bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The value of clinical features in differentiating between viral, pneumococcal and atypical bacterial pneumonia in children
Authors: Korppi Matti , Don Massimiliano , Valent Francesca , Canciani Mario 
Published: April 2008

AbstractObjective: To evaluate the value of clinical features in differentiating between viral, pneumococcal and atypical bacterial pneumonia in children.Design: A retrospective analysis of clinical signs and symptoms, supplemented with chest radiograph and serum procalcitonin data, in 101 children with community‐acquired pneumonia. Viral and bacterial aetiology was studied prospectively by antibody assays, and pneumococcal infection was found in 18, atypical bacterial infection in 28 and viral infection alone in 22 cases.Methods: Chest radiographs and serum procalcitonin were studied in all cases. Data on clinical signs and symptoms were retrospectively collected from the medical cards of the patients.Results: Among symptoms, cough was present in 89% and fever (>37.5°C) in 88% of the cases. Among physical signs, crackles were present in 49% and decreased breath sounds in 58%. No significant associations were found between any of the clinical signs or symptoms and the aetiology of pneumonia. In multivariate analyses, age over 5 years and serum procalcitonin over 1.0 ng/mL were the only independent predictors of bacterial aetiology, but no finding was able to screen between pneumococcal and atypical bacterial aetiology of infection.Conclusion: No clinical or radiological characteristic was helpful in the separation between viral, pneumococcal and atypical bacterial aetiology of community‐acquired pneumonia (CAP) in children.
Biomechanical Aspects of Primary Implant Stability: A Human Cadaver Study
Authors: Turkyilmaz Ilser , Sennerby Lars , McGlumphy Edwin A. , Tözüm Tolga F. 
Published: April 2008

ABSTRACTBackground: The quality of bone is an important factor in the successful implant treatment, and it is evident that higher implant failure is more likely in poor quality of bone. The primary stability of oral implants related to resistance to micromotion during healing is influenced by bone quality, surgical technique, and implant design.Purposes: The aims of this biomechanical study were to explore the effect of bone quality on initial intraosseous stability of implants, and to determine the correlations between the bone quality and implant stability parameters.Materials and Methods: Twenty‐four implants (Neoss Ltd., Mölnlycke, Sweden) were placed into anterior and posterior regions of three human cadaver mandibles. The bone densities of implant recipient sites were preoperatively determined using computerized tomography (CT) in Hounsfield unit (HU). The maximum insertion torque values were recorded, and primary implant stability measurements were noninvasively performed by means of resonance frequency analysis (RFA).Results: The bone density values ranged from −267 HU to 553 HU. It was found that mean bone density, insertion torque, and RFA values were 113 ± 270 HU, 41.9 ± 5 Ncm, and 70 ± 7 implant stability quotient (ISQ), respectively. Statistically significant correlations were found between bone density and insertion torque values (r = 0.690, p < .001); bone density and ISQ values (r = 0.557, p < .05); and insertion torque and ISQ values (r = 0.853, p < .001).Conclusion: CT is a useful tool to assess bone quantity and quality in implant recipient sites, and bone density has a prevailing effect on implant stability at placement.
Some Requisites for Interfaith Dialogue
Authors: Burrell David B. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractA prolonged (yet telescoped) rendition of the chequered history of relations between Christianity and Islam, as each religious community operated out of different political contexts, illustrates diverse modes of interaction, from disputation to mutual illumination via a shared Hellenic philosophical tradition. A theological probe takes us to the heart of Christian teaching—the triune God—only to unveil remarkable affinities with Islamic developments regarding divine unity. The key to our entire exploration—intellectual humility—functions specially well here: recognizing the comparable logics of revelation, as well as acknowledging the power of these revelations to transform human beings into holy men and women, should motivate us to attempt to reconcile apparent contradictions between Abrahamic faiths in a manner similar to the way philosophical theologians of these traditions proceeded in the Middle Ages to reconcile their respective revelations with reason. A tactic axial to this analysis compares Qur'an with Jesus, rather than Qur'an and Bible, to show the fruitfulness of this more coherent approach. Support from both traditions for a pervasive attitude of intellectual humility shows how to open ways forward.
‘Grammar. In a Breath’: Breathing in Gertrude Stein's Tender Buttons
Authors: Chevaillier Flore 
Published: April 2008

Abstract This essay won the 2007

Literature Compass

Graduate Essay Prize, American Section. This essay analyzes the trope of breath in Tender Buttons. It becomes clear, when diagramming Stein's poetry, that breath appears at different levels of interpretation (phonologically, semantically, and structurally). Here, I apply William Gass's theory of word spatialization and use diagrams as interpretive tools. The visualization of Stein's words leads to an exploration of repetition and double structures as expressions of inhalation and exhalation in individual poems. Such doublings construct variations on the themes of opening and closing which mirror the process of respiration. These motifs reappear in different sections of Tender Buttons, creating a structural breathing that connects the poems in the collection. Such embodiment of language requires that we think of Stein's poetry as a body breathing in and out to the reader, and forces us to reconsider reading as a sensual activity.
Worry, Desire, and Sexual Satisfaction and Their Association with Severity of ED and Age
Authors: Gralla Oliver , Knoll Nina , Fenske Stephan , Spivak Inna , Hoffmann Marga , Rönnebeck Claudia , Lenk Severin , Hoschke Bernd , May Matthias 
Published: April 2008

ABSTRACT

Introduction
This study evaluates worry about sexual and relationship functioning, sexual desire, and sexual satisfaction as indicators of sexual quality of life in men of different age groups suffering from mild to severe erectile dysfunction (ED).

Aim
To increase insight in the mechanisms of some key indicators of sexual quality of life in different age groups.

Methods
The study sample consisted of 904 men with mild to severe ED. Mean age was 60.7 years (standard deviation [SD] = 12.4) and mean erectile function (EF) (International Index of Erectile Function [IIEF]) score was 14.5 (SD = 8.9). Multivariate analyses of variance were conducted to test the differences in outcomes among two age groups (65 ≤ age &gt; 65) and two levels of ED (16 ≤ EF &gt; 16).

Main Outcome Measures
We analyzed age, severity of ED, and interrelated indicators of sexual quality of life as worry about sexual or relationship functioning, sexual desire, and overall sexual satisfaction. Beyond, we aimed to see on which of these measures their interaction had specific independent effects.

Results
Younger men at a higher level of ED reported higher levels of worry about sexual and relationship functioning than older men with high ED. Older men reported slightly less sexual desire than younger men; also, more ED was associated with lower sexual desire. Finally, men with less severe ED reported higher sexual satisfaction than men with more severe ED, whereas at all levels of ED severity, older men reported more sexual satisfaction than younger men.

Conclusions
Indicators of sexual quality of life among men with ED are poorer in those with more severe ED. However, younger men with severe ED worries concerning sexual functioning were more pronounced than among their older counterparts. Independent of the degree of severity of ED, older men indicated lower sexual desire but higher overall sexual satisfaction. Observed age-group differences were very small, however.
Soil type limits population abundance of rodents in crop fields: case study of the multimammate rat Mastomys natalensis Smith, 1834 in Tanzania
Authors: MASSAWE Apia W. , RWAMUGIRA Winnie , LEIRS Herwig , MAKUNDI Rhodes H. , MULUNGU Loth , NGOWO V. , MACHANG'U Robert 
Published: April 2008

AbstractStudies of populations of the multimammate rat Mastomys natalensis in Morogoro, Tanzania, show that soil texture appears to influence the population abundance and distribution of these rats in agricultural fields. The lowest rodent population abundance was found on sandy clay soils (F(2, 5)= 8.42; P= 0.025). The population abundances of M. natalensis on sandy clay loam and sandy loam soils did not differ significantly (P≤ 0.05), possibly because these soils have a very similar texture. The results of this study suggest that M. natalensis prefers loam‐textured soils with a high percentage of sand, which are probably better than clay soils for burrowing and nesting, particularly in the rainy season. The lower preference for clay soils is probably related to the poor aeration in these soils and the waterlogging that occurs during the wet season.
Warped Geographies of Development: The Internet and Theories of Economic Development
Authors: Graham Mark 
Published: April 2008

AbstractThe Internet is frequently touted as the engine of a new revolution that can eliminate poverty and bring prosperity to producers of crafts and commodities in economically impoverished areas of the world. ‘E‐commerce’, ‘commodity chains’, the ‘digital divide’, and ‘disintermediation’ are all inherently geographical ideas, as well as being integral components to many theories of economic development. However, despite a movement by geographers to recognize the nuanced relationships between the Internet and geography, such ideas have remained largely absent from much development discourse. By reviewing writing on geographical concepts such as ‘commodity chains’, the ‘digital divide’, ‘disintermediation’, and ‘e‐commerce’ within the contexts of contemporary debates about development, this article highlights some of the geographic assumptions wrapped up in a range of theories of development and shows how these spatial assumptions matter. The article concludes by reflecting on alternate geographic metaphors that could be employed within development discourse to better express the complicated and spatially contingent relationships between information and communication technologies, geography, and economic development.
Population Structure of the Fish-Pathogenic Bacterium
Flavobacterium psychrophilum
Authors: Nicolas Pierre , Mondot Stanislas , Achaz Guillaume , Bouchenot Catherine , Bernardet Jean-François , Duchaud Eric 
Published: April 2008

ABSTRACT

Flavobacterium psychrophilum
is currently one of the main bacterial pathogens hampering the productivity of salmonid farming worldwide, and its control mainly relies on antibiotic treatments. To better understand the population structure of this bacterium and its mode of evolution, we have examined the nucleotide polymorphisms at 11 protein-coding loci of the core genome in a set of 50 isolates. These isolates were selected to represent the broadest possible diversity, originating from 10 different host fish species and four continents. The nucleotide diversity between pairs of sequences amounted to fewer than four differences per kilobase on average, corresponding to a particularly low level of diversity, possibly indicative of a small effective-population size. The recombination rate, however, seemed remarkably high, and as a consequence, most of the isolates harbored unique combinations of alleles (33 distinct sequence types were resolved). The analysis also showed the existence of several clonal complexes with worldwide geographic distribution but marked association with particular fish species. Such an association could reflect preferential routes of transmission and/or adaptive niche specialization. The analysis provided no clues that the initial range of the bacterium was originally limited to North America. Instead, the historical record of the expansion of the pathogen may reflect the spread of a few clonal complexes. As a resource for future epidemiological surveys, a multilocus sequence typing website based on seven highly informative loci is available.
Injuries during the 2006 Women’s Rugby World Cup
Authors: Schick D M , Molloy M G , Wiley J P 
Published: April 2008

Background:Although there have been reports of injury rates in men’s World Cup rugby, there has been no research into injury rates in women’s international rugby.Objective:To determine the rate of injury at the 2006 Women’s Rugby World Cup (WRWC).Methods:All participating teams in the 2006 WRWC were enrolled prospectively in this study. Healthcare workers for each team collected data on training and game exposure and information on injuries.Results:55 players (16%) sustained at least one injury (10.0/1000 player hours); 4 players (1%) sustained two injuries. 45 injuries occurred during games (37.5/1000 player hours) and 14 injuries occurred during practice (12.5/1000 player hours), a statistically significant difference (RR = 12.5, 95% CI 6.9 to 22.8). The injury rate was 39.3/1000 player hours for the forwards and 42.2/1000 player hours for the backs (RR = 1.3, 95% CI 0.7 to 2.3). The front row had the highest injury rate (62.5/1000 player hours). 63.6% of injuries occurred during the tackle. Most injuries occurred to the neck, knee and head/face. The majority of injuries were sprains, muscle injuries and contusions. There were five fractures during the event and four reported concussions.Conclusion:Female players sustained a considerable rate of injury during the 2006 WRWC. Backs had a slightly higher rate of injury than forwards, but the players most often injured were in the front row. The neck/cervical spine and knee were the most commonly injured regions, followed by the head and face. This is the first study to examine injury rates in female rugby players at a World Cup and reports valuable data in this population.
Evaluation of Chromogenic MRSA medium, MRSASelectand Oxacillin Resistance Screening Agar for the detection of methicillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureus
Authors: Krishna B V S , Smith M , McIndeor A , Gibb A P , Dave J 
Published: April 2008

Aims:An evaluation of Chromogenic MRSA medium (CMRSA), MRSASelect(MRSAS) and Oxacillin Resistance Screening Agar (ORSA) was performed to determine the optimum medium providing a rapid and sensitive method for methicillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureus(MRSA) detection.Methods:A total of 632 clinical specimens were cultured on the three media in first phase of the study, while 720 clinical specimens were cultured on CMRSA and ORSA in the second phase.Results:The sensitivity and specificity, respectively, of the media in the first phase were: CMRSA 88.9% and 98.45%; MRSAS 92.1% and 99.1%; ORSA (24 h incubation) 68.3% and 98.8%; and ORSA (48 h incubation) 85.7% and 96.3%. In the second phase the sensitivity and specificity, respectively, were CMRSA 91.2% and 98.6%; ORSA (24 h incubation) 58.9% and 98.2%; and ORSA (48 h incubation) 85.6% and 95.6%. The positive predictive values of the two chromogenic media were higher than that for ORSA. There were fewer false-positive results with the chromogenic media (1.4% for CMRSA and 0.8% for MRSAS) compared with ORSA (3.3%).Conclusions:Performing latex agglutination tests on growth from chromogenic media provides results for 93.8% of MRSA isolates within 24 h. There is a small increase in cost of chromogenic media compared with ORSA (£28 for MRSAS, and £36 for CMRSA, per 1000 specimens) and direct agglutination tests (£80 per 1000 specimens). However early availability of MRSA screening results can reduce the burden of MRSA in hospitals because of early implementation of infection control measures.
Ubiquinol–cytochrome-c reductase 7.2 kDa protein of mitochondrial complex III is steroid-responsive and increases in cardiac hypertrophy and hypertension
Authors: Huynh Hung , Servant Nicolas , Chalifour Lorraine E. 
Published: April 2008

Women and men do not respond identically to cardiac insults; premenopausal women are somewhat protected from cardiovascular disease. Our objective was to isolate and characterize hormone-responsive genes in the heart. Differential display identified an estrogen-inducible fragment that was found to encode the ubiquinol–cytochrome-c reductase (UCCR) 7.2 kDa protein of the mitochondrial respiratory complex III. We found UCCR7.2 mRNA to be highly expressed in the heart, and this expression increased in hearts of 4-, 10-, and 28-week-old spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) compared with normotensive Wistar–Kyoto rats. Oral hydralazine treatment to reduce hypertension reduced SHR UCCR7.2 expression. Cardiac UCCR7.2 mRNA expression was also increased significantly after a 5/6 nephrectomy compared with mock surgery. Cardiac expression after ovariectomy was 50% that of intact rats. Supplementation of ovariectomized rats with estrogen had no effect, whereas progesterone increased cardiac expression, although not to intact levels. No change in cardiac UCCR7.2 expression was found when intact rats were treated with either tamoxifen or ICI 182780. Thus, UCCR7.2 expression is reduced in the absence of ovarian hormones, but is not directly regulated by estrogen in the heart. We conclude that UCCR7.2 is a steroid hormone-responsive gene in the heart, with expression increased in cardiac hypertrophy and in response to hypertension.
Cholesterol-induced stimulation of platelet aggregation is prevented by a hempseed-enriched dietThis article is one of a selection of papers published in the special issue Bridging the Gap: Where Progress in Cardiovascular and Neurophysiologic Research Meet.
Authors: Prociuk M.A. , Edel A.L. , Richard M.N. , Gavel N.T. , Ander B.P. , Dupasquier C.M.C. , Pierce G.N. 
Published: April 2008

Hypercholesterolemia indirectly increases the risk for myocardial infarction by enhancing the ability of platelets to aggregate. Diets enriched with polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) have been shown to reduce the detrimental effects of cholesterol on platelet aggregation. This study investigated whether dietary hempseed, a rich source of PUFAs, inhibits platelet aggregation under normal and hypercholesterolemic conditions. Male New Zealand white rabbits were fed one of 6 dietary interventions: regular control diet (RG); control diet + 10% hempseed (HP); control diet + 10% partially delipidated hempseed (DHP); control diet + 0.5% cholesterol (OL); control diet + 0.5% cholesterol + 10% hempseed (OLHP); control diet + 5% coconut oil (CO). After 8 weeks, blood was collected to measure ADP- and collagen-induced platelet aggregation and plasma levels of fatty acids, cholesterol, and triglycerides. The hempseed-fed animals (HP and OLHP) displayed elevated plasma levels of PUFAs and a prominent enhancement in 18:3n-6 (γ-linolenic acid, GLA) levels, a unique PUFA found in hempseed. The cholesterol-supplemented groups (OL and OLHP) had significantly elevated plasma levels of cholesterol and triglycerides, but platelet aggregation was significantly augmented only in the OL group. The addition of hempseed to this diet (OLHP) normalized aggregation. The direct addition of GLA to the OL platelet samples blocked the cholesterol-induced stimulation of platelet aggregation. The results of this study demonstrate that when hempseed is added to a cholesterol-enriched diet, cholesterol-induced platelet aggregation returns to control levels. This normalization is not due to a reduction in plasma cholesterol levels, but may be partly due to increased levels of plasma GLA.
Lipid and lipoprotein profile in women with polycystic ovary syndromeThis article is one of a selection of papers published in the special issue Bridging the Gap: Where Progress in Cardiovascular and Neurophysiologic Research Meet.
Authors: Macut Djuro , Panidis Dimitrios , Glišić Biljana , Spanos Nikolaos , Petakov Milan , Bjekić Jelica , Stanojlović Olivera , Rousso David , Kourtis Anargyros , Božić Ivana , Damjanović Svetozar 
Published: April 2008

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrine disorder characterized by obesity-related risk factors for cardiovascular disease. The objective of our study was to determine values of key lipid and lipoprotein fractions in PCOS, and their possible relation to insulin resistance. A total of 75 women with PCOS (aged 23.1 ± 5.1 years, BMI 24.9 ± 4.7 kg/m2), and 56 age- and BMI-matched controls were investigated. In all subjects, basal glucose, cholesterol (total, HDL, and LDL), oxidized LDL (OxLDL), triglycerides, apolipoprotein (apo)A1, apoB, and apoE, nonesterified fatty acids, insulin, testosterone, sex hormone-binding globulin, homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) index, and free androgen index were determined in the follicular phase of the cycle. PCOS patients compared with controls had increased indices of insulin resistance, basal insulin (p < 0.001), and HOMA index (p < 0.001), and worsened insulin resistance-related dyslipidemia with decreased HDL cholesterol (p < 0.01), elevated triglycerides (p = 0.010), and pronounced LDL oxidation (p < 0.001). In conclusion, characteristic dyslipidemia of insulin resistance and unfavorable proatherogenic lipoprotein ratios were present only in women with PCOS and not in controls. Elevated OxLDL and the relation of apoE and nonesterified fatty acids with insulin resistance suggest that women with PCOS are at increased risk for premature atherosclerosis.
TRANSIENT FREE CONVECTION DEVELOPMENT IN HOT-WIRE EXPERIMENTS
Authors: GIARETTO VALTER 
Published: April 2008

The transient behavior of free convection along the vertical wire of a hot-wire apparatus has been experimentally investigated at room temperature and ambient pressure, using water and propylene glycol. The development of free convection has been studied using an ad hoc apparatus, in order to obtain the best agreement between the vertical direction and the wire. The measurements were corrected for radiation influences, and the effects induced by free convection were detected at the wire-fluid interface. The convection outcomes have been correlated to fluid properties and test conditions. A suitable time scale has been introduced, which is defined by the modified Fourier and a proper definition of the local Grashof number. The obtained correlation has been applied to data found in the literature. The possibility of describing the free convection development at the wire-fluid interface could enable the fluid properties related to momentum diffusion to be investigated by the hot-wire technique.
INTERMITTENT OPERATION OF LINEAR DRIVEN SWITCHED SYSTEMS
Authors: CERVANTES I. , FEMAT R. 
Published: April 2008

The phenomenon of breathing (intermittent operation) is studied in a class of piecewise continuous systems as well as its relation with system parameters. The class of systems under study comprises a continuous time subsystem and a switching rule that induces an oscillatory path by switching alternately between stable and unstable conditions. An interesting feature of the system is that eigenvalues of linear subsystems play an important role in system evolution. It is shown that although regular and chaotic phases evolve irregularly for a given system, their average behavior is surprisingly regular with respect to a bifurcation parameter. It is found that the phenomenon of breathing share some structural characteristics with intermittency; i.e. existence of a critical exponent. However, for switched systems, many critical exponents may be required. Bifurcation maps and other analysis tools allow us to gain insight into the origin of breathing. This work constitutes a first step toward the characterization of intermittent operation in piecewise continuous systems.