bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Heart transplantation: who should be considered and when?
Authors: Macdonald P. 
Published: December 2008

AbstractHeart transplantation is now firmly established as the most effective therapy for selected patients with end‐stage heart disease who have exhausted all other treatment options. The excellent long‐term survival and quality of life achieved by the large majority of heart transplant recipients has led to considerable broadening of the recipient eligibility criteria over the past 24 years of continuous transplant activity in Australia and New Zealand. Although these changes in recipient eligibility criteria have resulted in a marked increase in the potential pool of transplant recipients, heart transplantation remains a relatively rare procedure because of the scarcity of suitable cardiac donors. The primary aim of this review was to provide clinicians with guidelines that enable them to identify patients who are potential candidates for heart transplantation and those who are not. Appropriate timing of referral is also discussed. Apart from their role in the evaluation and management of patients referred for heart transplantation, cardiopulmonary transplant units provide a number of other important services. These include assistance in the diagnostic evaluation and management of patients with primary myocardial diseases and the investigation of novel alternative therapies for patients with end‐stage heart disease.
Risk of dispersal in western spruce budworm
Authors: Nealis Vincent G. , Régnière Jacques 
Published: December 2008

Abstract1 Western spruce budworm Choristoneura occidentalis Free. larvae emerge in the spring before buds have expanded and spend a variable period of time foraging on branches and mining needles.2 Losses of dispersing budworms during this needle‐mining period are related directly to the severity of defoliation in previous years and inversely related to foliage biomass in the study plot and to temperature and rainfall during the needle‐mining period.3 Losses can be interpreted in terms of risk of dispersal, which is the product of the propensity of early‐stage budworms to disperse in search of resources and the consequences of this behaviour for survival under variable ecological conditions.4 A comparison of the species‐specific nature of risk of dispersal in three conifer‐feeding budworm systems of North America may elucidate the common nature but variable features of their respective population dynamics.
Comparison of the microbial diversity at different depths of the GISP2 Greenland ice core in relationship to deposition climates
Authors: Miteva Vanya , Teacher Catherine , Sowers Todd , Brenchley Jean 
Published: December 2008

SummaryThis study presents comparative geochemical, microbiological and molecular analyses of Greenland GISP2 ice core samples representing different depths, ages, deposition climates, in situ temperatures, and gas and ionic compositions. Our goal was to determine whether specific organisms, preserved at different depths, correlate with past climate characteristics recorded chronologically in ice layers. Three clear ice samples were selected from 2495, 2545 and 2578 m to represent distinct climatic periods with milder (−45°C), colder (−51°C) and warmer (−39°C) deposition temperatures, and two Marine Isotope Stages, MIS3 (2495 m) and MIS4 (2545 and 2578 m). Results showed higher microbial abundance in ice deposited during colder climates with higher in situ ion content. The constructed universal SSU rRNA gene clone libraries were dominated by Gram‐positive sequences (55–65%), and had fewer Proteobacteria (6–9%) and Archaea (1%). The 2495 m library differed from the other two by being dominated by Actinobacteria (55%) rather than Firmicutes. Fungi were more prevalent in the colder climate (40%). For comparison, a library was constructed from an older silty ice sample (3044 m) possibly originating from underlying permafrost with different in situ characteristics (high temperature, high methane and higher cell numbers). It showed significantly different diversity not found in the clear ice libraries. The bacterial and fungal isolates from the clear ice samples were related to organisms originating from Asian deserts, marine aerosols and volcanic dust, suggesting these environments as sources of deposited microorganisms. The observed differences in microbial diversity patterns, especially with the 2495 m library, support the idea that local climate conditions and global atmospheric circulations at different time periods have influenced the origin and composition of the microbial populations preserved at different depths of Greenland ice. Further investigations may lead to the development of microbial ‘markers’ for identifying specific deposition climates.
‘Candidatus Lumbricincola’, a novel lineage of uncultured Mollicutes from earthworms of family Lumbricidae
Authors: Nechitaylo Taras Y. , Timmis Kenneth N. , Golyshin Peter N. 
Published: January 2009

SummaryMolecular signatures of new, as yet uncultured mollicute‐like organisms (MLOs) have been detected in total rRNA and DNA extracted from tissues, gut contents and casts of four species of the earthworm family Lumbricidae. The MLO 16S rRNA sequences exhibited low identity to those of known Mollicutes species and formed a monophyletic cluster distantly affiliated to the ‘Candidatus Bacilloplasma’ (84.9%) and almost equidistant to the other main phylogenetic group of Mollicutes (< 79.8%) and the classes Bacilli (< 79.5%) and Clostridia (< 76.1%). SSCP profiling and sequence analysis of bands and bacterial clones derived from the earthworms and substrata revealed high phylogenetic relatedness of MLOs in earthworms from different geographic locations (Russia and Germany), with no obvious host species specificity being observed. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis with a nucleotide probe specific for the new MLO group localized them to the coelomic fluids of earthworms. A new taxonomic group within the Mollicutes, designated ‘Candidatus Lumbricincola’, is proposed to include these as yet uncultured organisms.
Symptoms of depression and diabetes‐specific emotional distress are associated with a negative appraisal of insulin therapy in insulin‐naïve patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus. A study from the European Depression in Diabetes [EDID] Research Consortium
Authors: Makine C. , Karşıdağ Ç. , Kadıoğlu P. , Ilkova H. , Karşıdağ K. , Skovlund S. E. , Snoek F. J. , Pouwer F. 
Published: January 2009

AbstractAims  A meta‐analysis concluded that depression is associated with poor glycaemic control in Type 2 diabetes (DM2). In DM2 patients with deteriorating glycaemic control, the initiation of insulin therapy is often postponed. The aim of the present study was to determine whether symptoms of depression and diabetes‐specific emotional distress are associated with a more negative appraisal of insulin therapy.Methods  We collected cross‐sectional data in two outpatient university clinics in Istanbul, Turkey. The study sample consisted of 154 insulin‐naïve patients with DM2. A self‐report questionnaire was used to obtain demographic and clinical data. Main instruments were the Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, (CES‐D), the Problem Areas In Diabetes scale (PAID) and the Insulin Treatment Appraisal Scale (ITAS).Results  Analysis of variance revealed that patients with a higher depression score rated insulin therapy significantly more negative then patients with lower depression scores. Moreover, 47% of patients with a high depression score had a negative appraisal of insulin therapy on 7 or more of the 20 ITAS‐items, compared to 25 to 29% of those with low‐moderate depression scores. Multiple regression analyses showed that a negative appraisal of insulin therapy was significantly associated with higher depression and diabetes‐distress scores and low education, but not with sex, age or duration of diabetes.Conclusions  Our results suggest that in insulin‐naïve Type 2 diabetes patients, higher levels of depression and diabetes‐distress tend to be associated with more negative beliefs about insulin. Whether these negative attitudes translate into postponing initiation of insulin therapy needs to be tested in longitudinal research.
Competition between Exchanges: Euronext versus Xetra
Authors: Kasch‐Haroutounian Maria , Theissen Erik 
Published: December 2008

Abstract Exchanges in Europe are in a process of consolidation. After the failure of the proposed merger between Deutsche Börse and Euronext, these two groups are likely to become the nuclei for further mergers and co‐operation with currently independent exchanges. A decision for one of the groups entails a decision for the respective trading platform. Against that background we evaluate the attractiveness of the two dominant continental European trading systems. Though both are anonymous electronic limit order books, there are important differences in the trading protocols. We use a matched‐sample approach to compare execution costs in Euronext Paris and Xetra. We find that both quoted and effective spreads are lower in Xetra. The differences are more pronounced for less liquid stocks. When decomposing the spread we find no systematic differences in the adverse selection component. Realised spreads, on the other hand, are significantly higher in Euronext. Neither differences in the number of liquidity provision agreements nor differences in the minimum tick size or in the degree of domestic competition for order flow explain the different spread levels. We thus conclude that Xetra is the more efficient trading system.
The Subprime Panic*
Authors: Gorton Gary 
Published: December 2008

AbstractUnderstanding the ongoing credit crisis or panic requires understanding the designs of a number of interlinked securities, special purpose vehicles, and derivatives, all related to subprime mortgages. I describe the relevant securities, derivatives, and vehicles to show: (1) how the chain of interlinked securities was sensitive to house prices; (2) how asymmetric information was created via complexity; (3) how the risk was spread in an opaque way; and (4) how trade in the ABX indices (linked to subprime bonds) allowed information to be aggregated and revealed. These details are at the heart of the origin of the Panic of 2007. The events of the panic are described.
Informal Politics, Formalised Law and the ‘Social Deficit’ of European Integration: Reflections after the Judgments of the ECJ in Viking and Laval
Authors: Joerges Christian , Rödl Florian 
Published: December 2008

AbstractThe judgments of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) of December 2008 in Viking and Laval on the compatibility of national collective labour law with European prerogatives have caused quite a heated critical debate. This article seeks to put this debate in constitutional perspectives. In its first part, it reconstructs in legal categories what Fritz W. Scharpf has characterised as a decoupling of economic integration from the various welfare traditions of the Member States. European constitutionalism, it is submitted, is bound to respond to this problématique. The second part develops a perspective within which such a response can be found. That perspective is a supranational European conflict of laws which seeks to realise what the draft Constitutional Treaty had called the ‘motto of the union’: unitas in pluralitate. Within that framework, the third part analyses two seemingly contradictory trends, namely, first, albeit very briefly, the turn to ‘soft’ modes of governance in the realm of social policy and then, in much greater detail, the ECJ's ‘hard’ interpretations of the supremacy of European freedoms and its strict interpretation of pertinent secondary legislation. The conflict‐of‐laws approach would suggest a greater respect for national autonomy, in particular, in view of the limited EU competences in the field of labour law.
Ironies in Human Rights Protection in the EU: Pre‐Accession Conditionality and Post‐Accession Conundrums
Authors: Albi Anneli 
Published: December 2008

AbstractIn the wake of the extensive scrutiny of the human rights credentials of the new Member States under the EU pre‐accession conditionality, which itself was riddled with paradoxes, this article considers a rather unexpected irony thrown up by the accession of these countries. It is that the post‐communist constitutional courts, which have been applauded for vigorous protection of fundamental rights after the fall of the Communist regime that was marked by nihilism to rights, have come rather close to having to downgrade the protection standards after accession, due to the new constraints of supremacy of EC law. The article will consider the sugar market cases of the Hungarian and Czech Constitutional Courts and of the Estonian Supreme Court, which appear to add weight to the concerns that have been voiced in some older Member States about the fundamental rights protection in the EU. Indeed such concerns were recently also addressed in the concurring opinions to the Bosphorus judgment of the European Court of Human Rights.
Legislative Policy, Law and Competitiveness: A Mysterious and Difficult Relationship in the EU
Authors: Lynch‐Fannon Irene 
Published: December 2008

AbstractThe Lisbon Agenda places Europe in a uniquely difficult position globally, most particularly as an example of a social and regulatory experiment which many consider to be doomed to failure. The drive towards economic competitiveness has led to a focus on regulation and its effect on entrepreneurship, productivity and business growth but assessing this relationship is complex for a number of reasons. First, not all regulatory effects can be predicted precisely in relation to behavioural outcomes. Path‐dependency scholars have also demonstrated that the regulation will have varying effects depending on context. Second, theoretically it is clear that many non‐regulatory factors may contribute to economic and competitive success. Third, there is evidence of internal conflict within the Commission as to the relative importance of the Lisbon goals. Finally, the experience of distinct Member States presents challenges both for assessment and prescriptive remedies. The Commission has estimated that the cost of regulatory compliance obligations on businesses in the EU is between 4% and 6% of gross domestic product and that 15% of this figure is avoidable ‘red tape’ (the term used specifically to signify unnecessary compliance burdens). This article proposes to assess the likely outcomes of de‐regulation as we rapidly approach 2010, the year for attainment of the Lisbon goals.
However, the difference in legal infrastructure does not result from the California legislature's efforts to provide the proper conditions for the development of high technology industrial districts. Rather . . . a serendipitous result of the historical coincidence between the codification movement in the United States and the new state's efforts at developing a coherent legal system out of its conflicting inheritance of Spanish, Mexican, and English law.1
A Preliminary Perspective of Negotiations of EU–China PCA: A New Bottle Carrying Old Wine or New Wine or Both?
Authors: Zeng Lingliang 
Published: December 2008

AbstractThe EU–China Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) is a relatively new type of agreement between the EU and a third country, and its negotiation and conclusion will bring about a new landscape for the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two sides. However, owing to the broadness, importance and complexity of EU–China relations, and the unique multiple‐level governance within the EU itself, the negotiation and conclusion of the new PCA deems to be a hard and time‐consuming process. In light of the EU internal aspects, the new PCA seems to be related to several treaty‐making competences and procedures, thus probably with the form of a mixed agreement as the final outcome. In terms of substantive issues, market access, transparency, intellectual property rights, China's full market economy status, abandonment of embargo on arms sales and high‐tech trade, democracy, human rights, rule of law, good governance and dispute settlement clauses, etc are all inevitably the tough and core issues. Nevertheless, it is believed that both sides will strive to lay down a systematic, stable and sustainable treaty law basis for a comprehensive EU–China strategic partnership in the spirit of seeking commonality, mutual respect and trust, and equal consultation.
Poly‐l‐lactic acid for HIV‐1 facial lipoatrophy: 48‐week follow‐up
Authors: Carey D , Baker D , Petoumenos K , Chuah J , Rogers GD , Watson J , Cooper DA , Emery S , Carr A ,   for the FLASH Investigators
Published: January 2009

ObjectivesPoly‐l‐lactic acid (PLA) injections modestly increase objectively assessed facial thickness but not facial soft tissue volume (FSTV) over 24 weeks. The durability of this response has not been well defined objectively.MethodsHIV‐infected lipoatrophic adults were randomized to four open‐label PLA treatments administered every 2 weeks from week 0 (immediate group, n=50) or from week 24 (deferred group, n=50). Endpoints included FSTV assessed by computed tomography, facial lipoatrophy severity, quality of life (QoL) and safety. Analyses were by intention to treat.ResultsBetween weeks 24 and 48, soft tissue thickness increased modestly in injection planes, at the maxillary [mean 0.9 mm; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.3–1.5 mm; P=0.007] and base of nasal septum levels (mean 0.4 mm; 95% CI 0.1–0.8; P=0.021), but not in untreated areas (P=0.79 and P=0.24). PLA durability assessed at week 48 in immediate group participants showed a mean change in FSTV of 14 cm3 (95% CI−1 to 29 cm3; P=0.060) and increased tissue depth at the maxillary (P<0.0001), base of nasal septum (P<0.0001) and mandibular (P=0.0035) levels. At week 48, clinicians and patients subjectively assessed facial lipoatrophy severity as reduced in immediate participants (83 and 91%, respectively), and the Mental Health scale score of the Short Form‐36 Health Survey improved significantly in immediate participants relative to deferred participants (P=0.027). Subcutaneous injection‐site nodule incidence at 48 weeks was 10%.ConclusionsPLA treatment benefits were durable, with objectively assessed modest increases in facial volume and tissue thickness sustained over 48 weeks in injection planes but not in other facial areas. Improvements in some QoL domains were maintained.
Recovery from partner abuse: the application of the strengths perspective
Authors: Song Li‐yu , Shih Chaiw‐yi 
Published: January 2009

Song L, Shih C. Recovery from partner abuse: the application of the strengths perspectiveInt J Soc Welfare 2010: 19: 23–32 © 2008 The Author(s), Journal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and the International Journal of Social Welfare.This study applied, and examined the effectiveness of, the strengths perspective on women who experienced partner abuse in Taiwan. Both quantitative and qualitative approaches were utilised. The findings from quantitative analysis show that the subjects experienced a significant decrease in depression, were positively empowered and had better life satisfaction. The results of the qualitative analysis further denote the functional components of recovery as the growth of sense of self, affirmation and action, or realisation of self. These results suggest that the strengths perspective could be a useful approach for case managers working with this population in helping the women to rediscover their own sense of self and reconstruct a productive life.
Sensitive skin in Europe
Authors: Misery L , Boussetta S , Nocera T , Perez‐Cullell N , Taieb C 
Published: January 2009

AbstractIntroduction  Sensitive skin appears as a very frequent condition, but there is no comparative data between countries.Objectives  To perform an epidemiological approach to skin sensitivity in different European countries.Methods  An opinion poll was conducted in eight European countries: Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland. This sample (4506 persons) was drawn from a representative sample of each population aged 15 years or older.Results  Sensitive or very sensitive skin was declared by 38.4% and slightly or not sensitive skin by 61.6%. Women declared more sensitive skin than men. A dermatological disease was declared by 31.2% of people with very sensitive skin, 17.6% of those with sensitive skin, 8.7% of those with slightly sensitive skin and 3.7% of those who do not have sensitive skin. A history of childhood atopic dermatitis was more frequent in patients with sensitive or very sensitive skin. The interviewees who declared that they had dry or oily skin also reported significantly more frequently sensitive or very sensitive skin than those with normal skin. Sensitive and very sensitive skins were clearly more frequent in Italy and France.Discussion  This study is the first study that compares skin sensitivity in European countries. Prevalence is high, but significant differences are noted between these countries. Dermatological antecedents (or treatments?) could be involved in the occurrence of skin sensitivity.Conflicts of interestNone declared
Heterogeneous Disease Modeling for Hardy‐Weinberg Disequilibrium in Case‐Control Studies: Application to Renal Stones and Calcium‐Sensing Receptor Polymorphisms
Authors: Hamilton D. C. , Grover V. K. , Smith C. A. , Cole D. E. C. 
Published: December 2008

SummaryRenal stone formation due to hypercalciuria is a relatively common disorder with clear evidence for genetic predisposition, but cryptic phenotypic heterogeneity has hampered identification of candidate genes. The R990G single‐nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of the calcium sensing receptor (CASR) gene has been associated with hypercalciuria in stone formers and shows the appropriate functional phenotype in cell culture. In our preliminary association analysis of a case‐control cohort, however, we observed significant Hardy‐Weinberg disequilibrium (HWD) for the cases (n= 223), but not controls (n= 676) at the R990G locus, pointing us toward the general disease model incorporating HWD. Because there is an adjacent CASR SNP, A986S, which is in negative linkage disequilibrium with R990G, we extended the general disease model to enable testing of a two‐site hypothesis. In our data set, there is no lack of fit (P= .345) for the single‐locus model for the R990G genotype, and likelihood ratio testing favors a recessive effect with an eight‐fold increase in risk (P < .001) for GG homozygotes, relative to wild‐type, based on a population prevalence of 2%. Addition of the A986S genotype provides no additional information either by itself or when included in our two‐site model.