bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Unfriendly partitions when avoiding vertices of finite degree
Authors: Fiorini Aurichi Leandro , Silva Sinzato Real Lucas
Published: October 2023

An unfriendly partition of a graph $G = (V,E)$ is a function $c: V \to 2$ such that $|\{x\in N(v): c(x)\neq c(v)\}|\geq |\{x\in N(v): c(x)=c(v)\}|$ for every vertex $v\in V$, where $N(v)$ denotes its neighborhood. It was conjectured by Cowan and Emerson [2] that every graph has an unfriendly partition, but Milner and Shelah in [5] found counterexamples for that statement by analysing graphs with uncountably many vertices. Curiously, none of their graphs have vertices with finite degree. Therefore, as a natural direction to approach, in this paper we search for the least cardinality of a graph with this property and that admits no unfriendly partitions. Actually, among some other independence results, we conclude that this value cannot be precisely determined within $\textrm {ZFC}$, in the sense that it may vary from model to model of set theory.
Trends in prevalence, treatment use, and disease burden in patients with eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis in Japan: Real-world database analysis
Authors: Sada Ken-ei , Suzuki Takeo , Joksaite Sandra , Ju Shinyoung , Logie John , Mu George , Hwee Jeremiah , Kunishige Hideaki , Ishii Takeo , Adlak Amit , Vadlamudi Harini , Alfonso-Cristancho Rafael
Published: October 2023

Objectives

We report the prevalence of eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA) and describe oral corticosteroid (OCS) use and disease burden before and after the mepolizumab approval in 2018 for EGPA in Japan.

Methods

Two retrospective studies (GSK IDs: 218083 and 218084) used two databases: (1) the JMDC insurer database (Japanese health insurer claims) was used to report annual EGPA prevalence and OCS use in mepolizumab-treated patients and (2) Medical Data Vision database was used to report annual treatment use, OCS dose, relapses, and healthcare resource utilization in patients with EGPA.

Results

EGPA prevalence (95% confidence interval) increased from 4.2 (0.1, 23.4) in 2005 to 58.6 (53.2, 64.5) per 1,000,000 in 2020. Median OCS dose (mg/day) decreased from a range of 4.8–7.7 during 2010–2017 to 4.5–4.8 during 2018–2020 (lowest dose in 2020). The proportion of patients with prednisolone-equivalent daily OCS dose >10 mg decreased from 2017 (11.9%) to 2020 (10.3%), while the median dose halved. The proportion of patients with EGPA relapses (64.3% to 41.6%) and hospitalization (27.8% to 23.6%) decreased from 2010 to 2020.

Conclusions

EGPA prevalence increased between 2005 and 2020. With the introduction of mepolizumab for EGPA in 2018, real-world OCS use, relapses, and healthcare resource utilization decreased.
DisProt in 2024: improving function annotation of intrinsically disordered proteins
Authors: Aspromonte Maria Cristina , Nugnes Maria Victoria , Quaglia Federica , Bouharoua Adel ,   DisProt Consortium, Sagris Vasileios , Promponas Vasilis J , Chasapi Anastasia , Fichó Erzsébet , Balatti Galo E , Parisi Gustavo , Buitrón Martín González , Erdos Gabor , Pajkos Matyas , Dosztányi Zsuzsanna , Dobson Laszlo , Conte Alessio Del , Clementel Damiano , Salladini Edoardo , Leonardi Emanuela , Kordevani Fatemeh , Ghafouri Hamidreza , Ku Luiggi G Tenorio , Monzon Alexander Miguel , Ferrari Carlo , Kálmán Zsófia , Nilsson Juliet F , Santos Jaime , Pintado-Grima Carlos , Ventura Salvador , Ács Veronika , Pancsa Rita , Kulik Mariane Goncalves , Andrade-Navarro Miguel A , Pereira Pedro José Barbosa , Longhi Sonia , Mercier Philippe Le , Bergier Julian , Tompa Peter , Lazar Tamas , Tosatto Silvio C E , Piovesan Damiano
Published: October 2023

DisProt (URL: https://disprot.org) is the gold standard database for intrinsically disordered proteins and regions, providing valuable information about their functions. The latest version of DisProt brings significant advancements, including a broader representation of functions and an enhanced curation process. These improvements aim to increase both the quality of annotations and their coverage at the sequence level. Higher coverage has been achieved by adopting additional evidence codes. Quality of annotations has been improved by systematically applying Minimum Information About Disorder Experiments (MIADE) principles and reporting all the details of the experimental setup that could potentially influence the structural state of a protein. The DisProt database now includes new thematic datasets and has expanded the adoption of Gene Ontology terms, resulting in an extensive functional repertoire which is automatically propagated to UniProtKB. Finally, we show that DisProt's curated annotations strongly correlate with disorder predictions inferred from AlphaFold2 pLDDT (predicted Local Distance Difference Test) confidence scores. This comparison highlights the utility of DisProt in explaining apparent uncertainty of certain well-defined predicted structures, which often correspond to folding-upon-binding fragments. Overall, DisProt serves as a comprehensive resource, combining experimental evidence of disorder information to enhance our understanding of intrinsically disordered proteins and their functional implications.
UTexas Aptamer Database: the collection and long-term preservation of aptamer sequence information
Authors: Askari Ali , Kota Sumedha , Ferrell Hailey , Swamy Shriya , Goodman Kayla S , Okoro Christine C , Spruell Crenshaw Isaiah C , Hernandez Daniela K , Oliphant Taylor E , Badrayani Akshata A , Ellington Andrew D , Stovall Gwendolyn M
Published: October 2023

A growing interest in aptamer research, as evidenced by the increase in aptamer publications over the years, has led to calls for a go-to site for aptamer information. A comprehensive, publicly available aptamer dataset, which may be a repository for aptamer data, standardize aptamer reporting, and generate opportunities to expand current research in the field, could meet such a demand. There have been several attempts to create aptamer databases; however, most have been abandoned or removed entirely from public view. Inspired by previous efforts, we have published the UTexas Aptamer Database, https://sites.utexas.edu/aptamerdatabase, which includes a publicly available aptamer dataset and a searchable database containing a subset of all aptamer data collected to date (1990–2022). The dataset contains aptamer sequences, binding and selection information. The information is regularly reviewed internally to ensure accuracy and consistency across all entries. To support the continued curation and review of aptamer sequence information, we have implemented sustaining mechanisms, including researcher training protocols, an aptamer submission form, data stored separately from the database platform, and a growing team of researchers committed to updating the database. Currently, the UTexas Aptamer Database is the largest in terms of the number of aptamer sequences with 1,443 internally reviewed aptamer records.
GLIOMA-06 THE GLIOMA CONNECTOME PROJECT – UPDATE
Authors: Brem Steven
Published: October 2023

The ability to define specific fiber tracts in individual patients before, during and following surgery represents a major advance in neurosurgical oncology. The Human Connectome Project (Glasser, 2016) generated insights into the organization of critically important “hubs” and pathways (edges) defining 7 major networks. There is a paradigm shift in our view of neurological functions from an outdated “modular” concept to a network perspective (Fox, 2018). Connectomics affects all branches of clinical neuroscience, including neuropsychiatry, stroke, trauma, neurodegenerative diseases, and especially glioblastoma. We first developed individualized maps of white matter (WM) pathways for a connectivity-based paradigm for neurosurgical planning (Tunç, 2016). We reviewed the principles and the potential applications of connectomics in the neurosurgical treatment of gliomas (Henderson, 2020). Working with key thought leaders, experienced neurosurgeons, and scientific partners (Omniscient Neurotechnology; Michael Sughrue), we developed the Glioma Connectome Project protocol, accruing the first patients at the University of Pennsylvania (UPCC#22321), funded by the StacheStrong, and now accruing patients nationwide: U. Miami (PI, Michael Ivan), Northwestern (PI, Matthew Tate), U. of Nebraska (Michele Aizenberg), Henry Ford Hospital (Ian Lee), University of Texas (Yoshua Esquenazi), and U. Pittsburgh (Costas Hadjipanayis). The specific aims of the GCP include 1) validation of connectomic metrics (global efficiency, FWHM, betweenness centrality, etc.); 2) cognitive correlates using the NIH Toolbox; 3) mapping the trajectory of recovery; 4) the effects of treatment at the level of WM fiber tracts; 5) re-imagining surgical approaches and 6) developing biomarkers for “virtual trials” to assess response to therapy. In the past 2.5 years since the inception of the GCP, we have overcome numerous technical and organizational challenges to develop a federated system to harmonize “big data”. The scientific and practical lessons learned will be highlighted.
GLIOMA-08 INTRACRANIAL HIGH-GRADE GLIOMA MANAGEMENT IN COTE D’IVOIRE : ABOUT 19 COALIGATED CASES FROM MARCH 2019 TO JUNE 2021
Authors: Drogba Landry , Diaby Raïssa , Djondé Grace , Konan Landry , Okamon Jean-Marcel , Meuga Wilfried , N'Dri Dominique
Published: October 2023

INTRODUCTION

Intracranial malignant gliomas are serious conditions that constitute a therapeutic challenge. In Côte d'Ivoire, since 2019, their care meets international standards with the advent of the National Center of Radiotherapy and Medical Oncology Alassane Ouattara and interdisciplinary consultation meetings. Our objective was to evaluate the morbidity and mortality of patients treated for high-grade gliomas in Côte d'Ivoire.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We realized from March 2019 to June 2021, a retrospective cohort study on 19 patients with malignant intracranial glioma, without distinction of age and sex, whether alive or deceased. They were 12 male patients and 07 female patients. The parameters studied were, among others, the type and quality of complementary treatment, the evolution under treatment, and the time to onset of recurrence and death.

RESULTS

The time to consultation was early in 57.9% of cases. High ICP syndrome was the main reason for consultation at 51.6%, followed by neurological deficit. Surgery was performed on average in all patients within 30 days after imaging. The histological diagnosis of grade 4 glioma was pronounced in 16 patients. Postoperative radiotherapy was performed in 94.7% of cases, associated with concomitant then adjuvant chemotherapy with temozolomide in 84.2% of patients. During the treatment, two cases of local recurrence were notified. At the end of the cohort, the death rate was estimated at 73.7%, with a median survival of 11 months and extremes ranging from 06 months to 34 months.

CONCLUSION

Despite the availability and application of reference therapeutic processes, malignant glioma remains, due to many factors related to our context, a very pejorative prognosis. This study should continue with the inclusion of a larger number of patients in order to review the state of play of the management of high-grade gliomas in Côte d'Ivoire.
OTHER-06 EPIDEMIOLOGY OF BRAIN AND SPINE TUMOURS – A SINGLE CENTRE DESCRIPTIVE RETROSPECTIVE STUDY
Authors: Banson Mabel , Siaw-Debrah Felix , Darko Kwadwo , Ametefe Mawuli , Bankah Patrick
Published: October 2023

Brain and spine tumours are of significant public health concern and lead to severe morbidities and mortalities. The incidence is on the rise, ranking as the fifth (5th) leading cause of cancer-related deaths in Africa. Treatment and prognosis depend on age, tumour location, functional neurological status, extent of tumour resection and histological subtype of tumour. This study aims to describe the patient demographics, clinical presentation, and histological subtypes of central nervous system (CNS) tumours in the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital. A retrospective review of the medical records and histopathology reports (reports presented to the unit) of all patients with CNS tumours operated upon in the Neurosurgical Unit, Department of Surgery, Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital over the past 17years (2007-2023) was collated. The patients without definitive histopathological diagnosis were excluded from the study. Epidemiological data retrieved include clinical presentation, histological subtype, patient age and sex and the spatial distribution. A total of 327 tumour were recorded in the Neurosurgery unit: 85.3% were Brain Tumours. 178 (54.4%) were females and 149 (45.6%) males. Overall Meningiomas were the commonest CNS tumour encountered forming 32.1% followed by Gliomas, Glioneuronal and Neuronal tumours with 29.4% then Tumours of the Sella region, 19.6%. The commonest Meningioma subtype was Meningothelial (33%). Of the Gliomas, Low grade gliomas formed 69%. The commonest symptom for brain cases were headaches (59.1%) followed by visual impairment (33.0%). Of the spine cases, the prevalent symptom was paraparesis (46.2%) followed with low back pain and bowel and bladder dysfunction at 23.1% respectively. We concluded that Low grade tumours predominate in our setting. It is prudent that we channel efforts towards prompt diagnosis and treatment of such cases.
OTHER-10 EARLY CLINICAL EXPERIENCE OF SRS AND SBRT STEREOTACTIC BODY RADIOTHERAPY FOR CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM (CNS) CASE SERIES AT HCG CANCER CENTRE, NAIROBI.
Authors: Ahmed Komen , Peter Rotich , Chandramoleswar Adarsh
Published: October 2023

BACKGROUND

Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS), Stereotactic Radiotherapy(SRT) and Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) delivers fewer high-dose fractions of radiation which may be radiobiologically favorable to conventional low-dose fractions commonly used for central nervous system. We report our early experience using SBRT in central nervous tumours (CNS).

METHODS / INTRODUCTION

Sequential patients treated with SBRT from December 2022 to May 2023 at HCG Cancer Care Kenya for CNS tumours will be included in this retrospective review of early clinical data collected in the institutional database. SBRT treatments were delivered using VersaHD Linac with doses ranging from 36.25Gy to 30Gy delivered in 3 to 5 fractions. Local guidelines have been developed to guide stereotactic radiotherapy treatments in Kenya. The national health insurer is currently reimbursing for stereotactic treatments would further increases the uptake. Discussion The CNS cases that has been treated locally with SRS/SRT/SBRT with CNS case series shall be evaluated under clinical presentation, treatment planning process in recurrent Meningioma, Glomus tymphanicum and brain metastasis. The radiobiological advantage of SRS/SRT/SBRT over conventional radiotherapy is the short course treatment with minimal toxicity. SRS/SBRT is not oxygen dependent tumor DNA damage but related to endothelial cell damage from apoptosis. The treatment volume margins in CNS cancers are tight to a millimeter hence rigid immobilization with head fraxion frame is required. The turnaround time from diagnosis, planning to treatment delivery for the patients is 72 hours.

RESULTS

30 patients underwent SBRT treatment techniques varying from CNS and other sites. The case presentations in case series met the criteria and indications for SBRT treatment. The initial patient reported the treatment to be tolerable however currently we do have data on acute and long term in terms of both outcomes and toxicity. Follow up is needed to review and report on the outcomes.
OTHER-11 DEMENTIA AND EPILEPSY REVERSED SUCCESSFULLY THROUGH STAGED EMBOLISATION OF A SYMPTOMATIC HYPERVASCULAR PARAGANGLIOMA : A CASE REPORT
Authors: Sokhi Dilraj , Said Jamil , Nyambane Eunice , Hooker Juzar , Maina Ben , Cheserem Beverly , Mogere Edwin
Published: October 2023

INTRODUCTION

Paragangliomas (PGs) are rare neuroendocrine tumours that can arise from parasympathetic glossopharyngeal and vagus nerves. Atypical presentations involving seizures and dementia can occur due to excessive catecholamine release. Physiological intracranial arteriovenous fistulae (AVF) can occur concurrently due to increased vascularity, especially in the cavernous and sigmoid sinuses.

METHODS

We present a case of a patient who developed a highly vascular AVF from an ipsilateral glomus jugulare PG, presenting with rapidly progressive but reversible dementia and epilepsy. CASE: A 64-year-old lady presented on several occasions with new-onset stereotyped episodes of confusional dysphasia suggestive of seizures, confirmed on electroencephalography. Further history revealed two years of progressive deafness and imbalance, and one year of increasing forgetfulness and executive dysfunction, which had deteriorated rapidly in the period of the patient's current presentations. Montreal cognitive assessment (MoCA) score was 21/30 at baseline (normal score >25/30), and she had no lateralising signs. Serial brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed progressively worsening vasculopathic white matter hyper-intensities (WMHs). Eventual MR angiography showed a 14x22×23mm right glomus jugulotympanicum PG with numerous feeding arteries, and associated multiple AVFs (Cognard grade III). She was initially managed with anti-seizure medications and then discussed in our multidisciplinary neurosciences meeting. The patient underwent staged right glomus jugulare embolization over several weeks. Her cognitive function gradually improved, and at three months she had fully returned to normal functioning with a MoCA of 30/30 and no residual neurological deficit. The WMHs disappeared on follow-up MRI scans.

CONCLUSION

Our case highlights a rare clinical presentation of dementia and seizures from a right glomus jugulare PG with associated AVF. Multidisciplinary involvement was key in excluding other causes, and definitive treatment of the PG led to complete reversal of the patient’s dementia.
PAEDIATRIC-02 ROLE OF INTRAOPERATIVE INTRATUMORAL HYDROGEN PEROXIDE IN RESECTION OF SOLID BRAIN TUMORS: CASE SERIES AND BRIEF REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Authors: Lubuulwa James , Schroeder Kristin
Published: October 2023

INTRODUCTION

The use of Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) has been reported in surgical literature as one of the best agents for irrigation during neurosurgical procedures for many years due to its purported effects on mechanical debridement and its antiseptic and haemostatic properties although its use has been similarly surrounded by persistent controversy.

METHODS

We report the intraoperative use of hydrogen peroxide injection in tumour resection among four paediatric patients with different solid brain tumours which included tuberculoma, diffuse B cell lymphoma, pilocytic astrocytoma and medulloblastoma. Following open craniotomy, 3mls of diluted 6% hydrogen peroxide were injected into the exposed solid tumour. The tumour became firmer and evidently more devascularized and this was followed with meticulous bipolar cauterization-resection of the tumour with the aim to achieve total resection.

RESULTS

Total tumour resection was achieved and the patients recovered uneventfully without any complications. None of the patients in our series developed gas embolism, dysrhythmias nor pneumocephalus.

DISCUSSION

Hydrogen peroxide irrigation is commonly utilised in neurosurgical procedures for its bactericidal and haemostatic effects. Although several authors have reported adverse complications in literature, we report the judicious safe use of H202 in tumour resection without adverse effects.

CONCLUSION

The authors report the safe use of intratumoral hydrogen peroxide in resection of solid tumours with aiding control of blood loss and improving resectability. Close observation by the anaesthesiology team is paramount for early detection of gas embolism to avoid adverse outcomes
Antenatal Smoking, Postnatal Passive Smoking, And The Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
Authors: Nicholl Jon , O’Cathain Alicia
Published: October 2023

Each year during the 1980s more than 6000 infants born in England and Wales died before reaching their first birthday. Roughly 20 per cent of all these infants deaths, 35 per cent of those occurring in the post-perinatal period, and 50 per cent of those occurring in the post-neonatal period, were certified as Sudden Infant Deaths (‘cot’ deaths) (Office of Population Censuses and Surveys 1987, 1988). The majority of these deaths are unexplained at necropsy (Arneil et al. 1985), and deaths are usually ascribed to the Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) following Beckwith's (1970) definition. In numerous epidemiological studies of SIDS, smoking-usually maternal smoking during pregnancy-has been one of the key associated characteristics. It has been claimed that: 'whenever data have been available for analysis it has been shown that infants of women who smoked during their pregnancy were at increased risk of sudden death in infancy' (Golding et al. 1985).
Measuring Serum Cotinine To Aid In Smoking Cessation During Pregnancy And To Enhance Assessment Of Smoking-Related Fetal Morbidity
Authors: Haddow James E , Knight George J , Palomaki Glenn E
Published: October 2023

Several pregnancy outcome parameters have been extensively examined in relation to womens’ smoking habits during pregnancy, including most prominently, birth weight, length of gestation, fetal viability, and late pregnancy complications. Birth weights of infants born to mothers who smoke are, on average, approximately 200 glower than when mothers do not smoke, the infants are born slightly earlier, and there is a 30 per cent higher risk of fetal or infant death. Abruptio placentae also occurs more frequently. Most of the studies examining these relationships have relied upon the pregnant woman's report of her smoking status, including whether or not she smokes and, if so, how many cigarettes per day. Even though this measure of exposure has yielded reproducible data from many sources, there has been speculation that a proportion of the women might have been misclassified, either because they did not tell the truth or because variations in smoking technique or type of cigarette smoked might have affected the quantity of smoke products actually inhaled and absorbed into the bloodstream. If this were the case, and if a more objective measure of cigarette smoke exposure could be found, then it might become possible to describe the impact of maternal smoking on the pregnancy outcome parameters more accurately.
Epidemiology of the Rheumatic Diseases
Authors: Silman Alan J , Hochberg Marc C
Published: October 2023

This major reference work is the first comprehensive text to review in detail the data currently available on the epidemiology of the main rheumatic and musco-skeletal diseases. The problems of disease definition and criteria are considered with data on the occurrence of these diseases, both prevalence and incidence, and their variation with age, sex, geographical area, ethnic group, and trends over time. The results of epidemiological investigations,looking at both genetic and environmental risk factors, are considered and the impact of specific diseases of survival is also considered. Covering 15 disease areas from inflammatory joint disease and connective tissue disease to degenerative joint disease and non-articular conditions, such as low back pain and carpel tunnel syndrome, this is the only text available which offers full coverage of the subject with a truly international perspective.
The nature of elder abuse
Authors: McCreadie Claudine
Published: October 2023

In 1987, under the chairmanship of a local geriatrician, members of the Birmingham branch of BASE-the British Association for Service to the Elderly (a forum to further better care for older people)-decided that the issue of abuse to older people was a topic which they wanted to pursue at one of their bimonthly meetings. That first meeting became a catalyst for a series of wide-ranging discussions based on members’ experience, the record of which was later published.
Is Cancer an evolutionary inevitability?
Authors: Greaves Mel
Published: October 2023

Up until now, I’ve tried to provide an explanation of the evolutionary and biological mechanisms that underlie the development of a malignant clone of cells: an answer to the ‘what is it?’ question. It’s time now to tackle the more difficult and broader issues of why and how. One way to look at the problem is as an extension of the mechanical view and to consider that cancer is solely a consequence of inherent design faults in a rather sophisticated machine. Even Rolls Royces can break down through no fault of the driver. There is an evolutionary argument for this as I suggested at the beginning of this book. Here it is again as a reprise. Cancer can be viewed as an inevitable consequence or intrinsic evolutionary penalty of two essential characteristics of successful complex organisms, including humans: first, the requirement for sustained proliferative or regenerative activity, survival tactics, and mobility in the tissue stem cells in long-lived animals, coupled with accessible lymphatic and vascular channels for migration; second, the evolutionary advantage of having genetic recombination or gene shuffling mechanisms coupled with a lack of complete fidelity in DNA copying and repair.
Drug development and study design
Authors: Cassidy Jim
Published: October 2023

Drug development encompasses the entire process by which an idea in the mind of a scientist is converted into a therapeutic agent for the widespread benefit of mankind. The process of drug development in oncology is different from that employed in every other branch of medicine. These differences are often cited by our more traditional ‘mainstream’ clinical pharmacologist colleagues as the reasons why we have not been more successful in the quest for more effective therapies for this disease. Most of these differences can be easily explained by the very nature of neoplasia and the public reactions and perceptions which surround the disease.
Working Memory Dysfunction and its Relevance to Schizophrenia
Authors: Keefe Richard S E
Published: October 2023

It is 20 000 years ago and you are running for your life. You have not eaten for days and your dinner-the woolly mammoth you and your fellow tribesmen are chasing-is getting away. You are using everything in your capacity to chase this beast down a sloping hillside. As you run down the hill, you are careful to keep the animal in your sights as you avoid rocks and bushes. You look ahead every 10 feet or so, note the landscape, and keep those images in your mind while you simultaneously note in which direction the animal is attempting to flee. Since you are not yet a cognitive psychologist, you are not aware of the elegance of the ability of your working memory system to keep these visuospatial images in mind while you are engaged in the important task of chasing your prey. You do not say to yourself: ‘Ah, yes, the visuospatial sketchpad!’You hear one of your primitive colleagues yelling to you that the mammoth has headed down a gorge, and that you should tum left and work your way past a grove of trees around the hill in order to force the animal into a trap that has been established. You have some awareness of having made mistakes when given directions like this before, so using the central executive part of your working memory system, you allocate cognitive resources to repeating the directions to yourself in your primitive tongue: ‘left, then right past trees, go down to trap’.
Executive Dysfunction in Schizophrenia
Authors: Palmer Barton W , Heaton Robert K
Published: October 2023

Recognition of the potential importance of executive dysfunction in schizophrenia dates back to Kraepelin (1919). He noted that while many of the basic cognitive skills (such as memory/retention and general orientation) remain relatively intact in this disorder, apparent decrements in some skills, such as attention and judgment, appeared to reflect an underlying deficit in the process of volition. He further suggested that the deficits in ‘higher intellectual abilities’(p. 219) might reflect a propensity for the disorder to involve the frontal brain regions. It appears that he was not using the term ‘higher intellectual abilities’in the restricted sense as measured by contemporary IQ scales, but rather in a sense similar to contemporary notions of executive skills (Zee, 1995).
Relevance of neurocognitive deficits for functional outcome in schizophrenia
Authors: Green Michael Foster , Kern Robert S , Robertson Mary Jane , Sergi Mark J , Kee Kimmy S
Published: October 2023

In a research area characterized by differences of opinion, there is remarkable agreement on the point that neurocognitive deficits are part and parcel of schizophrenia. In other words, they generally do not derive from the symptoms of the disorder, nor are they a result of medication nor are they induced by institutionalization. On the contrary, many (though not all) of the neurocognitive deficits seem to reflect predisposition to the illness as opposed to the presence of illness. Hence, the neurocognitive deficits of schizophrenia can be considered central to the disorder.
Frontotemporal dementia (Pick’s disease)
Authors: Hodges John R , Miller Bruce
Published: October 2023

The last decade has seen considerable advances in our understanding of the neurodegenerative diseases producing focal cognitive deficits typically involving the frontal and/or temporal lobes (most commonly referred to collectively as either Pick’s disease or, more recently, frontotemporal dementia [FTD]). These advances have come from the fields of neuropsychology, neuropsychiatry, neuroimaging, and molecular genetics. Unfortunately the non-expert’s ability to follow these developments has been somewhat marred by the confusing plethora of terms in use. While some labels denote a clinical syndrome without specific histological implications (e.g. progressive aphasia, semantic dementia, or dementia of frontal type), others describe specific neuropathological entities (e.g. Pick’s disease, familial tauopathy), hybrid clinicopatho- logical entities (frontotemporal dementia), or even specific familial disorders (e.g. chromosome 17 linked frontotemporal dementia with parkinsonism). While there is a close correspondence between symptoms and the site of pathology, the mapping between other levels is poor, so that it is very difficult to predict the exact pathology (from within the spectrum of Pick and Pick-like diseases). We prefer, therefore, a classification based upon the clinical presentation and distinguish three major clinical syndromes: dementia of frontal type, semantic dementia, and progressive non-fluent aphasia.
The combined pill: weighing up the pros and cons
Authors: Szarewski Anne , Guillebaud John
Published: October 2023

More than 60 million women world-wide are on the pill, and 200 million are estimated to have used it since it was first introduced. No other medication has been taken regularly by so many women, nor has any medication been studied so closely. There are both risks and benefits in taking the pill, which you will want to consider, taking into account your own family and medical history, and the sort of life you lead. These are the kinds of things you will need to think about when making a decision about any form of contraception, not just the pill. There have been numerous scares about the pill—some justified, but most blown up our of all proportion by the media. It is important to remember that there are positive health benefits as well as some dangers. We will look at the risks first, and then the benefits.
Natural family planning
Authors: Szarewski Anne , Guillebaud John
Published: October 2023

Natural family planning is what most people think of as the ‘rhythm method’, although this is a bad name because in fact it involves much more than just counting days. It has tended to have a poor image, partly because it involves relatively long periods of abstinence, and also because (since these are often not actually observed) it can have a high failure rate. However, in highly motivated, properly taught couples, the failure rate in use can be comparable to that of barrier methods. Many people dabble in the rhythm method: what woman has not at one time tried to calculate whether last night was ‘safe’ or not? However, this is precisely the worst way to go about it. If you are serious about using natural family planning, then it becomes a combination of an art and a science, with a proper training period. Indeed, it is quite impossible to learn this technique from a book, since practical guidance and learning on yourself are of paramount importance. At the back of this book you will find the address of organizations which offer teaching: most of the people involved in this are not in fact doctors, but lay people who are long-term users themselves and want to pass on their knowledge, experience, and enthusiasm to others.
The role of families, family caregivers, and nurses
Authors: Hallberg Ingalill Rahm
Published: October 2023

The effective counselling and support of family members of elderly people in a delirious state requires knowledge of recognition, causes, and available treatments (Hallberg 1999). This knowledge has been provided in the previous chapters. It is not enough, however, to know about the antecedents and treatment of the delirium. It is also necessary to know what it means for people to have a close family member be acutely confused, and what it means for the patient. In addition, one must know about problems which caregivers (families or nurses) face in providing care for a delirious individual.
Common presenting problems
Authors: Kimura Yukiko
Published: October 2023

The aim of this chapter is to guide the reader in formulating a logical work-up of the extensive differential diagnosis of childhood arthritis, using symptom-based algorithms and tables, with emphasis on pattern recognition. This chapter is the key to the rest of this textbook. Ideally, it will guide the reader through some common clinical situations towards a working differential diagnosis of a child presenting with musculoskeletal complaints. Once candidate diagnoses have been determined, the reader will then be referred to the disease-specific chapters in the book, which will describe each disorder in more detail, allowing the reader to decide whether a given diagnosis fits the clinical picture at hand.
Early Greek Philosophy
Authors: West Martin
Published: October 2023

In the eighth and seventh centuries BC the Greeks appear as a lively and talented people, active in trade and exploration, endowed with no little skill and individuality in the visual arts, rich in heroic legend, and above all remarkable for a poetry in which a wide range of human experience and feeling was given highly articulate expression. If they had achieved nothing more than that, they would still claim our attention as the most interesting and sympathetic of ancient peoples. In fact they went on to add immensely to that claim. They added to it in many fields: art, literature, mathematics, astronomy, medicine, government, to name half a dozen. But the most significant single addition was perhaps philosophy. Its origins and develop¬ment make an essential strand in the cultural history of the sixth and fifth centuries.
Hellenistic Culture and Literature
Authors: Fox Robin Lane
Published: October 2023

After Alexander the horizons of the Greek world extended as far as India. Even Alexander had been surprised by the size of it all: he wondered if the Caspian Sea was the outer ocean of the world, and in India he began by thinking that the River Indus ran cosily round into Egypt’s Nile. The new horizons were not altogether lost on those whom the Greeks bordered. Around 260 BC the Indian king Asoka dispatched an edict for inscription throughout his realm which referred to the ‘world my children’. It listed exactly the Hellenistic kings from his Asian border through Egypt and Macedon to Cyrene in north Africa. A copy stood in Greek near the Greek and Macedonian settlement at Kandahar.
The Last Imaginary Place
Authors: McGhee Robert
Published: October 2023

The location of a tropical paradise, the graveyard of ships straying too close to where the polar ocean drains into the earth’s hollow interior, the source of unimaginable quantities of gold, the home of a lost ‘Aryan’ civilization - for those who do not live there, the Arctic has over the course of time been all of these things. It is the last imaginary place on Earth. Now, renowned archaeologist Robert McGhee lifts the veil to reveal the true Arctic. Combining anthropology, history, and personal experience, this book dispels the romanticized notions of the Arctic as a world apart, exotic and isolated, revealing a land far more fascinating than we had imagined. McGhee paints a vivid portrait of the movement of Viking farmers across the North Atlantic islands, and of the long and arduous searches for sea-passages to Asia. We meet the fur-traders who pioneered European expansion across the northern forests of Canada and Siberia, the whalers and ivory-hunters who ravaged northern seas, and patriotic explorers racing to reach the North Pole. Above all, McGhee offers a fascinating insight into the native peoples of the Arctic, societies that other histories usually neglect. We discover how northerners have learned to exploit a rich ‘hunter’s world’ where game is, contrary to our expectations, far easier to find than in more temperate lands. He takes us to a thousand-year-old Tuniit campsite perfectly preserved in the Arctic cold, follows the entrepreneurial Inuit as they cross the Arctic in search of metal, and reveals the dangers that native people face today from industrial pollution and global warming.
Towards The Standing Army 1485–1660
Authors: Roy Ian
Published: October 2023

At the end of the fifteenth century England was no longer a great military power. The Angevin kings had ruled both England and much of France; the Lancastrian Henry V had renewed that claim after Agincourt. But in the years that followed the nation lost her French possessions, with the exception of Calais, and her kings, although in the long run capable of quelling their ‘overmighty subjects’ and preserving the authority of central government in spite of widespread disorder and rival claims, had not begun to build a standing army, and the semi-permanent military administration to maintain it, of the kind being developed on the Continent. Nor had the internal wars—the Wars of the Roses—been sufficiently severe and continuous to change the long-term, generally peaceful development of the country, which had no need to build new castles to match those of the past, improve existing fortifications, or even repair the ancient walls which most towns still possessed. Country houses were increasingly built for comfort and not for their capacity to withstand attack. The nation sheltered behind the 20 miles of water which protected her from foreign invasion, and for which a small navy seemed the most useful and inexpensive form of defence.
The Army and The Challenge Of War 1939–1945
Authors: D ‘este Carlo
Published: October 2023

When Britain declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939, her army was unprepared to fight an enemy equipped with modern weaponry and innovative new tactics. Its fighting formations were scattered in small garrisons around the country, training lacked purpose, and the government and military leadership could not even agree on the mission of Britain’s armed forces in the event of war. Transportation, communications equipment, artillery, engineer, and logistical support units were in such short supply that it was often impossible to train or conduct exercises. When Germany invaded Poland in September 1939 the German army had over a million men under arms and three and a half million more available for immediate activation. By contrast, the British Expeditionary Force that was ordered to France consisted of four infantry divisions, which by May 1940 had risen to only twelve.
The Technical Innovations
Authors: Ashton T S
Published: October 2023

‘ABOUT 1760 a wave of gadgets swept over England.’ So, not inaptly, a schoolboy began his answer to a question on the industrial revolution. It was not only gadgets, however, but innovations of various kinds—in agriculture, transport, manufacture, trade, and finance—that surged up with a suddenness for which it is difficult to find a parallel at any other time or place. The quickened pace of development is attested by the catalogue of new patents, the lengthening list of Acts of enclosure, the expanding figures of output and exports, and the course of prices, which, after remaining roughly steady for two generations, now began an ascent that was to continue for more than half a century.
The Making of the Jewish Middle Class
Authors: Kaplan Marion A
Published: October 2023

This comprehensive study of Jewish women in Imperial Germany (1871-1918) addresses the complex interrelationships of ethnicity, sex, and class. It examines the changing lives and roles of women who were part of an urbanizing, economically mobile, but socially spurned minority group, and also looks at their relationship with the rest of society. The author identifies German-Jewish women's `double burden' as females - discriminated against in both German and Jewish traditions - and as Jews - objects of the increasing anti-Semitism of their era. She also points out the ambiguous, often contradictory role that Jewish women played: they were powerful agents of acculturation, encouraging their families to adapt outwardly to German customs and norms, and also determined upholders of tradition, maintaining family rituals, kin networks, and Jewish communal organizations.
The United States and the State Of Israel
Authors: Schoenbaum David
Published: October 2023

From Truman to Bush, the United States has assured Israel's existence, while providing billions in military and economic support. Over the same period, no US president has ever submitted a formal treaty of alliance to the Senate, or even moved the American embassy from Tel-Aviv to Jerusalem. Cross-purposes and mutual doubts have always coexisted with shared values, interests, expectations, and achievements. Schoenbaum's book traces Israeli-American relations from their roots in both the American and Jewish experiences to the current peace process. It also examines the relationship in the perspective of two world wars, the Cold War, the Gulf War, European colonialism and Middle Eastern nationalisms, global policy, and domestic politics in both countries.
Broadcasting Finance in Turmoil: An Introduction
Authors: Blumler JAY G , Nossiter T J
Published: October 2023

In the history of broadcasting, the late 1980s may rank as a formative landmark period with the early 1920s, when radio was becoming established as a novel vehicle of home entertainment, and the late 1940s, when television was poised to become the most heavily patronized and the most multi-functional mass medium of all time. At present many cross-currents of change are impinging on all sectors of the electronic media, and broadcasting structures, technologies, markets, channels of distribution and relations of providers to audiences are undergoing apparently profound transformations. As a significant part of this restructuring process, formerly settled patterns of broadcast-ing finance are also in flux and under debate in societies around the globe.
The Economics of Broadcasting
Authors: Garnham Nicholas , Locksley Gareth
Published: October 2023

What questions does economics pose for a broadcasting system? Economics analyzes the ways in which human societies allocate the resources at their disposal among different social activities and different social groups. Since resources are, by definition, scarce, allocative choices cannot be avoided, and economics is therefore centrally concerned with how these allocative choices are made, their efficiency and their social impact.
British Television: A Mixed Economy
Authors: Nossiter T J
Published: October 2023

When in March 1985 the Government announced a committee to inquire into the financing of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) under the chairmanship of the liberal economist Professor Alan Peacock, there was criticism that its terms of reference were too narrowly conceived-putting, as it were, the funding cart before the purposive horse. The specific issue the committee was charged to consider was whether the BBC ‘s main source of revenue, the licence fee, should be replaced or supplemented by reliance on other in come-e.g., from advertising or sponsorship.
The United States and the End Of the Cold War
Authors: Gaddis John Lewis
Published: October 2023

In the light of recent events indicating the collapse of the Cold War, this collection of essays by a leading authority on American post-war foreign policy has an added relevance and urgency today. Individual essays discuss the American style of diplomacy in the twentieth century, the ambiguous nature of morality in American foreign policy, the role of intelligence and espionage, the ‘relevance’ of nuclear weapons in post-war diplomacy, revisionist essays on John Foster Dulles’s and Ronald Reagan’s Cold War diplomacy, and several essays dealing with questions involving the end of the Cold War.
The Rise Of Public Woman
Authors: Matthews Glenna
Published: October 2023

This book describes the public role of women in American life. It begins with the differing connotations of `public man’ and `public woman’: the former implying public-spiritedness, the latter a woman who is sexually available. It discusses factors such as changes in internal dynamics of the family and the new religious roles for women that served to undermine patriarchal patterns of authority and made women feel capable of moving into the area of public terrain in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. Matthews argues that by the twentieth century women, (including women of colour) had staked out a wide claim for public roles. The role of women in public life in the twentieth century is also examined, particularly contemporary feminism of women’s public role.
Properties of Cardiac Cells
Authors: Milnor William R
Published: October 2023

Cardiac function depends in part on the physiological properties of individual cells and in part on the arrangement and interaction of those cells in the heart as a whole. The physiological characteristics of cardiac cells will be considered here and the overall performance of the four-chambered mammalian heart in the next chapter. The two most important characteristics of the cells are their electrical activity and their ability to contract. The gross and microscopic structures of the tissues play a major role in both phenomena, and morphology is therefore the first topic to be considered.
Human Evolution and the Sexual Behavior of Female Primates
Authors: Wolfe Linda D
Published: October 2023

This chapter explores how the study of the sexual behavior of female alloprimates (primates other than ourselves, Count, 1973; Wolfe and Gray, I 989) contributes to understanding the sexual behavior of women. Among primates, the Old World monkeys and apes are our closest evolutionary relatives, and therefore the discussion in this chapter will, for the most part, be limited to the behavior of the allocatarrhines (the catarrhine primates other than ourselves).
Primates and the Origins of Aggression, Power, and Politics among Humans
Authors: Chapais Bernard
Published: October 2023

Any morphological characteristic, the human hand, for example, is the result of a long phylogenetic history. This is a widely accepted fact, documented both by paleontology and by comparative anatomy, which together make it possible to recount part of that history. Nonetheless, the idea that a species’ behavioral traits are also the outcome of an evolutionary trajectory has been accepted only recently and with a good deal of reluctance. Although this idea was proposed long ago (e.g., Darwin 1871, 1872), it matured in the 1940s with the rise of modern ethology, which explicitly defined the evolution of behavior as one of its main research questions.