bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Outcomes of Children Following a First Hospitalization for Dilated Cardiomyopathy
Authors: Hollander Seth A. , Bernstein Daniel , Yeh Justin , Dao Duy , Sun Heather Y. , Rosenthal David 
Published: May 2012

Background—
We hypothesized that children with dilated cardiomyopathy who require hospital admission are at increased risk for death or transplantation during their first hospitalization and in the first year that follows. We also assessed the value of routine data collected during that time to predict death or the need for transplantation prior to discharge and within 1 year of admission.

Methods and Results—
We conducted a retrospective review of 83 pediatric patients with dilated cardiomyopathy whose initial hospitalization fell between 2004 and 2009. The mean age at hospitalization was 7 years. The majority of patients demonstrated moderate or severe left ventricular dysfunction on initial echocardiogram (80%) and/or the need for intravenous inotropes within 7 days of hospital admission (69%). Five patients (6%) died, and 15 (18%) were transplanted in the initial hospitalization. At 1 year, 11/71 (15%) had died, and 27/71 (38%) were transplanted. The overall freedom from death, transplantation, or rehospitalization at 1 year following admission was 21%. Fractional shortening, left ventricular ejection fraction, serum cholesterol, uric acid, mixed venous saturation, and atrial filling pressures were all predictive of death or transplantation during the initial hospitalization. Left ventricular ejection fraction was predictive of death or transplantation at 1 year.

Conclusions—
The first hospitalization for dilated cardiomyopathy marks a period of high risk for clinical decline, end stage heart failure, and the need for cardiac transplantation. Echocardiographic function and hemodynamic and serum measurements may aid in predicting outcomes. Despite medical management, most patients will be rehospitalized and/or require cardiac transplantation within 1 year of admission.
Shock and Patient Preimplantation Type D Personality Are Associated With Poor Health Status in Patients With Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator
Authors: Pedersen Susanne S. , Tekle Fetene B. , Hoogwegt Madelein T. , Jordaens Luc , Theuns Dominic A.M.J. 
Published: May 2012

Background—
Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) shock is a critical event to patients associated with well-being after implantation, although other factors may play an equally important role. We compared the association of shock and the patient's preimplantation personality with health status, using a prospective study design.

Methods and Results—

Consecutively implanted ICD patients (n=383; 79% men) completed the Type D Scale at baseline and the Short-Form Health Survey 36 (SF-36) at baseline and 3, 6, and 12 months. Of all patients, 23.5% had a Type D personality and 13.8% received a shock during follow-up. Shocked patients reported significantly poorer health status, as did Type D patients. Health status patterns were poorest in patients with combined Type D personality and shock during follow-up. Shock during follow-up was a significant independent associate of poorer health status for 4 of 8 subscales of the SF-36 and the Mental Component Summary (all
P
<.05), with shocked patients scoring between 2.60 to 13.30 points lower than nonshocked patients. Type D personality was an independent associate of poor postimplantation health status for 6 of 8 of the SF-36 subscales and the Mental Component Summary, with Type D patients scoring between 2.12 to 8.02 points lower, adjusting for demographic and clinical characteristics.

Conclusions—
ICD shock and the patient's preimplantation personality disposition were equally important associates of health status 12 months after implantation. Identification of the patient's personality profile before ICD implantation may help identify subsets of patients who may need additional care, for example, with a psychosocial component.
Clopidogrel Use and Hospital Quality in Medically Managed Patients With Non–ST-Segment–Elevation Myocardial Infarction
Authors: Maddox Thomas M. , Ho P. Michael , Tsai Thomas T. , Wang Tracy Y. , Li Shuang , Peng S. Andrew , Wiviott Stephen D. , Masoudi Fredrick A. , Rumsfeld John S. 
Published: May 2012

Background—
Clopidogrel prescription is a class I guideline recommendation for medically managed patients with non–ST-segment–elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI). However, clopidogrel has historically been underused in this population. We evaluated contemporary rates of its use and evaluated associated factors, with a particular focus on hospital quality of myocardial infarction (MI) care.

Methods and Results—
We examined clopidogrel prescription rates among 23 186 patients with NSTEMI discharged from 382 US hospitals between October 2009 and March 2011. Associations between clopidogrel prescription and various patient and hospital factors, including hospital quality of MI care, were determined with regression modeling. Of the sample, 54.9% of eligible patients with NSTEMI received clopidogrel prescription at hospital discharge. Variation in rate by hospital was large, ranging from 22% to 97%. A variety of patient and hospital factors were associated with clopidogrel prescription. Hospital quality of MI care demonstrated modest association with clopidogrel prescription (odds ratio, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.54–0.85) between the lowest and highest hospital quality quartile) and accounted for 5.7% of the variation in prescription rates.

Conclusions—
Clopidogrel prescription is significantly underused in the medically managed NSTEMI population and demonstrates wide variability by hospital. Although hospital quality of MI care is associated with its use, the findings suggest that it only has a modest effect. Therefore, efforts to improve clopidogrel use likely will require measures beyond improving the overall hospital quality of MI care.
T2′ Imaging Within Perfusion-Restricted Tissue in High-Grade Occlusive Carotid Disease
Authors: Seiler Alexander , Jurcoane Alina , Magerkurth Jörg , Wagner Marlies , Hattingen Elke , Deichmann Ralf , Neumann-Haefelin Tobias , Singer Oliver C. 
Published: May 2012

Background and Purpose—
Quantitative T2′ imaging presumably detects regional changes in the relation of oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin. Regional differences in hemoglobin oxygenation might reflect areas with increased oxygen extraction for compensation of reduced perfusion pressure. We investigated quantitative T2′ imaging in patients with high-grade stenoses of brain-supplying arteries and hypothesized that T2′ values are lower in perfusion-restricted areas as compared with normally perfused tissue.

Methods—
Eighteen patients (15 men; mean age±SD, 54±12.8 years) with unilateral symptomatic or asymptomatic high-grade extracranial or intracranial internal carotid artery or proximal middle cerebral artery stenosis/occlusion were included. MR examination included perfusion-weighted imaging and quantitative, motion-corrected mapping of T2′ time. Time-to-peak and mean transit time maps were thresholded for different degrees of perfusion delays (eg, >0 seconds, ≥2 seconds) compared with the contralateral hemisphere. Mean T2′ values in areas of impaired perfusion were compared with T2′ values in corresponding contralateral or ipsilateral, normoperfused areas.

Results—

Mean size of perfusion-impaired areas in time-to-peak maps (time-to-peak delay >0 seconds) was 10.8 mL (±6.3) and 11.5 mL (±6.4) in mean transit time maps (mean transit time delay >0 seconds). T2′ values were significantly (
P
<0.01) lower in all perfusion-restricted compared with corresponding contralateral brain areas (ipsilateral versus contralateral). For time-to-peak delay >0 seconds, T2′ values were 115 ms (±9) versus 125 ms (±12). For mean transit time delay >0 seconds, T2′ values were 115 ms (±9) versus 128 ms (±10). Differences in T2′ values increased with the severity of the perfusion delay. Ipsilateral T2′ values outside the perfusion-disturbed areas did not differ from contralateral T2′ values.

Conclusions—
Motion-corrected T2′ imaging presumably detects areas with increased oxygen extraction within perfusion-restricted tissue in patients with high-grade occlusive vessel disease.
Intracranial Carotid Artery Atherosclerosis
Authors: Bos Daniel , van der Rijk Maggee J.M. , Geeraedts Tychon E.A. , Hofman Albert , Krestin Gabriel P. , Witteman Jacqueline C.M. , van der Lugt Aad , Ikram M. Arfan , Vernooij Meike W. 
Published: May 2012

Background and Purpose—
Intracranial atherosclerosis is worldwide one of the leading causes of stroke. However, surprisingly little is known about its prevalence and risk factors in a community-dwelling population of white descent. In this study, we determined the prevalence and investigated risk factors of intracranial internal carotid artery calcification (ICAC) as a marker of intracranial atherosclerosis.

Methods—
To quantify the volume of ICAC, 2495 participants (mean age, 69.6 years) from the population-based Rotterdam Study underwent a nonenhanced computed tomography of the intracranial internal carotid arteries. We calculated the prevalence of ICAC. Next, we defined sex-specific quartiles and defined the upper quartile as severe ICAC. Risk factors of ICAC were investigated by linear and logistic multivariate modeling and were stratified by sex.

Results—

The overall prevalence of ICAC was 82.2%. The median volume of ICAC was 44 mm
3
and was larger in men. Age was independently associated with ICAC in both men and women. In men, excessive alcohol intake and smoking (OR, 1.74 [95% CI, 1.28–2.37] and 1.72 [95% CI, 1.10–2.70]) were strong risk factors of ICAC, whereas diabetes and hypertension were in women (OR, 2.02 [95% CI, 1.29–3.17] and 1.79 [95% CI, 1.20–2.68]). A low high-density-lipoprotein concentration was not associated with ICAC.

Conclusions—
ICAC is highly prevalent and occurs in over 80% of older, white persons. Conventional cardiovascular risk factors are associated with ICAC, but risk factor profiles differ between men and women.
White Matter Structure Changes as Adults Learn a Second Language
Authors: Schlegel Alexander A. , Rudelson Justin J. , Tse Peter U. 
Published: May 2012

Abstract
Traditional models hold that the plastic reorganization of brain structures occurs mainly during childhood and adolescence, leaving adults with limited means to learn new knowledge and skills. Research within the last decade has begun to overturn this belief, documenting changes in the brain's gray and white matter as healthy adults learn simple motor and cognitive skills [Lövdén, M., Bodammer, N. C., Kühn, S., Kaufmann, J., Schütze, H., Tempelmann, C., et al. Experience-dependent plasticity of white-matter microstructure extends into old age. Neuropsychologia, 48, 3878–3883, 2010; Taubert, M., Draganski, B., Anwander, A., Müller, K., Horstmann, A., Villringer, A., et al. Dynamic properties of human brain structure: Learning-related changes in cortical areas and associated fiber connections. The Journal of Neuroscience, 30, 11670–11677, 2010; Scholz, J., Klein, M. C., Behrens, T. E. J., & Johansen-Berg, H. Training induces changes in white-matter architecture. Nature Neuroscience, 12, 1370–1371, 2009; Draganski, B., Gaser, C., Busch, V., Schuirer, G., Bogdahn, U., & May, A. Changes in grey matter induced by training. Nature, 427, 311–312, 2004]. Although the significance of these changes is not fully understood, they reveal a brain that remains plastic well beyond early developmental periods. Here we investigate the role of adult structural plasticity in the complex, long-term learning process of foreign language acquisition. We collected monthly diffusion tensor imaging scans of 11 English speakers who took a 9-month intensive course in written and spoken Modern Standard Chinese as well as from 16 control participants who did not study a language. We show that white matter reorganizes progressively across multiple sites as adults study a new language. Language learners exhibited progressive changes in white matter tracts associated with traditional left hemisphere language areas and their right hemisphere analogs. Surprisingly, the most significant changes occurred in frontal lobe tracts crossing the genu of the corpus callosum—a region not generally included in current neural models of language processing. These results indicate that plasticity of white matter plays an important role in adult language learning and additionally demonstrate the potential of longitudinal diffusion tensor imaging as a new tool to yield insights into cognitive processes.
The Phenomenology of Error Processing: The Dorsal ACC Response to Stop-signal Errors Tracks Reports of Negative Affect
Authors: Spunt Robert P. , Lieberman Matthew D. , Cohen Jessica R. , Eisenberger Naomi I. 
Published: May 2012

Abstract
A reliable observation in neuroimaging studies of cognitive control is the response of dorsal ACC (dACC) to events that demand increased cognitive control (e.g., response conflicts and performance errors). This observation is apparently at odds with a comparably reliable association of the dACC with the subjective experience of negative affective states such as pain, fear, and anxiety. Whereas “affective” associates of the dACC are based on studies that explicitly manipulate and/or measure the subjective experience of negative affect, the “cognitive” associates of dACC are based on studies using tasks designed to manipulate the demand for cognitive control, such as the Stroop, flanker, and stop-signal tasks. Critically, extant neuroimaging research has not systematically considered the extent to which these cognitive tasks induce negative affective experiences and, if so, to what extent negative affect can account for any variance in the dACC response during task performance. While undergoing fMRI, participants in this study performed a stop-signal task while regularly reporting their experience of performance on several dimensions. We observed that within-subject variability in the dACC response to stop-signal errors tracked changes in subjective frustration throughout task performance. This association remained when controlling for within-subject variability in subjective reports of cognitive engagement and several performance-related variables indexing task difficulty. These results fit with existing models characterizing the dACC as a hub for monitoring ongoing behavior and motivating adjustments when necessary and further emphasize that such a function may be linked to the subjective experience of negative affect.
Analysis of the Model Climate Sensitivity Spread Forced by Mean Sea Surface Temperature Biases
Authors: Dommenget Dietmar 
Published: May 2012

Abstract
Uncertainties in the numerical realization of the physical climate system in coarse-resolution climate models in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 3 (CMIP3) cause large spread in the global mean and regional response amplitude to a given anthropogenic forcing scenario, and they cause the climate models to have mean state climates different from the observed and different from each other. In a series of sensitivity simulations with an atmospheric general circulation model coupled to a Slab Ocean Model, the role of differences in the control mean sea surface temperature (SST) in simulating the global mean and regional response amplitude is explored. The model simulations are forced into the control mean state SST of 24 CMIP3 climate models, and 2xCO2 forcing experiments are started from the different control states. The differences in the SST mean state cause large differences in other climate variables, but they do not reproduce most of the large spread in the mean state climate over land and ice-covered regions found in the CMIP3 model simulations. The spread in the mean SST climatology leads to a spread in the global mean and regional response amplitude of about 10%, which is about half as much as the spread in the response of the CMIP3 climate models and is therefore of considerable size. Since the SST climatology biases are only a small part of the models’ mean state climate biases, it is likely that the climate model’s mean state climate biases are accounting for a large part of the model’s climate sensitivity spread.
A Test for Nonlinearity in Temperature Proxy Records
Authors: Støve Bård , Ljungqvist Fredrik Charpentier , Thejll Peter 
Published: May 2012

Abstract
Are temperature proxy records linear recorders of past temperature conditions? A statistical test for linearity is applied to 15 millennial-long proxy records with an annual resolution that was shown to significantly respond to Northern Hemisphere annual mean temperature selected from a collection of 30 proxies. The test, based on generalized additive modeling, shows that most of the proxies can indeed be shown to be linear functions of annual mean temperature, but two proxy records do not appear to have a linear relationship with temperature—this supports the assumption of linearity in most climate reconstruction work. The method tests for nonlinearity in a proxy relative to the group of proxies with which it is being used together. The robustness of the results is tested, and it was found that the results are stable to the choice of proxies. The linearity-testing method is quite general and could in the future be used for larger and more extensive sets of proxies.
A Survey of undergraduate student perceptions and use of nutrition information labels in a university dining hall
Authors: Martinez Olivia D , Roberto Christina A , Kim Jane H , Schwartz Marlene B , Brownell Kelly D 
Published: May 2012

Objective: To examine undergraduate student perceptions and reported use of nutrition information labels in campus dining halls. Design: Paper surveys were administered to a convenience sample of undergraduates. Setting: This study was conducted at an urban United States university. Method: A survey about perceptions and use of nutrition information labels in the dining halls was distributed to 487 students over a three-month period during the 2009–2010 academic year. Results: Of survey respondents, 98% were in favour of making nutrition information available to students, while 96% preferred the information to appear in the dining halls or both in the dining halls and online, rather than online only. Some 88% of survey respondents indicated that the labels affect their food choices at least sometimes. Conclusion: The results suggest that college and university dining halls should consider student opinion when deciding whether to provide nutrition information labels in the dining halls.
Fabrication and characterization of triple nanobioceramic composite foam
Authors: Ghomi H , Fathi MH , Edris H 
Published: May 2012

In this study, triple nanobioceramic composite foam consisting of bioactive glass (BG), forsterite, and hydroxyapatite (HA) with highly porous structure and high mechanical strength was successfully fabricated via gelcasting method. The BG and forsterite were added to HA as second-phase ceramics to enhance simultaneously its bioactivity, biodegradability, and mechanical properties. The prepared foams have a crystallite size in the range 30–52 nm (while the crystallite size of initial HA and forsterite powders is about 22 nm), pore size in the range 100–300 µm, and total and interconnected porosity upto 87% and 81%, respectively. The compressive strength measurements showed that the foams have an excellent compressive strength (2.19–3.68 MPa), which is appropriate for load-bearing tissue engineering applications and is close to the compressive strength of spongy bone. In vitro tests proved the good bioactivity and resorbability of the foams. The resulting composite foams have similar chemical composition to the mineral phase of bone and it is possible to optimize the ratio of BG phase to ceramic phases for achieving appropriate mechanical strength, bioactivity, and biodegradability level needed for different applications.
Preparation and characterization of thermoplastic acrylate pressure-sensitive adhesive/nickel/multiwalled carbon nanotubes
Authors: Zhang Fan , Qi Shu Hua , Zhang Yi 
Published: May 2012

In this work, a novel polymer magnetic composite based on thermoplastic acrylate pressure-sensitive adhesive (acrylate PSA) filled with the nickel plating multiwall carbon nanotubes (Ni/MWNTs) were prepared using Ni/MWNTs obtained by electroless plating method. Then their morphology and properties were characterized by transmission electron microscope, scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) and so on. Both SEM and XRD indicate that a large number of nickel particles are homogenously coated on the surface of MWNTs. SEM reveals that the Ni/MWNTs are homogeneously dispersed in thermoplastic acrylate PSA. The VSM show that the saturation magnetization ( Ms) of the Ni/MWNTs is 92.0 emu/g and the increase in the Ni/MWNTs content could enhance the Ms of the thermoplastic acrylate PSA/Ni/MWNTs composites and decrease their coercivity ( Hc). When the content of Ni/MWNTs is 10.0 wt%, the magnetic and mechanical properties of the thermoplastic acrylate PSA/Ni/MWNTs composites are optimum.
Dynamic mechanic and creep behaviors of polyoxymethylene/boehmite alumina nanocomposites produced by water-mediated compounding
Authors: Siengchin S 
Published: May 2012

Nanocomposites composed of polyoxymethylene (POM) and synthetic boehmite alumina (BA) are produced by water-mediated (WM) technique. According to WM technique, an aqueous BA 25 and BA 220 nm dispersion was injected into the molten POM in a twin-screw extruder to prepare the related nanocomposite with 3 wt% BA content. The dispersion of BA was studied by scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The thermal, mechanical and creep properties of the composites were determined in dynamic mechanical thermal analysis and short-time creep tests, respectively (performed at various temperatures). The data indicate that an improvement in the stiffness of nanocomposites can be achieved. The POM/BA 25 nm composite outperformed the POM and POM/BA 220 nm composite with respect to the storage modulus and creep characteristics. This was attributed to the particle size effect of BA. Master curves of storage modulus versus frequency and creep compliance versus time were constructed by applying the time–temperature superposition principle. It was established that the Burgers model and the Findley power law are fairly applicable to the creep compliance results.