bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Residential Segregation and the Availability of Primary Care Physicians
Authors: Gaskin Darrell J. , Dinwiddie Gniesha Y. , Chan Kitty S. , McCleary Rachael R. 
Published: April 2012

ObjectiveTo examine the association between residential segregation and geographic access to primary care physicians (PCPs) in metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs).Data SourcesWe combined zip code level data on primary care physicians from the 2006 American Medical Association master file with demographic, socioeconomic, and segregation measures from the 2000 U.S. Census. Our sample consisted of 15,465 zip codes located completely or partially in an MSA.MethodsWe defined PCP shortage areas as those zip codes with no PCP or a population to PCP ratio of >3,500. Using logistic regressions, we estimated the association between a zip code's odds of being a PCP shortage area and its minority composition and degree of segregation in its MSA.Principal FindingsWe found that odds of being a PCP shortage area were 67 percent higher for majority African American zip codes but 27 percent lower for majority Hispanic zip codes. The association varied with the degree of segregation. As the degree of segregation increased, the odds of being a PCP shortage area increased for majority African American zip codes; however, the converse was true for majority Hispanic and Asian zip codes.ConclusionsEfforts to address PCP shortages should target African American communities especially in segregated MSAs.
Community Radio and the Tōhoku Earthquake
Authors: KANAYAMA TOMOKO 
Published: April 2012

AbstractThis article illustrates issues that community radio stations in the stricken area of Northern Japan have faced, and discusses the necessity of social collaboration for supporting these radio stations. As of 1 December 2011, the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications had granted permission to operate special emergency‐broadcast FM stations, providing earthquake‐related information, to residents of 27 communities in the Tōhoku and North Kanto regions. Ten such community stations have used existing FM radio frequencies in their community for emergency broadcasting while 15 local governments set up newly established community‐based radio stations by themselves, relying on: conventional community radio stations nationwide; national and international non‐profit organizations; and voluntarily organized civic groups. Despite playing such an important role, community radio stations themselves have struggled to survive, not because of damage caused by the disaster, but as a result of the current social system based upon economic stability. Many of these stations have faced financial problems, such as losing advertising revenue and funding needed for equipment damaged by the disaster. It has become more difficult, particularly for the stations newly set up, to produce a variety of programs when the operation becomes prolonged. As the community radio plays a vital role as a lifeline to provide disaster‐related information to residents, we need to establish a supportive system in society that allows community radio to function as intended.
Why the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster is a Man‐made Calamity
Authors: FUNABASHI HARUTOSHI 
Published: April 2012

AbstractThe Fukushima nuclear disaster caused by the earthquake on 11 March 2011 is a man‐made calamity because technological failures were derived from the failure of multiple social safeguards. The insufficient social safeguards can be explained by highlighting the “nuclear complex.” Institutional frameworks assured the enormous economic power of electric power companies and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). Using this power, the electric power companies effectively manipulated information, maintained strong political power and constructed the nuclear complex, which has imposed an overwhelming influence on the central sphere of control at a national level and has put economic profit before safety. Regulations for safety have not been insufficient because the organization charged with nuclear safety belongs to the nuclear complex. Consequently, Regulatory Guides concerning reactors defined by the government have not accounted for catastrophic accidents. Philosopher Mori Arimasa's concept of "binary combination" provides us with an insight into a profound sociological reason for the Fukushima nuclear disaster because it highlights the immaturity of subjectivity and the root of irresponsibility in Japanese society. Binary combination is defined as a relationship between two persons that is characterized by intimacy and a vertical relation. Binary combination tends to produce a group or organization that is closed to outsiders and often shows indifference as well as insensitivity to outside opinions. In order overcome the defects of energy policy as well as the decision‐making process, and to achieve a sustainable society, it is necessary to promote an energy paradigm shift and reforms for decision‐making through the enrichment of the public sphere.
Ultrasonographic fatty liver indicator, a novel score which rules out NASH and is correlated with metabolic parameters in NAFLD
Authors: Ballestri Stefano , Lonardo Amedeo , Romagnoli Dante , Carulli Lucia , Losi Luisa , Day Christopher P. , Loria Paola 
Published: April 2012

AbstractBackgroundDifferentiating steatosis from NASH is key in deciding treatment and follow‐up schedules. We hypothesized that sonographic grading of steatosis will correlate with metabolic and pathologic changes of NASH.MethodsFifty‐three non‐consecutive patients had a semi‐quantitative evaluation of hepatic steatosis through ultrasonographic Fatty Liver Indicator (US‐FLI) just prior to liver biopsy. All biopsies demonstrated NAFLD. US‐FLI is a new scoring system ranging 2–8 based on the intensity of liver/kidney contrast, posterior attenuation of ultrasound beam, vessel blurring, difficult visualization of gallbladder wall, difficult visualization of the diaphragm and areas of focal sparing. NAFLD is diagnosed by the minimum score ≥2. Ultrasonographic findings were correlated with metabolic and histological data. Inter‐observer US‐FLI score agreement, evaluated by three different operators in 31 consecutive patients with steatosis, showed “almost perfect/substantial” agreement (P < 0.001).ResultsUS‐FLI showed a positive correlation with HOMA, insulin, uric acid, ferritin, ALT and bilirubin and was associated with steatosis extent assessed histologically and histological features of NASH, except for fibrosis. US‐FLI was an independent predictor of NASH (OR 2.236; P = 0.007) and a US‐FLI < 4 had a high negative predictive value (94%) in ruling out the diagnosis of severe NASH according to Kleiner's criteria.ConclusionData confirm the hypothesis that US‐FLI significantly correlates with metabolic derangements and individual pathologic criteria for NASH and may better select patients for liver biopsy.
Perfusion Practices and Education of Perfusionists for Open Heart Surgery in Turkey—Current Practices and Future Suggestions
Authors: Onan Ismihan Selen , Yivli Perihan , Erkan Halime , Akçevin Atıf , Ündar Akif , Bakir Ihsan 
Published: April 2012

AbstractOur objective is to compare our current findings with the findings of our former study in 2004 and to make new suggestions for the development of cardiovascular perfusion in Turkey according to the results of the survey in 2011.
Abnormal structural and functional brain connectivity in gray matter heterotopia
Authors: Christodoulou Joanna A. , Walker Linsey M. , Del Tufo Stephanie N. , Katzir Tami , Gabrieli John D. E. , Whitfield‐Gabrieli Susan , Chang Bernard S. 
Published: April 2012

SummaryPurpose:  Periventricular nodular heterotopia (PNH) is a malformation of cortical development associated with epilepsy and dyslexia. Evidence suggests that heterotopic gray matter can be functional in brain malformations and that connectivity abnormalities may be important in these disorders. We hypothesized that nodular heterotopia develop abnormal connections and systematically investigated the structural and functional connectivity of heterotopia in patients with PNH.Methods:  Eleven patients were studied using diffusion tensor tractography and resting‐state functional connectivity MRI with bold oxygenation level–dependent (BOLD) imaging. Fiber tracks with a terminus within heterotopic nodules were visualized to determine structural connectivity, and brain regions demonstrating resting‐state functional correlations to heterotopic nodules were analyzed. Relationships between these connectivity results and measures of clinical epilepsy and cognitive disability were examined.Key Findings:  A majority of heterotopia (69%) showed structural connectivity to discrete regions of overlying cortex, and almost all (96%) showed functional connectivity to these regions (mean peak correlation coefficient 0.61). Heterotopia also demonstrated connectivity to regions of contralateral cortex, other heterotopic nodules, ipsilateral but nonoverlying cortex, and deep gray matter structures or the cerebellum. Patients with the longest durations of epilepsy had a higher degree of abnormal functional connectivity (p = 0.036).Significance:  Most heterotopic nodules in PNH are structurally and functionally connected to overlying cortex, and the strength of abnormal connectivity is higher among patients with the longest duration of epilepsy. Along with prior evidence that cortico‐cortical tract defects underlie dyslexia in this disorder, the current findings suggest that altered connectivity is likely a critical substrate for neurologic dysfunction in brain malformations.
Different degrees of loss of function between GEFS+ and SMEI Nav1.1 missense mutants at the same residue induced by rescuable folding defects
Authors: Sugiura Yoshihiro , Ogiwara Ikuo , Hoshi Akihiko , Yamakawa Kazuhiro , Ugawa Yoshikazu 
Published: April 2012

SummaryGeneralized epilepsy with febrile seizures plus (GEFS+) and severe myoclonic epilepsy of infancy (SMEI) differ in their clinical severity and prognosis even though mutations of the Nav1.1 sodium channel are responsible for both disorders. We compared the electrophysiologic properties of two mutant Nav1.1 channels characterized by distinct amino acid substitutions at the same residue position: GEFS+ (A1685V) and SMEI (A1685D). Both the mutants showed complete loss of function when expressed alone. However, the function of A1685V can be partly rescued by the β1 subunit, consistently with a folding defect, whereas that of A1685D was not rescued. These electrophysiologic differences are consistent with the divergence in clinical severity between GEFS+ and SMEI.
Will clinical studies elucidate the connection between the length of storage of transfused red blood cells and clinical outcomes? An analysis based on the simulation of randomized controlled trials
Authors: Pereira Arturo 
Published: April 2012

BACKGROUND: The temporal pattern of the biologic mechanism linking red blood cell (RBC) storage duration with clinical outcomes is yet unknown. This study investigates how such a temporal pattern can affect the power of randomized controlled trials (RCT) to detect a relevant clinical outcome mediated by the transfusion of stored RBCs.STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: This study was a computer simulation of four RCTs, each using a specific categorization of the RBC storage time. The trial's endpoint was evaluated assuming five hypothetical temporal patterns for the biologic mechanism linking RBC storage duration with clinical outcomes.RESULTS: Power of RCTs to unveil a significant association between RBC storage duration and clinical outcomes was critically dependent on a complex interaction among three factors: 1) the way the RBC storage time is categorized in the trial design, 2) the temporal pattern assumed for the RBC storage lesion, and 3) the age distribution of RBCs in the inventory from which they are picked up for transfusion. For most combinations of these factors, the power of RCTs to detect a significant treatment effect was below 80%. All the four simulated RCTs had a very low power to disclose a harmful clinical effect confined to last week of the maximum 42‐day shelf life of stored RBCs.CONCLUSIONS: Ongoing RCTs may lack enough power to settle the issue of whether or not the transfusion of stored blood has a negative clinical impact. A precautionary reduction of the maximum storage time to 35 days is advisable.
Latino Immigration and the Low‐Skill Urban Labor Market: The Case of Atlanta
Authors: Liu Cathy Yang 
Published: April 2012

ObjectivesLatino immigrants continue to enter low‐skilled urban labor markets across metropolitan areas in the United States. This study provides a dynamic account of the employment competition between Latino immigrant and black workers in the context of an emerging immigrant gateway: the Atlanta Metropolitan Statistical Area.MethodsThis study identifies occupational niches that Latino immigrants and black workers heavily concentrate for years 1990, 2000, and 2008. Occupational‐level composition and wage models are also estimated to test for the impact Latino immigration might have on black workers.ResultsBoth black workers and Latino immigrant workers became increasingly concentrated in a few occupations between 1990 and 2008. While Latino immigrants have entered several historically black occupational niches, no downward pressure on the wage growth of blacks in the same occupation is observed.ConclusionsAs immigrants become increasingly clustered in manual‐intensive craftsmen, operative, and farm occupations, blacks gravitate toward the better‐paid and language‐intensive sales, clerical, and service occupations, forming a segmented low‐skill labor market. The reinforcement of their respective niches also tends to create closure to the other groups and intensify within‐group competition.
Novel Ceramic/Camphene‐Based Co‐Extrusion for Highly Aligned Porous Alumina Ceramic Tubes
Authors: Moon Young‐Wook , Shin Kwan‐Ha , Koh Young‐Hag , Yook Se‐Won , Han Cheol‐Min , Kim Hyoun‐Ee 
Published: April 2012

We herein propose a novel way of producing highly aligned porous alumina tubes by co‐extruding an initial feed rod, which comprised of a pure camphene core and a frozen alumina/camphene shell. This new and simple technique produced alumina tubes (~4.4 ± 0.1 mm in outer diameter) having uniform alumina walls (~1.1 ± 0.12 mm in thickness) with highly aligned pores, which were created by removing the extensively elongated camphene dendrites in the extruded alumina/camphene shell. Furthermore, the heat treatment of the extruded bodies at 33°C, which is close to the freezing point of the alumina/camphene slurry, led to a considerable increase in the size of the aligned pores formed in the alumina walls, from ~<5 to ~54 μm with increasing heat‐treatment time from 0 to 6 h. The compressive strength also increased significantly from 21 ± 1.6 to 61 ± 11.6 MPa, which was attributed mainly to the achievement of well densified alumina walls.
Transcriptional analysis of physiological pathways in a generalist herbivore: responses to different host plants and plant structures by the cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera
Authors: Celorio‐Mancera Maria de la Paz , Heckel David G. , Vogel Heiko 
Published: April 2012

AbstractThe generalist cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), can consume host plants in more than 40 families, and often utilizes several tissues of a single plant. It is believed that generalists owe their success to the deployment of various members of multigene families of detoxification and digestive enzymes, a strategy that may also be responsible for rapid evolution of insecticide resistance. However, studies of generalist adaptations have been limited to specific genes or gene families, and an overview of how these adaptations are orchestrated at the transcriptional level is lacking. We used Drosophila melanogaster Meigen gene homology to H. armigera‐expressed sequence tags to identify key groups of genes and pathways differentially regulated in the gut of fifth instars after 2 days of feeding on a variety of food sources. A series of microarray hybridizations was performed following two alternating loop designs, one comparing the gut gene expression upon feeding on various hosts (cotton, bean, tobacco, and chickpea) and two artificial diets (pinto bean and wheat germ‐based), whereas the second design compared the gut expression toward feeding on various plant structures within cotton (leaf, square, and boll). The transcriptional responses toward bean and tobacco feeding treatments were more closely related in comparison with the rest of the diets, whereas the gene expression profiles toward cotton leaf and square‐feeding were highly similar. We furthermore found significant changes in several pathways not directly responsible for detoxification mechanisms. Genes involved in primary and secondary metabolism, environmental information processing, and cellular processes were found to be differentially expressed. In addition, regulation of xenobiotic metabolism and the extracellular matrix‐receptor pathways appeared differentially regulated across feeding treatments. Three cytochrome P450 genes – CYP6AE17, CYP6B6, and CYP9A17 – grouped as part of a xenobiotic metabolism pathway, were up‐regulated in the bean‐feeding treatment, and down‐regulated in both tobacco and cotton‐feeding treatments. CYP4L11, CYP4L5, and CYP4S13 were differentially expressed upon feeding on different cotton plant structures. The present work provides host plant and plant structure‐specific transcriptional responses in a lepidopteran herbivore, including pathways and gene candidates for future studies of H. armigera physiology under a more integrative ecologically meaningful framework.
Chemical and structural effects of invasive plants on herbivore–parasitoid/predator interactions in native communities
Authors: Harvey Jeffrey A. , Fortuna Taiadjana M. 
Published: April 2012

AbstractThe introduction and/or spread of exotic organisms into new habitats is considered a major threat to biodiversity. Invasive plants have been shown to negatively affect native communities, competing with and excluding other plants and disrupting a wide range of trophic interactions associated with them. In spite of this, thus far, few studies have explicitly studied the mechanisms underlying the displacement and potential local extinction of native herbivores and their natural enemies up to the third trophic level and even higher. Here, we formulate hypotheses on how structural and chemical characteristics of invasive plants may affect the plant‐finding abilities of herbivores and the host‐ or prey‐finding behavior of predators and parasitoids. The sudden incursion of an invasive plant into a native plant community may fragment native habitats and thus create structural barriers that impede dispersal and plant‐finding ability for herbivores and prey‐ or host‐finding ability for predators and parasitoids. At the same time, invasive plants may produce odors that are attractive to native insects and thus interfere with interactions on native plants. If invasive plants are both attractive and toxic to native insects, they may constitute ‘traps’ that are possibly beneficial against insect pests in agro‐ecosystems, but have conservation implications for native herbivores and their natural enemies. However, we also suggest that some herbivores, and by association their parasitoids, may benefit from the establishment and spread of exotic plants because they increase the amount of available resources for them to exploit.
Developmental neurotoxicity guideline study: Issues with methodology, evaluation and regulation*
Authors: Tsuji Ryozo , Crofton Kevin M. 
Published: April 2012

AbstractRecently social concerns have been increasing about the effects of environmental factors on children's health, especially on their nervous systems. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD) have published testing guidelines for developmental neurotoxicity (DNT). Approximately 110 guideline studies have been conducted to date. Importantly, information from these studies has provided data critical for regulatory decisions for a number of chemicals. However, the DNT guidelines do not always satisfy all stakeholders because of some uncertainties in their methodology, evaluation, and regulation. Methodological issues include incomplete harmonization between EPA and OECD guidelines, criticisms of the methodology for learning and memory testing, and unspecified positive control substances. Potential artifacts in morphometric neuropathological measures, criteria for observation measures, uncertainty of postnatal offspring exposure, especially in feeding studies, and extrapolation of data from rats to humans are major evaluation issues. In addition, there is some uncertainty in the use of an additional safety factor for susceptibility of infants and children. Moreover, the DNT guidelines have extensive time and cost requirements, use large numbers of animals, and there is a limited set of laboratories that can conduct the study. This paper reviews some of these issues and summarizes discussions from the symposium ‘Developmental neurotoxicity testing: Scientific approaches towards the next generation to protecting the developing nervous system of children’ held at the 2011 annual meeting of the Japanese Teratology Society.
SOP: Physical Examination and Laboratory Testing for Men with Erectile Dysfunction
Authors: Ghanem Hussein M. , Salonia Andrea , Martin-Morales Antonio 
Published: April 2012

ABSTRACT

Introduction
Physical examination and laboratory evaluation of men with erectile dysfunction (ED) are opportunities to identify potentially life-threatening etiologies and comorbid conditions.

Aim
To review genital anatomy, identify any physical abnormalities, assess for comorbid conditions, and reveal significant risk factors for ED.

Methods
Expert opinion was based on evidence-based medical literature and consensus discussions between members of this International Society for Sexual Medicine (ISSM) standards committee.

Results
For men with ED, a general examination including blood pressure and pulse measurements and a focused genital exam are advised. Fasting blood sugar, serum total testosterone, prolactin levels, and a lipid profile may reveal significant comorbid conditions.

Conclusions
Though physical examination and laboratory evaluation of most men with ED may not reveal the exact diagnosis, these opportunities to identify critical comorbid conditions should not be missed.