bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Multi-drug Resistant Tuberculosis: Experience in Bogra
Authors: Rahman M Azizur , Hussain M Wasim , Alam Ferdous , Jahan M Sarowar 
Published: September 2009

This descriptive study was carried out from February 1995 to December 2004. Sputum positive tuberculosis patients who were not cured by re-treatment with Category-2 regimen under DOTS were included in this study. Information were collected from the patients, treatment cards and treatment registers. Among 13633 sputum positive TB patients registered during study period, 12511 were new smear positive (NSP) TB patients and1122 were re-treatment smear positive (RSP) TB patients. RSPTB patients were found significantly (p<.001) decreased in respect to NSP TB in subsequent years. Percentage of Chronic TB patients in respect to total smear positive TB patients registered, in first three years, was higher (1.25%, 1.3% &1.5% respectively) and the percentage sharply decreased in the subsequent years and it remained near base line in last five years. There was no significant sex differences in Chronic TB cases. Age of Chronic TB patients was 37±12 years and 59%(23) were literate. All the Chronic TB patients were residing in their home and 44% from sador upazilla including Bogra town. 62% of Chronic TB patients were from economically in average group and 25% were poor. 85% Chronic TB patients had no associated diseases. Associated diseases of Chronic TB patients were diabetes, bronchiectasis and bronchitis. 56% Chronic TB patients were smoker but none of them had habit of drug abuse. 62% of them had history of incomplete Rifampicin containing anti TB treatment from general practitioners. About the reasons of discontinuation of treatment 50%(12) stated that they felt better and discontinued, 29%(7) stated that they could not afford treatment and 21%(5) stated that they did not get result from the treatment and discontinued. 23% of Chronic TB patients had history of Cat -I regimen relapse or failure under DOTS. During the study period 26%(10) died and duration of death from onset of declared MDR-TB was 22.4±17.5 months. Nearly half (57%) of Chronic TB patients had no information, 15% remain negative with treatment and 13% remain smear positive. Age, sex, literacy, homelessness, associated diseases, poor economical condition, availability of treatment facility had less impact on irregular/ incomplete treatment. Unsupervised anti TB treatment with inadequate information and motivation prior to treatment starting is important cause of incomplete treatment. DOTS treatment for all TB patients with adequate motivation can check RSP-TB patients and thereby Chronic TB patients. Once MDR-TB is identified the patients should be isolated from the community and adequate treatment should be arranged for them. doi: 10.3329/taj.v18i1.3302 TAJ 2005; 18(1): 30-36
Odontogenic Neck Infections
Authors: Mahmood Mir Hasan Shaheel , Al Mahmood Syed Sadatul Afsar 
Published: September 2009

Involvement of the deep cervical spaces as a result of odontogenic infection is a life threatening event. Unfortunately this minor tooth related infections occasionally become serious and life threatening where aggressive medical and surgical care is necessary to prevent disastrous result. doi: 10.3329/taj.v18i1.3308 TAJ 2005; 18(1): 55-59
Progress in Assessing Physical Function in Arthritis: PROMIS Short Forms and Computerized Adaptive Testing
Authors: FRIES JAMES F. , CELLA DAVID , ROSE MATTHIAS , KRISHNAN ESWAR , BRUCE BONNIE 
Published: September 2009

Objective.Assessing self-reported physical function/disability with the Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index (HAQ) and other instruments has become central in arthritis research. Item response theory (IRT) and computerized adaptive testing (CAT) techniques can increase reliability and statistical power. IRT-based instruments can improve measurement precision substantially over a wider range of disease severity. These modern methods were applied and the magnitude of improvement was estimated.Methods.A 199-item physical function/disability item bank was developed by distilling 1865 items to 124, including Legacy Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) and Physical Function-10 items, and improving precision through qualitative and quantitative evaluation in over 21,000 subjects, which included about 1500 patients with rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. Four new instruments, (A) Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information (PROMIS) HAQ, which evolved from the original (Legacy) HAQ; (B) “best” PROMIS 10; (C) 20-item static (short) forms; and (D) simulated PROMIS CAT, which sequentially selected the most informative item, were compared with the HAQ.Results.Online and mailed administration modes yielded similar item and domain scores. The HAQ and PROMIS HAQ 20-item scales yielded greater information content versus other scales in patients with more severe disease. The “best” PROMIS 20-item scale outperformed the other 20-item static forms over a broad range of 4 standard deviations. The 10-item simulated PROMIS CAT outperformed all other forms.Conclusion.Improved items and instruments yielded better information. The PROMIS HAQ is currently available and considered validated. The new PROMIS short forms, after validation, are likely to represent further improvement. CAT-based physical function/disability assessment offers superior performance over static forms of equal length.
OARSI/OMERACT Criteria of Being Considered a Candidate for Total Joint Replacement in Knee/Hip Osteoarthritis as an Endpoint in Clinical Trials Evaluating Potential Disease Modifying Osteoarthritic Drugs
Authors: DOUGADOS MAXIME , HAWKER GILLIAN , LOHMANDER STEFAN , DAVIS AILEEN M. , DIEPPE PAUL , MAILLEFERT JEAN-FRANCIS , GOSSEC LAURE 
Published: September 2009

Objective.A disease-modifying osteoarthritic drug (DMOAD) should interfere with the cartilage breakdown observed and improve symptoms or prevent deterioration of the patient’s clinical condition. We propose a composite index including structural and symptomatic variables of osteoarthritis (OA) as criteria for being considered a candidate for total joint replacement as an endpoint in clinical trials evaluating potential DMOAD.Methods.An OARSI/OMERACT task force conducted this study in 3 steps: (1) The 3 main domains — pain, function, structure — were revisited; (2) For each of the domains a “non-acceptable state” and a “relevant” progression for their structure were defined; and (3) a set of criteria was proposed combining the information from these 3 domains.Results.A questionnaire was elaborated for the domains “pain” and “function.” Systematic research of the literature and evaluation of different databases concluded that the domain “structure” should be evaluated by radiological joint space width in millimeters. An unacceptable radiographic progression was defined as a change in the joint space width over the measurement error. An international, cross-sectional study is proposing a definition of a “nonacceptable symptom state.”Conclusion.The objective of the ongoing OARSI/OMERACT initiative is to propose criteria for being considered a candidate for total joint replacement to be used as an endpoint in clinical trials evaluating potential DMOAD. The preliminary steps of this initiative have been completed.
Prognostics and Health Management of Electronics
Authors: Pecht Michael 
Published: September 2009

AbstractReliability is the ability of a product or system to perform as intended (i.e., without failure and within specified performance limits) for a specified time, in its life‐cycle environment. Commonly used electronics reliability prediction methods (e.g., Mil‐HDBK‐217, 217‐PLUS, PRISM, Telcordia, FIDES) based on handbook methods have been shown to be misleading and provide erroneous life predictions. The use of stress and damage models permits a far superior accounting of the reliability and the physics of failure (PoF); however, sufficient knowledge of the actual operating and environmental application conditions of the product is still required.This article presents a PoF‐based prognostics and health management approach for effective reliability prediction. PoF is an approach that utilizes knowledge of a product's life‐cycle loading and failure mechanisms to perform reliability modeling, design, and assessment. This method permits the assessment of the reliability of a system under its actual application conditions. It integrates sensor data with models that enablein situassessment of the deviation or degradation of a product from an expected normal operating condition and the prediction of the future state of reliability. This article presents a formal implementation procedure, which includes failure modes, mechanisms, and effects analysis, data reduction and feature extraction from the life‐cycle loads, damage accumulation, and assessment of uncertainty. Applications of PoF‐based prognostics and health management are also discussed.
Molecular genetic perspectives on the Indian social structure
Authors: Reddy B. Mohan , Tripathy Vikal , Kumar Vikrant , Alla Nirmala 
Published: September 2009

AbstractFor historical reasons, the Indian subcontinent is endowed with enormous ethnic, cultural, and genetic heterogeneity of its people. In the process of understanding the dynamics and sociocultural complexity of Indian society, anthropologists have come up with a number of hypotheses involving certain social/cultural processes that may modulate evolutionary processes. In this article, we outline some of those hypotheses and present molecular genetic evidences, both published and unpublished, to demonstrate the effects of those social/cultural processes. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 2010. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Human population genetic diversity as a function of SNP type from HapMap data
Authors: Garte Seymour 
Published: September 2009

AbstractData from the international HapMap project were mined to determine if the degree of genetic differentiation (Fst) is dependent on single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) category. The Fst statistic was evaluated across all SNPs for each of 30 genes and for each of five chromosomes. A consistent decrease in diversity between Europeans and Africans was seen for nonsynonymous coding region SNPs compared to the three other SNP categories: synonymous SNPs, UTR, and intronic SNPs. This suggests an effect of balancing selection in reducing interpopulation genetic diversity at sites that would be expected to influence phenotype and therefore be subject to selection. This result is inconsistent with the concept of large population specific genetic differences that could have applications in “racialized medicine.” Am. J. Hum. Biol. 2010. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Cerebrospinal fluid amyloid β40 is decreased in cerebral amyloid angiopathy
Authors: Verbeek Marcel M. , Kremer Berry P. H. , Rikkert Marcel Olde , Van Domburg Peter H. M. F. , Skehan Maureen E. , Greenberg Steven M. 
Published: September 2009

AbstractCerebral amyloid angiopathy is caused by deposition of the amyloid β protein in the cerebral vasculature. In analogy to previous observations in Alzheimer disease, we hypothesized that analysis of amyloid β40 and β42 proteins in the cerebrospinal fluid might serve as a molecular biomarker. We observed strongly decreased cerebrospinal fluid amyloid β40 (p < 0.01 vs controls or Alzheimer disease) and amyloid β42 concentrations (p < 0.001 vs controls and p < 0.05 vs Alzheimer disease) in cerebral amyloid angiopathy patients. The combination of amyloid β42 and total tau discriminated cerebral amyloid angiopathy from controls, with an area under the receiver operator curve of 0.98. Our data are consistent with neuropathological evidence that amyloid β40 as well as amyloid β42 protein are selectively trapped in the cerebral vasculature from interstitial fluid drainage pathways that otherwise transport amyloid β proteins toward the cerebrospinal fluid. Ann Neurol 2009;66:245–249
Increased frontoparietal integration after stroke and cognitive recovery
Authors: Sharp David J. , Turkheimer Federico E. , Bose Subrata K. , Scott Sophie K. , Wise Richard J. S. 
Published: September 2009

AbstractThe neural mechanism by which patients spontaneously recover cognitive function after brain injury is not understood. Here we demonstrate for the first time that aphasic patients, who have largely recovered language function, show increased frontoparietal integration. A similar change in functional connectivity is also observed when normal subjects are exposed to adverse listening conditions. Thus, compensation for inefficient language processing is associated with increased integration between parts of the language network critical to language control. This change reflects greater top‐down control of speech comprehension and provides a mechanism by which language impairments after stroke may be compensated for. ANN NEUROL 2010
Rituximab in patients with primary progressive multiple sclerosis: Results of a randomized double‐blind placebo‐controlled multicenter trial
Authors: Hawker Kathleen , O'Connor Paul , Freedman Mark S. , Calabresi Peter A. , Antel Jack , Simon Jack , Hauser Stephen , Waubant Emmanuelle , Vollmer Timothy , Panitch Hillel , Zhang Jiameng , Chin Peter , Smith Craig H. ,   OLYMPUS trial group
Published: September 2009

AbstractObjectiveRituximab, a monoclonal antibody selectively depleting CD20+ B cells, has demonstrated efficacy in reducing disease activity in relapsing‐remitting multiple sclerosis (MS). We evaluated rituximab in adults with primary progressive MS (PPMS) through 96 weeks and safety through 122 weeks.MethodsUsing 2:1 randomization, 439 PPMS patients received two 1,000mg intravenous rituximab or placebo infusions every 24 weeks, through 96 weeks (4 courses). The primary endpoint was time to confirmed disease progression (CDP), a prespecified increase in Expanded Disability Status Scale sustained for 12 weeks. Secondary endpoints were change from baseline to week 96 in T2 lesion volume and total brain volume on magnetic resonance imaging scans.ResultsDifferences in time to CDP between rituximab and placebo did not reach significance (96‐week rates: 38.5% placebo, 30.2% rituximab; p = 0.14). From baseline to week 96, rituximab patients had less (p < 0.001) increase in T2 lesion volume; brain volume change was similar (p = 0.62) to placebo. Subgroup analysis showed time to CDP was delayed in rituximab‐treated patients aged <51 years (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.52; p = 0.010), those with gadolinium‐enhancing lesions (HR = 0.41; p = 0.007), and those aged <51 years with gadolinium‐enhancing lesions (HR = 0.33; p = 0.009) compared with placebo. Adverse events were comparable between groups; 16.1% of rituximab and 13.6% of placebo patients reported serious events. Serious infections occurred in 4.5% of rituximab and <1.0% of placebo patients. Infusion‐related events, predominantly mild to moderate, were more common with rituximab during the first course, and decreased to rates comparable to placebo on successive courses.InterpretationAlthough time to CDP between groups was not significant, overall subgroup analyses suggest selective B‐cell depletion may affect disease progression in younger patients, particularly those with inflammatory lesions. Ann Neurol 2009;66:460–471
Striking a balance between retaining populations of protected seahorses and maintaining swimming nets
Authors: Harasti David , Glasby Tim M. , Martin‐Smith Keith M. 
Published: September 2009

Abstract
The fish family Syngnathidae (seahorses, pipefish, pipehorses and seadragons) is fully protected in New South Wales, Australia, but in some countries certain species are threatened by unsustainable collecting, capture as incidental bycatch, and habitat degradation.
Within Sydney Harbour, two species of seahorses (Hippocampus abdominalis and Hippocampus whitei) have been found to colonize artificial structures such as jetty pylons and protective netted swimming enclosures. These protective nets are subject to fouling from epibiotic growth (algae, ascidians, bryozoans, etc.) and rubbish, which causes the nets to collapse from the additional weight. Local authorities employ diving contractors on an ad hoc basis to remove the epibiota from nets.
Surveys showed a significant decline in the numbers of both seahorse species at one site following the replacement of a net, and recovery of the H. whitei population took more than 15 months.
A manipulative experiment tested the importance of epibiotic growth for seahorses. H. whitei, tagged with individual marks, were allocated to sections of a net that had undergone different cleaning procedures. Seahorse size, position on the net and total population abundance were recorded every 2 weeks over a 3 month period. It was demonstrated that seahorses have a significant positive association with epibiotic growth and proximity to the sea floor. Seahorse populations also showed seasonal variation in abundance with increased numbers on the net during the breeding season (spring–summer).
This project has led to the development of best practice net cleaning procedures for local authorities in Sydney Harbour to manage growth on the nets while minimizing impacts on seahorse populations. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Changes in frigate tuna populations on the south coast of Sri Lanka: evidence of the shifting baseline syndrome from analysis of fisher observations
Authors: Venkatachalam A. J. , Price A. R. G. , Chandrasekara S. , Senaratna Sellamuttu S. , Kaler J. 
Published: September 2009

AbstractThis study examines changes in frigate tuna populations in southern Sri Lanka, based on reports from fishers in three age classes. Significantly higher values for best day's catch and largest specimen ever caught were obtained by older fishers than younger ones. Values were also significantly higher during early years, providing clear evidence of a decrease in the resource over time (1951–2007).Older fishers reported best catches further inshore and in shallower waters which, on becoming depleted, forced younger generations to fish in less exploited areas further offshore. Heavy harvesting is also evident from the significantly greater number of sites reported by older fishers as being depleted, compared with observations of younger fishers.These findings contrast markedly with catch and catch per effort patterns from statistics for frigate tuna and bullet tuna (combined) in southern Sri Lanka (1994–2004). No stock decline is evident, and at least one report in the early 1990s advocated increasing exploitation rates by 40% to maximize yields.Although not a primary research objective, fisher observations on frigate tuna populations were also analysed to help evaluate possible effects of the 2004 tsunami. Most fishers reported post‐tsunami decline, but mainly from a larger new generation of fishers, rather than extra boats provided by aid money or (direct or indirect) biophysical impacts from the tsunami.Reliance on fishery statistics, especially for mixed species and over a limited period, can be risky and easily mask true stock status. Evidence of harvesting effects on frigate tuna in southern Sri Lanka is evident using questionnaire data over a longer time scale.This study provides another compelling case of the ‘shifting baseline syndrome’, whereby fishers of different ages have altered perceptions/experiences of their environment. This may be its first reported occurrence in Sri Lanka. Traditional knowledge from this and similar surveys may provide national fishery management with valuable insights and help improve conservation prospects for frigate tuna and other marine resources. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Size distribution approaches for monitoring and conservation of coastal Cymodocea habitats
Authors: Orfanidis S. , Papathanasiou V. , Gounaris S. , Theodosiou TH. 
Published: September 2009

Abstract
Cymodocea nodosa's leaf length distribution was studied as an easily measurable indicator to monitor and conserve Macedonian, North Aegean, Greek coastal habitats.
Three Cymodocea meadows off the eastern Kavala Gulf coast (Nea Karvali, Erateino, Agiasma), with that of Nea Karvali close to an industrial area being the most degraded, were sampled during the seagrass main growing season in July 2004. Two further meadows, one pristine to less degraded (Brasidas, Gulf of Kavala) and one degraded (Biamyl, Inner Thessaloniki Gulf), were sampled as benchmarks in July 2005. The results were evaluated using Gaussian fit curves, and non‐parametric and nested parametric ANOVA on a hierarchy of spatial scales: area (tens of metres), site (hundreds of metres) and meadow (kilometres).
Frequency (%) distribution of leaf length values and CymoSkew index variation were best associated with anthropogenic stress. Frequency (%) distribution of adult and intermediate photosynthetic leaf length values revealed a unimodal distribution possible to be fitted, at least at pristine to less degraded meadows, by normal distribution (R2>0.5).
Statistically significant variation was estimated for CymoSkew index, a quantitative expression of leaf length asymmetry, on the meadow scale (P<0.001). Biamyl (3.82) and Nea Karvali (3.64) were indicated as heavily degraded meadows, Erateino (2.93) as a degraded meadow, Agiasma (2.18) as a meadow with the first signs of degradation, and Brasidas (1.68) as a pristine to less degraded meadow. These results in combination with other meadow specific biotic parameters were used to suggest a preliminary angiosperm ‘Ecological Status Classes’ classification scheme useful for the implementation of WFD in the north Aegean Sea.
The CymoSkew index seems to respond to lower levels of stress than is needed for other more conservative plant modules and therefore, could be regarded as an early warning indicator of Cymodocea habitat degradation. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Keeping dissection alive for medical students
Authors: Chambers James , Emlyn‐Jones Daniel 
Published: September 2009

AbstractTraditional dissection teaching is being reduced in a number of medical schools, particularly in the United Kingdom. In response to this, 12 medical students from Warwick University, UK, traveled to the Island of Grenada for an intensive extracurricular dissection course at St. George's University. This course not only benefited the host university through the creation of prosections for teaching but also allowed the participants to completely immerse themselves in anatomical study, by developing their dissection skills and consolidating anatomical knowledge. We believe that similar courses could be easily implemented by other medical schools, thereby allowing future students to keep traditional dissection alive. Anat Sci Educ 2: 302–303, 2009. © 2009 American Association of Anatomists.