bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The analysis of inconsistencies between cytogenetic annotations and sequence mapping by defining the imprecision zones of cytogenetic banding
Authors: Yen Kuo-Ho , Ho Chung-Liang , Lee Chiang 
Published: December 2008

AbstractMotivation: In current databases, there are many genes with inconsistent mapping positions between their cytogenetic annotations and sequence map positions. However, not all inconsistencies are the same. Some of them may be problematic which should be corrected in the future; while others may result from the imprecise nature of chromosomal banding which may be tolerable. It is important to stratify the cytogenetic position information into different confidence groups with the recognition of the impreciseness of cytogenetic banding.Results: When plotting their cytogenetic annotations against sequence map positions on a 2D plane, the consistent genes tend to have a compact linear distribution; while genes with inconsistent positions are more scattered. The overlapping areas between these two groups are defined as the tolerable imprecision zones by linear regression and distance analysis. The system was implemented using sequence information from NCBI Map Viewer Build 36.3 and cytogenetic annotations from NCBI Entrez Gene. The genes' position information is classified into five confidence groups: inconsistent-intolerable, inconsistent-tolerable, consistent-imprecise, consistent-precise and consistent-rough. Using information from NCBI Map Viewer Build 36.3 and NCBI Entrez Gene, the percentages of these confidence groups are 1.4%, 7.0%, 54.0%, 35.4% and 2.2%, respectively. Using information from NCBI Map Viewer Build 36.3 and NCBI online Mendelian inheritance in man (OMIM), the percentages are 3.7%, 16.9%, 49.0%, 19.0% and 11.4%, respectively. Combining these two results, a confidence table of genes' position information was constructed.Availability: The detailed results are accessible over the Internet at http://centrallab.hosp.ncku.edu.tw/imz.Contact: clh9@mail.ncku.edu.tw
On‐demand requirements of patients with endoscopy‐negative gastro‐oesophageal reflux disease: H2‐blocker vs. proton pump inhibitor
Authors: JUUL‐HANSEN P. , RYDNING A. 
Published: December 2008

SummaryBackground  It is questionable whether a symptomatic condition with few serious medical consequences requires proton pump inhibitor (PPI) treatment. If effective, a less‐potent treatment may be preferable.Aim  To compare an H2‐blocker in an effervescent formulation with a PPI in on‐demand treatment of endoscopy‐negative gastro‐oesophageal reflux disease (GERD).Methods  Included were patients with heartburn and/or acid regurgitation for at least 3 months duration, a negative endoscopy and a positive response to 7 days of lansoprazole 60 mg daily. Following pH‐metry, the patients were randomized to receive either ranitidine effervescent tablets 75 mg or lansoprazole capsules 15 mg to a maximum of four per day on‐demand. The numbers taken were registered monthly for 6 months. If treatment was unsuccessful (lack of efficacy or side effects), patients were registered as failures.Results  One hundred and three patients were included and 63 were considered for statistical analysis; 32 on lansoprazole and 31 on ranitidine. Seventeen (55%) on ranitidine and four (13%) on lansoprazole failed. The average number of tablets per day was 1.2 in the lansoprazole group and 3.1 in the ranitidine group.Conclusions  On‐demand treatment in patients with endoscopy‐negative GERD gives a high success rate with a fairly low dose of PPI. The H2‐blocker had significantly less success; nevertheless, almost half were satisfied with the treatment.
The impact of trained assistance on error rates in anaesthesia: a simulation‐based randomised controlled trial*
Authors: Weller J. M. , Merry A. F. , Robinson B. J. , Warman G. R. , Janssen A. 
Published: December 2008

SummaryTrained assistance for the anaesthetist appears likely to improve safety in anaesthesia. However, there are few objective data to support this assumption, and the requirement for a trained assistant is not universally enforced. We applied a simulation‐based model developed in previous work to test the hypothesis that the presence of a trained assistant reduces error in anaesthesia. Ten randomly selected anaesthetists, five trained anaesthetic technicians and five theatre nurses without training in anaesthesia participated in two simulated emergencies, with anaesthetists working alternately with a technician or a nurse. The mean (SD) error rate per scenario was 4.75 (2.9). There were significantly fewer errors in the technician group than the nurse group (33 vs 62, p = 0.01) and this difference remained significant when errors were weighted for severity. This provides objective evidence supporting the requirement for trained assistance to the anaesthetist, and furthermore, demonstrates that a simulation‐based model can provide rigorous evidence on safety interventions in anaesthesia.
Angiogenic mediators of the angiopoietin system are highly expressed by CD10‐positive lymphoma cells in angioimmunoblastic T‐cell lymphoma
Authors: Konstantinou Klio , Yamamoto Kouhei , Ishibashi Fumiaki , Mizoguchi Yuiko , Kurata Morito , Nakagawa Yasunori , Suzuki Kenshi , Sawabe Motoji , Ohta Masatsugu , Miyakoshi Shigesaburo , Crawley James T. , Kitagawa Masanobu 
Published: December 2008

SummaryAngioimmunoblastic T‐cell lymphoma (AILT) is a malignant disease of peripheral T‐cell origin that is characterized by a prominent proliferation of high endothelial venules in the lymph node. To investigate angiogenic mechanisms in AILT we measured the angiogenic mediator gene expression levels in the lymph nodes of 54 non‐Hodgkin lymphoma patients, by immunostaining and quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Angiogenic mediators angiopoietin (Ang) 1 (ANGPT1), Ang2 (ANGPT2) and their receptor, Tie2 (TEK), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF; VEGFA) and its receptor, VEGFR2 (KDR), and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and its receptor, c‐Met (MET) were all more highly expressed in AILT lymph nodes (16 cases) than in B‐cell lymphomas (24 cases). Moreover, significantly higher Ang1 and Tie2 expression was detected in AILT cases with CD10‐positive neoplastic T‐cells by comparison with unspecified peripheral T‐cell lymphoma (14 cases). Immunostaining confirmed the expression of Ang1 and VEGF by both neoplastic T‐cells and follicular dendritic cells. These results suggest that the angiopoietin system may play an important role in the development of high vascularity in AILT lymph nodes. Consequently, as neoplastic T‐cells and follicular dendritic cells are both increased in AILT and may represent an important source of angiogenic mediators, targeting these cells with anti‐angiogenic strategies might represent a novel therapy for AILT.
Silent subtype 3 pituitary adenoma: a clinicopathologic analysis of the Mayo Clinic experience
Authors: Erickson D. , Scheithauer B. , Atkinson J. , Horvath E. , Kovacs K. , Lloyd R. V. , Young Jr W. F. 
Published: December 2008

SummaryBackground  Macroadenomas represent 50% of pituitary tumours and are often (30%) nonfunctioning. Their immunophenotype suggests differentiation toward a specific pituitary cell line. A substantial proportion of tumours with particularly aggressive behaviour are so called ‘silent subtype 3 adenoma’. Its diagnosis requires ultrastructural confirmation. Although once included among silent corticotroph adenomas, this aggressive, morphologically distinctive tumour is now recognized as a major form of plurihormonal adenoma and, in fact, some patients might present with clinical hormonal excess. The cytogenesis and pathobiology of silent subtype 3 adenomas is unsettled.Objective  We undertook a systematic clinicopathologic examination of the Mayo Clinic experience with this poorly understood tumour.Design  This retrospective, single institution study found 27 confirmed examples of silent subtype 3 adenoma, a frequency of 0·9% of adenomas. Despite histologic and immunophenotypic variation, their ultrastructural features were diagnostic and the sole basis for case inclusion.Results  The study group was comprised of 16 men (59%) and 11 women (41%); two patients (7%) had definitive diagnosis of multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1). Three tumours (11%) were discovered incidentally. Nine patients each (38%) presented with headaches or visual field loss. Endocrine hyperfunction was noted in eight cases (30%), including GH excess in five (19%) and clinically significant PRL elevation in three (11%). Hypogonadism was noted in 17 cases (63%) and growth arrest in one (4%). All tumours were macroadenomas; 16 (60%) showed radiographic evidence of invasion. Most tumours were plurihormonal, featuring immunoreactivity for PRL (17), GH (15), TSH (16) or ACTH (3); only one lesion was immunonegative. Although a gross total resection was achieved in 19 cases (70%), re‐operation for recurrence(s) was required in seven of these (37%). Follow‐up (mean, 69 months) showed a high (59%) rate of persistent or recurrent of tumour. Overall, 14 patients (54%) underwent radiotherapy after surgical treatment: three patients (12%) for substantial residual tumour, eight (31%) as adjuvant therapy and three (12%) for tumour regrowth.Conclusion  Silent subtype 3 adenoma, a plurihormonal tumour, is rare and aggressive in nature. This adenoma must be considered in the differential of often clinically nonfunctioning but plurihormonal adenomas featuring variable cytologic atypia. Electron microscopy is required for confirmation of the diagnosis. The cytogenesis of silent subtype 3 adenoma remains unsettled.
Complement Split Products C3a and C4a in Chronic Lyme Disease
Authors: Stricker R. B. , Savely V. R. , Motanya N. C. , Giclas P. C. 
Published: December 2008

AbstractComplement split products C3a and C4a are reportedly elevated in patients with acute Lyme disease. We have now examined these immunologic markers in patients with chronic Lyme disease compared to appropriate disease controls. The study population consisted of 29 healthy controls, 445 patients with chronic Lyme disease, 11 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and six patients with AIDS. The Lyme disease patients were divided according to predominant musculoskeletal symptoms (324 patients) or predominant neurologic symptoms (121 patients). C3a and C4a levels were measured by radioimmunoassay. All patients with chronic Lyme disease and AIDS had normal C3a levels compared to controls, whereas patients with SLE had significantly increased levels of this marker. Patients with predominant musculoskeletal symptoms of Lyme disease and AIDS patients had significantly increased levels of C4a compared to either controls, patients with predominant neurologic symptoms of Lyme disease or SLE patients. Response to antibiotic therapy in chronic Lyme disease was associated with a significant decrease in the C4a level, whereas lack of response was associated with a significant increase in this marker. In contrast, AIDS patients had persistently increased C4a levels despite antiretroviral therapy. Lyme patients with positive single‐photon emission computed tomographic (SPECT) scans had significantly lower C4a levels compared to Lyme patients with normal SPECT scan results. Patients with predominant musculoskeletal symptoms of Lyme disease have normal C3a and increased C4a levels. This pattern differs from the increase in both markers seen in acute Lyme disease, and C4a changes correlate with the response to therapy in chronic Lyme disease. C4a appears to be a valuable immunologic marker in patients with persistent symptoms of Lyme disease.
Vascular catheterization is difficult in infants with Down syndrome
Authors: SULEMANJI D. S. , DONMEZ A. , AKPEK E. A. , ALIC Y. 
Published: December 2008

Background: Our aim was to compare difficulties in vascular access interventions in infants with and without Down Syndrome (DS) undergoing congenital heart surgery.Methods: The anesthesia records of infants with DS undergoing congenital heart surgery (Group DS, n=61) were reviewed and matched with records of infants without DS (Group ND, n=61). Vascular cannulation sites, the experience of the anesthesiologists performing each procedure, the number of clinicians who attempted each procedure until it was successfully performed, and the number of attempts for each catheterization were recorded.Results: The rate of unsuccessful peripheral venous cannulation in any of the four extremities was higher in Group DS (P=0.026). The success rate of radial artery cannulation was lower in Group DS (P=0.048). Although the total number of attempts for arterial cannulation was higher in Group DS, the difference was not statistically significant (P=0.058). However, in Group DS, the clinician who was able to cannulate the artery successfully required a significantly higher number of attempts at cannulation (P=0.011). For central venous catheterization, cannulation site and the number of attempts required before success was achieved were similar in both groups. The specialist‐to‐resident ratio was higher in Group DS (P=0.037).Conclusion: Our results indicate a trend toward clinicians having more difficulty performing arterial and peripheral venous catheterizations in infants with DS compared with performing the same procedure in infants without DS. Anesthesiologists should be prepared for catheterization difficulties in this patient population. In infants with DS, we recommend that catheterizations be performed by more experienced physicians.
When do the Costs of Spermatogenesis Constrain Sperm Expenditure? Remarks on the Pattern of the Spermatogenic Cycle
Authors: Takahashi Mizuki K. , Parris Matthew J. 
Published: December 2008

AbstractThe costs of spermatogenesis constrain sperm expenditure when sperm production per day is limited. Thus, males are challenged to allocate available resources to sperm production and other life history functions. However, this prevailing assumption is not applicable to species in which spermatogenesis becomes quiescent during the breeding season. Males of these species prepare large quantities of sperm before the breeding season. Among these species, constraints on ejaculates have been intensively investigated in salamanders that deposit spermatophores. Although it is predicted that sperm expenditure should not be limited because of abundantly prepared sperm, spermatophore deposition is often limited during the breeding season when vas deferens are full of sperm. We tested a hypothesis regarding limited spermatophore deposition by measuring sperm quantity and volume of spermatophores sequentially deposited by male eastern newts Notophthalmus viridescens. A male newt rarely deposits more than three spermatophores per mating. If depletion of non‐sperm components of spermatophores limits spermatophore deposition, we predicted that spermatophore volume decreases while sperm quantity remains constant as a male deposits more spermatophores. Alternatively, some regulative mechanisms allow a limited portion of available sperm to be expended per mating, in which sperm quantity is predicted to decrease while the spermatophore volume remains constant. Finally, depletion of non‐sperm components may regulate sperm expenditure, which predicted that both spermatophore volume and sperm quantity decrease. We found that both sperm quantity and the spermatophore volume decreased as a male deposited more spermatophores during a single mating. Sperm expenditure was constrained without the costs involved in active spermatogenesis, and depletion of non‐sperm components likely regulate sperm quantity loaded in spermatophores. In dissociated spermatogenesis, constrained sperm expenditure do not mean that costly spermatogenesis is directly limiting male mating capacity but rather suggest that the evolution of physiological mechanisms regulating sperm expenditure per mating maximizes male reproductive success.
Influence of Different Operatory Setups on Implant Survival Rate: A Retrospective Clinical Study
Authors: Cardemil Carina , Ristevski Zoran , Alsén Bengt , Dahlin Christer 
Published: December 2008

ABSTRACTBackground: Surgery performed under sterile operating conditions, as well as atraumatic surgery, has been stated to be among the most important requirements for successful osseointegration. However, there are few reports concerning the sterile surgical technique in association with implant placement, and the appropriate level of operatory setup is not fully known.Purpose: The purpose of this study was to analyze implant survival rate using a simplified surgical operatory setup compared with the use of the original Brånemark System® (Nobel Biocare AB, Göteborg, Sweden) protocol.Materials and Methods: A total of 1,285 consecutively treated patients were included in the study. Four thousand implants were placed during the period of 1985 to 2003. Group A (using the Brånemark System protocol) comprised of 654 patients and 2,414 implants. Group B (using a simplified operatory setup) comprised of 631 patients and 1,586 implants. Healing was evaluated after 6 months of clinical function. Failure was defined as the removal of implants because of nonosseointegration. Statistic analysis was performed using t‐test for paired data. The level of significance was set at 5% for comparison of data.Results: No significant difference with regard to complications and implant survival rate was found in the study.Conclusion: The result from the present study suggests that a simplified operatory setup does not affect the survival rate of oral implant treatment.
Risk Management Failures: What Are They and When Do They Happen?
Authors: Stulz René M. 
Published: December 2008

The difficulties of the past year have convinced many observers that current risk management practices are deeply flawed, and that such flaws have contributed greatly to the current financial crisis. In this paper, the author challenges this view by showing the need to distinguish between flawed assessments by risk managers and corporate risk‐taking decisions that, although resulting in losses, were reasonable at the time they were made.In making this distinction, the paper also identifies a number of different ways that risk management can fail. In addition to choosing the wrong risk metrics and misidentifying or mismeasuring risks, risk managers can fail to communicate their risk assessments and provide effective guidance to top management and boards. And once top management has used that information to help determine the firm's risk appetite and strategy, the risk management function can also fail to monitor risks appropriately and maintain the firm's targeted risk positions.But if risk management has been mistakenly identified as the culprit in many cases, current risk management practice can be improved by taking into account the lessons from financial crises past and present. In particular, such crises have occurred with enough frequency that crisis conditions can be modeled, at least to some extent. And when models reach their limits of usefulness, companies should consider using scenario planning that aims to reveal the implications of crises for their financial health and survival. Instead of relying on past data, scenario planning must use forward‐looking economic analysis to evaluate the expected impact of sudden illiquidity and the associated feedback effects that are common in financial crises.
La question d'une tradition sociologique en Acadie : un aperçu1
Authors: MASSICOTTE JULIEN 
Published: December 2008

La présente étude examine la question d'une tradition sociologique en Acadie. L'auteur passe en revue trois grandes périodes de la présence sociologique en Acadie. Une première période, allant de la toute fin des années 1930 aux années 1960, marque l'échafaudage institutionnel d'une première sociologie en Acadie. Une seconde période, allant des années 1960 aux années 1980, constitue pour la sociologie en Acadie une période de crise, de contestation et de redéfinition. Finalement, la troisième grande période, du début des années 1980 à aujourd'hui, marque l'éclatement de la discipline. On termine le texte en se demandant, à la lumière de ces trois périodes marquantes, s'il existe vraiment, en Acadie, une tradition sociologique distincte.The present study examines the question of a sociological tradition in Acadie. The author focuses on three large periods of sociological presence in Acadie. In the first phase, between the end of the thirties to the first years of the sixties, sociology became institutionally rooted in Acadie. A second period took place between the early sixties and the early eighties, when sociology experienced a period of crisis, contestation and redefinition. Finally, the third and final period, from the early eighties to the present, marks the fragmentation of the discipline. The present study ends by asking the following question: does a sociological tradition truly exist in Acadie?
Research, Therapy, and Bioethical Hegemony: The Controversy over Perinatal AZT Trials in Africa
Authors: Wendland Claire L. 
Published: December 2008

Abstract:Research on zidovudine (AZT) for pregnant women in Africa sparked worldwide debate in the late 1990s. The debate ultimately led to the rewriting of international ethics guidelines, in at least one case specifically to prohibit use of a placebo group (the most controversial aspect of the research) when known effective treatment is available. I draw upon clinical experience in Malawi and theoretical perspectives from anthropology to reframe the controversy. The dominant bioethical position constructed research and therapy as ethically distinct. This distinction ensured that inequalities of power and resources were perpetuated, not remedied, by the AZT debates.
Some Reflections on Making Popular Culture in Urban Africa
Authors: Simone AbdouMaliq 
Published: December 2008

Abstract:In contemporary urban Africa, the turbulence of the city requires incessant innovation that is capable of generating new ways of being. Rather than treating popular culture as some distinctive sector, this article attempts to investigate the popular as methods of bringing together activities and actors that on the surface would not seem compatible, and as experimental forms of generating value in the everyday life of urban residents. This investigation, sited largely in Douala, Cameroon, looks at how youth from varying neighborhoods attempt to get by, and at the unexpected forms of contestation that can ensue.
Any Color of the Rainbow—As Long as It's Gray: Dramatic Learning Spaces in Postapartheid South Africa
Authors: Prentki Tim 
Published: December 2008

Abstract:This article addresses the issue of the relationship between contemporary South African politics and the type of socially committed theater that might be capable of mounting a critique of those politics. The author highlights the contradictions between the aspirations of the Freedom Charter and the realities of subscribing to the neoliberal world order. His contention is that any theater form that is seeking cultural intervention must find a way of representing contradiction if it is to remain true to the experiences of its audiences and its participants. Such a representation can be achieved through a combination of Bertolt Brecht's praxis in relation to contradiction and current practices in Theatre for Development, which themselves draw upon aspects of the antiapartheid resistance theater.
“Neopatrimonialism” and Agricultural Development in Africa: Contributions and Limitations of a Contested Concept
Authors: deGrassi Aaron 
Published: December 2008

Abstract:The “neopatrimonial” character of African states has increasingly been invoked to explain the politics of agricultural stagnation across the continent. This article summarizes the literature on neopatrimonialism, reviewing how analysts have applied the concept in studies of food and agricultural policies in Africa. It then draws out some of the key contributions of such an approach, and describes limitations, both methodological and substantive. Finally, it asks how and why the concept has been deployed, and recommends greater circumspection, research, and refinement.