bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Assessment of the Analgesic Effect of Remifentanil using Three Pain Models in Healthy Korean Volunteers: A Randomized, Controlled Study
Authors: Kim Tae‐Eun , Kim Kyu‐Pyo , Shin Donghoon , Chung Yong‐Ju , Price Jeffrey , Mistry Prafull , Jang In‐Jin , Yu Kyung‐Sang 
Published: December 2011

AbstractQuantitative pain assessment in human beings is useful for developing new analgesics. This study assessed the analgesic effect of remifentanil in 20 healthy Korean men using three pain models to investigate whether these models can be used in Asians. The study was a double‐blind, placebo‐controlled, two‐way cross‐over study. The subjects received intravenous remifentanil with doses starting at 0.01 μg/kg/min. and increasing by 0.01 μg/kg/min. up to 0.10 μg/kg/min. in one session; they received placebo in another session. Heat pain thresholds were assessed at dose levels of 0.02, 0.05, 0.08 and 0.10 μg/kg/min. Pressure pain threshold and tolerance and mechanical pain threshold were assessed at 0.08 μg/kg/min. Remifentanil dose‐dependently increased the heat pain threshold. The differences (95% confidence interval) between remifentanil and placebo were 1.54°C (0.78, 2.31), 1.82°C (1.11, 2.54) and 2.47°C (1.55, 3.38) at 0.05, 0.08 and 0.10 μg/kg/min. remifentanil, respectively. Remifentanil conferred a significantly higher pressure pain threshold and tolerance than placebo (p = 0.0001). There was a trend of increasing mechanical pain threshold with remifentanil, although it was not statistically significant. The results suggest that heat pain and pressure pain models are valid in East Asians for assessing analgesic effects.
‘That Tiny, Stratospheric Apex That Owns Most of the World’– Exploring Geographies of the Super‐Rich
Authors: HAY IAIN , MULLER SAMANTHA 
Published: December 2011

AbstractThis paper exhorts geographers to give critical attention to the super‐rich, defined as individuals with investable assets in excess of $1 million. The super‐rich currently number almost 11 million globally (2011) and have collective wealth in excess of $42 trillion. We argue that as a result of our discipline's typical, and not unjustifiable, focus on the poor and middle class, and our neglect of the super‐rich, geographers may both be overlooking potentially valuable insights to the institutions, practices, and cultural values of our society and gaining only a partial view of global capitalism. We point to prospectively useful work in areas that embrace relationships between the super‐rich, place, and mobility; links between wealth and (geo)politics; new philanthropy; and the social and environmental consequences of ‘luxury fever’. We also speculate as to some of the reasons for geographers’ apparent reluctance to engage with the super‐rich, responding to some of the critical methodological challenges associated with such work.
The Evolution of Private Equity in Emerging Markets: The Case of Poland
Authors: Klonowski Darek 
Published: December 2011

In the last ten years, there has been a pronounced shift toward emerging markets in institutional investor allocations of capital to private equity. While the lion's share of the allocations to emerging markets have gone to the “BRIC” nations, lesser‐known markets like Poland are threatening to steal the spotlight. Economic stabilization, development of the private sector, a favorable business outlook, and continuous improvement of the local institutional infrastructure (laws, accounting rules, and fiscal regimes) have all contributed to the development of a vibrant private equity industry in Poland.Most private equity firms in Poland structure their deals around five broad investment themes: technology; media; and telecommunications; manufacturing; consumer services; business services; and financial services. Local private equity firms have traditionally adopted two different strategies towards these sectors. The first group of private equity firms initially targeted manufacturing, with the conviction that, as the Polish economy developed, the satisfaction of consumer needs for basic products would be the largest source of market demand. The second group assumed that the market would require access to more services to accommodate the growing local economy. Both approaches have proved reasonably successful, as the leaders among these two groups of firms have continued to succeed in raising new funds while achieving high returns for their limited partners. And while the accomplishments of the private equity industry have been made possible by the extent of Poland's transformation from a socialist into a market economy, the industry itself continues to play an important role in this transformation by providing both outside capital and know‐how for local firms and managers.
Two new records of the Tribe Phaeogenini Förster (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae: Ichneumoninae) from Korea
Authors: KWON Jin‐Man , JEONG Jong‐Chul , CHA Jin‐Yeol , LEE Jong‐Wook 
Published: December 2011

AbstractWe report two species that are new to Korea, Misetus borealis Kusigemati and Phaeogenes sapporensis Uchida. A key to Korean species of Phaeogenini, redescriptions and photographs of diagnostic characters are provided.
Reproduction of Female Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms on Urodynamics
Authors: COLHOUN Andrew , GOUDELOCKE Colin , ROVNER Eric S. 
Published: December 2011

Objectives: Urodynamic testing (UDS) can be a valuable tool in the assessment of urinary incontinence and voiding dysfunction. The success of UDS in reproducing patients' symptoms has not been well defined. We sought to determine the ability of UDS to reliably reproduce various lower urinary tract symptoms and secondarily the ability of UDS to produce disparate findings not associated with patients presenting symptoms.Methods: Following Institutional Review Board approval, patient data was accumulated prospectively over 10 months. Notation was made of primary and secondary symptoms as well as if these stated symptoms were reproduced during the urodynamic procedure. Presenting lower urinary tract symptoms included for analysis were stress, mixed and urge incontinence, urgency, and obstructive symptoms. We also reviewed the number of disparate urodynamic observations that did not correlate with patient history.Results: Over a 10‐month period, 127 women had interpretable data with respect to whether their presenting symptoms were reproduced during UDS. Presenting symptoms were successfully reproduced on 83% of UDS studies. Disparate urodynamic observations were noted in 60% of patients.Conclusions: Reproduction of patient symptoms during UDS occurred in the majority of cases if the patient was queried regarding this association. Additional disparate urodynamic observations were also noted in a majority of patients undergoing UDS. It remains unclear whether reproduction of symptoms during UDS in females ultimately results in improved interventional outcomes. The implications of new or unexpected UDS findings during UDS are unknown.
Size at birth and adult fat mass in twin sheep are determined in early gestation
Authors: Hancock S. N. , Oliver M. H. , McLean C. , Jaquiery A. L. , Bloomfield F. H. 
Published: December 2011

Key points
Reduced size at birth and shorter gestation length are both associated with increased risks of non‐communicable diseases (NCD) in later adult life.
Twins are born both smaller and earlier than singletons and adult twins also are reported to be at increased risk of common NCDs such as diabetes.
The smaller size and shorter gestation length of twins has been presumed to be due to a lack of intrauterine space and/or limitations of placental nutrient supply in late gestation, but there are few data to support this.
We show that size at birth and adult fat mass in twin sheep are determined largely in early gestation.
Knowledge of the mechanisms underlying early pregnancy determination of fetal growth and gestation length in twins are likely to increase understanding of how early pregnancy factors influence lifelong health for offspring from all pregnancies.
Serum vitamin D levels among patients in a clinical oncology practice compared to primary care patients in the same community: a case–control study
Authors: Churilla Thomas M , Lesko Samuel L , Brereton Harmar D , Klem Mary , Donnelly Patrick E , Peters Christopher A 
Published: December 2011

ObjectivesLow serum vitamin D levels have been associated with risk for certain malignancies, but studies have not directly analysed levels between community oncology and primary care practices. The purpose of this study was to compare serum vitamin D levels in patients at a community oncology practice with non-cancer patients at a primary care practice.DesignRetrospective case–control study. 25-Hydroxyvitamin D levels were ordered for screening in both cancer and non-cancer patients. Levels were compared in univariate and multivariate analyses adjusted for age, body mass index and season of blood draw.SettingA community-based radiation oncology centre and a community-based primary care practice: both located in Northeastern Pennsylvania, USA.Participants170 newly diagnosed cancer patients referred for initial consultation at the community oncology centre from 21 November 2008 to 18 May 2010, and 170 non-cancer patients of the primary care practice who underwent screening for hypovitaminosis D for the first time from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2009.Primary and secondary outcome measuresThe primary outcome measure was mean serum vitamin D level, and the secondary outcome measures were frequencies of patients with vitamin D levels <20 ng/ml and levels <30 ng/ml.ResultsThe oncology patients had a significantly lower mean serum vitamin D level (24.9 ng/ml) relative to a cohort of non-cancer primary care patients (30.6 ng/ml, p<0.001) from the same geographical region. The relationship retained significance after adjustment for age, body mass index and season of blood draw in multivariate analysis (p=0.001). Levels <20 and <30 ng/ml were more frequent in the oncology patients (OR (95% CI)=2.59 (1.44 to 4.67) and 2.04 (1.20 to 3.46), respectively) in multivariate analysis.ConclusionsCancer patients were found to have low vitamin D levels relative to a similar cohort of non-cancer primary care patients from the same geographical region.
What do patients and relatives know about problems and failures in care?
Authors: Iedema Rick , Allen Suellen , Britton Katherine , Gallagher Thomas H 
Published: December 2011

ObjectiveTo understand what patients and family members know about problems and failures in healthcare.DesignQualitative, semistructured open-ended interviews were conducted with 39 patients and 80 family members about their experiences of incidents in tertiary healthcare. Nineteen interviews involved more than one respondent, yielding 100 interviews in total. Participants were recruited through advertisements in the national broadsheet and tabloid print media (43%), with the help of the health services where the incidents occurred (28%), through invitations sent out by two internet marketing companies (27%) and by consumer organisations (2%).SettingInterviews were conducted in the homes of the respondents or over the phone. One participant emailed her responses to the questionnaire.ResultsAnalysis of the interview data revealed: (1) considerable knowledge on the part of patients and relatives about health service risks, problems and incidents; (2) the insight of interviewees into care improvement opportunities; and (3) challenges faced by patients and relatives when trying to negotiate their knowledge and insights with health service staff.ConclusionPatients (and family members) need access to structured processes ensuring dialogue with health service personnel about perceived risks, problems and incidents. Such dialogue would reveal patients' and family members' questions and knowledge about improvement opportunities, and minimise the risk that their questions and knowledge are ignored.
Bayesian spatial methods for small-area injury analysis: a study of geographical variation of falls in older people in the Wellington–Dufferin–Guelph health region of Ontario, Canada
Authors: Chan Wing C , Law Jane , Seliske Patrick 
Published: December 2011

ObjectivesTo examine falls in older people in the Wellington–Dufferin–Guelph (WDG) health region of Ontario, Canada, and to identify areas with excess RR and associated risk factors, particularly those related to private dwellings.MethodsCases of hospitalisation following falls among older people in the WDG health region between 2002 and 2006 were geocoded to the dissemination area level and used in the spatial analysis. The falls data and covariates from the 2006 Canadian census were analysed using Poisson log-linear models with (spatial and non-spatial) random effects at the dissemination area level. A Bayesian approach with Markov chain Monte Carlo simulation allowed the spatial random effects models to be fitted. Map decomposition was used to visualise the results.ResultsThe percentage of occupied private dwellings requiring repairs and median income were significantly associated with falls in older people in the WDG health region. Twenty-six dissemination areas with high RR of falls in older people in the WDG health region were identified. Map decomposition revealed that RR were also driven by unknown factors that have spatial patterns.ConclusionsThis research identified an association between falls in older people and housing conditions; the higher the percentage of dwellings requiring repairs in an area, the higher its risk of falls in older people. Bayesian spatial modelling accounts for measurement errors and unobserved or unknown risk factors that have spatial patterns. The findings have the potential to contribute to future research in reducing falls in older people and generate more interest in using Bayesian spatial modelling approaches in injury and public health research.
Traumatic hand amputations among children in Greece: epidemiology and prevention potential
Authors: Panagopoulou Paraskevi , Antonopoulos Constantine N , Iakovakis Ilias , Dessypris Nick , Gkiokas Andreas , Pasparakis Dimitrios , Michelakos Theodoros , Kanavidis Prodromos , Soucacos Panayotis N , Petridou Eleni Th 
Published: December 2011

BackgroundTraumatic hand and finger amputations frequently lead to permanent disability.ObjectiveTo investigate their epidemiological characteristics and estimate the prevention potential among children 0–14 years old, through a cross-sectional survey.MethodsNationwide extrapolations were produced based on data recorded between 1996 and 2004 in the Greek Emergency Department Injury Surveillance System and existing sample weights. Incident and injury related characteristics were analysed to identify preventable causes.ResultsAmong 197 417 paediatric injuries, 28 225(14%) involved the hand and fingers resulting in 236 amputations (∼1% of hand injuries). The annual probability to seek emergency department care for a hand injury was 3%. The estimated incidence rate (IR) of hand amputations was 19.7/100 000 person-years. Over 50% concerned children 0–4 years old (male:female=2:1), peaking at 12–24 months. Male preschoolers suffered the highest IR (38.7/100 000). Migrant children were overrepresented among amputees. Of all amputations, 64% occurred in the house/garden and 14% in day-care/school/sports activities, usually between 08:00 and 16:00 (61%). Doors were the product most commonly involved (55% overall; 72% in day-care/school/gym) followed by furniture/appliances (15%) and machinery/tools (7%). Crushing was the commonest mechanism. Inadequate supervision and preventive measures were also frequently reported. 5% of the amputees were referred to specialised units for replantation/reconstructive surgery.ConclusionsThe majority of paediatric hand and finger amputations could be prevented in Greece, particularly among preschoolers, by a single product modification, namely door closure systems, coupled with improved supervision. Paediatricians should incorporate this advice into their routine child-safety counselling. This country-specific profile supports the need for maintaining similar databases as an indispensable tool for assisting decision-making and preventing disabling and costly injuries.
Self-assessment processes within care management: Learning from pilot projects
Authors: Abendstern Michele , Hughes Jane , Clarkson Paul , Tucker Sue , Challis David 
Published: December 2011

• Summary: Self-assessment is one of a range of new practices within adult social care, aimed at increasing the choices available to service users in relation to both the assessment process and the way services are delivered. By analysing the results of both project documentation and interviews with managers of pilot projects set up to test out this approach, this article examines issues relating to the introduction of a new initiative within a social care setting and considers whether the introduction of self-assessment poses particular challenges for care management. • Findings: The interviews revealed a mix of general as well as setting and process specific findings. The latter included the importance of the appropriate targeting of self-assessment and the need to reach a clear consensus within the service as to what self-assessment means and how it should be incorporated into an individualized model of practice. Other findings reflected issues highlighted in the literature on the management of change. • Applications: Together the results provide useful lessons for those interested in both the specific area of study and, more generally, the implementation of new initiatives in social care.
Normalizing for individual cell population context in the analysis of high-content cellular screens
Authors: Knapp Bettina , Rebhan Ilka , Kumar Anil , Matula Petr , Kiani Narsis A , Binder Marco , Erfle Holger , Rohr Karl , Eils Roland , Bartenschlager Ralf , Kaderali Lars 
Published: December 2011

Abstract

Background
High-content, high-throughput RNA interference (RNAi) offers unprecedented possibilities to elucidate gene function and involvement in biological processes. Microscopy based screening allows phenotypic observations at the level of individual cells. It was recently shown that a cell's population context significantly influences results. However, standard analysis methods for cellular screens do not currently take individual cell data into account unless this is important for the phenotype of interest, i.e. when studying cell morphology.

Results
We present a method that normalizes and statistically scores microscopy based RNAi screens, exploiting individual cell information of hundreds of cells per knockdown. Each cell's individual population context is employed in normalization. We present results on two infection screens for hepatitis C and dengue virus, both showing considerable effects on observed phenotypes due to population context. In addition, we show on a non-virus screen that these effects can be found also in RNAi data in the absence of any virus. Using our approach to normalize against these effects we achieve improved performance in comparison to an analysis without this normalization and hit scoring strategy. Furthermore, our approach results in the identification of considerably more significantly enriched pathways in hepatitis C virus replication than using a standard analysis approach.

Conclusions
Using a cell-based analysis and normalization for population context, we achieve improved sensitivity and specificity not only on a individual protein level, but especially also on a pathway level. This leads to the identification of new host dependency factors of the hepatitis C and dengue viruses and higher reproducibility of results.
Comparison of measures of marker informativeness for ancestry and admixture mapping
Authors: Ding Lili , Wiener Howard , Abebe Tilahun , Altaye Mekbib , Go Rodney CP , Kercsmar Carolyn , Grabowski Greg , Martin Lisa J , Khurana Hershey Gurjit K , Chakorborty Ranajit , Baye Tesfaye M 
Published: December 2011

Abstract

Background
Admixture mapping is a powerful gene mapping approach for an admixed population formed from ancestral populations with different allele frequencies. The power of this method relies on the ability of ancestry informative markers (AIMs) to infer ancestry along the chromosomes of admixed individuals. In this study, more than one million SNPs from HapMap databases and simulated data have been interrogated in admixed populations using various measures of ancestry informativeness: Fisher Information Content (FIC), Shannon Information Content (SIC), F statistics (FST), Informativeness for Assignment Measure (In), and the Absolute Allele Frequency Differences (delta, δ). The objectives are to compare these measures of informativeness to select SNP markers for ancestry inference, and to determine the accuracy of AIM panels selected by each measure in estimating the contributions of the ancestors to the admixed population.

Results
FST and In had the highest Spearman correlation and the best agreement as measured by Kappa statistics based on deciles. Although the different measures of marker informativeness performed comparably well, analyses based on the top 1 to 10% ranked informative markers of simulated data showed that In was better in estimating ancestry for an admixed population.

Conclusions
Although millions of SNPs have been identified, only a small subset needs to be genotyped in order to accurately predict ancestry with a minimal error rate in a cost-effective manner. In this article, we compared various methods for selecting ancestry informative SNPs using simulations as well as SNP genotype data from samples of admixed populations and showed that the In measure estimates ancestry proportion (in an admixed population) with lower bias and mean square error.
The Host-Pathogen interaction of human cyclophilin A and HIV-1 Vpr requires specific N-terminal and novel C-terminal domains
Authors: Solbak Sara MØ , Wray Victor , Horvli Ole , Raae Arnt J , Flydal Marte I , Henklein Petra , Henklein Peter , Nimtz Manfred , Schubert Ulrich , Fossen Torgils 
Published: December 2011

Abstract

Background
Cyclophilin A (CypA) represents a potential key molecule in future antiretroviral therapy since inhibition of CypA suppresses human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) replication. CypA interacts with the virus proteins Capsid (CA) and Vpr, however, the mechanism through which CypA influences HIV-1 infectivity still remains unclear.

Results
Here the interaction of full-length HIV-1 Vpr with the host cellular factor CypA has been characterized and quantified by surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy. A C-terminal region of Vpr, comprising the 16 residues 75GCRHSRIGVTRQRRAR90, with high binding affinity for CypA has been identified. This region of Vpr does not contain any proline residues but binds much more strongly to CypA than the previously characterized N-terminal binding domain of Vpr, and is thus the first protein binding domain to CypA described involving no proline residues. The fact that the mutant peptide Vpr75-90 R80A binds more weakly to CypA than the wild-type peptide confirms that Arg-80 is a key residue in the C-terminal binding domain. The N- and C-terminal binding regions of full-length Vpr bind cooperatively to CypA and have allowed a model of the complex to be created. The dissociation constant of full-length Vpr to CypA was determined to be approximately 320 nM, indicating that the binding may be stronger than that of the well characterized interaction of HIV-1 CA with CypA.

Conclusions
For the first time the interaction of full-length Vpr and CypA has been characterized and quantified. A non-proline-containing 16-residue region of C-terminal Vpr which binds specifically to CypA with similar high affinity as full-length Vpr has been identified. The fact that this is the first non-proline containing binding motif of any protein found to bind to CypA, changes the view on how CypA is able to interact with other proteins. It is interesting to note that several previously reported key functions of HIV-1 Vpr are associated with the identified N- and C-terminal binding domains of the protein to CypA.