bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
ACTIVLIM-Stroke: A Crosscultural Rasch-Built Scale of Activity Limitations in Patients With Stroke
Authors: Batcho Charles Sèbiyo , Tennant Alan , Thonnard Jean-Louis 
Published: January 2012

Background and Purpose—
This study describes the development of a Rasch-built scale measuring activity limitations in stroke patients, named ACTIVLIM-Stroke.

Method—
This new Rasch-built measure was constructed based on stroke patients' perceptions of difficulty in performing daily activities. Patients were recruited from inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation departments in Belgium and Benin. A 73-item questionnaire was completed by 204 participants. A random subsample of 83 subjects was given the questionnaire a second time. Data were analyzed using RUMM2030 software.

Results—
After successive Rasch analyses, the ACTIVLIM-Stroke questionnaire, a unidimensional and linear 20-item measure of activity limitations, was constructed. All 20 items fulfilled Rasch requirements (overall and individual item fit, category discrimination, invariance, local response independence, and nonredundancy in item difficulty). This simple patient-based scale encompasses a large range of activities related to self-care, transfer, mobility, manual ability, and balance. The ACTIVLIM-Stroke questionnaire exhibited high internal validity, excellent internal consistency, and good crosscultural validity. The test–retest reliability of item difficulty hierarchy (intraclass correlation coefficient=0.99) and patient location (intraclass correlation coefficient=0.92) were both excellent. Furthermore, it showed good external construct validity using correlations with the Functional Independence Measure motor and the Barthel Index and a higher discriminating capacity than either of these widely used indices.

Conclusions—
The ACTIVLIM-Stroke questionnaire has good psychometric qualities and provides accurate measures of activity limitations in patients with stroke. It is recommended for evaluating clinical and research interventions in patients with stroke, because it provides a higher discrimination and might be more sensitive to change.
Accuracy of Neurovascular Fellows' Prognostication of Outcome After Subarachnoid Hemorrhage
Authors: Navi Babak B. , Kamel Hooman , McCulloch Charles E. , Nakagawa Kazuma , Naravetla Bharath , Moheet Asma M. , Wong Christine , Johnston S. Claiborne , Hemphill J. Claude , Smith Wade S. 
Published: January 2012

Background and Purpose—
The purpose of this study was to determine the accuracy and optimal timing of physician prognostication in patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage, a prototypical neurological disease characterized by variable outcomes and frequent disability.

Methods—
From October 2009 to April 2010, treating neurologists at a tertiary care academic medical center made daily predictions of the modified Rankin Scale at 6 months for consecutive patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage. Actual functional outcomes at 6 months were determined by phone interview and dichotomized into good (modified Rankin Scale 0–2) and poor (modified Rankin Scale 3–6) outcomes. Descriptive statistics were used to assess the accuracy of prognostications. Multiple logistic regression and generalized estimating equations were used to assess changes in prognostication accuracy over time and the relationship between prognostication accuracy and clinical factors.

Results—

Physicians made 648 prognostications for 66 patients. Overall accuracy ranged from 78% to 88%. Among patients predicted to have a good outcome, 81% (95% CI, 71%–92%) actually had a good outcome, whereas 88% (95% CI, 77%–99%) of patients predicted to do poorly had poor outcomes. No significant trends were seen in prognostication accuracy over time during the hospital course (
P
=0.72). Increasing age, infection, mechanical ventilation, hydrocephalus, and seizures all significantly worsened physician accuracy.

Conclusions—
Neurologists were generally but not perfectly accurate in their prognostications of functional outcomes. The accuracy of prognoses did not correlate with the hospital day on which they were made but was affected by clinical factors that can cloud the neurological examination.
Dissociation between Awareness and Spatial Coding: Evidence from Unilateral Neglect
Authors: Treccani Barbara , Cubelli Roberto , Sellaro Roberta , Umiltà Carlo , Della Sala Sergio 
Published: January 2012

AbstractPrevalent theories about consciousness propose a causal relation between lack of spatial coding and absence of conscious experience: The failure to code the position of an object is assumed to prevent this object from entering consciousness. This is consistent with influential theories of unilateral neglect following brain damage, according to which spatial coding of neglected stimuli is defective, and this would keep their processing at the nonconscious level. Contrary to this view, we report evidence showing that spatial coding and consciousness can dissociate. A patient with left neglect, who was not aware of contralesional stimuli, was able to process their color and position. However, in contrast to (ipsilesional) consciously perceived stimuli, color and position of neglected stimuli were processed separately. We propose that individual object features, including position, can be processed without attention and consciousness and that conscious perception of an object depends on the binding of its features into an integrated percept.
Characterizing Episodic Memory Retrieval: Electrophysiological Evidence for Diminished Familiarity following Unitization
Authors: Pilgrim Lea K. , Murray Jamie G. , Donaldson David I. 
Published: January 2012

Abstract
Episodic memory relies on both recollection and familiarity; why these processes are differentially engaged during retrieval remains unclear. Traditionally, recollection has been considered necessary for tasks requiring associative retrieval, whereas familiarity supports recognition of items. Recently, however, familiarity has been shown to contribute to associative recognition if stimuli are “unitized” at encoding (a single representation is created from multiple elements)—the “benefit” of unitization. Here, we ask if there is also a “cost” of unitization; are the elements of unitized representations less accessible via familiarity? We manipulated unitization during encoding and used ERPs to index familiarity and recollection at retrieval. The data revealed a selective reduction in the neural correlate of familiarity for individual words originally encoded in unitized compared with nonunitized word pairs. This finding reveals a measurable cost of unitization, suggesting that the nature of to-be-remembered stimuli is critical in determining whether familiarity contributes to episodic memory.
Motion and Change in Aristotle’s Physics 5. 1
Authors: Rosen Jacob 
Published: January 2012

Abstract
This paper illustrates how Aristotle’s topological theses about change in Physics 5-6 can help address metaphysical issues. Two distinctions from Physics 5. 1 are discussed: changing per se versus changing per aliud; motion versus change. Change from white to black is motion and alteration, whereas change from white to not white is neither. But is not every change from white to black identical with a change from white to not white? Theses from Physics 6 refute the identity. Is change from white to black at least accompanied by change from white to not white? Perhaps, but given further theses from Physics 6, this supposition yields unwelcome consequences. Most likely, when something changes from white to black it changes merely per aliud, not per se, from white to not white. Genuine change between white and not white is found elsewhere; its admission has bearing on Aristotle’s theory of perception.
The best of a harsh lot in a specialized species: breeding habitat use by the yellow-bellied toad (Bombina variegata) on rocky riverbanks
Authors: Joly Pierre , Cayuela Hugo , Cheylan Marc 
Published: January 2012

AbstractBecause of the narrowness of their niches, specialised species are often vulnerable because their populations suffer from fragmentation or low densities. Whatever the causes of their specialization, one might expect micro-habitat selection to be strong within the boundaries of the chosen niche to compensate for the costs linked to habitat constraints (variability of reproductive success due to high larval mortality, habitat fragmentation). We tested this hypothesis by investigating breeding site selection in the yellow-bellied toad (Bombina variegata) in the context of rock pools at riverbanks, which are supposed to be one of the pristine habitats of the species. In this species, breeding habitat use differs markedly from that of other European anurans since spawning takes place in small pools located in the close vicinity of rivers. Such pools experience high risks of drying up and flooding. By measuring 8 habitat variables at 187 rock pools along a 250 m river segment, we show a breeding habitat use based on a preference for pools with large volumes of water provided that they are devoid of alluvia, with a good exposition to sun. By ensuring longer water periods and faster development rates, large volumes and warm water probably reduce the mortality risks due to drying up (within suitable temperature range). This result contributes to understanding the process of niche conservatism (persistence of narrow range on certain dimensions of the niche), which is an important challenge in ecology and conservation biology.
The European External Action Service:A Pivotal Actor in EU Foreign Policy Communications?
Authors: Bicchi Federica 
Published: January 2012

Summary
This article analyses the role of the European External Action Service (EEAS) in EU foreign policy communications. Having cumulated a number of pre-existing functions, the EEAS is situated at the centre of the existing communication systems used in the European Union in relation to matters of foreign policy. Moreover, the EEAS is contributing to the expansion of the existing practice of foreign policy communications in three ways. First, it has affected the direction of communication flows in the most well-established (but now declining) communication system — the COREU/CORTESY network — as a growing proportion of messages now originate in Brussels. Second, the EEAS is developing an autonomous EU capacity for information gathering, as EU delegations regularly draft political reports. Third, the EEAS has contributed to the expansion of information sharing in consular affairs, which is an area of mixed and contested competences. The EEAS is thus a key actor in EU foreign policy communications, although practices are forever shifting and its role is still under construction.
The Role of Ocean Dynamics in the Interaction between the Atlantic Meridional and Equatorial Modes
Authors: Zhu Jieshun , Huang Bohua , Wu Zhaohua 
Published: January 2012

Abstract
This study examines a mechanism of the interaction between the tropical Atlantic meridional and equatorial modes. To derive robust heat content (HC) variability, the ensemble-mean HC anomalies (HCA) of six state-of-the-art global ocean reanalyses for 1979–2007 are analyzed. Compared with previous studies, characteristic oceanic processes are distinguished through their dominant time scales. Using the ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD) method, the HC fields are first decomposed into components with different time scales. The authors’ analysis shows that these components are associated with distinctive ocean dynamics. The high-frequency (first three) components can be characterized as the equatorial modes, whereas the low-frequency (the fifth and sixth) components are featured as the meridional modes. In between, the fourth component on the time scale of 3–4 yr demonstrates “mixed” characteristics of the meridional and equatorial modes because of an active transition from the predominant meridional to zonal structures on this time scale. Physically, this transition process is initiated by the discharge of the off-equatorial HCA, which is first accumulated as a part of the meridional mode, into the equatorial waveguide, which is triggered by the breakdown of the equilibrium between the cross-equatorial HC contrast and the overlying wind forcing, and results in a major heat transport through the equatorial waveguide into the southeastern tropical Atlantic. It is also shown that remote forcing from El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) exerts important influence on the transition from the equatorial to meridional mode and may partly dictate its time scale of 3–4 yr. Therefore, the authors’ results demonstrate another mechanism of the equatorial Atlantic response to the ENSO forcing.
Understanding Simulated Extreme Precipitation Events in Madison, Wisconsin, and the Role of Moisture Flux Convergence during the Late Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries*
Authors: Holman Kathleen D. , Vavrus Stephen J. 
Published: January 2012

AbstractUnderstanding extreme precipitation events in the current and future climate system is an important aspect of climate change for adaptation and mitigation purposes. The current study investigates extreme precipitation events over Madison, Wisconsin, during the late twentieth and late twenty-first centuries using 18 coupled ocean–atmosphere general circulation models that participated in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP3). An increase of ~10% is found in the multimodel average of annual precipitation received in Madison by the end of the twenty-first century, with the largest increases projected to occur during winter [December–February (DJF)] and spring [March–May (MAM)]. It is also found that the observed seasonal cycle of precipitation in Madison is not accurately captured by the models. The multimodel average shows a strong seasonal peak in May, whereas observations peak during midsummer. Model simulations also do not accurately capture the annual cycle of extreme precipitation events in Madison, which also peak in summer. Instead, the timing of model-simulated extreme events exhibits a bimodal distribution that peaks during spring and fall. However, spatial composites of average daily precipitation simulated by GCMs during Madison’s wettest 1% of precipitation events during the twentieth century strongly resemble the spatial pattern produced in observations. The role of specific humidity and vertically integrated moisture flux convergence (MFC) during extreme precipitation events in Madison is investigated in twentieth- and twenty-first-century simulations. Spatial composites of MFC during the wettest 1% of days during the twentieth-century simulations agree well with results from the North American Regional Reanalysis dataset (NARR), suggesting that synoptic-scale dynamics are vital to extreme precipitation events.
Electrochemical polymerization of aniline using natural rubber-coated platinum electrode
Authors: Syamkrishna B. , Prasad Arun S. , Remadevi K. 
Published: January 2012

The electrochemical polymerization of aniline from aqueous solutions of 1 M H2SO4 using natural rubber (NR)-coated platinum electrode was performed by cyclic voltammetry. The optimal thickness of NR coating was made as thin as 20 µm in order to obtain free-standing, highly flexible thin films. The heterogeneous polymerization of newly synthesized composite material from aniline was analyzed using the obtained cyclic voltammogram. During the repetitive cyclic voltammetry scans the presence of NR inhibits the polymer-related oxidation process and diminishes the degradation products in the composite materials. The morphological and structural analysis confirmed the effective formation of polyaniline (PANI)-NR composite. The impedance measurements revealed that electrical properties of the composite sample get comparable with doped PANI and further enhanced with temperature and frequency of the applied signal.
Getting Under the Skin of Clinical Inertia in Insulin Initiation
Authors: Ratanawongsa Neda , Crosson Jesse C. , Schillinger Dean , Karter Andrew J. , Saha Chandan K. , Marrero David G. 
Published: January 2012

Purpose The purpose of this cross-sectional study is to explore primary care providers’ (PCPs) perceptions about barriers to initiating insulin among patients. Studies suggest that many patients with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes do not receive insulin initiation by PCPs. Methods As part of the Translating Research Into Action for Diabetes study, the authors conducted structured interviews in health systems in Indiana, New Jersey, and California, asking PCPs about the importance of insulin initiation and factors affecting this decision. The authors calculated proportions choosing each multiple-choice response option and listed the most frequently offered open-ended response categories. Results Among 83 PCPs, 45% were women; 60% were white; and they averaged 13.4 years in practice. Four-fifths of PCPs endorsed guideline-concordant glycemic targets, but 54% individualized targets based on patient age, life expectancy, medical comorbidities, self-management capacity, and willingness. Most (64%) reported that many patients were resistant to new oral or insulin therapies due to fears about the therapy and what it meant about their disease progression. Two-thirds (64%) cited patient resistance as a barrier to insulin initiation, and 43% cited problems with patient self-management, including cognitive or mental health issues, dexterity, or ability to adhere. Eighty percent felt that patient nonadherence would dissuade them from initiating insulin at least some of the time. Conclusions PCPs perceived that patient resistance and poor self- management skills were significant barriers to initiating insulin. Future studies should investigate whether systems-level interventions to improve patient-provider communication about insulin and enhance providers’ perceptions of patient self-management capacity can increase guideline-concordant, patient-centered insulin initiation.
Neurological lameness in the cat
Authors: Garosi Laurent 
Published: January 2012

Practical relevance Neurological causes of lameness are infrequently seen in cats but they are an important consideration when an obvious orthopaedic cause cannot be identified. Monoparetic cats are also frequently presented for veterinary investigation with the main complaint being lameness. Clinical challenges Neurological causes of lameness may be difficult to determine without access to advanced imaging modalities, electrodiagnostics or cerebrospinal fluid analysis. Audience This review, aimed at all veterinarians who treat cats, sets out to describe the specific approach to cats with lameness that cannot be attributed to an orthopaedic cause. It describes the diagnosis and management of the most common neurological conditions responsible for lameness or monoparesis in cats.
Additives for lubricants containing poly(tetrafluoroethylene). Part 1: Synthesis and rheological characterization
Authors: Hoffmann T , Lehmann D , Schäffler M 
Published: January 2012

This article describes the synthesis of dispersions consisting of irradiated poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE) micropowder in an ester oil (Synative ES TMP 05) and presents their results of the characterization in terms of stability and rheology. The degree of PTFE micropowder in the dispersion was gradually increased from 10 wt% to 25 wt%. In addition, two additives based on phosphoric acid were used to study whether they are able to affect the properties of the dispersion with the lowest concentration of PTFE micropowder. The amount of irradiated PTFE micropowder affects the stability against separation. The dispersion with the lowest concentration of PTFE micropowder (10 wt%) showed the highest stability due to the pronounced high fine fraction of PTFE particles (Ø: 0.2–0.5 µm). On the other hand, the PTFE/oil dispersions with higher concentrations own a distinctive amount of greater particles (Ø: 0.3–3.0 µm), suggesting a negative influence on the stability of the dispersions. Nevertheless, these dispersions can stabilize themselves by these structures.
Negative effects of GM-CSF signaling in a murine model of t(8;21)–induced leukemia
Authors: Matsuura Shinobu , Yan Ming , Lo Miao-Chia , Ahn Eun-Young , Weng Stephanie , Dangoor David , Matin Mahan , Higashi Tsunehito , Feng Gen-Sheng , Zhang Dong-Er 
Published: January 2012

Abstract
The t(8;21)(q22;q22) is common in adult acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The RUNX1-ETO fusion protein that is expressed by this translocation is poorly leukemogenic and requires additional mutations for transformation. Loss of sex chromosome (LOS) is frequently observed in t(8;21) AML. In the present study, to evaluate whether LOS cooperates with t(8;21) in leukemogenesis, we first used a retroviral transduction/transplantation model to express RUNX1-ETO in hematopoietic cells from XO mice. The low frequency of leukemia in these mice suggests that the potentially critical gene for suppression of t(8;21) leukemia in humans is not conserved on mouse sex chromosomes. The gene encoding the GM-CSF receptor α subunit (CSF2RA) is located on X and Y chromosomes in humans but on chromosome 19 in mice. GM-CSF promotes myeloid cell survival, proliferation, and differentiation. To determine whether GM-CSF signaling affects RUNX1-ETO leukemogenesis, hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells that lack GM-CSF signaling were used to express RUNX1-ETO and transplanted into lethally irradiated mice, and a high penetrance of AML was observed in recipients. Furthermore, GM-CSF reduced the replating ability of RUNX1-ETO–expressing cells. These results suggest a possible tumor-suppressor role of GM-CSF in RUNX1-ETO leukemia. Loss of the CSF2RA gene may be a critical mutation explaining the high incidence of LOS associated with the t(8;21)(q22;q22) translocation.
Fludarabine and rituximab for relapsed or refractory hairy cell leukemia
Authors: Gerrie Alina S. , Zypchen Leslie N. , Connors Joseph M. 
Published: January 2012

Abstract
The purine analogs, pentostatin and cladribine, induce high remission rates when used as first-line monotherapy for hairy cell leukemia (HCL); however, patients continue to relapse. Re-treatment with the same or alternate purine analog produces lower response rates and a shorter duration of response. Fludarabine is another purine analog widely used in indolent lymphoid cancers, often in combination with rituximab, but there are few reports of its use in HCL. We identified 15 patients treated in British Columbia with fludarabine and rituximab (FR) from 2004 to 2010 for relapsed/refractory HCL after first-line cladribine (n = 3) or after multiple lines of therapy (n = 12). All patients with available response data responded to FR. With median follow-up of 35 months, 14 patients remain progression-free, whereas 1 patient has developed progressive leukemia and died. Five-year progression-free and overall survivals are 89% and 83%, respectively. FR is a safe and effective therapeutic option for relapsed/refractory HCL.