bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of the new generation dual-lumen catheter for neonatal ECMO
Authors: Said MM , Rivera O , Mikesell GT , Rais-Bahrami K 
Published: August 2012

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to compare the newly designed dual-lumen venovenous catheter (VR13, OriGen Biomedical, Austin, TX) with the current dual-lumen catheter (VV12, OriGen Biomedical). Methods: Five newborn lambs, 1 to 5 days old and weighing 4.2 ± 0.5 kg, were cannulated with the VV13 OriGen catheter and placed on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). ECMO flows were increased from 200 to 600 ml/min, with measurements taken after the changes. The experiment was then repeated using the VV12 catheter. Results: Recirculation values were equal for both catheters. The pressure drop at the reinfusion port was equal for both catheters at 200 ml/min, increasing to 275 mmHg at 500 ml/min for the VR13 vs. 240 mmHg for the VV12 catheter. Conclusion: These findings indicate that the VR13 catheter resulted in levels of recirculation equal to the VV12. Based on resistance measurements, we do not recommend the use of this new catheter beyond 400 ml/min until minor design changes are made.
Neurocognitive effects in welders exposed to aluminium
Authors: Giorgianni Concetto Mario , D’Arrigo Graziella , Brecciaroli Renato , Abbate Adriana , Spatari Giovanna , Tringali Maria Antonietta , Gangemi Silvia , Luca Annamaria De 
Published: August 2012

Objectives: Various authors who studied the effects of aluminium (Al) exposure on the neurocognitive system in the last 30 years have reached different and often contradictory conclusions. The aim of this study is to help clarify the effects that the metal causes on cognitive ability in a group of naval welders exposed to Al. Methods: The study was performed on a sample of 86 male Al welders in a shipyard in Messina. The average value of environmental Al, recorded in the workplace, was 19.5 mg/m3. The blood levels of Al, zinc, manganese, lead and chromium were monitored in all the subjects. The reagents used for the neuropsychic study were the Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS), the Colour Word Test or Stroop Test and the Test of Attention Matrixes. The results were compared with those obtained in a similar control group not exposed to Al and with an Al-b value of 6.93 g/l. Results: For all the mental reagents used, the reply is obtained in the sample of exposed subjects showed decreased cognitive response with regard to attention and memory performance. The comparison between the individual tests showed greater sensitivity of performance studied using the WMS and the Stroop Test compared with the Test of Attention Matrixes. The alterations encountered in the cognitive functions studied increased proportionally to time of exposure and quantity of metal absorbed. Conclusion: The study confirmed that occupational exposure to Al causes alteration in cognitive responses that are more evident in complex functions.
Infrastructure’s and Housing’s Development in the Rural Areas in Poland—Some Problems
Authors: Szymańska Daniela , Biegańska Jadwiga 
Published: August 2012

The article refers to an analysis and an evaluation of changes in the technical infrastructure and housing in the rural areas of Poland in the years 1995–2008. The article covers all rural and rural–urban (excluding urban parts) gminas1 in Poland that altogether amounts to 2,172 units (as of 2008). It was stated that in the rural areas in Poland a population density increased and it is caused mainly by dynamic suburbanisation processes and by a population movement from cities and towns towards suburban gminas, and in a lesser degree by natural increase. In the article the spatial variations of rural gminas were presented in the following elements: length of the water-line and sewerage networks per 100 km2; share of water-line and of sewerage systems’ users, number of dwellings per 1,000 population, number of rooms per person, the usable floor space of a dwelling in m2 per person, share of dwellings fitted with water-line system and share of dwellings equipped with flush toilet and bathroom. It is also shown that there are relationships between population density and infrastructure and housing elements by providing positive as well as negative correlations. JEL Classification: R11
Rural Housing and Risks for Children’s and Women’s Health: Estimates for Rajasthan State, India
Authors: Katrak Homi 
Published: August 2012

This article is concerned with the prevalence of unhealthy housing (UH) in the rural areas of the state of Rajasthan, India. UH is defined to be the houses that are made with non-permanent materials and those that lack a supply of clean water and proper sanitation. Habitation in such houses poses a health risk, particularly for children and women. The Indian government has initiated various programmes to increase the provision of healthy housing for low-income rural families. However, the progress of these programmes has so far been constrained by the limited availability of resources. The prevalence of UH is measured here as the percentage of families that live in such houses. We test whether this prevalence and the associated risks to children’s and women’s health are significantly higher in the rural areas than in the urban areas. Our main finding is that the prevalence of UH is at least five times higher in the rural area than in the urban area. Moreover, this difference is much greater than that for some indicators of health care and household poverty. JEL Classification: R—Urban, Rural and Regional Economics, R-31—Housing Supply and Markets
Efficiency of the Information and Technology Sector of India and Its Relevance to Indian Economic Growth
Authors: Sahoo Dukhabandhu 
Published: August 2012

This article investigates the contribution of the service sector, especially the information and communication services to Indian Economic growth using a growth accounting analysis and data from the CMIE database. The results suggest that the mean Pure Technical Efficiency (PTE) score was about 0.6, indicating thereby that companies are 40 per cent pure technical inefficient. Pure technical inefficiency in the Indian software industry may be attributed to the poor infrastructure, mainly power supply. Infrastructure bottlenecks and frequent power cut lead to delays and productivity loss in the silicon city of India, that is, Bengaluru. Percentage of efficient companies in terms of PTE scores was lowest in the year 2003–04 (20.83 per cent) and highest in the year 2005–06 (40.28 per cent). Percentage of efficient companies in PTE score followed a cyclical pattern as well. Indian software companies are becoming more scale inefficient over the years. It was observed that the private Indian (PI) companies have relatively high Overall Technical Efficiency (OTE) score as compared to private foreign (PF) and group-owned companies, which may be due to external environmental factors that have a bearing on OTE of the companies. JEL Classification: O52, J24, L80, L84
Creating or awakening national pride through sporting success: A longitudinal study on macro effects in the Netherlands
Authors: Elling Agnes , Van Hilvoorde Ivo , Van Den Dool Remko 
Published: August 2012

Like many other countries, the Dutch government increased investments in elite sports in the last decennium, partly driven by the ambition to organise the Olympic Games in 2028 in the Netherlands. One of the most important legitimations for this ambition is that elite sports events and national achievements should foster national pride, social cohesion and international prestige. In this article we present and discuss the results of a study on the relationship between Dutch international sport achievements and the development of national pride. The outcome is based on 27 longitudinal measurements among the adult Dutch population in the years 2008–2010 in which European and world Championships men’s soccer and a summer and winter Olympic Games took place. The results support the common belief that international sporting success of Dutch athletes contributes to the testimony and expression of national pride and belonging. However, the extent to which national pride can be increased by national sporting success seems to be rather limited. The data show that national performances in international sport events may lead to small, short-term eruptions in feelings of national sporting pride and well-being, especially among athletes, men and non-immigrants. However, the results indicate that national pride is a rather stable characteristic of national identification that cannot easily be increased by improving national sporting success and winning more Olympic medals.
Isoprostanes in clinically isolated syndrome and early multiple sclerosis as biomarkers of tissue damage and predictors of clinical course
Authors: Sbardella Emilia , Greco Anita , Stromillo Maria L , Prosperini Luca , Puopolo Maria , Cefaro Luca Ausili , Pantano Patrizia , De Stefano Nicola , Minghetti Luisa , Pozzilli Carlo 
Published: August 2012

Background: Isoprostanes (IsoP) are sensitive biomarkers of oxidative stress. Their cerebrospinal-fluid (CSF) level is increased in several neurological conditions, including multiple sclerosis (MS). In particular, in relapsing–remitting MS, IsoP have been proposed as an index of neurodegenerative processes. The mechanisms leading to neuroaxonal damage in MS are not fully understood but oxidative mechanisms play a substantial role. Although axonal loss is present in MS patients since their first clinical symptoms, IsoP levels at this early stage have not been evaluated yet. Objectives: The objectives of this study were (a) to assess IsoP levels in CSF of patients with a first clinical attack suggestive of MS; (b) to correlate IsoP levels with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures of brain damage and (c) to assess IsoP value in predicting disease clinical evolution. Methods: Thirty-nine patients with a first clinical attack suggestive of MS underwent neurological examination, lumbar puncture with IsoP levels quantification and conventional/spectroscopic-MRI. Patients were followed up for 24 months. Results: CSF IsoP levels were higher in patients than controls (mean±standard deviation (SD) 123.4±185.8 vs 4.5±2.9 pg/ml; p<0.0001) and inversely correlated to normalized brain volume ( p=0.04) and N-acetylaspartate/choline (NAA/Cho) ( p=0.01). The risk of experiencing clinical relapses differed according to IsoP level: subjects with levels higher than 95 pg/ml (a cut-off value resulting from ROC analysis) were more likely to relapse than patients with levels equal or lower than 95 pg/ml (59% vs 27% respectively; p=0.03). Conclusions: CSF IsoP might be useful biomarkers of tissue damage in MS with a predictive value of disease course.
Time to first relapse as an endpoint in multiple sclerosis clinical trials
Authors: Sormani MP , Signori A , Siri P , De Stefano N 
Published: August 2012

Background: The increasing number of effective therapies to treat multiple sclerosis (MS) raises ethical concerns for the use of placebo in clinical trials, suggesting that new clinical trial design strategies are needed. Objectives: To evaluate time to first relapse as an endpoint for MS clinical trials. Methods: A recently-developed model fitting the distribution of time to first relapse in MS was used for simulations estimating the sample sizes of trials using this as an outcome, and for comparison with the size of trials using the annualized relapse rate (ARR) as the primary outcome. Results: Trials based on time to first relapse were feasible, requiring sample sizes that were similar or even smaller than if the study was based on ARR instead. In the case of low ARR (0.4 relapses/year), as is expected in future trials, the 1-year trials designed to detect a treatment effect of 30%, with 90% power, require fewer patients when based on time to first relapse (470 patients/arm) than if based on ARR (540 patients/arm). Conclusions: Our simulations show that time to first relapse is not less powerful than ARR in MS trials; thus, this measure would be a potentially useful primary outcome offering the advantage of an ethically sound design, as the patients randomized to placebo can then switch to the active drug, once they relapse. A potential drawback is the loss of information for other endpoints collected at fixed time points.
CSF neurofilament and N-acetylaspartate related brain changes in clinically isolated syndrome
Authors: Khalil M , Enzinger C , Langkammer C , Ropele S , Mader A , Trentini A , Vane MLG , Wallner-Blazek M , Bachmaier G , Archelos J-J , Koel-Simmelink MJA , Blankenstein MA , Fuchs S , Fazekas F , Teunissen CE 
Published: August 2012

Background: Axonal damage is considered a major cause of disability in multiple sclerosis (MS) and may start early in the disease. Specific biomarkers for this process are of great interest. Objective: To study if cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers for axonal damage reflect and predict disease progression already in the earliest stages of the disease, that is, in clinically isolated syndrome (CIS). Methods: We assessed CSF levels of neurofilament heavy (NFH), neurofilament light (NFL) and N-acetylaspartate (NAA) in 67 patients with CIS and 18 controls with neuropsychiatric diseases of non-inflammatory aetiology (NC). Patients with CIS underwent baseline magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at 3T, and a follow-up MRI after 1 year was obtained in 28 of them. Results: Compared with NC, patients with CIS had higher NFH ( p=0.05) and NFL ( p<0.001) levels. No significant group differences were found for NAA. Patients’ NFH levels correlated with physical disability ( r=0.304, p<0.05) and with change in brain volume over 1 year of follow-up ( r=-0.518, p<0.01) but not with change in T2 lesion load. Conclusion: Our results confirm increased neurofilament levels already in CIS being related to the level of physical disability. The association of NFH levels with brain volume but not lesion volume changes supports the association of these markers with axonal damage.
Introducing a New Paradigm for 21st-Century HRD
Authors: Storberg-Walker Julia 
Published: August 2012

The Problem Workforce development is a pressing challenge in today’s society, yet the discipline of HRD is not contributing toward research or practice solutions. This gap is a product of current paradigm undergirding HRD—the paradigm implicitly favors nonworkforce development issues, problems, and challenges. The Solution The article calls for a paradigm shift in HRD to focus the work of the discipline on enhancing the public good through workforce development. The article provides an in-depth description of how paradigms can change in the social sciences, so that stakeholders (HRD researchers and practitioners) can take intentional actions to facilitate and nurture the change. Finally, the article provides specific research and practice suggestions for expanding HRD’s role in the workforce development domain. The Stakeholders HRD researchers and practitioners; employees and employers.
Utilizing the integrated difference of two survival functions to quantify the treatment contrast for designing, monitoring, and analyzing a comparative clinical study
Authors: Zhao Lihui , Tian Lu , Uno Hajime , Solomon Scott D , Pfeffer Marc A , Schindler Jerald S , Wei Lee Jen 
Published: August 2012

Background Consider a comparative, randomized clinical study with a specific event time as the primary end point. In the presence of censoring, standard methods of summarizing the treatment difference are based on Kaplan–Meier curves, the logrank test, and the point and interval estimates via Cox’s procedure. Moreover, for designing and monitoring the study, one usually utilizes an event-driven scheme to determine the sample sizes and interim analysis time points. Purpose When the proportional hazards (PHs) assumption is violated, the logrank test may not have sufficient power to detect the difference between two event time distributions. The resulting hazard ratio estimate is difficult, if not impossible, to interpret as a treatment contrast. When the event rates are low, the corresponding interval estimate for the ‘hazard ratio’ can be quite large due to the fact that the interval length depends on the observed numbers of events. This may indicate that there is not enough information for making inferences about the treatment comparison even when there is no difference between two groups. This situation is quite common for a postmarketing safety study. We need an alternative way to quantify the group difference. Methods Instead of quantifying the treatment group difference using the hazard ratio, we consider an easily interpretable and model-free parameter, the integrated survival rate difference over a prespecified time interval, as an alternative. We present the inference procedures for such a treatment contrast. This approach is purely nonparametric and does not need any model assumption such as the PHs. Moreover, when we deal with equivalence or noninferiority studies and the event rates are low, our procedure would provide more information about the treatment difference. We used a cardiovascular trial data set to illustrate our approach. Results The results using the integrated event rate differences have a heuristic interpretation for the treatment difference even when the PHs assumption is not valid. When the event rates are low, for example, for the cardiovascular study discussed in this article, the procedure for the integrated event rate difference provides tight interval estimates in contrast to those based on the event-driven inference method. Limitations The design of a trial with the integrated event rate difference may be more complicated than that using the event-driven procedure. One may use simulation to determine the sample size and the estimated duration of the study. Conclusions The procedure discussed in this article can be a useful alternative to the standard PHs method in the survival analysis.
A randomized trial of dasatinib 100 mg versus imatinib 400 mg in newly diagnosed chronic-phase chronic myeloid leukemia
Authors: Radich Jerald P. , Kopecky Kenneth J. , Appelbaum Frederick R. , Kamel-Reid Suzanne , Stock Wendy , Malnassy Greg , Paietta Elisabeth , Wadleigh Martha , Larson Richard A. , Emanuel Peter , Tallman Martin , Lipton Jeff , Turner A. Robert , Deininger Michael , Druker Brian J. 
Published: August 2012

Abstract
Tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy with imatinib (IM), dasatinib (DAS), or nilotinib is very effective in chronic-phase chronic myeloid leukemia. Two hundred fifty-three patients with newly diagnosed chronic-phase chronic myeloid leukemia were randomized to IM 400 mg/day or DAS 100 mg/day. The proportion of patients achieving a complete cytogenetic remission rate was superior with DAS (84% vs 69%), as was the 12-month molecular response by the proportions of patients achieving > 3-log, > 4-log, and > 4.5-log reduction in BCR-ABL transcript levels. Overall and progression-free survival was similar in the 2 arms. Among patients who achieved hematologic CR, 3-year relapse-free survival was 91% with DAS and 88% with IM 400 mg. Grade 3 and 4 toxicities were most commonly hematologic, including thrombocytopenia in 18% and 8% of DAS and IM patients, respectively. DAS induced more complete cytogenetic response and deeper molecular responses after 12 months, compared with IM 400 mg, and with a median follow-up of 3.0 years there have been very few deaths, relapses, or progressions in the 2 arms. In summary, DAS compared with IM appeared to have more short-term cytogenetic and molecular response, more hematologic toxicity, and similar overall survival. This trial is registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00070499.
Erythrocyte density in sickle cell syndromes is associated with specific clinical manifestations and hemolysis
Authors: Bartolucci Pablo , Brugnara Carlo , Teixeira-Pinto Armando , Pissard Serge , Moradkhani Kamran , Jouault Hélène , Galacteros Frederic 
Published: August 2012

Abstract
Dense, dehydrated red blood cells (DRBCs) are a characteristic feature of sickle-cell disease (SCD). DRBCs play a role in the pathophysiology of SCD acute and chronic organ damage because of heightened tendency to undergo polymerization and sickling because of their higher hemoglobin S concentration. Relations between red cell density (assessed with phthalate density-distribution profile method) and several hematologic, biochemical, genetic parameters, and clinical manifestations were studied in a large cohort of homozygous patients. The percentage of DRBCs was significantly higher in patients who experienced skin ulcers, priapism, or renal dysfunction. Presence of α-thalassemia deletions was associated with fewer DRBCs. A multivariable analysis model showed DRBCs to be positively associated with hemolytic parameters such as lactate dehydrogenase and bilirubin and negatively with fetal hemoglobin. The percentage of DRBCs decreased by 34% at 6 months of hydroxycarbamide (xydroxyurea) therapy. Thus, DRBCs are associated with specific clinical manifestations and biologic markers and may be a useful addition to the biologic and clinical evaluation of patients with SCD, because they can easily be measured in a hematocrit tube.
Exhaled volatile organic compounds for phenotyping chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a cross-sectional study
Authors: Basanta Maria , Ibrahim Baharudin , Dockry Rachel , Douce David , Morris Mike , Singh Dave , Woodcock Ashley , Fowler Stephen J 
Published: August 2012

Abstract

Background
Non-invasive phenotyping of chronic respiratory diseases would be highly beneficial in the personalised medicine of the future. Volatile organic compounds can be measured in the exhaled breath and may be produced or altered by disease processes. We investigated whether distinct patterns of these compounds were present in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and clinically relevant disease phenotypes.

Methods
Breath samples from 39 COPD subjects and 32 healthy controls were collected and analysed using gas chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Subjects with COPD also underwent sputum induction. Discriminatory compounds were identified by univariate logistic regression followed by multivariate analysis: 1. principal component analysis; 2. multivariate logistic regression; 3. receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis.

Results
Comparing COPD versus healthy controls, principal component analysis clustered the 20 best-discriminating compounds into four components explaining 71% of the variance. Multivariate logistic regression constructed an optimised model using two components with an accuracy of 69%. The model had 85% sensitivity, 50% specificity and ROC area under the curve of 0.74. Analysis of COPD subgroups showed the method could classify COPD subjects with far greater accuracy. Models were constructed which classified subjects with ≥2% sputum eosinophilia with ROC area under the curve of 0.94 and those having frequent exacerbations 0.95. Potential biomarkers correlated to clinical variables were identified in each subgroup.

Conclusion
The exhaled breath volatile organic compound profile discriminated between COPD and healthy controls and identified clinically relevant COPD subgroups. If these findings are validated in prospective cohorts, they may have diagnostic and management value in this disease.