bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
ENDOSCOPIC SUBMUCOSAL DISSECTION WITH SHEATH‐ASSISTED COUNTER TRACTION FOR EARLY GASTRIC CANCERS
Authors: Hijikata Yasutaka , Ogasawara Naotaka , Sasaki Makoto , Mizuno Mari , Masui Ryuta , Tokudome Kentaro , Iida Akihito , Miyashita Masayuki , Funaki Yasushi , Kasugai Kunio 
Published: March 2010

Aim:  Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) is associated with frequent complications, such as bleeding and perforation. The procedure is technically difficult, requires considerable skill and is longer than conventional endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR). Thus, non‐invasive tools and methods are needed to facilitate direct visualization of the submucosal layer during ESD.Methods:  An insulation‐tipped (IT) knife was inserted into one channel, and a conventional injection sheath was inserted to the other channel of a double‐channel fiberscope. The submucosal layer was lifted via a circumferential incision using the conventional injection sheath for visualizing cutting lines, and the submucosal layer under the lesion was directly dissected from the underlying muscularis propria.Results:  Sheath‐assisted traction resulted in successful ESD with en bloc resection in all 25 patients. Hemostasis and manipulation of blood vessels were uncomplicated and dissection was completed safely, without either bleeding or perforation. The movement of the sheath was not suppressed while lifting the submucosal layer and the IT knife could be moved freely, which allowed submucosal dissection independently of the sheath movement.Conclusion:  Sheath‐assisted traction ESD, using simple materials and methods, has several advantages over other standard traction methods. Our procedure is straightforward, safe, non‐invasive, cost‐effective and uses readily available instruments to enhance visualization of cutting lines.
Results of percutaneous transhepatic cholecystostomy for high surgical risk patients with acute cholecystitis
Authors: Chok Kenneth S. H. , Chu Ferdinand S. K. , Cheung Tan To , Lam Vincent W. T. , Yuen Wai Key , Ng Kelvin K. C. , Chan See Ching , Poon Ronnie T. P. , Yeung Chun , Lo Chung Mau , Fan Sheung Tat 
Published: March 2010

AbstractAim:  To assess the efficacy and safety of percutaneous transhepatic cholecystostomy (PTC) in treatment for acute cholecystitis in high surgical risk patients.Patients and methods:  A retrospective review was carried out from January 1999 to June 2007 on 23 patients, 11 males and 12 females, who underwent PTC for the management of acute cholecystitis at the Department of Surgery, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong, China. The mean age of the patients was 83. They all had either clinical or radiological evidence of acute cholecystitis and had significant pre‐morbid diseases. The median follow‐up period on them was 35 months.Results:  All the PTCs performed were technically successful. One patient died from procedure‐related haemoperitoneum, while 87% (n= 20) of all the patients had clinical resolution of sepsis by 20 h after PTC. Eight patients underwent elective cholecystectomy afterwards (62.5% with the laparoscopic approach). Eight patients had dislodgement of the PTC catheter and one of them developed recurrent acute cholecystitis 3 months after PTC. That patient was treated conservatively. Four patients died from their pre‐morbid conditions during the follow‐up period.Conclusion:  PTC was a safe and effective alternative for treating acute cholecystitis in this group of patients. Thirteen of them without elective cholecystectomy performed did not have recurrent acute cholecystitis after a single session of PTC. It may be considered as a definitive treatment for this group of patients.
Review of anatomy education in Australian and New Zealand medical schools
Authors: Craig Steven , Tait Noel , Boers David , McAndrew Darryl 
Published: March 2010

AbstractAnatomy instruction at Australian and New Zealand medical schools has been the subject of considerable debate recently. Many commentators have lamented the gradual devaluation of anatomy as core knowledge in medical courses. To date, much of this debate has been speculative or anecdotal and lacking reliable supporting data. To provide a basis for better understanding and more informed discussion, this study analyses how anatomy is currently taught and assessed in Australian and New Zealand medical schools.A mailed questionnaire survey was sent to each of the 19 Australian and 2 New Zealand medical schools, examining the time allocation, content, delivery and assessment of anatomy for the 2008 academic year.Nineteen of the 21 (90.5%) universities invited to participate completed the survey. There was considerable variability in the time allocation, content, delivery and assessment of anatomy in Australasian medical schools. The average total hours of anatomy teaching for all courses was 171 h (SD ± 116.7, range 56/560).Historical data indicate a major decline in anatomy teaching hours within medical courses in Australia and New Zealand. Our results reveal that as there is no national curriculum for anatomy instruction, the curriculum content, instruction methodology and assessment is highly variable between individual institutions. Such variability in anatomy teaching and assessment raises an important question: is there also variable depth of understanding of anatomy between graduates of different medical courses?
The need for patellar resurfacing in total knee arthroplasty: a literature review
Authors: Swan John D. , Stoney James D. , Lim Keith , Dowsey Michelle M. , Choong Peter F.M. 
Published: March 2010

AbstractThe controversy over whether or not to routinely resurface the patella during a total knee arthroplasty has persisted despite three decades of successful joint replacement procedures. Advocates for routine patellar resurfacing admit the occasional need for secondary patellar resurfacing and declare increased incidence of anterior knee pain in patients with non‐resurfaced patellae as a cause for worry. Surgeons that leave the patella unresurfaced cite avoidance of complications that include patellar fracture, avascular necrosis, patellar tendon injury and instability. This review discusses the available literature on patellar resurfacing through an evidence‐based analysis of randomized and pseudo‐randomized controlled trials and published meta‐analyses to date. The published literature seems to favour resurfacing the patellar routinely. Selective patellar resurfacing would be the ideal solution if sound pre‐operative criteria could be established. So far, a method for accurately predicting which patients can avoid patellar resurfacing has not been found. Future research looking at patellar resurfacing should concentrate on developing criteria for selecting those patients that would benefit from patellar resurfacing and those that would do as well without resurfacing, and thus, limiting potential surgical complications.
Functional and proteomic analysis of serum and cerebrospinal fluid derived from patients with traumatic brain injury: a pilot study
Authors: Cadosch Dieter , Thyer Matthew , Gautschi Oliver P. , Lochnit Günter , Frey Sönke P. , Zellweger René , Filgueira Luis , Skirving Allan P. 
Published: March 2010

AbstractBackground:  An enhanced fracture healing response has been reported in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). This has been attributed to circulating humoral factors that are thought to be proteins produced and released by the injured brain. However, these factors remain unknown. The aim of this study was to identify osteogenic factors in serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from TBI patients. This was carried out using in vitro proliferation assays with the human foetal osteoblastic 1.19 cell line (hFOB) combined with a novel proteomic approach.Methods:  Serum was collected from brain‐injured (n = 12) and non‐brain‐injured (n = 9) patients with a comorbid femur shaft fracture. Similarly, CSF was obtained from TBI (n = 7) and non‐TBI (n = 9) patients. The osteoinductive potential of these samples was determined by measuring the in vitro proliferation rate of hFOB cells. Highly osteogenic serum and CSF samples of TBI patients were chosen for protein analysis and were compared to those of non‐brain‐injured patients. A new hFOB cell‐based method was used to enrich the proteins in these samples, which had a functional affinity for these osteoprogenitor cells. These enriched protein fractions were mapped using two‐dimensional gel electrophoresis and protein imaging methods displaying serum and CSF proteins of brain‐injured and control subjects that had an affinity for human osteoprogenitor cells.Results:  Serum and CSF derived from brain‐injured patients demonstrated a greater osteoinductive potential (P < 0.05) than their non‐brain‐injured counterparts. Clear‐cut differences in the pattern of proteins in two‐dimensional gels were detected between TBI and control patients. Fourteen proteins were exclusively present in the serum of TBI patients, while other proteins were either up‐ or downregulated in samples collected from TBI patients (P < 0.05).Conclusion:  Osteoinductive factors are present in the serum and CSF of brain‐injured patients. These may include one or more of those proteins identified as having an affinity for osteoprogenitor cells that are either exclusively present or up‐ or downregulated in the serum and CSF of brain‐injured patients.
N‐methyl‐d‐aspartate, hyperpolarization‐activated cation current (Ih) and γ‐aminobutyric acid conductances govern the risk of epileptogenesis following febrile seizures in rat hippocampus
Authors: Ouardouz Mohamed , Lema Pablo , Awad Patricia N. , Di Cristo Graziella , Carmant Lionel 
Published: March 2010

AbstractFebrile seizures are the most common types of seizure in children, and are generally considered to be benign. However, febrile seizures in children with dysgenesis have been associated with the development of temporal lobe epilepsy. We have previously shown in a rat model of dysgenesis (cortical freeze lesion) and hyperthermia‐induced seizures that 86% of these animals developed recurrent seizures in adulthood. The cellular changes underlying the increased risk of epileptogenesis in this model are not known. Using whole cell patch‐clamp recordings from CA1 hippocampal pyramidal cells, we found a more pronounced increase in excitability in rats with both hyperthermic seizures and dysgenesis than in rats with hyperthermic seizures alone or dysgenesis alone. The change was found to be secondary to an increase in N‐methyl‐d‐aspartate (NMDA) receptor‐mediated excitatory postsynaptic currents (EPSCs). Inversely, hyperpolarization‐activated cation current was more pronounced in naïve rats with hyperthermic seizures than in rats with dysgenesis and hyperthermic seizures or with dysgenesis alone. The increase in GABAA‐mediated inhibition observed was comparable in rats with or without dysgenesis after hyperthermic seizures, whereas no changes were observed in rats with dysgenesis alone. Our work indicates that in this two‐hit model, changes in NMDA receptor‐mediated EPSCs may facilitate epileptogenesis following febrile seizures. Changes in the hyperpolarization‐activated cation currents may represent a protective reaction and act by damping the NMDA receptor‐mediated hyperexcitability, rather than converting inhibition into excitation. These findings provide a new hypothesis of cellular changes following hyperthermic seizures in predisposed individuals, and may help in the design of therapeutic strategies to prevent epileptogenesis following prolonged febrile seizures.
Evidence for the persistence of contextual fear memories following immediate extinction
Authors: Archbold Georgina E. B. , Bouton Mark E. , Nader Karim 
Published: March 2010

AbstractEvidence suggests that extinction, the suppression of a learned response to a Pavlovian signal that is produced by exposure to the signal alone after conditioning, is a consequence of new inhibitory learning. However, it has been proposed that extinction given immediately after conditioning reflects memory ‘erasure’. Using contextual fear conditioning, we examine the nature of extinction further using a novel behavioral paradigm that probes for the absence or presence of a memory. Rats received a context paired with one of three different shock intensities (0.8, 1.2 or 1.6 mA) and then received extinction either immediately (15 min) or after a delay (24 h). Spontaneous recovery was roughly equivalent in the immediate and delayed extinction groups when they were tested at 24 h after extinction. To further test the status of the original memory trace, we exploited the effect that only the first, but not second, learning of contextual fear requires N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate receptors (NMDArs) in the dorsal hippocampus [M.J. Sanders & M.S. Fanselow (2003)Neurobiology of Learning and Memory80,123–129]. Here we use this property of second learning to determine if memory of an immediately extinguished fear also persists. Rats received bilateral infusions of the NMDAr antagonist DL‐2‐amino‐5‐phosphonopentanoic acid into the dorsal hippocampus prior to training in a novel second context. Memory for the second learning is not affected by NMDAr blockade in either group, suggesting that the extinguished memory is not erased but inhibited. Overall, the results provide little evidence that extinction conducted immediately after conditioning destroys or erases the original memory trace.
Long‐term function after ileal pouch‐anal anastomosis –Function does not deteriorate with time
Authors: Wasmuth H. H. , Tranø G. , Midtgård T. M. , Wibe A. , Endreseth B. H. , Myrvold H. E. 
Published: March 2010

AbstractAim  There are conflicting reports regarding long term function after ileal pouch‐anal anastomosis (IPAA). The aim of the present prospective study was to investigate the influence of duration as an independent factor on long‐term function results.Method  Between 1984 and 2007, 315 patients underwent IPAA and were followed by a standardised interview and endoscopy protocol. There were 1802 interviews. Two hundred and thirty‐five patients had three or more visits and these data were analysed by Time‐Series‐Cross‐Section multivariate regression analysis. The mean time follow up was 12 years and the mean interval between visits was 34.5 months.Results  Mean frequency of defecation was 5.2 in the day and 0.55 at night. This did not change with time. Daytime and night incontinence occurred in 13% and 21%. There was no change in incontinence, urgency, soiling or perineal excoriation with time. After 24 years the cumulative incidence of pouchitis was 43.5%. Twenty patients had chronic pouchitis (6.3%).Conclusion  The interval from IPAA did not influence the long‐term functional outcome.
BqR‐Tree: A Data Structure for Flights and Walkthroughs in Urban Scenes with Mobile Elements
Authors: Pina J.L. , Seron F. , Cerezo E. 
Published: March 2010

AbstractBqR‐Tree, the data structure presented in this paper is an improved R‐Tree data structure based on a quadtree spatial partitioning which improves the rendering speed of the usual R‐trees when view‐culling is implemented, especially in urban scenes. The city is split by means of a spatial quadtree partition and the block is adopted as the basic urban unit. One advantage of blocks is that they can be easily identified in any urban environment, regardless of the origins and structure of the input data. The aim of the structure is to accelerate the visualization of complex scenes containing not only static but dynamic elements. The usefulness of the structure has been tested with low structured data, which makes its application appropriate to almost all city data. The results of the tests show that when using the BqR‐Tree structure to perform walkthroughs and flights, rendering times vastly improve in comparison to the data structures which have yielded best results to date, with average improvements of around 30%.
CLUSTERS: A MESMERISING MANTRA
Authors: TAYLOR MICHAEL 
Published: March 2010

ABSTRACTThis paper argues that the cluster model of local economic growth is model that became a message that is now a mantra. It is an approach that has extended its explanatory reach through the accretion of layers of contingency. The paper suggests seven major limitations that undermine the explanatory power of what is now a mesmeric policy prescription for local economic development. It neglects the imperatives of capitalism, underestimates of the impact of unequal power relations on business relationships, fails to incorporate time, fetishises proximity, treats entrepreneurship simplistically, promotes the chaotic concept of institutional thickness, and is limited by the chaotic concept of social capital. It is concluded that a more nuanced and empirically grounded approach to agglomerated local growth is needed and a set of research questions is suggested.
Exports and Profitability: First Evidence for German Manufacturing Firms
Authors: Fryges Helmut , Wagner Joachim 
Published: March 2010

AbstractUsing unique recently released nationally representative high‐quality longitudinal enterprise‐level data for Germany, this paper presents the first comprehensive evidence on the relationship between exports and profitability. It documents that the positive profitability differential of exporters compared to non‐exporters is statistically significant, though rather small, when observed firm characteristics and unobserved firm‐specific effects are controlled for. In contrast to nearly all empirical studies on the relationship between productivity and exports we do not find any evidence for self‐selection of more profitable firms into export markets. Due to the sampling frame of the data used we cannot test the hypothesis that firms which start exporting perform better in the years after the start than their counterparts which do not start. Instead, we use a newly developed continuous treatment approach and show that exporting improves the profitability almost over the whole range of the export–sales ratio. Only firms that generate 90 per cent and more of their total sales abroad do not benefit from exporting in terms of an increased rate of profit. This means that the usually observed higher productivity of exporters is not completely absorbed by the extra costs of exporting or by higher wages paid by internationally active firms.
Firms in International Trade: Importers’ and Exporters’ Heterogeneity in Italian Manufacturing Industry
Authors: Castellani Davide , Serti Francesco , Tomasi Chiara 
Published: March 2010

AbstractCombining data on structural characteristics and economic performance for a large sample of Italian firms with data on exporting and importing activity, we uncover evidence supporting recent theories on firm heterogeneity and international trade, together with some new facts. In particular, we find that importing is associated with substantial firm heterogeneity. First, we document that trade is more concentrated than employment and sales, and show that importing is even more concentrated than exporting both within sectors and along the sector‐ and country‐extensive margins. Second, while supporting the fact that firms involved in both are the best performers, we also find that firms involved only in importing activities perform better than those involved only in exporting. Our evidence suggests there is a strong self‐selection effect in the case of importers and the performance premia of internationalised firms correlate relatively more with the degree of geographical and sectoral diversification of imports.
Imports, Productivity and Origin Markets: The Role of Knowledge‐intensive Economies
Authors: Lööf Hans , Andersson Martin 
Published: March 2010

AbstractWe investigate the impact of international knowledge transfers on productivity at the firm level. The flow of knowledge across borders is measured through imports from different markets. Using a dynamic panel GMM estimation on Swedish manufacturing firms with 10 or more employees over the period 1997–2004, three important results emerge. First, there is an instantaneous positive effect of imports on productivity. Second, the evidence points towards a distinct role of imports from the G7 countries, which accounts for 80 per cent of global R&D. Third, sensitivity analyses show that G7 imports are also important for small and non‐affiliated firms.
Foreign Sourcing and Productivity: Evidence at the Firm Level
Authors: Fariñas José C. , Martín‐Marcos Ana 
Published: March 2010

AbstractThe objective of this paper is to explore the relationship between foreign sourcing and productivity at the firm level. To organise the empirical work, we rely on Antràs and Helpman’s model (2004), which predicts that high‐productivity firms engage in trade (foreign sourcing) and low‐productivity firms do not source abroad. The paper performs productivity comparisons between groups of firms sourcing abroad and firms which do not source abroad, applying non‐parametric procedures to a sample of Spanish manufacturing firms. Our results indicate the existence of large and significant differences in productivity between firms that source abroad and those that do not. The productivity premium of foreign sourcing firms is robust to other characteristics that are associated with firm productivity. Furthermore, the evidence reported is consistent with self‐selection of the most productive firms into the practice of sourcing abroad. The ex ante productivity distribution of firms that engage in foreign sourcing stochastically dominates the distribution of firms which do not source abroad. Finally, our estimates suggest that changing the intensity of foreign sourcing is a technology shifter for firms, and this has a direct impact on their total factor productivity.