bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Derivation and Validation of the ASK-12 Adherence Barrier Survey
Authors: Matza Louis S , Park Jinhee , Coyne Karin S , Skinner Elizabeth P , Malley Karen G , Wolever Ruth Q 
Published: September 2009

Background: The ASK-20 survey is a previously validated patient-report measure of barriers to medication adherence and adherence-related behavior. Objective: To derive and validate a shorter version of the ASK-20 scale. Methods: Patients with asthma, diabetes, and congestive heart failure were recruited from a university medical center. Participants completed the ASK-20 survey and other questionnaires. Approximately one-third of participants were randomized to a 2-week retest administration. Item performance and results of an exploratory factor analysis were examined for item reduction and subscale identification. Subsequent analyses examined reliability and validity of the shorter version of the ASK. Results: A total of 112 patients participated (75.9% female; mean age 46.7 y; 53.6% African American). Eight items were dropped from the ASK-20 based on factor loadings, floor effects, Cronbach's α, and the ability of each item to discriminate between groups of patients differing in self-reported adherence. The new total score (ASK-12) had good internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's α 0.75) and test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation 0.79). Convergent validity was demonstrated through correlations with the Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (r -0.74; p < 0.001), condition-specific measures, the SF-12 Mental Component Score (r –.32; p < 0.01), and proportion of days covered by tilled medication prescriptions in the past 6 months as indicated by pharmacy claims data (r -0.20; p = 0.059). The ASK-12 total score also discriminated among groups of patients who differed in self-reported adherence indicators, including whether a dose was missed in the past week, the number of days medication was not taken as directed, and treatment satisfaction. Three subscales were identified (adherence behavior, health beliefs, inconvenience/forgetfulness), and results provided initial support for their validity. Conclusions: The ASK-12 demonstrated adequate reliability and validity, and it may be a useful brief measure of adherence behavior and barriers to treatment adherence.
Atenolol Hepatotoxicity: Report of a Complicated Case
Authors: Dumortier Jérôme , Guillaud Olivier , Gouraud Aurore , Pittau Gabriella , Vial Thierry , Boillot Olivier , Scoazec Jean-Yves 
Published: September 2009

Objective: To report a case of acute hepatitis related to atenolol administration in a liver transplant (LT) recipient. Case Summary: A 57-year-old woman was evaluated for LT because of liver failure due to cirrhosis of unknown origin. LT was performed in November 2006. In March 2007, results of liver function tests (LFTs) were within the reference ranges. She had received atenolol for hypertension for 3 years prior to surgery and it was reintroduced at a dose of 100 mg/day because of recurrence of hypertension. One month later, she presented with acute hepatitis. The first post-LT liver biopsy was performed. Histologic examination disclosed a combination of portal and centrilobular inflammatory lesions. The diagnosis of acute rejection was accepted and 3 bolus doses of prednisone 500 mg/day were administered. Evolution was not favorable and a second liver biopsy was obtained. Histologic examination showed the complete disappearance of portal inflammatory lesions but an increase of centrilobular lesions. Toxic hepatitis was suspected and atenolol was stopped. No other therapeutic modification was done and resolution of the toxicity was good. An objective causality assessment revealed that the adverse drug event was probable. Discussion: This case report represents a very rare severe hepatotoxicity due to atenolol and illustrates the diagnostic difficulties raised by such clinical situations in the context of LT. It is noteworthy that the initial diagnosis considered in this patient was acute rejection. This diagnosis had to be reconsidered because of the unfavorable outcome, despite specific treatment of rejection. Moreover, the patient had been treated with atenolol for 3 years before LT: in the absence of any other etiology, the possibility that she had drug-induced cirrhosis may therefore be considered. The mechanism of β-blocker–related hepatotoxicity is debatable. In our case, the composition of the inflammatory infiltrates observed in the liver biopsy specimens suggests an immune-mediated mechanism. Conclusions: Despite the fact that β-blocker–induced hepatotoxicity is probably extremely rare, it must be suspected and the drug therefore discontinued.
Fat and bone in children: Differential effects of obesity on bone size and mass according to fracture history
Authors: Dimitri Paul , Wales Jerry K , Bishop Nick 
Published: September 2009

Abstract
Fat mass predicts bone accrual in prepubertal children, but obese children have increased fracture risk. We hypothesised that bone size and mass would vary according to prior fracture in obese children. One hundred and three children (52 obese) underwent dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scanning of the lumbar spine, total body, and radial metaphysis and diaphysis. We derived body size–adjusted bone mineral density (BMD) estimates for each site using commonly employed procedures. Following adjustment for either age, age2 and weight, or height and weight based on a reference group of nonobese controls without previous fracture, obese children with prior fracture showed a 0.8 to 1.2 SD reduction in total body areal BMD (aBMD), a 3.0 SD decrease in lumbar (L2–4) aBMD, and a 2.0 SD reduction in radial shaft aBMD. These changes were significant at p &lt; .005. Lumbar volumetric BMD (vBMD) calculated by Carter and Kröger algorithms was significantly reduced in obese children with prior fracture (2.0 to 3.3 SD). Eighteen percent of obese children fulfilled the criteria for osteoporosis. Despite greater lean mass for height in obese children (p &lt; .0001), total body bone mineral content (BMC) for lean mass was reduced (p = .002). Multiple regression models adjusting for height, weight, and gender demonstrated an inverse relationship between total body fat mass and total body, lumbar, and ultradistal radius BMC and aBMD. The data suggest that fat mass substantially inhibits bone accrual in children with prior fracture. These children may require targeted interventions to increase bone mass during adolescence to achieve optimal peak bone mass and reduce the risk of osteoporosis later in life. © 2010 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research
Methods and Equipment Used in Preparing and Examining Fluorescent Ultrathin Sections of Portland Cement Concrete
Authors: Walker HN , Marshall BF 
Published: September 2009

Abstract
The method of preparation is explained for fluorescent dye-impregnated polished ultrathin sections of portland cement concrete used for a study of the microstructure of concrete. The sections were examined with a microscope that combines the features of a petrographic microscope with those of a microscope having incident fluorescing capabilities. Photomicrographs are used to illustrate microcracks, hollow shell hydration, impermeable areas, and the influence of coatings on aggregate particles.
The Precision of the Microscopical Determination of the Air-Void System in Hardened Concrete
Authors: Sommer H 
Published: September 2009

Abstract
Twenty laboratories from ten countries took part in an international comparative test to determine the air-void system of hardened concrete. The method of measurement did not seem to have a significant influence on results, but good grinding techniques and the magnifications were important. Further tests were performed at the Viennese Cement Research Institute with the aim of improving the precision of the results. It is recommended that the entrapped and the entrained air voids be counted separately and that the spacing factor be calculated from the entrained air voids only.
The Skin and the Self: A Note on the Limits of the Body in Brahmanic India
Authors: Malamoud Charles 
Published: September 2009

Abstract
This paper discusses some aspects and moments of the Vedic ritual in which the skin of an animal, when removed from the body to which it belonged, may either be used as a cloth and/or as a symbol, or transformed into the living skin of a new body it is meant to cover (earth for instance). The formulas one has to recite while performing these rituals operate this shift from nature to artefact and back to nature.
The Indian Body and Unani Medicine: Body History as Entangled History
Authors: Pernau Margrit 
Published: September 2009

Abstract
Cultures, and especially medical cultures, did not develop in isolation from one another, indebted only to their own dynamics, but in constant interchange. A history of the body hence can only be written as a history of entanglements. The article elaborates this thesis with reference to Unani medicine, a cluster of medical systems still today widely in use among the Muslims (and a good number of Hindus) of South Asia. The history of Unani medicine shows that the Indian body is the site of a long tradition of multiple influences and entanglements, Greek, Arabic, Persian, Central Asian, Western and Ayurvedic.
Translating the Body Into Image. The Body Politic and Visual Practice at the Mughal Court During the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries
Authors: Juneja Monica 
Published: September 2009

Abstract
This article investigates the ways in which visual representations reconfigured the body in North Indian political culture of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. While images were meant to transmit and translate ethical conceptions of the polity, communicative modes of the visual medium followed a dynamic that was not a rehearsal of the path taken by texts. As images cut across distinctions formulated elsewhere and drew up new boundaries, they worked to refine and pluralise the understandings of political culture beyond the normative. Pictorial experiments at the North Indian courts involved negotiating multiple regimes of visuality and arriving at pictorial choices that ended up creating a new field of sensibilities, especially the corporeal. An argument is therefore made for the agency of the visual in defining new ideas of the political body that were constitutive of politico-ethical ideals in early modern North India.
The Multiple Bodies of the Bride: Ritualising 'World Class′ at Elite Weddings in Urban India
Authors: Brosius Christiane 
Published: September 2009

Abstract
This paper examines the gap between the wedding and the beauty or fitness industries, underlining how closely they are connected by means of 'marketing the body′ and how much pressure is put on aspiring candidates in terms of their performance. The beautiful and the fit body of women as well as men have moved centre-stage in the feel-good ideology promoted in neoliberal urban India. The wedding ritual is a field of discourse through which a host of media and gender concepts are entangled in an ambivalent way: at once empowering and domesticating.
The Politics of the Sensuous and the Sacred Body in India
Authors: Menon Rekha 
Published: September 2009

Abstract
This paper is written inspired by looking at the hypocritical neocolonial/postcolonial Indians who claim to be the moralistic proper Hindu Indians. The paper discusses contemporary Indian aesthetic creations, specifically visual images and plastic arts, and correlates them with the excessive psychological, ethical, social, and gender judgments in which they are placed. Nakedness and naked bodies, the sensuous and the sacred body are judged within different hermeneutical contexts. By nakedness I do not mean just the nude body or the sexed body/body-ness, but nakedness in all its ambivalence. The paper focuses on various events in India to show how the domain of the expressive lifeworld of the sensuous and the sacred is still a question of debate, which has not changed since the Victorian moral codes.
Benign fine-needle aspiration cytology of thyroid nodule: to repeat or not to repeat?
Authors: Gabalec Filip , Čáp Jan , Ryška Aleš , Vašátko Tomáš , Ceeová Věra 
Published: September 2009

ContextFine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) is the gold standard for evaluating thyroid nodules. It has a sensitivity rate of about 95%, i.e. false negative results represent up to 5% of cases. The value of repeated FNAC during follow-up is still controversial.ObjectiveTo evaluate the usefulness of repeating the FNAC for initially benign nodules.Design and methodsAll 5017 patients who underwent FNAC of the thyroid nodule in years 1991–2008 were retrospectively evaluated.ResultsRepeated FNAC was performed in 574 nodules with initially benign results. The number of repetitions varied from one to six. Repeatedly benign results were found in 498 cases, and malignant/suspicious results with initially benign cytology were found in 76 nodules (13.2%). Carcinoma was present in 13 out of the 58 surgically treated malignant/suspicious results of initially benign cytology.ConclusionsA change from a benign FNAC result to a malignant/suspicious one was present in more than 13% of the patients with initially benign cytology; malignancy has been recognised on the basis of repeated FNAC in 2.3% patients. In the majority of cases, the repetition corrected wrong cytological interpretation of results other than colloidal goitre, especially Hashimoto's thyroiditis and regressive changes. We believe that repeating FNAC in patients with benign cytology in about a 1-year horizon can reduce the rate of undiagnosed tumours.
Adrenal crisis in treated Addison's disease: a predictable but under-managed event
Authors: White Katherine , Arlt Wiebke 
Published: September 2009

ContextAdrenal crisis is a life-threatening event that occurs regularly in Addison's patients receiving standard replacement therapy. Patient reports suggest that it is an underestimated and under-managed event.ObjectiveTo assess the frequency of adrenal crisis in diagnosed patients and to understand the factors contributing to the risks of adrenal crisis.DesignWe conducted a postal survey of Addison's patients in four countries, UK (n=485), Canada (n=148), Australia (n=123) and New Zealand (n=85) in 2003, asking about patients' experiences of adrenal crisis and their demographic characteristics. In 2006, a shorter follow-up survey was conducted in the UK (n=261).MethodThe frequency and causes of adrenal crisis were compared across both surveys. Demographic data from the 2003 survey were analysed to establish the main variables associated with an elevated risk of crisis.ResultsAround 8% of diagnosed cases can be expected to need hospital treatment for adrenal crisis annually. Exposure to gastric infection is the single most important factor predicting the likelihood of adrenal crisis. Concomitant diabetes and/or asthma increase the frequency of adrenal crises reported by patients.ConclusionThe endocrinologist has a responsibility to ensure that Addison's patients have adequate access to life-saving emergency injection materials and repeated, practical training sessions in how to use them, while the general practitioner plays a vital role as in arranging prompt emergency admissions.
Plasma Fibrinogen Levels and Prognosis in Patients with Ovarian Cancer: A Multicenter Study
Authors: Polterauer Stephan , Grimm Christoph , Seebacher Veronika , Concin Nicole , Marth Christian , Tomovski Caroline , Husslein Heinrich , Leipold Heinz , Hefler-Frischmuth Katrin , Tempfer Clemens , Reinthaller Alexander , Hefler Lukas 
Published: September 2009

Abstract

Learning Objectives
After completing this course, the reader will be able to: Describe the role of fibrinogen in coagulation and the inflammatory response and explain its importance in tumor proliferation, migration, and escape from immune regulation.Evaluate fibrinogen as a prognostic blood marker for survival and disease-free survival in patients with ovarian cancer.Incorporate fibrinogen testing as a relatively inexpensive, reliable, and available technique in the prognostic evaluation of ovarian cancer patients.
This article is available for continuing medical education credit at CME.TheOncologist.com

Introduction.
To evaluate pretherapeutic plasma fibrinogen levels as a prognostic parameter in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC).

Materials and Methods.
In the present multicenter study, pretherapeutic plasma fibrinogen levels were evaluated in 422 patients with EOC. Plasma fibrinogen levels were correlated with clinicopathological parameters and patient survival.

Results.
The mean (standard deviation) pretherapeutic plasma fibrinogen level was 450.0 (150.1) mg/dl. Elevated plasma fibrinogen levels were associated with advanced tumor stage (p = .01) and the presence of a postoperative residual tumor mass (p &lt; .001), but not with histological grade (p = .1) and histological type (p = .8). In a multivariate Cox regression model, tumor stage (p &lt; .001 and p &lt; .001), postoperative residual tumor mass (p = .001 and p = .008), and plasma fibrinogen level (p &lt; .001 and p = .002), but not histological type (p = .8 and p = .2), patient age (p = .9 and p = .9), and serum cancer antigen 125 (p = 0.2 and p = 0.3) and C-reactive protein (p = .2 and p = .3) levels, were associated with disease-free and overall survival, respectively. Histological grade was associated with overall but not with disease-free survival (p = .01 and p = .8), respectively.

Conclusions.
Pretherapeutic plasma fibrinogen levels can be used as an independent prognostic parameter in patients with EOC.
Some Characteristics of Nocturnal Bird Migration in Israel According to Radar Monitoring
Authors: Dinevich Leonid , Leshem Yossi , Matsyura Alexander 
Published: September 2009

Some Characteristics of Nocturnal Bird Migration in Israel According to Radar Monitoring
The present study is aimed at obtaining radar data on nocturnal bird migration over central Israel to be used for improvement of air traffic safety in complicated ornithological settings. The data obtained, together with the radar monitoring procedure previously developed (Dinevich et al. 2004), resulted in establishing a radar network over Israel that forwards information on bird movements to air traffic control stations every 15-30 minutes.
The results of radar monitoring of nocturnal bird migration over central Israel are presented (1998-2002) enabling to determine a number of characteristics which are of importance for air traffic control, including average and maximum flight altitudes, altitudes of maximum bird density, the dominant directions and velocity of bird flights.
The average flight altitude was found to be mainly within the limits of 1800 to 2000 m in autumn and of 2400 to 2900 m in spring. The absolute maximum altitude was estimated at 5700 m in spring and at 5200 m in autumn. Average altitudes of maximum bird density are considerably higher in spring (ca 1500 m) than in autumn (ca 1000 m). The study of flight directions and speed of over of 20 000 bird echoes showed that the dominant direction of migration was 183° in autumn and 6° in spring. Within the altitude band of 0 to 500 m, deviations from the dominant migratory route were observed, being approximately 135° in autumn and 315° in spring, which can be explained by intensive migration of songbirds from the Mediterranean Sea towards winter-quarters in autumn and back in spring. Cases of reverse migration were relatively rare and were not characteristic for the nocturnal bird migration over central Israel. The average speed of bird flights was found to be around 14 m/s in spring and 13 m/s in autumn, the minimum and maximum flight speed being 8 m/s and 18 m/s, respectively.
Variation in the Extent of Greater Wing Coverts Moult in Robins (Erithacus rubecula) Migranting in Autumn Through the Polish Baltic Coast
Authors: Ginter Małgorzata , Rosińska Katarzyna , Remisiewicz Magdalena 
Published: September 2009

Variation in the Extent of Greater Wing Coverts Moult in Robins (Erithacus rubecula) Migranting in Autumn Through the Polish Baltic Coast
Intra-seasonal variation in the number of unmoulted coverts in immature Robins caught during 2001-2003 autumn migrations was studied at two ringing stations (Mierzeja Wiślana and Bukowo-Kopań) located at the Polish Baltic coast. To determine the number of unmoulted greater wing coverts we counted immature-type coverts with light spots at tips. In the analyses data on the number of spotted coverts from ca 11 000 migrating individuals were used. We analysed the number of spotted coverts in each season and at each ringing station separately. Based on migration dynamics we distinguished migration waves and the number of spotted coverts were compared among the waves. Trends of seasonal changes in mean values of this parameter were assessed. To explain these tendencies, percentage distributions of wing spots for each wave were presented, with distinguished three categories: 0-3 (low), 4-5 (medium) and 6-8 (high) number of spotted coverts. Next, we compared distribution of this parameter among waves by Kruskal-Wallis and post-hoc Dunn's tests.
Late waves generally differed in the distributions of spotted coverts' number from the earlier ones in all seasons and at all stations. Our results showed the same tendencies within a season in all cases: the mean number of unmoulted coverts fluctuated in September, but starting from the end of this month and in October the trend was clearly increasing. This was due to changes in frequencies of Robins assigned to the distinguished categories - in September birds with medium number of spotted coverts constituted over 50% of all migrants, while in late September and/or October waves individuals with high number of spotted coverts predominated. Both in 2002 and 2003, the moment of the shift in this domination from birds with medium to those with high number of unmoulted coverts was synchronised between the two stations.
These intra-seasonal differences in moult advancement can be explained by two overlapping phenomena - subsequent migration over the Baltic coast of populations with different moult characteristics and by less advanced moult of birds from later broods. Correspondence of the observed trends in moult advancement with literature data on migration timing of Robins of different breeding origin and winter quarters indicates that the populational differences play an important role in the observed variation.
Age Structure of the Long-Eared Owl (Asio otus) Migration at Bukowo-Kopań Station (Southern Baltic Coast) in Autumns 1996-2003
Authors: Michalonek Damiana , Busse Wojciech , Lasecki Robert 
Published: September 2009

Age Structure of the Long-Eared Owl (Asio otus) Migration at Bukowo-Kopań Station (Southern Baltic Coast) in Autumns 1996-2003
Over 2000 Long-eared Owls were caught (217 adult and 1827 immatures) at Bukowo-Kopań station (54°21'N, 16°17'E / 54°28'N, 16°25'E), in the central part of the Polish Baltic coast, during autumn seasons 1996-2003. Migration of this species had wave-like pattern with three distinguished passage waves. There were differences between young and adult birds passage in subsequent passage waves (statistically significant only in autumns 2000 and 2003, in other seasons they were non-significant. The value of X
2-test calculated for all seasons together was high and differences were significant (X
2 = 10.96, p < 0.01). Generally, very high variation must be stressed. Young birds dominated during autumn migration (on average they constituted 89%) but this number varied distinctly in different years. The immatures were the most numerous in the second and third wave (they were especially numerous in the third wave in years with the highest number of caught birds). Adult owls migrated a bit earlier - average passage data was earlier by 1 to 16 days in various seasons. All data point at very high variability of the Long-eared Owl migration and necessity of deeper studies on this phenomenon.