bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Variables Influencing Outcome of Helicobacter pylori Eradication Therapy in South China
Authors: Cai Wenzhi , Zhou Liping , Ren Wei , Deng Ling , Yu Min 
Published: September 2009

AbstractBackground:  Therapy combining a proton pump inhibitor (PPI), clarithromycin and either amoxicillin or metronidazole is widely recommended for first‐line treatment for Helicobacter pylori infection. The purpose of this study was to examine the outcomes of PPI‐containing triple therapy and identify factors influencing the cure rate of H. pylori infection in South China.Materials and Methods:  H. pylori positive patients with different occupations from 25 hospitals in five provinces of South China were enrolled. They received a PPI, metronidazole and amoxicillin triple therapy for a week. H. pylori eradication was evaluated by 13C‐urea breath test 4 weeks after therapy. Association between H. pylori eradication with occupation, gender, age, educational level, and protocol compliance was evaluated by Logistic regression.Results:  Six hundred and seventy‐five were enrolled. The intention‐to‐treat and per‐protocol analyses showed overall cure rates of 60% (95% CI = 56.3–63.7%) and 64.5% (95% CI = 60.7–68.3%), respectively. Multivariate logistic regression showed that occupation, gender and protocol compliance were positively associated with the eradication rate (p < .01). The cure rate for those who took 80% or more of the prescribed drugs was 64.5% (95% CI = 60.7–68.3%) versus 14.6% (95% CI = 6–29%, p < .001) for those who took less. Lower eradication rates were also observed in farmers and women.Conclusions:  The eradication rate with a PPI, metronidazole and amoxicillin triple therapy was unacceptably low in South China. These results suggest that studies of the eradication of H. pylori infection in China must take into account antibiotic resistance as well as patient occupation, gender, and protocol compliance. Gastric cancer and peptic ulcer disease are both important in China making methods to effectively and efficiently eradicate H. pylori a priority.
Reviews: Use of Warfarin in People with Low Glomerular Filtration Rate or on Dialysis
Authors: Holden Rachel M. , Clase Catherine M. 
Published: September 2009

AbstractAtrial fibrillation, venous thromboembolism, and access malfunction are common clinical problems in dialysis patients that prompt consideration of warfarin therapy. Atrial fibrillation appears to be more common in people with low glomerular filtration rate (GFR) or on dialysis than in the general population, but the risk of stroke in this population is not known. No randomized trials have addressed the safety and efficacy of warfarin in these patients. Deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism are also more common in this population and, again, no randomized trials have addressed the safety and efficacy of warfarin in this group. Pending such information, we suggest an approach that generalizes from large randomized controlled trials in the general population, modifying the assessment of risks and benefits for individual patients using the CHADS2 and HEMORR2HAGES scores. A single randomized trial reported a clinically important benefit in prevention of catheter malfunction from warfarin and low‐molecular weight heparin started within 12 hours of catheter insertion, in the prevention of catheter thrombosis, in people treated with ticlopidine. Trials of low‐intensity anticoagulation for people with grafts and of fixed 1 mg daily warfarin dosing in people with catheters showed no benefit. Warfarin substantially increases the risk of bleeding in patients on dialysis. It is possible that it may contribute also to accelerated vascular calcification. Large randomized studies are needed to assess the risk–benefit ratio of warfarin in people with low GFR or on dialysis for a range of indications.
Disparities in epilepsy: Report of a systematic review by the North American Commission of the International League Against Epilepsy
Authors: Burneo Jorge G. , Jette Nathalie , Theodore William , Begley Charles , Parko Karen , Thurman David J. , Wiebe Samuel ,   for the Task Force on Disparities in Epilepsy Care, on behalf of the North American Commission of the International League Against Epilepsy
Published: September 2009

SummaryPurpose:  We undertook a systematic review of the evidence on disparities in epilepsy with a focus on North American data (Canada, United States, and the English‐speaking Caribbean).Methods:  We identified and evaluated: access to and outcomes following medical and surgical treatment, disability, incidence and prevalence, and knowledge and attitudes. An exhaustive search (1965–2007) was done, including: (1) disparities by socioeconomic status (SES), race/ethnicity, age, or education of subgroups of the epilepsy population; or (2) disparities between people with epilepsy (PWE) and healthy people or with other chronic illnesses.Results:  From 1,455 citations, 278 eligible abstracts were identified and 44 articles were reviewed. Comparative research data were scarce in all areas. PWE have been shown to have lower education and employment status; among PWE, differences in access to surgery have been shown by racial/ethnic groups. Aboriginals, women, and children have been shown to differ in use of health resources. Poor compliance has been shown to be associated with lower SES, insufficient insurance, poor relationship with treating clinicians, and not having regular responsibilities.Discussion:  Comprehensive, comparative research on all aspects of disparities in epilepsy is needed to understand the causes of disparities and the development of any policies aimed at addressing health disparities and minimizing their impact.
Real‐time differentiation of nonconvulsive status epilepticus from other encephalopathies using quantitative EEG analysis: A pilot study
Authors: Zhang Jicong , Xanthopoulos Petros , Liu Chang‐Chia , Bearden Scott , Uthman Basim M. , Pardalos Panos M. 
Published: September 2009

SummaryPurpose:  Distinguishing nonconvulsive status epilepticus (NCSE) from some nonepileptic encephalopathies is a challenging problem. In many situations, NCSE and nonepileptic encephalopathies are indistinguishable by clinical symptoms and can produce very similar electroencephalography (EEG) patterns. Misdiagnosis or delay to diagnosis of NCSE may increase the rate of morbidity and mortality.Methods:  We developed a fast‐differentiating algorithm using quantitative EEG analysis to distinguish NCSE patients from patients with toxic/metabolic encephalopathy (TME). EEG recordings were collected from 11 patients, including 6 with NCSE and 5 with TME. Three nonlinear dynamic measures were used in the proposed algorithm: the maximum short‐term Lyapunov exponent (STLmax), phase of attractor (phase/angular frequency), and approximate entropy (ApEn). A further refined metric derived from STLmax and phase of attractor (the mean distance to EEG epoch samples from their centroid in the feature space) was also utilized as a criterion. Paired t tests were carried out to further clarify the separation between the EEG patterns of NCSE and TME.Results:  Computational results showed that the performance of the proposed algorithm was sufficient to distinguish NCSE from TME. The results were consistent in all subjects in our study.Conclusions:  The study presents evidence that the maximum short‐term Lyapunov exponents (STLmax) and phase of attractors (phase/angular frequency) can be useful in assisting clinical diagnosis of NCSE. Findings presented in this article provide a promising indication that the proposed algorithm may correctly distinguish NCSE from TME. Although the exact mechanism of this association remains unknown, the authors suggest that epileptic activity is highly associated with and can be modeled by dynamic systems.
Stimulus‐induced seizure in sick neonates—Novel observations with potential clinical implications
Authors: Takenouchi Toshiki , Yap Vivien L. , Engel Murray , Perlman Jeffrey M. 
Published: September 2009

SummaryStimulus‐induced seizure is a well‐described entity in children and adults and is often associated with severe epilepsy and neurologic impairment. The occurrence and clinical expression of stimulus‐induced seizure in three sick neonates is described. The cohort comprised 26 neonates undergoing continuous video‐electroencephalography (vEEG) monitoring between July and December 2007. Three cases (11.5%) of stimulus‐induced seizure were identified. The underlying injury included stroke (n = 2) and intraventricular hemorrhage (n = 1). Seizures were induced by physical stimuli such as stroking the forehead, movements, (i.e., starting to feed), and one during endotracheal suctioning. Stimulus‐evoked electrographic patterns have been reported in neonates with brain injury; however, these events appear to be more common than previously thought, especially with the abundance of subclinical seizures observed in these patients. These observations stress the usefulness of vEEG monitoring and importance of care to avoid unnecessary stimuli in at‐risk neonates.
Repatriation and the Reconstruction of Identity
Authors: Jacobs Jordan 
Published: September 2009

AbstractA proposed change to American repatriation law provides an opportunity to reexamine the assumptions on which the original statute was built. For their justification, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act and the National Museum of the American Indian Act rely on the supposition that bounded communities proceed through time along a unilinear path—a misconception stemming from both universal, identity‐forming processes and the discipline of archaeology itself. A case study involving the National Museum of the American Indian's 2003 repatriation of human remains to a rural village in Cuba demonstrates how various identities can manipulate the transfer of archaeological material to fit their own symbolic needs.
Evaluating Emergency Care Research Networks: What Are the Right Metrics?
Authors: Baren Jill M. , Middleton Melissa K. , Kaji Amy H. , O’Conner Robert E. , Lindsell Christopher , Weik Tasmeen Singh , Lewis Roger J. 
Published: September 2009

AbstractResearch networks can enable the inclusion of large, diverse patient populations in different settings. However, the optimal measures of a research network’s failure or success are not well defined or standardized. To define a framework for metrics used to measure the performance and effectiveness of emergency care research networks (ECRN), a conference for emergency care investigators, funding agencies, patient advocacy groups, and other stakeholders was held and yielded the following major recommendations: 1) ECRN metrics should be measurable, explicitly defined, and customizable for the multiple stakeholders involved and 2) continuing to develop and institute metrics to evaluate ECRNs will be critical for their accountability and sustainability.
A Shaman's Cure: The Relationship Between Altered States of Consciousness and Shamanic Healing1
Authors: SIDKY H. 
Published: September 2009

ABSTRACTThis study, which is based upon ethnographic data collected between 1999 and 2008 in Nepal, examines the connection between the shaman's altered states of consciousness (ASC; i.e., what goes on inside the healer's mind/brain) and therapeutic changes that take place in the patient's mind/body. Unlike other studies that primarily emphasize the shaman's internal psychological state, this article attempts to explain the role of the healer's ASC and elucidate how desired therapeutic changes depend upon patient–healer interactions. This question is explored in the context of a healing ritual highlighting various aspects of the cosmology of Nepalese shamans.
Non‐transferrin bound labile plasma iron and iron overload in Sickle Cell Disease: a comparative study between Sickle Cell Disease and β thalassemic patients
Authors: Koren Ariel , Fink Daniel , Admoni Osnat , Tennenbaum‐Rakover Yardena , Levin Carina 
Published: September 2009

AbstractBackground:  Blood transfusions are the standard of care in β thalassemia and transfusions are also indicated in sickle cell disease (SCD) patients with hypersplenism, recurrent vaso‐occlusive crises and for stroke prevention. Iron overload caused by blood transfusions in thalassemia and in SCD may affect morbidity and mortality. Recent studies of iron overload in SCD suggest that the biologic features of SCD and the chronic inflammatory state may protect SCD patients from iron damage.Designs and methods:  In view of the controversy regarding the effect of iron overload in patients with SCD we studied the iron status, including non‐transferrin bound iron (NTBI) and labile plasma iron (LPI) levels in a cohort of 36 SCD patients and compare the results with 43 thalassemia patients.Results:  Our results indicate that none of the SCD patients had clinical symptoms of iron overload. Only two SCD patients had NTBI values in the gray zone (0.4 units) and none had positive values. By contrast, 14 patients with thalassemia major and three with thalassemia intermedia had NTBI values above 0.6, level that are in the positive pathological range. Similarly, four thalassemia patients, but only one SCD patient had positive LPI levels.Conclusions:  The parameters of iron status in SCD patients, even after frequent transfusions are different when compared to patients with thalassemia. The low NTBI and LPI levels found in patients with SCD are in keeping with the absence of clinical signs of iron overload in this disease.
EVALUATION OF CORD FORMATION IN KINYOUN‐STAINED SMEARS OF MGIT CULTURES AS A RAPID IDENTIFICATION METHOD FOR MYCOBACTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS COMPLEX
Authors: SUN JUN‐REN , HSIEH SHAN‐SHAN , LEE SHIH‐YI , LU JANG‐JIH 
Published: September 2009

ABSTRACT Tuberculosis (TB) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. One hundred and nineteen acid‐fast bacilli‐positive smears for Mycobacterium Growth Indicator Tube cultures from 119 patients were examined by microscopy for the presence of cord formation. The results were compared with those of the traditional TB identification method, IS6110 polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and the Capilia TB assay which uses a monoclonal antibody to identify. With the traditional TB identification method, 57 of these 119 specimens were determined to be positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, and the organisms in the remaining 62 specimens were identified as non‐tuberculosis mycobacteria (NTM). Both IS6110 PCR and the Capilia TB assay yielded results identical to those of the traditional method with 57 true TB and 62 NTM. For the cord formation assay, all 62 NTM cultures were negative, but 54 of the 57 true TB cultures were positive. Therefore, the cord formation method had a sensitivity of 94.74% (54/57), specificity of 100% (62/62), negative predictive value of 95.38% (62/65) and positive predictive value of 100% (54/54) for identification of M. tuberculosis complex. The cord formation method is less expensive and 3–5 weeks quicker than the biochemical tests in the identification of M. tuberculosis.PRACTICAL APPLICATIONSDue to the slow growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacilli, delays in the detection of TB infection may occur in clinical TB laboratories when only conventional methods for recovery of mycobacteria are used. This problem can be supported by other techniques, such as cord formation in Kinyoun‐stained smears of Mycobacterium Growth Indicator Tube cultures and molecular biology‐based systems, which can be used in combination to obtain accurate results in a much shorter period of time.
FLUORESCENT MEASUREMENTS OF DNA, RNA AND PROTEINS TO PERFORM COMPARATIVE ANALYSES OF MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES FROM THE ENVIRONMENTS
Authors: PORTILLO M. CARMEN , GONZALEZ JUAN M. 
Published: September 2009

ABSTRACT Simple and rapid methods for the quantification of DNA, RNA and proteins using specific fluorescent dyes are proposed for the comparison and monitoring of microbial communities from the environment. The purpose of this study was the use of straightforward in situ methods which voided the need for preservation of samples and the risk of potential degradation and quantitative changes during transportation. Aside from this, methods used to obtain information on environmental microbial communities are generally time‐consuming and present certain difficulty above all when working on solid substrates such as soils and rocks. New generation fluorescent dyes that bind specifically to DNA, RNA and proteins allow simple and rapid estimates of these biomolecules in crude environmental samples.PRACTICAL APPLICATIONSMonitoring the metabolic state of microbial communities on different substrates and environments is a requirement for comparing samples and assessing the participation of microorganisms in a variety of processes. Solid substrates are not easily analyzed by microscopic techniques and they require long processing times and tedious work. Aside from this, only a minor fraction (<1%) of microorganisms in most natural environments can be cultured in standard microbiological media (Ward et al. 1990). Other studies using incorporation of labeled substrates to approach activity rates or biomolecule extractions represent complex and long procedures during environmental studies.In order to evaluate microbial communities in a variety of substrates and environments, rapid and simple methods are proposed by measuring DNA, RNA and/or proteins using specific fluorescent dyes, without a need for prior purification, from crude solid samples.
Beyond Brahmanical Asceticism: Recent and Emerging Models of Female Hindu Asceticisms in South Asia
Authors: DeNapoli Antoinette 
Published: September 2009

AbstractIn the last 25 years, significant conceptual and interpretive shifts have occurred in the scholarship on asceticism in South Asia that broaden not only ‘what counts’ as asceticism, but also ‘who counts’ as an ascetic. Moreover, the recent surge of anthropological and ethnographic studies, particularly those focusing on female asceticism, has contributed innovative and alternative models of asceticism to the more dominant, Sanskritic literary model(s). This essay is an introductory survey of the literature on Hindu asceticism and has the following objectives: to discuss the text‐based structural studies on asceticism that have helped to shape the field and to present the recent and emerging scholarship on female Hindu asceticism that challenges and/or supplements the dominant Brahmanical textual model by illuminating the role of female‐centered social values and practices and ofbhaktitraditions in the constitution of gendered traditions of asceticism. This essay is intended as a preliminary research tool for scholars and students with which to navigate the topography of Hindu asceticism and to understand the crucial developments in the field that have changed the ways that scholars theorize both the category and phenomenon of asceticism in South Asia. Finally, it suggests some fruitful avenues for future research through consideration of ascetics’ performative practices as a strategy for creating non‐orthodox asceticism(s) as an alternative to the dominant and orthodox model.
Unique Molecular Characteristics of Pediatric Myxopapillary Ependymoma
Authors: Barton Valerie N. , Donson Andrew M. , Kleinschmidt‐DeMasters Bette K. , Birks Diane K. , Handler Michael H. , Foreman Nicholas K. 
Published: September 2009

AbstractMyxopapillary ependymoma (MEPN) generally can be cured by gross total surgical resection and usually manifest a favorable prognosis. However, surgery is less curative in tumors that are large, multifocal or extend outside the thecal sac. Late recurrences may occur, particularly in pediatric patients. The role of adjuvant therapy is unclear in the clinical management of recurrent tumors. Clinical trial design requires a better understanding of tumor biology. Unique molecular features of MEPN were investigated by using microarray technology to compare the gene expression of five pediatric MEPN to 24 pediatric intracranial ependymoma (EPN). The upregulation of three genes of interest, homeobox B13 (HOXB13), neurofilament, light polypeptide (NEFL) and PDGFRα, was further studied by immunohistochemistry in a larger cohort that included adult MEPN and EPN specimens. Protein expression in MEPN was compared to subependymoma, spinal EPN, intracranial EPN and normal fetal and adult ependyma. Immunoreactivity for HOXB13, NEFL and PDGFRα was strongest in MEPN and virtually absent in subependymoma. Spinal and intracranial EPN generally expressed weak or focal staining. MEPN manifests unique gene and protein expression patterns compared to other EPNs. Aberrant expression of HOXB13 suggests possible recapitulation of developmental pathways in MEPN tumorigenesis. PDGFRα may be a potential therapeutic target in recurrent MEPN.
THE SENSITIVITY OF SOUTH AFRICAN INFLATION EXPECTATIONS TO SURPRISES
Authors: Reid Monique 
Published: September 2009

AbstractPrice stability is widely recognised as the primary goal of modern monetary policy, and the management of private sector inflation expectations has become an essential channel through which this goal is achieved. This evaluation aims to improve the understanding of how the sensitivity of private sector inflation expectations to macroeconomic surprises in South Africa compares internationally, as this provides an indication of the contribution of monetary policy in South Africa to anchoring inflation expectations. If a central bank is credible, the financial markets should react less sensitively to macroeconomics surprises, because they trust the central bank to manage these incidents and achieve the objectives they communicated over the medium to long term. In this paper, the methodology of Gurkaynack et al. is adopted in order to measure the sensitivity of South African inflation expectations to surprises. A comparison of South Africa's results with those of countries in the original studies supports the contention that the SARB (South African Reserve Bank) has encouraged inflation expectations to be relatively insensitive to macroeconomic surprises, and offers support for the inflation‐targeting framework as a means to help anchor inflation expectations.
LIBERALISING TRADE IN SOUTH AFRICA: A SURVEY OF COMPUTABLE GENERAL EQUILIBRIUM STUDIES
Authors: Mabugu Ramos , Chitiga Margaret 
Published: September 2009

AbstractThis paper reviews applications of computable general equilibrium models to trade liberalisation in South Africa. It focuses on economic structure, data, macroeconomic closure and results of the models. The models project that trade liberalisation has had small positive impacts on growth. Poverty and inequality outcomes are less clear cut and depend on the model used. Models with fully integrated micro data find that poverty has worsened slightly while inequality has risen. Aggregated models predict that poverty has been reduced by small amounts. Dynamic models report rising inequality but falling poverty incidence. The paper identifies areas for future research.