produce wage losses. Using previous estimates of the elasticities of wages and employment to changes in the minimum wage in Colombia and Brazil, we show that the net impact on inequality of increasing the minimum wage may depend on the distributional weights used for inequality measurement. The results are obtained by decomposing the Gini index into reranking and gap‐narrowing effects. Inequality‐increasing reranking effects, which are associated with job losses, may dominate inequality‐decreasing gap‐narrowing effects, which are associated with wage gains, when high weights are placed on workers with low earnings. For standard distributional weights, however, the likely net impact is a reduction in wage inequality.
Conventional glucocorticoid replacement overtreats adult hypopituitary patients with partial ACTH deficiency
Authors: Agha Amar , Liew Aaron , Finucane Francis , Baker Louise , O'Kelly Patrick , Tormey William , Thompson Christopher J. 
Published: May 2004

Summarybackground  Glucocorticoid therapy is associated with potentially serious side‐effects, but there is no information available regarding glucocorticoid requirement in adult hypopituitary patients with partial ACTH deficiency.subjects  Ten male adult hypopituitary patients with partial ACTH deficiency, baseline plasma cortisol > 200 nmol/l but a peak stimulated cortisol < 500 nmol/l and 10 matched healthy male control volunteers participated.design  Patients were assigned, in a random order, to a cross‐over protocol of treatment for 1 week with full dose hydrocortisone (10 mg twice daily), half‐dose hydrocortisone (5 mg twice daily), or no treatment. All patients completed all three of the treatment limbs.measurements  Following each treatment schedule, patients underwent an 11‐h cortisol day curve (CDC), and the results were compared with those from the 10 control volunteers on no glucocorticoid treatment.results  The integrated CDC values were significantly higher in patients taking a full dose of hydrocortisone compared to controls (P < 0·001). There was no significant difference in the integrated CDC between patients on half‐dose (P = 0·37) or no hydrocortisone treatment (P = 0·13), compared to control subjects. Peak postabsorption cortisol values were higher in patients receiving full‐dose hydrocortisone treatment compared to controls (P < 0·001). There was no significant difference in plasma sodium concentration, blood pressure or corticosteroid‐binding globulin between patients on any treatment schedule and controls.conclusion  Adult patients with pituitary disease and partial ACTH deficiency have a cortisol secretory pattern comparable to that of healthy controls. Conventional full‐dose replacement with 10 mg twice daily of hydrocortisone produces hypercortisolaemia, whereas half‐dose produces a CDC that is not statistically different from that of healthy controls. The results suggest that current conventional glucocorticoid replacement overtreats patients with partial ACTH deficiency under normal unstressed physiological conditions.
Erythrocyte Na+/K+‐ATPase is increased in subjects with subclinical hypothyroidism
Authors: Nicolini G. , Balzan S. , Colzani R. , Scarlattini M. , Taddei M. C. , Iervasi G. 
Published: May 2004

objective  In erythrocytes of patients with overt hyperthyroidism, the number of ouabain‐binding sites and the activity of the Na+/K+‐ATPase have been demonstrated to be decreased, whereas the opposite is true in patients with overt hypothyroidism. No information has been reported on the status of the Na+/K+‐ATPase in subclinically hypothyroid (Sub Hypo) patients.design  We investigated the number of ouabain‐binding sites and Na+/K+‐ATPase activity in erythrocytes of chronic Sub Hypo subjects.patients and methods  We measured 3H‐ouabain‐binding sites in erythrocytes from 15 patients with subclinical hypothyroidism, and compared with those found in 17 normal subjects (N), seven with overt hypothyroidism (Hypo) and 10 with overt hyperthyroidism (Hyper). The activity of the sodium pump was assessed by measuring ouabain‐sensitive 86Rb uptake in a subpopulation of the same groups.results  The number of ouabain‐binding sites in Sub Hypo patients (252 ± 17; mean ± SEM) was significantly higher (P < 0·02) than in Hyper (135 ± 12) and N (203 ± 10) groups, whereas it was not significant different from Hypo (293 ± 31). There was a positive correlation between the number of ouabain‐binding sites and TSH concentrations (P < 0·002) when Sub Hypo and N groups were considered together. There was a negative correlation between the number of ouabain‐binding sites and free thyroxine (FT4; P < 0·0001) and free triiodothyronine (FT3) concentrations (P < 0·001) when all subjects were considered. Ouabain‐sensitive 86Rb uptake (picomoles 86Rb/h 106 cells) in Sub Hypo was significantly higher (4·2 ± 0·5) when compared with N (2·5 ± 0·2, P < 0·01) and Hyper (2·5 ± 0·5, P < 0·02).conclusions  Erythrocytes of subclinically hypothyroid patients show a significant increase in the number of ouabain‐binding sites and in ouabain‐sensitive 86Rb uptake. The state of erythrocyte Na+/K+‐ATPase may therefore represent a biochemical marker of subclinical hypothyroidism.
Comparison of practical methods for urinary glycosaminoglycans and serum hyaluronan with clinical activity scores in patients with Graves’ ophthalmopathy
Authors: Martins João R. M. , Furlanetto Reinaldo P. , Oliveira Lhoyane M. , Mendes Aline , Passerotti Carlo C. , Chiamolera Maria Izabel , Rocha Antonio J. , Manso Paulo G. , Nader Helena B. , Dietrich Carl P. , Maciel Rui M. B. 
Published: May 2004

Summaryobjective  Immunosuppressive treatment of Graves’ opthalmopathy (GO) should be restricted to patients with active eye disease, but assessing disease activity is difficult. Several methods to evaluate GO activity have been introduced, but none of them is satisfactory. Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) are complex polysaccharides that participate on the pathogenesis of GO and attempts to correlate its local increase to urinary GAGs (uGAGs) or serum hyaluronan (sHA) have been made, but the available techniques are labourious, time‐consuming and difficult for routine use. The aim of the present study is to develop practical and simple methods for uGAGs and sHA and compare them to the activity and severity of thyroid‐associated ophthalmopathy.design, patients and measurements  We developed a microelectrophoresis technique for uGAGs and a fluoroassay for sHA and assessed each in 152 patients with Graves’ disease, 25 without GO and 127 with GO, classified according to the Clinical Activity Score (CAS). All patients had been euthyroid for > 2 months.results  Patients with inactive disease (CAS = 2, n = 100) had uGAGs (4·2 ± 1·3 µg/mg/creatinine) and sHA (11·1 ± 7·2 µg/l) that did not differ from normal subjects (3·1 ± 1·1 µg/mg/creatinine, n = 138 and 13·9 ± 9·6 µg/l, n = 395). In contrast, patients with active eye disease (CAS = 3, n = 27) had uGAGs (8·4 ± 2·7 µg/mg/creatinine) and sHA (32·3 ± 17·8 µg/l) 2–3 times higher than those patients with inactive eye disease. Using a cut‐off of 6·1 µg/mg creatinine for uGAGs and 20·7 µg/l for sHA we found, respectively, 85% and 81% sensitivity and 93% and 91% specificity for each test. The positive and negative predictive values were 77% and 96% for uGAGs and 71% and 95% for sHA.conclusion  Employing these two new methods we have established a significant relationship between the levels of uGAGs and/or sHA and the clinical activity of GO. Therefore, together with CAS, uGAGs determination, and, to a lesser degree, sHA, would be very useful in the discrimination from active and inactive ocular disease and aid in deciding on the best therapy for GO patients.