bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Managing external risks to health technology assessment programs
Authors: Hailey David , Juzwishin Don 
Published: September 2006

Objectives: The aim of this study was to develop a guide to identifying and managing risks for health technology assessment (HTA) programs and to obtain opinions on this topic from HTA agencies.Methods: The risks and approaches to their management were compiled, drawing on experiences from HTA programs and the risk assessment literature. Opinion on this classification was obtained from members of the International Network of Agencies for Health Technology Assessment (INAHTA).Results: Twenty-one risks for HTA programs were identified under the categories Formulation of HTA Questions, Preparation of the HTA Product, Dissemination, and Contracting. For each risk area, potential consequences and suggested management approaches were outlined. Responses from ten HTA programs indicated substantial agreement regarding the risks that had been identified and on the importance of risk management for their own operations.Conclusions: Prudent management of HTA programs should take into account the risks related to external factors.
Disseminating evidence from health technology assessment: The case of tobacco prevention
Authors: Axelsson Susanna , Helgason Ásgeir R. , Lund Karl E. , Adolfsson Jan 
Published: September 2006

Objectives: The aims of the present study were to investigate the awareness among dentists and dental hygienists of evidence-based reports and guidelines on tobacco cessation activities and the impact these publications had on clinical practice.Methods: A questionnaire was mailed to dental hygienists and dentists in Stockholm County, Sweden, and the results were compared with a previous investigation.Results: Among the respondents, awareness of a popular science version of a systematic review on smoking and its effect on oral health was reported by 90 percent of the hygienists and 66 percent of the dentists. The information was used in clinical work by 34 percent of the dentists and 54 percent of the hygienists. Reported changes in patterns of practice were more frequent recommendations to use nicotine replacement therapy and a more widespread use of setting quit dates. Approximately one quarter of the dental professionals reported that they had increased tobacco cessation consultation because of the results from the reports.Conclusions: Changes in patterns of practice were observed after dissemination of evidence-based information on tobacco cessation. Methods that were proven to be effective in the evidence-based report such as discussing quit dates and recommending nicotine replacement therapy were more commonly used after the publication of the report. Short, popular versions of extensive systematic reviews seem to be useful for implementing evidence-based knowledge and changing clinical practice.
Direct optimization and multiple alignment of 28S D2–D3 rDNA sequences: problems with indels on the way to a molecular phylogeny of the cryptine ichneumon waSPS (Insecta: Hymenoptera)
Authors: Laurenne Nina M. , Broad Gavin R. , Quicke Donald L. J. 
Published: September 2006

AbstractA molecular phylogeny of the Cryptinae based on the D2–D3 region of the 28S rDNA gene, including 176 cryptines representing 139 genera and an additional 77 outgroup genera, is presented. Direct optimization and multiple alignment each with a range of gap/substitution parameters were employed. The informal higher grouping of the ichneumonids were supported, but the relationship of the Ichneumoninae and Cryptinae was not resolved. Cryptinae tribes were supported but many genera formed constant groups that did not follow earlier subtribal divisions. We investigated artifactual placements of, e.g., Agriotypinae and Brachycyrtinae, and showed that they do not possess molecular synapomophies with the Ichenumoninae where direct optimization places them. The sequences of anomalous placed taxa were markedly longer (or in some cases shorter) than those of most other taxa, and this is explained by homoplastic indels at “hot spots” in the absence of large numbers of informative substitutions. We show that multiple alignment generally resulted in taxa with large insertions or deletions being placed in more plausible positions. The relationship of the genusAlomyais also explored.© The Willi Hennig Society 2006.
Daclizumab, an efficient treatment for steroid‐refractory acute graft‐versus‐host disease
Authors: Bordigoni Pierre , Dimicoli Sophie , Clement Laurence , Baumann Cédric , Salmon Alexandra , Witz Francis , Feugier Pierre 
Published: September 2006

SummaryIn a phase II study, daclizumab was given as single second‐line agent to 62 patients with steroid‐refractory acute graft‐versus‐host disease (aGVHD). Complete resolution of aGVHD was achieved in 68·8% of patients. This response rate was significantly associated with a lower number of involved organs and smaller extent of skin involvement. The 4‐year event‐free survival (EFS) was 54·6%. Grade ≥III aGVHD, ≥2 involved organs at baseline and patient age >18 years were independently associated with lower EFS. Daclizumab could be a suitable alternative treatment for aGVHD, particularly when limited to the skin or gastrointestinal tract.
Long‐chain 3‐hydroxyacyl‐CoA dehydrogenase deficiency with inadvertent caries in infants
Authors: BLAKE FELIX , BLESSMANN MARCO , WERLE HEINER , LI LEI , GBARA ALI 
Published: September 2006

Background.  Long‐chain 3‐hydroxyacyl‐CoA dehydrogenase deficiency (LCHADD) is a rare systemic disease that is associated with early tooth decay.Case report.  This report describes the case of a 3‐year‐old boy suffering from LCHADD. At the time of referral, extensive carious lesions of the subject's maxillary dentition necessitated the surgical removal of eight teeth. Preventive treatment for LCHADD involves a regular oral intake of glucose that is vital for the survival of the affected individual. In young infants, the glucose solution needs to be administered as often as every 3 h in order to prevent hypoglycaemia, leading to a local environment similar to that experienced in nursing bottle syndrome. While nursing bottle syndrome can be resolved by eliminating the sugar substrate and curtailing the feeding sessions, these alternatives are not available in cases of LCHADD.Conclusion.  This report highlights this rare disease and emphasizes its dire consequences for the dentition. Prophylactic recommendations for high‐risk children are reviewed. Familiarity with LCHADD allows this high‐risk group of patients to be identified, and thus, ensures diligent prophylactic action.
Is amelogenesis imperfecta an indication for renal examination?
Authors: HUNTER LINDSAY , ADDY LIAM D. , KNOX JEREMY , DRAGE NICHOLAS 
Published: September 2006

Background.  The term ‘amelogenesis imperfecta’ (AI) describes a diverse group of hereditary conditions primarily affecting the quality and/or quantity of dental enamel.Case report.  This paper describes a case in which hypoplastic AI with delayed/failure of eruption of the permanent teeth was shown to be associated with renal calcification.Conclusion.  Given the importance of the renal involvement, the authors suggest that paediatric dentists consider referring all children with this dental phenotype for renal ultrasound examination.
Understanding distress in people with severe communication difficulties: developing and assessing the Disability Distress Assessment Tool (DisDAT)
Authors: Regnard C. , Reynolds Joanna , Watson Bill , Matthews Dorothy , Gibson Lynn , Clarke Charlotte 
Published: September 2006

AbstractBackground  Meaningful communication with people with profound communication difficulties depends on the ability of carers to recognize and translate many different verbal cues. Carers appear to be intuitively skilled at identifying distress cues, but have little confidence in their observations. To help in this process, a number of pain tools have been developed, but this sits uncomfortably with the lack of evidence that pain has any specific signs or behaviours. A palliative care team working with people with intellectual disabilities developed the Disability Distress Assessment Tool (DisDAT) to document a wide range of signs and behaviours of distress and when an individual is content.Method  The tool was piloted with 16 carers and 8 patients. It was then assessed using quantitative and qualitative methods, employing 56 carers in routine clinical situations with 25 patients, most with severe communication difficulties. Carers of 10 patients participated in semi‐structured interviews exploring the signs and behaviours demonstrated by patients when distressed and when content. These same 10 patients were observed for distress cues during different activities.Results  It became clear that distress did not have a common meaning among carers, but there was a clear understanding that distress did not just cover physical pain. The range of distress cues was wide, with no evidence that any cues were specific to particular causes. Although some distress cues were common between patients, each patient had a distinct pattern of distress cues. In addition, different carers identified a different range of distress cues, while the length of the relationship did not influence the number of cues identified. Most distress cues were a change from the norm, but some patients demonstrated distress as an absence of content cues. Carers found the DisDAT simple to use and useful, and several felt that DisDAT would have helped advocate for the patients in previous conflicts with clinical teams.Conclusions  There was no evidence that pain has any specific signs or behaviours. The preliminary and assessment phases showed that distress was a useful clinical construct in providing care. The DisDAT reflected patients’ distress communication identified by a range of carers, and provided carers with evidence for their intuitive observations of distress.
‘To help them is to educate them’: power and pedagogy in the prevention and treatment of malaria in Tanzania
Authors: Montgomery Catherine M. , Mwengee William , Kong'ong'o Maurice , Pool Robert 
Published: September 2006

SummaryObjectives  Acknowledging that mothers are often the primary caregivers at the household level, malaria control efforts have emphasized educating women in its early recognition. This fails to consider the context in which knowledge will be transformed into action, as women lack decision‐making responsibility and financial resources. We examine the knowledge and power dynamics of provider–patient interactions and the implications for malaria treatment of educating mothers during consultations.Methods  We conducted in‐depth interviews in Tanga, Tanzania, with 79 household participants over 2 years to explore knowledge and perceptions of febrile illness, its treatment and prevention. We also interviewed 55 clinicians at government and private healthcare facilities about their patients’ knowledge and treatment‐seeking behaviour. We analysed our data using a grounded theory approach.Results  Informants had good knowledge of malaria aetiology, symptoms and treatment. Healthcare workers reported that mothers were able to give them sufficient information about their child for accurate diagnosis. However, health staff continued to see mothers who present ‘late’ as uneducated, intellectually incapable and lazy. Whilst evidence shows that decisions about treatment do not rest with mothers, but with male family members, it is women who continue to be blamed and targeted by health education.Conclusions  Aggressive didactic teaching methods used by health staff may be disempowering those already equipped with knowledge, yet unable to control treatment decisions within the household. This may lead to further delays in presentation at a healthcare facility. We propose a rethinking of health education that is context‐sensitive, acknowledges class and gendered power relations, and targets men as well as women.
The Fixed Slope Rule: An Inter‐Specific Study
Authors: Gulbransen Dana , Segrist Tatiana , Del Castillo Pauline , Blumstein Daniel T. 
Published: September 2006

AbstractThere are two broad mechanisms by which animals can assess risk when deciding whether to flee: temporally and spatially. Animals that employ temporal mechanisms use predator speed to gauge threat. In contrast, those that use spatial mechanisms use the distance to the predator as an indication of danger. Traditionally, this was viewed as a fixed distance. Recently, a new type of spatial mechanism was proposed that focused on animals initiating flight at a fixed ratio of the distance at which they first responded to the threat. Our study investigated the consistency of this slope among three species: the Eastern gray kangaroo (Macropus giganteus), the Australian wood duck (Chenonetta jubata), and the Australian magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen). We found that these species exhibited statistically indistinguishable slopes from each other and the 0.44 slope that was initially reported in another species. Our results further support the assumption that escape decisions are dynamic. Future studies should determine the ubiquity of this fixed ratio.
Costs of Reproduction in Male Bicyclus anynana and Pieris napi Butterflies: Effects of Mating History and Food Limitation
Authors: Ferkau Carina , Fischer Klaus 
Published: September 2006

AbstractLife history theory predicts trade‐offs arising from the costs of reproduction: individuals investing more into reproduction should have less energy available for their own somatic demands. Despite a wealth of research on such costs for females, very few studies have looked at the male side. We investigated the costs of reproduction in males of two butterfly species, Bicyclus anynana and Pieris napi. The males of these species differ tremendously in their allocation of nutrients to reproduction: virgin male spermatophores were 18.5 times larger in the latter compared with those in the former. Based on this striking difference, we expected to find a longevity cost of mating in P. napi, but not necessarily in B. anynana. In line with our predictions, we found no evidence for a survival cost of mating in B. anynana, while there was some evidence for such a cost in P. napi. Here, virgin males lived longer than once‐ or twice‐mated ones. However, this overall trend did not hold for all treatment groups, and there was no linear relationship between the number of copulations and longevity. Adult food limitation reduced longevity throughout, but had otherwise very little impact. Spermatophore dry mass decreased in later compared with first spermatophores, while water content increased, indicating that spermatophore production is indeed physiologically costly. Additionally, adult food limitation tended to reduce spermatophore fresh and dry mass, and tended to increase spermatophore water content. Based on our results we tentatively conclude that longevity and reproduction may not always be traded off against each other, as in our study organisms’ longevity seems to depend in first place on adult carbohydrate income, while male reproduction seems to be primarily (although not entirely) fuelled by larval storage reserves.
Effects of Group Size on Approach to Novel Objects in Ravens (Corvus corax)
Authors: Stöwe Mareike , Bugnyar Thomas , Heinrich Bernd , Kotrschal Kurt 
Published: September 2006

AbstractNeophobia may constrain explorative behaviour, learning and innovation, while social context may facilitate approach to novel objects and acceptance of novel food. We examined the effects of neophobia on the exploration of novel objects in relation to social context in ravens (Corvus corax). Ravens are suitable subjects for studying effects of social context, as they are highly neophobic scavengers that recruit conspecifics to food. We tested two groups of six and 11 hand‐raised birds in three conditions: single‐bird, in dyadic combinations and sibling sub‐groups of three to six birds. Contrary to expectation, individuals of both groups were quicker to approach novel objects when tested alone than when tested with conspecifics. However, they spent more time close to and manipulating the novel objects in the social conditions (dyadic and group) than when being alone. We discuss the possibility that the higher latencies of dyads and groups to approach novel objects may reflect a ‘negotiation’ process in a ‘war of attrition’ between the individuals over risk‐taking.
The Role of Visual Ornamentation in Female Choice of a Multimodal Male Courtship Display
Authors: Hebets Eileen A. , Cuasay K. , Rivlin P. K. 
Published: September 2006

AbstractThe courtship behavior of male Schizocosa uetzi wolf spiders incorporates both visual and seismic signals into a multimodal display. These two signals have been shown to interact in such a manner that the seismic signal alters a female's response to the visual signal, leading to a putative increased importance of visual signaling in the presence of a seismic signal. Experiments leading to this attention‐focusing hypothesis relied in part on the video playback technique, eliciting the question of its significance under more biologically relevant conditions. Here, we directly examine female mate choice of males with differing visual signals (foreleg pigmentation) both in the presence and absence of a seismic courtship signal. We first quantified the natural variation of male foreleg pigmentation within a population of S. uetzi. The proportion of the tibia covered in pigmentation was found to be positively correlated with male weight, suggesting that this signal may convey reliable information about male size. Visual signals of live males were then manipulated into two treatments: black and brown male foreleg tibias, representing the extreme ends of the natural variation found. The seismic signaling environment was also manipulated into two treatments: seismic signal present and absent. Mating frequency was higher in the presence of a seismic signal than in its absence, but there was no interaction between the seismic and visual signaling treatments. Females mated with black and brown males equally whether a seismic signal was present or absent. This study suggests that inexperienced females do not distinguish between males of different manipulated foreleg pigmentations in mate‐choice decisions, even when in the presence of a seismic courtship signal.
Sunblocking efficiency of various TiO2‐loaded solid lipid nanoparticle formulations1
Authors: Cengiz E. , Wissing S. A. , Müller R. H. , Yazan Y. 
Published: September 2006

SynopsisIn this study, titanium dioxide (TiO2) was incorporated into solid lipid nanoparticle (SLN) formulations using both classical and novel preparation methods. The SLNs were investigated by evaluating their stabilities and physicochemical characteristics. UV‐protection abilities of formulations were investigated using in vitro TransporeTM and Sun To SeeTM test methods. Results have been discussed by comparing the classical SLN formulation with the novel SLN, hybrid SLN (H‐SLN) and the emulsion formulations. The results showed the superiority of the H‐SLN formulations compared with the classical SLN; all SLN formulations were better when compared with the emulsion formulations considering the UV protection. Incorporation of TiO2 as a sunscreen agent into SLN formulations gives opportunity to produce stable and safe formulations with reduced amount but high UV‐protection ability.
Effect of hormone replacement therapy on epidermal barrier lipids1
Authors: Misra M. , Feinberg C. , Matzke M. , Pocalyko D. 
Published: September 2006

SynopsisCurrent evidence of the effect of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) on skin lipids, of postmenopausal women is scanty and indirect. Here, we report the ultrastructural differences in epidermal lipids between postmenopausal subjects who were and were not on HRT and a comparison is made with younger subjects. Biopsies were obtained from arms and legs, in a blinded, no‐treatment, study conducted on postmenopausal subjects who were and were not on HRT and younger subjects. The ultrastructure of skin lipids and the lipid coverage of underlying corneocytes were compared for biopsies obtained from different subjects. Qualitative assessment as well as quantitative estimation of lipid‐covered regions of corneocytes shows that skin lipids do not cover corneocytes effectively in postmenopausal women who are not on HRT. However, women who are on HRT show significantly improved lipid coverage of corneocytes, which is comparable with the younger subjects. This implies that HRT should improve the lipid coverage and skin condition of postmenopausal women.
Natural skin surface pH is on average below 5, which is beneficial for its resident flora
Authors: Lambers H. , Piessens S. , Bloem A. , Pronk H. , Finkel P. 
Published: September 2006

SynopsisVariable skin pH values are being reported in literature, all in the acidic range but with a broad range from pH 4.0 to 7.0. In a multicentre study (N = 330), we have assessed the skin surface pH of the volar forearm before and after refraining from showering and cosmetic product application for 24 h. The average pH dropped from 5.12 ± 0.56 to 4.93 ± 0.45. On the basis of this pH drop, it is estimated that the ‘natural’ skin surface pH is on average 4.7, i.e. below 5. This is in line with existing literature, where a relatively large number of reports (c. 50%) actually describes pH values below 5.0; this is in contrast to the general assumption, that skin surface pH is on average between 5.0 and 6.0. Not only prior use of cosmetic products, especially soaps, have profound influence on skin surface pH, but the use of plain tap water, in Europe with a pH value generally around 8.0, will increase skin pH up to 6 h after application before returning to its ‘natural’ value of on average below 5.0. It is demonstrated that skin with pH values below 5.0 is in a better condition than skin with pH values above 5.0, as shown by measuring the biophysical parameters of barrier function, moisturization and scaling. The effect of pH on adhesion of resident skin microflora was also assessed; an acid skin pH (4–4.5) keeps the resident bacterial flora attached to the skin, whereas an alkaline pH (8–9) promotes the dispersal from the skin.
Using Employer Hiring Behavior to Test the Educational Signaling Hypothesis*
Authors: Albrecht James W. , Van Ours Jan C. 
Published: September 2006

AbstractThis paper presents a test of the educational signaling hypothesis. If employers use education as a signal in the hiring process, they will rely more on education when less is otherwise known about applicants. We find that employers are more likely to lower educational standards when an informal, more informative recruitment channel is used. We thus reject the hypothesis that education is not used as a signal in the hiring process.