bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Influence of Factor V Leiden on susceptibility to and outcome from critical illness: a genetic association study
Authors: Benfield Thomas , Ejrnæs Karen , Juul Klaus , Østergaard Christian , Helweg-Larsen Jannik , Weis Nina , Munthe-Fog Lea , Kronborg Gitte , Andersen Marianne Ring , Tybjærg-Hansen Anne , Nordestgaard Børge G , Garred Peter 
Published: March 2010

Abstract
Introduction
Disturbance of the pro-coagulatant and anti-coagulant balance is associated with a poor outcome from critical illness. The objective of this study is to determine whether the Factor V Leiden (FVL) mutation is associated with susceptibility to or death from critical illness.

Methods
A genetic association study involving four case cohorts comprising two Gram negative sepsis, one invasive pneumococcal disease and one intensive care unit cohort with a total of 1,249 patients. Controls were derived from a population-based cohort study (N = 8,147). DNA from patients and controls was genotyped for the FVL mutation.

Results
When all patients were investigated together no significant difference in the frequency of FVL mutation was observed compared with controls (odds ratio (OR), 1.03; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.83 to 1.29). However, when stratified among patients admitted to intensive care (N = 237), susceptibility and the likelihood of long-term death was influenced by the FVL mutation. In adjusted logistic regression analysis, FVL carriers had an increased risk of ICU admission compared to non-carriers (OR 1.62; 95% CI, 1.08 to 2.42). In adjusted Cox regression analysis, FVL carriers were at increased risk of long-term death compared to non-carriers (relative risk 1.78; 95% CI, 1.13 to 2.81). FVL carrier status did not predict either susceptibility to or outcome from Gram negative, Escherichia coli or Streptococcus pneumoniae sepsis.

Conclusions
Overall, the FVL mutation did not appear to increase the risk of admission due to severe invasive infections. Nevertheless, in the subgroup of patients admitted to intensive care an increased risk and a poorer long-term outcome for individuals with critical illness were observed for FVL mutation carriers.
Prognostic value of cell-free plasma DNA in patients with cardiac arrest outside the hospital: an observational cohort study
Authors: Arnalich Francisco , Menéndez Marta , Lagos Verónica , Ciria Enrique , Quesada Angustias , Codoceo Rosa , Vazquez Juan José , López-Collazo Eduardo , Montiel Carmen 
Published: March 2010

Abstract
Introduction
Many approaches have been examined to try to predict patient outcome after cardiopulmonary resuscitation. It has been shown that plasma DNA could predict mortality in critically ill patients but no data are available regarding its clinical value in patients after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. In this study we investigated whether plasma DNA on arrival at the emergency room may be useful in predicting the outcome of these patients.

Methods
We performed a prospective study of out-of-hospital patients with cardiac arrest who achieved return of spontaneous circulation after successful resuscitation. Cardiovascular co-morbidities and resuscitation history were recorded according to the Utstein Style. The outcome measures were 24 h and overall in-hospital mortality. Cell-free plasma DNA was measured by real-time quantitative PCR assay for the β-globin gene in blood samples drawn within two hours after the arrest. Descriptive statistics, multiple logistic regression analysis, and receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves were calculated.

Results
Eighty-five consecutive patients were analyzed with a median time to return of spontaneous circulation of 27 minutes (interquartile range (IQR) 18 to 35). Thirty patients died within 24 h and 58 died during the hospital course. Plasma DNA concentrations at admission were higher in non-survivors at 24 h than in survivors (median 5,520 genome equivalents (GE)/ml, vs 2810 GE/ml, P < 0.01), and were also higher in patients who died in the hospital than in survivors to discharge (median 4,150 GE/ml vs 2,460 GE/ml, P < 0.01). Lactate clearance at six hours was significantly higher in 24 h survivors (P < 0.05). The area under the ROC curves for plasma DNA to predict 24-hour mortality and in-hospital mortality were 0.796 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.701 to 0.890) and 0.652 (95% CI 0.533 to 0.770). The best cut-off value of plasma DNA for 24-h mortality was 4,340 GE/ml (sensitivity 76%, specificity 83%), and for in-hospital mortality was 3,485 GE/ml (sensitivity 63%, specificity 69%). Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that the risk of 24-h and of in-hospital mortality increased 1.75-fold and 1.36-fold respectively, for every 500 GE/ml increase in plasma DNA.

Conclusions
Plasma DNA levels may be a useful biomarker in predicting outcome after out-of hospital cardiac arrest.
Elderly patients undergoing mechanical ventilation in and out of intensive care units: a comparative, prospective study of 579 ventilations
Authors: Lieberman David , Nachshon Liat , Miloslavsky Oleg , Dvorkin Valery , Shimoni Avi , Zelinger Julian , Friger Michael , Lieberman Devora 
Published: March 2010

Abstract
Introduction
Many mechanically ventilated elderly patients in Israel are treated outside of intensive care units (ICUs). The decision as to whether these patients should be treated in ICUs is reached without clear guidelines. We therefore conducted a study with the aim of identifying triage criteria and factors associated with in-hospital mortality in this population.

Methods
All mechanically invasive ventilated elderly (65+) medical patients in the hospital were included in a prospective, non-interventional, observational study.

Results
Of the 579 ventilations, 283 (48.9%) were done in ICUs compared with 296 (51.1%) in non-ICU wards. The percentage of ICU ventilations in the 65 to 74, 75 to 84, and 85+ age groups was 62%, 45%, and 23%, respectively. The decision to ventilate in ICUs was significantly and independently influenced by age (Odds Ratio (OR) = 0.945, P < 0.001), and pre-hospitalization functional status by functional independence measure (FIM) scale (OR = 1.054, P < 0.001). In-hospital mortality was 53.0% in ICUs compared with 68.2% in non-ICU wards (P < 0.001), but the rate was not independently and significantly affected by hospitalization in ICUs.

Conclusions
In Israel, most elderly patients are ventilated outside ICUs and the percentage of ICU ventilations decreases as age increases. In our study groups, the lower mortality among elderly patients ventilated in ICUs is related to patient characteristics and not to their treatment in ICUs per se. Although the milieu in which this study was conducted is uncommon today in the western world, its findings point to possible means of managing future situations in which the demand for mechanical ventilation of elderly patients exceeds the supply of intensive care beds. Moreover, the findings of this study can contribute to the search for ways to reduce costs without having a negative effect on outcome in ventilated elderly patients.
Depopulation, Fascism, and Eugenics in 1930s Argentina
Authors: Reggiani Andrés H. 
Published: March 2010

Abstract
The article explores the reception of eugenics in Argentina in the 1930s. It aims, first, to place eugenics as a topic of expert and public concern against the background of the “demographic fears” associated with the decline of the birthrate among the white population and the closing of European immigration that followed the world depression. Second, it underscores the role played by Italian and German cultural and scientific transnational networks in the reception and dissemination of medical ideas of race improvement. Based upon previously overlooked sources of the Prussian state archives, the essay seeks to revise conventional “neo-Lamarckian” explanations about Latin America’s (and Argentina’s) alleged immunity to negative eugenics. By examining the activities of the Asociación de Biotipología, the debates of the Second Pan-American Conference on Eugenics, and the academic exchanges fostered by the Deutsche-Iberoamerikanische Ärzteakademie, the article argues that Argentine medical practitioners were much more receptive to eugenic sterilization than previously claimed. As they made great efforts to separate it from other “unscientific” forms of racism, they lent credibility to practices which, as recent research has shown, many of them had adopted on allegedly therapeutic grounds.
Complexity and Whole-System Change Programmes
Authors: Dattée Brice , Barlow James 
Published: March 2010

Objective There has been growing interest in applying complexity theory to health care systems, both in policy and academic research discourses. However, its application often lacks rigour - authors discuss the properties of complex systems, state that they apply to health care and draw conclusions anchored around the idea of ‘whole system change’. This paper explores the use of whole systems change in a programme to improve the delivery of unscheduled health care in Scotland. Methods Qualitative case-studies of five health boards in Scotland reflecting different demographics, initial performance data and progress towards meeting programme targets. Results The programme's collaborative approach was successful in moving to a culture of mutual understanding and greater awareness of the interdependencies between different functions within the hospitals. There was whole system working at the acute hospital level, leading to improved patient flows. But despite recognizing the need for whole system change overall, it proved hard to address relationships with stakeholders influencing wider out-of-hospital patient flows. This was exacerbated by the structure of the programme, which was designed much more around acute patient flows. Conclusions The programme worked well to improve performance by focusing on interdependencies within a large part of the acute care subsystem but did not have the same impact at the overall health care system level. This has important implications for the design of policy and associated programmes which seek to effect whole system reform, or at least are realistic about the magnitude of change they can achieve.
Sex Redefined: The Reclassification Of Oral‐Genital Contact
Authors: Hans Jason D. , Gillen Martie , Akande Katrina 
Published: March 2010

CONTEXT: Although partially anecdotal, some evidence suggests that oral‐genital contact is increasingly excluded from young people's notions of what behaviors constitute sex. Such a shift may have implications for STD prevention.
METHODS: In 2007, a convenience sample of 477 university students participated in a survey that included the question “Would you say you ‘had sex’ with someone if the most intimate behavior you engaged in was” each of 11 behaviors. Chi‐square tests and independent samples t tests were used to assess gender differences, and chi‐square analyses were used to compare the data with similar data collected in 1991. Predictors of beliefs concerning the classification of oral‐genital contact were assessed using logistic regression analysis.
RESULTS: The majority of respondents indicated that penile‐vaginal intercourse and penile‐anal intercourse constitute sex (98% and 78%, respectively), but only about 20% believed the same was true of oral‐genital contact. The proportion classifying oral‐genital contact as sex in 2007 was about half that in 1991. This difference was consistent for both sexes and for both giving and receiving oral‐genital stimulation. Responses did not vary by respondents’ sexual experience or demographic characteristics.
CONCLUSIONS: Sociocultural conceptualizations of oral‐genital contact have shifted in a way that may leave people who engage in this activity unmindful of its potential health risks. Sex education programs, which generally focus on penile‐vaginal contact, could help STD prevention efforts by explaining the risks associated with oral‐genital stimulation and the measures that can be taken to minimize those risks.
Medicaid Funding for Abortion: Providers’ Experiences with Cases Involving Rape, Incest and Life Endangerment
Authors: Kacanek Deborah , Dennis Amanda , Miller Kate , Blanchard Kelly 
Published: March 2010

CONTEXT: The Hyde Amendment bans federal Medicaid funding for abortion in the United States except if a pregnancy resulted from rape or incest or endangers the life of the woman. Some evidence suggests that providers do not always receive Medicaid reimbursement for abortions that should qualify for funding.
METHODS: From October 2007 to February 2008, semistructured in‐depth interviews about experiences with Medicaid reimbursement for qualifying abortions were conducted with 25 respondents representing abortion providers in six states. A thematic analysis approach was used to explore respondents’ knowledge of and experiences seeking Medicaid reimbursement for qualifying abortions, as well as individual, clinical and structural influences on reimbursement. The numbers of qualifying cases that were and were not reimbursed were assessed.
RESULTS: More than half of Medicaid‐eligible cases reported by respondents in the past year were not reimbursed. Respondents reported that filing for reimbursement takes excessive staff time and is hampered by bureaucratic claims procedures and ill‐informed Medicaid staff, and that reimbursements are small. Many had stopped seeking Medicaid reimbursement and relied on nonprofit abortion funds to cover procedure costs. Respondents reporting receiving reimbursement said that streamlined forms, a statewide education intervention and a legal intervention to ensure that Medicaid reimbursed claims facilitated the process.
CONCLUSIONS: The policy governing federal funding of abortion is inconsistently implemented. Eliminating administrative burdens, educating providers about women’s rights to obtain Medicaid reimbursement for abortion in certain circumstances and holding Medicaid accountable for reimbursing qualifying cases are among the steps that may facilitate Medicaid reimbursement for qualifying abortions.
Spanish articles in Correntinean Guaraní: a comparison with Paraguayan Guaraní
Authors: Cerno Leonardo 
Published: March 2010

Abstract
This contribution offers a comparison between the usage of borrowed Spanish articles into two dialects of the Guaraní language spoken by mestizos in South America: Paraguayan Guaraní, spoken in Paraguay, and Correntinean Guaraní, spoken in the Argentinean province of Corrientes. With respect to the Paraguayan dialect, the presence of the definite feminine Spanish la and definite plural lo (> Sp. los ) has been attested early on by scholars (Gregores & Suárez 1967, Morínigo 1990, Thun 2006). On the other hand, borrowed articles in Correntinean Guaraní shape a more complex repertoire, including both definite masculine el, feminine la, and definite plural lo, as well as indefinites un and una. This article makes a comparative analysis of the usage of borrowed articles in both varieties. It also provides an overview of the historical and sociolinguistic background of both the Correntinean and Paraguayan varieties.
Lexical evidence for a redefinition of Paraguayan “Jopara”
Authors: Dietrich Wolf 
Published: March 2010

Abstract
Paraguay is characterized by a specific kind of bilingualism. More than 90% of the population does not use, in colloquial situations, only one of the official languages of the country, Spanish or Guaraní, but both of them in the same discourse. Continuous code switching is the main characteristic of this phenomenon, called “Jopara”. The article discusses the problem of the nature of this phenomenon and, moreover, gives lexical examples of the partial convergence of the two languages in contact. Speakers of Jopara distinguish the two linguistic systems, but are not always aware of the origin of some specific lexical items.
Searching for Recursive Causal Structures in Multivariate Quantitative Genetics Mixed Models
Authors: Valente Bruno D , Rosa Guilherme J M , de los Campos Gustavo , Gianola Daniel , Silva Martinho A 
Published: March 2010

Abstract
Biology is characterized by complex interactions between phenotypes, such as recursive and simultaneous relationships between substrates and enzymes in biochemical systems. Structural equation models (SEMs) can be used to study such relationships in multivariate analyses, e.g., with multiple traits in a quantitative genetics context. Nonetheless, the number of different recursive causal structures that can be used for fitting a SEM to multivariate data can be huge, even when only a few traits are considered. In recent applications of SEMs in mixed-model quantitative genetics settings, causal structures were preselected on the basis of prior biological knowledge alone. Therefore, the wide range of possible causal structures has not been properly explored. Alternatively, causal structure spaces can be explored using algorithms that, using data-driven evidence, can search for structures that are compatible with the joint distribution of the variables under study. However, the search cannot be performed directly on the joint distribution of the phenotypes as it is possibly confounded by genetic covariance among traits. In this article we propose to search for recursive causal structures among phenotypes using the inductive causation (IC) algorithm after adjusting the data for genetic effects. A standard multiple-trait model is fitted using Bayesian methods to obtain a posterior covariance matrix of phenotypes conditional to unobservable additive genetic effects, which is then used as input for the IC algorithm. As an illustrative example, the proposed methodology was applied to simulated data related to multiple traits measured on a set of inbred lines.
The Drosophila Planar Polarity Proteins Inturned and Multiple Wing Hairs Interact Physically and Function Together
Authors: Lu Qiuheng , Yan Jie , Adler Paul N 
Published: March 2010

Abstract
The conserved frizzled (fz) pathway regulates planar cell polarity in both vertebrate and invertebrate animals. This pathway has been most intensively studied in the wing of Drosophila, where the proteins encoded by pathway genes all accumulate asymmetrically. Upstream members of the pathway accumulate on the proximal, distal, or both cell edges in the vicinity of the adherens junction. More downstream components including Inturned and Multiple Wing Hairs accumulate on the proximal side of wing cells prior to hair initiation. The Mwh protein differs from other members of the pathway in also accumulating in growing hairs. Here we show that the two Mwh accumulation patterns are under different genetic control with the early proximal accumulation being regulated by the fz pathway and the latter hair accumulation being largely independent of the pathway. We also establish recruitment by proximally localized Inturned to be a putative mechanism for the localization of Mwh to the proximal side of wing cells. Genetically inturned (in) acts upstream of mwh (mwh) and is required for the proximal localization of Mwh. We show that Mwh can bind to and co-immunoprecipitate with Inturned. We also show that these two proteins can function in close juxtaposition in vivo. An In∷Mwh fusion protein provided complete rescue activity for both in and mwh mutations. The fusion protein localized to the proximal side of wing cells prior to hair formation and in growing hairs as expected if protein localization is a key for the function of these proteins.
Degradation of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae Mating-Type Regulator α1: Genetic Dissection of Cis-determinants and Trans-acting Pathways
Authors: Nixon Christina E , Wilcox Alexander J , Laney Jeffrey D 
Published: March 2010

Abstract
Mating phenotype in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a dynamic trait, and efficient transitions between alternate haploid cell types allow the organism to access the advantageous diploid form. Mating identity is determined by cell type-specific transcriptional regulators, but these factors must be rapidly removed upon mating-type switching to allow the master regulators of the alternate state to establish a new gene expression program. Targeted proteolysis by the ubiquitin–proteasome system is a commonly employed strategy to quickly disassemble regulatory networks, and yeast use this approach to evoke efficient switching from the α to the a phenotype by ensuring the rapid removal of the α2 transcriptional repressor. Transition to the a cell phenotype, however, also requires the inactivation of the α1 transcriptional activator, but the mechanism by which this occurs is currently unknown. Here, we report a central role for the ubiquitin–proteasome system in α1 inactivation. The α1 protein is constitutively short lived and targeted for rapid turnover by multiple ubiquitin-conjugation pathways. Intriguingly, the α-domain, a conserved region of unknown function, acts as a degradation signal for a pathway defined by the SUMO-targeted ligase Slx5–Slx8, which has also been implicated in the rapid destruction of α2. Our observations suggest coordinate regulation in the turnover of two master regulatory transcription factors ensures a rapid mating-type switch.
Benign Neonatal Sleep Myoclonus: A Review of the Literature
Authors: Maurer Valeria O. , Rizzi Mattia , Bianchetti Mario G. , Ramelli Gian Paolo 
Published: March 2010

OBJECTIVE:Neurologically normal term infants sometimes present with repetitive, rhythmic myoclonic jerks that occur during sleep. The condition, which is traditionally resolved by 3 months of age with no sequelae, is termed benign neonatal sleep myoclonus. The goal of this review was to synthesize the published literature on benign neonatal sleep myoclonus.METHODS:The US National Library of Medicine database and the Web-based search engine Google, through June 2009, were used as data sources. All articles published after the seminal description in 1982 as full-length articles or letters were collected. Reports that were published in languages other than English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, or Spanish were not considered.RESULTS:We included 24 reports in which 164 term-born (96%) or near-term–born (4%) infants were described. Neonatal sleep myoclonus occurred in all sleep stages, disappeared after arousal, and was induced by rocking the infant or repetitive sound stimuli. Furthermore, in affected infants, jerks stopped or even worsened by holding the limbs or on medication with antiepileptic drugs. Finally, benign neonatal sleep myoclonus did not resolve by 3 months of age in one-third of the infants.CONCLUSIONS:This review provides new insights into the clinical features and natural course of benign neonatal sleep myoclonus. The most significant limitation of the review comes from the small number of reported cases.