bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Age‐related maculopathy and the impact of blue light hazard
Authors: Algvere Peep V. , Marshall John , Seregard Stefan 
Published: January 2006

Abstract. The pathogenesis of age‐related maculopathy (ARM), the most common cause of visual loss after the age of 60 years, is indeed a complicated scenario that involves a variety of hereditary and environmental factors. The pathological cellular and molecular events underlying retinal photochemical light damage, including photoreceptor apoptosis, have been analysed in experimental animal models. Studies of age‐related alterations of the retina and photoreceptors, the accumulation of lipofuscin in retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells, and the formation of drusen have greatly contributed to our knowledge. A new concept of an inflammatory response to drusen has emerged, suggesting immunogenic and systemic reactions in Bruch's membrane and the subretinal space. Oxidative stress and free radical damage also impact on the photoreceptors and RPE cells in the ageing eye. Based on the photoelectric effect, a fundamental concept in quantum physics, the consequences of high‐energy irradiation have been analysed in animal models and cell culture. Short‐wavelength radiation (rhodopsin spectrum), and the blue light hazard (excitation peak 440 nm), have been shown to have a major impact on photoreceptor and RPE function, inducing photochemical damage and apoptotic cell death. Following cataract surgery, there is a dramatic change in ocular transmittance. In aphakic or pseudophakic eyes (with clear intraocular lenses), high‐energy (blue) and ultraviolet‐A radiation strikes the retina. Epidemiological data indicate a significantly increased 5‐year incidence of late ARM in non‐phakic eyes compared with phakic eyes. In recent years, putative prophylactic measures against ARM have emerged. The implantation of ‘yellow’ intraocular lenses (IOLs) that absorb high‐energy blue radiation is, from a theoretical point of view, the most rational approach, and, from a practical point of view, is easy to accomplish. With increasing age, RPE cells accumulate lipofuscin (chromophore A2E). It is noteworthy that the yellow IOL not only protects A2E‐laden human RPE cells from blue light (peak 430 nm) damage, but also alleviates the detrimental effects of green (peak 550 nm) and white light. A prophylactic treatment using antioxidants is aimed at counteracting oxidative stress and free radical cellular damage. The Age‐Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS), a randomized clinical trial, showed a significantly lower incidence of late ARM in a cohort of patients with drusen maculopathy treated with high doses of antioxidants than in a placebo group. In recent years, considerable progress in retinal research has been achieved, creating a platform for the search for new prophylactic and therapeutic measures to alleviate or prevent photoreceptor and RPE degeneration in ARM.
Psychiatric services for people with severe mental illness across western Europe: what can be generalized from current knowledge about differences in provision, costs and outcomes of mental health care?
Authors: Becker T. , Kilian R. 
Published: January 2006

Objective:  To report recent findings regarding differences in the provision, cost and outcomes of mental health care in Europe, and to examine to what extent these studies can provide a basis for improvement of mental health services and use of findings across countries.Method:  Findings from a number of studies describing mental health care in different European countries and comparing provision of care across countries are reported.Results:  The development of systems of mental health care in western Europe is characterized by a common trend towards deinstitutionalization, less in‐patient treatment and improvement of community services. Variability between national mental healthcare systems is still substantial. At the individual patient level the variability of psychiatric service systems results in different patterns of service use and service costs. However, these differences are not reflected in outcome differences in a coherent way.Conclusion:  It is conceivable that the principal targets of mental healthcare reform can be achieved along several pathways taking into account economic, political and sociocultural variation between countries. Differences between mental healthcare systems appear to affect service provision and costs. However, the impact of such differences on patient outcomes may be less marked. The empirical evidence is limited and further studies are required.
Heavy use of acute in‐patient psychiatric services: the challenge to translate a utilization pattern into service provision
Authors: Junghan U. M. , Brenner H. D. 
Published: January 2006

Objective:  There is an inequality in resource utilization among acute psychiatric in‐patients. About 20–30% of them absorb 60–80% of the total resources allocated to this form of treatment. This study intends to summarize findings related to heavy in‐patient service use and to illustrate them by means of utilization data for acute psychiatric wards.Method:  Longitudinal assessment of consecutive acute in‐patients hospitalized for the first time. Analysis of individual utilization patterns by using latent class cluster analysis.Results:  Four groups with different utilization patterns were found all including heavy service users. In most cases heavy service use was temporary and could only be poorly predicted.Conclusion:  Specific preventive interventions to contain heavy service use seem to be out of reach for the majority of high utilizing patients. However, services that have proven effective in reducing admissions to in‐patient treatment and length of stay may nevertheless help to reduce heavy service use.
Do mental health professionals stigmatize their patients?
Authors: Lauber C. , Nordt C. , Braunschweig C. , Rössler W. 
Published: January 2006

Objective:  Assessing stereotypes towards people with mental illness among mental health professionals, comparing their view to the Swiss general population and analysing the influence of demographic factors, profession and work place variables (type of ward, employment time and professional experience).Method:  Conducting a representative telephone survey (n = 1073). Factor analysis was used to achieve one‐dimensional scales, which were analysed by regression analysis.Results:  Most positive depictions were regarded as less characterizing people with mental illness, whereas most negative descriptions were viewed as more typifying these people. Compared with the Swiss general population, mental health professionals have not consistently less negative or more positive stereotypes against mentally ill people. Of the 22 stereotypes five factors were detected: ‘social disturbance’, ‘dangerousness’, ‘normal healthy’, ‘skills’ and ‘sympathy’. Stereotypes about people with mental illness are influenced by the professional background and if at all only slightly affected by gender, age, ward type, participation rate of the hospital, weekly working hours or years of professional experience.Conclusion:  Mental health professionals must improve their attitudes towards people with mental illness. Different ways, e.g. improving their professional education or their quality of professional contacts by regular supervision to prevent burn‐out, are discussed.
Severe mental illness in depression
Authors: Möller H.‐J. , Bottlender R. 
Published: January 2006

Objective:  The study aimed to evaluate the outcome from in‐patient treatment in major depressive disorders (MDD) and its impact on the patients’ 1 year outcome under the present routine care conditions.Method:  The reported data stem from a multicentric follow‐up study on the course and outcome of patients with MDD. Patients enrolled in the study had their first or multiple psychiatric hospitalization and fulfilled the ICD‐10 criteria for a depressive disorder. During in‐patient treatment patients were standardized assessed in 2‐weekly intervals, with yearly follow‐up evaluations after discharge.Results:  The analyses revealed that the elimination of depressive symptoms and a return to premorbid levels of functioning is a rarity in the in‐patient treatment of MDD. Moreover, the analyses revealed that the achieved level of response during in‐patient treatment clearly determines the patients state 1 year after discharge from in‐patient treatment.Conclusion:  Considering that persisting depressive symptoms are associated with a range of unfavourable outcomes, the present data point to a serious problem in the treatment of MDD and the urgent need to further optimize antidepressive treatment strategies.
Evaluating a community‐based mental health service focusing on severe mental illness. The Verona experience
Authors: Tansella M. , Amaddeo F. , Burti L. , Lasalvia A. , Ruggeri M. 
Published: January 2006

Objective:  To describe the development of a community‐based mental health service, the patterns of care provided by this new service established in 1978 and its costs.Method:  The South‐Verona Psychiatric Case Register, the South‐Verona Outcome Project and studies designed to assess costs provided process and outcome data.Results:  This paper summarizes descriptive statistics as well as the results of some evaluative studies conducted over the last 25 years in Verona, Italy. It reports patterns of care provided over the years by this new, comprehensive community‐based service, targeted to the severely mentally ill but available also to all other residents in the area who need mental health care.Conclusion:  Developing community‐based mental health care requires a series of coordinated actions that need to be pursued over a long period of time. Service evaluation, including costs assessment, is an important part of this exercise.
Who decides what evidence is? Developing a multiple perspectives paradigm in mental health
Authors: Rose D. , Thornicroft G. , Slade M. 
Published: January 2006

Objective:  To compare different perspectives on evidence in relation to mental health care.Method:  The method and materials constitute a selective literature review comparing key elements of evidence‐based medicine and evidence‐based policy with perspectives on evidence from users, carers and professionals. The aim was to develop an argument concerning these comparisons.Results:  What constitutes evidence from the perspectives of different stakeholders is a field of contestation.Conclusion:  It is timely for a multiple perspective paradigm on evidence in science to be developed and this paper initiates this process in relation to mental health care.
Validity and reliability of the CAPE: a self‐report instrument for the measurement of psychotic experiences in the general population
Authors: Konings M. , Bak M. , Hanssen M. , Van Os J. , Krabbendam L. 
Published: January 2006

Objective:  General population longitudinal cohort studies have demonstrated the prognostic validity of self‐reported psychotic experiences, but data on reliability and cross‐validation with interview‐based measures of these experiences are sparse. This study tested the reliability and validity of the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences (CAPE42).Method:  At baseline, the CAPE42 was used to measure the subclinical psychosis phenotype in a general population sample (n =  765). At follow‐up (mean interval: 7.7 months), the Structured Interview for Schizotypy, Revised (SIS‐R), the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), and the CAPE42 were administered (n = 510).Results:  Baseline self‐reported dimensions of psychosis were specifically and independently associated with their equivalent interview‐based dimension at follow‐up (standardized effect sizes of 0.4–0.5) and with their equivalent self‐reported measure (standardized effect sizes of 0.6–0.8).Conclusion:  The results indicate that self‐reported dimensions of psychotic experiences in general population samples appear to be stable, reliable and valid.
Attitude towards antipsychotics among out‐patients with schizophrenia in Nigeria
Authors: Adewuya A. O. , Ola B. A. , Mosaku S. K. , Fatoye F. O. , Eegunranti A. B. 
Published: January 2006

Objective:  The study aim to assess the attitude of patients with schizophrenia attending out‐patient clinics in Nigeria towards antipsychotic medication and examine the factors associated with such attitude.Method:  Out‐patients with schizophrenia (n = 312) completed the 10‐item Drug Attitude Inventory. They were also evaluated for sociodemographic details, illness‐related and drug‐related variables.Results:  Overall, the patients had a good attitude towards antipsychotic medication. The factors significantly associated with poor attitude towards medication include presence of symptoms, presence of side‐effects like dyskinesia and sedation, lack of insight into the illness, and being employed.Conclusion:  Special attention should be paid to patients with these factors while designing programmes to improve overall compliance in patients with schizophrenia.
Dynamics of initial subgingival colonization of ‘pristine’ peri‐implant pockets
Authors: Quirynen Marc , Vogels Roel , Peeters Wouter , van Steenberghe Daniel , Naert Ignace , Haffajee Anne 
Published: January 2006

AbstractBackground: Periodontitis and peri‐implantitis are linked to the presence of several key pathogens. The treatment of these infectious processes therefore involves the reduction/eradication of bacteria associated with periodontitis.Methods: This prospective, split‐mouth, single‐blind study followed the colonization of ‘pristine’ sulci created in 42 partially edentulous patients during implant surgery (e.g. abutment connection). The hypothesis was that the composition of the maturing subgingival plaque in these ‘fresh’ peri‐implant pockets would soon (within 2 weeks) be comparable to the subgingival microbiota of teeth with similar clinical parameters (reference sites), including the presence of bacteria associated with periodontitis. Per patient, four subgingival plaque samples were taken from shallow and medium pockets around implants (test sites), and teeth within the same quadrant (undisturbed microbiota as control sites), 1, 2, 4, 13, 26 and 78 weeks after abutment connection, respectively. The samples were analysed by either checkerboard DNA–DNA hybridization, or cultural techniques, or real‐time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for intra‐subject comparisons (teeth vs. implant, for comparable probing depths).Results: Checkerboard DNA–DNA hybridization and real‐time PCR revealed a complex microbiota (including several pathogenic species) in the peri‐implant pockets within 2 weeks after abutment connection. After 7 days, the detection frequency for most species (including the bacteria associated with periodontitis) was already nearly identical in samples from the fresh peri‐implant pockets (5% and 20% of the microbiota belonging to red and orange complex, respectively) when compared with samples from the reference teeth. Afterwards (e.g. between weeks 2 and 13), the number of bacteria in peri‐implant pockets only slightly increased (±0.1 log value), with minor changes in the relative proportions of bacteria associated with periodontitis (8% and 33% of the microbiota belonging to red and orange complex, respectively). Although small differences were seen between teeth and implants at week 2 with cultural techniques, a striking similarity in subgingival microbiota was found with this technique from month 3 on, with nearly identical detection frequencies for bacteria associated with periodontitis for both abutment types.Conclusions: This study indicates that the initial colonization of peri‐implant pockets with bacteria associated with periodontitis occurs within 2 weeks.
Representations of the dental surgery profession and the motivations given by second‐year French students for applying for dental surgery
Authors: Jover M. , Doudoux D. , Deveaux E. 
Published: January 2006

Aim:  The aim of the present study was to evaluate the representations odontology students had of their career path. Second‐year odontology students were questioned about their own motivations and the motivations they attributed to dentists in choosing this profession.Methods:  The students were asked to complete a questionnaire during the first course and again after 5 months. It was thus possible to study the evolution of their motivations after 5 months of interactions with their fellow students and professors.Results:  Whether or not students were able to choose their career path following the selection examination at the end of the first year of the medical programme was an important variable in determining individual motivations and the motivations they attributed to dentists in choosing the dental profession. For example, students who were unable to choose their career path reported that they would like to work in the public health system, while those who were able to choose said they chose odontology as a vocation. The closing of the gap between the two groups during the period between the two questionnaires highlighted the increasing cohesion of the group.Conclusion:  Beyond the differences between the motivations provided, this study showed that students who had not planned to become dentists before the selection examination needed some time to familiarise themselves with the situation and accept the change in their career path.
Noise levels in dental schools
Authors: Sampaio Fernandes J. C. , Carvalho A. P. O. , Gallas M. , Vaz P. , Matos P. A. 
Published: January 2006

Objective:  To measure and analyse noise levels in the learning–teaching activities at the Dental School of the University of Porto (Portugal).Materials and methods:  Sound levels were measured in five different practice areas and laboratories, selected as representative of a variety of learning–teaching activities. The noise levels were determined using a precision sound level meter that was positioned at ear level and at 1 m distance from the operator.Results:  The noise levels registered vary between 60 and 99 dB(A) and are similar to the data of other international studies. The results recorded differences in sound levels when the equipment was merely turned on and during cutting operations. Differences between brand new and used equipment were also noted. It appears that hearing damage risk may be lesser amongst dentists who use brand new equipment.Conclusion:  The noise levels detected in this study are considered to be close to the limit of risk of hearing loss.
Teaching of posterior composite resin restorations in undergraduate dental schools in Ireland and the United Kingdom
Authors: Lynch C. D. , McConnell R. J. , Wilson N. H. F. 
Published: January 2006

Purpose:  The aim of this study was to investigate the current teaching of posterior composite resin restorations to undergraduate dental students in Ireland and the United Kingdom (UK). The investigation was a follow‐up to a survey undertaken in 1997.Materials and methods:  A questionnaire was distributed by e‐mail to the Heads of Departments of Restorative Dentistry/Units of Operative Dentistry in each of the 15 dental schools with undergraduate dental degree programmes in Ireland and the UK. The questionnaire sought information relating to the teaching of posterior composite resin restorations in each dental school.Results:  Fifteen completed questionnaires were returned (response rate = 100%). All schools (n = 15) taught the placement of composite resin restorations in occlusal cavities, 14 schools taught composite resin placement in two‐surface occlusoproximal cavities and nine schools taught composite resin placement in three‐surface occlusoproximal cavities. Respondents anticipated that the amount of preclinical teaching of posterior composite resin placement will increase twofold over the next 5 years, whilst the corresponding teaching of amalgam will fall to two‐thirds its current level. Variation was found between dental schools in the teaching of the principles of cavity design, contraindications to placement, indications for lining and basing techniques, matrix and wedging techniques, and the use of curing lights.Conclusions:  The amount of teaching of posterior composite resin restorations in undergraduate dental schools in Ireland and the UK has increased since the time of a previous survey in 1997. Composite resin may soon equal or overtake amalgam as the material of choice when restoring posterior cavities in Irish and UK dental schools. There was, however, much variation in the nature and extent of the teaching and the techniques taught.
Cytokeratin expression in oral submucous fibrosis – an immunohistochemical study
Authors: Ranganathan K. , Kavitha R. , Sawant S. S. , Vaidya M. M. 
Published: January 2006

Background:  Oral submucous fibrosis (OSF) is a pre‐malignant condition caused by habitual use of areca nut, affecting the oro‐pharynx and characterized by progressive fibrosis. Alteration of cytokeratin (CK) expression has been documented in leukoplakia and oral cancer (OC). However, very little is known of CK alterations in OSF. The present study was carried out to characterize the CK profile in OSF and ascertain if this could be used as a surrogate marker for malignant transformation.Methods:  Paraffin‐embedded tissues of OSF (n = 50), normal (n = 10) and OC (n = 10) were stained with pancytokeratin (PanCK), high molecular weight cytokeratin (HMWCK), CKs 18, 14, 8, 5, 4 and 1 by immunohistochemistry.Results:  Significant difference in the CK staining pattern was seen between normal, OSF and cancer. Significant changes in OSF included increased intensity of staining for PanCK and HMWCK, aberrant expression of CK8 and decreased expression of CKs 5 and 14.Conclusion:  Cytokeratin profile of OSF was significantly different from normals for PanCK, HMWCK, CK8, 5 and 14 suggesting their potential to be used as surrogate markers of malignant transformation. Further studies will help in better defining the nature and clinical implications of these alterations.
Association of CTLA‐4 gene polymorphism with oral squamous cell carcinoma
Authors: Wong Y.‐K. , Chang K.‐W. , Cheng C.‐Y. , Liu C.‐J. 
Published: January 2006

Background:  Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a worldwide problem. The main mechanism of tumor immunity is the destruction of tumor cells by cytolytic T lymphocytes. Cytotoxic T lymphocyte‐associated antigen 4 (CTLA‐4; CD152), a negative regulator of T‐lymphocyte activation, plays an extremely important role in the immune tolerance and anergy. This study was designed to investigate the role of CTLA‐4 polymorphism in OSCC.Methods:  The CTLA‐4 +49 A/G polymorphism was studied in 118 patients with OSCC and 147 healthy controls by using restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). The genotype and phenotype frequencies were evaluated in Fisher's exact test.Results:  There was no significant difference in the frequency of CTLA‐4 polymorphism between the OSCC study group and healthy controls. The CTLA‐4 A/A genotype was significantly associated with a younger age of onset of OSCC (P = 0.04). The AA genotype was associated with significantly poorer survival (P = 0.003).Conclusion:  The present study is the first to shows that the A/A polymorphism is associated with poor survival in OSCC in Taiwan.