bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Fetal growth restriction and other factors associated with neonatal death in New Zealand
Authors: BATTIN Malcolm R. , McCOWAN Lesley M. E. , GEORGE‐HADDAD Maha , THOMPSON John M. D. 
Published: November 2007

AbstractBackground:  There are few studies of risk factors for neonatal death in Australia or New Zealand.Aims:  To assess in a cohort of neonatal deaths (i) the demographic and clinical risk factors; (ii) the relationship between low weight for gestation using population and customised centiles; and (iii) the cause of death by the Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand Perinatal and Neonatal death classifications.Methods:  A retrospective study of 410 babies who died, in the neonatal period, at National Women's Hospital, between 1993 and 2000. Demographic and clinical data were compared with that from a referent population of live births with neonatal deaths removed (n = 68 905).Results:  The overall neonatal death rate was 5.9 per 1000 live births and after exclusion of congenital abnormalities was 3.9 per 1000 live births. Infants of Maori women had increased risk compared to European (adjusted odds ration (AOR) 1.52; 95% CI 1.06, 2.18), as did those born to primipara (AOR 1.52; 95% CI 1.10, 2.11), mothers with ≥ 1 previous low‐birthweight baby (AOR 2.97; 95% CI 1.99, 4.44), ≥ 1 miscarriage (AOR 1.35; 95% CI 1.00, 1.81), and an index multiple pregnancy (AOR 10.51; 95% CI 8.04, 13.76). Infants of Chinese mothers had decreased risk (AOR 0.42; 95% CI 0.18, 0.96). Fifty (34%) babies were small for gestational age by customised and 26 (17%) by population centiles. The most common classification of neonatal death was congenital abnormality (34.6%), followed by extreme prematurity (34.1%).Conclusions:  This study emphasises the importance of suboptimal fetal growth as an important risk factor for neonatal death especially when customised centiles are used.
Sling distress: A subanalysis of the IVS tapes from the SUSPEND trial
Authors: BALAKRISHNAN Siva , LIM Yik Nyok , BARRY Chris , CORSTIAANS Audrey , KANNAN Kurinji , RANE Ajay 
Published: November 2007

AbstractAim:  To study the incidence of erosions and tape infections following the use of intravaginal slingplasty (IVS) treatment for stress urinary incontinence after the SUSPEND trial period of 30 months. This subanalysis was carried out because of concerns regarding high percentage of delayed sling erosions and infections during follow up of the patients who participated in the trial.Materials and methods:  The subanalysis patient group consisted of all IVS patients drawn from the SUSPEND randomised control trial that compared the safety and efficacy of three types of suburethral slings, TVT, SPARC and IVS, for the treatment of urodynamic stress incontinence.Results:  A total of 62 patients were reviewed during this study conducted from April 2002 to May 2003. Continence was achieved in 88% the patients. A total of eight (13%) sling erosions were found requiring sling removal. Forty‐eight (77.4%) patients were followed up at 12 months with one case of erosion (1.7%). Twenty‐nine (46.8%) of the 62 patients were followed up between 12 and 34 months, and seven cases of sling erosions were diagnosed. One patient had purulent suprapubic sinus, five patients had foul‐smelling discharge, and one had recurrent urinary tract infection associated with pain and discharge. After the slings were removed the patients had no further symptoms. However, three of them had recurrent stress urinary incontinence.Discussion/conclusion:  The delayed presentation of the sling erosion from this subanalysis is a concern, and pelvic reconstructive surgeons using IVS need to be aware of the delayed presentations we found in our cohort of patients.
Pap smear screening history of women with squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma of the cervix
Authors: PAK Sok Cheon , MARTENS Martje , BEKKERS Ruud , CRANDON Alex J. , LAND Russell , NICKLIN James L. , PERRIN Lewis C. , OBERMAIR Andreas 
Published: November 2007

AbstractBackground:  Since the introduction of the Pap smear screening, the incidence of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) has decreased significantly, but the incidence of adenocarcinoma (AC) relative to SCC has increased.Aim:  To compare the Pap smear history of patients with AC and SCC of the cervix.Methods:  Patients for the study were identified from the database of Queensland Centre for Gynaecological Cancer. Patients with AC and SCC were matched for age at diagnosis and International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage. The final population included 188 matched pairs, being 376 patients in total. Data were collected upon the histological type of cancer, result of the most recent Pap smear, date and result of the Pap smear prior to the most recent Pap smear and symptoms. Chi‐squared tests and Fisher's exact test were used to compare the two patient groups for several variables.Results:  Patients with AC had significantly more false‐negative results on their most recent Pap smear (P < 0.0001) than patients with SCC. The incidence of symptoms such as bleeding and/or vaginal discharge was comparable in patients with AC and SCC. The time between the most recent Pap smear and the diagnosis of cervical cancer was significantly shorter for patients with AC (P = 0.01).Conclusions:  Patients with AC had Pap smears more regularly than those with SCC, and their most recent Pap smear was significantly more likely to be normal. Thus, Pap smear prior to a diagnosis of AC is more likely than SCC false‐negative and therefore not indicative of cervical cancer.
Helicobacter pylori as a Vaccine Delivery System
Authors: Marshall Barry , Schoep Tobias 
Published: November 2007

AbstractFor more than 10 years a vaccine against Helicobacter pylori has been the elusive goal of many investigators. The need for a vaccine was highlighted when eradication attempts in developing countries were foiled by reinfection rates of 15–30% per annum. In addition, physicians in developed countries were concerned that attempts at total eradication of H. pylori would result in widespread macrolide resistance in both H. pylori and other important pathogens. Although attempts to produce vaccines against H. pylori have failed in their ultimate goal, considerable knowledge has been developed on the pathogenesis and immunology of Helicobacter infections. In this article we describe an alternative use for this new knowledge, i.e. a plan to use live Helicobacter species to deliver vaccines against other organisms. Because of its intimate attachment to the gastric mucosa and long‐term residence there, H. pylori might succeed as an antigen delivery system, a goal which has eluded most other strategies of nonparenteral vaccination.
How to Influence Health Providers
Authors: Axon Anthony 
Published: November 2007

AbstractIn spite of the recognition that Helicobacter pylori is responsible for most duodenal ulcer and peptic ulcer and that it is the underlying cause of most gastric cancer, little or no attention has been paid to its effect upon public health and in particular no measures have been put in place to address them. For over 20 years relatively inexpensive and noninvasive testing and treatment have been available, but no country has introduced a “screen‐and‐treat” policy, and relatively little research has been devoted to the identification of a vaccine for the disease. Health‐care providers and doctors themselves are amenable to persuasion but in order to achieve appropriate investment in this area media pressure is required to publicize the arguments of health economics and equality of health that support the introduction of appropriate measures. There is a strong movement to eradicate inequalities of health. Population studies have shown that eradication of the infection can be provided at reasonable cost. Such a policy can easily be audited. Helicobacter pylori infection is the commonest environmental cause of cancer death after smoking, the diseases it causes represent a serious cost to health providers, and it affects the poorest members of our society. In the words of Kofi Annan, “Health should not be regarded as a blessing to be wished for, but a human right to be fought for.”
Activation of latent TGF‐β1 by low‐power laser in vitro correlates with increased TGF‐β1 levels in laser‐enhanced oral wound healing
Authors: Arany Praveen R. , Nayak Ramakant S. , Hallikerimath Seema , Limaye Anil M. , Kale Alka D. , Kondaiah Paturu 
Published: November 2007

ABSTRACTThe term Laser “Photobiomodulation” was coined to encompass the pleiotropic effects of low‐power lasers on biological processes. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether transforming growth factor (TGF)‐β had a role in mediating the biological effects of low‐power far‐infrared laser irradiation. We assayed for in vitro activation using various biological forms of cell‐secreted, recombinant, and serum latent TGF‐β using the p3TP reporter and enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assays. We demonstrate here that low‐power lasers are capable of activating latent TGF‐β1 and ‐β3 in vitro and, further, that it is capable of “priming” these complexes, making them more amenable to physiological activation present in the healing milieu. Using an in vivo oral tooth extraction‐healing model, we observed an increased TGF‐β1, but not β3, expression by immunohistochemistry immediately following laser irradiation while TGF‐β3 expression was increased after 14 days, concomitant with an increased inflammatory infiltrate. All comparisons were performed between laser‐irradiated wounds and nonirradiated wounds in each subject essentially using them as their own control (paired T‐test p<0.05). Low‐power laser irradiation is capable of activating the latent TGF‐β1 complex in vitro and its expression pattern in vivo suggests that TGF‐β play a central role in mediating the accelerated healing response.
New strategy for the antifibrotic therapy with oral administration of FR260330 (a selective inducible nitric oxide synthase inhibitor) in rat experimental liver cirrhosis
Authors: Kikuchi Hitoshi , Katsuramaki Tadashi , Kukita Kazuma , Taketani Sonofu , Meguro Makoto , Nagayama Minoru , Isobe Masato , Mizuguchi Toru , Hirata Koichi 
Published: November 2007

ABSTRACTInducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) activity is significantly elevated in viral hepatitis, alcoholic cirrhosis, and cholestasis. However, there are few reports on the relationship between iNOS and cirrhosis. Here, we investigated the effects of a new iNOS inhibitor that has been developed for oral administration in an experimental rat liver cirrhosis model. A cirrhotic rat model was developed by long‐term administration of thioacetamide injections. FR260330 is a new, rationally designed, selective iNOS inhibitor that can be administered orally. After 12 weeks of treatment with FR260330, the rats showed inhibition of progressions of cirrhosis, ascites, and splenomegaly as well as a significant reduction in the proportions of connective tissue in the liver. The expression of nitrotyrosine, which indicates the existence of peroxynitrite and nuclear factor‐κB activation, was remarkably decreased in the FR260330 treatment group. In addition, immunohistochemical and Western blot analyses showed that the expression of transforming growth factor‐β1 was remarkably decreased in this group. The present study demonstrates that FR260330 reduces liver fibrosis by the inhibition of transforming growth factor‐β1 and retards the development of cirrhosis. This oral iNOS inhibitor will be a new strategy for the treatment of cirrhosis.
Gendering Municipal Government: Female Descriptive Representation and Feelings of Political Trust*
Authors: Ulbig Stacy G. 
Published: November 2007

Objectives. Voter participation, political knowledge and efficacy, and feelings of political estrangement or alienation have all been linked to varying levels of racial/ethnic descriptive representation. The goal of this study is to investigate similar effects on feelings of political trust with regard to the descriptive representation of women in municipal government.Methods. Using original survey data collected in 70 different U.S. municipalities, this study investigates the linkage between the descriptive representation of women on municipal legislative bodies and attitudes of political trust among the public, while controlling for other important factors.Results. The findings indicate that female descriptive representation has slightly positive effects on women's political trust, and much stronger negative effects on men's feelings of trust in government. Importantly, this effect is present only among those citizens exhibiting a moderate awareness of politics and government.Conclusions. These findings suggest that our investigations into the impact of female descriptive representation need to include more fine‐grained analyses to uncover other potential group differences, and that descriptive representation may enhance feelings of governmental trust among some segments of society but may not cure ailing political trust levels in the aggregate.
Women's Representation on State Trial and Appellate Courts*
Authors: Williams Margaret 
Published: November 2007

Objective. This article examines the factors affecting women's representation at each level of the state judiciary.Methods. Using extended beta‐binomial and Poisson models, this article determines the effects of judicial selection, state ideology, and the pool of women eligible to serve on state trial and appellate courts.Results. I find that the pool of women eligible to serve, state ideology, and some methods of judicial selection affect the number of women serving on state courts.Conclusions. By modeling the process on the two courts differently, I find that the factors affecting trial courts are not necessarily the same as those affecting women's representation on appellate courts. Because of the differences in the two levels of the judiciary, future analysis should consider how these two levels influence individual decisions to seek a seat on state courts.
The Women's Movement in South Korea*
Authors: Lee Aie‐Rie , Chin Mikyung 
Published: November 2007

Objectives. The objective of the study is to examine the underlying explanations for the relative success of the women's movement in Korea. Building on the resource mobilization model, the present research investigates how women's groups in Korea mobilize resources, increase membership and participation, and pursue alliances and coalitions to achieve their organizational goals.Methods. This research analyzes the data collected via a mail survey of women's groups during November 2000 and May 2001.Results. The study finds that disparate women's organizations (radical vs. reformist) have had distinct resources, strategies, support bases, tactics, and relations to others groups to mobilize more support and effect their goals.Conclusions. From an organizational standpoint, it is clear that democratization brought about an increase in the number of women's organizations that turned women's grievances into a capacity to act collectively.
Stability and Change in the Experience of Partner Violence Among Low‐Income Women*
Authors: Frias Sonia M. , Angel Ronald J. 
Published: November 2007

Objective. In this analysis we identify factors associated with the dynamics of partner violence among low‐income women.Methods. Using two waves of the Welfare, Children and Families Study (1999–2001), we examine the multivariate predictors of ever having experienced abuse, as well as factors associated with the initiation, resumption, and discontinuation of violence between the two interviews.Results. Over half the women who reported violence at Wave 1 reported no violence at Wave 2. These women were older, had experienced less severe violence, and reported less financial strain than women for whom violence continued or began. For 11 percent of the sample, violence began or resumed by the second interview. These women were younger, less educated, had weaker social networks, and were less likely to be Hispanic than those who never experienced violence.Conclusions. Partner abuse appears to be highly dynamic and a fuller understanding of the phenomenon requires a longitudinal focus.
Global Economy and Gender Inequalities: The Case of the Urban Chinese Labor Market*
Authors: Shu Xiaoling , Zhu Yifei , Zhang Zhanxin 
Published: November 2007

Objectives. This article examines the effects of economic globalization on gender inequalities in urban China. It argues that the significance of economic globalization on gender inequality depends on its impact on job queues in the labor market of a country.Methods. Using both individual‐ and city‐level data, and a series of multilevel linear and logistic models, we analyze the effects of three city‐level variables on the gender gap in income: foreign direct investment (FDI) per capita, growth rate of FDI, and opening up to overseas investment early on. We also examine gender differences in employment in high‐paying foreign‐invested firms, and in lower‐paying export‐oriented manufacturing.Results. We find no variation in gender gap in income among cities of varying levels of FDI, growth rates of FDI, or whether they were among the earliest to open up to international investment. Women are more likely to be employed in export‐oriented manufacturing industries that offer lower wages and are less likely to work in high‐paying foreign firms and joint ventures.Conclusions. These results suggest that economic globalization profoundly influences gender inequalities by changing the nature of job queues, and men and women are sorted and matched into jobs accordingly. Economic globalization contributed to and perpetuated a gendered distribution of male and female workers in the Chinese urban labor market in the late 1990s.
From the Ghetto to the Ivory Tower: Gendered Effects of Segregation on Elite‐College Completion*
Authors: Ehrmann Nicholas 
Published: November 2007

Objectives. To explore the continuing consequences of segregation for students in elite colleges and test whether male and female students experience the effects of segregation in different ways.Methods. Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Freshmen (NLSF, 1999–2003) are used to predict the odds of elite‐college graduation separately by gender. Theories on childhood gender socialization are addressed using OLS and logistic regression models to test for gendered pathways through which childhood segregation affects the likelihood of college graduation.Results. Males are exposed to higher levels of violence and disorder than females throughout childhood, and the gender gap in exposure grows as levels of segregation increase. The effect of segregation and its sequella on academic performance, however, appears to operate through different channels for males and females. Females experience significant negative effects of ongoing family stress, whereas males at elite colleges do not. Academic preparation, operating through college GPA, remains the single biggest factor affecting the likelihood of college graduation, although the strength of association is greater for males.Conclusions. Growing up in racially segregated environments affects long‐term educational outcomes in ways that are not gender neutral. Despite having reached the “ivory tower,” females and males continue to experience the effects of segregation, although in different ways and degrees.
Incidence and prevalence of pseudoexfoliation and open‐angle glaucoma in northern Sweden: I. Baseline report
Authors: Åström Siv , Lindén Christina 
Published: November 2007

Abstract.Purpose:  To evaluate the prevalence of pseudoexfoliation (PEX) syndrome and open‐angle glaucoma (OAG) among 66‐year‐old people in the municipality of Skellefteå in northern Sweden.Methods:  A population‐based study comprising 339 individuals, representing 40% of the age group and 87% of those randomly selected. The examination included tonometry, dilated slit‐lamp biomicroscopy, optic disc evaluation and a visual field analysis if glaucoma was suspected.Results:  The overall prevalence of PEX syndrome was 23%[95% confidence interval (CI): 20–26%], 29% (CI: 24–34%) in women and 15% (CI: 10–19%) in men (P < 0.01). The intraocular pressure (IOP) in PEX eyes was higher (17.3 mmHg, SD 4.5 mmHg) than in eyes without PEX [15.7 mmHg, SD 3.7 mmHg; P < 0.001]. IOP exceeded 22 mmHg in 17% (CI: 11–23%) of the PEX eyes and in 3.0% (CI: 1.9–4.1%) of the non‐PEX eyes. Seven individuals (2.1%) had OAG. Six were associated with PEX, i.e. 7.7% of the PEX individuals.Conclusion:  PEX syndrome is common in northern Sweden, affecting every fourth individual reaching the age of 66 years. The prevalence in women is twice that in men. Elevated IOP is roughly six times more frequent in eyes with PEX than in eyes without PEX syndrome. The prevalence of OAG is 2.1%.
Symptom dimensions and cognitive‐behavioural therapy outcome for pediatric obsessive‐compulsive disorder
Authors: Storch E. A. , Merlo L. J. , Larson M. J. , Bloss C. S. , Geffken G. R. , Jacob M. L. , Murphy T. K. , Goodman W. K. 
Published: November 2007

Objective:  To examine whether obsessive‐compulsive disorder (OCD) symptom subtypes are associated with response rates to cognitive‐behavioural therapy (CBT) among pediatric patients.Method:  Ninety‐two children and adolescents with OCD (range = 7–19 years) received 14 sessions of weekly or intensive (daily psychotherapy sessions) family‐based CBT. Assessments were conducted at baseline and post‐treatment. Primary outcomes included scores on the Children’s Yale‐Brown Obsessive‐Compulsive Scale (CY‐BOCS), remission status, and ratings on the Clinical Global Improvement (CGI) and Clinical Global Impression – Severity (CGI‐Severity) scales.Results:  Seventy‐six per cent of study participants (n = 70) were classified as treatment responders. Patients with aggressive/checking symptoms at baseline showed a trend (P = 0.06) toward improved treatment response and exhibited greater pre/post‐treatment CGI‐Severity change than those who endorsed only non‐aggressive/checking symptoms. Step‐wise linear regression analysis indicated higher scores on the aggressive/checking dimension were predictive of treatment‐related change in the CGI‐Severity index. Regression analysis with CY‐BOCS score as the dependent variable showed no difference between OCD subtypes.Conclusion:  Response to CBT in pediatric OCD patients does not differ substantially across subtypes.