bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Needle‐knife fistulotomy in patients with periampullary diverticula and difficult bile duct cannulation
Authors: Park Chung Su , Park Chang Hwan , Koh Han Ra , Jun Chung Hwan , Ki Ho Seok , Park Seon Young , Kim Hyun Soo , Choi Sung Kyu , Rew Jong Sun 
Published: June 2012

AbstractBackground and Aim:  Needle‐knife fistulotomy has commonly been used for overcoming difficult bile duct cannulation. Periampullary diverticula (PAD) can be an impediment to endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) procedures. There are little data on needle‐knife fistulotomy in patients with PAD. We evaluated the efficacy and safety of needle‐knife fistulotomy between patients with and without PAD.Methods:  Data from December 2005 to October 2010 were reviewed. Patients who underwent needle‐knife fistulotomy were divided into the group with PAD and the group without PAD (control group). The technical success and complications were compared.Results:  A total of 3012 ERCP cases were analyzed. Needle‐knife fistulotomy was performed in 154 out of 3012 cases (5.1%) with 138 of these patients (89.6%) experiencing successful bile duct cannulation. The overall cannulation success rate was not significantly different between PAD group (n = 33) and control group (n = 121) (93.9% vs 88.4%; P = 0.523). There was no significant difference in pancreatitis, bleeding and perforation between the two groups.Conclusions:  Needle‐knife fistulotomy can be performed effectively and safely in patients with periampullary diverticula and difficult bile duct cannulation.
The new clinical leader
Authors: Oates Kim 
Published: June 2012

AbstractThe complexity and cost of health care, along with a greater need for accountability calls for a new style of clinical leadership. The new clinical leader will lead reform by putting the needs of the patient first and foremost, looking at current and planned services from the patient's point of view as well as the clinician's. Excellent clinical skills will remain essential but will be supplemented by a focus on team work and mentoring, patient safety, clear communication and reduction in waste and inefficiency, leading to better financial outcomes. The new clinical leaders will understand the importance of consulting widely and engaging colleagues in creating change to improve patient care. They will develop trusting and mutually respectful relationships with health service management and be able to negotiate the delicate balance between clinical judgement, resource constraints and personal loyalties by keeping the best outcome for the patient at the forefront of their thinking.
Modelling approach for characterizing thermal stratification and assessing water quality for a large tropical reservoir
Authors: Rangel‐Peraza J. G. , Obregon O. , Nelson J. , Williams G. P. , de Anda J. , González‐Farías F. , Miller J. 
Published: June 2012

AbstractThe dynamics of water temperature, dissolved oxygen and total dissolved solids concentrations in Aguamilpa Reservoir was analysed by considering horizontal and water column variations. The reservoir model, CE‐QUAL‐W2, was used to simulate the temporal variations calibrated with data gathered every 2 months from June 2008 to June 2009. Temperature depth profiles indicated a typical asymmetry of reservoirs exhibiting a large stratification in the lower part near the dam. Dissolved oxygen concentration profiles exhibited some degree of anoxia in the bottom water during the rainy season (May through October). This is most likely due to decomposition vegetation and organic matter via soil erosion and run‐off from the basin accumulating at the bottom of the reservoir. The reservoir stratification is clearly seasonal, occurring during the rainy season, especially in the lowest reservoir zones. The CE‐QUAL‐W2 model results provided a comprehensive understanding of the temporal behaviour of the study variables during the modelling study period. Application of this water quality model is directed to water resource managers to help them better understand the dynamics of physico‐chemical processes, and how they vary temporally and spatially in the reservoir, and to propose the best management practices for preserving or improving the water quality of the system.
Cardiac high‐sensitivity troponin T measurement: A layer of complexity in managing haemodialysis patients
Authors: PIANTA TIMOTHY J , HORVATH ANDREA R , ELLIS VIVIENNE M , LEONETTI RINA , MOFFAT CHRISTINE , JOSLAND ELIZABETH A , BROWN MARK A 
Published: June 2012

ABSTRACT:Aim:  To determine: (i) the proportion of stable asymptomatic haemodialysis patients with elevated troponin; (ii) stability of troponin values after dialysis and over a 2‐week interval; and (iii) whether high‐sensitivity troponin T (hsTnT) was associated with higher prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors or cardiovascular disease in these patients.Methods:  We measured hsTnT and the fourth generation troponin I before and after dialysis in 103 stable in‐centre haemodialysis patients without ischaemic symptoms. Patients were divided into quartiles to test for associations with established cardiovascular risk factors or disease.Results:  hsTnT was above the 99th percentile for the general population in 99% of haemodialysis patients compared with only 13% elevation for the troponin I assay (P < 0.001). Median pre‐dialysis hsTnT concentrations were unchanged after a 2‐week interval (69 vs 69 ng/L, P = 0.55) but fell slightly immediately following dialysis (69 vs 61 ng/L, P < 0.001). Established coronary artery disease (59% vs 22%), peripheral vascular disease (38% vs 4%) and diabetes (18% vs 7%) were more prevalent (P < 0.05) in those in the highest quartile for hsTnT compared with those in the lowest quartile.Conclusion:  Almost all in‐centre haemodialysis patients have elevated troponin T in their baseline stable state and this appears unchanged over a 2‐week interval. Such a high rate of baseline elevation of hsTnT may lead to confusion in managing acute coronary syndrome in this group of patients, particularly when symptoms are atypical. We recommend that if Troponin I assay is unavailable then baseline hsTnT concentrations are measured periodically in all haemodialysis patients.
Acute abdomen due to ovarian congestion: A fallopian tube accompanied by a paratubal cyst, coiling tightly round the ovary
Authors: Kaido Yoshitaka , Kikuchi Akihiko , Kanasugi Tomonobu , Fukushima Akimune , Sugiyama Toru 
Published: June 2012

AbstractWe experienced an unreported rare case with an adnexal mass causing severe acute abdomen during pregnancy. A 30‐year‐old Japanese pregnant woman was transported to our hospital for her right lower abdominal pain at 30 weeks of gestation. Magnetic resonance imaging and ultrasound demonstrated a cyst measuring 3–4 cm in diameter adjacent to the right ovary, and a parovarian cyst was considered to be the most probable diagnosis. We strongly suspected torsion of the ovarian pedicle or fallopian tube in conjunction with her clinical symptoms. Laparotomy revealed that the elongated right fallopian tube accompanied by a paratubal cyst was coiling tightly 2.5 times round the right ovary, causing apparent congestion and enlargement of the right ovary. Soon after we released the congested right ovary from the coiling of the fallopian tube, the congestion subsided. The postoperative course was favorable, and pregnancy and delivery were uneventful.
Predicting neonatal weight of more than 4000 g using fetal abdominal circumference measurement by ultrasound at 38–40 weeks of pregnancy: A study in Iran
Authors: Dadkhah Farideh , Kashanian Maryam , Bonyad Zahra , Larijani Tahereh 
Published: June 2012

AbstractAim:  To evaluate the value of fetal abdominal circumference (AC) measurement in pregnancies at 38–40 weeks of gestation and within 7 days of delivery to predict macrosomia.Material and Methods:  A prospective cohort study was performed on 276 pregnant women who were admitted to the labor ward with gestational age between 38–40 weeks. In all eligible women an ultrasonographic measurement of AC was performed. The women were then monitored up to delivery. All neonatal weights were recorded. The ACs were then evaluated for babies with a neonatal weight of more than 4000 g and babies with a neonatal weight of more than the 90th percentile for gestational age.Results:  Sixty‐six neonates had a neonatal weight of more than 4000 g and 11 neonates had a birth weight of more than 4500 g. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) for AC of more than 35 cm to predict a birth weight of more than 4000 g, were 97%, 54.5%, 40.3% and 98.3%, respectively, and of these 87.9%, 77.6%, 55.2% and 95.3% for AC of more than 36 cm.Percentages were 97.3%, 56.9%, 45.3% and 98.3%, for a birth weight of more than the 90th percentile for gestational age for AC of more than 35 cm, and 87.8%, 80.2%, 61.9% and 94.7% for AC of more than 36 cm for prediction of birth weight of more than the 90th percentile for gestational age.Conclusion:  AC measurement at 38–40 weeks of gestation is a suitable index for estimating macrosomia.
Brain metastasis in patients with uterine cervical cancer
Authors: Hwang Jong Ha , Yoo Heon Jong , Lim Myong Cheol , Seo Sang‐Soo , Kang Sokbom , Kim Joo‐Young , Park Sang‐Yoon 
Published: June 2012

AbstractAim:  The purpose of this study was to describe the features of patients with brain metastasis from cervical cancer.Material and Methods:  The medical records of patients with cervical cancer between February 2001 and June 2011 were reviewed retrospectively. Clinical characteristics, symptoms, treatment and survival in patients with brain metastasis were analyzed.Results:  Eleven patients with brain metastasis from cervical cancer were identified, representing an incidence of brain metastasis in the study population of 0.45%. Median patient age at initial diagnosis of cervical cancer was 50 years (range 33–75 years). Non‐squamous cell carcinoma was diagnosed in six (54.5%) of the 11 patients, with small cell carcinoma diagnosed in two patients. Ten of the 11 patients had lung‐related metastasis at presentation; eight patients had lung metastasis, one had mediastinal lymph node metastasis, and one had pleural metastasis. The median interval from diagnosis of cervical cancer to identification of brain metastasis was 15.4 months (range 3.4–83.3 months). Nine patients presented with neurologic symptoms, such as headache, nausea, vomiting, seizure and extremity weakness. Initially, six patients received whole brain radiotherapy: three patients received chemotherapy; one underwent surgery; and one patient refused treatment. The median survival time after diagnosis of the brain metastases was 5.9 months (range 0.7–19 months).Conclusion:  The prognosis after diagnosis of the brain metastasis in patients with uterine cervical cancer is poor. The small cell type and lung metastasis seem to be related with brain metastasis and may be regarded as risk factors.
Limit load analyses of helical coiled steam generator tubes with a volumetric flaw
Authors: SEO H.‐B. , RYU T.‐Y. , KIM Y.‐J. , CHANG Y.‐S. , KIM J.‐W. , KIM T.‐W. 
Published: June 2012

ABSTRACTMaintaining structural integrity of piping has always been an important effort in the nuclear power industry. To resolve piping issues such as unanticipated failures caused by diverse planar and volumetric flaws, several guidelines were developed and used especially for assessment of steam generator tubes. However, because the major components of new reactors have dissimilar geometric features and loading conditions compared with those of conventional operating reactors, most of existing assessment methods are not expected to be applicable; therefore, new alternative assessment guidelines are required. In this paper, a systematic structural integrity assessment of helical coiled steam generator tubes for a small and medium modular reactor, which is currently being designed, is introduced. Three‐dimensional detailed finite element (FE) limit analyses have been carried out to simulate the behaviours of the tube containing a volumetric flaw such as elliptical wear‐type, rectangular wear‐type and tapered wear‐type defects subjected to external pressure. Failure pressures were calculated from the FE analyses by changing defect depth, defect length and defect angle affecting the load‐carrying capacity of the tube. Thereby, engineering equations were developed as a function of these key parameters to predict structural failures and system reliability to enable more reasonable design and manufacturing decisions.
Contrasting leaf chemical traits in tropical lianas and trees: implications for future forest composition
Authors: Asner Gregory P. , Martin Roberta E. 
Published: June 2012

AbstractLianas are an important growthform in tropical forests, and liana abundance and biomass may be increasing in some regions. Explanations for liana proliferation hinge upon physiological responses to changing resource conditions that would favour them over trees. Testing a chemical basis for such responses, we assessed 22 foliar traits in 778 lianas and 6496 trees at 48 tropical forest sites. Growthform differences in chemical allocation occurred on a leaf mass and area basis. Light capture‐growth and maintenance‐metabolism chemicals averaged 14.5 and 16.7% higher mass‐based concentration in lianas than in trees globally, whereas structure and defence chemicals averaged 9.0% lower in lianas. Relative differences in chemical allocation by lianas and trees were mediated by climate with peak differences at about 2500 mm year−1 and 25 °C. Differences in chemical traits suggest that liana expansion could be greatest in forests undergoing increased canopy‐level irradiance via disturbance and climate change.
The Finnish drinking culture: Change and continuity in the past 40 years
Authors: Mäkelä Pia , Tigerstedt Christoffer , Mustonen Heli 
Published: June 2012

AbstractIntroduction and Aims.In the past 40 years, per capita consumption has increased dramatically in Finland. We study the core changes in drinking culture over this period by age and sex.Design and Methods.We used data from the Finnish Drinking Habit Surveys carried out every 8 years in 1968–2008 (n = 16385, response rates 74–97%). Central measures included share of abstainers, frequency of drinking, amounts drunk per occasion and contexts of drinking (location, company, timing).Results.Weekly drinking and the frequency of moderate drinking increased among both women and men but proportionately more among women and among respondents aged over 30 years. Amounts drunk per occasion and intoxication increased proportionately more among women and younger respondents. Drinking in home surroundings increased more than drinking in licensed premises, and home drinking increasingly occurred in the company of partners only. Drinking was in all periods heavily concentrated on the weekends and evenings.Discussion and Conclusions.Finland has become a wet and permissive drinking culture, and there has been a fundamental cultural shift in women's drinking in particular. Increases in women's drinking have meant that men's drinking has also increasingly been brought to homes, as a part of spouses’ shared activities, and pubs have lost their property as masculine strongholds. Intoxication has maintained its important position in the drinking culture, and drinking still takes place primarily in the evenings and weekends. If drinking cultures in present‐day low and middle income countries develop similarly, strong increases in alcohol‐related harm will follow.
Trade credit policy and firm value
Authors: Martínez‐Sola Cristina , García‐Teruel Pedro J. , Martínez‐Solano Pedro 
Published: June 2012

AbstractThis manuscript studies the shape of the relation between firm value and trade credit for a sample of Spanish listed firms in the period 2001 to 2007. Considering the trade‐off between benefits and costs of investing in trade credit, we estimate a non‐linear relationship between accounts receivable and firm value. As expected, the results obtained show a positive relation between firm value and trade credit at low levels of receivables and a negative one at high levels. To give robustness to the results, we analyse whether deviation from target accounts receivable level reduces firm value. Consistent with the previous analysis, we find that deviations from this level of receivables decrease firm value.
An Abortive Attempt to Defend an Episcopal Reputation: The Case of Archbishop Edwin Sandys and the Innkeeper's Wife
Authors: BASTOW SARAH 
Published: June 2012

AbstractIn 1581 the archbishop of York, Edwin Sandys, resided overnight at a Doncaster inn whilst making a visitation of his archdiocese. This seemingly innocuous visit triggered a series of events that cast light on early modern ideas regarding respectability, reputation and wider views of Protestantism. The trigger for all of this occurred when Sandys was found in bed with the innkeeper's wife. He claimed this was all part of an elaborate plan to blacken his name by associating it with sexual scandal and that moreover this was an attack on the reformed Church. The observer to the events at the inn and the accused in the subsequent legal proceedings was a local gentleman, Sir Robert Stapleton, who was accused of blackmailing and slandering the archbishop. This article will not seek to condemn or exonerate either Sandys or Stapleton, but rather to examine the motives and actions of all involved. The nature and fragility of reputation in early modern England in relation to both sexual behaviour and religion will be discussed and the importance of preserving one's good name will be seen to be paramount to both men. In addition the interaction of regional and national tensions will become evident as a minor incident turned into a cause célèbre.
The Colour of Feminism: White Feminists and Race in the Women's Liberation Movement
Authors: THOMLINSON NATALIE 
Published: June 2012

AbstractWhite feminists active in the Women's Liberation Movement (WLM) in Britain during the 1970s and 1980s have often been accused of being blind to the needs of ethnic minority women and thus ‘racist’. While there is significant truth to these accusations, this article argues that such critiques have often been rather simplistic. In this article I explore the many ways in which white feminists of this era did engage with issues of ‘race’, however clumsily. Many white feminists in the early days of the WLM drew inspiration from the Black movement, and later on in the late 1970s and 1980s significant numbers of white feminists were involved in anti‐racist activity in groups such as Women against Racism and Fascism and Women against Imperialism, and smaller anti‐racist consciousness‐raising groups. I explore the nature of these groups, whilst nevertheless maintaining a critical stance on the ways in which these groups could often – albeit inadvertently – reinscribe white power. I argue that rather than being simply racist, one of the interesting contradictions within the WLM lay in the gap between the awareness of many white feminists of the issue surrounding race, and their inability to translate this awareness into action. I end by suggesting the larger issues that a focus on race in the WLM raises for historians of feminism, both in terms of chronology – such a focus highlights the extent of feminist activity in the 1980s – and regarding the conceptual sensitivity needed when using the term ‘racism’, given the differing ways this term was used within the WLM.
Industry Merger Intensity and Cost of Capital
Authors: Mamun Abdullah , Mishra Dev 
Published: June 2012

AbstractUsing a panel of industry‐average implied cost of equity capital and the value of prior year aggregate industry mergers, we find strong evidence that the industry cost of equity capital is negatively associated with industry merger activity. Our evidence is consistent with greater media coverage, analyst following, or increase in investor attention associated with industry merger activity lowering the required return on equity for firms in an industry that is not involved in merger activity via the ‘information risk’ or ‘incomplete information’ channels.
Lactobionic acid as antioxidant and moisturizing active in alkyl polyglucoside‐based topical emulsions: the colloidal structure, stability and efficacy evaluation
Authors: Tasic‐Kostov M. , Pavlovic D. , Lukic M. , Jaksic I. , Arsic I. , Savic S. 
Published: June 2012

SynopsisCosmeceutical antioxidants may protect the skin against oxidative injury, involved in the pathogenesis of many skin disorders. However, an unsuitable topical delivery system with compromising safety profile can affect the efficacy of an antioxidant active. This study investigated the antioxidant potential of lactobionic acid (LA), a newer cosmeceutical active, per se (in solution) and incorporated into natural alkyl polyglucoside (APG) emulsifier‐based system using 1,1‐diphenyl‐2‐picrylhydrazyl free radical scavenging and lipid peroxidation inhibition assays. The α‐tocopherol was used as a reference compound. The physical stability (using rheology, polarization microscopy, pH and conductivity measurements) of an Alkyl glucoside‐based emulsion was evaluated with and without the active (LA); colloidal structure was assessed using polarization and transmission electron microscopy, rheology, thermal and texture analysis. Additionally, the safety profile and moisturizing potential were investigated using the methods of skin bioengineering. Good physical stability and applicative characteristics were obtained although LA strongly influenced the colloidal structure of the vehicle. LA per se and in APG‐based emulsion showed satisfying antioxidant activity that promotes it as mild multifunctional cosmeceutical efficient in the treatment and prevention of the photoaged skin. Employed assays were shown as suitable for the antioxidant activity evaluation of LA in APG‐based emulsions, but not for α‐tocopherol in the same vehicle.
Glucagon‐like peptide‐1 analogue therapy for psoriasis patients with obesity and type 2 diabetes: a prospective cohort study
Authors: Ahern T. , Tobin A.‐M. , Corrigan M. , Hogan A. , Sweeney C. , Kirby B. , O’Shea D. 
Published: June 2012

AbstractBackground  Diabetes and obesity are more prevalent amongst psoriasis patients as is disturbance of the innate immune system. GLP‐1 analogue therapy considerably improves weight and glycaemic control in people with type 2 diabetes and its receptor is present on innate immune cells.Objective  We aimed to determine the effect of liraglutide, a GLP‐1 analogue, on psoriasis severity.Methods  Before and after 10 weeks of liraglutide therapy (1.2 mg subcutaneously daily) we determined the psoriasis area and severity index (PASI) and the dermatology life quality index (DLQI) in seven people with both psoriasis and diabetes (median age 48 years, median body mass index 48.2 kg/m2). We also evaluated the immunomodulatory properties of liraglutide by measuring circulating lymphocyte subset numbers and monocyte cytokine production.Results  Liraglutide therapy decreased the median PASI from 4.8 to 3.0 (P = 0.03) and the median DLQI from 6.0 to 2.0 (P = 0.03). Weight and glycaemic control improved significantly. Circulating invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells increased from 0.13% of T lymphocytes to 0.40% (P = 0.03). Liraglutide therapy also effected a non‐significant 54% decrease in the proportion of circulating monocytes that produced tumour necrosis factor alpha (P = 0.07).Conclusion  GLP‐1 analogue therapy improves psoriasis severity, increases circulating iNKT cell number and modulates monocyte cytokine secretion. These effects may result from improvements in weight and glycaemic control as well as from direct immune effects of GLP‐1 receptor activation. Prospective controlled trials of GLP‐1 therapies are warranted, across all weight groups, in psoriasis patients with and without type 2 diabetes.