bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Do False Predictions of Seizures Depend on the State of Vigilance? A Report from Two Seizure‐Prediction Methods and Proposed Remedies
Authors: Schelter Björn , Winterhalder Matthias , Maiwald Thomas , Brandt Armin , Schad Ariane , Timmer Jens , Schulze‐Bonhage Andreas 
Published: November 2006

Summary:  Purpose: Available seizure‐prediction algorithms are accompanied by high numbers of false predictions to achieve high sensitivity. Little is known about the extent to which changes in EEG dynamics contribute to false predictions. This study addresses potential causes and the circadian distribution of false predictions as well as their relation to the sleep–wake cycle. Methods: In 21 patients, each with 24 h of interictal invasive EEG recordings, two methods, the dynamic similarity index and the mean phase coherence, were assessed with respect to time points of false predictions. Visual inspection of the invasive EEG data and additional scalp electroencephalogram data was performed at times of false predictions to identify possible correlates of changes in the EEG dynamics. Results: A dependency of false predictions on the time of day is shown. Renormalized to the duration of the period patients are asleep and awake, 86% of all false predictions occurred during sleep for the dynamic similarity index and 68% for the mean phase coherence, respectively. Combining two reference intervals, one during sleep and one in an awake state, the dynamic similarity index increases its performance by reducing the number of false predictions by almost 50% without major changes in sensitivity. No obvious dependence of false predictions was noted on visible epileptic activity, such as spikes, sharp waves, or subclinical ictal patterns. Conclusions: Changes in the EEG dynamics related to the sleep–wake cycle contribute to limits of specificity of both seizure‐prediction methods investigated. This may provide a clue for improving prediction methods in general. The combination of reference states yields promising results and may offer opportunities to increase further the performance of prediction methods.
Pentylenetetrazole Kindling Affects Sleep in Rats
Authors: Schilling Markus , Wetzel Wolfram , Grecksch Gisela , Becker Axel 
Published: November 2006

Summary:  Purpose: The aim of the study was to define sleep disturbances in pentylenetetrazole (PTZ)‐kindled rats and to explore the effects of the nootropic drug piracetam (Pir; 100 mg/kg) and the noncompetitive N‐methyl‐d‐aspartate (NMDA)‐antagonist MK‐801 (0.3 mg/kg), which normalized learning performance in PTZ‐kindled rats, on altered sleep parameters. Methods: This is the first report showing a significant reduction in paradoxical sleep (PS) as a consequence of PTZ kindling. A correlation analysis revealed a significant correlation between seizure severity and PS deficit. Results: Pir did not interfere with seizure severity, and the substance did not ameliorate the PS deficit. However, the substance disconnected the correlation between seizure severity and PS deficit. MK‐801, which reduced the severity of kindled seizures, counteracted the PS deficit efficaciously. Conclusions: The results suggest that seizure severity and alterations in sleep architecture are two factors in the comprehensive network underlying learning impairments associated with epilepsy. Considering the results obtained in the experiments with Pir, reduction of seizure severity does not guarantee the reduction of impairments in the domain of learning.
1H‐MR Spectroscopy Indicates Severity Markers in Temporal Lobe Epilepsy: Correlations between Metabolic Alterations, Seizures, and Epileptic Discharges in EEG
Authors: Hammen Thilo , Schwarz Michael , Doelken Marc , Kerling Frank , Engelhorn Tobias , Stadlbauer Andreas , Ganslandt Oliver , Nimsky Christopher , Doerfler Arnd , Stefan Hermann 
Published: November 2006

Summary:  Purpose: In this study, hippocampal metabolite alterations in 1H‐MR spectroscopy (1H‐MRS) were correlated to the findings of intensive video‐EEG monitoring and duration of seizure symptoms in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Methods: The 14 patients with mesial TLE and no pathological findings in imaging were investigated by 1H‐MRS. Seizures were analyzed by: number of clinical seizures in 24 h, exact duration of clinical symptoms in 24 h, frequency of interictal epileptiform discharges (IEDs) and ictal activity, duration of ictal activity, and IEDs occurring within 24 h in intensive EEG monitoring. Pearson Correlation Coefficient (PCC) was calculated between spectral metabolite alterations and the parameters mentioned above. Results: In the analysis, a negative correlation was found between total (t) NAA values and degree of IEDs in EEG (p = 0.04); a positive correlation was found between Cr levels and duration of seizure symptoms registered by video monitoring (p = 0.01). Conclusions: Our study shows that, in some patients, 1H‐MRS is able to refer the severity of TLE. The degree of tNAA reduction in 1H‐MRS, probably indicating neuronal dysfunction, is associated with interictal spiking in intensive EEG monitoring. Duration of seizure symptoms associated with increased Cr peaks probably reflects increased gliosis.
Depression in Temporal Lobe Epilepsy Surgery Patients: An FDG‐PET Study
Authors: Salzberg Michael , Taher Taufik , Davie Michael , Carne Ross , Hicks Rodney J. , Cook Mark , Murphy Michael , Vinton Anita , O'Brien Terrence J. 
Published: November 2006

Summary: Purpose:Depression is common in temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and after temporal lobectomy, and its etiology is obscure. In nonepileptic depression (including depression associated with other neurologic disorders), a consistent PET imaging finding is frontal lobe hypometabolism. Many TLE patients have hypometabolism involving frontal regions. Thus in data available from routine clinical assessments in an epilepsy surgery unit, we tested the hypothesis that the pattern of hypometabolism, particularly in the frontal lobe, may be associated with the depression seen in patients with TLE and TLE surgery.Methods:We studied 23 medically refractory TLE patients who underwent anterior temporal lobectomy and who had preoperative FDG‐PET scanning. All patients had pre‐ and postoperative psychiatric assessment. By using statistical parametric mapping (SPM‐99), patterns of hypometabolism were compared between patients who had a preoperative history of depression (n = 9) versus those who did not (n = 14) and between those in whom postoperative depression developed (n = 13) versus those in whom it did not (n = 10). A significant region of hypometabolism was set at p < 0.001 for a cluster of ≥20 contiguous voxels.Results:Patients with a history of depression at any time preoperatively showed focal hypometabolism in ipsilateral orbitofrontal cortex compared with those who did not (t= 4.64; p < 0.001). Patients in whom depression developed postoperatively also showed hypometabolism in the ipsilateral orbitofrontal region (t= 5.10; p < 0.001).Conclusions:Although this study is methodologically limited, and other explanations merit consideration, orbitofrontal cortex dysfunction, already implicated in the pathophysiology of nonepileptic depression, may also be relevant to the depression of TLE and temporal lobectomy.
Expression of Glycodelin and Cyclooxygenase‐2 in Human Endometrial Tissue Following Three‐dimensional Culture
Authors: Esfandiari Navid , Ai Jafar , Nazemian Zohreh , Javed Murid H. , Gotlieb Lynda , Casper Robert F. 
Published: November 2006

Problem  Our previous study showed that in vitro culture of human endometrial tissue in a three‐dimensional (3D) fibrin matrix could mimic the early stages of endometriosis with invasion, gland and stroma formation and sprouting of new vessels. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the expression of glycodelin (Gd) and cyclooxygenase‐2 (COX‐2), two angiogenic factors, to further validate the 3D culture model of endometriosis.Method of Study  Human endometrial fragments were obtained from endometrial biopsies and placed in a 3D fibrin matrix culture. Immunohistochemistry with specific antibodies to Gd and COX‐2 was used to examine endometrial epithelium and blood vessels, and 4, 6‐diamidino‐2‐phenylindole staining was used for nuclear identification.Results  Three‐dimensional culture of human endometrial tissue in the fibrin matrix resulted in the proliferation of endometrial stromal cells, glandular epithelium and angiogenesis. Gd positive glandular epithelium was seen in 85% of wells with developing endometrial glands and COX‐2 positive new vessels were seen in 80% of wells with angiogenesis‐like structures after 4 weeks of culture.Conclusion  Our findings confirm that angiogenesis occurs following the culture of endometrial tissue in the 3D fibrin matrix, and suggests that Gd and COX‐2 might play important roles in promoting neovascularization and cell proliferation in the establishment of endometriosis.
Upregulation of PTH receptor mRNA expression by dexamethasone in UMR‐106 osteoblast‐like cells
Authors: Haramoto N , Kawane T , Horiuchi N 
Published: November 2006

Objectives:  Glucocorticoids influence receptor interactions of the parathyroid hormone (PTH) that are crucial for osteoblast function. As mechanisms linking receptor mRNA with glucocorticoids are incompletely understood, we investigated regulation of PTH receptor (PTH1R) mRNA expression in rat osteoblast‐like UMR‐106 cells by using dexamethasone (Dex), a synthetic glucocorticoid.Materials and methods:  UMR‐106 cells were exposed to 10−8 to 10−5 M Dex, while some cells were also exposed to a transcriptional inhibitor (DRB) for 24 h with or without Dex. PTH‐stimulated cyclicAMP activities were measured by an enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay. PTH1R mRNA was determined by Northern analysis. Transcriptional activities were measured as heretogeneous nuclear PTH1R RNA and also as luciferase activity in constructs, including the PTH1R gene promoter.Results:  Dexamethasone dose‐dependently increased PTH‐stimulated adenylyl cyclase activity at 72 h. Dex markedly increased PTH1R mRNA accumulation, but did not change transcriptional activity. PTH1R mRNA stability was significantly increased by Dex in transcriptionally arrested cells.Conclusion:  In osteoblast‐like cells, Dex induced upregulation of PTH1R mRNA followed by increased functional PTH receptor expression. This was caused by posttranscriptional mechanisms increasing mRNA stability.
The National Health Service — Can it Survive?
Authors: Edward Nigel 
Published: November 2006

Abstract
The National Health Service is valuable. It is also expensive. Its promise of universal health care, free to all at the point of delivery, is a source of pride and some comfort, and is also perhaps the greatest achievement of the welfare state. But with demands on it rising, and a population that lives longer into expensive old age, can it possibly be sustained? Should there be rationing? Must the funding be changed? Nigel Edwards examines the dilemmas.
Tagging and Deportation: Who Gets it Right?
Authors: Bird Sheila 
Published: November 2006

Abstract
The Home Office in England suffered major embarrassment this year over its failure to deport foreign nationals who had served prison sentences. It could not even supply statistics on how many there were, or what crimes they may have committed after release. Scotland, in contrast, could answer such questions with ease. Sheila Bird investigates English failure and Scottish solutions.
Biomedical Research: Are we Getting Value for Money?
Authors: Chalmers Iain 
Published: November 2006

Abstract
Billions of dollars are spent on biomedical research every year, but what tangible benefits for patients result from this massive investment? Iain Chalmers suggests that the research community has become seriously dysfunctional, that patients and the public should expect better dividends from their support of biomedical research, and that the entire research community must provide better, more effective research or risk losing the support of the public.
Do You Sincerely Want to Be Cited? Or: Read Before You Cite
Authors: Simkin Mikhail , Roychowdhury Vwany 
Published: November 2006

AbstractDo you sincerely want to be cited? Prestige depends on the number of times your academic paper gets cited. But that need not be a measure of how good it is, nor even of how many times it is actually read. Mikhail Simkin and Vwani Roychowdhury explain their theory of the unread citation.
Editing and Evolution
Authors: Robins William 
Published: November 2006

AbstractBoth textual editors and evolutionary biologists investigate the process of “descent with modification,” whether of how a text has been copied from one manuscript to another or of how a species of organisms has evolved into new species. In the last two decades there has been an interesting convergence of these fields, especially as some editors have harnessed biological methods of “cladistics” to aid their work in textual “stemmatics.” This article provides a historical sketch of the main similarities and differences between the genealogical methods in philology and biology from their emergence in the nineteenth century up to the present day.
Adaptive rational equilibrium with forward looking agents
Authors: Brock William , Dindo Pietro , Hommes Cars 
Published: November 2006

In adaptive rational equilibrium dynamics (ARED) agents choose between a costly rational expectation forecast and a cheap naive forecast, and the fractions using each of the two strategies evolve over time and are endogenously coupled to the market equilibrium price dynamics. In this setting, agents are backward looking in the sense that strategy selection is based on experience measured by relative past realized profits. When the selection pressure to switch to the more profitable strategy is high, instability and complicated chaotic price fluctuations arise.In this paper we investigate the ARED with forward looking agents, whose strategy selection is based upon expected profits. Our findings suggest that forward looking behavior dampens the amplitude of price fluctuations, but local instability of the steady state remains. The global dynamics depends upon how sophisticated the forward looking behavior is. With perfectly forward looking agents, prices converge to a stable 2‐cycle, whereas with forward looking agents who are boundedly rational concerning their estimate of expected profits, small amplitude chaotic price fluctuations might arise.We also establish an equivalence relationship between a heterogeneous agent model with switching of strategies and a representative agent framework, where the representative agent optimally chooses between the benefits of a high quality forecast and the associated information gathering costs. To an outside observer it is impossible to distinguish between the two.
Randomized controlled trial of decision aids for women considering prenatal testing: The effect of the Ottawa Personal Decision Guide on decisional conflict
Authors: ARIMORI Naoko 
Published: November 2006

AbstractAim:  The aim of this research study was to clarify the effect that counseling using the Ottawa Personal Decision Guide had on pregnant women in helping them to decide whether or not to undergo prenatal testing. It compared the “decisional conflict” of a group of women interviewed by a nurse using the guide with that of a second group who were only given standard genetic counseling.Methods:  A group of pregnant women attending the hospital for genetic counseling was randomly divided into an intervention group and a control group. The women in the intervention group were given standard genetic counseling, followed by an interview based on the decision aid guide. The women in the control group were given only standard genetic counseling. Both groups were followed up. The primary outcome of the study was to determine the level of decisional conflict, as measured by the Japanese version of the Decisional Conflict Scale. The secondary outcome was self‐esteem, based on the Rosenburg Self‐Esteem Scale. The outcome indicators were obtained from responses given in patient questionnaires conducted after standard genetic counseling (pre‐intervention) and after the conclusion of the decision‐making process (postintervention).Results:  The pre‐intervention and postintervention changes in decisional conflict scores (primary outcome) indicated no significant difference between the two groups. However, with regard to postintervention decisional conflict, the rate of the response “mild to high decisional conflict” was lower for the intervention group than the control group. No significant difference between the two groups was detected for the secondary outcome of self‐esteem.Conclusions:  The reasons for the lack of a clear effect on the level of decisional conflict are that the pre‐intervention responses for both groups were obtained after completion of the standard genetic counseling program and because follow‐up conducted by the nurses took the form of care given in response to patients’ needs. The use of decision aids to assist in the decision‐making process had no effect on the level of self‐esteem in the two groups. As a result, there was a similar level of intervention for both groups. However, as there was no clear indication that the use of the Ottawa Personal Decision Guide was harmful, it will be a useful tool in the medical care setting.
The National Nanotechnology Initiative and the Social Good
Authors: Sandler Ronald , Kay W. D. 
Published: November 2006

The United States federal government anticipates that nanotechnology will be the platform for the next technological and industrial revolution. The vision of its ongoing National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) is “a future in which the ability to understand and control matter on the nanoscale leads to a revolution in technology and industry.” The idea that nanotechnology is revolutionary has reached the public. In one public survey, over three-quarters of respondents answered correctly that “experts consider nanotechnology to be the next industrial revolution of the U.S. Economy.”Labeling nanotechnology as “revolutionary” promotes a general attitude towards nanotechnology by trading on a common line of reasoning: technological revolutions are constituted by significant technological progress; technological progress enables comfort, ease, health, longevity, security and wealth; therefore, technological revolutions are social goods. Thus, to claim that nanotechnology is revolutionary invites a positive socio-ethical evaluation of it, not just a positive scientific or technological one.
Challenging the epidemiologic evidence on passive smoking: tactics of tobacco industry expert witnesses
Authors: Francis John A , Shea Amy K , Samet Jonathan M 
Published: November 2006

Objective:To analyse the statements given by tobacco industry defence witnesses during trial testimonies and depositions in second-hand smoke cases and in parallel, to review criticisms of epidemiology in industry-funded publications in order to identify strategies for discrediting epidemiologic evidence on passive smoking health effects.Methods:A collection of depositions and trial testimony transcripts from tobacco industry-related lawsuits filed in the United States during the 1990s, was compiled and indexed by the Tobacco Deposition and Trial Testimony Archive (DATTA). Statements in DATTA made by expert witnesses representing the tobacco industry relating to the health effects of passive smoking were identified and reviewed. Industry-supported publications within the peer-reviewed literature were also examined for statements on exposure misclassification, meta-analysis, and confounding.Results:The witnesses challenged causation of adverse health effects of passive smoking by citing limitations of epidemiologic research, raising methodological and statistical issues, and disputing biological plausibility. Though not often cited directly by the witnesses, the defence tactics mirrored the strategies used in industry-funded reports in the peer-reviewed literature.Conclusion:The tobacco industry attempted to redirect the focus and dialogue related to the epidemiologic evidence on passive smoking. This approach, used by industry experts in trial testimony and depositions, placed bias as a certain alternative to causation of diseases related to passive smoking and proposed an unachievable standard for establishing the mechanism of disease.
Prevalence of smoking among major movie characters: 1996–2004
Authors: Worth Keilah A , Cin Sonya Dal , Sargent James D 
Published: November 2006

Background:Reports of a relationship between watching smoking in movies and smoking among adolescents have prompted greater scrutiny of smoking in movies by the public health community.Objective:To assess the smoking prevalence among adult and adolescent movie characters, examine trends in smoking in movies over time, and compare the data with actual smoking prevalence among US adults and adolescents.Design and methods:Smoking status of all major human adolescent and adult movie characters in the top 100 box office hits from 1996 to 2004 (900 movies) was assessed, and smoking prevalence was examined by Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) rating and year of release.Results:The movies contained 5944 major characters, of whom 4911 were adults and 466 were adolescents. Among adult movie characters, the overall smoking prevalence was 20.6%; smoking was more common in men than in women (22.6%v16.1%, respectively, p<0.001), and was related to MPAA rating category (26.9% for movies rated R (restricted, people aged <17 years require accompanying adult), 17.9% for PG-13 (parents strongly cautioned that some material might be inappropriate for children) and 10.4% for G/PG (general audiences, all ages; parental guidance suggested for children), p<0.001). In 1996, the smoking prevalence for major adult movie characters (25.7%) was similar to that in the actual US population (24.7%). Smoking prevalence among adult movie characters declined to 18.4% in 2004 (p for trend <0.001), slightly below that for the US population for that year (20.9%). Examination of trends by MPAA rating showed that the downward trend in smoking among adult movie characters was statistically significant in movies rated G/PG and R, but not in those rated PG-13. A downward trend over time was also found for smoking among adolescent movie characters. There was no smoking among adult characters in 43.3% of the movies; however, in 39% of the movies, smoking prevalence among adult characters was higher than that in the US adult population in the year of release.Conclusions:Smoking prevalence among major adolescent and adult movie characters is declining, with the downward trend among adult characters weakest for PG-13-rated movies. Although many movies depict no adult smoking, more than one third depict smoking as more prevalent than that among US adults at the time of release.