bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Urinary Basic Fibroblast Growth Factor in Bladder Cancer Patients
Authors: Gravas S. , Bosinakou I. , Kehayas P. , Giannopoulos A. 
Published: August 2004

<i>Introduction:</i> Angiogenesis plays a significant role in the growth and progress of cancer, thus we evaluated the levels of urinary basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) in bladder cancer (Ca) patients and investigated any possible correlation between this angiogenic factor with tumor stage and grade. <i>Materials and Methods:</i> Urine samples from 41 patients with bladder Ca, 11 patients with history of bladder Ca but negative follow-up cystoscopy, 18 patients with benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) and 15 normal healthy volunteers were assayed using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for bFGF. Resulting values were normalized against urine creatinine and expressed as pg/g. <i>Results:</i> The median urinary bFGF level of patients with active disease, history of bladder carcinoma and negative follow-up cystoscopy, BPH, and healthy volunteers were 2,717, 1,009, 1,414 and 1,100 pg/g, respectively. There was a statistically significant difference between median bFGF levels of patients with active bladder Ca and those of the other groups (p = 0.000). Eleven patients with invasive bladder Ca had a median bFGF value of 6,880 pg/g that was significantly increased (p = 0.002) compared to the median of 2,312 pg/g of those with superficial tumors (Ta 14, T1 16). Grades 1, 2 and 3 carcinoma were found in 5, 19 and 17 patients which had a median bFGF of 2,717, 1,762 and 3,617 pg/g, respectively, but the difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.13). <i>Conclusions:</i> Our results confirm the implication of bFGF in the biology of bladder cancer, and demonstrate that urinary bFGF concentration seems to be significantly related to the stage but not to the grade of the disease supporting the proposed mechanisms of release of bFGF. Further studies are required in order to validate the potential clinical applications of bFGF for specific groups of bladder cancer patients.
Protection against Acoustic Trauma by Forward and Backward Sound Conditioning
Authors: Niu Xianzhi , Tahera Yeasmin , Canlon Barbara 
Published: August 2004

The purpose of the present study was to determine if short-term sound conditioning provides protection when delivered either <i>before</i> (forward sound conditioning) or <i>after</i> (backward sound conditioning) a traumatic exposure in the guinea pig. Two different sound conditioning paradigms were studied (1 kHz, 81 dB SPL, 24 h; 6.3 kHz, 78 dB SPL, 24 h). The 1-kHz forward sound conditioning paradigm (81 dB SPL, 24 h) protected distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) against a short-duration acoustic trauma (2.7 kHz, 103 dB SPL, 5 min) compared to the group exposed to the acoustic trauma alone. The 1-kHz forward sound conditioning paradigm (81 dB SPL, 24 h) also protected both the auditory brainstem response (ABR) thresholds and DPOAEs against a longer-duration acoustic trauma (2.7 kHz, 103 dB SPL, 30 min). The group exposed to the acoustic trauma alone showed ABR threshold shifts between 15 and 24 dB, and DPOAE amplitude shifts between 11 and 24 dB, while the group with 1-kHz forward sound conditioning showed statistically significant protection at all ABR frequencies and at all DPOAE frequencies. The 1-kHz backward sound conditioning paradigm protected against acoustic trauma (2.7 kHz, 103 dB SPL, 30 min). The ABR thresholds were protected at 1, 2 and 4 kHz, and DPOAEs at all frequencies (except 8 kHz) when compared to the group exposed only to the acoustic trauma. The 6.3-kHz forward sound conditioning paradigm protected against acoustic trauma (5.5 kHz, 109 dB SPL, 30 min) at 6.3, 8 and 10 kHz. The 6.3-kHz backward sound conditioning paradigm showed no protection against acoustic trauma at any DPOAE frequency. Taken together, these findings are important for understanding how the auditory system can be modulated by acoustic stimulation and highlights the importance of the acoustic environment during the recovery process of the auditory system.
Oxidized Low-Density Lipoproteins Stimulate Extracellular Matrix Metalloproteinase Inducer (EMMPRIN) Release by Coronary Smooth Muscle Cells
Authors: Haug Cornelia , Lenz Christina , Díaz Fredy , Bachem Max G. 
Published: August 2004

Objective—Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) seem to play a prominent role in atherogenesis. Extracellular MMP inducer (EMMPRIN), a cell surface glycoprotein which stimulates MMP synthesis, has recently been detected in human atheroma. We have investigated the influence of oxidized low-density lipoproteins (oxLDLs) on EMMPRIN expression in human coronary artery smooth muscle cells (HCA-SMCs).Methods and Results—OxLDL induced a significant increase of EMMPRIN release into HCA-SMC supernatants and a concomitant decrease of cell-associated EMMPRIN. These effects were antagonized by antioxidants as well as by EDTA and the MMP inhibitor GM6001. Western blot analysis demonstrated that MMP-1 and MMP-2 induce the cleavage of the extracellular domain from cell-associated EMMPRIN. MMP-1 and MMP-2 synthesis was upregulated by oxLDL, and, in addition, we have shown that soluble EMMPRIN, isolated from macrophage supernatants, increased MMP-1 and MMP-2 synthesis in HCA-SMC.Conclusion—Our data suggest that oxLDLs stimulate the release of soluble EMMPRIN, at least in part, by MMP-dependent shedding from the cell surface. Additionally, oxLDLs might induce a circular upregulation of matrix degradation because, in turn, soluble EMMPRIN stimulates MMP synthesis in HCA-SMC.
High-Density Lipoproteins Retard the Progression of Atherosclerosis and Favorably Remodel Lesions Without Suppressing Indices of Inflammation or Oxidation
Authors: Choudhury Robin P. , Rong James X. , Trogan Eugene , Elmalem Valerie I. , Dansky Hayes M. , Breslow Jan L. , Witztum Joseph L. , Fallon John T. , Fisher Edward A. 
Published: August 2004

Objective—Protective properties of high-density lipoproteins (HDL) may include reverse cholesterol transport and suppression of oxidation and inflammation. These were investigated in vivo, as were the effects of HDL on the characteristics of atherosclerotic lesions.Methods and Results—Male apolipoprotein E knockout (apoE−/−) and apoE−/− mice expressing human apolipoprotein AI (hAI/apoE−/−) were studied up to 20 weeks after commencing a high-fat diet. Plasma HDL cholesterol was twice as high in hAI/apoE−/− mice. Over time, aortic root lesion area remained less in hAI/apoE−/− mice, although plaques became complex. In advanced lesions, plaque lipid was higher in apoE−/− mice, whereas plaque collagen and alpha actin were increased in hAI/apoE−/− mice. In nonlesional aorta, mRNA abundance for pro-inflammatory proteins (vascular cell adhesion molecule [VCAM]-1, intercellular adhesion molecule-1 [ICAM-1], monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 [MCP-1]) increased between 4 and 16 weeks in apoE−/− (but not wild-type) mice, and were not reduced by elevated HDL. Autoantibodies to malondialdehyde low-density lipoprotein (LDL) increased progressively in apoE−/− mice, with similar results in hAI/apoE−/− mice.Conclusions—HDL retarded plaque size progression despite greatly elevated plasma cholesterol. This effect was over a wide range of lesion severity. Expression of hAI reduced plaque lipid and increased the proportion of plaque occupied by collagen and smooth muscle cells, but did not affect indicators of inflammation or LDL oxidation.
Is Religion What We Want? Motivation and the Cultural Transmission of Religious Representations
Authors: Nichols Shaun 
Published: August 2004

AbstractMany psychologists and philosophers have suggested that religious ideas emerge because they are motivationally attractive. This paper attempts to support a version of the motivational thesis by relying on religious creeds as a source of historical evidence. This simple source of evidence indicates that the cultural evolution of religious ideas is partly a function of the motivational attractiveness of the religious ideas.
A Cross-Cultural Developmental Analysis of Children's and Adults' Understanding of Illness in South Asia (India) and the United States
Authors: Raman Lakshmi , Gelman Susan 
Published: August 2004

Abstract
Forty-one Indian and American preschoolers, 48 first graders, 41 third graders, 43 fifth graders, and 48 college students were presented with vignettes that described symptoms of illnesses. Participants in both countries were presented with a biological, moral, psychological, and irrelevant choice for each of the illnesses. Results indicated that across all ages in both countries, the biological model was the most prominent. However, with increasing age Indian participants acknowledged significantly more moral and psychological causes than Americans. Participants' justifications revealed that Americans made explicit reference to germs whereas Indians primarily referred to contamination. This indicates that although the cultural backdrops between the two sets of populations are very different, there is a complex interaction of similarities and differences.
Speak before you Think: The Role of Language in Verb Concepts
Authors: Packiam Alloway Tracy , Corley Martin 
Published: August 2004

Abstract
This study investigates the role of language on verb concepts in a cross-linguistic environment. The inflectional morphology of verbs in Tamil is contrasted with Mandarin, a language that does not explicitly reflect tense changes in the same manner as Tamil and English. In the baseline condition in experiment 1, participants were required to rate the similarity of object picture pairs; and in the experimental condition, they were asked to rate the similarity of action picture pairs. In experiment 2, participants' similarity judgments and response latencies were recorded when they were presented with the object and action picture pairs. This allowed us to investigate the strength of linguistic influence when representing event concepts. Data from this study revealed a moderate influence of language on verb concepts in the target populations. There was a significant different in the response latencies of the Tamil and Chinese participants, although both language groups exhibited a similar response pattern in the action picture judgment task. This finding suggests that while both groups perceived the events similarly, language may be mediating their responses, resulting in longer response times for the Chinese participants. This could be because considering tense in Mandarin is not 'automatic' and requires extra work, possibly because it is not intrinsic to the verb.
Contradictions in Counter-Intuitive Beliefs and Naïve Dialecticism
Authors: Samson Alain 
Published: August 2004

AbstractIn an article aimed at complementing Boyer and Sperber's (relatively structural) views of counter-intuitive concepts and their robustness in the religious domain, Franks (2003) has recently drawn attention to the fact that the tolerance of such conflict or contradiction appears to be less domain-specific in some cultures, such as those found in East Asia. This paper follows up on this important point by highlighting the similarities and differences of the tolerance for contradictions evident in East Asian 'naïve dialecticism' and nonnatural religious representations. It is argued that, despite their dissimilarity with respect to the content represented, both types of tolerances may be structurally similar. Both could also be anchored in intuition, albeit in qualitatively different ways. Given the general tolerance of psychological contradiction among persons of East Asian cultures and the potential role of religion, the question whether there is a place for the study of 'tolerance of contradiction' in cross-cultural psychology and cognitive anthropology is raised.
Respondents in Asian Cultures (e.g., Chinese) are More Risk-Seeking and More Overconfident than Respondents in Other Cultures (e.g., in United States) but the Reciprocal Predictions are in Total Opposition: How and Why?
Authors: Li Shu , Fang Yongqing 
Published: August 2004

AbstractTriggered by rather surprising findings that respondents in Asian cultures (e.g., Chinese) are more risk-seeking and more overconfident than respondents in other cultures (e.g., in United States) and that the reciprocal predictions are in total opposition, four experiments were designed to extend previous collective-culture oriented researches. Results revealed that (1) Singapore 21, which is a vision of Singapore in the 21st century and has highlighted the promotion of a collective culture, did not advocate greater risk-seeking but led to weaker overconfidence; (2) the knowledge of "financial help from social network" did not permit prediction of risk preference but the knowledge of "the value difference between possible outcomes" did; (3) the social network could be viewed not only as a positive "cushion" but also as a negative "burden" in both gain and loss domains of risky choices; (4) the predictions of the risk-as-value, risk-as-feelings and stereotype hypotheses were not consistent with the predicted risk preferences of others but the predictions of the economic-performance hypothesis were consistent with the predicted risk preferences as well as the predicted overconfidence of others. The implications for cross-cultural variations in overconfidence and for cross-cultural variations in risk-taking were discussed.
Scottish Missionaries and African Healers: Perceptions and Relations in The Livingstonia Mission, 1875-1930
Authors: Hokkanen Markku 
Published: August 2004

AbstractThis paper examines Scottish missionary perceptions of African healers, and the relationships between the missionaries and local healers in what is now Northern Malawi during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Analysing the Livingstonia missionary writings from the missionary doctor Walter Elmslie to the popular missionary author Donald Fraser and the amateur anthropologist T. Cullen Young, it is argued that, despite major differences and changes in the missionaries' perceptions regarding African healers, there were also important continuities. The paper also examines in detail the relationships between Elmslie and the family of African healer Kalengo Tembo. It is argued that the careful study of missionary writings, even blatant missionary propaganda, can offer novel insights not only into missionary discourse, but also into the historical interaction between Africans and missionaries in the field of medicine and healing.
The Interface of Christianity and Conservation in Colonial Malawi, C. 1850-1930
Authors: Mulwafu Wapulumuka 
Published: August 2004

AbstractThe study of the relationship between religion and the environment in Malawi has only recently begun to be appreciated. Christian missionaries in general did not actively promote the campaign for conservation of resources but some early missionaries frequently evoked biblical images and ideas that had a strong bearing on the perception and management of the environment. Later, certain religious groups were vocal in their support for or opposition to state-sponsored conservation schemes in the colonial period. This paper demonstrates that African religious beliefs and customs equally played a critical role in creating a set of ideas about conservation and the environment. The study is part of an effort to recover some early voices promoting conservation of natural resources in the country. It thus addresses the issues of religion and conservation as critical in the initial encounter between Europeans and Africans.
'Sekukuni, Listen!, Banna!, and to The Children of Frederick the Great and Our Kaiser Wilhelm': Documents in The Social and Religious History Of The Transvaal, 1860-1890
Authors: Rüther Kirsten 
Published: August 2004

AbstractEncountering colonialism and Christianity, African people became intertwined with the development of a documentary culture in the Northern Transvaal. In the second half of the nineteenth century Africans, missionaries and settlers produced and read Bibles, codes of law, newspaper articles, translations of religious texts and church declarations. As a result of multifaceted social interaction, African people's attitudes were never an exclusively African business. The article shows how certain peoples cherished the technical skills of reading and writing, while others defined literacy as a subordinate instrument employable only for the attainment of religious goals. It argues that especially missionaries' and Africans' attitudes towards documents changed as a response to the broader economic and social transformations in the area. It also points out how the new Christian elite tried to use literacy as a window to the European reading public and how they produced documents of their own in which they ixed important parameters of African Christianity.
Crossing Boundaries and Building Bridges: The Anglican Women's Fellowship In Post-apartheid South Africa
Authors: Gaitskell Deborah 
Published: August 2004

AbstractIn the late 1960s, the South African Anglican Church set up a new women's organisation, the Anglican Women's Fellowship (AWF). With strong roots in the Cape and Natal, the AWF aimed to be more inclusive of all churchwomen than the international Mothers' Union (MU) where, at that time, membership was still closed to divorcees and unmarried mothers. MU locally had also become an African stronghold, which may have reinforced the qualms of white and Coloured women about joining. Based on some documentary sources and participation in the fourday AWF Provincial Council of October 2002, this paper explores the changing composition, goals and ethos of AWF over its 35-year history. Comparisons with other churchwomen's organisations—the (black) Methodist Manyano and (white) Women's Auxiliary as well as the MU—will be drawn to highlight what is distinctive about AWF and its response to social change in contemporary South Africa. While the article concludes by providing a brief snapshot of theology and practice within the movement, the striking current role of Coloured women leaders as bridge-builders is particularly emphasised and the effective crossing of racial, social, language and age boundaries evaluated.
Max Yergan Encounters South Africa: Theological Perspectives On Race
Authors: Anthony David Henry 
Published: August 2004

AbstractWhile scholarship on the missionary encounter with Southern Africa has grown ever more sophisticated over the last decade, with a few notable exceptions scholars have tended to ignore religious traditions other than those of the 'historic' European churches. This paper sheds light upon one such overlooked tradition, that of the African-American sojourner Max Yergan (1892-1975), who worked in South Africa between 1922 and 1936 under the auspices of the North American YMCA. While he is known generally as a public figure who subsequently exerted influence upon a surprisingly broad range of political actors and events in and beyond South Africa, little has been written about a body of texts that help to reveal the evolution of his social thought and practice in South Africa. For nearly fifteen years Yergan left behind a trail of writings (which hitherto have not been explored) in local and overseas publications, together with numerous rich caches of correspondence, and inspired reportage in YMCA, Student Christian Association (SCA), African training school and mission periodicals. Much of this work was religiously inspired, and theological or missiological in content. Representative examples of this oeuvre are here deployed to provide a sense of Yergan's worldview, its relationship to his South African mission and his later career outside of it.
Themes and Methods in the Study Of Conversion in Ethiopia: a Review Essay
Authors: Kaplan Steven 
Published: August 2004

AbstractAlthough conversion is one of the major themes in the religious and cultural history of Ethiopia, it has yet to benefit from extensive and systematic comparative discussion. For generations, scholars have worked to deepen our understanding of conversion to both Orthodox Christianity and Islam in the Ethiopian highlands. Recent works, moreover, are noteworthy for their efforts to expand our knowledge of both regions and groups hitherto neglected. Modern Islam, Evangelical Christianity and the religious histories of the peoples of Southern Ethiopia are only a few of the topics that have benefited from scholarship during the past decade. We are, therefore, in an unprecedented position to offer a review of research which, while by no means comprehensive, at least offers broader coverage than was previously possible.
Expression of SMRTβ promotes ligand-induced activation of mutated and wild-type retinoid receptors
Authors: Côté Sylvie , McNamara Suzan , Brambilla Daria , Bianchini Andrea , Rizzo Giovanni , del Rincón Sonia Victoria , Grignani Francesco , Nervi Clara , Miller Wilson H. 
Published: August 2004

AbstractNuclear receptors are ligand-modulated transcription factors regulated by interactions with corepressors and coactivators, whose functions are not fully understood. Acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) is characterized by a translocation, t(15;17), that produces a PML/RARα fusion oncoprotein, whose abnormal transcriptional function is successfully targeted by pharmacologic levels of all-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA). Mutations in the ligand-binding domain of PML/RARα that confer resistance to ATRA have been studied by expression in nonhematopoietic cells, such as Cos-1. Here, we show that ATRA binding and transcriptional activation by the same PML/RARα mutant differ markedly between nonhematopoietic and leukemic cell lines. Differential expression of the corepressor isoform silencing mediator for retinoid and thyroid receptors β (SMRTβ) correlates with increased ligand binding and transcription by the mutant PML/RARα. Transient and stable overexpression of SMRTβ in hematopoietic cells that only express SMRTα increased ATRA binding, ligand-induced transcription, and ATRA-induced cell differentiation. This effect may not be limited to abnormal nuclear receptors, because overexpression of SMRTβ increased ATRA-induced binding and transcriptional activation of wild-type receptors PML/RARα and RARα. Our results suggest a novel role for the SMRTβ isoform whereby its cell-specific expression may influence the binding and transcriptional capacities of nuclear receptors, thus providing new evidence of distinct functions of corepressor isoforms and adding complexity to transcriptional regulation.
Monitoring the effect of gene silencing by RNA interference in human CD34+ cells injected into newborn RAG2-/- γc-/- mice: functional inactivation of p53 in developing T cells
Authors: Gimeno Ramon , Weijer Kees , Voordouw Arie , Uittenbogaart Christel H. , Legrand Nicolas , Alves Nuno L. , Wijnands Erwin , Blom Bianca , Spits Hergen 
Published: August 2004

AbstractTumor suppressor p53 plays an important role in regulating cell cycle progression and apoptosis. Here we applied RNA interference to study the role of p53 in human hematopoietic development in vivo. An siRNA construct specifically targeting the human tumor-suppressor gene p53 was introduced into human CD34+ progenitor cells by lentivirus-mediated gene transfer, which resulted in more than 95% knockdown of p53. We adapted the human-SCID mouse model to optimize the development of hematopoietic cells, particularly of T cells. This was achieved by the intraperitoneal injection of CD34+ precursor cells into newborn Rag2-/- γc-/- mice that lack T, B, and NK cells. Robust development of T cells was observed in these mice, with peripheral T-cell repopulation 8 weeks after injection of the precursor cells. Other lymphocyte and myeloid subsets also developed in these mice. Injecting p53 siRNA-transduced CD34+ cells resulted in stable expression and down-modulation of p53 in the mature T-cell offspring. Inactivating p53 did not affect the development of CD34+ cells into various mature leukocyte subsets, including T cells, but it conferred resistance to γ-irradiation and other p53-dependent apoptotic stimuli to the T cells. (Blood. 2004;104:3886-3893)