bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Cost-Effectiveness of Percutaneous Coronary Intervention as a Function of Angina Severity in Patients With Stable Angina
Authors: Zhang Zugui , Kolm Paul , Boden William E. , Hartigan Pamela M. , Maron David J. , Spertus John A. , O'Rourke Robert A. , Shaw Leslee J. , Sedlis Steven P. , Mancini G.B. John , Berman Daniel S. , Dada Marcin , Teo Koon K. , Weintraub William S. 
Published: February 2011

Background—
The COURAGE (Clinical Outcomes Utilizing Revascularization and Aggressive Drug Evaluation) trial compared percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) plus optimal medical therapy (OMT) to OMT alone in reducing the risk of cardiovascular events in 2287 patients with stable coronary disease. We examined the cost-effectiveness of PCI as a function of angina severity at the time of randomization.

Methods and Results—
Angina severity was assessed with the Seattle Angina Questionnaire (SAQ). Patients were grouped into tertiles based on the distribution of baseline scores such that higher tertiles represented better health status. Clinically significant improvement from baseline within individual patients was defined as score increases of >8 for physical limitation, >20 for angina frequency, and >16 for quality-of-life domains. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio for PCI was calculated as the difference in costs divided by the difference in proportion of patients with clinically significant improvement. Improvement in angina severity was significantly greater for PCI patients in the lowest and middle tertiles. The number of patients needed to treat was much larger for the highest tertile. The added in-trial cost of PCI ranged from $7300 to $13 000. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios ranged from $80 000 to $330 000 for the lowest and middle tertiles and from $520 000 to >$3 million for the highest tertile for 1 additional patient to achieve significant clinical improvement in health status.

Conclusions—
The incremental cost of PCI to provide meaningful clinical benefit above that achieved by OMT alone was lower for patients with severe angina than for those with mild or no angina. However, it is uncertain that at any level of angina severity that PCI as an initial strategy would achieve a socially acceptable cost threshold.

Clinical Trial Registration—

URL:
http://www.clinicaltrials.gov
. Unique identifier: NCT00007657.
Trends in Coronary Revascularization in the United States From 2001 to 2009
Authors: Riley Robert F. , Don Creighton W. , Powell Wayne , Maynard Charles , Dean Larry S. 
Published: February 2011

Background—
There is speculation that the volume of percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs) has been decreasing over the past several years. Published studies of PCI volume have evaluated regional or hospital trends, but few have captured national data. This study describes the use of coronary angiography and revascularization methods in Medicare patients from 2001 to 2009.

Methods and Results—
This retrospective study used data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services from 2001 to 2009. The annual number of coronary angiograms, PCI, intravascular ultrasound, fractional flow reserve, and coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery procedures were determined from billing data and adjusted for the number of Medicare recipients. From 2001 to 2009, the average year-to-year increase for PCI was 1.3% per 1000 beneficiaries, whereas the mean annual decrease for CABG surgery was 5%. However, the increase in PCI volume occurred primarily from 2001 to 2004, as there was a mean annual rate of decline of 2.5% from 2004 to 2009; similar trends were seen with diagnostic angiography. The use of intravascular ultrasound and fractional flow reserve steadily increased over time.

Conclusions—
This study confirms recent speculation that PCI volume has begun to decrease. Although rates of CABG have waned for several decades, all forms of coronary revascularization have been declining since 2004.
Guideline-Discordant Periprocedural Interruptions in Warfarin Therapy
Authors: Skolarus Lesli E. , Morgenstern Lewis B. , Froehlich James B. , Lisabeth Lynda D. , Brown Devin L. 
Published: February 2011

Background—
Periprocedural interruptions in warfarin therapy increase thromboembolic risks to patients and are not indicated for all procedures. We sought to determine the frequency and guideline concordance of periprocedural warfarin interruptions to inform a future educational intervention.

Methods and Results—
In October and November of 2009, an anonymous postal survey was sent to all patients followed for more than 1 year by the University of Michigan Anticoagulation service. Patients were asked how many times in the prior year they were requested to interrupt warfarin therapy for a medical or dental procedure or test and the specific indication for the requested interruption in warfarin therapy. A total of 1686 of 2133 (79%) subjects responded. The mean age of respondents was 69 years (SD=14 years). The majority were men (56%) and white (93%). Atrial fibrillation was the most common indication for warfarin therapy (n=966, 57%). At least 1 request to interrupt warfarin therapy in the prior year was given by 819 of 1648 (50%) respondents, including 481 of the 947 (51%) respondents taking warfarin for atrial fibrillation. Forty-eight percent of requests to interrupt warfarin among all respondents and 50% of requests to interrupt warfarin among those taking warfarin, specifically for atrial fibrillation, were for indications not supported by guideline statements.

Conclusions—
Periprocedural requests to interrupt warfarin therapy are common and are often discordant with current guidelines. Educational interventions may decrease risk of periprocedural thromboembolic complications.
Racial Differences in Incident Heart Failure During Antihypertensive Therapy
Authors: Okin Peter M. , Kjeldsen Sverre E. , Dahlöf Björn , Devereux Richard B. 
Published: February 2011

Background—
Blacks have a higher prevalence of heart failure (HF) than nonblacks, possibly reflecting a greater burden of HF risk factors, including hypertension. Although HF incidence is significantly higher in blacks during long-term follow-up of young adults, the relationship of incident HF to race in hypertensive patients undergoing treatment is unclear.

Methods and Results—

Incident HF was evaluated in 497 black and 8199 nonblack hypertensive patients with no history of HF randomly assigned to losartan- or atenolol-based treatment. During 4.7±1.1 years mean follow-up, HF hospitalization occurred in 265 patients (3.0%); 5-year HF incidence was significantly greater in black than nonblack patients (7.0 versus 3.1%,
P
<0.001). In Cox multivariate analyses adjusting for randomized treatment, age, sex, the presence of the strain pattern on the baseline ECG, and other HF risk factors treated as standard covariates, and for incident myocardial infarction, in-treatment QRS duration, diastolic and systolic pressure, Cornell product, and Sokolow-Lyon voltage criteria for left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) treated as time-varying covariates, black race remained associated with a 130% increased risk of developing new HF (hazard ratio 2.30, 95% confidence interval 1.24 to 4.28).

Conclusions—
Incident HF is substantially more common among black than nonblack hypertensive patients. The increased risk of developing new HF in blacks persists after adjusting for the higher prevalence of HF risk factors in blacks, for treatment effects and in-treatment blood pressure, and for the known predictive value of the ECG strain pattern and in-treatment ECG LVH and QRS duration for incident HF in this population.

Clinical Trial Registration—

URL:
http://www.clinicaltrials.gov
. Unique identifier: NCT00338260.
A Real-Time Gridded Crop Model for Assessing Spatial Drought Stress on Crops in the Southeastern United States
Authors: McNider Richard T. , Christy John R. , Moss Don , Doty Kevin , Handyside Cameron , Limaye Ashutosh , Garcia y Garcia Axel , Hoogenboom Gerrit 
Published: February 2011

AbstractThe severity of drought has many implications for society. Its impacts on rain-fed agriculture are especially direct, however. The southeastern United States, with substantial rain-fed agriculture and large variability in growing-season precipitation, is especially vulnerable to drought. As commodity markets, drought assistance programs, and crop insurance have matured, more advanced information is needed on the evolution and impacts of drought. So far many new drought products and indices have been developed. These products generally do not include spatial details needed in the Southeast or do not include the physiological state of the crop, however. Here, a new type of drought measure is described that incorporates high-resolution physical inputs into a crop model (corn) that evolves based on the physical–biophysical conditions. The inputs include relatively high resolution (as compared with standard surface or NOAA Cooperative Observer Program data) (5 km) radar-derived precipitation, satellite-derived insolation, and temperature analyses. The system (referred to as CropRT for gridded crop real time) is run in real time under script control to provide daily maps of crop evolution and stress. Examples of the results from the system are provided for the 2008–10 growing seasons. Plots of daily crop water stress show small subcounty-scale variations in stress and the rapid change in stress over time. Depictions of final crop yield in comparison with seasonal average stress are provided.
Do Biometeorological Indices Improve Modeling Outcomes of Heat-Related Mortality?
Authors: Vaneckova Pavla , Neville Gerard , Tippett Vivienne , Aitken Peter , FitzGerald Gerard , Tong Shilu 
Published: February 2011

AbstractVarious biometeorological indices and temperature measures have been used to assess heat-related health risks. Composite indices are expected to assess human comfort more accurately than do temperature measures alone. The performances of several common biometeorological indices and temperature measures in evaluating the heat-related mortality in Brisbane, Australia—a city with a subtropical climate—were compared. Daily counts of deaths from organic causes [International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 9th Revision, (ICD9) codes 001–799 and ICD, 10th Revision, (ICD10) codes A00–R99] during the period from 1 January 1996 to 30 November 2004 were used. Several composite biometeorological indices were considered, such as apparent temperature, relative strain index, Thom discomfort index, the humidex, and wet-bulb globe temperature. Hot days were defined as those days falling into the 95th percentile of each thermal stress indicator. Case-crossover analysis was applied to estimate the relationship between exposure to heat and mortality. The performances of various biometeorological indices and temperature measures were compared using the jackknife resampling method. The results show that more deaths were likely to occur on hot days than on other (i.e., control) days regardless of the temperature measure or biometeorological index that is considered. The magnitude of the odds ratios varied with temperature indicators, between 1.08 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.02–1.14] and 1.41 (95% CI: 1.22–1.64) after adjusting for air pollutants (particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter less than 10 μm and ozone). Average temperature performed similarly to the composite indices, but minimum and maximum temperatures performed relatively poorer. Thus, average temperature may be suitable for the development of weather–health warning systems if the findings presented herein are confirmed in different locations.
Stochastic Forcing of Potential Vorticity: Observations
Authors: Egger Joseph , Hoinka Klaus-Peter 
Published: February 2011

Abstract
The linear theory of point correlation maps for synoptic systems relies so far mainly on specifications of stochastic forcing due to nonlinear processes that are not based on observations. Forty-year ECMWF Re-Analysis (ERA-40) data are used to derive time series of the forcing terms in a potential vorticity equation for a correlation point in the North Atlantic storm-track region. It is found that the forcing correlations are restricted to distances less than 1500 km to the correlation point in zonal direction and just a few hundred kilometers in meridional direction. The forcing is not even approximately white in time. Covariances of forcing and potential vorticity are presented as well. An advection equation with simple damping and realistic stochastic forcing is solved to approximate the observed covariances of forcing and potential vorticity.
Limits to the Impact of Empirical Correction on Simulation of the Water Cycle
Authors: Dirmeyer Paul A. , DelSole Timothy , Zhao Mei 
Published: February 2011

Abstract
Empirical correction is applied to wind, temperature, and soil moisture fields in a climate model to assess its impact on simulation of the water cycle during boreal summer. The empirical correction method is based on the biases in model forecasts only as a function of the time of year. Corrections are applied to the prognostic equations as an extra nudging term. Mean fields of evaporation, precipitation, moisture transport, and recycling ratio are all improved, even though humidity fields were not corrected. Simulation of the patterns of surface evaporation supplying rainfall at locations over land is also improved for most locations. There is also improvement in the simulation of evaporation and possibly rainfall, as measured by anomaly correlation coefficients and root-mean-square errors of the time series of monthly anomalies. However, monthly anomalies of other water cycle fields such as moisture transport and recycling ratio were not improved. Like any statistical adjustment, empirical correction does not address the cause of model errors, but it does provide a net improvement to the simulation of the water cycle. It can, however, be used to diagnose the sources of error in the model. Since corrections are only applied to prognostic variables, shortcomings due to physical parameterizations in the model are not remedied.
Professorial roles: a study of the professorial populations within nursing and midwifery, social work and allied health professions
Authors: Jackson Christine S. , Callinan Carol , Cowell Anthony 
Published: February 2011

The professorial populations in nursing/midwifery, social work and allied health are relatively new in academia compared to longer established professions, such as medicine and dentistry. Less is known about the roles, career pathways, characteristics and career aspirations of the professoriate within these emerging professions. A survey was undertaken from sample populations in each of the three professorial groups in order to obtain qualitative and quantitative data on professorial roles and activities, career pathway information and support mechanisms for professorial positions. This paper discusses the findings of the survey that relate specifically to professorial roles and activities and whether the identified roles reflect the professorial activities proposed by the National Conference of University Professors (NCUP). Other aspects of this survey, including career pathways, findings relating to gender and support mechanisms, will form the basis of future papers. The findings suggest that the professorial roles studied in this survey reflect those described by the NCUP. Professors of nursing, allied health professions and social work balance a wide range of roles and activities. Research, and related activities, as one would expect, constitute a substantial aspect of work activity, but many professors express frustration with an environment that requires a heterogeneous role profile combined with an unrealistically high workload in order to successfully pursue their research careers. The survey highlighted support networks as a critical success factor in terms of professorial career development. However, professors from across the disciplines commented on the lack of support (institutional and external) available to professors in both pre-professorial and professorial grades. Established and personal chair holders appear to have similar roles, with few statistically significant differences found between these two sub-populations.
T cells redirected against CD70 for the immunotherapy of CD70-positive malignancies
Authors: Shaffer Donald R. , Savoldo Barbara , Yi Zhongzhen , Chow Kevin K. H. , Kakarla Sunitha , Spencer David M. , Dotti Gianpietro , Wu Meng-Fen , Liu Hao , Kenney Shannon , Gottschalk Stephen 
Published: February 2011

AbstractT-cell therapy with genetically modified T cells targeting CD19 or CD20 holds promise for the immunotherapy of hematologic malignancies. These targets, however, are only present on B cell–derived malignancies, and because they are broadly expressed in the hematopoietic system, their targeting may have unwanted consequences. To expand T-cell therapies to hematologic malignancies that are not B cell–derived, we determined whether T cells can be redirected to CD70, an antigen expressed by limited subsets of normal lymphocytes and dendritic cells, but aberrantly expressed by a broad range of hematologic malignancies and some solid tumors. To generate CD70-specific T cells, we constructed a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) consisting of the CD70 receptor (CD27) fused to the CD3-ζ chain. Stimulation of T cells expressing CD70-specific CARs resulted in CD27 costimulation and recognition of CD70-positive tumor cell lines and primary tumor cells, as shown by IFN-γ and IL-2 secretion and by tumor cell killing. Adoptively transferred CD70-specific T cells induced sustained regression of established murine xenografts. Therefore, CD70-specific T cells may be a promising immunotherapeutic approach for CD70-positive malignancies.
Interleukin-1 in the pathogenesis and treatment of inflammatory diseases
Authors: Dinarello Charles A. 
Published: February 2011

AbstractMore than any other cytokine family, the IL-1 family of ligands and receptors is primarily associated with acute and chronic inflammation. The cytosolic segment of each IL-1 receptor family member contains the Toll-IL-1-receptor domain. This domain is also present in each Toll-like receptor, the receptors that respond to microbial products and viruses. Since Toll-IL-1-receptor domains are functional for both receptor families, responses to the IL-1 family are fundamental to innate immunity. Of the 11 members of the IL-1 family, IL-1β has emerged as a therapeutic target for an expanding number of systemic and local inflammatory conditions called autoinflammatory diseases. For these, neutralization of IL-1β results in a rapid and sustained reduction in disease severity. Treatment for autoimmune diseases often includes immunosuppressive drugs whereas neutralization of IL-1β is mostly anti-inflammatory. Although some autoinflammatory diseases are due to gain-of-function mutations for caspase-1 activity, common diseases such as gout, type 2 diabetes, heart failure, recurrent pericarditis, rheumatoid arthritis, and smoldering myeloma also are responsive to IL-1β neutralization. This review summarizes acute and chronic inflammatory diseases that are treated by reducing IL-1β activity and proposes that disease severity is affected by the anti-inflammatory members of the IL-1 family of ligands and receptors.
Developmental differences in megakaryocytopoiesis are associated with up-regulated TPO signaling through mTOR and elevated GATA-1 levels in neonatal megakaryocytes
Authors: Liu Zhi-Jian , Italiano Joseph , Ferrer-Marin Francisca , Gutti Ravi , Bailey Matthew , Poterjoy Brandon , Rimsza Lisa , Sola-Visner Martha 
Published: February 2011

AbstractMultiple observations support the existence of developmental differences in megakaryocytopoiesis. We have previously shown that neonatal megakaryocyte (MK) progenitors are hyperproliferative and give rise to MKs smaller and of lower ploidy than adult MKs. Based on these characteristics, neonatal MKs have been considered immature. The molecular mechanisms underlying these differences are unclear, but contribute to the pathogenesis of disorders of neonatal megakaryocytopoiesis. In the present study, we demonstrate that low-ploidy neonatal MKs, contrary to traditional belief, are more mature than adult low-ploidy MKs. These mature MKs are generated at a 10-fold higher rate than adult MKs, and result from a developmental uncoupling of proliferation, polyploidization, and terminal differentiation. This pattern is associated with up-regulated thrombopoietin (TPO) signaling through mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and elevated levels of full-length GATA-1 and its targets. Blocking of mTOR with rapamycin suppressed the maturation of neonatal MKs without affecting ploidy, in contrast to the synchronous inhibition of polyploidization and cytoplasmic maturation in adult MKs. We propose that these mechanisms allow fetuses/neonates to populate their rapidly expanding bone marrow and intravascular spaces while maintaining normal platelet counts, but also set the stage for disorders restricted to fetal/neonatal MK progenitors, including the Down syndrome–transient myeloproliferative disorder and the thrombocytopenia absent radius syndrome.
Development of an IL-15–autocrine CD8 T-cell leukemia in IL-15–transgenic mice requires the cis expression of IL-15Rα
Authors: Sato Noriko , Sabzevari Helen , Fu Song , Ju Wei , Petrus Michael N. , Bamford Richard N. , Waldmann Thomas A. , Tagaya Yutaka 
Published: February 2011

AbstractIL-15 has growth-promoting effects on select lymphoid subsets, including natural killer (NK) cells, NK T cells, intraepithelial lymphocytes (IELs), CD8 T cells, and γδ-T cells. Constitutive expression of murine IL-15 in IL-15–transgenic mice was reported to cause T-NK leukemia. We investigated whether IL-15 expression is sufficient for leukemic transformation using a human IL-15–transgenic (IL-15Tg) mouse model. We noted that 100% of the mice observed over a 2-year period (n > 150) developed fatal expansions of CD8 T cells with NK markers, and determined that these cells expressed IL-15 receptor alpha (IL-15Rα). The expression of IL-15Rα on CD8 T cells appears to be required for uncontrolled aggressive lymphoproliferation, because none of the IL-15Rα−/−–IL-15Tg mice that we followed for more than 2 years developed the fatal disease despite controlled expansion of CD8 T cells. In addition, in contrast to IL-15Tg mice, in which leukemia-like CD8 T cells expressed IL-15Rα persistently, acutely activated normal CD8 T cells only transiently expressed IL-15Rα. Inhibition of DNA methylation enabled sustained IL-15Rα expression induced by activation. We present a scenario for IL-15Tg mice in which CD8 T cells that acquire constitutive persistent IL-15Rα expression are at a selective advantage and become founder cells, outgrow other lymphocytes, and lead to the establishment of a leukemia-like condition.