bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Collaboration Paradox
Authors: Duque Ricardo B. , Ynalvez Marcus , Sooryamoorthy R. , Mbatia Paul , Dzorgbo Dan-Bright S. , Shrum Wesley
Published: September 2005

We examine the ways in which the research process differs in developed and developing areas by focusing on two questions. First, is collaboration associated with productivity? Second, is access to the Internet (specifically use of email) associated with reduced problems of collaboration? Recent analyses by Lee & Bozeman (2005) and Walsh & Maloney (2003) suggest affirmative answers to these questions for US scientists. Based on a comparative analysis of scientists in Ghana, Kenya, and the State of Kerala in south-western India ( N 918), we find that: (1) collaboration is not associated with any general increment in productivity; and (2) while access to email does attenuate research problems, such difficulties are structured more by national and regional context than by the collaborative process itself. The interpretation of these results suggests a paradox that raises issues for future studies: those conditions that unsettle the relationship between collaboration and productivity in developing areas may undermine the collaborative benefits of new information and communication technologies.
Essential Tensions
Authors: Hackett Edward J.
Published: September 2005

This paper examines the tensions and paradoxes that arise during the life course of research groups as they strive to establish and maintain an identity, acquire and retain control of an ensemble of research technologies, and evaluate and choose the risks they are willing to accept in their work. My central aim is to rekindle interest in the ambivalences, tensions, and paradoxes of science by identifying and illustrating the tensions that characterize research groups. Among the questions of concern are: How does a group establish an independent identity while remaining connected with its field of research? How are consistency of focus and continuity of approach balanced against the freedom younger scientists need to develop as independent investigators? What varieties of risks are encountered in research and how are they evaluated and navigated? Based on intensive, repeated, face-to-face interviews with scientists at various levels of seniority at elite private and public universities, the paper examines the choices leaders make at these critical junctures and the consequences of those choices. Several sorts of tensions are examined, including autocracy versus democracy, varieties of risk, role conflicts, openness versus secrecy, competitive cooperation, ambivalences about priority claims, and balancing continuity and change, and their implications for science, scientists, and the research process are discussed.
Buckling of Metal-reinforced Thermoplastic Composite Laminated Plates with Holes
Authors: Yapici Ahmet , Sahin Ömer Sinan , Arikan Hüseyin
Published: September 2005

In this study, mechanical buckling behaviors of composite square plates of four symmetric and antisymmetric layers with holes are examined. A thermoplastic material is used as the matrix material. Two different reinforced materials are used, of which one is a galvanized steel wire and the other a woven galvanized wire. The hole type is taken as circular. The finite element method is used for the solution. First critical buckling loads of an orthotropic plate with and without hole subjected to unidirectional compression are found. The results are illustrated in figures.
On an Analytical Self-consistent Model for Internal Stress Prediction in Fiber-reinforced Composites Submitted to Hygroelastic Load
Authors: Freour S. , Jacquemin F. , Guillen R.
Published: September 2005

The aim of this work is to demonstrate a fully explicit analytical micromechanical self-consistent approach dedicated to mechanical states prediction in both the fiber and the matrix of composite structures submitted to a transient hygroelastic load. The analytical forms obtained are applied to the case of carbon-epoxy composites. Rigorous continuum mechanics formalisms are used for the determination of the required time and space-dependent macroscopic stresses. The reliability of the new approach is checked through a comparison between the local stress states calculated in both the resin and the fiber according to the new closed-form solutions and the equivalent numerical model.
Noninvasive Monitoring of Carbon Dioxide in Infants and Children With Congenital Heart Disease: End-Tidal Versus Transcutaneous Techniques
Authors: Wilson John , Russo Pierantonio , Russo Joanne , Tobias Joseph D.
Published: September 2005

End-tidal CO2(ETCO2) monitoring and transcutaneous (TC) CO2monitoring were prospectively compared in 53 patients, 1 month to 16 years of age, with congenital heart disease (CHD). There were 32 patients with cyanotic CHD and 21 with acyanotic CHD. The TC-PaCO2difference was 2 ± 1 mm Hg and the ET-PaCO2difference was 5 ± 3 mm Hg ( P< .0001). The TC-PaCO2difference was≤2 mm Hg in 30 of 53 patients and≤5 mm Hg in 53 of 53 patients. The ETPaCO2difference was≤2 mm Hg in 9 of 53 patients and≤5 mm Hg in 30 of 53 patients ( P< .001). No variation in the TC-PaCO2difference was noted based on the type of CHD (acyanotic vs cyanotic) or age. The ET-PaCO2difference was greater in patients with cyanotic versus acyanotic CHD (7 ± 3 mm Hg vs 4 ± 2 mm Hg, P< .0001) and in patients≤1 year of age versus patients ≥1 year of age (6 ± 3 mm Hg vs 4 ± 2, P= .008). In infants and children with CHD, TC monitoring provides a more accurate estimation of PaCO2than ET monitoring.
Fatal Pulmonary Failure Attributable to Viral Pneumonia With Human Herpes Virus 6 (HHV6) in a Young Immunocompetent Woman
Authors: Merk Johannes , Schmid Franz Xaver , Fleck Martin , Schwarz Stephan , Lehane Con , Boehm Stephan , Salzberger Bernd , Birnbaum Dietrich E.
Published: September 2005

Adult respiratory distress syndrome attributable to viral pneumonia is described mainly in immunodeficient persons. Adult respiratory distress syndrome caused by human herpes virus 6 is extremely rare, with only 1 case reported in the literature. The following is the case of a young woman who developed fatal pulmonary failure most probably attributable to human herpes virus 6 pneumonia.
Rent-Seeking for a Risky Rent
Authors: Öncüler Ayse , Croson Rachel
Published: September 2005

Rent-seeking models have been used to predict and explain a wide variety of political decisions. This paper extends Tullock’s classic rent-seeking model to the case of a risky rent, where the winner of the rent-seeking contest does not receive the rent for sure, but only probabilistically. We derive the equilibrium and comparative static predictions from our extended model and present the results of an experiment with subjects from the US and Turkey to test it. Results are consistent with the comparative static predictions of the model, although we observe significantly more absolute levels of rent-seeking than the model predicts, consistent with previous experimental results. We conclude by discussing implications of our results for a variety of rent-seeking settings.
Social Mobility and Political Transitions
Authors: Leventoğlu Bahar
Published: September 2005

I address the role of social mobility in political transitions. I develop a political economy model of regime transitions that incorporates social mobility as a key feature of the economy capturing the political attitudes toward redistribution. I show that social mobility facilitates democratization by reducing the conflict over redistribution between the rich and the poor. Furthermore, it facilitates democratic consolidation by reducing the likelihood of a coup under democracy. On the other hand, social mobility helps to keep an authoritarian regime stable by reducing the likelihood of mass movements against political elites.
Rethinking Sexual Repression in Maoist China: Ideology, Structure and the Ownership of the Body
Authors: Zhang Everett Yuehong
Published: September 2005

Through an example of the prohibition against dating in a technical school in southwest China in 1978, this article analyzes how three intersecting forces - the ideology of socialist collectivism, the structure of the work unit system and the socialist sovereign ownership of the body - account for sexual repression in the Maoist period in China. Rather than being an ahistorical, essential component of Maoist socialism, sexual repression (psychic and social) was a historically specific and complex phenomenon. The transformation of sexual repression at a historical moment took the form of an assemblage of the return of love discourse and an emergent desire-centered subjectivity in the great transformation from Maoist socialism to the post-Mao reform period.
The Embodiment of Vulnerability
Authors: Wainwright Steven P. , Williams Clare
Published: September 2005

In this article we focus upon the embodiment of vulnerability as an area in which medicine, society and the humanities can be profitably conjoined. We illustrate our argument with two interrelated case studies of narratives of the embodiment of ageing and longevity. First, we draw upon Leoš Janáček’s opera The Makropulos Case (1926) as a locus for debates about human longevity. Second, we discuss 70-year-old Janáček’s decade of unrequited love for a woman 37 years younger than himself, through an examination of their intimate letters. We suggest that both the opera and elements of Janáček’s biography illuminate the passionate emotions that are often hidden behind ‘the mask of ageing’. Finally, we propose that a focus on the embodiment of vulnerability is a productive catalyst for research on narratives of ageing.
Politics of the Body and Eugenic Discourse in Early Republican Turkey
Authors: Alemdaroğlu Ayça
Published: September 2005

In the 1930s, the two primary goals of the Turkish state were to establish national unity and to modernize the country. The achievement of these goals was linked to the transformation of the human body in line with modern, rational and scientific values. The body politics of the new regime aspired to discipline society in order to create modern, healthy and dutiful citizens by regulating the human body in many spheres of life, including clothing, aesthetics, health, reproduction, childcare and housekeeping. Eugenics emerged as a part of the state’s hygienic and ethical regulation of the human body. The state abolished abortion, mandated pre-marital examinations of couples, established childcare institutions, educated mothers, and aimed to prevent epidemics and alcoholism. The Turkish eugenicists were a small group of medical doctors who were influential in shaping these public policies. In accordance with the general Republican discourse, the eugenicists were critical of both traditional society and the Ottoman regime. The eugenicists founded their criticism on the old regime’s ignorance of modern hygienic and reproductive practices. Although Turkish eugenic discourse was influenced by Western eugenics literature, it was also shaped by the particular concerns of the Kemalist regime such as natalism, childcare and social hygiene policies. The collectivist discourse of the Kemalist regime was so dominant that, in contrast to their European and American counterparts, the Turkish eugenicists were not at all concerned with ethnic and class diversity within society.
Bricolage and Bodies of Knowledge: Exploring Consumer Responses to Controversy about the Third Generation Oral Contraceptive Pill
Authors: Hester Jennifer Sarah
Published: September 2005

In the late 1990s, when otherwise healthy women in Aotearoa New Zealand started to die as a result of venous thrombosis attributed to third generation oral contraceptive pills, this contraceptive technology became the subject of media scrutiny and professional re-investigation. This research utilizes a qualitative methodology to explore the accounts of a small selection of contraceptive consumers. Many of this study’s consumers constructed an alternative framing of the 3GOC controversy, which accessed official information (such as medical statistics) but critically framed these facts by grounding them in relation to how their bodies reacted to pharmaceuticals. Bricolage is used as a metaphor for thinking about the ways that women engage in decision-making by creating ‘toolboxes’ from a multitude of readily available material and information. Lévi-Strauss’s original formulation of bricolage, in particular the claim that bricoleurs do not create ‘new knowledge’, is critiqued.
Patient stories, narratives of resistance and the ethics of humane care: a la recherche du temps perdu
Authors: Mishler Elliot G.
Published: September 2005

Over the past 20 years, the study of patient-physician relationships and the discourse of clinical encounters has become a major area of inquiry. Interest in these topics is closely linked to an ethic of humane care, reflecting widespread criticism of a technocratic approach to clinical practice. A narrow framing of this approach led to the neglect of a category of patients’ socially grounded accounts of their illness and treatment experiences referred to as ‘narratives of resistance’. The problem addressed in this article is the lack of connection, in research and practice, between an approach grounded in a humane care ethic and an ethic of social justice that addresses the impact of social and economic inequalities on rates of illness and access to health care. The aim is to open up a critical discussion among researchers, health care educators, practitioners and patients about relationships between ethical standpoints, clinical practice and research.
Varieties of deception and distrust: moral dilemmas in the ethnography of psychiatry
Authors: Skultans Vieda
Published: September 2005

This article considers the ethical guidelines concerning autonomy, negotiated consent and transparency in relation to an ethnography of psychiatry. It suggests that the complexities and unequal power distribution of the psychiatric consultation make these guidelines difficult to apply. Rather an attempt is made to develop an ethics of patient acknowledgement even where this presents ethical misgivings vis-à-vis psychiatrists. I argue for the importance of ethnography rather than the instantiation of abstract principles to the development of an ethical perspective.
Adjudicating entitlements: the emerging discourses of research ethics boards
Authors: Whittaker Elvi
Published: September 2005

Research ethics boards adjudicate between competing sacred discourses in the knowledge industries. The traditional rights of researchers to initiate and conduct enquiry, the rights of research subjects to have stewardship over their own experiential knowledge and the legal responsibilities of universities and other institutions often compete in the process of adjudication. The justification narrative leading to the establishment of boards is reviewed along with the governmental and institutional actions that have led to the ethics codes in existence. Also discussed is divisiveness between researchers and boards, changes brought about by shifting moral bases, trust and confidentiality, privacy, informed consent, the creation of cultures of research ethics and the unresolved issues awaiting future discussion.
‘Love in Another Country’ - ‘Race’, Gender and Sexuality in Sexual Education Material Targeting Migrants in Sweden
Authors: Bredström Anna
Published: September 2005

This article sets out from the perspective that notions of risk and safety and how these intersect with different gendered, sexualized and racialized representations are central to the HIV/AIDS problematic. With migrants and refugees being singled out as some of the most potent disease carriers in Sweden, the article aims to scrutinize representations of identity and difference in a Swedish HIV/AIDS discourse. Concerning the empirical focus, the article is based on an analysis of sexual education material targeting immigrants/refugees in Sweden. The article reveals how Swedish heterosexuality appears as an image of normality in the material. It also discusses how the concept of gender equality becomes an ‘ethnic marker’ that serves to foment racialized differences between ‘Swedes’ and ‘immigrants’. As such, the theme of ‘pleasure and danger’ is discussed with reference to how the intersections of ‘race’, gender and sexuality appear in a Swedish context.
The Vocation of Political Theory
Authors: Stears Marc
Published: September 2005

What is the purpose of political theoretical endeavour and what methods should the early 21st-century political theorist employ? These questions – which touch on issues which go to the very heart of the vocation of political theory – have become increasingly contentious in recent years. The period since the late 1980s has been one in which theorists have increasingly disagreed not only about conventional matters of normative contention but also about the means by which to seek to resolve them. This article examines a central tension that has characterized that general methodological disagreement, namely the place of empirical inquiry within the repertoire of the professional political theorist. Having carefully examined the contentions of an eclectic range of contributors to the debate, including G.A. Cohen, Alasdair MacIntyre and David Miller, this article argues that efforts either wholly to separate empirical investigation from normative enquiry or to bind the two ever-closer together are fraught with difficulties. It concludes by contending that political theorists ought to take aspects of the empirical political and social sciences extremely seriously while avoiding the temptation to have their normative agenda dictated to them by the contingent pressures of the here and now.
Back to the Future
Authors: Trainor Brian T.
Published: September 2005

In this article I argue that the kind of ethical-metaphysical theory of the state that we broadly associate with idealist political philosophy provides us with a theoretical account of the state that is both sound and insightful and that, far from having been consigned to the dustbin of history by the hostile criticisms to which it has been subjected in the 20th century (from pluralism, behaviouralism and postmodernism), it still remains the most profound and powerful account of the state available to the political science community today. It is extremely important, I contend, in helping us to understand the state’s vital function as the font of emancipatory political criticism. I also suggest that the ethical-metaphysical theory of the state has the distinct advantage of providing us with a genuine ‘theory of the state’, for it alone wholeheartedly subscribes to the view that the state is the inner core or substance of political life, whereas its critics generally hold that the state is a dangerous illusion.
A Passion for the (Im)possible
Authors: Dillon Michael
Published: September 2005

This article first locates Jacques Rancière’s account of politics in the context of French thinking in the second half of the 20th century. It then summarizes how Rancière defines politics in terms of an originary equality that supports all orders of command and obedience. For Rancière, also, the world as a ‘whole’ does not add up. It is characterized by ‘paradoxical magnitude’. Paradoxical magnitude means that every regime of politics will nonetheless also be a miscount, a ‘wrong’ that will in particular fail to satisfy the originary equality that is supposed by all ‘partitions of the sensible’. Since there is no metric by reference to which the ‘whole’ of the world can be made to add up, politics cannot be an epistemological question. For Rancière it is a matter of the polemical practices by which equality is verified through emancipation. The complex ‘taking place’ of emancipation is the theme of teaching what we do not know that preoccupies Rancière’s The Ignorant Schoolmaster. Here, the article argues, emancipation also finds a distinctly messianic expression. The aporetic difficulty of teaching what we do not know as an emancipatory practice is explored by reading The Ignorant Schoolmaster with and against Stanley Rosen’s reading of Plato’s Statesman, which poses the same problem but resolves it differently. The article concludes by asking what is at stake in this messianic expression of emancipation.
Multi-agency working in support of people with intellectual disabilities
Authors: McConkey Roy
Published: September 2005

Although health and social services in Northern Ireland are jointly commissioned and delivered, the recent emphasis in government policy on multi-agency working for people with learning disabilities has not extended as yet to the region. A qualitative research study, with informants drawn from a range of sectors and agencies beyond health and social services, nonetheless identified at least 24 different organizations who were participating in some form of joint working. The benefits were seen to outweigh potential difficulties and respondents identified the factors that they had found facilitated joint working as well as the obstacles to it. These centred on the need to build relationships among participants, creating opportunities for partnership working to occur and increasing the capacity of individuals and organizations to work together. The need for further evaluation and research into system change and user involvement is highlighted.
Self-concepts of parents with a child of school age with a severe intellectual disability
Authors: Tam Sing-Fai , Cheng Andrew W. Y.
Published: September 2005

The self-concepts of Hong Kong Chinese parents with a child of school age with severe intellectual disability were explored. A 20-item Adult Sources of Self-Esteem Inventory (ASSEI) and open-ended questions on self-evaluation and interviewing were adopted as the major procedures to identify the source and basis of their self-conceptions. One hundred and nine parents - 35 males and 74 females, aged 31 to 45 - participated in this study. The results indicated that the participants showed similar life priorities as the control group (parents of non-handicapped children). However, the participants showed significantly lower concept of self than the control group in most areas of life. An exploratory factor-analytic result showed that the parents’ concept of self had a one-dimensional structure, which might indicate the parents’ lack variety in their life. An analysis of the contents of the open-ended responses showed that family and work were the most important domains of the concept of self. However, most of the respondents stated that poor family relationships, the health problems of their child, and work and financial problems made them ‘feel bad’.
Improved tagging strategy for protein identification in mammalian cells
Authors: Bialkowska Agnieszka , Zhang Xian-Yang , Reiser Jakob
Published: September 2005

Background

The tagging strategy enables full-length endogenous proteins in mammalian cells to be expressed as green fluorescent fusion proteins from their authentic promoters.

Results

We describe improved genetic tools to facilitate protein tagging in mammalian cells based on a mobile genetic element that harbors an artificial exon encoding a protein tag. Insertion of the artificial exon within introns of cellular genes results in expression of hybrid proteins consisting of the tag sequence fused in-frame to sequences of a cellular protein. We have used lentiviral vectors to stably introduce enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) tags into expressed genes in target cells. The data obtained indicate that this strategy leads to bona fide tripartite fusion proteins and that the EGFP tag did not affect the subcellular localization of such proteins.

Conclusion

The tools presented here have the potential for protein discovery, and subsequent investigation of their subcellular distribution and role(s) under defined physiological conditions, as well as for protein purification and protein-protein interaction studies.
Arcanobacterium haemolyticum associated with pyothorax: case report
Authors: Parija Subhash Chandra , Kaliaperumal Venkatesh , Kumar Saka Vinod , Sujatha Sistla , Babu Venkateshwara , Balu V
Published: September 2005

Arcanobacterium haemolyticum has an established role in the etiology of human pharyngitis. There are increasing reports of systemic infections caused by this organism. From India, we report the first case of Arcanobacterium haemolyticum causing pyothorax in an immunocompetent adolescent male patient. The probable mode of infection is also discussed. The role of A. hemolyticum as an animal pathogen needs further study.
Can p503s, p504s and p510s gene expression in peripheral-blood be useful as a marker of prostatic cancer?
Authors: Cardillo Maria Rosaria , Gentile Vincenzo , Ciccariello Mauro , Giacomelli Laura , Messinetti Silvio , Di Silverio Franco
Published: September 2005

Background

The aim of the study was to investigate whether p503S, p504S and p510S gene expression in peripheral-blood be useful as a diagnostic or prognostic marker of prostatic cancer.

Methods

Circulating cells were identified by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to detect p503S, p504S and p510S mRNA in peripheral blood (PB) from 11 patients with treated prostatic carcinoma (CaP), 11 with newly-diagnosed untreated CaP and 20 with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) (controls).

Results

RT-PCR amplified P503S in 7 of 11 untreated and 2 of 11 treated patients with CaP and 5 of 20 with BPH; p504S in 7 of 11 untreated and in 9 of 11 treated patients with CaP and 11 of 20 with BPH; whereas it amplified p510S in all subjects with CaP and in 15 of 20 with BPH.

Conclusion

These findings suggest that the investigated genes are poorly specific and probably of little use as diagnostic or prognostic prostatic markers in peripheral blood for monitoring disease progression and recurrence.
Family history of colorectal cancer in Iran
Authors: Mahdavinia Mahboobeh , Bishehsari Faraz , Ansari Reza , Norouzbeigi Nasim , Khaleghinejad Ahmad , Hormazdi Mahshid , Rakhshani Naser , Malekzadeh Reza
Published: September 2005

Background

Previous reports show a high proportion of young CRC patients in Iran. In this study we aim to look for the clustering of colorectal cancer in families of a series of CRC patients from Iran.

Methods

The family history of cancer is traced in 449 CRC patients of which 112 were 45 yrs or younger and 337 were older than 45 yrs at time of diagnosis. The patients were admitted in two hospitals in Tehran, during a 4-year period.

Results

Clinical diagnosis of HNPCC was established in 21 (4.7%) probands. Family history of CRC was more frequently reported by early-onset than by late-onset patients (29.5% vs. 12.8%, p < 0.001).

Distribution of tumor site differed significantly between those with and without family history of CRC. Right colon cancer was the most frequent site (23/45, 35.4%) observed in patients with positive family history of colorectal cancer.

Conclusion

The relatively high frequency of CRC clustering along with HNPCC in our patients should be further confirmed with larger sample size population-based and genetic studies to establish a cost effective molecular screening for the future.
Evaluation of easily measured risk factors in the prediction of osteoporotic fractures
Authors: Bensen Robert , Adachi Jonathan D , Papaioannou Alexandra , Ioannidis George , Olszynski Wojciech P , Sebaldt Rolf J , Murray Timothy M , Josse Robert G , Brown Jacques P , Hanley David A , Petrie Annie , Puglia Mark , Goldsmith Charlie H , Bensen W
Published: September 2005

Background

Fracture represents the single most important clinical event in patients with osteoporosis, yet remains under-predicted. As few premonitory symptoms for fracture exist, it is of critical importance that physicians effectively and efficiently identify individuals at increased fracture risk.

Methods

Of 3426 postmenopausal women in CANDOO, 40, 158, 99, and 64 women developed a new hip, vertebral, wrist or rib fracture, respectively. Seven easily measured risk factors predictive of fracture in research trials were examined in clinical practice including: age (<65, 65–69, 70–74, 75–79, 80+ years), rising from a chair with arms (yes, no), weight (< 57, ≥ 57 kg), maternal history of hip facture (yes, no), prior fracture after age 50 (yes, no), hip T-score (>-1, -1 to >-2.5, ≤-2.5), and current smoking status (yes, no). Multivariable logistic regression analysis was conducted.

Results

The inability to rise from a chair without the use of arms (3.58; 95% CI: 1.17, 10.93) was the most significant risk factor for new hip fracture. Notable risk factors for predicting new vertebral fractures were: low body weight (1.57; 95% CI: 1.04, 2.37), current smoking (1.95; 95% CI: 1.20, 3.18) and age between 75–79 years (1.96; 95% CI: 1.10, 3.51). New wrist fractures were significantly identified by low body weight (1.71, 95% CI: 1.01, 2.90) and prior fracture after 50 years (1.96; 95% CI: 1.19, 3.22). Predictors of new rib fractures include a maternal history of a hip facture (2.89; 95% CI: 1.04, 8.08) and a prior fracture after 50 years (2.16; 95% CI: 1.20, 3.87).

Conclusion

This study has shown that there exists a variety of predictors of future fracture, besides BMD, that can be easily assessed by a physician. The significance of each variable depends on the site of incident fracture. Of greatest interest is that an inability to rise from a chair is perhaps the most readily identifiable significant risk factor for hip fracture and can be easily incorporated into routine clinical practice.
Classifying health-related quality of life outcomes of total hip arthroplasty
Authors: Xu Min , Garbuz Donald S , Kuramoto Lisa , Sobolev Boris
Published: September 2005

Background

Primary total hip arthroplasty (THA) is an effective treatment for hip osteoarthritis, assessed by whatever distribution-based measures of responsiveness. Yet, the group level evaluation has provided very little evidence contributes to our understanding of the large variation of treatment outcome. The objective is to develop criteria that classify individual treatment health related quality of life (HRQOL) outcome after primary THA, adjusted by preoperative scores.

Methods

We prospectively measured 147 patients' disease specific HRQOL on the date of consultation and 12 months post operation by Western Ontario McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC). Regression models were used to determine the "expected" outcome for a certain individual baseline score. The ceiling effect of WOMAC measurement is addressed by implementing a left-censoring method.

Results

The classification criteria are chosen to be the lower boundary of the 95% confidence interval (CI) of the estimated median from the regression. The robustness of the classification criteria was demonstrated using the Monte-Carlo simulation.

Conclusion

The classification criteria are robust and can be applied in general orthopaedic research when the sample size is reasonable large (over 500).
Contribution of non-extensor muscles of the leg to maximal-effort countermovement jumping
Authors: Nagano Akinori , Komura Taku , Yoshioka Shinsuke , Fukashiro Senshi
Published: September 2005

Background

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of non-extensor muscles of the leg (i.e., muscles whose primary function is not leg extension) on the kinematics and kinetics of human maximal-effort countermovement jumping. Although it is difficult to address this type of question through experimental procedures, the methodology of computer simulation can be a powerful tool.

Methods

A skeletal model that has nine rigid body segments and twenty degrees of freedom was developed. Two sets of muscle models were attached to this skeletal model: all (most of) major muscles in the leg ("All Muscles" model) and major extensor muscles in the leg (i.e., muscles whose primary function is leg extension; "Extensors Only" model). Neural activation input signal was represented by a series of step functions with a step duration of 0.05 s. Simulations were started from an identical upright standing posture. The optimal pattern of the activation input signal was searched through extensive random-search numerical optimization with a goal of maximizing the height reached by the mass centre of the body after jumping up.

Results

The simulated kinematics was almost two-dimensional, suggesting the validity of two-dimensional analyses when evaluating net mechanical outputs around the joints using inverse dynamics. A greater jumping height was obtained for the "All Muscles" model (0.386 m) than for the "Extensors Only" model (0.301 m). For the "All Muscles" model, flexor muscles developed force in the beginning of the countermovement. For the "All Muscles" model, the sum of the work outputs from non-extensor muscles was 47.0 J, which was 13% of the total amount (359.9 J). The quantitative distribution of the work outputs from individual muscles was markedly different between these two models.

Conclusion

It was suggested that the contribution of non-extensor muscles in maximal-effort countermovement jumping is substantial. The use of a computer simulation model that includes non-extensor muscles seems to be more desirable for the assessment of muscular outputs during jumping.
In vitro activities of 11 fluoroquinolones against 816 non-typhoidal strains of Salmonella enterica isolated from Finnish patients with special reference to reduced ciprofloxacin susceptibility
Authors: Kotilainen Pirkko , Pitkänen Susa , Siitonen Anja , Huovinen Pentti , Hakanen Antti J
Published: September 2005

Background

The number of Salmonella strains with reduced susceptibility to fluoroquinolones has increased during recent years in many countries, threatening the value of this antimicrobial group in the treatment of severe salmonella infections.

Methods

We analyzed the in vitro activities of ciprofloxacin and 10 additional fluoroquinolones against 816 Salmonella strains collected from Finnish patients between 1995 and 2003. Special attention was focused on the efficacy of newer fluoroquinolones against the Salmonella strains with reduced ciprofloxacin susceptibility.

Results

The isolates represented 119 different serotypes. Of all 816 Salmonella strains, 3 (0.4%) were resistant to ciprofloxacin (MIC ≥ 4 μg/ml), 232 (28.4%) showed reduced susceptibility to ciprofloxacin (MIC ≥ 0.125 – 2 μg/ml), and 581 (71.2%) were ciprofloxacin-susceptible. The MIC50 and MIC90 values of ciprofloxacin for these strains were 0.032 and 0.25 μg/ml, respectively, being lower than those of the other fluoroquinolone compounds presently on market in Finland (ofloxacin, norfloxacin, levofloxacin, and moxifloxacin). For two newer quinolones, clinafloxacin and sitafloxacin, the MIC50 and MIC90 values were lowest, both 0.016 and 0.064 μg/ml, respectively. Moreover, clinafloxacin and sitafloxacin exhibited the lowest MIC50 and MIC90 values, 0.064 and 0.125 μg/ml, against the 235 Salmonella strains with reduced susceptibility and strains fully resistant to ciprofloxacin.

Conclusion

Among the registered fluoroquinolones in Finland, ciprofloxacin still appears to be the most effective drug for the treatment salmonella infections. Among the newer preparations, both clinafloxacin and sitafloxacin are promising based on in vitro studies, especially for strains showing reduced ciprofloxacin susceptibility. Their efficacy, however, has not been demonstrated in clinical investigations.
Diet, lifestyle factors and hypercholesterolemia in elderly men and women from Cyprus
Authors: Polychronopoulos Evangelos , Panagiotakos Demosthenes B , Polystipioti Anna
Published: September 2005

Background

We sought to investigate the single and combined effect of Mediterranean diet, being physically active, moderate alcohol use, and non-smoking on clinical status of 150 elderly people from Cyprus.

Methods

The study comprises individuals enrolled in surveys from Greece and Cyprus. This work includes 53 apparently men and 97 women, aged 65 to 100 years, from various areas of Cyprus. The cohort study was conducted between 2004 and 2005. A diet score that assesses the inherent characteristics of the Mediterranean diet was developed (range 0–55) and then a healthy index was calculated that evaluated four lifestyle habits (range 0 – 4), i.e. non-smoking, alcohol intake, physical activity and adherence to the Mediterranean diet (i.e. above the median of the score).

Results

65% participants had hypercholesterolemia (total serum cholesterol > 200 mg/dl or use of lipid lowering agents). Moreover, 32% of the participants reported physically active, 5% reported smoking habits and 4% that they have stopped smoking during the past decade, while 8% reported alcohol drinking. A positive association was observed between prevalence of hypercholesterolemia and smoking habits (odds ratio = 4.3, p = 0.03), while an inverse association was observed between hypercholesterolemia, alcohol drinking (odds ratio = 0.3, p = 0.04) and adherence to a Mediterranean diet (odds ratio = 0.77, p = 0.02), controlled for age, sex, and other factors.

Conclusion

Adherence to a Mediterranean diet and healthful lifestyle is associated with reduced odds of having hypercholesterolemia among elderly people.
An extended association screen in multiple sclerosis using 202 microsatellite markers targeting apoptosis-related genes does not reveal new predisposing factors
Authors: Gödde René , Brune Stefanie , Jagiello Peter , Sindern Eckhart , Haupts Michael , Schimrigk Sebastian , Müller Norbert , Epplen Jörg T
Published: September 2005

Apoptosis, the programmed death of cells, plays a distinct role in the etiopathogenesis of Multiple sclerosis (MS), a common disease of the central nervous system with complex genetic background. Yet, it is not clear whether the impact of apoptosis is due to altered apoptotic behaviour caused by variations of apoptosis-related genes. Instead, apoptosis in MS may also represent a secondary response to cellular stress during acute inflammation in the central nervous system. Here, we screened 202 apoptosis-related genes for association by genotyping 202 microsatellite markers in initially 160 MS patients and 160 controls, both divided in 4 sets of pooled DNA samples, respectively. When applying Bonferroni correction, no significant differences in allele frequencies were detected between MS patients and controls. Nevertheless, we chose 7 markers for retyping in individual DNA samples, thereby eliminating 6 markers from the list of candidates. The remaining candidate, the ERBB3 gene microsatellite, was genotyped in additional 245 MS patients and controls. No association of the ERBB3 marker with the disease was detected in these additional cohorts. In consequence, we did not find further evidence for apoptosis-related genes as predisposition factors in MS.
In spite of good intentions: patients' perspectives on problematic social support interactions
Authors: Boutin-Foster Carla
Published: September 2005

Background

In the setting of an acute coronary syndrome, the natural inclination of friends and family members is to provide social support. However, their efforts may be perceived as being problematic or unhelpful. The objective of this study was to identify the characteristics of problematic social support interactions from the perspectives of patients.

Methods

This was a qualitative study among a purposive sample of 59 patients who had been hospitalized for an acute coronary syndrome. Patients were asked: "Can you describe the types of things that your family members, close friends, and health care providers did during this period to try to be helpful or supportive but you felt was unhelpful or felt that it caused you more stress." Responses were analyzed using qualitative techniques and reviewed by two independent corroborators.

Results

The types of behaviors performed by social network members that were perceived as being unhelpful were grouped under 5 themes: (1) excessive telephone contact, (2) high expression of emotions, (3) unsolicited advice, (4) information without means for implementation, and (5) taking over.

Conclusion

Patients in this study described actions of their social network members that were intended to be supportive but instead were perceived as problematic because they were in excess of what was needed, they were incongruous with what was desired, or they contributed to negative feelings. Helping social networks to understand the potential problematic aspects of social support can aid in tailoring effective social support interventions.
Characterisation of parapoxviruses isolated from Norwegian semi-domesticated reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus)
Authors: Klein Joern , Tryland Morten
Published: September 2005

Background

Two outbreaks of the disease contagious ecthyma were reported in 1999 and 2000 in Norwegian semi-domesticated reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus). Contagious ecthyma is an epidermal disease of sheep and goats worldwide, which is caused by the zoonotic parapoxvirus orf virus. Characterisation of clinical samples from the two outbreaks in semi-domesticated reindeer in Norway by electron microscopy and PCR (B2L) revealed typical parapoxvirus particles and partial gene sequences corresponding to parapoxvirus, respectively. If contagious ecthyma in reindeer is caused by orf virus, the virus may be transferred from sheep and goats, via people, equipment and common use of pastures and corrals, to reindeer. Another possibility is that contagious ecthyma in reindeer is caused by a hitherto unclassified member of the parapoxvirus genus that circulates among reindeer herds and remains endemic in Norway.

Results

Genomic comparisons of one standard orf strain (orf NZ2) and the reindeer isolates, employing restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis, demonstrated high similarity between the reindeer viruses and known orf virus strains. Partial DNA sequences of two different viral genes were determined for the different isolates and compared with corresponding parapoxvirus genebank sequences. The comparison/alignment and construction of phylogenetic trees also point to an affiliation of the reindeer viruses to the species orf virus.

Conclusion

The results of this work imply that the parapoxvirus causing contagious ecthyma in Norwegian semi-domesticated reindeer belongs to the species orf virus and that the orf virus crosses the host species barrier from sheep and goat to semi-domesticated reindeer.
Restructuring Primary Health Care Markets in New Zealand: from Welfare Benefits to Insurance Markets
Authors: Howell Bronwyn
Published: September 2005

Background

New Zealand's Primary Health Care Strategy (NZPHCS) was introduced in 2002. Its features are substantial increases in government funding delivered as capitation payments, and newly-created service-purchasing agencies. The objectives are to reduce health disparities and to improve health outcomes.

Analysis

The NZPHCS changes New Zealand's publicly-funded primary health care payments from targeted welfare benefits to universal, risk-rated insurance premium subsidies. Patient contributions change from fee-for-service top-ups to insurance premium top-ups, and are collected by service providers who, depending upon their contracts with purchasers, may also be either insurance agents or risk-bearing insurance companies. The change invokes the tensions associated with allocating risk-bearing amongst providers, patients and insurance companies that accompany all insurance-based funding instruments. These include increases in existing incentives for over-consumption and new incentives for insurers to limit their exposure to variations in patient health states by engaging in active patient pool selection.

The New Zealand scheme is complex, but closely resembles United States insurance-based, risk-rated managed care schemes. The key difference is that unlike classic managed care models, where provider remuneration is determined by the insurer, the historic right for general practitioners to autonomously set patient charges alters the fiscal incentives normally available to managed care organisations. Consequently, the insurance role is being devolved to individual service providers with very small patient pools, who must recoup the premium top-ups from insured individuals. Premium top-ups are being collected only from those individuals consuming care, in proportion to the number of times care is sought. Co-payments thus constitute perfectly risk-rated premium levies set by inefficiently small insurers, raising questions about the efficiency and equity of a 'universal' insurance system pooling total population demands and costs. The efficacy of using financial incentives to constrain costs and encourage innovation when providers retain the right to arbitrarily recoup costs directly from patients, is also questioned.

Results

Initial evidence suggests that total costs are higher than initially expected, and prices to some patients have risen substantially under the NZPHCS. Limited competition and NZPHCS governance requirements mean current institutional arrangements are unlikely to facilitate efficiency improvements. System design changes therefore appear indicated.
Comparison of cough reflex sensitivity after an inhaled antigen challenge between actively and passively sensitized guinea pigs
Authors: Hara Johsuke , Fujimura Masaki , Myou Shigeharu , Oribe Yoshitaka , Furusho Shiho , Kita Toshiyuki , Katayama Nobuyuki , Abo Miki , Ohkura Noriyuki , Herai Yoriko , Hori Akihiro , Ishiura Yoshihisa , Nobata Kouichi , Ogawa Haruhiko , Yasui Masahide , Kasahara Kazuo , Nakao Shinji
Published: September 2005

Background

Late asthmatic response is observed following antigen challenge in actively, but not passively, sensitized guinea pigs. Although cough reflex sensitivity is increased after antigen challenge in actively sensitized guinea pigs, it is unknown whether the antigen-induced increase in cough reflex sensitivity develops in passively sensitized animals. The aim of this study was to compare the cough reflex sensitivity to inhaled capsaicin after an inhaled antigen challenge between actively and passively sensitized guinea pigs.

Methods

Measurement of number of coughs elicited by increasing concentrations of capsaicin (10-6and 10-4M) and bronchial responsiveness to ascending concentrations of methacholine, and analysis of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were separately performed 24 h after an antigen challenge in actively and passively sensitized guinea pigs.

Results

Percentage of eosinophils in BALF and bronchial responsiveness to methacholine were increased 24 h after the antigen challenge in both actively and passively sensitized animals compared with saline-challenged actively and passively sensitized animals, respectively. Absolute number of eosinophils in BALF from actively sensitized and antigen-challenged guinea pigs was significantly greater than that from passively sensitized and antigen-challenged animals. Cough response to capsaicin and concentration of substance P in BALF were increased 24 h after the antigen challenge in actively sensitized guinea pigs, but not in passively sensitized guinea pigs. Bronchial responsiveness, cough reflex sensitivity and substance P concentration and total cells in BALF were increased in actively sensitized and saline challenged guinea pigs compared with passively sensitized and saline challenged animals.

Conclusion

The results suggest that active sensitization per se increases cough reflex sensitivity accompanied by increased inflammatory cells and substance P level in BALF, and antigen challenge further increases them, while simple IgE- and/or IgG-mediated allergic reaction per se or the low intensity of eosinophil infiltration in the airway itself may not affect cough reflex sensitivity in guinea pigs.