bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Glaucomatous optic neuropathy evaluation project: a standardized internet system for assessing skills in optic disc examination
Authors: Kong Yu Xiang G , Coote Michael A , O'Neill Evelyn C , Gurria Lulu U , Xie Jing , Garway‐Heath David , Medeiros Felipe A , Crowston Jonathan G 
Published: November 2010

AbstractBackground:  Development of a standardized internet‐based system to self‐assess skills in optic disc examination for glaucoma risk assessment.Design:  Prospective internet‐based observational study.Participants:  Total of 197 participants (glaucoma subspecialists, general ophthalmologists and trainees) from 22 countries.Methods:  Forty‐two optic disc images demonstrating a range of features were selected from 2500 monoscopic disc photographs of normal and glaucomatous eyes. Images were presented to clinicians via website (http://www.gone‐project.com). Participants were asked to assess nine topographic features and make a subjective assessment of glaucoma likelihood.Main Outcome Measures:  Inter‐observer agreement using kappa (κ) or weighted kappa (κw).Results:  There was substantial level of inter‐observer agreement between glaucoma subspecialists for assessment of glaucoma likelihood (κw = 0.63). Inter‐observer agreement was high for haemorrhage (κ = 0.83) and substantial for disc size, disc shape, cup:disc ratio, peripapillary atrophy and cup shape (κw = 0.59–0.68). Subspecialists had stronger inter‐observer agreement for glaucoma likelihood and for most disc characteristics than did trainees: the greatest difference being the assessment for retinal nerve fibre layer loss. Analysis of individual disc answers from ophthalmology trainees showed that discs leading to lower agreement of glaucoma likelihood tend to produce lower agreement for the assessment of cup:disc ratio, cup shape, cup depth and retinal nerve fibre layer. Discs with features of moderate to deep cup or cup:disc ratio between 0.6 and 0.8 also lead to lower agreement in glaucoma likelihood.Conclusions:  This internet‐based system is a readily accessible and standardized tool, for clinicians globally, that permits self‐assessment and benchmarking of skills in optic disc examination.
Conductive keratoplasty for symptomatic presbyopia following monofocal intraocular lens implantation
Authors: Ye Panpan , Xu Wen , Tang Xiajing , Yao Ke , Li Zhaochun , Xu Hesheng , Shi Junting 
Published: November 2010

AbstractBackground:  To evaluate the visual outcomes of conductive keratoplasty for relief of symptomatic presbyopia of pseudophakia with monofocal intraocular lens implantation.Design:  It was a prospective clinical study and set in Eye Center, Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University.Participants:  This study comprised 27 eyes from 27 patients with presbyopia symptom.Methods:  The patients received conductive keratoplasty via monovision approach after monofocal intraocular lens implantation and were followed up at 1 week and 1, 3, 6 and 12 months postoperatively.Main Outcome Measures:  The main outcomes including uncorrected near visual acuity, uncorrected distance visual acuity, best spectacle‐corrected visual acuity, manifest refraction spherical equivalent, keratometric astigmatism, contrast and glare sensitivity, spherical aberration and pseudoaccommodation were evaluated.Results:  Twelve months after conductive keratoplasty, the binocular uncorrected near visual acuity was significantly improved from logMAR 0.88 ± 0.16 preoperatively to logMAR 0.30 ± 0.13 (P < 0.05); the binocular uncorrected distance visual acuity and best spectacle‐corrected visual acuity remained unchanged; manifest refraction spherical equivalent was significantly reduced from 0.01 ± 0.68 D preoperatively to −1.68 ± 0.39 D (P < 0.05); spherical aberration was increased from 0.266 ± 0.204 µm preoperatively to 0.358 ± 0.277 µm (P < 0.05), and pseudoaccommodation was from 1.38 ± 0.38 D to 1.73 ± 0.61 D (P < 0.05).Conclusions:  Conductive keratoplasty is a safe and effective method for relief of symptomatic presbyopia of pseudophakia with monofocal intraocular lens implantation.
Endoscopic management of vesicoueteral reflux in adult women
Authors: Murphy Alana M. , Ritch Chad R. , Reiley Elizabeth A. , Hensle Terry W. 
Published: November 2010

Study Type – Therapy (case series)Level of Evidence 4OBJECTIVE

To describe our endoscopic management of adult women with vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) and associated outcomes.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We retrospectively identified 19 adult women who presented for the endoscopic treatment of VUR from November 2001 to January 2008.
Each patient was diagnosed with VUR by voiding cystourethrogram or nuclear cystourethrogram after an episode of pyelonephritis or recurrent urinary tract infections with renal scarring on ultrasound.
A dimercaptosuccinic acid renal scan was performed prior to treatment. All patients underwent endoscopic treatment with dextranomer/hyaluronic acid copolymer (Deflux®). Patients with bilateral VUR received bilateral injections during the same procedure.
Follow‐up imaging was obtained and success was strictly defined as no degree of VUR. Patients with residual VUR received repeat endoscopic treatment.

RESULTS

Nineteen patients with a mean age of 22 years old (range 18–33 years old) underwent endoscopic treatment for VUR. A total of 79% (15/19) had pre‐existing risk factors for VUR, including prior open anti‐reflux surgery (26%), family history of VUR (26%) and childhood diagnosis of VUR (26%).
Imaging revealed that 47% (9/19) had renal scarring and 26% (5/19) had bilateral VUR. The success rate was 79% (19/24) after one treatment, 92% (22/24) after 5 patients received a second treatment, and 96% (23/24) after 2 patients received a third treatment. There were no perioperative complications.

CONCLUSION

Endoscopic management of VUR is both safe and effective in adult women.
Influence of age and bladder dysfunction on the contractile properties of isolated human detrusor smooth muscle
Authors: Fry Christopher H. , Bayliss Mark , Young John S. , Hussain Mahreen 
Published: November 2010

What’s known on the subject? and What does the study add? The question to be addressed was whether bladder overactivity or obstruction in patients was associated with any changes to the contractile properties of the detrusor smooth muscle, and in addition were there age‐related and gender‐dependent differences in these?The study showed that neither age nor gender per se affected the contractile properties of the smooth muscle from the stable bladder. However, in the pathology groups there was an age‐dependent reduction of nerve‐dependent contractile function, and thus in the overactive bladder there is an age‐dependent functional deneravation.OBJECTIVE• To test the hypothesis that the in vitro contractile properties of human detrusor smooth muscle are dependent on the age, gender and lower urinary tract pathology of the patient.MATERIALS AND METHODS• Contractions were elicited in isolated human detrusor smooth muscle preparations by nerve‐mediated electrical field stimulation, agonist application (carbachol, α,β‐methylene ATP and high‐K solutions) or direct muscle electrical stimulation.• Biopsies (n= 227) were obtained from four groups of patients with: stable bladders (control), bladder outlet obstruction (BOO), idiopathic (IDO), or neurogenic (NDO) detrusor overactivity.RESULTS• The magnitude of nerve‐mediated contractions declined as a function of patients’ age in each of the BOO, IDO and NDO groups but not in the control group.• Contractions elicited by direct muscle activation (10 µm carbachol or electrical stimulation with 20 ms pulses in the presence of 1 µm tetrodotoxin) did not vary with patient age.• Carbachol contractions were significantly smaller in samples from NDO bladders.• Atropine resistance was more prevalent in the pathology groups compared with the control group and was greatest in the IDO group. There was no influence of age in the prevalence or magnitude of atropine‐resistant contractions in any group.• Muscle excitability to direct electrical stimulation was similar in all groups.CONCLUSIONS• In the human bladder there is no evidence for a decline of detrusor smooth muscle contractility or excitability as a function of age, nor any gender difference or presence of pathology.• In the pathology groups there was evidence for a decline of functional innervation with age.
Ageing Populations and Housing Needs: Comparing Strategic Policy Discourses in France and England
Authors: Hillcoat‐Nalletamby Sarah , Ogg James , Renaut Sylvie , Bonvalet Catherine 
Published: November 2010

AbstractSet against a broad European policy agenda which promotes ‘ageing in place’ and representations of older people as active, independent citizens, this article compares recent English and French policy discourses on population ageing and its implications for the housing needs of increasingly large numbers of older citizens. Through analysis of six recent strategic policy statements representing each government's official responses to population ageing and its social policy implications for the 21st century, we demonstrate how differences in the social representation of the ageing process and of older peoples themselves permeate policy discourse, influencing the perceptions of the housing needs of older citizens and the role that housing itself may play in promoting independent living. In England, demographic ageing, housing and its role in facilitating independent living and active ageing are explicitly articulated, whilst in France, the housing environment has until recently, been portrayed as one which must accommodate the illness, incapacity and dependency of later life. Our article offers explanations for these differences in terms of cultural variations in the social representations or ‘constructions’ of later life, divergences in political philosophies and welfare principles.
The Convention Method Revisited: Does It Have a Future and Does It Matter?
Authors: Karlsson Christer 
Published: November 2010

AbstractScholars have argued that the convention method has democratised the process of treaty reform and increased the legitimacy of EU constitutionalisation. This article finds that the convention method has contributed to a slightly more democratic process, but has not, in any fundamental way, improved the democratic status of the EU's treaty reform process. We should accordingly not be too concerned over the future fate of the convention method. From a democratic perspective, we should be more worried over the possible scenario that future changes to the EU's institutional structure will come about through implicit constitutional change without any formal changes being made to the treaties. The often cumbersome ratification process could thereby be bypassed, but this would also deprive EU citizens of the only real opportunity they have of influencing decisions on the overall design of the integration project.
Meta‐Analysis to Assess the Appropriate Endpoint for Slow Pathway Ablation of Atrioventricular Nodal Reentrant Tachycardia
Authors: STERN JOSHUA D. , ROLNITZKY LINDA , GOLDBERG JUDITH D. , CHINITZ LARRY A. , HOLMES DOUGLAS S. , BERNSTEIN NEIL E. , BERNSTEIN SCOTT A. , KHAIRY PAUL , AIZER ANTHONY 
Published: November 2010

Background:
There are little data on the appropriate endpoint for slow pathway ablation that balances acceptable procedural times, recurrence rates, and complication rates. This study compared recurrence rates of three commonly utilized endpoints of slow pathway ablation for atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia (AVNRT).
Methods:
We performed a meta‐analysis of AVNRT slow pathway ablation cohorts by searching electronic databases, the Internet, and conference proceedings. Inclusion criteria were age >18 years, >20 human subjects per study, primary AVNRT ablation, English language publication, and >1 month of follow‐up. Data were analyzed with a fixed‐effects model using Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis software version 2.2.046 (Biostat, Englewood, NJ, USA).
Results:
We included 10 studies encompassing 1,204 patients with a mean age of 41–53 years. Endpoints were complete slow pathway ablation, residual jump only, and single remaining echo beat. Pooled estimates revealed 28 of 641 patients (4.4%) with complete slow pathway ablation, 13 of 192 patients (6.8%) with a residual jump only, and 24 of 371 patients (6.5%) with one echo had recurrences. With uniform isoproterenol use after ablation, there was no significant difference in recurrence rates among the endpoints. However, when isoproterenol was utilized after ablation only if needed to induce AVNRT before ablation, a significantly higher recurrence rate occurred in patients with a residual jump (P = 0.002), a single echo (P = 0.003), or the combined group of a residual jump and/or one echo (P = 0.001).
Conclusions:
Isoproterenol should be used routinely after slow pathway modification, when a residual jump and/or single echo remain. (PACE 2011; 34:269–277)
Learning Curve for Zero‐Fluoroscopy Catheter Ablation of AVNRT: Early versus Late Experience
Authors: GIST KATJA , TIGGES CODY , SMITH GRACE , CLARK JOHN 
Published: November 2010

Introduction/Background:
Three‐dimensional catheter navigation systems are being utilized more frequently to minimize or eliminate fluoroscopy during catheter ablation. We reviewed our learning curve for a zero‐fluoroscopy approach over a 32‐month period.
Methods:
Data were obtained retrospectively from 62 consecutive patients who underwent cryoablation of AVNRT without the use of fluoroscopy from December 2005 to August 2008. The early era was defined as the first 12 months of procedures (December 2005–December 2006, n = 27) and the recent era thereafter (January 2007–August 2008, n = 35).
Results:
In the early era, acute success was achieved in 100% of patients, compared to 97% in the recent era. There were no significant complications in either group. Transient AV block was seen frequently; however, this always resolved quickly. Average procedure time for the early era was 202 minutes (100–419 minutes) compared to 160 minutes (78–332 minutes) in the recent era (P = 0.01). Recurrence rates were 15% and 8% for the early and recent era, respectively.
Conclusion:
Procedure time significantly shortens as a function of experience. After an adequate learning curve, the procedure can be performed in a very acceptable amount of time. (PACE 2011; 34:264–268)
Predation by native sunfishes (Centrarchidae) on the invasive crayfish Orconectes rusticus in four northern Wisconsin lakes
Authors: Tetzlaff J. C. , Roth B. M. , Weidel B. C. , Kitchell J. F. 
Published: November 2010

Tetzlaff JC, Roth BM, Weidel BC, Kitchell JF. Predation by native sunfishes (Centrarchidae) on the invasive crayfish Orconectes rusticus in four northern Wisconsin lakes.  Ecology of Freshwater Fish 2011: 20: 133–143. © 2010 John Wiley & Sons A/SAbstract –  Introduced rusty crayfish (Orconectes rusticus) often establish abundant populations in lakes where they negatively impact native food webs. However, rusty crayfish do not become abundant in all lakes. Fish predation has been posed as one potential mechanism limiting rusty crayfish density, but there is limited empirical evidence to support this hypothesis. Using a case study approach, we quantified the extent and timing of predation on nonnative rusty crayfish by three native centrarchids in four northern Wisconsin lakes with contrasting crayfish densities. We estimated population‐level predation effects on rusty crayfish using bioenergetics models in combination with fish and crayfish abundance estimates. Bluegill (Lepomis machrochirus) and pumpkinseed (Lepomis gibbosus) consumed young‐of‐year crayfish exclusively whereas rock bass (Ambloplites ruspestris) consumed a wide size range of crayfish. Rusty crayfish were found in Lepomis diets primarily in late June and early July while rock bass consumed crayfish throughout the summer. Per individual, rock bass consumed more crayfish biomass than Lepomis, but at the population‐level, higher Lepomis densities resulted in greater numbers of crayfish and more crayfish biomass consumed by Lepomis than rock bass. Lepomis populations consumed 8 × , 14 × , 22 ×  and 120 ×  more individual crayfish than rock bass populations in the four study lakes. Bioenergetics simulations revealed that dense populations of Lepomis were capable of consuming a large percentage of the juvenile crayfish population in two of our study lakes. In systems with high Lepomis densities, Lepomis consumption of juvenile rusty crayfish may play a significant role in the invasion and establishment dynamics of rusty crayfish.
Hospital admissions from residential aged care facilities to a major public hospital in South Australia (1999–2005)
Authors: Hillen Jodie B , Reed Richard L , Woodman Richard J , Law Deborah , Hakendorf Paul H , Fleming Brian J 
Published: November 2010

Aim:  To describe admissions patterns of residential aged care facility (RACF) residents admitted to a major public hospital.Design, setting:  Retrospective longitudinal study linking hospital admissions and the Department of Health and Ageing RACF provider data from July 1999 to June 2005.Participants:  All permanent residents of aged care facilities in South Australia admitted to a single public hospital.Main outcome measures:  Description of primary diagnoses and trends.Results:  There were 3310 admissions from 147 RACFs across South Australia. The most frequent primary diagnoses were fractured femur/pelvis, pneumonia and ischaemic heart disease. Two diagnoses increased significantly with an 11% annual increase for infections and a 5% increase for femur fractures.Conclusion:  Admissions from RACFs to a major South Australian public hospital are increasing primarily because of admissions for femur fractures and infections in high care. These conditions could be targeted for interventions to reduce hospital admissions.
Managing Urban Sprawl in Ontario: Good Policy or Good Politics?
Authors: EIDELMAN GABRIEL 
Published: November 2010

The Ontario Places to Grow Plan, finalized in 2006, marks the boldest attempt to address urban sprawl in Canada, and arguably North America. Among its many components, the Plan establishes a permanent greenbelt covering roughly 1.8 million acres (728,000 hectares) of environmentally sensitive land. This article seeks to explain the political calculations and conditions that led to the Ontario policy. I argue that the Plan was partially devised to garner support in key suburban ridings (electoral districts) across the Greater Toronto Area in the 2003 provincial election. The campaign marked the final ingredient in the opening of a critical “policy window” through which dramatic changes in land‐use policy could be realized. The Ontario case underlines the utility of adaptive models of policy making to the study of environmental policy, but suggests that these models perhaps underemphasize the desire of politicians and political parties to pursue policies in their electoral interest.El Plan de Lugares de Ontario para Crecer, publicado en 2006, señala el intento más audaz para hacer frente a la expansión urbana en Canadá, y quizás en toda Norteamérica. Entre sus muchos componentes, el plan establece un cinturón verde permanente que cubre aproximadamente 1.8 millones de acres (728,000 hectáreas) de tierra ambientalmente sensible. Este artículo busca explicar los cálculos políticos y las causas que llevaron a dicha política. Argumento que el plan fue parcialmente ideado para reunir apoyo de distritos suburbanos electorales clave a través del Área Metropolitana de Toronto en la elección provincial de 2003. La campaña marcó el ingrediente final en la apertura de una “ventana política” crítica que permitió cambios dramáticos en la política de uso de suelo. El caso de Ontario subraya la utilidad de modelos adaptativos de hechura de políticas en el estudio de la política ambiental, pero sugiere que quizás estos modelos subestiman el deseo de los políticos y los partidos de buscar políticas que los beneficien electoralmente.
Party Membership Role and Party Cartelization in Belgium and Italy: Two Faces of the Same Medal?
Authors: SANDRI GIULIA , PAUWELS TEUN 
Published: November 2010

The cartel party model has triggered a burgeoning literature on its theoretical implications, and has been largely tested empirically. Nevertheless, the dimension of the model that concern the relationship between members and elites has been rather neglected, even though the membership role variables are the sole features of the cartel party that transcend the simple intensification of the previous catch‐all model and that carry the most extensive explanatory power. This article explores the role of party membership and activism in contemporary parties in two West European party systems to assess in a quantitative way the applicability of the cartel party theory. We explore the relationship between party ideology and the degree of cartelization. By examining the relationship between all these different dimensions, we challenge the idea that a retrenched membership role and cartelization are linked processes.El modelo de partido de cartel ha disparado una floreciente literatura sobre sus implicaciones teóricas y ha sido ampliamente probado empíricamente. Sin embargo, la dimensión del modelo que concierne a la relación entre los miembros y las elites ha sido descuidada, aun cuando las variables del rol de la afiliación son las únicas características del partido de cartel que trascienden la simple intensificación del modelo catch‐all y que tienen el poder de explicación más extenso. Este artículo explora el rol de la afiliación partidista y del activismo en dos sistemas de partidos de Europa Occidental para evaluar de una manera cuantitativa la aplicabilidad de la teoría del partido de cartel. Exploramos la relación entre la ideología del partido y el grado de cartelización. A partir del análisis de la relación entre todas estas dimensiones, desafiamos la idea de que el rol de una afiliación reducida y la cartelización sean procesos relacionados.
Local Fourier transform and epsilon factors
Authors: Abbes Ahmed , Saito Takeshi 
Published: November 2010

AbstractLaumon introduced the local Fourier transform forℓ-adic Galois representations of local fields, of equal characteristicpdifferent fromℓ, as a powerful tool for studying the Fourier–Deligne transform ofℓ-adic sheaves over the affine line. In this article, we compute explicitly the local Fourier transform of monomial representations satisfying a certain ramification condition, and deduce Laumon’s formula relating the ε-factor to the determinant of the local Fourier transform under the same condition.