bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The paediatrician and the rabbi
Authors: Shuper Avinoam , Zeharia Avraham , Balter-Seri Judy , Steier David , Mimouni Marc 
Published: July 2002

Objectives—During recent decades, rabbis in Israel have been playing an increasing role in the consultation of patients or their families on medical issues. The study was performed to determine the attitude of physicians to rabbinical consultation by parents of sick children for purposes of basic medical decision making.Design and setting–A questionnaire was prepared which contained questions regarding physicians' reactions to specific medical situations as well as their demographic data. The study participants included all the available physicians who were employed in the study period at one tertiary medical centre in Israel, which is not associated with any religious organisation. The questionnaire was presented personally to all of the physicians who were available for the study.Results–Between 63% and 77% of the respondents were accepting of rabbinical consultation in regard to medical decisions. Nevertheless, in cases of divergence from accepted medical practice and in emergencies, almost all stated they would take measures to resist the rabbi's advice. This attitude did not correlate with the physician's age, religious status or experience in medicine.Conclusions–Israeli physicians respect rabbis' suggestions in the area of medical decision making, though they would not let a rabbi's advice interfere with their decisions if they believed the rabbi's opinion went against medical need. In order to prevent an untoward effect of the rabbinical involvement in medicine, rules should be set to establish norms for rabbi-physician collaboration.
The ethics of surgery in the elderly demented patient with bowel obstruction: Table 1
Authors: Gallagher P , Clark K 
Published: July 2002

Objective: Little has been written in the medical literature concerning the ethics of treatment of the elderly demented patient with bowel obstruction. It is one example of the issues with which we are becoming increasingly involved. We conducted a survey of our colleagues' opinions to determine current practice.Design: A postal questionnaire study (62% response rate). Questions were posed that related to a case scenario of an elderly demented patient presenting with a presumed sigmoid volvulus.Setting: The northern region of England.Participants: Thirty seven surgical members of the Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland, Northern Chapter.Results: Sixty five per cent of respondents felt that surgery would be inappropriate, and 26% that any intervention at all upon the subject in the case scenario would be inappropriate. More would operate, however, at the request of relatives. An advance directive not to treat would be respected by 70% despite a relative's wishes.Conclusions: Overall there was a wide variation in the approach of the surgeons to a demented patient with bowel obstruction. In an era of clinical governance, and an increased awareness of the ethics of consent, this study presents one example of the difficult decisions with which we are increasingly faced. The greater use of advance directives may provide one possible solution.
Occupational accidents aboard merchant ships
Authors: Hansen H L , Nielsen D , Frydenberg M 
Published: July 2002

Objectives: To investigate the frequency, circumstances, and causes of occupational accidents aboard merchant ships in international trade, and to identify risk factors for the occurrence of occupational accidents as well as dangerous working situations where possible preventive measures may be initiated.Methods: The study is a historical follow up on occupational accidents among crew aboard Danish merchant ships in the period 1993–7. Data were extracted from the Danish Maritime Authority and insurance data. Exact data on time at risk were available.Results: A total of 1993 accidents were identified during a total of 31 140 years at sea. Among these, 209 accidents resulted in permanent disability of 5% or more, and 27 were fatal. The mean risk of having an occupational accident was 6.4/100 years at sea and the risk of an accident causing a permanent disability of 5% or more was 0.67/100 years aboard. Relative risks for notified accidents and accidents causing permanent disability of 5% or more were calculated in a multivariate analysis including ship type, occupation, age, time on board, change of ship since last employment period, and nationality. Foreigners had a considerably lower recorded rate of accidents than Danish citizens. Age was a major risk factor for accidents causing permanent disability. Change of ship and the first period aboard a particular ship were identified as risk factors. Walking from one place to another aboard the ship caused serious accidents. The most serious accidents happened on deck.Conclusions: It was possible to clearly identify work situations and specific risk factors for accidents aboard merchant ships. Most accidents happened while performing daily routine duties. Preventive measures should focus on workplace instructions for all important functions aboard and also on the prevention of accidents caused by walking around aboard the ship.
Acute myoedema: an unusual presenting manifestation of hypothyroid myopathy
Authors: Bhansali A , Chandran V , Ramesh J , Kashyap A , Dash R J 
Published: July 2002

Summary
We describe a patient with primary hypothyroidism due to autoimmune thyroiditis, presenting with acute myoedema and spontaneous rhabdomyolysis. During his hospital stay, he developed altered sensorium due to hypo-osmolal hyponatraemia and later developed bilateral foot drop that responded to appropriate treatment.
Trends in the smoking habits of young adults with diabetes
Authors: MacFarlane I , Gill G , Grove T , Wallymahmed M 
Published: July 2002

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
To examine changes in the prevalence of smoking in young adult diabetic patients between 1990 and 1999.

SETTING
Walton Diabetes Centre, University Hospital Aintree, Liverpool, UK.

DESIGN
Direct questioning as well as the urinary cotinine:creatinine ratio were used to assess the smoking habits of 99 young type 1 diabetic patients in 1991 (mean age 21.5 years, duration of diabetes 7.3 years), and in 112 similar patients in 1999 (mean age 23.4 years, duration of diabetes 9.6 years).

RESULTS
The admitted smoking rate was 31/99 (31%) in 1990 compared with 31/112 (28%) in 1999 (not significant). However, in 1990 there were an additional 17 “covert” smokers (patients who denied smoking, but had an unequivocally raised urinary cotinine:creatinine ratio), but only three in 1999 (p&lt;0.05). This gave a corrected validated smoking rate of 48/99 (48%) in 1990 and 34/112 (30%) in 1999, representing a significant fall (p&lt;0.02).

CONCLUSION
Smoking rates in young type 1 diabetic patients appear to have fallen during the last decade, and reporting of smoking behaviour is now more honest.
Japanese viral encephalitis
Authors: Tiroumourougane S V , Raghava P , Srinivasan S 
Published: July 2002

AbstractOne of the leading causes of acute encephalopathy in children in the tropics is Japanese encephalitis (JE). Transmitted by the culex mosquito, this neurotropic virus predominately affects the thalamus, anterior horns of the spinal cord, cerebral cortex, and cerebellum. It mainly affects children &lt;15 years and is mostly asymptomatic. The occasional symptomatic child typically presents with a neurological syndrome characterised by altered sensorium, seizures, and features of intracranial hypertension. Aetiological diagnosis is based on virus isolation or demonstration of virus specific antigen or antibodies in the cerebrospinal fluid/blood. Though no antiviral drug is available against JE, effective supportive management can improve the outcome. Control of JE involves efficient vector control and appropriate use of vaccines.
Comparison of physician based reporting of tobacco attributable deaths and computer derived estimates of smoking attributable deaths, Oregon, 1989 to 1996
Authors: Thomas Ann R , Hedberg Katrina , Fleming David W 
Published: July 2002

BACKGROUNDTobacco use prevention programmes need accurate information about smoking related mortality. Beginning in 1989, Oregon began asking physicians to report on death certificates whether tobacco use contributed to the death.OBJECTIVETo determine the long term comparability of this method of estimating tobacco attributable mortality to estimates of smoking attributable mortality derived from a computer model.DESIGNFor the period 1989 to 1996, we compared mortality resulting from tobacco use reported by Oregon physicians to estimates of smoking attributable deaths (SADs) derived by “Smoking attributable mortality, morbidity and economic costs” software version 3.0 (SAMMEC 3.0), a widely used software program that estimates SADs on the basis of smoking prevalence and relative risks of specific diseases among current and former smokers.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURESNumbers of deaths, age, sex, and category of disease.RESULTSOf 212 448 Oregon deaths during 1989–1996, SAMMEC 3.0 estimated that 42 778 (20.1%) were attributable to cigarette smoking. For the same 27 diagnoses, physicians reported that tobacco contributed to 42 839 (20.2%) deaths—a cumulative difference of only 61 deaths over the eight year period. The age and sex distributions of tobacco and smoking attributable deaths reported by the two systems were also similar. By category of disease, the ratio of SAMMEC 3.0 estimates to physician reported deaths was 1.11 for neoplasms, 0.88 for heart disease, and 1.04 for respiratory disease.CONCLUSIONSPhysician reporting provides comparable estimates of smoking attributable mortality and can be a valuable source of data for communicating the risks of tobacco use to the public.
CLOSURE PROPERTY OF PROBABILISTIC TURING MACHINES AND ALTERNATING TURING MACHINES WITH SUBLOGARITHMIC SPACES
Authors: HARVÁTH GÉZA , INOUE KATSUSHI , ITO AKIRA , WANG YUE 
Published: July 2002

This paper first shows that (1) the class of languages recognized by o(log n) space-bounded two-way Monte Carlo Turing machines is not closed under concatenation, Kleene closure, and length-preserving homomorphism, and (2) the class of languages recognized by o(log log n) space-bounded two-way unbounded error probabilistic Turing machines is not closed under each of the above operations. We then show that the class of languages accepted by S(n) space-bounded two-way alternating Turing machines is not closed under each of the above operations for log log n ≤ S(n) ≤ o(log n).
A METRIC-BASED APPROACH FOR PREDICTING CONCEPTUAL DATA MODELS MAINTAINABILITY
Authors: PIATTINI MARIO , GENERO MARCELA , JIMÉNEZ LUIS 
Published: July 2002

It is generally accepted in the information system (IS) field that IS quality is highly dependent on the decisions made early in the development life cycle. The construction of conceptual data models is often an important task of this early development. Therefore, improving the quality of conceptual data models will be a major step towards the quality improvement of the IS development. Several quality frameworks for conceptual data models have been proposed, but most of them lack valid quantitative measures in order to evaluate the quality of conceptual data models in an objective way. In this article we will define measures for the structural complexity (internal attribute) of entity relationship diagrams (ERD) and use them for predicting their maintainability (external attribute). We will theoretically validate the proposed metrics following Briand et al.'s framework with the goal of demonstrating the properties that characterise each metric. We will also show how it is possible to predict each of the maintainability sub-characteristics using a prediction model generated using a novel method for induction of fuzzy rules.
A multiuser computation facility for education and research
Authors: Dennis Jack B. 
Published: July 2002

Present-day computing facilities are limited in their value for scientific research by inability to interact strongly with users. The full power of a research computing instrument should be available at many terminals that give each user the ability to generate, correct and operate any procedure he wishes, either simple or complex.
Implementation is described for a small-scale multiuser computer system that permits several users to work independently with the machine, and to obtain satisfactory response using typewriter communication.
STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF THE β3-ADRENERGIC RECEPTOR
Authors: Strosberg A. Donny 
Published: July 2002

▪ Abstract  The β3 subtype of adrenaline and noradrenaline receptors has now been extensively characterized at the structural and functional levels. Ligand binding and adenylyl cyclase activation studies helped define a β-adrenergic profile that is quite distinct from that of the β1-and β2-adrenergic receptors, but strongly reminiscent of most of the “atypical” responses reported in earlier pharmacologic studies. Human, other large mammal, and rodent receptors share most of the characteristic β3 properties, although obvious species-specific differences have been identified. Recently, the incidence of a naturally occurring variant of the human β3-adrenergic receptor was shown to be correlated with hereditary obesity in Pima Indians and in Japanese individuals, and in Western obese patients with increased dynamic capacity to add on weight and develop non–insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM). A mild weight increase was also shown to develop in female, but not male, mice in which the β3 receptor gene was disrupted. Taken together, these results now provide a consistent picture of an important role of the β3-adrenoceptor in the regulation of lipid metabolism and as an obvious target for drugs to treat some forms of obesity.
Neural Interaction of the Amygdala with the Prefrontal and Temporal Cortices in the Processing of Facial Expressions as Revealed by fMRI
Authors: Iidaka Tetsuya , Omori Masao , Murata Tetsuhito , Kosaka Hirotaka , Yonekura Yoshiharu , Okada Tomohisa , Sadato Norihiro 
Published: July 2002

Abstract
Some involvement of the human amygdala in the processing of facial expressions has been investigated in neuroimaging studies, although the neural mechanisms underlying motivated or emotional behavior in response to facial stimuli are not yet fully understood. We investigated, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and healthy volunteers, how the amygdala interacts with other cortical regions while subjects are judging the sex of faces with negative, positive, or neutral emotion. The data were analyzed by a subtractive method, then, to clarify possible interaction among regions within the brain, several kinds of analysis (i.e., a correlation analysis, a psychophysiological interaction analysis and a structural equation modeling) were performed. Overall, significant activation was observed in the bilateral fusiform gyrus, medial temporal lobe, prefrontal cortex, and the right parietal lobe during the task. The results of subtraction between the conditions showed that the left amygdala, right orbitofrontal cortex, and temporal cortices were predominantly involved in the processing of the negative expressions. The right angular gyrus was involved in the processing of the positive expressions when the negative condition was subtracted from the positive condition. The correlation analysis showed that activity in the left amygdala positively correlated with activity in the left prefrontal cortex under the negative minus neutral subtraction condition. The psychophysiological interaction revealed that the neural responses in the left amygdala and the right prefrontal cortex underwent the condition-specific changes between the negative and positive face conditions. The right amygdaloid activity also had an interactive effect with activity in the right hippocampus and middle temporal gyrus. These results may suggest that the left and right amygdalae play a differential role in effective processing of facial expressions in collaboration with other cortical or subcortical regions, with the left being related with the bilateral prefrontal cortex, and the right with the right temporal lobe.
Dynamic Stochastic Synapses as Computational Units
Authors: Maass Wolfgang , Zador Anthony M. 
Published: July 2002

In most neural network models, synapses are treated as static weights that change only with the slow time scales of learning. It is well known, however, that synapses are highly dynamic and show use-dependent plasticity over a wide range of time scales. Moreover, synaptic transmission is an inherently stochastic process: a spike arriving at a presynaptic terminal triggers the release of a vesicle of neurotransmitter from a release site with a probability that can be much less than one. We consider a simple model for dynamic stochastic synapses that can easily be integrated into common models for networks of integrate-andfire neurons (spiking neurons). The parameters of this model have direct interpretations in terms of synaptic physiology. We investigate the consequences of the model for computing with individual spikes and demonstrate through rigorous theoretical results that the computational power of the network is increased through the use of dynamic synapses.
A Theoretical Foundation for Life‐Cycle Assessment
Authors: Hertwich Edgar G. , Hammitt James K. , Pease William S. 
Published: July 2002

SummaryThe presence of value judgments in life‐cycle impact assessment (LCIA) has been a constant source of controversy. According to a common interpretation, the international standard on LCIA requires that the assessment methods used in published comparisons be “value free.” Epistemologists argue that even natural science rests on “constitutive” and “contextual” value judgments. The example of the equivalency potential for climate change, the global warming potential (GWP), demonstrates that any impact assessment method inevitably contains not only constitutive and contextual values, but also preference values. Hence, neither life‐cycle assessment (LCA) as a whole nor any of its steps can be “value free.” As a result, we suggest a more comprehensive definition of objectivity in LCA that allows arguments about values and their relationship to facts. We distinguish three types of truth claims: factual claims, which are based on natural science; normative claims, which refer to preference values; and relational claims, which address the proper relation between factual knowledge and values. Every assessment method, even the GWP, requires each type of claim. Rational arguments can be made about each type of claim. Factual truth claims can be assessed using the scientific method. Normative claims can be based on ethical arguments. The values of individuals or groups can be elicited using various social science methods. Relational claims must follow the rules of logic. Relational claims are most important for the development of impact assessment methods. Because LCAs are conducted to satisfy the need of decision makers to consider environmental impacts, relational claims about impact assessment methods should refer to this goal. This article introduces conditions that affect environmental decision making and discusses how LCA—values and all—can be defended as a rational response to the challenge of moving uncertain scientific information into the policy arena.
The Life‐Cycle of Chlorine, Part IV
Authors: Ayres Robert U. , Ayres Leslie W. 
Published: July 2002

SummarySome cyclic organo‐chlorines share key characteristics to a significant degree, notably volatility, solubility in lipids, environmental persistence, a tendency to bioaccumulation, and toxicity to animals. A subset of this group has been designated “persistent organic pollutants” (POPs). Because of their volatility, persistence, and tendency to bioaccumulate, POPs are found in remote locations, such as the Arctic, far from the locations where they were initially used or produced.Except PCDDs (dioxins) and PCDFs (furans), all are, or were, originally produced for use as such, mainly as pesticides or herbicides. PCDDs and PCDFs have never been produced for their own sake; they are unwanted contaminants of chemical intermediates that were passed on and incorporated in final products, notably herbicides; they are also generated spontaneously in most combustion processes and chlorine bleaching of paper. Most POPs have been sharply restricted or banned outright in most of the industrialized countries, but not in less developed countries.The qualities of persistence and bioaccumulation give special urgency to monitoring not only point source emissions and local concentrations, but also the mobile environmental reservoirs and exposure routes of these chemicals. To conduct adequate risk analyses, far more detailed data is needed on quantities produced and used, quantities and location of storage, mode of use, location of use, and period of use. Such data are not collected consistently by government or international agencies.
Foxes and Sex in Late Imperial Chinese Narrative
Authors: Huntington Rania 
Published: July 2002

AbstractThis article explores the nature of sexuality in narratives about shape-changing fox spirits from the Ming and Qing. The concept of an inherently sexual species was refined through associations with sexually marked categories of women, notably prostitutes and dangerous concubines, which work differently in different narrative genres. Although more attention is devoted to sexually disruptive vixens, stories about male foxes with human sexual partners of either gender shed light on gendered ideas of the relationship between will and desire. At the same time as the fox narrative explores the danger of sexuality, concepts of parasitism and self-advancement divert focus away from desire as such.
Hedonism and the Pleasureless Life in Plato's Philebus
Authors: Carone Gabriela Roxana 
Published: July 2002

AbstractThis paper re-evaluates the role that Plato confers to pleasure in the Philebus. According to leading interpretations, Plato there downplays the role of pleasure, or indeed rejects hedonism altogether. Thus, scholars such as D. Frede have taken the "mixed life" of pleasure and intelligence initially submitted in the Philebus to be conceded by Socrates only as a remedial good, second to a life of neutral condition, where one would experience no pleasure and pain. Even more strongly, scholars such as Irwin have seen the Philebus' arguments against false pleasures as an actual attack on hedonism, showing in Irwin's words "why maximization of pleasure cannot be a reasonable policy for the best life." Against these claims, I argue that the mixed life of pleasure and intelligence is presented in the Philebus as a rst best and not just as a second best for humans, and that, accordingly, Socrates proposes to incorporate rather than reject pleasure as one of the intrinsically desirable aspects of the happy life. Thus, I offer alternative readings of controversial passages that have given rise to the prevalent interpretation criticized here, and advance positive evidence that at least some pleasures are seen by Plato as inherently good. In addition, I demonstrate that Plato's arguments against false pleasures do not by themselves constitute an attack on hedonism. Rather, they can be seen as a strategy to show the hedonist that, in order to be a maximal, or even a consistent, hedonist, he should go for true, and not fake pleasures, if after all pleasure is the object of his pursuit. But, since this cannot be achieved without intelligence, then the mixed life of pleasure and intelligence is to be accepted even by hedonist themselves.