bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Mirtazapine orally disintegrating tablets in depressed nursing home residents 85 years of age and older
Authors: Nelson J. Craig , Hollander Steven B. , Betzel James , Smolen Philip 
Published: September 2006

AbstractIntroductionTreatment studies of depression in the very oldest patients are infrequent. For these reasons, this study of mirtazapine orally disintegrating tablets was carried out in nursing home residents ≥85 years old with physician‐diagnosed depression. The naturalistic conditions of the study allowed us to include patients with cognitive impairment, concomitant medications and comorbid illness.MethodsThis was a subgroup analysis of nursing home residents ≥85 years old who took part in a larger 12‐week open‐label trial. Patients were eligible if they had physician‐diagnosed depression, and a Mini‐Mental State Exam score ≥10. The physician or nurse coordinator obtained data from healthcare professionals in daily contact with the patient to complete the Clinical Global Impression (CGI) scale, a modified 16‐item Hamilton Depression Scale (HAM‐D), and the Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia (CSDD). Treatment‐emergent adverse events were recorded.ResultsOf the 50 patients enrolled at 23 sites, 72% completed the 12‐week trial. The mean age of the participants was 89.3 years. The mean HAM‐D score declined from 16.9 at baseline to 7.3 at endpoint (ITT, LOCF analysis) For the CSDD, the mean score declined from 15.1 to 7.1. The percentage of responders on the CGI‐Improvement (CGI‐I) scale increased at each assessment reaching 55% at endpoint. Only 10% of the patients discontinued treatment because of adverse events. There was a mean increase in weight of 1.32 lbs (0.6 kg) at day 84.ConclusionAlthough lacking a placebo control, this naturalistic study suggests that mirtazapine orally disintegrating tablets were effective and well tolerated in this sample of depressed nursing home residents ≥85 years of age. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The assessment of fitness to drive in people with dementia
Authors: Lincoln Nadina B. , Radford Kate A. , Lee Elizabeth , Reay Alice C. 
Published: September 2006

AbstractObjectiveTo determine whether cognitive tests predict fitness to drive in patients with dementia.DesignTwo group comparison of patients with dementia and healthy elderly volunteers, and comparison of patients with dementia who were found safe to drive and those found unsafe, followed by a validation study.ParticipantsForty‐two people with dementia and 33 healthy elderly volunteers with no known memory problems who were driving. Of the 42 people with dementia 37 were assessed on the road. A second sample of 17 people with dementia was also assessed on the road.Main MeasuresStroke Drivers Screening Assessment, Mini Mental State Examination, Salford Objective Recognition Test, Stroop Test, Test of Everyday Attention, Visual Object and Space Perception Battery, Behavioural Assessment of the Dysexecutive Syndrome, Adult Memory and Information Processing Battery.ResultsAll healthy elderly volunteers were safe to drive but 10 of the 27 patients with dementia were unsafe. Discriminant function analysis identified a combination of tests, which correctly classified 92% of drivers with dementia as safe or unsafe. Validation of this prediction on an independent sample had 59% accuracy using a cut‐off of 0 but 88% accuracy using a cut‐off of 5.ConclusionsSafety to drive in people with dementia could be predicted from a combination of six cognitive tests. These correctly identified 67% of safe drivers in a validation sample. This assessment could be used to identify those who need evaluation of their safety on the road. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Psychological treatment of late‐life depression: a meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials
Authors: Cuijpers Pim , van Straten Annemieke , Smit Filip 
Published: September 2006

AbstractBackgroundOlder meta‐analyses of the effects of psychological treatments for depression in older adults have found that these treatments have large effects. However, these earlier meta‐analyses also included non‐randomized studies, and did not include newer high‐quality randomized controlled trials.MethodsWe conducted a meta‐analysis of randomized studies on psychological treatments for depression in older adults.ResultsTwenty‐five studies were included, of which 17 compared a psychological intervention to a control condition (mainly waiting list and care‐as‐usual control groups). The quality of the included studies varied. Psychological treatments have moderate to large effects on depression in older adults (standardized mean effect size d = 0.72). Heterogeneity was very low. No differences were found between individual, group or bibliotherapy format, or between cognitive behavioral therapy and other types of psychological treatment. The effects were comparable in studies where depression was defined according to diagnostic criteria, and those in which depression was measured with self‐rating questionnaires.ConclusionAlthough the quality of many studies was not optimal, the results of this meta‐analysis support the results of earlier meta‐analyses, which also included non‐randomized studies. Psychological treatments are effective in the treatment of depression in older adults. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Co‐morbid and socio‐demographic factors associated with cognitive performance in an elderly community dwelling Irish population
Authors: Chin Ai‐Vyrn , O'Connell Henry , Kirby Michael , Denihan Aisling , Bruce Irene , Walsh J. B. , Coakley David , Lawlor Brian A. , Cunningham Conal 
Published: September 2006

AbstractBackgroundEpidemiological studies suggest an association between health factors and dementia. The impact of these factors on the cognitive performance of the elderly population is unclear. Possible correlates of poor cognitive performance in a community dwelling elderly Irish population were examined.MethodsSubjects were from a sample of individuals over 65 years agreeable to interview using the Geriatric Mental State (GMS)‐Automated Geriatric Examination for Computed Assisted Taxonomy (AGECAT) package conducted at the subject's home. Associations between patient profiles and Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) score were investigated in a multivariate model.ResultsThere were 793 subjects, 528 (66.6%) female with mean (s.d.) age 74.8 (6.7) yrs. Mean MMSE score was 26.5 (3.3). 169 (21.3%) were current smokers, 198 (25%) ex‐smokers. Two hundred and twenty‐four (28.3%) had a history of hypertension, 85 (10.7%) case level anxiety or depression, 51 (6.4%) stroke, ten0 (1.3%) epilepsy, nine (1.1%) Parkinson's disease and 29 (3.7%) dementia. Two hundred and fifty‐five (32.2%) subjects were on psychotropic medications. Factors associated with MMSE score included age (p ≤ 0.0001), diagnosis of dementia (p ≤ 0.0001), socioeconomic group (p ≤ 0.0001), education (p ≤ 0.0001), previous stroke (p = 0.0013) and use of psychotropic medication (p = 0.03). Case level anxiety or depression (p = 0.99), Parkinson's disease (p = 0.52), epilepsy (p = 0.26), smoking status (p = 0.99) and hypertension (p = 0.34) were not found to be associated with cognitive performance.ConclusionFactors associated with cognitive performance included age, socioeconomic group, education, previous stroke and use of psychotropic medication. These factors should be adjusted for in studies assessing cognition in this population. Stroke prevention strategies and avoidance of psychotropic medication may benefit cognitive performance. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Early diagnosis of dementia in primary care: a representative eight‐year follow‐up study in Lower Saxony, Germany
Authors: Maeck Lienhard , Haak Sebastian , Knoblauch Anita , Stoppe Gabriela 
Published: September 2006

AbstractObjectiveTo investigate whether primary care competency in early diagnosis of dementia might have changed during 1993 and 2001.MethodBy means of a representative follow‐up survey 122 out of 170 (71.8%) family physicians (FPs) in Lower Saxony, Germany, were randomly assigned to two written case samples presenting a patient with mild cognitive impairment (case 1a vs. 1b: female vs. male patient) and moderate dementia (case 2a vs 2b: vascular type (VD) vs Alzheimer's disease (DAT)), respectively. By means of a structured face‐to‐face interview, they were asked for their diagnostic considerations.ResultsIn comparison to 1993, dementia was significantly more frequently considered. However, there was a striking tendency in overestimating vascular aetiology and under‐diagnosing probable DAT (case 1a/1b: DAT: 11.0% in 1993 vs 26.2% in 2001; VD: 2.1% in 1993 vs 17.2% in 2001). As a possible contributor to a dementia syndrome, concomitant medication was considered only exceptionally (case 2a/2b: 4.4% in 1993 vs 2.5% in 2001). Physicians above 50 years of age showed a significantly lower early diagnostic awareness. At follow‐up, the presumed interest in geriatric (psychiatric) topics dramatically faded from 66.9% to 35.2%.ConclusionsOur results demonstrate a persistent need of training efforts aiming at the early recognition of dementia, especially of DAT, in primary care. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Suicidal ideation among elderly homecare patients
Authors: Raue Patrick J. , Meyers Barnett S. , Rowe Jennifer L. , Heo Moonseong , Bruce Martha L. 
Published: September 2006

AbstractObjectivesTo identify the prevalence, correlates, and one‐year naturalistic course of suicidal ideation in a representative sample of elderly adults newly admitted to visiting nurse homecare.MethodFive hundred and thirty‐nine participants (aged ≥65), newly initiating homecare for skilled nursing services, were interviewed with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM‐IV (SCID‐IV) and measures of depression severity, medical comorbidity, functional status, and social support. Participants were classified as having no suicidal ideation in the past month, passive ideation, active ideation, or active ideation with poor impulse control or suicide plan.ResultsFifty‐seven participants (10.6%) reported passive and six (1.2%) reported active suicidal ideation. Higher depression severity, greater medical comorbidity, and lower subjective social support were independently associated with the presence of any level of suicidal ideation. At one year, suicidal ideation persisted for 36.7% of those with ideation at baseline, and the incidence of suicide ideation was 5.4%ConclusionsThe high prevalence, persistence, and incidence of suicidal ideation in medically ill home healthcare patients underscore the relevance of this population for suicide prevention efforts. The clinical and psychosocial factors associated with suicidal ideation in this underserved, high‐risk population are potentially modifiable, and thus useful targets for suicide prevention interventions. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Schizotypy, marijuana, and differential item functioning
Authors: Earleywine Mitch 
Published: September 2006

AbstractAt least five studies report elevated schizotypy scores in cannabis users. The current research confirms higher schizotypy scores in regular cannabis users. Nevertheless, further analyses reveal that select items on the brief version of the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire do not function comparably in current and former users. Multiple statistical approaches confirmed this problem, including the Mantel‐Haenszel statistic, Rasch difficulty estimates, a logistic regression approach, the Breslow‐Day (BD) statistic, and a combined decision rule using Mantel‐Haenszel and BD together. Cannabis users appear to misinterpret at least one item, “I sometimes use words in unusual ways” making them more likely to endorse it even if they are no more schizotypal than the former users. Users might consider cannabis‐related slang as an unusual use of words. Removing problematic items does not decrease the internal consistency of the measure, but eliminates the significant difference between current and former users. These results suggest that links between cannabis use and schizotypy require cautious interpretation and may arise from measurement problems. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Conceptual fuzzy neural network model for water quality simulation
Authors: Chaves Paulo , Kojiri Toshiharu 
Published: September 2006

AbstractArtificial neural networks (ANNs) have been applied successfully in various fields. However, ANN models depend on large sets of historical data, and are of limited use when only vague and uncertain information is available, which leads to difficulties in defining the model architecture and a low reliability of results. A conceptual fuzzy neural network (CFNN) is proposed and applied in a water quality model to simulate the Barra Bonita reservoir system, located in the southeast region of Brazil. The CFNN model consists of a rationally‐defined architecture based on accumulated expert knowledge about variables and processes included in the model. A genetic algorithm is used as the training method for finding the parameters of fuzzy inference and the connection weights. The proposed model may handle the uncertainties related to the system itself, model parameterization, complexity of concepts involved and scarcity and inaccuracy of data. The CFNN showed greater robustness and reliability when dealing with systems for which data are considered to be vague, uncertain or incomplete. The CFNN model structure is easier to understand and to define than other ANN‐based models. Moreover, it can help to understand the basic behaviour of the system as a whole, being a successful example of cooperation between human and machine. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Comment on ‘M. M. Reddy, P. Schuster, C. Kendall and M. B. Reddy, characterization of surface and ground water δ18O seasonal variation and its use for estimating groundwater residence times. Hydrological Processes 20 (2006) this issue’
Authors: Criss R. E. , Winston W. E. 
Published: September 2006

AbstractReddy et al. (2006, Hydrological Processes 20: 1753–1772) disregard germane published data and successful isotopic models, selectively depict data from their data sets, misplot many of their data, and use poorly correlated sinusoidal fits to their data to derive erroneous hydrologic time constants for features in the Shingobee River Headwaters Area. A damped running average model is more realistic. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Semiempirical GGA‐type density functional constructed with a long‐range dispersion correction
Authors: Grimme Stefan 
Published: September 2006

AbstractA new density functional (DF) of the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) type for general chemistry applications termed B97‐D is proposed. It is based on Becke's power‐series ansatz from 1997 and is explicitly parameterized by including damped atom‐pairwise dispersion corrections of the form C6 · R−6. A general computational scheme for the parameters used in this correction has been established and parameters for elements up to xenon and a scaling factor for the dispersion part for several common density functionals (BLYP, PBE, TPSS, B3LYP) are reported. The new functional is tested in comparison with other GGAs and the B3LYP hybrid functional on standard thermochemical benchmark sets, for 40 noncovalently bound complexes, including large stacked aromatic molecules and group II element clusters, and for the computation of molecular geometries. Further cross‐validation tests were performed for organometallic reactions and other difficult problems for standard functionals. In summary, it is found that B97‐D belongs to one of the most accurate general purpose GGAs, reaching, for example for the G97/2 set of heat of formations, a mean absolute deviation of only 3.8 kcal mol−1. The performance for noncovalently bound systems including many pure van der Waals complexes is exceptionally good, reaching on the average CCSD(T) accuracy. The basic strategy in the development to restrict the density functional description to shorter electron correlation lengths scales and to describe situations with medium to large interatomic distances by damped C6 · R−6 terms seems to be very successful, as demonstrated for some notoriously difficult reactions. As an example, for the isomerization of larger branched to linear alkanes, B97‐D is the only DF available that yields the right sign for the energy difference. From a practical point of view, the new functional seems to be quite robust and it is thus suggested as an efficient and accurate quantum chemical method for large systems where dispersion forces are of general importance. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem 2006
Similarity measures based on Gaussian‐type promolecular electron density models: Alignment of small rigid molecules
Authors: Leherte Laurence 
Published: September 2006

AbstractVarious molecular similarity measures (overlap, Coulomb, kinetic, electrostatic energy) and similarity indices (Carbó, Hodgkin–Richards, Kulczynski, Shape Tanimoto) are applied to the superposition of 3D promolecular electron density (PED) distributions. The original aspect of the paper lies in the consideration of smoothed PEDs, which allow to decrease the number of local solutions to a superposition problem, together with the use of the less common kinetic and electrostatic energy similarity measures. Results are obtained for a family of five rigid endothiapepsin ligands that were already considered in previous applications, based on graph representations of their PED. In the present work, it is observed that the use of smoothed PED and the kinetic similarity measure, together with the Kulczynski or Shape Tanimoto index, performed the best to align molecules of different sizes. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem, 2006
Tissue‐engineered intervertebral disc and chondrogenesis using human nucleus pulposus regulated through TGF‐β1 in platelet‐rich plasma
Authors: Chen Wei‐Hong , Lo Wen‐Cheng , Lee Jie‐Jen , Su Ching‐Hua , Lin Che‐Tong , Liu Hen‐Yu , Lin Tsou‐Wen , Lin Wei‐Chao , Huang Te‐Yang , Deng Win‐Ping 
Published: September 2006

AbstractHuman intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration often initiated from the human nucleus pulposus (hNP) with aging leading to IVD destruction and extracellular matrix (ECM) depletion. Previously, we have successfully employed transforming growth factor‐β1 (TGF‐β1) to promote chondrogenesis of mesenchymal progenitor cells (MPCs) and immortalized human mesenchymal stem cells. In this study, we examine the role of TGF‐β1 in platelet‐rich plasma (PRP) on disc regeneration, including proliferation, redifferentiation, and the reconstitution of tissue‐engineered NP. hNP cells were isolated from volunteers with different ages and cultured in the presence of PRP. We found that the most effective concentration for hNP proliferation was 1 ng/ml TGF‐β1 in PRP, which was further applied in the following experiments. hNP cell proliferation in all age groups were increased time‐dependently by PRP and cell morphologies showed aggregation. The mRNA of Sox9, type II collagen, and aggrecan were all significantly upregulated by PRP through RT‐PCR. Glycosaminoglycan (GAG) accumulation reached the highest value at day 7 and continued to day 9 culture. PRP promoted NP regeneration via the Smad pathway was also determined and highly activated p‐Smad2/3 at 30 min and continuously sustained to 120 min. Immunostaining of type II collagen indicates that PRP participates in chondrogenesis of tissue‐engineered NP with collagen scaffolds. We concluded that growth factors in PRP can effectively react as a growth factor cocktail to induce hNP proliferation and differentiation, and also promote tissue‐engineered NP formation. These findings are the first to demonstrate that PRP might be a therapeutic candidate for prevention of disc degeneration. J. Cell. Physiol. 209: 744–754, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Gene therapy for BCR‐ABL+ human CML with dual phosphorylation resistant p27Kip1 and stable RNA interference using an EBV vector
Authors: Sengupta Amitava , Banerjee Debasish , Chandra Sarmila , Banerjee Subrata 
Published: September 2006

AbstractBackgroundBCR‐ABL‐mediated chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) CD34+ cell proliferation mostly depends on the nucleo‐cytoplasmic ratio of the cyclin‐dependent kinase inhibitor p27. The ubiquitin‐ligase SCFSkp2 promotes degradation of phosphorylated p27 at T187 in the nucleus, resulting in G1/S progression of the cells. On the other hand, phosphatidylinositol‐3‐kinase (PI3K)‐directed T157 nuclear localization signal (NLS) phosphorylation results in cytoplasmic sequestration of p27, leading to abnormal integrin‐mediated proliferation of CD34+ CML cells.MethodsWe demonstrate the generation of an engineered Epstein‐Barr virus (EBV) vector with a BAC backbone that has the unique capacity to carry doubly modified (DM) p27 (i.e. T187A, T157A p27) along with the BCR‐ABL siRNA expression construct. The HSV‐tk suicide gene has also been incorporated in the same vector, which promotes apoptosis in a BCR‐ABL‐independent pathway.ResultsExpression of DM p27 markedly inhibits proliferation of BCR‐ABL+ primary human CML cells. Moreover, DM p27 strongly inhibits the growth of imatinib‐resistant CML cells, compared to the T157A p27 (SM p27). The CML growth inhibition is found to be the result of significant G1/S arrest with concomitant increase in hypophosphorylated retinoblastoma (Rb). Moreover, the EBV vector mediated stable RNA interference induces apoptosis in K562 cells and reduces myeloid colony forming units.ConclusionsWe therefore propose a multi‐gene delivery strategy for BCR‐ABL+ CML cells by targeting not only the fusion transcript, but also the downstream signaling, to overcome drug resistance in the acute phase of CML. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The size of minimum 3‐trees
Authors: Arocha Jorge L. , Tey Joaquín 
Published: September 2006

AbstractA 3‐uniform hypergraph (3‐graph) is said to be tight, if for any 3‐partition of its vertex set there is a transversal triple. We give the final steps in the proof of the conjecture that the minimum number of triples in a tight 3‐graph on n vertices is exactly $\left\lceil n(n-2)/3 \right\rceil$. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 54: 103–114, 2007
Synthesis and evaluation of 90Y‐DOTA‐Colchicine conjugate in murine fibrosarcoma model
Authors: Satpati Drishty , Korde Aruna , Pandey Usha , Dhami Prem , Banerjee Sharmila , Venkatesh Meera 
Published: September 2006

AbstractColchicine is a cytotoxic bioactive alkaloid that exhibits its action by microtubular binding. With an aim to develop a tumor targeted radio‐therapeutic agent, colchicine has been functionalized to trimethylcolchicinic acid and conjugated to the isothiocyanato derivative of DOTA (1,4,7,10‐tetraaza cyclododecane tetracetic acid). DOTA coupled colchicine was radiolabeled with 90Y, one of the most commonly used therapeutic radioisotope. Complexation of 200 µg of the conjugate with 90Y was carried out at pH 4.5 with an incubation time of 45 min at 70°C. Complexation yield of 90Y‐DOTA‐NCS‐colchicine was confirmed to be >98% using C‐18 reverse phase HPLC system. 90Y‐colchicine complex could be differentiated from 90Y‐p‐NCS‐benzyl‐DOTA on the basis of difference in their retention times 8 and 4 min, respectively in a standardized HPLC system. Biodistribution studies in Swiss mice fibrosarcoma tumor model showed an uptake of ∼0.8% ID/g tumor at 3 h.p.i. that was retained till 24 h.p.i. 90Y‐DOTA‐NCS‐colchicine complex showed excellent pharmacokinetics with major portion of the radioactivity being excreted out within 3 h.p.i. and no accumulation of radioactivity in vital organs. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.