bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
85  Evaluation of the adjustable continence therapy for male and female stress urinary incontinence
Authors: CHIN P. , WATT H. , KOVAC P. , SKYRING T. 
Published: February 2006

Introduction:  The treatment for stress urinary incontinence is varied and depends on the aetiology and the varying continence state of the patient. We report the results of implanting the postoperatively adjustable balloon devices (ACT and ProACT) in a group of patients.Material and Methods:  Male and Female patients with Intrinsic Sphincter Deficiency were offered this treatment consisting of an initial surgical placement of two paraurethral silicone balloons with postoperative adjustments as required after a six week period.Results:  To date 24 patients have been treated since April 2003 (10 males in 11 procedures and 13 females) with an average age of 64 years (range 36–81). Disease aetiology was mixed but included eight postradical prostatectomy; two neurogenic, eight posthysterectomy and four vaginal repairs. One patient had failed an Artificial Urinary Sphincter and another a prior fascial sling. Quality of Life improved from 46.1 at baseline to at 87 at 6 months and at 79.6 at 12 months. Pad Usage decreased from 4.3 to 1.2 at 6 and 1 at 12 months. Average initial balloon volume was 1.2 ml increasing to 3 ml at 6 months with an average of 1.7 adjustments required. Complications included erosion / infection (two), migration (one), labial discomfort (one); non‐response (one). Two patients required repositioning of their devices.Conclusions:  The capacity to postoperatively titrate to an individuals’ continence requirements coupled to the ability to remove and adjust the position of the device is of great benefit in patients with ISD. Optimal initial placement is important in determining outcomes.
93  Radiofrequency ablation of prostate using bipolar technology
Authors: WOO H. 
Published: February 2006

Introduction:  Monopolar radiofrequency ablation has become an accepted modality within minimally invasive treatments for benign prostatic obstruction (BPO). Lesions created by bipolar technology are greater in size than those produced by monopolar devices. Recently, a bipolar system has been developed. This pilot study aims to determine if there is sufficient efficacy of this bipolar system to justify further clinical studies.Patients and Methods:  Fourteen patients with BPO were identified for this pilot study of radiofrequency interstitial thermotherapy (RFITT) using the CelonUroTM bipolar probe and generator (OLYMPUS Winter and Ibe GmbH). Inclusion criteria included IPSS>12, QL>2 and Qmax<12 ml/s. The mean age was 62 years (range 53–77) and the mean TRUS prostate size was 33.7 cc(range 15–66). The majority treated on a day case basis.Results:  The mean number of radiofrequency lesions per prostate was 6.2 (range 3–12). The mean operating time was 19.8 min (12–34). Baseline IPSS, QL, Qmax and PVR were respectively 23, 4.8, 7.1 ml/s and 168 ml. Ten patients have 6–12 data and nine patients have 12‐month follow up data. At 6–12 weeks and at one year followup, there are highly statistically significant (P < 0.01) and clinical significant improvements in IPPS, QL, Qmax and PVR. These were respectively, 12.8, 2.1, 14 ml/s, 75 ml and 10.3, 1.7, 12.5 ml/s and 77 ml. Two patients developed urinary retention; both were catheter free by 4 weeks but one was salvaged with TURP by request of the patient. No retrograde ejaculation was reported amongst those who were sexually active. No other complications were reported.Conclusions:  RFITT represents a further development in radiofrequency technology for the minimally invasive treatment of BPO. These early results indicate potential efficacy of bipolar radiofrequency ablation to treat BPO. Randomised studies using bipolar RFITT are necessary to determine its positioning between drug therapy and cavitating surgical procedures in terms of efficacy and morbidity profile.
96  Buccal mucosa substitution urethroplasty experience
Authors: MARK S.D. 
Published: February 2006

Introduction:  Buccal Mucosa is the free graft of choice in substitution urethroplasty. I have reviewed a consecutive series of patients undergoing a buccal mucosa urethroplasty to determine outcomes and complications.Method:  A retrospective review of all patients who underwent a buccal mucosa graft for their substitution urethroplasty was undertaken. Follow‐up was for a minimum of 6 months and included symptom review and a urethrogram at 3 months with a further review at 6 months and urethrogram as required.Results:  Thirty‐three patients were followed with a mean follow‐up of 36 months (range 6 – 72 months). Age range 6 to 79 years. 19 patients underwent a bulbar urethroplasty (10 ventral patch) with 1 stricture recurrence. 13 patients underwent a 2 stage repair with 3 requiring revisions before their 2nd stage due to graft shrinkage. 11 of 13 have had a successful 2nd stage, 2 awaiting repair. One complete tube graft failed. Of the 33 donor sites, 19 were primarily closed and three developed contractures requiring operative correction. Primary closures were more painful.Conclusion:  This retrospective review confirms the success of buccal mucosal graft as successful for substitution urethroplasty. Significant graft shrinkage occurs in staged repairs, dissection and graft size needs to accommodate this. Donor graft sites should be left open.
Gaze following: why (not) learn it?
Authors: Triesch Jochen , Teuscher Christof , Deák Gedeon O. , Carlson Eric 
Published: February 2006

AbstractWe propose a computational model of the emergence of gaze following skills in infant–caregiver interactions. The model is based on the idea that infants learn that monitoring their caregiver's direction of gaze allows them to predict the locations of interesting objects or events in their environment (Moore & Corkum, 1994). Elaborating on this theory, we demonstrate that a specificBasic Setof structures and mechanisms is sufficient for gaze following to emerge. This Basic Set includes the infant's perceptual skills and preferences, habituation and reward‐driven learning, and a structured social environment featuring a caregiver who tends to look at things the infant will find interesting. We review evidence that all elements of the Basic Set are established well before the relevant gaze following skills emerge. We evaluate the model in a series of simulations and show that it can account for typical development. We also demonstrate that plausible alterations of model parameters, motivated by findings on two different developmental disorders – autism and Williams syndrome – produce delays or deficits in the emergence of gaze following. The model makes a number of testable predictions. In addition, it opens a new perspective for theorizing about cross‐species differences in gaze following.
Infants' physical knowledge affects their change detection
Authors: Wang Su‐hua , Baillargeon Renée 
Published: February 2006

Abstract Prior research suggests that infants attend to a variable in an event category when they have identified it as relevant for predicting outcomes in the category, and that the age at which infants identify a variable depends largely on the age at which they are exposed to appropriate observations. Thus, depending on age of exposure, infants may identify the same variable at different ages in different event categories. A good case in point is the variable height, which is identified at about 3.5 months in occlusion events, but only at about 12 months in covering events and 14 months in tube events. In the present experiments, 11‐month‐olds detected a change to an object's height in an occlusion but not a covering event, and 12.5‐month‐olds detected a similar change in a covering but not a tube event. Thus, infants succeeded in detecting a change to an object's height in an event where height had been identified as a relevant variable, but failed to detect the exact same change in another event where height had not yet been identified as a relevant variable. These findings provide evidence that infants’ physical knowledge affects which changes they detect in physical events. Possible mechanisms underlying these findings are also discussed, in light of recent accounts of change detection in adults.
The eyes have it: visual pop‐out in infants and adults
Authors: Adler Scott A. , Orprecio Jazmine 
Published: February 2006

Abstract Visual search studies with adults have shown that stimuli that contain a unique perceptual feature pop out from dissimilar distractors and are unaffected by the number of distractors. Studies with very young infants have suggested that they too might exhibit pop‐out. However, infant studies have used paradigms in which pop‐out is measured in seconds or minutes, whereas in adults pop‐out occurs in milliseconds. In addition, with the previous infant paradigms the effects from higher cognitive processes such as memory cannot be separated from pop‐out and selective attention. Consequently, whether infants exhibit the phenomenon of pop‐out and have selective attention mechanisms as found in adults is not clear. This study was an initial attempt to design a paradigm that would provide a comparable measure between infants and adults, thereby allowing a more accurate determination of the developmental course of pop‐out and selective attention mechanisms. To this end, we measured 3‐month‐olds’ and adults’ saccade latencies to visual arrays that contained either a + among Ls (target‐present) or all Ls (target‐absent) with set sizes of 1, 3, 5 or 8 items. In Experiment 1, infants’ saccade latencies remained unchanged in the target‐present conditions as set size increased, whereas their saccade latencies increased linearly in the target‐absent conditions as set size increased. In Experiment 2, adults’ saccade latencies in the target‐present and target‐absent conditions showed the same pattern as the infants. The only difference between the infants and adults was that the infants’ saccade latencies were slower in every condition. These results indicate that infants do exhibit pop‐out on a millisecond scale, that it is unaffected by the number of distractors, and likely have similar functioning selective attention mechanisms. Moreover, the results indicate that eye movement latencies are a more comparable and accurate measure for assessing the phenomenon of pop‐out and underlying attentional mechanisms in infants.
Words and maps: developmental changes in mental models of spatial information acquired from descriptions and depictions
Authors: Uttal David H. , Fisher Joan A. , Taylor Holly A. 
Published: February 2006

AbstractPeople acquire spatial information from many sources, including maps, verbal descriptions, and navigating in the environment. The different sources present spatial information in different ways. For example, maps can show many spatial relations simultaneously, but in a description, each spatial relation must be presented sequentially. The present research investigated how these source differences influence the mental models that children and adults form of the presented information. In Experiment 1, 8‐year‐olds, 10‐year‐olds and adults learned the layout of a six‐room space either from verbal descriptions or from a map. They then constructed the configuration and pointed to target locations. Participants who learned from the map performed significantly better than those who learned from the description. Ten‐year‐olds performed nearly as well as adults did. The 8‐year‐olds’ mental models differed substantially from the older children's and adults’ mental models. The younger children retained the sequential information but did not integrate the relations into a survey‐like cognitive map. Experiment 2 demonstrated that viewing the shape of the configuration, without seeing the map in full, could facilitate 8‐year‐olds’ use of the verbal information and their ability to integrate the locations. The results demonstrate developmental differences in the mental representation of spatial information from descriptions. In addition, the results reveal that maps and other graphic representations can facilitate children's spatial thinking by helping them to transcend the sequential nature of language and direct experience.
Squamous cell carcinoma arising in CHILD syndrome
Authors: Jacyk WK , La Cock A 
Published: February 2006

AbstractCongenital hemidysplasia with ichthyosiform naevus and limb defects (CHILD) syndrome is a rare X‐linked dominant disorder. The first case of squamous cell carcinoma arising within the affected ichthyosiform skin in a 33‐year‐old woman is reported.
Linear atrophoderma of Moulin together with leuconychia: a case report
Authors: Atasoy M , Aliagaoglu C , Sahin O , Ikbal M , Gursan N 
Published: February 2006

AbstractLinear atrophoderma of Moulin has a distinctive disease pattern characterized by hyperpigmented atrophoderma and was described originally in 1992. It follows the line of Blaschko, and occurs without preceding inflammation, subsequent induration or scleroderma. The lesions usually develop during childhood or adolescence, and the prognosis is good. The diagnosis is made clinically and histopathologically. In our 18‐year‐old male patient, there were atrophic plaques unilaterally located on the trunk and arm, and white discoloration on all finger nails. Histopathological examination revealed epidermal atrophy together with disruption of collagen fibres.
Minocycline‐induced cutaneous hyperpigmentation: confocal laser scanning microscope analysis
Authors: Dodiuk‐Gad RP , de Morentin HM , Schafer J , Harel A , Neudorfer M , Misonzhnik F , Gitstein G , Rozenman D , Tur E , Brenner S 
Published: February 2006

AbstractBackground  Minocycline has a characteristic yellow‐green fluorescent emission. This fluorescence has been previously demonstrated only in type 1 minocycline‐induced skin hyperpigmentation.Objective  To investigate whether the fluorescence can be detected in other types of minocycline‐induced cutaneous hyperpigmentation, and to study the possible mechanisms.Methods  Biopsies of pigmented and nonpigmented skin from 3 patients with different types of skin hyperpigmentation induced by minocycline were analysed by light microscopy and Confocal Laser Scanning Microscope (CLSM).Results  A yellow‐green fluorescence was observed in the hyperpigmented skin of two patients with type 2, and one patient with type 4 minocycline–induced cutaneous hyperpigmentation. No fluorescence was detected in the non‐pigmented skin.Conclusion  Minocycline can possibly serve as a fluorescent probe in the diagnosis of all types of minocycline‐induced cutaneous hyperpigmentation.
Primary Gougerot–Sjögren syndrome: a dermatological approach
Authors: Roguedas A‐M , Youinou P , Lemasson G , Pennec Y‐L , Misery L 
Published: February 2006

AbstractGougerot–Sjögren syndrome (GSS) is a chronic heterogeneous non‐organ‐specific autoimmune disease, encompassing a wide spectrum of clinical manifestations. It is characterized by a lymphocytic infiltration of the exocrine glands, also called epitheliitis, resulting in xerostomia and keratoconjunctivitis sicca. The skin can also be involved; for example, xerosis is a consequence of epitheliitis. Dermatological consequences of polyclonal reactivity are vasculitis and manifestations of B‐cell proliferation vary from plasma cell infiltrates to B‐cell lymphoma.
Abundance and distribution of the endangered loggerhead turtle in Spanish Mediterranean waters and the conservation implications
Authors: Gómez de Segura A. , Tomás J. , Pedraza S. N. , Crespo E. A. , Raga J. A. 
Published: February 2006

AbstractDuring 2 years (2001–2003), we performed seasonal aerial surveys in the central Spanish Mediterranean following the transect line methodology in order to determine the abundance and distribution patterns of loggerhead turtlesCaretta caretta. We surveyed a total of 16 700 km, accounting for 770 turtle sightings. Loggerhead turtles were present with high abundance all year round. No seasonal differences in abundance were found, except in spring 2001, where the density of turtles was higher than in the other seasons. Our results show that the Western Mediterranean is not a ‘summer’ feeding area as proposed previously, as a high number of turtles are present throughout the year. The average surface density of turtles in the whole study area was 0.21 turtles km−2[95% confidence interval (CI): 0.17–0.25], and the mean abundance was 6653 turtles (95% CI: 5514–8027). The data relate to the number of turtles on the surface only, as diving turtles escape observation. Correcting our estimations of diving behaviour data in the area, the absolute abundance was 18 954 turtles (95% CI: 6679–53 786). Bearing in mind that around 25 000 loggerheads are caught per year in the Spanish Mediterranean, our results indicate that accidental captures seem to be a significant threat for this species, and conservation measures have to be implemented to avoid a non‐sustainable situation.
Breeding site selection by bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) and Eurasian griffon (Gyps fulvus) in the Caucasus
Authors: Gavashelishvili A. , McGrady M. J. 
Published: February 2006

AbstractOccupied and unoccupied sites of bearded vulture Gypaetus barbatus and Eurasian griffon Gyps fulvus were located in the Caucasus (mainly Georgia). Habitat variables related to nest‐site characteristics, climate, terrain, human disturbance and food availability were used to construct predictive models of vulture breeding site selection by using a geographic information system (GIS), logistic regression and Bayesian statistical inference. The probability of bearded vulture occupancy of a cliff ledge that was safe from climatic adversity, human disturbance and predation was positively correlated with the following variables measured within a 20‐km radius of the ledge: mean elevation, mean slope, the percentage of open areas, mean distance to roads, number of globally threatened wild goats Capra cylindricornis, C. caucasica and C. aegargus, and annual biomass of dead livestock. The probability of such a cliff ledge being occupied by Eurasian griffon was negatively correlated with annual rainfall at the ledge and positively correlated with the percentage of open areas and annual biomass of dead livestock within 20 km of the ledge. Provided that GIS coverage of the habitat variables is available, these models can be of help in various areas of the Caucasus and elsewhere to predict possible nest occurrence areas, and highlight sites where vultures may occur in the future if the population grows because of conservation or other activities.
Tracking stimulus processing in Pavlovian pupillary conditioning
Authors: Reinhard Günter , Lachnit Harald , König Stephan 
Published: February 2006

AbstractThe aim of the present study was to evaluate whether the anticipatory pupillary dilation response is a useful indicator for the examination of complex differential conditioning problems like patterning. A human fear conditioning procedure with six groups (n=20 each) was used to examine conditioned stimulus (CS) processing when a compound stimulus was reinforced, but not its elements (positive patterning) or when the elements were reinforced, but not the compound (negative patterning), as well as modifications in which the compound was replaced by either a new compound or by a new element. We found evidence for conditioning within 2 s after CS onset. Group differences in differential conditioning indicated systematic differences in CS processing due to different discrimination task difficulties. This study showed that the pupil response is a suitable indicator for human Pavlovian conditioning with high time resolution within and between trials.
Development and polymorphisms of microsatellite markers for hinoki (Chamaecyparis obtusa)
Authors: MATSUMOTO ASAKO , TANI NAOKI , LI XIN‐GUO , NAKAO YURI , TOMARU NOBUHIRO , TSUMURA YOSHIHIKO 
Published: February 2006

AbstractFifteen microsatellite markers were developed from a microsatellite‐enriched library and characterized using 32 Chamaecyparis obtusa individuals. The number of alleles ranged from two to 27 per locus, with observed heterozygosity ranging from 0.281 to 0.906. The polymorphism information content (PIC) was also calculated for each marker and the average was 0.796 ± 0.024. These microsatellite markers will be useful for investigating population genetics, reproductive ecology, tree improvement and constructing linkage maps of the species.
Eight microsatellite markers for sympatric alpine shrubs, Phyllodoce aleutica and P. caerulea (Ericaceae)
Authors: KAMEYAMA Y. , KASAGI T. , KUDO G. 
Published: February 2006

Abstract Phyllodoce aleutica and Phyllodoce caerulea are sympatric alpine‐snowbed plants in northern Japan. They compete for pollinators (bumblebees) each other and the competitive situation varies depending on snow conditions. We isolated and characterized eight microsatellite loci in these species. Additionally, one of 13 primers developed for Rhododendron metternichii was available in these species. The expected heterozygosity of these nine markers ranged from 0.06 to 0.93 in P. aleutica and from 0.09 to 0.96 in P. caerulea. These markers may be useful to reveal the mating system evolution, patterns of pollen flow and the process of natural hybridization in these Phyllodoce species.
Lack of macrophage migration inhibitory factor protects mice against concanavalin A‐induced liver injury
Authors: Nakajima Hiroaki , Takagi Hitoshi , Horiguchi Norio , Toyoda Mitsuo , Kanda Daisuke , Otsuka Toshiyuki , Emoto Yoshiko , Emoto Masashi , Mori Masatomo 
Published: February 2006

Abstract: Background: Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is involved in inflammatory and immune‐mediated diseases but the role of MIF in liver injury has not yet been elucidated.Methods: We investigated biochemically, histologically and immunologically the character of MIF in concanavalin A (Con A)‐induced T‐cell‐mediated liver injury using MIF knockout (KO) mice and wild‐type (WT) mice.Results: MIF KO mice showed significantly decreased serum alanine aminotransferase values and suppressed histological change with massive necrosis of the hepatic parenchymal cells and infiltration of inflammatory cells compared with their WT counterparts. This protection was not mediated by either tumor necrosis factor‐α or interferon‐γ, which are critical mediators of Con A‐induced liver injury, as their serum concentrations were shown to be similar in MIF KO and WT mice. On the other hand, a flow cytometric analysis demonstrated that the number of activated hepatic leukocytes decreased more in the MIF KO mice than in the WT mice.Conclusions: A lack of MIF protected the mice from Con A‐induced liver injury. Controlling the MIF activity may be a useful therapeutic strategy for treating such T‐cell activation‐associated liver diseases as autoimmune hepatitis and viral hepatitis.