bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Spontaneous resolution of diabetic macular oedema after discontinuation of thiazolidenediones
Authors: Liazos E. , Broadbent D. M. , Beare N. , Kumar N. 
Published: May 2008

AbstractAim  To report a case of spontaneous resolution of diabetic maculopathy with cystoid macular oedema in a diabetic patient after discontinuation of rosiglitazone, documented with serial ocular computed tomography (OCT) images.Methods  A 59‐year‐old male with a 6‐year history of well‐controlled diabetes mellitus presented with reduced visual acuity (VA) attributed to clinically significant macular oedema (CSMO). The patient had been started on rosiglitazone 8 months previously. Glitazone treatment was stopped and the patient prospectively followed up.Results  The patient demonstrated CSMO on OCT at presentation. Three months after cessation of rosiglitazone, CSMO had completely resolved and VA improved. Resolution of CSMO was confirmed on OCT examination. The patient required no interventional treatment, i.e. no laser or intravitreal therapy, for his CSMO.Conclusions  To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case to document spontaneous resolution of CSMO and improvement in VA on discontinuation of a glitazone. Glitazones have a definitive role in the management of diabetic patients and ophthalmologists and physicians should both be aware that there may be an association with weight gain, peripheral oedema and CSMO. We recommend that ophthalmologists consider discontinuing glitazones in consultation with the diabetologist before embarking on interventional management such as laser or intravitreal injections.
Addressing insulin resistance in Type 1 diabetes
Authors: Pang T. T. L. , Narendran P. 
Published: May 2008

AbstractType 1 diabetes is recognised to include an element of insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is an independent risk factor for the development of macro‐ and microvascular complications of Type 1 diabetes and may also contribute to the development of the disease. This understanding comes at a time when the incidence of Type 1 diabetes appears to be rising and the public health burden from its vascular complications is high. A variety of safe and efficacious manoeuvres are available to redress insulin resistance in Type 2 diabetes. So far however, clinical trials addressing insulin resistance in Type 1 diabetes have been small with only short periods of follow‐up. Regardless, these trials have yielded promising results. This review examines the evidence for insulin resistance in the pathophysiology of Type 1 diabetes and its complications, the problems associated with its measurement, and summarizes the trials aimed at reducing insulin resistance in Type 1 diabetes. This includes a meta‐analysis of controlled trials of adjuvant metformin in Type 1 diabetes.
Lower levels of circulating IGF‐I in Type 1 diabetic women with frequent severe hypoglycaemia during pregnancy
Authors: Ringholm Nielsen L. , Juul A. , Pedersen‐Bjergaard U. , Thorsteinsson B. , Damm P. , Mathiesen E. R. 
Published: May 2008

AbstractAims  Severe hypoglycaemia is a significant problem in pregnant women with Type 1 diabetes. We explored whether frequent severe hypoglycaemia during pregnancy in women with Type 1 diabetes is related to placental growth hormone (GH) and insulin‐like growth factor I (IGF‐I) levels.Methods  A prospective, observational study of 107 consecutive pregnant women with Type 1 diabetes. Blood samples were drawn for IGF‐I and placental GH analyses at 8, 14, 21, 27 and 33 weeks. Severe hypoglycaemic events were reported within 24 h.Results  Eleven women (10%) experienced frequent severe hypoglycaemia (≥ 5 events), accounting for 60% of all events. Throughout pregnancy, IGF‐I levels were 25% lower in these women (P < 0.005) compared with the remaining women, despite similar placental GH levels. Eighty per cent of the severe hypoglycaemic events occurred before 20 weeks when IGF‐I levels were at their lowest. This finding was not explained by differences in insulin dose, median plasma glucose levels or glycated haemoglobin. History of severe hypoglycaemia the year preceding pregnancy and impaired hypoglycaemia awareness—being the only predictors of frequent severe hypoglycaemia in a logistic regression analysis—were not associated with IGF‐I or placental GH levels at 8 weeks.Conclusions  In women with Type 1 diabetes experiencing frequent severe hypoglycaemia during pregnancy, IGF‐I levels are significantly lower compared with the remaining women despite similar placental GH levels. IGF‐I levels are lowest in early pregnancy where the incidence of severe hypoglycaemia is highest. IGF‐I may be a novel factor of interest in the investigation of severe hypoglycaemia in patients with Type 1 diabetes.
IS POST‐MORTEM HARM POSSIBLE? UNDERSTANDING DEATH HARM AND GRIEF
Authors: TOMASINI FLORIS 
Published: May 2008

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this article is not to affirm or deny particular philosophical positions, but to explore the limits of intelligibility about what post‐mortem harm means, especially in the light of improper post‐mortem procedures at Bristol and Alder Hey hospitals in the late 1990s. The parental claims of post‐mortem harm to dead children at Alder Hey Hospital are reviewed from five different philosophical perspectives, eventually settling on a crucial difference of perspective about how we understand harm to the dead. On the one hand there is the broadly ‘analytical’ tradition1 of thinking that predicates the notion of harm on the basis of an existing subject. Since the dead are non‐existent persons, it makes little sense to view the dead as being harmed. On the other hand, there is a phenomenological perspective, where the dead, in respect to the experience of grief, are existentially absent. This forms the basis that it is possible to harm grieving parent's experiences of how their dead are treated. The article ends with a short examination of what harming the dead implies for traditional bioethical concerns, namely, obtaining informed consent from significant others when planning medical research on the newly dead.
How do Board–CEO Relationships Influence the Performance of New Product Introduction? Moving from Single to Interdependent Explanations
Authors: Wu Hsueh‐Liang 
Published: May 2008

ABSTRACTManuscript Type:EmpiricalResearch Question/IssueThe relationship between board members and top executives is held central to corporate governance, yet studies of it are relatively few and our knowledge of its consequences is limited. This study aims to address how board–CEO relationships, in terms of power balance and social ties, contribute to the performance of new product introduction. It proposes a contingency view to highlight the context‐dependent nature of such governance arrangements.Research Findings/ResultsUsing survey and archival data in a sample of 198 industrial firms in Taiwan, this research finds that the two distinct types of board–CEO relationships relate curvilinearly to the performance of new product introduction. Furthermore, such universal relationships are moderated by market instability and board interlocks, respectively.Theoretical Implications:This study departs from the traditional agency view to an argument that fine‐tuned board–CEO relationships, in light of sociopolitical and sociopsychological forces, and will serve as an essential enabling context for managerial risk taking. It demonstrates that research in this field should accommodate different theories to elaborate on the underlying tensions in the corporate governance and emphasize the merits of complementarity.Practical Implications:Acknowledging that good governance design softens managerial risk aversion, this study helps identify the governance conditions in which risk differentials between the board and CEO may align, and thus when exploratory efforts, in the form of new product introduction, are more likely to succeed.
A Semiparametric Bayesian Model for Repeatedly Repeated Binary Outcomes
Authors: Quintana Fernando A. , Müller Peter , Rosner Gary L. , Relling Mary V. 
Published: May 2008

SummaryWe discuss the analysis of data from single-nucleotide polymorphism arrays comparing tumour and normal tissues. The data consist of sequences of indicators for loss of heterozygosity (LOH) and involve three nested levels of repetition: chromosomes for a given patient, regions within chromosomes and single-nucleotide polymorphisms nested within regions. We propose to analyse these data by using a semiparametric model for multilevel repeated binary data. At the top level of the hierarchy we assume a sampling model for the observed binary LOH sequences that arises from a partial exchangeability argument. This implies a mixture of Markov chains model. The mixture is defined with respect to the Markov transition probabilities. We assume a non-parametric prior for the random-mixing measure. The resulting model takes the form of a semiparametric random-effects model with the matrix of transition probabilities being the random effects. The model includes appropriate dependence assumptions for the two remaining levels of the hierarchy, i.e. for regions within chromosomes and for chromosomes within patient. We use the model to identify regions of increased LOH in a data set coming from a study of treatment-related leukaemia in children with an initial cancer diagnostic. The model successfully identifies the desired regions and performs well compared with other available alternatives.
A Bayesian Hierarchical Model for Photometric Red Shifts
Authors: Hurn Merrilee , Green Peter J. , Al-Awadhi Fahimah 
Published: May 2008

Summary
The Sloan digital sky survey is an extremely large astronomical survey that is conducted with the intention of mapping more than a quarter of the sky. Among the data that it is generating are spectroscopic and photometric measurements, both containing information about the red shift of galaxies. The former are precise and easy to interpret but expensive to gather; the latter are far cheaper but correspondingly more difficult to interpret. Recently, Csabai and co-workers have described various calibration techniques aiming to predict red shift from photometric measurements. We investigate what a structured Bayesian approach to the problem can add. In particular, we are interested in providing uncertainty bounds that are associated with the underlying red shifts and the classifications of the galaxies. We find that quite a generic statistical modelling approach, using for the most part standard model ingredients, can compete with much more specific custom-made and highly tuned techniques that are already available in the astronomical literature.
A Simple Monotone Process with Application to Radiocarbon-Dated Depth Chronologies
Authors: Haslett John , Parnell Andrew 
Published: May 2008

SummaryWe propose a new and simple continuous Markov monotone stochastic process and use it to make inference on a partially observed monotone stochastic process. The process is piecewise linear, based on additive independent gamma increments arriving in a Poisson fashion. An independent increments variation allows very simple conditional simulation of sample paths given known values of the process. We take advantage of a reparameterization involving the Tweedie distribution to provide efficient computation. The motivating problem is the establishment of a chronology for samples taken from lake sediment cores, i.e. the attribution of a set of dates to samples of the core given their depths, knowing that the age–depth relationship is monotone. The chronological information arises from radiocarbon (14C) dating at a subset of depths. We use the process to model the stochastically varying rate of sedimentation.
Local Polynomial Estimation of Poisson Intensities in the Presence of Reporting Delays
Authors: Chen Feng , Huggins Richard M. , Yip Paul S. F. , Lam K. F. 
Published: May 2008

Summary
The system for monitoring suicides in Hong Kong has considerable delays in reporting as the cause of death needs to be determined by a coroner's investigation. However, timely estimates of suicide rates are desirable to assist in the formulation of public health policies. This motivated us to develop a non-parametric procedure to estimate the intensity function of a Poisson process in the presence of reporting delays. We give closed form estimators of the Poisson intensity and the delay distribution, conduct simulation studies to evaluate the method proposed and derive their asymptotic properties. The method proposed is applied to estimate the intensity of suicide in Hong Kong.
ECCLESIAL EXISTENCE: PERSON AND COMMUNITY IN THE TRINITARIAN ANTHROPOLOGY OF ADRIENNE VON SPEYR
Authors: SCHUMACHER MICHELE M. 
Published: May 2008

AbstractBest known for her extraordinary influence upon Hans Urs von Balthasar, Adrienne von Speyr is perhaps overshadowed by the same. Here is an effort to expose her profound mystical insights concerning the specifically Trinitarian dimension of anthropology. Of key significance is the concept of surrender, whereby the human person participates in the fundamental disposition of Christ, whose self‐gift is revealed as obedient receptivity vis‐à‐vis the Father and loving generosity vis‐à‐vis the world. This in turn is revelatory of the eternal surrender of each divine Person to the Others in a continuous exchange of love. The human person thus participates in divine life by the means that characterize it: love of God and neighbor.
REPARATIVE REASONING
Authors: ADAMS NICHOLAS 
Published: May 2008

AbstractPeter Ochs' notion of ‘pragmatic reading’ and his wider project of articulating a ‘logic of scripture’ are described in the first part of this article. A distinction is made between Ochs' proposals for how to read scripture and his more technical claims about how scripture itself models a ‘logic of repair’. The term ‘thirdness’ is explained in the contexts of the relations and axioms, hypotheses and communities. His readings of Hans Frei and George Lindbeck are rehearsed briefly in the second section. Their attempts to show that there is nothing ‘behind’ scripture or doctrine, to which the latter supposedly refer, are presented by Ochs as ‘pragmatic’ attempts to repair the rules which generate false oppositions in discussions of scripture and doctrine.
ASSESSING PETER OCHS THROUGH PEIRCE, PRAGMATISM AND THE LOGIC OF SCRIPTURE
Authors: LAMBERTH DAVID C. 
Published: May 2008

AbstractThis article provides an interpretive, critical overview of Peter Ochs' Peirce, Pragmatism and the Logic of Scripture, and raises four thematic criticisms. The first considers Ochs turn to language, and its implications for pragmatism and understanding Peirce. The second interrogates the tension between Ochs' particularism and Peirce's universalism. The third concerns the relation between science and religion implied by Ochs, and its adequacy in relation to Peirce, pragmatism and modernity. The final question regards the scope of the community of inquirers Ochs seems to have in view, in light of pragmatism's seemingly more general concern with an inclusive democracy.
Metabolic syndrome and three of its components as risk factors for recurrent ischaemic stroke presenting as large‐vessel infarction
Authors: Liou C.‐W. , Tan T.‐Y. , Lin T.‐K. , Wang P.‐W. , Yip H.‐K. 
Published: May 2008

Background and purpose:  Although a clear protocol for reduction of recurrent ischaemic stroke (RIS) has been established, few studies have compared the stroke subtype distribution and risk factors between RIS and first‐ever stroke (FES).Methods:  This one‐year hospital‐based study enrolled 587 FES and 475 RIS patients. Patients were categorized into four stroke subtypes according to a modified TOAST stroke subtype classification system. Risk factor profiles were compared between the two major stroke groups and between the corresponding four subtypes to discriminate the significant risk factors for RIS.Results:  A multivariate regression analysis identified hypertension (OR, 1.87; 95% CI, 1.34–2.62), diabetes mellitus (DM) (OR, 1.57; 95% CI, 1.22–2.02), low high‐density lipoprotein (LHDL) (OR, 1.43; 95% CI, 1.08–1.88) and older age as significant RIS risk factors. The significance of the former three RIS factors was further recognized in its large‐vessel subtype. Moreover, metabolic syndrome was significantly more common in the recurrent stroke group (P = 0.01), including its large‐vessel subtype (P = 0.04). Progressively increasing odds ratios from 1.49 to 2.02, in accordance with increased number of diagnostic components of metabolic syndrome for recurrent large‐vessel ischaemic stroke, were noted.Conclusions:  Metabolic syndrome likely plays a crucial role in the development of RIS, including large‐vessel infarction in modern‐day Taiwan.
A Structural Investigation of Third‐Currency Shocks to Bilateral Exchange Rates*
Authors: Melecky Martin 
Published: May 2008

AbstractAn exchange rate between two currencies can be materially affected by shocks emerging from a third country. A US demand shock, for example, can affect the exchange rate between the euro and the yen. Because positive US demand shocks have a greater positive impact on Japanese interest rates than on euro area rates, the yen appreciates against the euro in response. Using quarterly data on the United States, the euro area and Japan from 1981 to 2006, this paper shows that the third‐currency effects are significant even when exchange rates evolve according to uncovered interest parity. This is because interest rates are typically set in response to output and inflation, which are in turn influenced by other exchange rates. More importantly, third‐currency effects are also transmitted to the actual exchange rate through the expected future exchange rate, which is, in a multi‐country set‐up, influenced by third‐countries' fundamentals and shocks. Third‐currency effects have a stronger impact on the currency of a relatively more open economy. The analysis implies that small open economies should avoid strict forms of bilateral exchange rate targeting, since higher trade and financial openness work as a force intrinsically amplifying currency fluctuations.
Copying letters to service users with learning disabilities: opinions of service users, carers and professionals working within learning disability services
Authors: Hovey Toni , Cheswick Claire 
Published: May 2008

Accessible summaryThe government has said that when a health professional writes a letter to other people about their treatment the person being treated (a patient or service user) should have a copy of this letter. We wanted to find out from service users, carers and staff in learning disability services what they thought about it.This has now been done and the results showed that we need to look at:

Making sure service users know they have a right to receive copies of letters written about them.
Working with service users and carers to make sure there are ways to help every service user choose what information they want, and how they want it.
Helping service users keep their information safe and secure so that it remains private.
Supporting service users who want to share information about their health with the people who support them and care for them.
More resources are needed to increase the ways we can communicate with people for example using tapes, symbols. We need the skills and time to be able to do this.

SummaryThe NHS Plan, Department of Health (2000) made a commitment that patients should be able to receive copies of clinicians’ letters about them as a right in order to improve communication and enable patients to participate in their care. In South Gloucestershire, the opinions of local service users with learning disabilities, their carers, and professionals working within learning disability services about this issue were sought using questionnaires and focus groups in order to identify and then develop good practice. A number of practice issues were identified: protocols for developing individualised accessible information are needed, involvement of service users in the management of their information and maintenance of its confidentiality, and involvement of carers in the sharing of information, if this is appropriate. A communication strategy needs to be developed by services working with people with learning disabilities, in conjunction with service users and carers. The resource and training implications of this area of service development need to be considered.
Exact Trait‐Model‐Free Tests for Linkage Detection in Pedigrees
Authors: Basu S. , Di Y. , Thompson E. A. 
Published: May 2008

SummaryA number of trait‐model‐free tests have been proposed for linkage detection between a genomic region and a trait. These tests involve testing the dependence in segregation between a trait and marker alleles by assigning a score to every possible identity‐by‐descent configuration of the pedigree members without modeling the trait, and then averaging the scores over all such configurations compatible with the observed marker genotypes and genealogical relationship of the pedigree members. In this paper we propose a permutation test as an alternative to the existing exact trait‐model‐free tests for linkage detection. The proposed test is computationally efficient and is applicable on complex multigeneration pedigree structures. In this paper, we have compared the performance of the permutation test with two other exact trait‐model‐free tests for linkage detection on simulated datasets. We have demonstrated that the proposed permutation test is fully robust against mispecification of marker allele frequencies and has very good power for linkage detection. The permutation test is implemented in the program lm_ibdtests within the framework of MORGAN 2.8 (http://www.stat.washington.edu/thompson/Genepi/MORGAN/Morgan.shtml).
Spatial packing, cranial base angulation, and craniofacial shape variation in the mammalian skull: testing a new model using mice
Authors: Lieberman Daniel E. , Hallgrímsson Benedikt , Liu Wei , Parsons Trish E. , Jamniczky Heather A. 
Published: May 2008

AbstractThe hypothesis that variation in craniofacial shape within and among species is influenced by spatial packing has a long history in comparative anatomy, particularly in terms of primates. This study develops and tests three alternative models of spatial packing to address how and to what extent the cranial base angle is influenced by variation in brain and facial size. The models are tested using mouse strains with different mutations affecting craniofacial growth. Although mice have distinctive crania with small brains, long faces, and retroflexed cranial bases, the results of the study indicate that the mouse cranial base flexes to accommodate larger brain size relative to cranial base length. In addition, the mouse cranial base also extends, but to a lesser degree, to accommodate larger face size relative to cranial base length. In addition, interactions between brain size, face size, and the widths and lengths of the components of the cranial base account for a large percentage of variation in cranial base angle. The results illustrate the degree to which the cranial base is centrally embedded within the covariation structure of the craniofacial complex as a whole.