bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Correlation between Frequency of Microembolic Signals and Efficacy of Antiplatelet Therapy in Symptomatic Carotid Disease
Authors: Kerasnoudis Antonios , Meves Saskia H. , Gold Ralf , Krogias Christos 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACTBACKGROUND AND PURPOSEThe detection of microembolic signals in transcranial‐Doppler monitoring is associated with a higher stroke risk. We investigated the correlation between the frequency of microembolic signals and the efficacy of the antiplatelet therapy in patients with a recent symptomatic carotid‐artery stenosis.SUBJECTS AND METHODSThirty‐two patients (mean age: 70 years, 22 men) with a recent symptomatic carotid‐artery stenosis underwent 30‐minute TCD‐monitoring. Twenty‐three patients received acetylsalicylic‐acid and 9 patients clopidogrel as antiplatelet‐therapy. At the same day, the antiplatelet effect was measured with multiple‐electrode‐impedance aggregometry.RESULTSIn 20 cases, the qualifying event was a stroke and in 12 cases, a TIA. Twenty‐six of the patients had a >50% degree of stenosis. More than one microembolic signals were detected in 13 (40.6%) of the subjects, while multiple‐electrode‐impedance aggregometry revealed eight low responders (6 acetylsalicylic‐acid, 2 clopidogrel). More than one microembolic signals were detected in 6 of the 8 (75.0%) patients with low response, but in only 7 of the 24 subjects (29.2%) with an effective antiplatelet treatment (sensitivity 75%, specificity 70.8%; Fisher's exact test: P = .038).CONCLUSIONSOur study suggests that in patients with recent symptomatic carotid‐artery stenosis the detection of more than one microembolic signals might serve as a useful marker for the effectiveness of the antiplatelet treatment.
Dynamic Contrast‐Enhanced MRA at 1.5 T for Detection of Arteriovenous Shunting Before and After Onyx Embolization of Cerebral Arteriovenous Malformations
Authors: Nogueira Raul G. , Bayrlee Ahmad , Hirsch Joshua A. , Yoo Albert J. , Copen William A. 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACTBACKGROUNDConventional non‐invasive angiographic techniques for evaluating cerebral Arteriovenous Malformations (cAVMs) after embolization treatment are limited by their inability to acquire time‐resolved images. We describe the use of dynamic contrast‐enhanced magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) in the evaluation of residual arteriovenous shunting in cAVMs following Onyx embolization.METHODSSix subjects who underwent multimodal MR imaging including dynamic MRA after different stages of endovascular treatment with Onyx were included. Each MRA was assessed for the presence of residual arteriovenous shunting. The results were compared with digital subtraction angiography (DSA).RESULTSMean age was 41 years (range, 25–63) and the mean maximum AVM diameter was 5.3 cm (range, 4.7–6.0). Fourteen dynamic MRA were performed using a 1.5 T scanner. Arteriovenous shunting was detected in thirteen of fourteen patients by both dynamic MRA and DSA, with complete agreement between the two techniques. The only MRA without detectable residual arteriovenous shunting was for a subject who had complete treatment with no residual cAVM as confirmed by the DSA images.CONCLUSIONSDynamic contrast‐enhanced MRA is a promising non‐invasive modality in identifying residual arteriovenous shunting after different stages of AVM embolization, achieving 100% agreement in this small study. Embolization with Onyx caused no significant image artifact.
Dolichoectasia Diagnostic Methods in a Multi‐Ethnic, Stroke‐Free Cohort: Results from the Northern Manhattan Study
Authors: Gutierrez Jose , Bagci Ahmet , Gardener Hannah , Rundek Tatjana , Ekind Mitchell S. V. , Alperin Noam , Sacco Ralph L. , Wright Clinton B. 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACTBACKGROUND AND PURPOSEDolichoectasia (DE) is a vasculopathy that consists of abnormal elongation and dilatation of arteries. The objective of this study is to evaluate the frequency of DE in an unselected population and assess different diagnostic methods.METHODSThe Northern Manhattan Study is a multiethnic population based cohort of stroke‐free participants. The definition proposed for DE was total cranial volume (TCV)‐adjusted arterial diameter ≥2 SD. Other methods studied included visual assessment, unadjusted arterial diameters cutoff, Smoker's criteria and basilar artery (BA) volume.RESULTSA total of 718 subjects were included in the analysis (mean age 71.6 ± 8.0 years, 40% men, 61% Hispanic). Using the TCV‐adjusted DE definition, 19% of the sample had at least one dolichoectatic artery. In 7% of the subjects, two or more arteries were affected. The BA was the most common dolichoectatic artery. Reproducibility for arterial diameter measurements was good to excellent (.70–.95), while for visual assessment ranged from fair to good (.49–.79).CONCLUSIONSA TCV‐adjusted intracranial arterial diameter ≥2 SD is proposed as a useful DE definition. The variability in the prevalence of DE depending on the methods used underscores the need to agree on a reliable, universal definition of DE.
Endovascular Embolization by Parent Artery Reconstruction of a Symptomatic Fusiform Posterior Cerebral Artery Aneurysm Using Onyx HD‐500: A Neurointerventional Report
Authors: Bogason Einar T , Patel Akshal S , Cockroft Kevin M 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACTBACKGROUND AND PURPOSEPosterior cerebral artery aneurysms are treatment challenge for the neurosurgeon. Parent artery occlusion, trapping and bypass have been the classic treatment options for aneurysms in this location. With the introduction of newer embolic agents such as Onyx®, endovascular intervention is now a viable therapy for these aneurysms.CASE SUMMARYWe report the case of a 60‐year‐old man who presented with a symptomatic, though unruptured, fusiform left posterior cerebral artery aneurysm. Given the distal location of this dominant sided aneurysm, post‐operative visual deficits and aphasia were a concern if parent vessel occlusion were to be performed. Therefore, an endovascular reconstruction using Onyx HD‐500 and two closed‐cell stents was performed.CONCLUSIONSThis report illustrates the ability of a high‐density liquid embolic agent to provide immediate reconstruction of a fusiform aneurysm in a distal location.
Characteristics of the Residential Neighborhood Environment Differentiate Intimate Partner Femicide in Urban Versus Rural Settings
Authors: Beyer Kirsten M. M. , Layde Peter M. , Hamberger L. Kevin , Laud Purushottam W. 
Published: January 2013

AbstractPurposeA growing body of work examines the association between neighborhood environment and intimate partner violence (IPV). As in the larger literature examining the influence of place context on health, rural settings are understudied and urban and rural residential environments are rarely compared. In addition, despite increased attention to the linkages between neighborhood environment and IPV, few studies have examined the influence of neighborhood context on intimate partner femicide (IPF). In this paper, we examine the role for neighborhood‐level factors in differentiating urban and rural IPFs in Wisconsin, USA.MethodsWe use a combination of Wisconsin Violent Death Reporting System (WVDRS) data and Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence (WCADV) reports from 2004 to 2008, in concert with neighborhood‐level information from the US Census Bureau and US Department of Agriculture, to compare urban and rural IPFs.FindingsRates of IPF vary based on degree of rurality, and bivariate analyses show differences between urban and rural victims in race/ethnicity, marital status, country of birth, and neighborhood characteristics. After controlling for individual characteristics, the nature of the residential neighborhood environment significantly differentiates urban and rural IPFs.ConclusionsOur findings suggest a different role for neighborhood context in affecting intimate violence risk in rural settings, and that different measures may be needed to capture the qualities of rural environments that affect intimate violence risk. Our findings reinforce the argument that multilevel strategies are required to understand and reduce the burden of intimate violence, and that interventions may need to be crafted for specific geographical contexts.
Rural Native Veterans in the Veterans Health Administration: Characteristics and Service Utilization Patterns
Authors: Kaufman Carol E. , Brooks Elizabeth , Kaufmann L. Jeanne , Noe Timothy , Nagamoto Herbert T. , Dailey Nancy , Bair Byron , Shore Jay 
Published: January 2013

AbstractPurposeThe Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Indian Health Service (IHS) signed a Memo of Understanding in 2010 to strengthen their partnership in improving health care services for Native veterans, who are disproportionately rural. This paper describes the demographic and service use profile of rural Native veterans who access VA health care.MethodsData were abstracted from the 2008 Veteran Health Administration (VHA) medical dataset, and the characteristics of rural Native veterans were compared to rural non‐Native veterans.FindingsRural Native veterans were more rural (41% vs 35%) and more highly rural (8% vs 2%) compared to non‐Native veterans. Rural Native veterans were younger, more likely to be female, and earned about the same median income compared to rural non‐Native veterans. Although rural Native veterans had fewer diagnoses on average, they were more likely to have served in combat areas and to have higher levels of service‐connected disability compared to other rural veterans.ConclusionsDemographic and service‐related characteristics of rural Native veterans who accessed VA care differ from those of rural non‐Native veterans. Identifying specific health care and service use characteristics will assist in the development of appropriate policy and programs to serve rural Native veterans.
Resilience: New Utopia or New Tyranny? Reflection about the Potentials and Limits of the Concept of Resilience in Relation to Vulnerability Reduction Programmes
Authors: Béné Christophe , Wood Rachel Godfrey , Newsham Andrew , Davies Mark 
Published: January 2013

SummaryResilience is becoming influential in development and vulnerability reduction sectors such as social protection, disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. Policy makers, donors and international development agencies are now increasingly referring to the term. In that context, the objective of this paper was to assess in a critical manner the advantages and limits of resilience. While the review highlights some positive elements –in particular the ability of the term to foster integrated approach across sectors– it also shows that resilience has important limitations. In particular it is not a pro‐poor concept, and the objective of poverty reduction cannot simply be substituted by resilience building.
The Evolving Composition of Poverty in Middle‐Income Countries: The Case of Indonesia, 1991–2007
Authors: Sumner Andy 
Published: January 2013

SummaryThis paper discusses the evolution of education and health poverty in middle‐income countries using the case of Indonesia. The paper reviews the long‐run empirical research on poverty in Indonesia published over the last decade since the Asian financial crisis. The paper then provides new, long‐run estimates of the evolution of primary education and infant mortality using the Demographic and Health Survey for Indonesia for 1991, 1994, 1997, 2002/3 and 2007, in order to elicit the evolution of the composition of education and health poverty.The intended value‐added of the paper is two‐fold. First, the paper has a longitudinal element: such a comparative study using repeated DHS cross‐sections has not previously been undertaken in published independent scholarly studies for Indonesia with a view to analysing the evolving level and composition of education and health poverty and disparities over the period across these five datasets. Second, the paper contributes to ongoing discussions on non‐income poverty trends in middle‐income countries and Indonesia in particular and debates on non‐income poverty disparities by spatial and social characteristics of the household head.The study of education and health poverty in Indonesia, as a middle‐income country, can provide insights into the evolution of poverty by education and health during economic development in newly middle‐income countries.The Indonesian case suggests that poverty – by the measures used in this paper – may urbanise but remains largely rural in nature, and may increasingly be concentrated in the poorest wealth quintile over time. However, at the same time poverty remains concentrated among those in households with heads with no or incomplete primary education and in households with heads not in work or self‐employed in agriculture.
Who Drives Economic Reform in Vietnam's Provinces?
Authors: Schmitz Hubert , Tuan Dau Anh , Hang Pham Thi Thu , McCulloch Neil 
Published: January 2013

Vietnam keeps surprising the world with the speed and depth of its economic transformation. This research report suggests that the decentralisation of certain economic powers from central to provincial government has contributed to this success. Allowing provinces to find their own way forward was central to Vietnam's progress in institutional and economic development. Decentralisation brought about a number of inefficiencies, but these are outweighed by the gains resulting from policy experimentation at the provincial level.The main question of the report is who drives the economic reform process in the provinces, exploring the role of business and government and alliances between the two. This is a difficult undertaking because it involves dipping into sensitive issues of state‐business relations and because there are enormous variations between provinces and over time. Key to the feasibility of this project was the collaboration of IDS with the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI). VCCI is an influential organisation with strong connections to business, government and the Communist Party. These connections are essential for access to political and business leaders and for understanding the economic reform process from private and public perspectives.Provincial government is by necessity involved in the economic reform process, but who is actually driving it? The research shows that in those provinces which are making most progress in economic reform, the private sector played an important role. Not against government but with government. There was no formal public‐private coalition but the dynamic was one of proactive government seeking the input from the private sector, and the latter lobbying for and contributing to responsive and effective government. Both national and foreign enterprises played a role but small enterprises tended to be marginalised from the process. Some of the best insights come from comparing provinces and observing how different alignments of interest influenced the reform process.
Osteocalcin is associated with testosterone in the general population and selected patients with bone disorders
Authors: Hannemann A. , Breer S. , Wallaschofski H. , Nauck M. , Baumeister S. E. , Barvencik F. , Amling M. , Schinke T. , Haring R. , Keller J. 
Published: January 2013

SummaryResearch in the last decade has revealed that bone is not only a target tissue for numerous circulating hormones but functions as an endocrine organ itself. As a recent study demonstrated a stimulatory effect of the osteoblast‐derived hormone osteocalcin (OCN) on testosterone production in mice, we investigated whether such an association can be replicated in humans. We used data from 1338 men (25–86 years) in the population‐based epidemiological Study of Health in Pomerania and from 110 male outpatients with bone disorders (18–85 years) for the study. We analysed cross‐sectional associations between OCN and total testosterone serum concentrations (TT), as well as associations between further markers of bone turnover [bone‐specific alkaline phosphatase (BAP), serum C‐terminal telopeptides of Type I collagen (CTX), urinary deoxypyridinoline] and TT using ordinary least square (OLS) regression models. Multivariable OLS models revealed a positive association between OCN and TT in the population‐based (β coefficients for a one standard deviation increase, 0.590; standard error (SE), 0.175; p‐value, <0.01) and patient‐based (β coefficient, 0.575; SE, 0.132; p‐value, <0.01) samples even after adjustment for age and body mass index (both samples), and time of blood sampling (population‐based sample only). Furthermore, we observed positive associations between BAP and TT (β coefficient, 0.403; SE, 0.170; p‐value, 0.02) as well as between CTX and TT (β coefficient, 0.733; SE, 0.172; p‐value, <0.01) in men from the general population. The present investigation shows that OCN is associated with TT in the general population and in patients with bone disorders, and may thus indicate general male health status. Additional longitudinal observational studies are warranted to confirm our findings and future experimental research is necessary to elucidate potential mechanisms underlying the observed associations.
Genome‐wide identification of Sox8‐, and Sox9‐dependent genes during early post‐natal testis development in the mouse
Authors: Chalmel F. , Lardenois A. , Georg I. , Barrionuevo F. , Demougin P. , Jégou B. , Scherer G. , Primig M. 
Published: January 2013

SummaryThe SOX8 and SOX9 transcription factors are involved in, among others, sex differentiation, male gonad development and adult maintenance of spermatogenesis. Sox8−/− mice lacking Sox9 in Sertoli cells fail to form testis cords and cannot establish spermatogenesis. Although genetic and histological data show an important role for these transcription factors in regulating spermatogenesis, it is not clear which genes depend upon them at a genome‐wide level. To identify transcripts that respond to the absence of Sox8 in all cells and Sox9 in Sertoli cells we measured mRNA concentrations in testicular samples from mice at 0, 6 and 18 days post‐partum. In total, 621 and 629 transcripts were found at decreased or increased levels, respectively, at different time points in the mutant as compared to the control samples. These mRNAs were categorized as preferentially expressed in Sertoli cells or germ cells using data obtained with male and female gonad samples and enriched testicular cell populations. Five candidate genes were validated at the protein level. Furthermore, we identified putative direct SOX8 and SOX9 target genes by integrating predicted SOX‐binding sites present in potential regulatory regions upstream of the transcription start site. Finally, we used protein network data to gain insight into the effects on regulatory interactions that occur when Sox8 and Sox9 are absent in developing Sertoli cells. The integration of testicular samples with enriched Sertoli cells, germ cells and female gonads enabled us to broadly distinguish transcripts directly affected in Sertoli cells from others that respond to secondary events in testicular cell types. Thus, combined RNA profiling signals, motif predictions and network data identified putative SOX8/SOX9 target genes in Sertoli cells and yielded insight into regulatory interactions that depend upon these transcription factors. In addition, our results will facilitate the interpretation of genome‐wide in vivo SOX8 and SOX9 DNA binding data.
Implementing the 4D cycle of appreciative inquiry in health care: a methodological review
Authors: Trajkovski Suza , Schmied Virginia , Vickers Margaret , Jackson Debra 
Published: January 2013

AbstractAimTo examine and critique how the phases of the 4D cycle (Discovery, Dream, Design, and Destiny) of appreciative inquiry are implemented in a healthcare context.BackgroundAppreciative inquiry is a theoretical research perspective, an emerging research methodology and a world view that builds on action research, organizational learning, and organizational change. Increasing numbers of articles published provide insights and learning into its theoretical and philosophical underpinnings. Many articles describe appreciative inquiry and the outcomes of their studies; however, there is a gap in the literature examining the approaches commonly used to implement the 4D cycle in a healthcare context.DesignA methodological review following systematic principles.Data sourcesA methodological review was conducted including articles from the inception of appreciative inquiry in 1986 to the time of writing this review in November, 2011. Key database searches included CINAHL, Emerald, MEDLINE, PubMed, PsycINFO, and Scopus.Review methodsA methodological review following systematic principles was undertaken. Studies were included if they described in detail the methods used to implement the 4D cycle of appreciative inquiry in a healthcare context.ResultsNine qualitative studies met the inclusion criteria. Results highlighted that appreciative inquiry application is unique and varied between studies. The 4D phases were not rigid steps and were adapted to the setting and participants.ConclusionOverall, participant enthusiasm and commitment were highlighted suggesting appreciative inquiry was mostly positively perceived by participants. Appreciative inquiry provides a positive way forward shifting from problems to solutions offering a new way of practicing in health care and health research.
Ultrastructure and Molecular Phylogenetic Position of Heteronema scaphurum: A Eukaryovorous Euglenid with a Cytoproct
Authors: Breglia Susana A. , Yubuki Naoji , Leander Brian S. 
Published: January 2013

AbstractEuglenids comprise a distinct clade of flagellates with diverse modes of nutrition, including phagotrophy, osmotrophy and phototrophy. Much of the previous research on euglenids has focused on phototrophic species because of their ecological abundance and significance as indicators for the health of aquatic ecosystems. Although largely understudied, phagotrophic species probably represent the majority of euglenid diversity. Phagotrophic euglenids tend to be either bacterivorous or eukaryovorous and use an elaborate feeding apparatus for capturing prey cells. We characterized the ultrastructure and molecular phylogenetic position of Heteronema scaphurum, a eukaryovorous euglenid collected in freshwater. This species was equipped with a distinct cytoproct through which waste products were eliminated in the form of faecal pellets; a cytoproct has not been reported in any other member of the Euglenida. Heteronema scaphurum also had a novel predatory mode of feeding. The euglenid ensnared and corralled several green algal prey cells (i.e. Chlamydomonas) with hook‐like flagella covered in mucous before engulfing the bundle of prey cells whole. Molecular phylogenetic analyses inferred from small subunit rDNA sequences placed this species with other eukaryovorous euglenids, which was consistent with ultrastructural features associated with the feeding apparatus, flagellar apparatus, extrusomes, and pellicle.