bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Long‐term outcome of tension‐free vaginal tape for treating stress incontinence in women with neuropathic bladders
Authors: Abdul‐Rahman Ahmad , Attar Kaka H. , Hamid Rizwan , Shah P. Julian R. 
Published: February 2010

Study Type – Therapy (case series) Level of Evidence 4OBJECTIVETo evaluate the long‐term safety and efficacy of the tension‐free vaginal tape (TVT) for the treatment of stress urinary incontinence (SUI) in women with neuropathic bladder dysfunction.PATIENTS AND METHODSTwelve women (mean age 53.3 years, range 41–80) with neuropathic bladder dysfunction and SUI confirmed by video‐cystometrography (VCMG) were treated with a TVT in one institution by an expert neuro‐urologist between November 1997 and December 2000. The patient’s notes, clinical annual follow‐up and VCMG after the procedure, and the incontinence impact questionnaire (IIQ) forms (Urinary Distress Inventory, and IIQ‐7) were assessed during the long‐term clinical follow‐up for SUI, in addition to a health‐related quality of life assessment. The cure of SUI was defined as no loss of urine on physical exercise, confirmed VCMG after the procedure, and by clinical assessment.RESULTSThe mean (range) follow‐up was 10 (8.5–12) years. Nine patients were using clean intermittent self‐catheterization before the insertion of TVT and continued to do so afterward. At 10 years of follow‐up, one patient had died (with failed TVT initially), and two were lost to follow‐up at 5 years after surgery, but up to 5 years they did not complain of UI and VCMG did not show SUI. The remaining seven of the nine patients were completely dry, and two improved and were satisfied with using one or two pads/day. Two patients showed neurogenic detrusor overactivity confirmed on VCMG, with no evidence of SUI. One patient needed a transient urethral catheter for urinary retention after surgery, one had a bladder injury that required leaving the catheter for 5 days, but no urethral erosions were reported during the follow‐up.CONCLUSIONSIn women with neuropathic bladder dysfunction secondary to a variety of spinal cord pathologies, and who have SUI necessitating a definitive intervention, insertion of TVT should be considered a desirable treatment, with very good long‐term outcomes.
Does informed trading occur in the options market? Some revealing clues
Authors: Blasco Natividad , Corredor Pilar , Santamaría Rafael 
Published: February 2010

AbstractThis paper analyses the relationship between proxy variables for informed trading in the options market and a set of exogenous news variables. The aim was to test directly for the presence or absence of informed trading in the options market and for the possible impact of this trading on underlying asset prices. Our findings reveal that potential informed trading in options markets is channelled basically through out‐of‐the‐money options, except for volatility trading which mainly involves at‐the‐money options because of their liquidity. In both cases, we have found evidence in favour of investors’ strategic fragmentation of transactions into intermediate size trades (stealth trading). Finally, it is shown that lack of consensus among agents also generates increased trading, particularly in out‐of‐the‐money and at‐the‐money options.
Strategic timing of earnings announcements?
Authors: Truong Cameron 
Published: February 2010

AbstractUsing firm‐specific regressions, I show that earnings response coefficient differ across firms. However, there is no evidence of differential earnings response coefficient to a certain earnings announcement time. By switching to a different announcement time from its preferred time, a firm does not gain a softer market reaction. I compare research results from a firm‐specific method and from a pooled time‐series and cross‐sectional method and demonstrate that they differ significantly due to large heterogeneity across firms. I suggest that researchers should adopt a firm‐specific approach to avoid misleading results and to achieve improved estimations.
Role of corporate governance in mitigating the selective disclosure of executive stock option information
Authors: Nelson Jodie , Gallery Gerry , Percy Majella 
Published: February 2010

AbstractWe examine the nature and extent of statutory executive stock option disclosures by Australian listed companies over the 2001–2004 period, and the influence of corporate governance mechanisms on these disclosures. Our results show a progressive increase in overall compliance from 2001 to 2004. However, despite the improved compliance, the results reveal managements’ continued reluctance to disclose more sensitive executive stock option information. Factors associated with good internal governance, including board independence, audit committee independence and effectiveness, and compensation committee independence and effectiveness are found to contribute to improved compliance. Similarly, certain external governance factors are associated with improved disclosure, including external auditor quality, shareholder activism (as proxied by companies identified as poor performers by the Australian Shareholders’ Association) and regulatory intervention.
RESPECT FOR AUTONOMY, ADVANCE DIRECTIVES, AND MINIMALLY CONSCIOUS STATE
Authors: VARELIUS JUKKA 
Published: February 2010

ABSTRACTIn this article, I consider whether the advance directive of a person in minimally conscious state ought to be adhered to when its prescriptions conflict with her current wishes. I argue that an advance directive can have moral significance after its issuer has succumbed to minimally conscious state. I also defend the view that the patient can still have a significant degree of autonomy. Consequently, I conclude that her advance directive ought not to be applied. Then I briefly assess whether considerations pertaining to respecting the patient's autonomy could still require obedience to the desire expressed in her advance directive and arrive at a negative answer.
The impact of wireless keypads in an interprofessional education context with health science students
Authors: Williams Brett , Lewis Belinda , Boyle Malcolm , Brown Ted 
Published: February 2010

AbstractThe aim of this study was to identify if wireless keypads could facilitate interprofessional interaction among undergraduate paramedic, nursing, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, health science, social work and midwifery students. Secondary research aims included the examination of students' perceptions of interprofessional education and how students perceived using wireless keypads in large lecture classes and smaller tutorials. The study used a mixed methodology approach via self‐reporting questionnaires and focus groups that included (n = 210) students in week 1 and (n = 151) students in week 13 of an undergraduate unit. Overall, students were satisfied with the use of wireless keypads in their interprofessional undergraduate unit of study. While modest findings supported the use of wireless keypads in improving student interaction, other findings were statistically significant in understanding the roles of other health professions and why collaboration in health‐care environments was important for professional growth. The following themes emerged from the qualitative data: engagement, satisfaction, use of educational technology, interprofessional education and learning environment. Integration of wireless keypads has assisted undergraduate students to better appreciate and understand other health‐care disciplines within an interprofessional education setting. Students reported that they appreciated the alternative teaching and learning approach that wireless keypads offered, thus improving engagement and interactivity, and providing a broader understanding of other allied health‐care professions.
A mixed‐method approach to sense of coherence, health behaviors, self‐efficacy and optimism: Towards the operationalization of positive health attitudes
Authors: POSADZKI PAUL , STOCKL ANDREA , MUSONDA PATRICK , TSOUROUFLI MARIA 
Published: February 2010

Posadzki, P., Stockl, A., Musonda, P. & Tsouroufli, M. (2010). A mixed‐method approach to sense of coherence, health behaviors, self‐efficacy and optimism: Towards the operationalization of positive health attitudes. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 51, 246–252.This study discusses the results of a cross‐sectional survey of healthy college students in Poland. More specifically, it describes, explores, and explains the relationships between psychological variables/models such as health behaviors (HB), sense of coherence (SOC), level of optimism (LOO), and self‐efficacy (SE) among college students. These separate constructs have also been used to operationalize a positive health attitude (PHA) as a novel construct. The social survey was carried out at three higher education institutions in Poland in January 2006. The random sample of 455 undergraduate students was taken from five different faculties: Physiotherapy, Physical Education, Tourism and Recreation, English Philology and Polish Philology. Four reliable and validated research tools were used to collect the data: Juczynsky’s Health Behaviour Inventory (HBI); Antonovsky’s Sense of Coherence Questionnaire (SOC‐29); Schwarzer & Jerusalem’s Generalized Self‐Efficacy Scale (GSES); and Seligman’s Scale (SS). The results indicate statistically significant differences (p < 0.001) between these four variables: for example, the healthier health behaviors the stronger the sense of coherence, level of optimism and self‐efficacy. It was also demonstrated that LOO, SOC, SE, and HB correlate with one another. Finally, these variables create an explicit empirical‐theoretical pattern. All the research results from REGWQ tests, Pearson’s correlation coefficient and cluster analysis suggest the existence of conceptual similarities between these four variables and/or the existence of some broader scientific construct such as PHA. However, this needs to be examined further. These results could be a good indicator for future research among different faculties or age groups.
Random forest can predict 30‐day mortality of spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage with remarkable discrimination
Authors: Peng S. ‐Y. , Chuang Y. ‐C. , Kang T. ‐W. , Tseng K. ‐H. 
Published: February 2010

Background and purpose:  Risk‐stratification models based on patient and disease characteristics are useful for aiding clinical decisions and for comparing the quality of care between different physicians or hospitals. In addition, prediction of mortality is beneficial for optimizing resource utilization. We evaluated the accuracy and discriminating power of the random forest (RF) to predict 30‐day mortality of spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (SICH).Methods:  We retrospectively studied 423 patients admitted to the Taichung Veterans General Hospital who were diagnosed with spontaneous SICH within 24 h of stroke onset. The initial evaluation data of the patients were used to train the RF model. Areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUC) were used to quantify the predictive performance. The performance of the RF model was compared to that of an artificial neural network (ANN), support vector machine (SVM), logistic regression model, and the ICH score.Results:  The RF had an overall accuracy of 78.5% for predicting the mortality of patients with SICH. The sensitivity was 79.0%, and the specificity was 78.4%. The AUCs were as follows: RF, 0.87 (0.84–0.90); ANN, 0.81 (0.77–0.85); SVM, 0.79 (0.75–0.83); logistic regression, 0.78 (0.74–0.82); and ICH score, 0.72 (0.68–0.76). The discriminatory power of RF was superior to that of the other prediction models.Conclusions:  The RF provided the best predictive performance amongst all of the tested models. We believe that the RF is a suitable tool for clinicians to use in predicting the 30‐day mortality of patients after SICH.
Factoring Turbulence Out: Diaspora Regulatory Mechanism and Migration Development Bank
Authors: Gevorkyan Aleksandr V. , Gevorkyan Arkady V. 
Published: February 2010

AbstractThe ongoing economic crisis has shifted much of the policy debate to problems of financial sector regulation, productive capacity collapse, among others. However, this leaves unattended the real situation with labour migration, which directly impacts social and economic inner components of being of millions of individual families across the world. The somewhat ad hoc nature of the process poses several policy issues for the home and host economies alike. Immediate concerns relate to streamlining migrants and remittances flows. This involves sensitive aspects of inequality in migrant workers’ labour efforts vis‐à‐vis domestic workers; migrants’ social and legal status; and less obvious, but still profound, unproductive misallocation of labour resources. Derived from this premise and recognizing the need for an institutional approach, this paper offers alternative policy solutions to temporary labour migration regulation. This research’s original propositions include a Diaspora Regulatory Mechanism and a Migration Development Bank, both operating within a state‐managed temporary labour migration regime. Fiscal action, including multilateral agreements, is crucial. The functionality of these mechanisms will directly impact infrastructure, human capital and entrepreneurial projects development in both home and host economies. Discussion is inspired by the analysis of actual circumstances in the economies of the Commonwealth of Independent States, where migration is a social, economic, and increasingly political issue. In the interlinked world, diasporas become dominant actors across all society strata. The development plateau of the post‐socialist states offers a rich economic and social soil to conduct responsible policy with future outlook. Moreover, conditions of ongoing economic crisis offer a unique opportunity for daring research to propose and for a motivated decisionmaker to implement original, proactive, and beneficial policy solutions aimed at streamlining the (temporary) labour migration process. This paper contributes to the emerging literature on topics of diaspora, labour migration, and remittance flows.
Impaired maturation of cortical GABAA receptor expression in pediatric epilepsy
Authors: Jansen Laura A. , Peugh Lindsey D. , Roden William H. , Ojemann Jeffrey G. 
Published: February 2010

SummaryPurpose:  Expression of the protein subunits that make up the γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA)A receptor pentamer is known to change during postnatal brain development in animal models. In the present study, analysis of cortical GABAA subunit expression was performed in control human tissue obtained from infancy through adolescence, and was compared to that from similarly aged children with intractable focal epilepsy.Methods:  Twenty frozen pediatric control and 25 epileptic neocortical specimens were collected. The membrane fractions were isolated and subjected to quantitative western blot analysis. Subunit expression was correlated with clinical factors including age, pathology, and medication exposure.Results:  In control cortical samples, α1 and γ2 GABAA receptor subunits exhibited low expression in infancy, which increased over the first several years of life and then stabilized through adolescence. In contrast, α4 subunit expression was higher in infants than in older children. The level of the chloride transporter KCC2 increased markedly with age, whereas that of NKCC1 decreased. These patterns were absent in the children with epilepsy, both in those with focal cortical dysplasia and in those with cortical gliosis. Although there was marked variability in GABAA receptor subunit expression among the children with epilepsy, identifiable patterns of subunit expression were found in each individual child.Discussion:  Maturation of cortical GABAA receptor subunit expression continues over the first several years of postnatal human development. Intractable focal epilepsy in children is associated with disruption of this normal developmental pattern. These findings have significant implications for the treatment of children with medications that modulate GABAA receptor function.
Significant change in ZAP‐70 expression during the course of chronic lymphocytic leukemia
Authors: Vroblova Vladimira , Vrbacky Filip , Hrudkova Monika , Jankovicova Karolína , Schmitzova Daniela , Maly Jaroslav , Krejsek Jan , Smolej Lukas 
Published: February 2010

AbstractIntroduction:  It is widely accepted that expression of ZAP‐70 in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) remains stable in time. However, data supporting this notion are surprisingly scarce. Therefore, we assessed expression of ZAP‐70 in serial samples taken during the course of the disease.Patients and Methods:  We studied 44 patients with CLL diagnosed according to NCI‐WG criteria (34 men, 10 women, median age 62, range, 36–81). A total of 104 samples were examined; all patients had at least two measurements. Median interval between the first and the second sample was 13 months (range, 2–36). ZAP‐70 expression was detected by flow cytometry using phycoerythrin‐conjugated monoclonal antibody clone 1E7.2 and negative isotype control. Twenty percent of positive cells were considered as the threshold of positivity.Results:  Significant change in ZAP‐70 expression (i.e. from positivity to negativity and vice versa) was detected in 15/44 patients (34%). Interestingly, 7/8 patients whose ZAP‐70 expression converted to positivity had unmutated IgVH genes. In addition, the conversion was accompanied by clinical progression or relapse in all but one patient. On the other hand, 5/7 patients with loss of ZAP‐70 had stable clinical course. One patient became ZAP‐70‐negative during treatment with prednisone for autoimmune hemolytic anemia.Conclusions:  In contrast to commonly accepted opinion, significant change in ZAP‐70 expression in time was detected in a substantial proportion of our patients with CLL. While the conversion to ZAP‐70 negativity was found predominantly in patients with stable disease, change to positivity was typical in patients with unmutated IgVH genes at the time of progression or relapse. Based on our pilot results, repeated assessment of ZAP‐70 expression might be especially useful at the time of progression or relapse in patients who were initially ZAP‐70‐negative.
A confocal micro‐endoscopic investigation of the relationship between the microhardness of carious dentine and its autofluorescence
Authors: Banerjee Avijit , Cook Richard , Kellow Samir , Shah Ketan , Festy Frederic , Sherriff Martyn , Watson Tim 
Published: February 2010

Banerjee A, Cook R, Kellow S, Shah K, Festy F, Sherriff M, Watson T. A confocal micro‐endoscopic investigation of the relationship between the microhardness of carious dentine and its autofluorescence. Eur J Oral Sci 2010; 118: 75–79. © 2010 The Authors. Journal compilation© 2010 Eur J Oral SciThis study aimed to investigate the null hypothesis that there is no relationship between the microhardness of carious dentine and its native autofluorescence (AF). Six extracted, carious molars were sectioned through natural lesions in the mesio‐distal longitudinal plane. The Knoop microhardness (Knoop hardness number, KHN) of the cut surfaces of each sample was recorded at regular intervals through sound and carious dentine. Confocal fibre‐optic micro‐endoscopic (CFOME) examination of the carious dentine and the sound dentine was carried out at the same intervals using the Cellvizio system (600 μm wide, flat‐end probe) with an excitation wavelength of 488 nm. The blindly collected numerical data were analysed using the original microhardness KHN. The data analysis indicated that the autofluorescence signals increased significantly when the microhardness of dentine dropped below 25 KHN. Therefore, the null hypothesis was disproved, and it was concluded from this investigation that the autofluorescent signal intensity recorded using CFOME could produce an objective and reproducible correlation to the microhardness of carious dentine. Confocal fibre‐optic micro‐endoscopic examination could have clinical potential as a technology to help delineate the carious dentine that might be excavated in a clinical procedure in vivo.
Elution of substances from a silorane‐based dental composite
Authors: Kopperud Hilde M. , Schmidt Malene , Kleven Inger S. 
Published: February 2010

Kopperud HM, Schmidt M, Kleven IS. Elution of substances from a silorane‐based dental composite. Eur J Oral Sci 2010; 118: 100–102. © 2010 The Authors. Journal compilation© 2010 Eur J Oral SciPrevious studies have shown that residual monomers, initiators, and additives are eluted from methacrylate‐based dental composite materials. Recently, a composite material (Filtek Silorane), based on a new resin chemistry, was introduced. The purpose of this study was to investigate substances eluted from Filtek Silorane in water and ethanol. Polymerized specimen discs of the material were immersed in either distilled water or 75 vol% ethanol at 37°C, and the solutions were analyzed using liquid chromatography‐mass spectrometry after 1, 4, 24, and 72 h eluting time. No substances were found to leach from Filtek Silorane in water, whereas silorane monomers and an initiator component were eluted from the material into the ethanol solution.
Ultrastructural localization of salivary mucins MUC5B and MUC7 in human labial glands
Authors: Piras Monica , Hand Arthur R. , Tore Giorgio , Ledda Gian Peppino , Piludu Marco 
Published: February 2010

Piras M, Hand AR, Tore G, Ledda GP, Piludu M. Ultrastructural localization of salivary mucins MUC5B and MUC7 in human labial glands. Eur J Oral Sci 2010; 118: 14–18. © 2010 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2010 Eur J Oral SciAs a result of their presence throughout the mouth in the submucosa or between muscle fibers, minor salivary glands secrete directly and continuously into the oral cavity, providing mucosal surfaces with highly glycosylated proteins that are active in bacterial aggregation and in oral tissue lubrication. In this study, we investigated the ultrastructural localization of the MUC5B and MUC7 mucins in human labial glands by means of a postembedding immunogold technique. Thin sections of normal human labial glands, obtained during surgery, were incubated with polyclonal antibodies to human salivary mucins MUC5B and MUC7, and then with gold‐labeled secondary antibodies. Specific MUC5B reactivity was found in the secretory granules of mucous cells of all glands examined, and was associated with the luminal membrane of duct cells. MUC7 labeling was observed in the granules of both mucous and seromucous secretory cells of the glandular parenchyma. Quantitative analyses demonstrated that seromucous granules have higher immunogold labeling densities for MUC7 than mucous granules. Our immunohistochemical data extend the results of previous light microscopic studies of MUC5B and MUC7 localizations, pointing out the significant contribution of human labial glands in the secretion process of these two mucins.