bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Efficacy of Intra‐Articular Botulinum Toxin Type A in Painful Knee Osteoarthritis: A Pilot Study
Authors: Boon Andrea J. , Smith Jay , Dahm Diane L. , Sorenson Eric J. , Larson Dirk R. , Fitz‐Gibbon Patrick D. , Dykstra Dennis D. , Singh Jasvinder A. 
Published: April 2010

ObjectiveTo evaluate the efficacy and safety of botulinum toxin type A (BoNT‐A) injected intra‐articularly in 60 subjects with moderate pain and functional impairment secondary to knee osteoarthritis. The study investigators hypothesized that intra‐articular BoNT‐A would result in statistically significant improvements in pain and function at 8 weeks.DesignDouble‐blind, randomized, single tertiary care academic medical center trial with 6‐month follow‐up.PatientsSixty patients aged 40 years or older with painful osteoarthritis of the knee who had failed physical therapy, medications, and/or injection therapy presenting to the musculoskeletal or orthopedic outpatient clinics at a large tertiary care medical institution. All 60 patients completed 8‐week follow‐up, but only 32 patients completed the 26‐week follow‐up.MethodsSubjects were randomized to receive a single injection of corticosteroid, low‐dose BoNT‐A (100 units), or high‐dose BoNT‐A (200 units). Outcome measures were compared at baseline, 4, 8, 12, and 26 weeks after injection.Main Outcome MeasurementsThe primary outcome measure was pain visual analog scale (VAS) at 8 weeks. Secondary outcome measures included Western Ontario McMaster Arthritis Index, Short Form‐36 scores, patient global assessment, 40‐meter timed walk, and adverse effects.ResultsThe primary end point was pain VAS score at 8 weeks, which decreased within each group but only reached statistical significance in the low‐dose BoNT‐A group. In the intra‐articular corticosteroid group, VAS decreased from 6.4 ± 1.8 to 5.4 ± 2.3 (P = .15); for low‐dose BoNT‐A, from 6.6. ± 1.9 to 4.5 ± 2.2 (P = .01); and for high‐dose BoNT‐A, from 6.6 ± 1.4 to 5.9 ± 2.4 (P = .15). All groups showed statistically significant improvements in Western Ontario McMaster Arthritis Index scores (pain, stiffness, function) at 8 weeks. No serious adverse events were noted in any group.ConclusionsThis pilot study supports a possible role for BoNT‐A as a treatment option for symptomatic knee osteoarthritis; however, larger double‐blind randomized studies are needed to determine whether BoNT‐A is more effective than placebo in this patient population.
Ultrasound‐guided versus Nonguided Tibiotalar Joint and Sinus Tarsi Injections: A Cadaveric Study
Authors: Wisniewski Steve J. , Smith Jay , Patterson Denis G. , Carmichael Stephen W. , Pawlina Wojciech 
Published: April 2010

ObjectiveTo compare the relative accuracy rates of ultrasound (US)‐guided versus nonguided ankle (tibiotalar) joint and sinus tarsi injections in a cadaveric model.DesignProspective human cadaveric study with injection technique randomized and accuracy assessed by skilled observers blinded to injection technique.SettingProcedural skills laboratory in a tertiary care academic medical center.MethodsTwelve embalmed and 8 unembalmed cadavers (40 ankles) were used for this investigation. Using a predetermined randomization process, 1 ankle of each cadaver was injected with US guidance and the other without. Tibiotalar joint injections were performed via an anterior approach and sinus tarsi injections performed via an anterolateral approach. All injections were performed by the senior author using a 22‐gauge, 1.5‐inch needle to place 3 mL of 50% diluted blue latex solution into the target area. Two anatomists blinded to the injection technique dissected each ankle and determined injection accuracy based on previously agreed upon criteria.Main Outcome MeasurementsInjection accuracy, where an accurate injection delivered injectate within the tibiotalar joint or into the mid‐portion of the sinus tarsi.ResultsThe accuracy rate for US‐guided tibiotalar joint injections was 100% (20/20) versus 85% (17/20) for nonguided injections. The accuracy rate for US‐guided sinus tarsi injections was 90% (18/20) versus 35% (7/20) for nonguided injections.ConclusionsIn this cadaveric study, US guidance produced superior accuracy compared with nonguided injections with respect to both the tibiotalar joint and sinus tarsi. Although further research is warranted, clinicians should consider US guidance to optimize injectate placement into these areas when optimal accuracy is necessary for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes.
Market Feedback and Equity Issuance: Evidence from Repeat Equity Issues
Authors: Hovakimian Armen , Hutton Irena 
Published: April 2010

AbstractHigher first-year post-issue returns are associated with a significantly higher probability of follow-on equity issuance over the next 5 years. This result holds when we control for pre-issue returns and other factors known to affect the probability of equity issuance. The result is most consistent with the market feedback hypothesis that a high post-issue return encourages managers to increase the firm’s investment because it implies that, in the market’s view, the marginal return to the project is high.
Chronic, otogenic, epidural pneumatocoele with delayed mass effect: case report
Authors: Barbieri F , Fiorino F 
Published: April 2010

AbstractIntroduction: Mastoid hyperpneumatisation predisposes to intracranial pneumatocoele development, due to the risk of rupture of the thin, bony walls. Intracranial pneumatocoele may be precipitated by even minor head trauma or an abrupt change in middle-ear pressure, with the potential risk of infectious or compressive intracranial complications.Case report: A 19-year-old man with mastoid hyperpneumatisation developed a chronic intracranial–epidural pneumatocoele of traumatic origin in the right parieto-occipital area, in contiguity with the posterior mastoid cells. Eighteen months later, after a common cold, the patient developed signs of intracranial hypertension, due to the pneumatocoele spreading to the right epidural anterior fossa. A large right mastoidectomy extended to the retrosigmoid cells was performed, and a watertight seal applied over a large retrosigmoid cell using bovine pericardium and a mixture of bone powder and fibrin glue.Results: The patient was discharged on post-operative day three with no symptoms. Ten days after surgery, computed tomography monitoring showed complete reabsorption of the pneumatocoele.Conclusion: In cases of chronic, otogenic, epidural pneumatocoele, the possibility of the sudden onset of serious complications suggests the need for early repair of the communication between the temporal bone and the intracranial compartments. Closure of the fistula using autogenic and/or allogenic materials is usually adequate to resolve the pneumatocoele.
War
Authors: Kekes John 
Published: April 2010

AbstractThis article is an explanation of the causes of war. It shows the inadequacy of existing explanations in terms of competition for scarce resources, aggressiveness as a trait inherent in human nature, and struggle for power. It constructs a new explanation that combines the defensible elements of the inadequate explanations and adds to them conflicts between systems of value on which the identity of the warring parties depends as the most important of the causes of war. It concludes that since values are plural and conflicting, conflicts between systems of value are ineliminable. This has the consequence that war is a permanent adversity that is an unavoidable obstacle to the improvement of the human condition.
A Rest from Reason: Wittgenstein, Drury, and the Difference Between Madness and Religion
Authors: Evans K. L. , Steslow K. 
Published: April 2010

AbstractFaced with troubling professional decisions in his long and successful career as a psychiatrist, M. O'C. Drury turned for direction to the philosophical work of his teacher and friend, Ludwig Wittgenstein. Of particular concern to Drury were the situations in which psychiatrists were expected to differentiate between instances of madness that were religious in form and instances of genuine religious experience that, for their oddity, landed believers in psychiatric consulting rooms. In this essay we consider the special orientation Wittgenstein's philosophy gave Drury, for example the way in which Drury came to understand how even his search for a principle of differentiation between madness and religion was misleading and contrary to his own practice—how it involved ‘sitting back in a cool hour and attempting to solve this problem as a pure piece of theory. To be the detached, wise, external critic’ and not see himself and his own manner of life ‘as intimately involved in the settlement of this question.’
Deliberating from One's Virtues
Authors: Lynch Tony 
Published: April 2010

AbstractBernard Williams says that ‘the characteristic and basic expression of a moral disposition in deliberation is not a premise which refers to that disposition’. If this means that we can never properly self-ascribe virtues and deliberate from this, then Williams is wrong. To deny this possibility is to be committed to either of two positions, neither of which is all that attractive (and certainly not attractive to Williams). The first position demands that virtue cannot know itself; while the second rests on the pessimistic view that morality itself can demand of us our moral identity.
Adolescent females exposed to child maltreatment exhibit atypical EEG coherence and psychiatric impairment: Linking early adversity, the brain, and psychopathology
Authors: Miskovic Vladimir , Schmidt Louis A. , Georgiades Katholiki , Boyle Michael , Macmillan Harriet L. 
Published: April 2010

AbstractAlthough the relation between child maltreatment and psychiatric impairment is well documented and preliminary evidence has linked child maltreatment with aberrant cortical connectivity of the left hemisphere, no investigations have attempted to examine these relations in the same study. Here, we examined the links among early adversity, brain connectivity, and functional outcomes. We collected resting regional EEG intra- and interhemispheric α-band (7.5–12.5 Hz) coherence and measures of general psychiatric impairment from a cohort of 38 adolescent females exposed to child maltreatment (Mage = 14.47) and 24 adolescent females not exposed to child maltreatment (Mage = 14.00). Maltreated youths exhibited more left hemisphere EEG coherence than the control youths, suggesting a suboptimal organization of cortical networks. Maltreated participants also showed reduced frontal (anterior) interhemispheric coherence. These differences in brain circuitry remained statistically significant even after controlling for group differences in pubertal status and socioeconomic status. Measures of functional brain connectivity were associated with several subtypes of abuse and neglect. It was important that atypical left hemisphere EEG coherencemediatedthe effects of child maltreatment on levels of psychiatric impairment. The findings are discussed in the context of models linking early adversity to brain function and psychopathology.
Climate‐Induced Tree Mortality: Earth System Consequences
Authors: Adams Henry D. , Macalady Alison K. , Breshears David D. , Allen Craig D. , Stephenson Nathan L. , Saleska Scott R. , Huxman Travis E. , McDowell Nathan g. 
Published: April 2010

One of the greatest uncertainties in global environmental change is predicting changes in feedbacks between the biosphere and the Earth system. Terrestrial ecosystems and, in particular, forests exert strong controls on the global carbon cycle and influence regional hydrology and climatology directly through water and surface energy budgets [Bonan, 2008; Chapin et al., 2008].According to new research, tree mortality associated with elevated temperatures and drought has the potential to rapidly alter forest ecosystems, potentially affecting feedbacks to the Earth system [Allen et al., 2010]. Several lines of recent research demonstrate how tree mortality rates in forests may be sensitive to climate change—particularly warming and drying. This emerging consequence of global change has important effects on Earth system processes (Figure 1).
Hospital-Acquired Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infection: Documentation and Coding Issues May Reduce Financial Impact of Medicare's New Payment Policy
Authors: Meddings Jennifer , Saint Sanjay , McMahon Laurence F. 
Published: April 2010

Objective.To evaluate whether hospital-acquired catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CA-UTIs) are accurately documented in discharge records with the use of International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification diagnosis codes so that nonpayment is triggered, as mandated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Hospital-Acquired Conditions Initiative.Methods.We conducted a retrospective medical record review of 80 randomly selected adult discharges from May 2006 through September 2007 from the University of Michigan Health System (UMHS) with secondary-diagnosis urinary tract infections (UTIs). One physician-abstractor reviewed each record to categorize UTIs as catheter associated and/or hospital acquired; these results (considered “gold standard”) were compared with diagnosis codes assigned by hospital coders. Annual use of the catheter association code (996.64) by UMHS coders was compared with state and US rates by using Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project data.Results.Patient mean age was 58 years; 56 (70%) were women; median length of hospital stay was 6 days; 50 patients (62%) used urinary catheters during hospitalization. Hospital coders had listed 20 secondary-diagnosis UTIs (25%) as hospital acquired, whereas physician-abstractors indicated that 37 (46%) were hospital acquired. Hospital coders had identified no CA-UTIs (code 996.64 was never used), whereas physician-abstractors identified 36 CA-UTIs (45%; 28 hospital acquired and 8 present on admission). Catheter use often was evident only from nursing notes, which, unlike physician notes, cannot be used by coders to assign discharge codes. State and US annual rates of 996.64 coding (~1% of secondary-diagnosis UTIs) were similar to those at UMHS.Conclusions.Hospital coders rarely use the catheter association code needed to identify CA-UTI among secondary-diagnosis UTIs. Coders often listed a UTI as present on admission, although the medical record indicated that it was hospital acquired. Because coding of hospital-acquired CA-UTI seems to be fraught with error, nonpayment according to CMS policy may not reliably occur.
An Electronic Hand Hygiene Surveillance Device: A Pilot Study Exploring Surrogate Markers for Hand Hygiene Compliance
Authors: Sahud Andrew G. , Bhanot Nitin , Radhakrishnan Anita , Bajwa Rajinder , Manyam Harish , Post James Christopher 
Published: April 2010

Objective.To evaluate the feasibility of using an electronic hand hygiene surveillance and feedback monitoring device.Design.A 2-phase pilot study included initial direct observation of hand hygiene practices as part of routine hospital quality assurance (phase I) and subsequent monitoring using an electronic hand hygiene surveillance device (phase II).Setting.A 700-bed tertiary care teaching hospital.Participants.Phase I included a convenience sample of healthcare workers. Phase II included 7 medical interns and 7 registered nurses recruited through email and at work-related meetings.Methods.During phase I, healthcare workers were directly observed at patient room entry and exit during the period April through November 2008. During phase II, hand hygiene data were gathered through indirect observation using the electronic device during a 4-week period in August 2009. Twenty patient rooms were fitted with electronic trigger devices that signaled a reader unit worn by participants when they entered the room, and 70 dispensers for liquid soap or hand sanitizer were fitted with triggers that signaled the reader unit when the dispenser was used. The accuracy of the devices was checked by the principal investigator, who manually recorded his room entries and exits and dispenser use while wearing a reader unit.Results.During phase I, hand hygiene occurred before room entry for 95 (25.1%) and after room exit for 149 (39.4%) of 378 directly observed patient room visits, for a cumulative composite compliance rate of 32.3%. Among the 378 room visits, 347 (91.8%) involved contact with the patient and/or environment. During phase II, electronic monitoring revealed a cumulative composite compliance rate of 25.5%. The electronic device captured 61 (98%) of 62 manually recorded room entries and 133 (95%) of 140 manually recorded dispensing events.Conclusions.The electronic hand hygiene surveillance device seems to be a practical method for routinely monitoring hand hygiene compliance in healthcare workers.
An Intron Sense Suppression Construct Targeting Soybean FAD2-1 Requires a Double-Stranded RNA-Producing Inverted Repeat T-DNA Insert
Authors: Mroczka Andrew , Roberts Peter D. , Fillatti JoAnne J. , Wiggins B. Elizabeth , Ulmasov Tim , Voelker Toni 
Published: April 2010

Abstract
We demonstrate that the transformation of soybean (Glycine max) with sense suppression constructs using intron sequences from the fatty acid oleyl Δ12 desaturase gene FAD2-1A leads to efficient and specific reduction of FAD2-1 transcripts in developing seeds, increased oleic acid, and decreased polyunsaturated fatty acids. The related FAD2-2 transcripts are only marginally affected. Despite screening a large number of independent transformants, no single-copy efficacious transformants could be found. Invariably, all the least complex transgenic loci have two T-DNA copies in an inverted repeat configuration, centered at the right borders. We show that this T-DNA configuration produces an inverted repeat transcript and that small interfering RNAs accumulate against the target sequence.
Agonist substitution—a treatment alternative for high‐dose benzodiazepine‐dependent patients?
Authors: Liebrenz Michael , Boesch Lukas , Stohler Rudolf , Caflisch Carlo 
Published: April 2010

ABSTRACTThere is vast evidence for the superiority of agonist treatments (methadone, buprenorphine) over a withdrawal approach in opioid‐dependent populations. Little research, however, has been conducted on the same approach for the treatment of high‐dose benzodiazepine (BZD) dependence. Even large‐scale reviews and meta‐analyses discussing treatment strategies for benzodiazepine‐dependent patients focus solely upon approaches that aim at achieving abstinence, namely on complete BZD withdrawal. While the types of interventions differ (e.g. gradual benzodiazepine taper with a long or a short half‐life benzodiazepine, switching to non‐benzodiazepine anxiolytics or prescribing adjunctive medications such as antidepressants or anticonvulsants on an in‐ or out‐patient basis), the common aim of treatment still is total abstinence from benzodiazepines. However, the majority of patients suffering from high‐dose BZD dependence do not succeed with long‐term abstinence, irrespective of the procedure, and clinicians have been using BZD ‘substitution’ treatment in such cases for decades. Therefore, we suggest the evaluation of a substitution approach in this group, consisting of maintenance treatment with a slow‐onset, long‐acting BZD. Advantages of such a procedure may be improved health, less craving, fewer withdrawal complications, reduced anxiety, increased treatment retention, improvements in social functioning and less illegal activity. Cognitive impairments, the most problematic side effects of substitution treatment with benzodiazepines, could possibly be minimized by using an optimal agonist.
Molecular characterization of a serine protease Pro1 from Plasmodiophora brassicae that stimulates resting spore germination
Authors: FENG JIE , HWANG RU , HWANG SHEAU‐FANG , STRELKOV STEPHEN E. , GOSSEN BRUCE D. , ZHOU QI‐XING , PENG GARY 
Published: April 2010

SUMMARYClubroot, caused by Plasmodiophora brassicae, is one of the most serious diseases of cultivated cruciferous crops in the world. However, the basis for pathogenicity in P. brassicae is not well understood. In this study, a serine protease gene (PRO1) was cloned from P. brassicae and its molecular characteristics were investigated. Southern analysis and specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification indicated that PRO1 is a single‐copy gene present in a broad range of P. brassicae pathotypes. Northern analysis revealed that the expression of PRO1 was induced during plant infection, and that the quantity of transcript fluctuated according to the stage of pathogenesis. Amino acid sequence analysis suggested that the encoded protein (Pro1) belongs to the S28 family of proteases, with a predicted signal peptide and a theoretical molecular mass of 49.4 kDa. The open reading frame (ORF) of PRO1 was transferred into Pichia pastoris and Pro1 was heterologously produced. Pro1 showed proteolytic activity on skimmed milk and N‐succinyl‐Ala‐Ala‐Phe‐7‐amido‐4‐methylcoumarin, and the activity could be inhibited by serine protease inhibitors and the chelating agent ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid. The optimal temperature of Pro1 was 25 °C, and it exhibited high activity at pH 6.0–6.4. These values coincide with the temperature and pH conditions favourable for P. brassicae resting spore germination in the field. When Pro1 was used to treat canola root exudates, it enhanced the stimulating effect of the root exudates on P. brassicae resting spore germination, indicating that Pro1 may play a role during clubroot pathogenesis by stimulating resting spore germination through its proteolytic activity.
Influence of neighbourhood collective efficacy on adolescent sexual behaviour: variation by gender and activity participation
Authors: Kim J. 
Published: April 2010

AbstractBackground  Adolescent sexual engagement is a good proxy measure of health risks in the USA owing to a higher prevalence of risky sexual behaviours among sexually active adolescents and to associated undesirable health outcomes. Neighbourhood collective efficacy is considered a potential social process that may prevent or delay early sexual engagement among adolescents. This study examined whether neighbourhood collective efficacy is associated with adolescent lifetime sexual intercourse and whether the association differs by gender, out‐of‐school activity participation and race/ethnicity.Methods  This study is a two‐level multilevel analysis of the 2000‐01 Wave 1 Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey (L.A.FANS‐1) data. Responses of 2671 adults who answered collective efficacy‐related questions were used to create a tract‐level measure of collective efficacy (65 tracts). The tract‐level collective efficacy measure was linked to adolescents 12–17 years old who answered a question on lifetime sexual intercourse (n= 859). Individual and family factors including age, gender, race/ethnicity, parental monitoring, activity participation, family composition and family income were controlled for to estimate neighbourhood effects net of individual and family differences. Interactions of collective efficacy with individual‐level covariates were also tested.Results  The protection of collective efficacy against lifetime sexual intercourse was significant only among boys [odds ratio (OR) = 0.67, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.47, 0.95]. The effect differed by participation status in out‐of‐school activities. The influence of collective efficacy was significant only in boys who did not participate in out‐of‐school activities (OR = 0.46, 95% CI = 0.29, 0.73). The association of collective efficacy with the outcome was similar across racial/ethnic groups including Latino adolescents.Conclusions  This study indicates the role of neighbourhood collective efficacy in protecting against adolescent sexual engagement with variation by gender and activity participation status. Findings point to the importance of considering specific neighbourhood characteristics and cross‐level interactions in developing effective policies and programmes.