bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
On the suitability of fast and frugal heuristics for designing values clarification methods in patient decision aids: a critical analysis
Authors: Pieterse Arwen H. , de Vries Marieke 
Published: September 2011

AbstractBackground Increasingly, patient decision aids and values clarification methods (VCMs) are being developed to support patients in making preference‐sensitive health‐care decisions. Many VCMs encourage extensive deliberation about options, without solid theoretical or empirical evidence showing that deliberation is advantageous. Research suggests that simple, fast and frugal heuristic decision strategies sometimes result in better judgments and decisions. Durandet al.have developed two fast and frugal heuristic‐based VCMs.Objective To critically analyse the suitability of the ‘take the best’ (TTB) and ‘tallying’ fast and frugal heuristics in the context of patient decision making.Strategy Analysis of the structural similarities between the environments in which the TTB and tallying heuristics have been proven successful and the context of patient decision making and of the potential of these heuristic decision processes to support patient decision making.Conclusion The specific nature of patient preference‐sensitive decision making does not seem to resemble environments in which the TTB and tallying heuristics have proven successful. Encouraging patients to consider less rather than more relevant information potentially even deteriorates their values clarification process. Values clarification methods promoting the use of more intuitive decision strategies may sometimes be more effective. Nevertheless, we strongly recommend further theoretical thinking about the expected value of such heuristics and of other more intuitive decision strategies in this context, as well as empirical assessments of the mechanisms by which inducing such decision strategies may impact the quality and outcome of values clarification.
The use of formal and informal knowledge sources in patients’ treatment decisions in secondary stroke prevention: qualitative study
Authors: Gibson Josephine M. E. , Watkins Caroline L. 
Published: September 2011

AbstractBackground There is robust empirical evidence to support clinical decision making in secondary stroke prevention after transient ischaemic attack (TIA) or recovered stroke. However, little attention has been paid to patients’ utilization of this evidence in coming to decisions about their treatment choices.Objective To examine the use of formal and informal knowledge by patients in making decisions about carotid endarterectomy (CEA) and medical treatment after TIA/recovered stroke.Setting and participants Twenty participants were recruited from an outpatient vascular surgical assessment clinic in England. Ten were receiving medical treatment alone, and 10 were undergoing CEA after TIA or recovered stroke.Method Twenty‐eight in‐depth qualitative interviews were conducted. An iterative approach was used whereby emergent themes were further explored in later interviews. Interviews were audiotaped, transcribed and coded.Results Participants gathered and utilized several types of knowledge in the process of making treatment decisions: Empirical knowledge (e.g. clinical trial findings); Pathophysiologic findings (e.g. results of clinical investigations); Experiential knowledge (e.g. personal experience of stroke); Goals and values (e.g. potential impact on family); System features (e.g. apparent urgency of treatment).Conclusions In addition to formal evidence, patients use other sources of informal or ‘non‐evidentiary’ knowledge to support their decisions about treatment after TIA or recovered stroke. To enable evidence‐based patient choice, health professionals need to appreciate the diverse types of evidence which patients use, to help them to access relevant and high‐quality evidence, to balance evidence from different sources and to make choices which are congruent with their values and expectations.
The impact of patient and public involvement in the work of the Dementias & Neurodegenerative Diseases Research Network (DeNDRoN): case studies
Authors: Iliffe Steve , McGrath Terry , Mitchell Douglas 
Published: September 2011

AbstractAims  (i) To describe patient and public involvement (PPI) in a network promoting research in dementia and neurodegenerative diseases, in terms of activity at the different stages of the research cycle and within the different levels of the research network. (ii) To use case studies to try and answer the question: what benefits (if any) does PPI in research bring to the research process?Background  PPI in health research is a central part of government policy, but the evidence base underpinning it needs strengthening. PPI allows exploration of feasibility, acceptability and relevance of hypotheses, assists in the precise definition of research questions and increases accrual to studies. However, the measurement of outcomes is methodologically difficult, because the impact of lay researchers may occur through team interactions and be difficult to untangle from the efforts of professional researchers. Opportunities for PPI in rapidly progressive diseases may be limited, and involvement of people with marked cognitive impairment is particularly challenging.Design  (i) Description of PPI within the DeNDRoN network. (ii) Case studies of three research projects which asked for extra help from centrally organized PPI.Results  PPI in research projects on the DeNDRoN portfolio may function at different levels, occurring at project, local research network and national level. Case studies of three research projects show different roles for PPI in research and different functions for centrally organized PPI, including contribution to remedial action in studies that are not recruiting to target, solving problems because of the complexity and sensitivity of the research topic, and linking researchers to PPI resources.Discussion  The case studies suggest that centrally organized PPI can have ‘diagnostic’ and remedial functions in studies that are struggling to recruit and serve as reinforcement for study‐level PPI in the complex and sensitive research topics that are typical in neurodegenerative diseases research. PPI may be actively sought by researchers, but the infrastructure of PPI is not yet so widespread in the research community that lay researchers are easy to find; a centrally organized PPI resource can assist in this situation.
Cross‐cultural adaptation of the Brazilian–Portuguese version of the chronic urticaria quality‐of‐life questionnaire – CU‐Q2oL
Authors: Dias G. A. C. , Pires G. V. , Valle S. O. R. , França A. T. , Papi J. A. , Dortas S. D. , Levy S. A. P. , Baiardini I. , Canonica G. W. 
Published: September 2011

To cite this article: Dias GAC, Pires GV, Valle SOR, França AT, Papi JA, Dortas SD Jr, Levy SAP, Baiardini I, Canonica GW. Cross‐cultural adaptation of the Brazilian‐Portuguese version of the chronic urticaria quality‐of‐life questionnaire ‐ CU‐Q2oL. Allergy 2011; 66: 1487–1493SummaryBackground:  Chronic urticaria (CU) is a debilitating skin disorder that affects patients’ health related quality of life and the only questionnaire prepared specifically to CU is the Chronic Urticaria Quality of Life Questionnaire (CU‐Q2oL).Objective:  The purpose of this study was to cross‐culturally adapt and validate the CU‐Q2oL Brazilian‐Portuguese version.Methods:  Forward and back translation by three bilingual translators followed by pre‐test was used to adapt the questionnaire. The CU‐Q2oL was self‐administered along with the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) in 112 patients with CU. Disease activity was assessed using the Urticaria Activity Score. Factor analysis was used to identify scales of the Brazilian portuguese CU‐Q2oL. Internal consistency, convergent validity and known‐group validity was determined. Reproducibility was evaluated by interclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Multiple linear regression was used to determine the predicting factors of CU‐Q2oL results.Results:  Factor analysis revealed a three‐dimensional structure: sleep/mental status/eating (I), pruritus/impact on life activities (II) and swelling/limits/look (III), which explained 52.49% of the total variance. All scales showed excellent internal consistency. External construct validity was supported by correlations between the CU‐Q2oL and DLQI. The tool was found to be able to differentiate between patients with high and low levels of urticaria activity. Test‐retest reliability was good to excellent (ICC = 0.69–0.86). Disease severity and urticaria type were the only factors predicting results.Conclusions:  The CU‐Q2oL Brazilian portuguese version was easily filled out, well accepted by the patients, demonstrated an acceptable validity and reliability and might be used to evaluate treatment outcomes and in clinical research.
Disseminated Mycobacterium marinum infection in a hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipient
Authors: Jacobs S. , George A. , Papanicolaou G.A. , Lacouture M.E. , Tan B.H. , Jakubowski A.A. , Kaltsas A. 
Published: September 2011

AbstractMycobacterium marinum is a photochromogenic mycobacterium that is ubiquitous in the aquatic environment. In the general population, exposure to aquaria is the most common cause of M. marinum infection. Known as “swimmer's granuloma” or “fish tank granuloma,” M. marinum is an occupational hazard for aquarium cleaners and fishermen. There are several reports in the literature of M. marinum infection in immunocompromised hosts, including those with solid organ transplants, but none in patients who have received stem cell transplants (SCTs). To our knowledge, this is a first report of disseminated M. marinum infection in an SCT recipient who continued to develop new skin lesions even after months of targeted therapy. The implications are that elderly patients who receive T‐cell‐depleted SCTs may be at prolonged risk for pathogens dependent on cellular immunity, and the presentation of illness with such pathogens may be more severe and widely disseminated than might otherwise be expected.
Larval dispersal and vertical migration behaviour – a simulation study for short dispersal times
Authors: Sundelöf Andreas , Jonsson Per R. 
Published: September 2011

AbstractCurrent speed often varies with depth, so vertical movements of larvae are expected to have profound effects on dispersal velocity and therefore dispersal potential. Systematic behaviours are expected to have strong effects on dispersal. However, reliable information on the presence of vertical migrations in larvae is scarce, but the few well investigated empirical examples justify a detailed simulation study and an analysis of potential effects. We present a spatially explicit 3D hydrodynamic model that incorporates biological information in the form of active particles advected in a Lagrangian fashion. The set‐up is designed to analyze the sensitivity of dispersal distances to variation in vertical behaviour of larvae. We simulated short (4 days) pelagic larval durations (PLDs) to determine whether behaviour might be important over short dispersal periods. We found that sinusoidal behaviours (slow vertical migration) in or out of phase with tides did not significantly change the dispersal patterns compared to those of larvae that remained at the surface. By contrast, a quadratic pattern of behaviour resulting in rapid vertical migration, in or out of phase with tides, had dramatic effects on both distance and direction of dispersal. The resulting dispersal kernels were found to be multimodal due to the interaction between tidal and meteorological components in flow. Incorporating biological information on larval migrations in Lagrangian simulation of dispersal will be important in estimates of connectivity and forecasting marine reserve networks.
Trends in the distribution of donor corneal tissue and indications for corneal transplantation: the New Zealand National Eye Bank Study 2000–2009
Authors: Cunningham William J , Brookes Nigel H , Twohill Helen C , Moffatt S Louise , Pendergrast David GC , Stewart Joanna M , McGhee Charles NJ 
Published: September 2011

AbstractBackground:  To investigate the indications for corneal transplantation and the distribution of donor corneal tissue in New Zealand.Design:  Analysis of the prospective database of the New Zealand National Eye Bank.Participants:  A total of 2205 corneal transplants were assessed.Methods:  New Zealand National Eye Bank records were analysed for the decade 2000–2009.Main Outcome Measures:  Variables analysed included donor corneal tissue distribution (including public and private sectors), indications for transplantation, donor corneal tissue recipient demographics (age and gender) and corneal transplantation type.Results:  An average of 220 corneal transplants were performed each year over the 10‐year period (n = 2205). The median recipient age was 45 years (range 3 to 102 years) and 54.0% of recipients were male. In total 71.8% of transplants were performed in the public health sector. Surgeons in the Auckland metropolitan area performed 47.2% of all corneal transplants. The most common indications for corneal transplantation were: keratoconus (41.1%), repeat transplant (17.0%), aphakic/pseudophakic bullous keratopathy (13.9%), corneal dystrophy (10.7%), keratitis (7.9%) and trauma (3.7%). Overall, penetrating keratoplasty accounted for 90.7% of all corneal transplants, however, during the latter half of the study there was a progressive shift in transplantation type, with deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty and Descemet's stripping endothelial keratoplasty combined accounting for 32.3% of all transplants in the final year of the study period.Conclusions:  This New Zealand National Eye Bank study provides valuable data regarding the indications for corneal transplantation, transplant recipient demographics and changes in transplantation type in New Zealand over the past decade.
Methodology and early findings of the Diabetes Management Project: a cohort study investigating the barriers to optimal diabetes care in diabetic patients with and without diabetic retinopathy
Authors: Lamoureux Ecosse Luc , Fenwick Eva , Xie Jing , Mcauley Annie , Nicolaou Theona , Larizza Melanie , Rees Gwyn , Qureshi Salmaan , Wong Tien Yin , Benarous Rehab , Dirani Mohamed 
Published: September 2011

AbstractBackground:  The Diabetes Management Project is investigating the clinical, behavioural and psychosocial barriers to optimal diabetes care in individuals with and without diabetic retinopathy.Design:  Prospective cohort.Participants:  Two hundred and twenty‐three and 374 patients without and with diabetic retinopathy, respectively.Methods:  All individuals underwent a comprehensive dilated eye test, anthropometric measurements, blood and urine samples, and psychosocial questionnaires.Main Outcome Measures:  Good glycaemic control was defined as glycosylated haemoglobin < 7%, good blood pressure control as systolic and diastolic values ≤130 and 80 mmHg, respectively, and good diabetes control as glycosylated haemoglobin < 7% and blood pressure values ≤130 and 80 mmHg.Results:  Four hundred and one males (65.4%) and 212 females (34.6%) aged 26–90 years (mean age ± standard deviation = 64.6 ± 11.6) were examined. The median glycosylated haemoglobin for all participants was 7.5% (interquartile range = 1.7%). Average systolic and diastolic blood pressure values were 139.7 mmHg (standard deviation = 18.8) and 92.7 mmHg (standard deviation = 30.9), respectively. Initial data analyses indicate that over two‐thirds of participants with diabetes have poor glycaemic control, which was worse in those with diabetic retinopathy compared with those without (76.3% vs. 49.3%; P < 0.001). Blood pressure control was similar for those with and without diabetic retinopathy, with almost a third (28.5%) of the total sample having poor blood pressure control. Overall, those with diabetic retinopathy had poorer diabetes control than those without (24.3% vs. 13.7%; P = 0.002).Conclusions:  Our findings substantiate the implementation of the Diabetes Management Project, developed to assess factors associated with suboptimal diabetes care.
Metastatic parathyroid carcinoma initially misdiagnosed as parathyroid adenoma: the role of parafibromin in increasing diagnostic accuracy
Authors: Lim S. , Elston M. S. , Gill A. J. , Marsh D. J. , Conaglen J. V. 
Published: September 2011

AbstractParathyroid carcinoma, although a rare cause of primary hyperparathyroidism, carries a significant morbidity and mortality from severe symptomatic hypercalcaemia and related complications. We report a case where the diagnosis was not considered from the outset and review the current clinical and histopathological markers available to assist in the diagnosis of parathyroid carcinoma.
Pre‐computed Gathering of Multi‐Bounce Glossy Reflections
Authors: Laurijssen Jurgen , Wang Rui , Lagae Ares , Dutré Philip 
Published: September 2011

AbstractRecent work in interactive global illumination addresses diffuse and moderately glossy indirect lighting effects, but high‐frequency effects such as multi‐bounce reflections on highly glossy surfaces are often ignored. Accurately simulating such effects is important to convey the realistic appearance of materials such as chrome and shiny metal. In this paper, we present an efficient method for visualizing multi‐bounce glossy reflections at interactive rates under environment lighting. Our main contribution is a pre‐computation–based method which efficiently gathers subsequent highly glossy reflection passes modelled with a non‐linear transfer function representation based on the von Mises–Fisher distribution. We show that our gathering method is superior to scattered sampling. To exploit the sparsity of the pre‐computed data, we apply perfect spatial hashing. As a result, we are able to visualize multi‐bounce glossy reflections at interactive rates at a low pre‐computation cost.
KANT'S TRANSCENDENTAL IDEALISM, FREEDOM AND THE DIVINE MIND1
Authors: INSOLE CHRISTOPHER J. 
Published: September 2011

AbstractWithout denying the importance of a range of independent epistemic and metaphysical considerations, I argue that there is an irreducibly theological dimension to the emergence of Kant's transcendental idealism. Creative tasks carried out by the divine mind in the pre‐critical works become assigned to the human noumenal mind, which is conceived of as the (created) source of space, time and causation. Kant makes this shift in order to protect the possibility of transcendental freedom. I show that Kant has significant theological difficulties ascribing such transcendental freedom to creatures in relation to God, and that he intends transcendental idealism to be a solution to these difficulties. I explain how this provides Kant with a powerful motivation and reason for denying the so‐called “neglected alternative”, and conclude by suggesting that the nature of any theological response to Kant will depend upon some fundamental options about how to conceive of the relationship between the creator and creation.
TGFBI gene mutation in a Chinese pedigree with Reis‐Bücklers corneal dystrophy
Authors: Liang Qingfeng , Sun Xuguang , Jin Xiuying 
Published: September 2011

Citation information: Liang Q, Sun X & Jin X. TGFBI gene mutation in a Chinese pedigree with Reis‐Bücklers corneal dystrophy. Ophthalmic Physiol Opt 2011. doi: 10.1111/j.1475‐1313.2011.00867.xAbstractPurpose:  To characterize the molecular defects in the TGFBI gene in a Chinese family with Reis‐Bücklers corneal dystrophy (RBCD), and to study the relationship between the gene mutations and the clinical manifestations.Methods:  Four generations of this family with RBCD were enrolled in the study. In addition to ophthalmic and histopathological examinations, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification and analysis of nucleotide sequencing of exons 4, 12, 14 of TGFBI were performed.Results:  The clinical manifestations of the disease were characterized by geographic opacities in the subepithelial layers and anterior stroma of the cornea. Confocal microscopy images of the cornea showed focal hyper‐reflective materials deposited in the subepithelium and anterior stroma. It was confirmed by histopathology that Bowman’s membrane was mainly replaced by extracellular fibril material, which extended downwards into the superficial corneal stroma. Molecular genetic analysis revealed a single heterozygous G>T change at nucleotide 124 in exon 4 of TGFBI in all members (22) of the pedigree affected with RBCD, but not in the unaffected members.Conclusions:  A p.Arg124Leu mutation of the TGFBI gene was detected in this Chinese pedigree with Reis‐Bücklers corneal dystrophy. The phenotype of Reis‐Bücklers corneal dystrophy in this family belongs to the geographic type. The molecular genetic studies combined with histopathology may be useful for the accurate diagnosis of this type of corneal dystrophy.
The action of acetylcholine and other drugs on the efflux of potassium and rubidium from smooth muscle of the guinea‐pig intestine
Authors: BURGEN A. S. V. , SPERO L. 
Published: September 2011

. A method is described for measuring continuously the efflux of potassium or rubidium from smooth muscle of the guinea‐pig.
. Muscarinic drugs cause at maximum a 100‐fold increase in the efflux rate, due to a direct increase in permeability and only to a minor extent secondary to depolarization. With acetylcholine the dose response curve for producing efflux is displaced to 1,000 times higher concentrations than that for contraction.
. The shift varies with different agonists. The efflux and contractile responses to agonists are antagonized to an equivalent extent by atropine and several other reversible antagonists but benzhexol has a relatively greater effect on efflux. An estimate of spare receptors was obtained with benzilylcholine mustard and was similar for both responses. Dibenamine and local anaesthetics led to a parallel shift of the contraction dose response curve but a depression without shift in the efflux response.
. The most satisfactory explanation of these results is that there are two types of the muscarinic receptor in the smooth muscle of the guinea‐pig intestine.
Role of the α‐adrenoceptor in regulating noradrenaline overflow by nerve stimulation
Authors: ENERO MARÍA A. , LANGER S. Z. , ROTHLIN R. P. , STEFANO F. J. E. 
Published: September 2011

Summary
. A study of the actions of phenoxybenzamine on transmitter overflow, neuronal and extraneuronal uptake of noradrenaline and in causing α‐adrenoceptor blockade was carried out using the isolated cat nictitating membrane preparation.
. Phenoxybenzamine increased transmitter overflow elicited by nerve‐stimulation at 10 Hz in a concentration dependent manner in the range 10−8 to 10−5 g/ml.
. Neuronal uptake of [3H]‐noradrenaline was not inhibited by concentrations lower than 10−6 g/ml of phenoxybenzamine. With 10−7 g/ml of phenoxybenzamine a significant increase in transmitter overflow was obtained, although neuronal uptake of noradrenaline was not affected. Higher concentrations of phenoxybenzamine (10−6 and 10−5 g/ml) inhibited the neuronal uptake of noradrenaline and further increased transmitter overflow.
. Extraneuronal uptake of [3H]‐noradrenaline was inhibited only with the highest concentration of phenoxybenzamine tested (10−5 g/ml) and therefore appears to be unrelated to the effects on transmitter overflow.
. There was a significant correlation between the degree of α‐adrenoceptor block produced by phenoxybenzamine and the increase in transmitter overflow obtained by nerve stimulation.
. These results indicate that phenoxybenzamine, in addition to increasing overflow by preventing reuptake of noradrenaline, may increase transmitter release.
. The possibility that phenoxybenzamine acts on α‐adrenoceptors in the adrenergic nerve terminal is discussed. These receptors would be involved in a negative feedback mechanism regulating transmitter release.