bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Incidence and Success of Treatment for Severe Chronic Groin Pain After Open, Transabdominal Preperitoneal, and Totally Extraperitoneal Hernia Repair
Authors: Bright Elizabeth , Reddy Venkat M. , Wallace David , Garcea Giuseppe , Dennison Ashley R. 
Published: February 2010

AbstractBackgroundChronic groin pain (CGP) is a significant cause of postoperative morbidity after inguinal hernia repair. Open, transabdominal preperitoneal (TAPP), and totally extraperitoneal (TEP) repair are all commonly performed methods of herniorrhaphy. The aim of this study was to compare the frequency of attendance at a chronic pain clinic (CPC) for CGP after open, TAPP or TEP repair.MethodsA retrospective review of all inguinal hernia repairs between January 1997 and December 2006 identified patients attending the CPC for CGP post‐herniorrhaphy. In this study CGP post‐herniorrhaphy was defined as pain that limited daily activities despite simple analgesia thereby requiring referral to the specialist CPC following surgical review.ResultsA total of 8513 patients underwent 9607 inguinal hernia repairs; 6497 (75.5%) were open, 1916 (22.3%) were TAPP, and 198 (2.3%) were TEP. Of these, 46 (0.71%) open, 22 (1.15%) TAPP, and 6 (3.03%) TEP repairs required attendance at CPC. A statistically significant difference in frequency of CPC attendance following laparoscopic versus open (P = 0.008), TEP versus open (P ≤ 0.001), and TEP versus TAPP repair (P = 0.027) was observed. After an average of 1 year, 69% of patients were discharged symptom‐free from the CPC. In 16%, CGP resolved prior to CPC attendance.ConclusionsIn contrast to previous reports, laparoscopic hernia repair is associated with a greater frequency of attendance at CPC than open repair, a finding that merits further investigation. Of those requiring treatment, the majority were discharged pain‐free after an average of 1 year.
Long‐term Evaluation of Genetic Counseling Following False‐Positive Newborn Screen for Cystic Fibrosis
Authors: Cavanagh Laura , Compton Cecilia J. , Tluczek Audrey , Brown Roger L. , Farrell Philip M. 
Published: February 2010

AbstractThis cross‐sectional mixed method study was a long‐term follow‐up evaluation of families who participated in an earlier survey of their understanding of cystic fibrosis (CF) genetics and their infants’ false‐positive CF newborn screening (NBS) results. Thirty‐seven of the original 138 parents participated in the follow‐up telephone survey. Results showed parents who received genetic counseling at the time of their infants’ diagnostic sweat tests had significantly higher long‐term retention of genetic knowledge than those without genetic counseling. However, both groups still had misconceptions and lacked accurate information about the actual risk associated with being a CF carrier. Most parents either had already informed (65%) or planned to inform (19%) their children about the child's carrier status. Mean child age at the time of disclosure was 9.2 years. Situational prompts were the most common reasons for informing their children. Neither parental knowledge, medical literacy, nor parental education predicted whether parents informed their children about their carrier status. False‐positive NBS results for CF were not associated with parental perceptions of child vulnerability 11–14 years after the testing. Although the sample from this study was small, these findings underscore the benefits of genetic counseling at the time of the diagnostic sweat test and offer information that can assist parents in talking with their children about the implications of having one CFTR mutation.
The influence of family relations on trajectories of cigarette and alcohol use from early to late adolescence
Authors: Gutman Leslie Morrison , Eccles Jacquelynne S. , Peck Stephen , Malanchuk Oksana 
Published: February 2010

ABSTRACTThe present study examines growth curve trajectories of cigarette and alcohol use from 13 to 19 years, and investigates how family relations (i.e., decision‐making opportunities, negative family interactions, and positive identification with parents) relate to contemporaneous and predictive alcohol and cigarette use during adolescence. Data came from a longitudinal study of European American and African American families from a range of socioeconomic backgrounds (n = 1160 for alcohol use; n = 1102 for cigarette use). European Americans had higher levels and faster rates of alcohol and cigarette use than African Americans. European Americans females had the greatest likelihood of increased cigarette use. Negative family interactions and positive identification had contemporaneous and predictive associations with alcohol and/or cigarette use. Negative family interactions were related to increased smoking and drinking, whereas positive identification was associated with decreased use. Family relations differentially affected cigarette use according to ethnicity and gender, but had similar effects on alcohol use.
SWL is More Cost-Effective than Ureteroscopy and Holmium:YAG Laser Lithotripsy for Ureteric Stones: A Comparative Analysis for a Tertiary Referral Centre
Authors: Argyropoulos A.N. , Tolley D.A. 
Published: February 2010

Background: To identify the most cost-effective treatment for ureteric stones ≤15 mm in our department, by using an economic model to compare the total cost of shockwave lithotripsy (SWL) versus ureteroscopy with Holmium:YAG laser lithotripsy (URSL). Patients and methods: Data for patients treated with the same lithotriptor were retrospectively analyzed. The financial department provided data about the cost of procedures. This model accepted a 100% stone-free rate for URSL in outpatients, and a 50% rate of insertion of a ureteric stent. The cost for each procedure to render a patient stone-free was estimated by the following equations: costSWL = cost(initial SWL session) + [cost(SWL session) × retreatment rate] + [cost(URSL) × SWL failure rate] + [cost(stent insertion and removal) × rate] + [cost(KUB film) × 4] costURSL = cost(URSL) + [cost(stent removal) × 50%] + [cost(KUB film) × 2] Results: Records of 228 patients with previously untreated solitary radiopaque ureteric stones ≤15 mm were reviewed. The total cost for SWL (cSWL) was £1491/patient, while the total cost for URSL (cURSL) was £2195/patient. The difference was highest in the upper ureter (over £1000), and lowest in the distal part (URSL about 40% more expensive). For lower ureteric stones >10 mm, SWL was over £500 more expensive than URSL. Conclusion: Using data from the department to calculate cost-effectiveness for ureteric stones ≤15 mm a difference in favour of SWL versus URSL was found. Uniform guidelines incorporating cost are impossible considering differences between countries; each centre should probably assess their data individually.
Identification of Local Recurrence and Radiofibrosis by Computed Tomography Perfusion on Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma after Radiotherapy
Authors: Su Danke , Jin Guanqiao , Xie Dong , Liu Younan 
Published: February 2010

Purpose The aim of this study was to investigate the role of perfusion computed tomography (CT) for identification of local recurrence (LR) and radiofibrosis (RF) in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma after radiotherapy. Methods Forty-eight prospective patients were recruited for this study. NPC diagnosis was confirmed by pathologic biopsy examination. Immunohistochemistry staining was used on biopsy specimens, and microvessel density was calculated by microscopy. Perfusion CT was performed on both the LR group ( n = 31) and the RF group ( n = 17) after intravenous injection of contrast medium. Time-density curve, blood flow, blood volume, and mean transit time, as well as permeability surface area product, were analyzed as perfusion CT parameters. The microvessel density was compared between both the LR and RF groups. Results There is a significant difference between the LR and RF groups in microvessel density, the time density curve, blood flow blood volume, mean transit time, and the permeability surface area product ( P < .01). Conclusions The results demonstrate that perfusion CT is a reliable and accurate method to identify LR and RF after radiotherapy in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
Positron emission tomography imaging of DMBA/TPA mouse skin multi‐step tumorigenesis
Authors: Ishikawa Tomo-o , Kumar Indracanti Prem , Machado Hidevaldo B. , Wong Koon-Pong , Kusewitt Donna , Huang Sung-Cheng , Fischer Susan M. , Herschman Harvey R. 
Published: February 2010

AbstractMany tumor cells have elevated rates of glucose uptake that can be measured quantitatively, noninvasively and repeatedly by positron emission tomography (PET) with 2‐deoxy‐2‐[18F]‐fluoro‐D‐glucose (18F‐FDG). Clinical imaging with 18F‐FDG PET has been used for detection and staging of primary and metastatic tumors. High‐resolution microPET scanning and murine cancer models make it possible to analyze longitudinally glucose metabolism during the appearance, development and progression of individual experimental tumors. In this study, we used 18F‐FDG microPET and micro computerized tomography (microCT) to investigate glucose uptake in the DMBA/TPA chemically‐induced multistage mouse skin carcinogenesis model. 18F‐FDG uptake is significantly higher in all papillomas than in surrounding skin. Elevated 18F‐FDG uptake is observed when tumors can be identified morphologically, but not before. Although 18F‐FDG uptake is high in all fully invasive, malignant skin squamous cell carcinomas, uptake in papillomas and microinvasive malignant squamous cell carcinomas is variable and does not exhibit any correlation with tumor stage.
Scruton's Musical Experiences
Authors: Zangwill Nick 
Published: February 2010

AbstractRoger Scruton's account of the nature of music and our experience of it foregrounds theimagination. It is a particularly interesting and promising ‘non-realist’ view in the aesthetics of music, in the sense that it does not postulate aesthetic properties of music that we represent in musical experience. In this paper I critically examine both Scruton's view and his main argument for it.
Childhood traumata, Dexamethasone Suppression Test and psychiatric symptoms: a trans-diagnostic approach
Authors: Faravelli C. , Amedei S. Gorini , Rotella F. , Faravelli L. , Palla A. , Consoli G. , Ricca V. , Batini S. , Sauro C. Lo , Spiti A. , dell'Osso M. Catena 
Published: February 2010

BackgroundChildhood traumatic events and functional abnormalities of the hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis have been widely reported in psychiatric patients, although neither is specific for any diagnosis. Among the limited number of studies that have evaluated these topics, none has adopted a trans-diagnostic approach. The aim of the present research is to explore the relationship between childhood stressors, HPA axis function and psychiatric symptoms, independent of the diagnosis.MethodA total of 93 moderate to severely ill psychiatric out-patients of Florence and Pisa University Psychiatric Units and 33 healthy control subjects were recruited. The assessment consisted of salivary cortisol pre- and post-low dose (0.5 mg) Dexamethasone, early and recent life events, 121 psychiatric symptoms independent of diagnosis, SCID, BPRS.ResultsIn total, 33.5% of patients were Dexamethasone Suppression Test (DST) non-suppressors, compared with 6.1% of controls (p=0.001). Among patients, non-suppression was associated with particular symptoms (i.e. depressive and psychotic), but not to any specific diagnosis. Early stressful life events were significantly associated with higher salivary cortisol levels, with DST non-suppression and with approximately the same subset of symptoms. A recent stressful event seemed to be associated to the HPA response only in those subjects who were exposed to early traumata.ConclusionsOur report suggests a relationship between life stress, HPA axis and psychopathology. A cluster of specific psychiatric symptoms seems to be stress related. Moreover, it seems that an abnormal HPA response is possibly triggered by an excessive pressure in vulnerable individuals.
Kierkegaard on emotion: a critique of Furtak's Wisdom in Love
Authors: TURNBULL JAMIE 
Published: February 2010

AbstractIn Wisdom in Love: Kierkegaard and the Ancient Quest for Emotional Integrity, Rick Furtak argues that emotions are cognitive phenomena to be understood in terms of the relation between subject and object. Furtak uses his conception of emotion to argue (in what he takes to be a Kierkegaardian spirit) that love is the source of meaning and value in human (and, specifically, Christian) life. This paper places Kierkegaard's views, and the role love plays in them, in his historical context. I argue that Furtak's approach fails to account for the subtle and complex role religious love plays in Kierkegaard's thought, and ultimately leaves him at odds with Kierkegaard methodologically and metaphysically.
The functional organization of posterior parietal association cortex
Authors: Lynch James C. 
Published: February 2010

AbstractPosterior parietal cortex has traditionally been considered to be a sensory association area in which higher-order processing and intermodal integration of incoming sensory information occurs. In this paper, evidence from clinical reports and from lesion and behavioral-electrophysiological experiments using monkeys is reviewed and discussed in relation to the overall functional organization of posterior parietal association cortex, and particularly with respect to a proposed posterior parietal mechanism concerned with the initiation and control of certain classes of eye and limb movements. Preliminary data from studies of the effects of posterior parietal lesions on oculomotor control in monkeys are reported.The behavioral effects of lesions of posterior parietal cortex in monkeys have been found to be similar to those which follow analogous damage of the minor hemisphere in humans, while behavioral-electrophysiological experiments have disclosed classes of neurons in this area which have functional properties closely related to the behavioral acts that are disrupted by lesions of the area. On the basis of current data from these areas of study, it is proposed that the sensory association model of posterior parietal function is inadequate to account for the complexities of the present evidence. Instead, it now appears that many diverse neural mechanisms are locatedin partin parietal cortex, that some of these mechanisms are involved in sensory processing and perceptual functions, but that others participate in motor control, and that still others are involved in attentional, motivational, or emotional processes. It is further proposed that the elementary units of these various neural mechanisms are distributed within posterior parietal cortex according to the columnar hypothesis of Mountcastle.
Dominance: The baby and the bathwater
Authors: Bernstein Irwin S. 
Published: February 2010

AbstractThe concept of dominance is used in the behavioral and biological sciences to describe outcomes in a variety of competitive interactions. In some taxa, a history of agonistic encounters among individuals modifies the course of future agonistic encounters such that the existence of a certain type of relationship can be inferred. If one is to characterize such relationships as dominance, however, then they must be distinguished from other kinds of interaction patterns for which the term tends to be used, as well as from factors such as territoriality and "trained" winners and losers, which may also influence the expression of agonistic behavior. Operational definitions based on causal, functional, evolutionary, and ontogenetic considerations have been proposed. Reliability and validity problems have been discussed, but the dominance concept has proved useful despite methodological difficulties. The confusion of dominance relationships (which involve two or more individuals) with dominance ranks (which are assigned to a single individual) has obscured the possible evolutionary basis of dominance relationships. If benefits accrue to dominant members of pairs, then those attributes which allow an animal to establish dominance can be selected. Dominance per se and dominance ranks, on the other hand, cannot be genetically transmitted since they constitute relationships with other individuals rather than absolute attributes. Dominance rankings in particular may be useful for describing behavioral patterns within a group, but they may reflect our own ability to count rather than any important variable in social organization.
Précis ofGenes, Mind, and Culture
Authors: Lumsden Charles J. , Wilson Edward O. 
Published: February 2010

AbstractDespite its importance, the linkage between genetic and cultural evolution has until now been little explored. An understanding of this linkage is needed to extend evolutionary theory so that it can deal for the first time with the phenomena of mind and human social history. We characterize the process of gene-culture coevolution, in which culture is shaped by biological imperatives while biological traits are simultaneously altered by genetic evolution in response to cultural history. A case is made from both theory and evidence that genetic and cultural evolution are inseverable, and that the human mind has tended to evolve so as to bias individuals toward certain patterns of cognition and choice rather than others. With the aid of mathematical models we trace the coevolutionary circuit: The genes prescribe structure in developmental pathways that lay down endocrine and neural systems, imposing regularities in the development of cognition and behavior; these regularities (loosely labeled “epigenetic rules”) translate upward into holistic patterns of culture, which can be predicted in the form of probability density distributions (ethnographic curves); natural selection acts within human history to favor certain epigenetic rules over others; and the selection alters the frequencies of the underlying genes. The effects of genetic and cultural changes reverberate throughout the circuit and are consequently tested with the passage of each life cycle. In addition to modeling gene-culture coevolution, we apply methods from island biogeography and information theory to examine the cultural capacity of the genes, the factors determining the magnitude of cultural diversity, and the possible reasons for the uniqueness of the human achievement.
Evolution and ontogeny of neural circuits
Authors: Ebbesson Sven O. E. 
Published: February 2010

AbstractRecent studies on neural pathways in a broad spectrum of vertebrates suggest that, in addition to migration and an increase in the number of certain select neurons, a significant aspect of neural evolution is a “parcellation” (segregation-isolation) process that involves the loss of selected connections by the new aggregates. A similar process occurs during ontogenetic development. These findings suggest that in many neuronal systems axons do not invade unknown territories during evolutionary or ontogenetic development but follow in their ancestors' paths to their ancestral targets; if the connection is later lost, it reflects the specialization of the circuitry.The pattern of interspecific variability suggests (1) that overlap of circuits is a more common feature in primitive (generalized) than in specialized brain organizations and (2) that most projections, such as the retinal, thalamotelencephalic, corticotectal, and tectal efferent ones, were bilateral in the primitive condition. Specialization of these systems in some vertebrate groups has involved the selective loss of connections, resulting in greater isolation of functions. The parcellation process may also play an important role in cell diversification.The parcellation process as described here is thought to be one of several underlying mechanisms of evolutionary and ontogenetic differentiation.
Cortical connections and parallel processing: Structure and function
Authors: Ballard Dana H. 
Published: February 2010

AbstractThe cerebral cortex is a rich and diverse structure that is the basis of intelligent behavior. One of the deepest mysteries of the function of cortex is that neural processing times are only about one hundred times as fast as the fastest response times for complex behavior. At the very least, this would seem to indicate that the cortex does massive amounts of parallel computation.This paper explores the hypothesis that an important part of the cortex can be modeled as a connectionist computer that is especially suited for parallel problem solving. The connectionist computer uses a special representation, termed value unit encoding, that represents small subsets of parameters in a way that allows parallel access to many different parameter values. This computer can be thought of as computing hierarchies of sensorimotor invariants. The neural substrate can be interpreted as a commitment to data structures and algorithms that compute invariants fast enough to explain the behavioral response times. A detailed consideration of this model has several implications for the underlying anatomy and physiology.
An essay on the circulation as behavior
Authors: Engel Bernard T. 
Published: February 2010

AbstractMost conceptual models of the organization of the cardiovascular system begin with the premise that the nervous system regulates the metabolic and nonmetabolic reflex adjustments of the circulation. These models assume that all the neurally mediated responses of the circulation are reactive, i.e., reflexes elicited by adequate stimuli. This target article suggests that the responses of the circulation are conditional in three senses. First, as Sherrington argued, reflexes are conditional in that they never operate in a vacuum but in a context together with other reflexes. Guided by functional utility, they interact rather than add. Second, as Pavlov argued, stimuli acquire meanings as a result of experience. This notion of stimulus effect plus the Sherringtonian notion of conditionality suggest that association is one of the ways stimuli eliciting cardiovascular reflexes acquire their meanings and thus their relative strengths. Finally, as Skinner and others have argued, operants are responses that act upon the environment to obtain consequences – that is, stimuli. As operants, cardiovascular responses fulfill a major biological need, functioning proactively. The cardiovascular response is an integral component of the animal's behavior regardless of whether it is an elicited reflex or the eliciting stimulus acquired its properties as a result of the genetic inheritance of the animal or through experience, or the cardiovascular response is emitted in anticipation of an environmental consequence. The main theses of this essay are: (1) behavior is an integrated set of responses and the circulation is one of the response systems comprising behavior; (2) behavior is, in part, determined by its functional significance within a context; (3) the contextual factors operative at the time of the behavior have a major role in determining which of the set of possible responses will determine the final act, that is, which behavior will be the effective response and which other behaviors will be concomitants.