bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A survey of Australian clinical registries: can quality of care be measured?
Authors: Evans S. M. , Bohensky M. , Cameron P. A. , McNeil J. 
Published: October 2009

AbstractBackground:  Clinical quality registries gather and analyse information to monitor and enhance the quality of care received by patients. The aim of the present study was to determine the attributes of Australian clinical registries to identify their capacity to accurately assess quality of care.Methods:  A survey was distributed to registry custodians managing multi‐site clinical outcome registries. They were asked to self‐report on general aspects of registries, including coverage, length of operation, data collection process, data management, quality of data and registry governance structures.Results:  A total of 28 registries were identified and all provided responses to the survey. The majority of the registries require modifications to their procedures in order to provide useful and reliable information for quality improvement purposes. Thirteen registries (46%) did not assess or recruited fewer than 80% of the eligible population and 23 (82%) did not formally audit reliability of coding at the clinical level. Five (18%) did not collect the information required for basic risk adjustment of outcome measures. While most registries produced reports for providers and interested parties, the approach to disseminating this information was highly variable.Conclusion:  Clinical registries provide the most credible information about quality of care. However, most key registries in Australia require some adaptation of procedures in order to accomplish this task. Funding should be provided to enable registries to make the necessary changes.
Obstructive sleep apnoea – an update
Authors: Chan A. S. L. , Phillips C. L. , Cistulli P. A. 
Published: October 2009

AbstractObstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is a common disorder characterized by the repetitive complete or partial collapse of the upper airway during sleep. It results in intermittent hypoxaemia and hypercapnia, cortical arousals and surges of sympathetic activity. The occurrence of OSA has also been linked to serious long‐term adverse health consequences; such as hypertension, metabolic dysfunction, cardiovascular disease, neurocognitive deficits and motor vehicle accidents. There have been several advances in the field of particular clinical importance: (i) the development of portable monitoring as part of a simplified clinical algorithm for the diagnosis of OSA in selected patients; (ii) growing awareness of the cardio‐metabolic health consequences of OSA and (iii) emerging evidence to support a range of non‐continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment modalities, such as oral appliances.
Numerical discrimination in newborn infants as revealed by event‐related potentials to tone sequences
Authors: Ruusuvirta Timo , Huotilainen Minna , Fellman Vineta , Näätänen Risto 
Published: October 2009

AbstractHumans are able to attentively discriminate number from 6 months of age. However, the age of the emergence of this ability at the pre‐attentive stage of processing remains unclear. Event‐related potentials (ERPs) were recorded in newborn human infants aged from 3 to 5 days. At 500‐ms intervals, the infants were passively exposed to 200‐ms sequences of four tones. Each tone could be either 1000 or 1500 Hz in frequency. In most sequences (standards), the ratio of the tones of one frequency to those of the other frequency in a sequence was 2 : 2. In the remaining sequences (deviants, P = 0.1), this ratio was either 3 : 1 or 4 : 0. The mismatch response of ERPs could not be found for 3 : 1 deviants, but it was a robust finding for 4 : 0 deviants, showing the neurophysiological ability of the infants to register the larger deviant–standard difference. The findings suggest very early sensitivity to auditory numerical information in infancy.
IQ‐ArfGEF/BRAG1 is associated with synaptic ribbons in the mouse retina
Authors: Katsumata Osamu , Ohara Naoki , Tamaki Hideaki , Niimura Tomoko , Naganuma Hideaki , Watanabe Masahiko , Sakagami Hiroyuki 
Published: October 2009

AbstractIQ‐ArfGEF/BRAG1 is a guanine nucleotide exchange factor for ADP ribosylation factors (Arfs), which are implicated in membrane trafficking and actin cytoskeleton dynamics. In this study, we examined the immunohistochemical localization of IQ‐ArfGEF/BRAG1 in the adult mouse retina using light and electron microscopy. IQ‐ArfGEF/BRAG1 was distributed in a punctate manner and colocalized well with RIBEYE in both the outer and inner plexiform layers. Immunoelectron microscopic analysis showed that IQ‐ArfGEF/BRAG1 was localized at the synaptic ribbons of photoreceptors. When heterologously expressed in HeLa cells, IQ‐ArfGEF/BRAG1 was recruited to RIBEYE‐containing clusters and formed an immunoprecipitable complex with RIBEYE. Furthermore, immunoprecipitation analysis showed that anti‐IQ‐ArfGEF/BRAG1 antibody efficiently pulled down RIBEYE from retinal lysates. These findings indicate that IQ‐ArfGEF/BRAG1 is a novel component of retinal synaptic ribbons and forms a protein complex with RIBEYE.
Fear conditioning enhances spontaneous AMPA receptor‐mediated synaptic transmission in mouse hippocampal CA1 area
Authors: Zhou Ming , Conboy Lisa , Sandi Carmen , Joëls Marian , Krugers Harm J. 
Published: October 2009

AbstractAMPA receptor‐mediated synaptic modifications in the amygdala have been reported to sustain cued fear conditioning. However, the hippocampal formation is also critically involved in fear learning. Therefore, we examined whether fear conditioning is also accompanied by changes in AMPA receptor‐mediated synaptic transmission in the hippocampus. We focused on spontaneous miniature excitatory post‐synaptic currents (mEPSCs). Young adult mice were trained using tone/footshock pairings and contextual/cued memories were tested 3–4 h and 1 day later. We found that the mEPSC frequency was significantly enhanced when recorded 3 h, but not 24 h, after fear conditioning training. Fear training induced a slight enhancement in the mEPSC amplitude at 3 h after training. The increased mEPSC frequency and amplitude were absent in animals that were only exposed to footshock or novelty or unpaired tone/footshock training. This implies that learning the association between context, tone and footshock transiently enhances hippocampal CA1 spontaneous synaptic transmission, which may contribute to the encoding of the fearful event.
Hypocretin /orexin contributes to the expression of some but not all forms of stress and arousal
Authors: Furlong Teri M. , Vianna Daniel M. L. , Liu Lu , Carrive Pascal 
Published: October 2009

AbstractHypocretin/orexin has a well‐established role in wakefulness and in the maintenance of arousal. Because stress is associated with arousal, it has been proposed that hypocretin is also involved in stress. However, it is not clear if this is true for all forms of stress. To clarify this issue, we compared four conditions combining high arousal with no or low stress (wakefulness and exploration) or high stress (contextual fear and restraint) in the rat. We looked at Fos expression in hypocretin neurons, hypocretin‐1 levels in cerebrospinal fluid and cardiovascular and behavioural changes after pharmacological blockade with the dual hypocretin receptor antagonist, almorexant. Fos expression in hypocretin neurons was highest with wakefulness and exploration, also high with fear but not significant with restraint. Hypocretin‐1 levels were consistent with this pattern, although the differences were not as marked. Hypocretin receptor blockade with almorexant reduced the pressor, tachycardic and locomotor responses of wakefulness and exploration as well as the pressor and sympathetic component of the tachycardic response of fear. In contrast, almorexant did not reduce the pressor and tachycardic responses of restraint and nor did it reduce the pressor, tachycardic and locomotor responses of another stressor, i.e. cold exposure. Thus, hypocretin is not involved in all forms of stress. Comparison of the different conditions suggests that, regardless of stress, hypocretin involvement occurs when the arousal associated with the response includes increased attention to environmental cues. When it does, hypocretin will at least contribute to the cardiovascular response. The findings are of clinical relevance to some forms of psychological stress.
Intrinsic activity and positive feedback in motor circuits in organotypic spinal cord slice cultures
Authors: Magloire Vincent , Streit Jürg 
Published: October 2009

AbstractIn co‐cultures of embryonic rat spinal cord slices and skeletal muscle, spinal motoneurons innervate muscle fibres and drive muscle contractions. However, multi‐electrode array (MEA) recordings show that muscle contractions often appear in the absence of population activity in the spinal cord networks. Such uncorrelated muscle activity persists when the population bursts in the neuronal networks are prevented by un‐coupling the network with the glutamatergic antagonists CNQX and d‐APV. By contrast, the uncorrelated muscle activity is fully suppressed by the muscular nicotinic antagonist d‐tubocurarine. Together, these findings confirm the previous finding that motoneurons drive muscle fibres in this preparation and suggest that they are intrinsically spiking in the absence of synaptic input. Intracellular recordings from spinal neurons support this suggestion. Analysing the correlated muscle activity, we found that in 15% of the population bursts, muscle activity appears at the beginning or before neuronal activity, suggesting that in these cases motoneurons initiate the population activity. Both the total number of population bursts and the percentage of such bursts that are initiated by muscle activity are reduced by a block of nicotinic receptors. Uncorrelated muscle and neuronal activity is reduced by the gap junction blocker carbenoxolone, suggesting that electrical coupling is involved in the generation of this activity. Together, these findings suggest that intrinsic firing of motoneurons may contribute to the activation of population bursts through cholinergic positive feedback loops in cultured spinal networks.
Peripheral arterial disease in diabetes—a review
Authors: Jude E. B. , Eleftheriadou I. , Tentolouris N. 
Published: October 2009

Diabet. Med. 27, 4–14 (2010)AbstractDiabetic patients are at high risk for peripheral arterial disease (PAD) characterized by symptoms of intermittent claudication or critical limb ischaemia. Given the inconsistencies of clinical findings in the diagnosis of PAD in the diabetic patient, measurement of ankle‐brachial pressure index (ABI) has emerged as the relatively simple, non‐invasive and inexpensive diagnostic tool of choice. An ABI < 0.9 is not only diagnostic of PAD even in the asymptomatic patient, but is also an independent marker of increased morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular diseases. With better understanding of the process of atherosclerosis, avenues for treatment have increased. Modification of lifestyle and effective management of the established risk factors such as smoking, dyslipidaemia, hyperglycaemia and hypertension retard the progression of the disease and reduce cardiovascular events in these patients. Newer risk factors such as insulin resistance, hyperfibrinogenaemia, hyperhomocysteinaemia and low‐grade inflammation have been identified, but the advantages of modifying them in patients with PAD are yet to be proven. Therapeutic angiogenesis, on the other hand, represents a promising therapeutic adjunct in the management of PAD in these patients. Outcomes after revascularization procedures, such as percutaneous transluminal angioplasty and surgical bypasses in diabetic patients, are poorer, with increased perioperative morbidity and mortality compared with that in non‐diabetic patients. Amputation rates are higher due to the distal nature of the disease. Efforts towards increasing awareness and intensive treatment of the risk factors will help to reduce morbidity and mortality in diabetic patients with PAD.
Citizenship, Volunteering and Active Ageing
Authors: Lie Mabel , Baines Susan , Wheelock Jane 
Published: October 2009

AbstractMany voluntary organizations depend greatly on the unpaid services of older volunteers, a significant number of whom are women. At the same time, shifts in welfare policy have been towards emphasizing individual economic autonomy and self‐provisioning, often to the detriment of older, more vulnerable members of society. Using data from an organization working for and with older people in the North‐East of England and through in‐depth qualitative interviews, our study found that volunteering is an expression of citizenship for older people. In our analysis, we identify two strands in the meanings of citizenship for older people: volunteering as leisure and work, and volunteering as care and civic consciousness. These correspond with liberal conceptualizations of citizenship and republican models of citizenship. Data from our in‐depth interviews demonstrate a strong commitment to society and fellow citizens among older people that counterbalances individualistic and instrumental reasons for volunteering promoted by the state and market. Our findings suggest that government views of volunteering as a route to paid work, as a panacea for society and therefore needing to be more ‘work‐like’, are discordant with the perspectives of older volunteers. Rather than the neo‐liberal views of the ‘citizen‐worker’ or ‘citizen‐consumer’, citizenship that is based on the ‘common good’ and feminist perspectives of ‘caring citizenship’ are arguably more beneficial to society. Finally, we describe the pressures and constraints facing older people that could discourage formal volunteering in the future.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE: ‘My memory’s back!’ Inclusive learning disability research using ethics, oral history and digital storytelling
Authors: Manning Corinne 
Published: October 2009

Accessible summary

This article is about how people with learning disabilities helped to produce a history about Australia’s oldest and largest purpose‐built institution for people with learning disabilities, Kew Cottages.
The study uses oral history to empower people with learning disabilities to tell their stories in their own words.
I believe that it is important for oral histories to be accessible for people with learning disabilities. So I used a new form of history‐making, digital storytelling/histories, to produce a DVD using text, sounds and images.
This research is important for people with learning disabilities because it explains how traditional oral history techniques can be used with new media technology to create collaborative, meaningful and accessible publications.

SummaryThe following article outlines the methodological approach used to include people with learning disabilities as active participants in an oral history produced in Australia. The history sought to document life inside Kew Cottages, Australia’s oldest and largest specialised institution for people with learning disabilities. This work furthers existing research being conducted with people with learning disabilities in the fields of oral history and life history. The article explores: research ethics, the value of oral history and the positive benefits for inclusive learning disability research using digital storytelling/histories.
Mechanism of skull suture maintenance and interdigitation
Authors: Miura Takashi , Perlyn Chad A. , Kinboshi Masato , Ogihara Naomichi , Kobayashi‐Miura Mikiko , Morriss‐Kay Gillian M. , Shiota Kohei 
Published: October 2009

AbstractSkull sutures serve as growth centers whose function involves multiple molecular pathways. During periods of brain growth the sutures remain thin and straight, later developing complex fractal interdigitations that provide interlocking strength. The nature of the relationship between the molecular interactions and suture pattern formation is not understood. Here we show that by classifying the molecules involved into two groups, stabilizing factors and substrate molecules, complex molecular networks can be modeled by a simple two‐species reaction–diffusion model that recapitulates all the known behavior of suture pattern formation. This model reproduces the maintenance of thin sutural tissue at early stages, the later modification of the straight suture to form osseous interdigitations, and the formation of fractal structures. Predictions from the model are in good agreement with experimental observations, indicating that the model captures the essential nature of the interdigitation process.
The diagnosis of the cause of the death of Venerina
Authors: Mazzotti Giovanni , Falconi Mirella , Teti Gabriella , Zago Michela , Lanari Marcello , Manzoli Francesco A. 
Published: October 2009

AbstractVenerina (little Venus) is the name given to a wax model representing a pregnant young woman that was created in Florence (Italy) by Clemente Susini (1754–1814) in 1782. It is currently located in the historic Science Museum of the University of Bologna. The model was constructed so as to enable removal of the thoracic and abdominal walls and various organs, exposing the heart, diaphragm and an opened uterus with a well‐developed fetus. The woman is small, about 145 cm (4′ 9′) tall and of delicate build; she looks like a teenage girl. We know that Clemente Susini worked directly with the cadaver and copied the anatomical preparation exactly. This artist often represented the true structure using a wax mould; the existence of two other versions of this specimen suggests that this model was made in this way. Therefore, Venerina’s body may be a faithful representation of a young woman who died while pregnant. Observation of the body confirms that the organs are normal, except for the heart and great vessels. The walls of both ventricles are of equal thickness and the ventricles themselves of approximately equal size. The arch of the aorta and the enlarged pulmonary trunk are connected by a short duct about 3.5 mm in diameter. If this structure represents an open arterial duct, we can deduce that the two ventricles worked under the same conditions of blood pressure, hence their equal wall thickness. If the young woman died from this congenital disease, the cause of death has been diagnosed on a wax model of her body after more than two centuries.
Functional characteristics of the rat jaw muscles: daily muscle activity and fiber type composition
Authors: Kawai Nobuhiko , Sano Ryota , Korfage Joannes A. M. , Nakamura Saika , Tanaka Eiji , Van Wessel Tim , Langenbach Geerling E. J. , Tanne Kazuo 
Published: October 2009

AbstractSkeletal muscles have a heterogeneous fiber type composition, which reflects their functional demand. The daily muscle use and the percentage of slow‐type fibers have been shown to be positively correlated in skeletal muscles of larger animals but for smaller animals there is no information. The examination of this relationship in adult rats was the purpose of this study. We hypothesized a positive relationship between the percentage of fatigue‐resistant fibers in each muscle and its total duration of use per day. Fourteen Wistar strain male rats (410–450 g) were used. A radio‐telemetric device was implanted to record muscle activity continuously from the superficial masseter, deep masseter, anterior belly of digastric and anterior temporalis muscles. The degree of daily muscle use was quantified by the total duration of muscle activity per day (duty time) exceeding specified levels of the peak activity (2, 5, 20 and 50%). The fiber type composition of the muscles was examined by the myosin heavy chain content of the fibers by means of immunohistochemical staining. At lower activity levels (exceeding 2 and 5% of the peak activity), the duty time of the anterior belly of digastric muscle was significantly (P < 0.01) longer than those of the other muscles. The anterior belly of digastric muscle also contained the highest percentage of slow‐type fibers (type I fiber and hybrid fiber co‐expressing myosin heavy chain I + IIA) (ca. 11%; P < 0.05). By regression analysis for all four muscles, an inter‐muscular comparison showed a positive relationship between the duty time (exceeding 50% of the peak activity) and the percentage of type IIX fibers (P < 0.05), which demonstrate intermediate physiological properties relative to type IIA and IIB fibers. For the jaw muscles of adult male rats, the variations of fiber type composition and muscle use suggest that the muscle containing the largest amounts of slow‐type fibers (the anterior belly of digastric muscle) is mainly involved in low‐amplitude activities and that the amount of type IIX fibers is positively related to the generation of large muscle forces, validating our hypothesis.
White matter abnormalities and dystonic motor disorder associated with mutations in the SLC16A2 gene
Authors: GIKA ARTEMIS D , SIDDIQUI ATA , HULSE ANTHONY J , EDWARD SELVAKUMARI , FALLON PENNY , MCENTAGART MERIEL E , JAN WAJANAT , JOSIFOVA DRAGANA , LERMAN‐SAGIE TALLY , DRUMMOND JAMES , THOMPSON EDWARD , REFETOFF SAMUEL , BÖNNEMANN CARSTEN G , JUNGBLUTH HEINZ 
Published: October 2009

Aim  Mutations in the SLC16A2 gene have been implicated in Allan–Herndon–Dudley syndrome (AHDS), an X‐linked learning disability* syndrome associated with thyroid function test (TFT) abnormalities. Delayed myelination is a non‐specific finding in individuals with learning disability whose genetic basis is often uncertain. The aim of this study was to describe neuroimaging findings and neurological features in males with SLC16A2 gene mutations.Method  We reviewed brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings and neurological features in a cohort of five males aged between 1 year 6 months and 6 years (median 4y) from four families harbouring SLC16A2 gene mutations.Results  The participants presented aged between 4 and 9 months with initial hypotonia and subsequent spastic paraparesis with dystonic posturing and superimposed paroxysmal dyskinesias. Dystonic cerebral palsy was the most common initial clinical diagnosis, and AHDS was suspected only retrospectively, considering the characteristically abnormal thyroid function tests, with high serum tri‐iodothyronine (T3), as the most consistent finding. Brain MRI showed absent or markedly delayed myelination in all five participants, prompting the suspicion of Pelizaeus–Merzbacher disease in one patient.Interpretation  Our findings indicate a consistent association between defective neuronal T3 uptake and delayed myelination. SLC16A2 involvement should be considered in males with learning disability, an associated motor or movement disorder, and evidence of delayed myelination on brain MRI. Although dysmorphic features suggestive of AHDS are not always present, T3 measurement is a reliable screening test.