bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Quality of life in patients with oral lichen planus
Authors: López‐Jornet Pía , Camacho‐Alonso Fabio 
Published: February 2010

AbstractBackground  Oral lichen planus (OLP) can seriously affect the quality of life of patients because it has a strong impact on social relations, psychological status and daily activities.Objective  To study the quality of life using the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP‐49) (validated Spanish version) in patients with OLP.Patients and methods  A total of 74 patients with a minimum age of 18 years who had lichen planus were recruited into the study, along with 74 ‘healthy’ subjects matched by sex and age who acted as control. Both groups completed the OHIP‐49.Results  Higher scores were obtained on the OHIP‐49 index in patients with OLP for all the subgroups and for the overall total than in the control group. Furthermore, there were statistically significant differences in the items concerning psychological discomfort, social disability and handicap in patients with OLP.Conclusions  The study shows that the quality of life in patients with OLP is reduced and that patient‐centred measures should be considered in the management of patients with OLP.
Determining the statistical significance of survivorship prediction models
Authors: Berty Holly P. , Shi Haiwen , Lyons‐Weiler James 
Published: February 2010

AbstractObjectives  The assessment of statistical significance of survivorship differences of model‐predicted groups is an important step in survivorship studies. Some models determined to be significant using current methodologies are assumed to have predictive capabilities. These methods compare parameters from predicted classes, not random samples from homogenous populations, and they may be insensitive to prediction errors. Type I‐like errors can result wherein models with high prediction error rates are accepted. We have developed and evaluated an alternate statistic for determining the significance of survivorship between or among model‐derived survivorship classes.Methods  We propose and evaluate a new statistical test, the F* test, which incorporates parameters that reflect prediction errors that are unobserved by the current methods of evaluation.Results  We found that the Log Rank test identified fewer failed models than the F* test. When both the tests were significant, we found a more accurate model. Using two prediction models applied to eight datasets, we found that the F* test gave a correct inference five out of eight times, whereas the Log Rank test only identified one model out of the eight correctly.Conclusion  Our empirical evaluation reveals that the hypothesis testing inferences derived using the F* test exhibit better parity with the accuracy of prediction models than the other options. The generalizable prediction accuracy of prediction models should be of paramount importance for model‐based survivorship prediction studies.
Dynamical difference in patients encounters involving uncontrolled diabetes: an orbital decomposition analysis
Authors: Katerndahl David , Parchman Michael L. 
Published: February 2010

AbstractRationale  Poor glucose control is common in patients with type 2 diabetes. Little is known about the dynamics within the doctor–patient encounter that might explain this phenomenon. The purpose of this study was to compare dynamics of encounters with and without a hypoglycaemic medication change for patients with poorly controlled diabetes.Methods  The doctor–patient encounters of 182 patients with type 2 diabetes from 20 primary care clinics were audio‐recorded and transcribed. Encounters were coded using the Davis Observation Codes (DOCs), classifying content into 20 different categories, for example, chatting or history taking, at 15 second intervals. Of the 60 encounters in which the A1C > 8.0, 25 involved a medication change. Fifteen patients were randomly selected from those with a change in medication as well as fifteen patients from those without a change in medication for analysis using orbital decomposition. ‘Orbital decomposition’ is an analytic technique based on symbolic dynamics in which categorical time series data, such as a string of DOCs, are used to identify amount of complexity present and recurrent patterns of strings.Results  Encounters with a change were longer (mean 20 versus 15.5 minutes) and included more time planning treatment (29% versus 23%). Encounters with and without a change displayed similar degrees of non‐linearity, but change encounters were slightly more non‐linear (DLyapunov = 1.94 versus 1.75). Encounters with a change had more structure to them: they had many more DOC strings (60 versus 33 strings occurring at least three times), and those DOC strings more often linked treatment planning to history taking, chatting, health education, physical examination and compliance assessment. Encounters without a change linked treatment planning to history taking, compliance assessment and nutrition counselling but had no strings with chatting or evaluation and feedback.Conclusion  In conclusion, the doctor's decision to change medication may be made before the encounter, thus the different strings of DOC codes observed. Chatting and evaluation and feedback may be strategies to increase trust before recommending a medication change.
Fixed dilated pupils and tacrolimus toxicity in paediatric liver transplant patients
Authors: Westrope Claire , Rowlands Helen , Morris Kevin , Gupte Girish L. 
Published: February 2010

Westrope C, Rowlands H, Morris K, Gupte GL. Fixed dilated pupils and tacrolimus toxicity in paediatric liver transplant patients. Pediatr Transplantation 2011: 15: E96–E99. © 2010 John Wiley & Sons A/S.Abstract:  We report a case series of four children who developed fixed dilated pupils associated with high tacrolimus levels (>30 nanograms/millilitre [ng/mL]) in the immediate post‐operative period following isolated liver or liver and small bowel transplantation.
Selection pressures have caused genome‐wide population differentiation ofAnthoxanthum odoratumdespite the potential for high gene flow
Authors: FREELAND J. R. , BISS P. , CONRAD K. F. , SILVERTOWN J. 
Published: February 2010

AbstractThe extent to which divergent selection can drive genome‐wide population differentiation remains unclear. Theory predicts that in the face of ongoing gene flow, population differentiation should be apparent only at those markers that are directly or indirectly (i.e. through linkage) under selection. However, if reproductive barriers limit gene flow, genome‐wide population differentiation may occur even in geographically proximate populations. Some insight into the link between selection and genetic differentiation in the presence of ongoing gene flow can come from long‐term experiments such as The Park Grass Experiment, which has been running for over 150 years, and provides a unique example of a heterogeneous environment with a long and detailed history. Fertilizer treatments applied in the Park Grass Experiment have led to rapid evolutionary change in sweet vernal grassAnthoxanthum odoratum, but until now, nothing was known of how these changes would be reflected in neutral molecular markers. We have genotyped tenA. odoratumpopulations from the Park Grass Experiment using Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphisms (AFLPs). Our data show that nutrient additions have resulted in genome‐wide divergence among plots despite the high potential for ongoing gene flow. This provides a well‐documented example of concordance between genomes and environmental conditions that has arisen in continuous populations across a time span of fewer than 75 generations.
Potentially functional COX‐2 −1195G>A polymorphism increases the risk of digestive system cancers: A meta‐analysis
Authors: Dong Jing , Dai Juncheng , Zhang Mingfeng , Hu Zhibin , Shen Hongbing 
Published: February 2010

AbstractBackground and Aim:  Three potentially functional polymorphisms: −765G>C, −1195G>A, and 8473T>C in the cyclooxygenase‐2 (COX‐2) gene were identified and proposed to be associated with cancer susceptibility. The aim of this meta‐analysis was to evaluate the association between these three polymorphisms and the risk of cancer in diverse populations.Methods:  All case‐control studies published up to November 2009 on the association between the three polymorphisms of COX‐2 and cancer risk were identified by searching PubMed. The cancer risk associated with the three polymorphisms of the COX‐2 gene was estimated for each study by OR together with its 95% confidence interval (CI), respectively.Results:  A total of 47 case‐control studies were included, and variant genotypes GA/AA of −1195G>A were associated with a significantly increased cancer risk (GA/AA vs GG: odds ratio [OR], 1.29; 95% CI, 1.18–1.41; Pheterogeneity = 0.113), and this significant association was mainly observed within cancers of the digestive system (e.g. colorectal, gastric, esophageal, oral, biliary tract, gallbladder, and pancreatic) without between‐study heterogeneity (GA/AA vs GG: OR, 1.36; 95% CI; 1.23–1.51; Pheterogeneity = 0.149). Furthermore, a stratification analysis showed that the risk of COX‐2−1195G>A associated with cancers in the digestive system was more evident among Asians than Caucasians. However, for COX‐2−765G>C and 8473T>C, no convincing association between the two polymorphisms and risk of cancer or cancer type was observed.Conclusions:  The effect of three potentially functional polymorphisms (−765G>C, −1195G>A, and 8473T>C) in the COX‐2 gene on cancer risk provided evidence that the COX‐2−1195G>A polymorphism was significantly associated with increased risk of digestive system cancers, especially among Asian populations.
High prevalence of late relapse and reinfection in prisoners treated for chronic hepatitis C
Authors: Bate John P , Colman Anton J , Frost Peter J , Shaw David R , Harley Hugh AJ 
Published: February 2010

AbstractBackground and Aim:  Prisoners have a high prevalence of injection drug use (IDU) and chronic hepatitis C (CHC) infection. Treatment of CHC in these patients is effective; however, their long‐term outcomes following treatment are unknown. We determined the durability of a sustained virological response (SVR) in prisoners treated for CHC.Methods:  Patients were treated as part of routine clinical practice with interferon (IFN) and ribavirin. A retrospective review of medical records and a computerized pathology system was performed for clinical and laboratory information.Results:  Seventy‐four prisoners (70 males, mean age 34 years, IDU in 55%) were evaluable for a SVR over a 12‐year period to December 2008; the mean follow‐up period was 1243 days. Genotype 1, 2, 3, and 6 infection was present in 18, three, 38 and three patients, respectively; the genotype was unknown in 12. Three out of 52 biopsied had cirrhosis. Standard IFN was administered to 25 (34%; 11 with ribavirin), and 49 received pegylated IFN and ribavirin; one did not complete treatment, and two had breakthrough relapses. The end‐of‐treatment response was achieved in 57 and SVR in 53; 14 were non‐responders. Five male patients, four with unknown genotypes and treated with standard IFN alone, relapsed late (following SVR, 9%). Five patients, all treated with pegylated IFN and ribavirin, were reinfected (one prior to and four following SVR).Conclusions:  Prisoners are often successfully treated for CHC. However, this retrospective study indicates that there is a high (17%) prevalence of late recurrence of viremia that is likely a reflection of reinfection due to ongoing risk‐taking behavior.
Identification of conditionally essential genes for growth ofPseudomonas putidaKT2440 on minimal medium through the screening of a genome‐wide mutant library
Authors: Molina‐Henares M. Antonia , De La Torre Jesús , García‐Salamanca Adela , Molina‐Henares A. Jesús , Herrera M. Carmen , Ramos Juan L. , Duque Estrella 
Published: February 2010

SummaryIn silicomodels forPseudomonas putidaKT2440 metabolism predict 68 genes to be essential for growth on minimal medium. In this study a genome‐wide collection of single‐geneP. putidaKT2440 knockouts was generated by mini‐Tn5transposon mutagenesis and used to identify genes essential for growth in minimal medium with glucose. Our screening of the knockout library allowed us to rescue mutants for 48 different knockouts that were conditionally essential for growth on minimal medium. Thein vivoscreening showed that 24 of these mutants had a insertion in genes proposed to be conditionally essential based onin silicomodels, whereas another 24 newly implicated conditionally essential genes have been found. For 10 of thein silicoproposed conditionally essential genes not found in the screening, knockout mutants were available at thePseudomonasReference Culture Collection. These mutants were tested for conditional growth on minimal medium, but none of them was shown to be essential, suggesting that thein silicoproposal was inaccurate. Among the set of identified conditionally essential genes were a number of genes involved in the biosynthesis of certain amino acids and vitamins. Auxotrophs for all amino acids predicted by thein silicomodels were found and, in addition, we also found auxotrophs for proline, serine, threonine and methionine, as well as auxotrophs for biotin, nicotinate and vitamin B12 that were not predictedin silico. Metabolic tests were performed to validate the mutants' phenotypes. Auxotrophies forl‐Arg,l‐Leu,l‐Pro andl‐Cys were bypassed by external addition of the correspondingd‐amino acids, suggesting the existence of number ofd‐ tol‐amino acid racemases encoded by the KT2440 genome. Therefore, thein vivohigh‐throughput analysis presented here provides relevant insights into the metabolic cross‐road of biosynthetic pathways in this microorganism, as well as valuable information for the fine tuning of currentin silicometabolic models.
Variation in the incidence of and risk factors for the development of nephrolithiasis after radical or partial nephrectomy
Authors: Bagrodia Aditya , Malcolm John B. , DiBlasio Christopher J. , Mehrazin Reza , Patterson Anthony L. , Wake Robert W. , Wan Jim Y. , Derweesh Ithaar H. 
Published: February 2010

Study Type – Prevalence (retrospective cohort) Level of Evidence 2bOBJECTIVETo examine incidence of and risk factors for the development of nephrolithiasis in patients treated with radical nephrectomy (RN) or partial nephrectomy (nephron‐sparing surgery, NSS).PATIENTS AND METHODSThe study comprised a single‐centre review of 749 patients treated with RN or NSS from August 1987 to June 2006. Demographics, medical and stone history, metabolic variables and postoperative stone events were recorded. Data were analysed within subgroups based on treatment (RN vs NSS). Multivariate analysis was used to identify risk factors for postoperative stone formation.RESULTSIn all, 499 patients had RN and 250 had NSS (mean age 57.9 years; mean follow‐up 6.3 years). There were no significant differences in their demographic factors, but tumours were significantly larger in RN (P < 0.001). There was no significant difference in preoperative urinary pH < 6.0 or stone history. Significantly fewer patients after NSS than RN formed calculi (NSS 1.6% vs RN 8.4%, P < 0.001), developed hypobicarbonataemia (NSS 7.2% vs RN 12.8%, P= 0.020), and a urinary pH of <6.0 (NSS 11.2% vs RN 19.4%, P= 0.004). Multivariate analysis showed that RN (odds ratio 18.18), postoperative urinary pH < 6 (15.63), previous stone disease (13.7), age <60 years (7.33, all P < 0.001), body mass index ≥30 kg/m2 (3.26, P= 0.033), male gender (2.67, P= 0.039), and hypobicarbonataemia (2.46, P= 0.034) were significantly associated with the development of postoperative calculi.CONCLUSIONSPatients undergoing RN have a significantly higher incidence of postoperative nephrolithiasis than a well‐matched cohort undergoing NSS. In addition to RN, male sex, urinary pH < 6.0, hypobicarbonataemia, history of stone disease, obesity, and age <60 years were significantly associated with postoperative stone formation.
‘TO THINE OWN SELF BE TRUE’: ON THE LOSS OF INTEGRITY AS A KIND OF SUFFERING
Authors: WIJSBEK HENRI 
Published: February 2010

ABSTRACTOne of the requirements in the Dutch regulation for euthanasia and assisted suicide is that the doctor must be satisfied ‘that the patient's suffering is unbearable, and that there is no prospect of improvement.’ In the notorious Chabot case, a psychiatrist assisted a 50 year old woman in suicide, although she did not suffer from any somatic disease, nor strictly speaking from any psychiatric condition. In Seduced by Death, Herbert Hendin concluded that apparently the Dutch regulation now allows physicians to assist anyone in suicide simply because he or she is unhappy.In this paper, I reject Hendin's conclusion and in particular his description of Mrs Boomsma as someone who was ‘simply unhappy.’ After a detailed narration of her lifestory, I turn to the American philosopher Harry Frankfurt's account of volitional incapacity and love for a more accurate characterization of her suffering. Having been through what she had, she could only go on living as another person than the one she had been when she was a happy mother. That would have violated her integrity, and that she could not bring herself to do.
Practising medicine in two countries: South African physicians in Canada
Authors: Joudrey Ronald , Robson Krista 
Published: February 2010

AbstractThis qualitative study examines the pre‐ and post‐migration practice experiences of 73 physicians trained in South Africa who have relocated to Canada. The aims are to explore the workings of two different healthcare systems from an insider standpoint and to address the medical autonomy debate as it relates to international medical graduates (IMGs). While study respondents reported practice frustrations in both countries, they generally preferred working in a socialised health insurance environment that grants wider accessibility than a two‐tiered system that favours a privileged few. Concerns such as family safety and opportunities for children also contributed to more satisfaction with Canada. We discuss our findings in relation to a broader international context and the sociological literature on medical autonomy. We argue that IMGs face different autonomy issues from other physicians and stress the need to broaden sociological inquiry of medical work by investigating how autonomy interfaces with other neglected aspects of physicians’ work and non‐work lives.
Men’s business, women’s work: gender influences and fathers’ smoking
Authors: Bottorff Joan L. , Oliffe John L. , Kelly Mary T. , Greaves Lorraine , Johnson Joy L. , Ponic Pamela , Chan Anna 
Published: February 2010

AbstractTo further understand men’s continued smoking during their partner’s pregnancy and the postpartum period, a study was undertaken to explore women’s perspectives of men’s smoking. Using a gender lens, a thematic analysis of transcribed interviews with 27 women was completed. Women’s constructions of men’s smoking and linkages to masculine and feminine ideals are described. The findings highlight the ways women position themselves both as defenders and regulators of men’s smoking. Femininities that aligned women with hegemonic masculine principles underpinned their roles in relation to men’s smoking and presented challenges in influencing their partner’s tobacco reduction. By positioning the decision to quit smoking as a man’s solitary pursuit, women reduced potential relationship conflict and managed to maintain their identity as a supportive partner. Insights from this study provide direction for developing gender‐specific tobacco reduction initiatives targeting expectant and new fathers. Indeed, a lack of intervention aimed at encouraging men’s tobacco reduction has the potential to increase relationship tensions, and inadvertently maintain pressure on women to regulate fathers’ smoking. This study illustrates how gender‐based analyses can provide new directions for men’s health promotion programmes and policies.
Beyond (financial) accessibility: inequalities within the medicalisation of infertility
Authors: Bell Ann V. 
Published: February 2010

AbstractThere is a significant class disparity within the provision of medical treatments for infertility in the United States. Common explanations attribute this inequality to financial inaccessibility due to sparse insurance coverage and exorbitant costs. However, little is known as to why disparities still exist without the presence of such constraints, such as in states with comprehensive insurance coverage of infertility treatments. Drawing on in‐depth interviews with women of low socioeconomic status (SES), this paper aims to explore the structural and political barriers to receiving medical care for infertility within the United States context. The paper argues that much of the invisible, unidentified treatment disparities of infertility stem from the social control mechanism of medicalisation. Medicalisation perpetuates the stratified system of reproduction through its structural inaccessibility and the institutionalised classism apparent within medicine’s reproductive health practices and policies. The women in this study, however, actively and creatively identified ways to overcome the reproductive limits with which they were faced. In doing so, their solutions served both to accept and reject dominant norms of motherhood and medicine.
Founding Principles of EU Law: A Theoretical and Doctrinal Sketch
Authors: Von Bogdandy Armin 
Published: February 2010

AbstractThe article discusses the roles of founding principles of the EU with the method of doctrinal constructivism, thereby explaining this specific approach to legal scholarship. At the same time it proves the usefulness of the constitutional approach to EU law. Core characteristics of the EU legal order should become more tangible.
The EU and Issues of Human Rights Protection: Same Solutions to More Acute Problems?
Authors: Van Den Berghe Frederic 
Published: February 2010

AbstractAcademic literature repeatedly calls for the EU's accession to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms 1950 (hereinafter Convention1). Similarly, the Lisbon Treaty provides that the EU must accede to the Convention. [Correction made here after initial online publication.] This might seem odd as the European Court of Justice (hereinafter ECJ2) has over the years developed abundant case‐law on human rights protection in the EU, and the EU has not so long ago adopted a, albeit non‐binding, catalogue of human rights (the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU (hereinafter Charter)). But after all these years, cases, and Treaty amendments, the EU is in fact going back to the ECJ's 1996 landmark opinion which recommended the EU's formal accession to the Convention,3 already proposed in 1979 by the Commission.4 One reason for this might be that, in the meantime, human rights issues have multiplied in the application of EU law, especially in areas such as the Second and Third Pillars where—at least initially—fewer human rights protection guarantees were foreseen.
The Function of the Proportionality Principle in EU Law
Authors: Harbo Tor‐Inge 
Published: February 2010

AbstractIn this article the author assesses the proportionality principle in EU law from a legal theoretical and constitutional perspective with the aim of discovering the function of the principle. Having first discussed the implications of the proportionality principle being a general principle of law, and what function it has—namely to secure legitimacy for judicial decisions—the author suggests that there are several ways in which the principle can be interpreted. There is, nevertheless, a limit to this interpretation determined by the proposed function of the principle. In the third part of the article, the European Court of Justice's (ECJ's) interpretation of the principle is assessed. The assessment clearly shows that the ECJ is interpreting the principle in different distinguishable ways. The question could, however, be raised as to whether the ECJ in some areas is interpreting the principle in a way that undermines the very function of it.