bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Imaging findings in symptomatic patients with femoral diaphyseal stress injuries
Authors: Theodorou S. J. , Theodorou D. J. , Resnick D. 
Published: May 2006

Purpose: To assess the imaging findings seen in symptomatic patients with stress injuries of the femoral diaphysis.Material and Methods: Seven patients (5 F, 2 M, age range 16 to 56 years, mean 38 years) underwent imaging evaluation of the symptomatic lower extremity due to an insidious onset of thigh or groin pain unrelated to trauma. Imaging studies included radiography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in seven patients, bone scintigraphy in five, and computed tomography (CT) in three.Results: Radiographs depicted three frank fractures in two patients, and revealed findings of stress injury in six patients. Available scintigraphic and CT findings were abnormal. On MR images, a solitary fracture was seen in two patients; two patients presented with bilateral stress fractures of the femoral diaphysis; and all seven patients had the imaging features of stress injury. Femoral diaphyseal stress fractures ( n = 6) appeared as linear regions of T1- and T2-weighted low signal intensity, surrounded by diffuse bone marrow edema. Three of the six frank fractures, with an evident fracture line, were longitudinal and parallel to the cortical surface.Conclusion: Femoral diaphyseal stress fractures are often inconspicuous with conventional radiography. MRI depicts the changes of stress injury in the femoral diaphysis, and is particularly useful in documenting the presence, morphology, and extent of fracture(s), information valuable for definitive diagnosis and appropriate management.
Genetic diversity within and between European pig breeds using microsatellite markers
Authors: SanCristobal M. , Chevalet C. , Haley C. S. , Joosten R. , Rattink A. P. , Harlizius B. , Groenen M. A. M. , Amigues Y. , Boscher M.‐Y. , Russell G. , Law A. , Davoli R. , Russo V. , Désautés C. , Alderson L. , Fimland E. , Bagga M. , Delgado J. V. , Vega‐Pla J. L. , Martinez A. M. , Ramos M. , Glodek P. , Meyer J. N. , Gandini G. C. , Matassino D. , Plastow G. S. , Siggens K. W. , Laval G. , Archibald A. L. , Milan D. , Hammond K. , Cardellino R. 
Published: May 2006

SummaryAn important prerequisite for a conservation programme is a comprehensive description of genetic diversity. The aim of this study was to use anonymous genetic markers to assess the between‐ and the within‐population components of genetic diversity for European pig breeds at the scale of the whole continent using microsatellites. Fifty‐eight European pig breeds and lines were analysed including local breeds, national varieties of international breeds and commercial lines. A sample of the Chinese Meishan breed was also included. Eleven additional breeds from a previous project were added for some analyses. Approximately 50 individuals per breed were genotyped for a maximum of 50 microsatellite loci. Substantial within‐breed variability was observed, with the average expected heterozygosity and observed number of alleles per locus being 0.56 [range 0.43–0.68] and 4.5 respectively. Genotypic frequencies departed from Hardy–Weinberg expectations (P < 0.01) in 15 European populations, with an excess of homozygotes in 12 of them. The European breeds were on average genetically very distinct, with a Wright FST index value of 0.21. The Neighbour‐Joining tree drawn from the Reynolds distances among the breeds showed that the national varieties of major breeds and the commercial lines were mostly clustered around their breeds of reference (Duroc, Hampshire, Landrace, Large White and Piétrain). In contrast, local breeds, with the exception of the Iberian breeds, exhibited a star‐like topology. The results are discussed in the light of various forces, which may have driven the recent evolution of European pig breeds. This study has consequences for the interpretation of biodiversity results and will be of importance for future conservation programmes.
Effects of high‐dose sublingual immunotherapy on quality of life in patients with seasonal asthma: a pilot study
Authors: Incorvaia C. , Riario‐Sforza G. G. , Pravettoni C. , Frati F. 
Published: May 2006

SummaryAllergen immunotherapy by subcutaneous route was demonstrated by meta‐analysis studies as an effective treatment in allergic asthma, but the clinical efficacy on asthmatic symptoms of the sublingual route is less investigated. We evaluated the effects of high‐dose sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) on quality of life (QoL) and clinical control of the disease in patients with seasonal asthma. Thirteen patients (six males, seven females, mean age 32.7±6.2 years) with seasonal allergic asthma from at least 2 years were included in the study. In six cases asthma was caused by grass pollen, in five by ragweed pollen, and in two by birch pollen. SLIT was performed by extracts from Stallergénes standardized in index of reactivity (IR) by a build‐up phase in 11 days and a maintenance phase with 300 IR three times a week for the duration of the study. An equal number of patients (seven males, six females, mean age 31.8±7.1 years) was treated with an association of 500 mcg of fluticasone and 50 mcg of salmeterol b.i.d. each day during the pollen season. Before and after the treatment, QoL was measured by the Mini Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (AQLQ), and clinical control was assessed by the asthma control test (ACT). The mean scores of the Mini‐AQLQ before and after treatment were 3.45±0.51 and 5.59±0.48 for SLIT, and 3.32±0.63 and 5.23±0.39 for salmeterol–fluticasone association. The mean scores of the ACT before and after treatment were 11.46±3.38 and 20.54±2.47 for SLIT, and 10.87±2.28 and 19.12±3.20 for salmeterol–fluticasone association. All these differences had a comparable significance, with a P<0.001. High‐dose SLIT with standardized extracts of the most common pollens significantly improves QoL and asthma control in patients with seasonal asthma, with a level of changes comparable with the fluticasone–salmeterol association.
Mast cell‐mediated airway remodelling
Authors: Okayama Y. , Okumura S. , Yamashita N. , Ohta K. , Saito H. 
Published: May 2006

SummaryAirway structural changes (remodelling) in asthma include increased smooth muscle mass, mucus gland hypertrophy, deposition of extracellular matrix components, thickening of reticular basement membrane, and angiogenesis. The extent of remodelling correlates with severity of asthma, and since patients with extensive remodelling may be resistant to steroids therapy, prevention of airway remodelling is a promising therapeutic strategy for curing patients with severe asthma. Mast cells play a pivotal role in allergic inflammatory diseases including asthma and rhinitis. Both early‐phase mediators such as tryptase and chymase and late‐phase mediators such as cytokines released by mast cells are capable of modulating airway smooth muscle cell function and inducing goblet cell hyperplasia. Nasal remodelling in patients with rhinitis seems far less extensive than that which occurs in bronchi of asthmatic patients. Because cytokine production by smooth muscle cells may partly explain the differences in remodelling at these two sites, further investigation of the interaction between human mast cells and airway smooth muscle cells is required to identify new therapeutic strategies for reducing airway remodelling in asthma.
Gene expression profiles of human mast cells and basophils
Authors: Saito H. , Tsukidate T. , Nakajima T. , Okayama Y. 
Published: May 2006

SummaryBoth human mast cells and basophils have metachromatic granules and high‐affinity IgE receptors (FcɛRI) and play important roles in allergic inflammation. However, comprehensive roles and global molecular expression profiles of these two cell types are largely unknown. We review the recent literature regarding the roles of basophils and mast cells and analyse the whole gene expression (transcriptome) of various cell types using a public database. We found that mast cell samples from different tissues preferentially express a unique set of transcripts distinct from those preferentially expressed by granulocytes including basophils. We also found that basophils strongly express mRNA for cytokines whose receptors mast cells express at high levels. Similarly, mast cells preferentially express chemokines whose receptors basophils express at high levels. Hence mast cells and basophils may play a complementary role in allergic inflammation. Disconnecting the mutual activation of these cell types may be expected to lead to future therapies against allergic diseases.
Inflammatory patterns in allergic rhinitis
Authors: Foley S. , Hamid Q. 
Published: May 2006

SummaryAllergic rhinitis results from allergen‐triggered early and late responses that are mediated by an array of inflammatory cells and mediators. Exposure to allergen induces the proliferation of T‐helper type 2 (Th2) lymphocytes in allergic individuals leading to the subsequent release of a characteristic combination of cytokines that promotes IgE and mast cell production. Within the allergic epithelium, there is proliferation of mucosal mast cells that express IL‐4, IL‐5, IL‐6 and tryptase. The resultant inflammatory mediators and cytokines enhance endothelial expression of adhesion molecules, such as vascular cell adhesion molecule‐1. Chemoattractants, such as eotaxin, RANTES and IL‐5, are responsible for the characteristic infiltration of the nasal mucosa by eosinophils, basophils, mast cells and Th2 lymphocytes that is seen in the late‐phase allergic response.
Effectiveness of nurse‐led brief alcohol intervention: a cluster randomized controlled trial
Authors: Lock Catherine A. , Kaner Eileen , Heather Nick , Doughty Julie , Crawshaw Andrea , McNamee Paul , Purdy Sarah , Pearson Pauline 
Published: May 2006

Aim.  This paper reports an evaluation of the effectiveness and cost‐effectiveness of nurse‐led screening and brief intervention in reducing excessive alcohol consumption among patients in primary health care.Background.  Excessive alcohol consumption is a major source of social, economic and health problems. However, such consumption is responsive to brief alcohol intervention. To date, brief intervention research in primary health care has focused on general practitioner‐led interventions, and there is only circumstantial evidence of effectiveness in nurse‐led interventions. However, nurses are increasingly taking a lead in health promotion work in primary care.Methods.  A pragmatic cluster‐randomized controlled trial was carried out between August 2000 and June 2003 to evaluate the effects of a brief intervention compared with standard advice (control condition). A total of 40 general practice clusters (intervention = 21 and control = 19) recruited 127 patients (intervention = 67 and control = 60) to the trial. Excessive consumption was identified opportunistically via the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test. After baseline assessment, patients received either a 5–10 minutes brief intervention using the ‘Drink‐Less’ protocol or standard advice (control condition). Follow‐up occurred at 6 and 12 months postintervention.Results.  Analysis of variance weighted for cluster size revealed no statistically significant differences between intervention and control patients at follow up. A majority of patients in both conditions reduced their alcohol consumption between assessment and subsequent measurement. Economic analysis suggested that the brief intervention led to no statistically significant changes in subsequent health service resource use relative to standard treatment.Conclusion.  The brief intervention evaluated in this trial had no effect over standard advice delivered by nurses in primary health care. However, there was a reduction in excessive drinking across both arms of the trial over time. Due to nurse drop‐out, this trial was significantly underpowered. Future research should explore barriers to nurses’ involvement in research trials, particularly with an alcohol focus. A larger trial is required to evaluate the effectiveness of nurse‐led screening and brief alcohol intervention in primary care.
The experience of surviving traumatic brain injury
Authors: Chamberlain Diane J. 
Published: May 2006

Aim. This paper reports a study describing the experience of surviving traumatic brain injury as narrated by individuals 1 year after injury.Background. The experience of surviving traumatic brain injury is an individual and invisible experience. Healing and resolution of grief is still problematic for many years after injury. This experience includes those with severe injury. There is limited literature focusing on the survivor.Methodology. Sixty people with hospital admission diagnoses of traumatic brain injury were interviewed 1 year after injury using the Extended Glasgow Outcome Score questionnaire. Survivors then described their experiences of recovery. Data were collected through unstructured in‐depth interviews, transcribed from audio‐tapes and analysed into references. Qualitative content analysis was used to compile their frequencies from recurring themes.Findings. Sixty survivors with a median age of 35 years were enrolled in the study, with 100% follow‐up. Twelve per cent returned to full preinjury functioning, 35% had residual psychosocial and physical sequelae, 38% had significant restrictions in lifestyle and work capacity, and 15% were unable to care for themselves throughout the 24‐hour period. The common narratives were classified into five categories: ‘regret and grief within self’; ‘insensitivity of health professionals’; ‘invisibility of self’; ‘stranded self’; and ‘recovery in self’. These self‐narratives reflected renewed ways to view the self, which were conceptualized to be intact ‘in spite of’ or to be worthwhile ‘because of’ the traumatic brain injury.Conclusions. Self‐narratives could be a worthwhile focus of psychological intervention by substituting positive narratives for negative ones, demonstrating hope and a positive outlook on life in order to enhance self‐reflection and improve mental health. They can assist people to minimize, avoid or overcome devaluation and, as such, provide a basis for considerable nursing rehabilitation practice, even in those with severe injury.
Protecting sick children from exposure to passive smoking through mothers' actions: a randomized controlled trial of a nursing intervention
Authors: Chan Sophia , Lam Tai Hing 
Published: May 2006

Aims.  The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a nursing educational intervention with mothers of sick children to decrease passive smoking exposure.Background.  Passive smoking represents a serious health hazard and is a substantial threat to child health causing major risk factors for acute respiratory illness in children. Nurses are in a vital position to conduct health education to improve children's health, which is a legitimate activity in a pediatric ward.Methods.  A randomized controlled trial was conducted in the general paediatric wards of four major hospitals in Hong Kong. The participants were non‐smoking mothers of sick children admitted to the paediatric ward and with smoking husbands living in the same household.Findings.  A total of 1483 women were randomized into the intervention (n = 752) and control (n = 731) group. The intervention group received from the nurses (1) standardized health advice; (2) two purpose‐designed booklets about preventing exposure to passive smoking and helping fathers quit; (3) a no smoking sticker; and (4) a telephone reminder 1 week later. No intervention was given to the controls. Baseline comparison showed no significant differences between the two groups in the mothers’ actions to protect the children from passive smoking exposure. More mothers in the intervention group than the control group had always moved the children away when they were exposed to the fathers’ smoke at home at 3‐month follow up (78·4% vs. 71·1%; P = 0·01) but became non‐significant at 6 and 12 months.Conclusions.  A simple health education intervention provided by nurses to the mothers in a busy clinical setting can be effective in the short‐term to motivate the mothers to take actions to protect the children from exposure to passive smoking produced by the fathers.
Organizational factors: impact on administration violations in rural nursing
Authors: McKeon Christine M. , Fogarty Gerard J. , Hegney Desley G. 
Published: May 2006

Aim.  This paper reports a study investigating organizational factors contributing to procedural violations by nurses during medication administration.Background.  Health care is not as safe as it could be, with research indicating that errors involving medications are a leading cause of unintended harm to patients. In the safety literature, strong claims are made about the connection between violation of procedures and adverse occurrences but, in the healthcare field in particular, there is limited empirical evidence that can serve as a basis for understanding why workers deviate from established procedures.Method.  Quantitative and qualitative data were collected by questionnaire in 2002 to 627 nurses working in rural and remote areas in Queensland, Australia. The response rate was 31%. The data were used to build a model that shows how organizational variables can produce conditions that improve work practices that fall short of best practice standards.Results.  The statistical model accounted for a reliable 19% of the variance in self‐reported violations. A higher level of knowledge was found to be associated with lower levels of violations. Conversely, higher workloads and higher expectations by doctors were associated with a higher incidence of violations. Qualitative comments tended to support the conclusions drawn from the model and helped to explain the observed associations.Conclusions.  Attempts to deal with deviations from work procedures through interventions such as retraining or disciplinary action are likely to be ineffective unless they take a more holistic management approach aimed at the individual, the team, the task, the workplace, and the institution as a whole and are directed at the weaker points in the system. These interventions may take the form of training programmes, systems redesign, or the injection of resources. The costs of providing adequate resources to a healthcare system are likely to be offset by savings gained through worker productivity, and better patient outcomes.
A new depression scale designed for use with adults with mental retardation
Authors: Meins W. 
Published: May 2006

AbstractA sample of 51 mentally retarded adults with DSM‐III‐R criteria for depressive disorders, and 41 without depressive disorders but a high rate of other psychiatric disorders were rated on 27 items from the Comprehensive Psychopathological Rating Scale (CPRS). The newly developed CPRS depression subscale consists of nine items which can also be assessed in almost all of the people with severe or profound mental retardation in the sample. The scale is able to distinguish between depressive and non–depressive cases, and between subgroups of depression. The two factors derived from factor analysis were open to clear interpretation.
Homo‐erotomania for a delusional parent: erotomania with Capgras and Fregoli syndromes in a young male with learning difficulties
Authors: Mann J. , Foreman D. M. 
Published: May 2006

AbstractA 19‐year‐old male with learning difficulties exhibited erotomania associated with first‐rank symptoms of schizophrenia; the subject responded to neuroleptic medication. The love object was a male neighbour believed by the subject to be his father. This is the first recorded case where erotic desire has been coupled with the delusion that the object is also the parent of the sufferer. We propose a multifactorial aetiology, considering the possibility of complex psychodynamics in the presence of learning difficulties.
Testosterone and Aggression: Berthold, Birds and Beyond
Authors: Soma K. K 
Published: May 2006

AbstractBerthold's classic study of domesticated roosters in 1849 demonstrated that testicular secretions are necessary for the normal expression of aggressive behaviour. Although this conclusion is undoubtedly correct, field studies of wild songbirds have yielded important modifications and limitations of Berthold's original hypothesis. For example, studies of the North American song sparrow (Melospiza melodia) during the breeding season reveal that not only does testosterone increase aggression, but aggressive interactions also increase plasma testosterone levels. Furthermore, in winter, nonbreeding song sparrows have low plasma testosterone levels but are very aggressive, and castration of nonbreeding song sparrows does not decrease aggression. Interestingly, an aromatase inhibitor (fadrozole) does decrease male aggression in the nonbreeding season, and the effects of fadrozole can be rescued with oestradiol. In winter, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) from the periphery can be metabolised within the brain to supply oestradiol to specific neural circuits. Additionally, oestradiol might be synthesised de novo from cholesterol entirely within the brain. These mechanisms may have evolved to avoid the ‘costs’ of circulating testosterone in the nonbreeding season. Recent studies in tropical birds, hamsters, and humans suggest that these neuroendocrine mechanisms are important for the control of aggression in many vertebrate species.
Reactionary dentinogenesis after applying restorative materials and bioactive dentin matrix molecules as liners in deep cavities prepared in nonhuman primate teeth
Authors: DUQUE C. , HEBLING J. , SMITH A. J. , GIRO E. M. A. , OLIVEIRA M. F. , DE SOUZA COSTA C. A 
Published: May 2006

summary  Objective:  The aim of this in vivo study was to evaluate the response of the pulp‐dentin complex following application of resin‐modified glass‐ionomer cement, calcium hydroxide hard‐setting cement and EDTA‐soluble preparation of dentine matrix proteins (ESDP) in deep cavities prepared in non‐human primate teeth.Methods:  Eighteen deep Class V buccal cavities were prepared in premolars of four capuccin monkeys. In Groups 1 and 2, the cavity floor was lined with ESDP or a resin‐modified glass‐ionomer cement (Vitrebond ‐ 3M ESPE), respectively. In Group 3 (control), the cavity was lined with a hard setting calcium hydroxide cement (Dycal ‐ Dentsply). The cavities were subsequently filled with amalgam. After 6 months, the animals were sacrificed and the teeth were prepared for microscopic assessment. Six‐micron thick serial sections were stained with H/E, Masson's trichrome and Brown & Brenn techniques.Results:  No inflammatory pulpal response was observed for all experimental and control Groups. However, the amount of reactionary dentin deposition differed between groups in the rank order ESDP (Group 1) > calcium hydroxide (Group 3) > resin‐modified glass‐ionomer (Group 2). These differences were statistically significant.Conclusions:  All materials were biocompatible when applied in deep cavities. ESDP stimulated higher deposition of reactionary dentin matrix than Vitrebond and Dycal.