bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Length of stay as risk factor for inappropriate hospital days: interaction with patient age and co‐morbidity
Authors: Barisonzo Riccardo , Wiedermann Wolfgang , Unterhuber Matthias , Wiedermann Christian J. 
Published: October 2011

AbstractRationale, aims and objectives  The likelihood of a hospital day being inappropriate depends on patient characteristics, on the organization of in‐hospital care and on the co‐ordination between hospital care and the rest of the health care sector. The aim of the study was to assess if certain socio‐demographic and medical factors affect inappropriate hospital stay including possible interactions between age and co‐morbidity.Methods  To determine the appropriateness of length of hospitalization, a prospective study was carried out using the European version of the Appropriateness Evaluation Protocol (AEP). A total of 438 hospital days of stay was analysed in medical wards of a university‐affiliated teaching hospital in the North of Italy for 3 days in September 2010.Results  44.6% of hospitalization days were classified as inappropriate. Unjustified hospital use was more frequent in patients whose hospital length of stay exceeded 10 days. Age and co‐morbidity were not per se risk factors for inappropriateness; however, in young patients hospitalized for more than 10 days, absence of chronic illness was a predictor. Conservative patient management, lack of discharge planning and delays in scheduling diagnostic tests or therapeutic interventions were the most common causal or contributory doctor‐ and hospital‐related factors.Conclusions  Doctor attitudes and hospital organization are still among the most common reasons for inappropriate in‐hospital days of care. Monitoring whether the length of stay is appropriate combined with protocol interventions for scheduling of diagnosis, treatment and discharge are likely to improve efficiency in this area of medical care.
Cost per fall: a potentially misleading indicator of burden of disease in health and residential care settings
Authors: Haines Terry P. , Nitz Jenny , Grieve Julia , Barker Anna , Moore Kirsten , Hill Keith , Haralambous Betty , Robinson Andrew 
Published: October 2011

AbstractRationale  Little scrutiny has been applied to how ‘cost per fall’ values have been calculated and applied. This paper presents discourse discussing how the cost of fall statistic could potentially be misleading when applied to inpatient health or residential care settings and provides estimates of the cost of falls and cost of falls per person.Method  Burden of disease was estimated using a decision tree approach. Data informing the decision tree were drawn from a retrospective audit of 545 falls in a residential care facility, a visual observation study of 46 residents from the same facility and a cohort study of 186 residents from nine different facilities in Australia. Acute care and transportation costs were extracted from the retrospective audit using incident reports and care note review. The distribution of falls per person and associations between falls, fractures and change in resident mobility were extracted from the cohort study. The association between resident mobility and the amount of time required to perform toileting, transfer and dressing activities was extracted from the visual observational study.Results  The minimum ‘cost per fall’ was estimated to be $AUD 841 and the maximum was $AUD 1024. The ‘cost of falls per person’ estimate was $AUD 1887 (2008 base year).Conclusions  This cost per fall estimate was substantially lower than three previous internationally derived estimates possibly as a consequence of how fall data were collected and modelled in these studies. Cost of falls per person may be a preferable statistic for future use.
Managing and avoiding delay in operating theatres: a qualitative, observational study
Authors: Higgins Vaughan J. G. , Bryant Melanie J. , Villanueva Elmer V. , Kitto Simon C. 
Published: October 2011

AbstractRationale, aims and objectives  A range of strategies have been proposed to identify and address operating theatre delays, including preoperative checklists, post‐delay audits and staff education. These strategies provide a useful starting point in addressing delay, but their effectiveness can be increased through more detailed consideration of sources of surgical delay.Method  A qualitative, observational study was conducted at two Australian hospitals, one a metropolitan site and the other a regional hospital. Thirty surgeries were observed involving general, vascular and orthopaedic procedures which ranged in time from 20 minutes to almost 4 hours. Approximately 40 hours of observations were conducted in total.Results  The research findings suggest that there are two key challenges involved in addressing operating theatre delays: unanticipated problems in the clinical condition of patients, and the capacity of surgeons to regulate their own time. These challenges create unavoidable delays due to the contingencies of surgical work and competing demands on surgeons' time. The results also found that surgical staff play a critical role in averting and anticipating delays. Differences in professional authority are significant in influencing how operating theatre time is managed.Conclusions  Strategies aimed at addressing operating theatre delays are unlikely to achieve their desired aims without a more detailed understanding of medical decision making and work practices, and the intra‐ as well as inter‐professional hierarchies underpinning them. While the nature of surgical work poses some challenges for measures designed to address delays, it is also necessary to focus on surgical practice in devising workable solutions.
Categorial Indeterminacy, Generality and Logical Form in Wittgenstein's Tractatus
Authors: Campbell Christopher 
Published: October 2011

AbstractMany commentators have attempted to say, more clearly than Wittgenstein did in his Tractatus logico‐philosophicus, what sort of things the ‘simple objects’ spoken of in that book are. A minority approach, but in my view the correct one, is to reject all such attempts as misplaced. The Tractarian notion of an object is categorially indeterminate: in contrast with both Frege's and Russell's practice, it is not the logician's task to give a specific categorial account of the internal structure of elementary propositions or atomic facts, nor, correlatively, to give an account of the forms of simple objects. The few commentators who have hitherto maintained this view have mainly devoted themselves to establishing that this was Wittgenstein's intention, and do not much address the question why Wittgenstein held that it is not the logician's business to say what the objects are. The present paper means to fill this lacuna by placing this view in the context of the Tractatus's treatment of logic generally, and in particular by connecting it with Wittgenstein's treatment of generality and with his reaction to Russell's approach to logical form.
Music, Emotion, Analysis
Authors: ZBIKOWSKI LAWRENCE M. 
Published: October 2011

ABSTRACTIn this essay I explore the idea that musical passages which are particularly remarkable are so in part because of ways they correlate with the progress and change of emotions. Taking as my point of departure Susanne Langer's idea that music represents a kind of non‐discursive knowledge uniquely affiliated with emotional life, I argue that recent empirical research on music and emotion has not provided a compelling model for the relationship between music and emotion and that Langer's approach, when refined through recent research on processes of analogy, provides a viable alternative. I apply this perspective to an analysis of Domenico Scarlatti's Sonata in A major, K. 208, with a special focus on passages which are typically regarded as highly expressive.
The Tale of the Three Young Brothers: an Analytical Study of Music and Communal Joy (Hŭng) in Korean Folk Culture
Authors: MILLS SIMON 
Published: October 2011

ABSTRACTWhen discussing the essential characteristics of traditional Korean folk music, Korean musicians and scholars often refer to the emotional states of han and hŭng– forms of suffering and communally experienced joy, respectively. This article focusses in particular on hŭng (communal joy), exploring what this state involves, introducing the traditional performance contexts that are particularly associated with it and then investigating how musicians contribute towards its growth, via detailed analysis of a single case‐study musical performance: the ‘Tale of the Three Young Brothers’, as sung by a (usually female) Korean shaman (mudang) to the accompaniment of a double‐headed hourglass drum (changgo) and large gong (ching). Step‐by‐step analysis attempts to reveal the complex relationships among song text, rhythm, performative behaviour and emotions, showing how musicians and audience members work together to evince a dramatic transformation from a condition of oppression (han) to one of liberation.
Cost‐effectiveness evaluation of clobetasol propionate shampoo (CPS) maintenance in patients with moderate scalp psoriasis: a Pan‐European analysis
Authors: Papp K. , Poulin Y. , Barber K. , Lynde C. , Prinz J.C. , Berg M. , Kerrouche N. , Rives V.P. 
Published: October 2011

AbstractBackground  Scalp psoriasis is a difficult to treat and usually chronic manifestation of psoriasis. The CalePso study showed that CPS (Clobex® Shampoo) in maintenance therapy of scalp psoriasis (twice weekly) significantly increases the probability of keeping patient under remission during 6 months, compared with vehicle (40.3% relapses vs. 11.6% relapses, ITT).Objective  The objective of the study was to assess the cost‐effectiveness of a maintenance therapy with CPS vs. its vehicle in nine European countries.Methods  A 24‐week decision tree model was developed with 4‐weekly time steps. The considered population has moderate scalp psoriasis successfully treated with a daily application of CPS up to 4 weeks. Data were taken from the CalePso study and from national experts’ recommendations for alternative treatment choices, with their probabilities of success taken from literature to develop country‐specific models. Health benefits are measured in disease‐free days (DFD). The economic analysis includes drug and physician costs. A probabilistic sensitivity analysis (PrSA) assesses the uncertainty of the model.Results  Depending on the country, the mean total number of DFDs per patient is 21–42% higher with CPS compared with vehicle, and the mean total cost is 11–31% lower. The mean costs per DFD are 30–46% lower with CPS compared with the vehicle. The PrSA showed in 1000 simulations that CPS is more effective vs. vehicle in 100% of the cases and less expensive than its vehicle in 80–99% of the cases.Conclusion  This model suggests that CPS is cost‐effective in maintaining the success achieved in moderate scalp psoriasis patients.
Reliability and validity of the Japanese version of the Agitated Behaviour in Dementia Scale in Alzheimer's disease: three dimensions of agitated behaviour in dementia
Authors: TORII Katsuyoshi , NAKAAKI Shutaro , BANNO Koichi , MURATA Yoshie , SATO Junko , TATSUMI Hiroshi , YAMANAKA Katsuo , NARUMOTO Jin , MIMURA Masaru , AKECHI Tatsuo , FURUKAWA Toshi A. 
Published: October 2011

AbstractBackground:  Agitation in dementia seriously affects not only patients' quality of life (QOL), but also caregivers' QOL. Thus, an appropriate assessment of agitated behaviour in dementia is needed for clinical management. We developed the Japanese version of the Agitated Behaviour in Dementia scale (ABID), examined its reliability and validity, and carried out its factor analysis to elucidate its factor structure.Methods:  The Japanese version of the ABID was given caregivers of 149 Japanese patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). The internal‐consistency, test–retest reliability and concurrent validity of the Japanese version of the ABID were then examined. A factor analysis was used to examine the agitated behavioural dimensions underlying ABID.Results:  The Japanese version of the ABID showed an excellent internal reliability for both frequency ratings (Cronbach's α= 0.89) and reaction ratings (Cronbach's α= 0.92), and an excellent test–retest reliability for both frequency ratings and reaction ratings. The total score for the frequency ratings of the ABID was significantly associated with the Cohen‐Mansfield Agitation Inventory (CMAI), and the total score for the reaction ratings of the ABID was significantly associated with the Zarit Burden Interview. The factor analysis showed three subtypes: physically agitated behaviour, verbally agitated behaviour and psychosis symptoms.Conclusions:  The Japanese version of the ABID promises to be useful for assessing agitated behaviour in patients with AD. Importantly, understanding these subtypes of agitated behaviour might have implications for individualized treatment plans.
Recurrent cholecystitis in an elderly mentally retarded patient with pica
Authors: MIYAKAWA Koichi , ITO Masanobu , HATTA Kotaro , ETO Ko , ARAI Heii 
Published: October 2011

AbstractThe case of a 64‐year‐old patient with pica and severe mental retardation who was admitted to our hospital for treatment of recurrent cholecystitis is reported. Abdominal ultrasound showed sludge in the gallbladder, but no stones. Abdominal CT revealed a foreign body in the duodenum resembling a suction cup of the type commonly used in kitchens and bathrooms. The object could not be removed because it was deeply embedded in the hypertrophic intestinal mucosa. A nasogastric tube was inserted for feeding, since the object impeded the passage of solid foods. The patient's fever and abdominal pain subsequently resolved, and laboratory data improved. The indwelling feeding tube prevented recurrence of cholecystitis. Since pica is common not only in patients with mental retardation but also in dementia patients, the present case may also relate to the treatment of acute abdominal conditions in dementia patients.
A Reconstruction for the Late Paleozoic Tectonic Evolution of the Tekes Daban Area, Western Tianshan Mountains: Evidence from Unconformities
Authors: LI Yongjun , YANG Gaoxue , WANG Xiaogang , ZHANG Tianji , LIU Xiaoyu , YANG Mingyi , TONG Liming 
Published: October 2011

Abstract:The identification of unconformities is the key to reconstructing tectonic evolution, revealing crust movement and establishing tectonic cycle. For a long time, there were some controversial issues on the episodes of Variscan cycle (especially on the period of Carboniferous‐Permian stages) of the Tianshan area. The essential questions fall on the numbers and property of unconformities in this area, for example, in the western Tianshan area. Previous research only recognized three or four fold movements. Detailed regional geological mapping of 1:50000 in the Tekes Daban area, western Tianshan have allowed us to characterize the seven unconformities within the Carboniferous‐Permian strata and understand its implications for tectonic reconstruction of the Tianshan orogen. Seven angular unconformities, which indicate that seven tectonic episodes occurred in the Late Paleozoic Period, were identified in this area. Therein, the newly discovered unconformities based on the angle‐unconformity between the Dongtujinhe and Keguqinshan Formations, and angle‐unconformity between the Wulansayi and Wulang Formations, respectively indicates the Tekes episode and Gongliu episode. The unconformity between the Dongtujinhe and Yishijilike Formations is angle‐unconformity instead of parallel unconformity indentified by previous research, so the former Bogda ascending can be revised as Bogda movement. Therefore, these newly identified seven episodes, including the Tekes episode, suggest that there are seven tectonic movements in the Tianshan area at least. This has significant implications for reconstruction of the Late Paleozoic tectonics in the Tianshan Area, NW China.
Water Role and Its Influence on Hydrogen Isotopic Composition of Natural Gas during Gas Generation
Authors: LI Jijun , LU Shuangfang , WU Wei , XUE Haitao , XU Qingxia , GENG Jie , YU Yinghua 
Published: October 2011

Abstract:In order to discuss the role and influence of water during the generation of natural gas, the participation mechanism of water during the evolution of organic matter and its influences were summarized. In addition, we carried out an anhydrous cracking experiment of oil extracted from the Feixianguan Formation source rock in a closed system, which led to the establishment of the kinetic models for describing carbon and hydrogen isotopic fractionation during gas generation from organic matter. The models were calibrated and then applied to the northeastern Sichuan Basin. By combining a series of gas generation experiments from octadecane pyrolysis without water or with distilled water in varying mass proportions, several results were proved: (1) the hydrogen isotopic composition of natural gas becomes lighter with the participation of formation water; (2) we can quantitatively study the hydrogen isotopic fractionation with the kinetic model for describing carbon isotopic fractionation; (3) more abundant and reliable geological information can be obtained through the combined application of carbon and hydrogen isotopic indices.
Quick and simple method for increasing the reduced albumin fraction in human serum albumin preparations by using stronger neo‐minophagen C
Authors: Sakata Masahiro , Kawaguchi Takumi , Taniguchi Eitaro , Abe Mitsuhiko , Koga Hironori , Sata Michio 
Published: October 2011

Aim:  Serum albumin exists in both oxidized and reduced forms. Reduced albumin shows higher antioxidative effects; however, the percentage of reduced albumin is low in human serum albumin (HSA) preparation. Stronger neo‐minophagen C (SNMC) containing cysteine, a nucleophilic amino acid, has the potential to control the redox state of albumin. The aim of this study was to develop a method for increasing the fraction of reduced albumin in HAS preparation using SNMC.Methods:  Human serum albumin preparations were purchased from four different manufacturers. As a reducing agent, SNMC (50, 100, or 200 µL) was added to 62.5 mg of each HSA preparation, and the mixture was incubated at room temperature for 10–480 min. The percentages of reduced albumin were determined by high‐performance liquid chromatography.Results:  The percentage of reduced albumin in the HSA preparation significantly increased 15 min after treatment with 200 µL of SNMC (manufacturer A; 27.7 ± 0.18% vs. 78.7 ± 0.36%, P < 0.01), and a dose‐dependent relationship was observed between the increase in the percentage of reduced albumin and dose of SNMC. Similar results were obtained with the other three HSA preparations. The percentage of reduced albumin reached its peak at 15 min after mixing SNMC with an HSA preparation, and then gradually decreased with duration, irrespective of the dose of SNMC.Conclusions:  We devised a method for increasing the reduced albumin fraction in an HSA preparation by using SNMC. We also determined the time‐and dose‐differences in the effect of SNMC on redox state of HSA.
Transcending Nationalist Divides: Religious Reconciliation as the Basis for a One‐State Solution in Israel/Palestine
Authors: Wender Andrew M. 
Published: October 2011

AbstractNationalism's inability to yield peacefully coexisting forms of political identity in Israel/Palestine has persisted for more than a century. This is so whether one refers to strands of secular nationalism that composed predominating, modern historical foundations for Israeli and Palestinian political consciousness, or subsequent forms of nationalism that have become intertwined, ever more, with religion. Further, nationalism's failure to foster a way out of the Israel/Palestine impasse infects not only the familiar (but increasingly problematic) “two‐state” solution but also the contested (but perhaps more productive) “one‐state” solution.The one‐state solution has tended to involve a secular approach, for example, the binational variety emblematized by Edward Said, or, alternatively, a nonbinary democratic state where equal citizenship is not contingent on distinct forms of identity. However, the untapped promise of the one‐state solution could be better actualized with ingredients for the construction of citizenship that, in a real, spiritual sense, transcend the limiting divisions of nationalism. Specifically, shared religious roots, including the modes of reconciliation integral to the three Abrahamic traditions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—most directly ensnared within the Israel/Palestine bind might offer a more fruitful basis for coexistence.
The Turkish–Armenian Rapprochment Processes: A Case Study Approach
Authors: Kalpakian Jack , Ipek Volkan 
Published: October 2011

AbstractUsing a case study approach, this study examines Turkish and Armenian attempts at constructing a more positive relationship. It argues that the two countries need to look at what binds them in a web of mutual responsibility toward each other as states first. The only legal link between the two countries is the Treaty of Kars, which updated an earlier treaty. Given that the TARC and the Turkish–Armenian accords were both failures, this article argues that Armenia and Turkey need to litigate their differences on the basis of their only binding agreement.
Megavoltage cone beam CT near surface dose measurements: potential implications for breast radiotherapy
Authors: Quinn Alexandra , Holloway Lois , Cutajar Dean , Hardcastle Nicholas , Rosenfeld Anatoly , Metcalfe Peter 
Published: October 2011

Purpose:Cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) is fast becoming standard on modern linear accelerators. CBCT increases the dose to regions within and outside the treatment field, potentially increasing secondary cancer induction and toxicity. This study quantified megavoltage (MV) CBCT skin dose and compared it to skin dose delivered during standard tangential breast radiotherapy.Method:Dosimetry was performed both in‐ and out‐of‐field using thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLDs) and a metal‐oxide‐semiconductor‐field‐effect‐transistor (MOSFET) detector specifically designed for skin dosimetry; these were placed superficially on a female anthropomorphic phantom.Results:The skin dose from a single treatment fraction ranged from 0.5 to 1.4 Gy on the ipsilateral breast, 0.031–0.18 Gy on the contralateral breast, and 0–0.02 Gy in the head and pelvic region. An 8 MU MV CBCT delivered a skin dose that ranged from 0.02 to 0.05 Gy in the chest region and was less than 0.01 Gy in the head and pelvis regions. One MV CBCT per fraction was found to increase the out‐of‐field skin dose from both the CBCT and the treatment fields by approximately 20%. The imaging dose as a percentage of treatment doses in the ipsilateral breast region was 3% for both dosimeters.Conclusion:Imaging increases the skin dose to regions outside the treatment field particularly regions immediately adjacent the target volume. This small extra dose to the breasts should be considered when developing clinical protocols and assessing dose for clinical trials.