bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Ultrasound of the post‐partum uterus
Authors: DEANS Rebecca , DIETZ Hans Peter 
Published: July 2006

AbstractAims:  To assess the appearance of the post‐partum uterus on transabdominal ultrasound, and to correlate these findings with maternal morbidity.Methods:  In a prospective observational study, 94 women were seen within 24 h of their delivery and assessed by transabdominal ultrasound. Volumetric data were calculated from measurements of intrauterine echogenic areas. All women were contacted for a telephone interview 1–4 months following their delivery to assess whether they had experienced morbidity associated with their delivery such as post‐partum haemorrhage, pyrexia, prolonged hospital stay, follow‐up investigations or surgical intervention.Results:  Two areas of echogenic material were identified in the upper and lower segment of the post‐partum uterus. These were assessed independently for dimensions and volumes. The upper segment area had an average thickness of 13.8 mm and an average volume of 35.6 cm3 The lower segment/cervical area held considerably more material with an average volume of 54.8 cm3. The mean duration of post‐partum bleeding was 4.2 weeks. None of the recruited women required a blood transfusion. The average hospital stay was 4 days. Twenty‐two (23%) of the participants experienced a febrile illness following delivery, and 19 (20%) were commenced on antibiotics. None of these parameters of post‐partum morbidity were associated with the ultrasound findings.Conclusions:  In this study ultrasound evaluation in the immediate post‐partum period revealed unexpectedly large volumes of echogenic material in the uterine cavity. However, such volumes of echogenic material were not associated with postnatal morbidity, and can probably be accepted as normal.
Comparison of the adhesion scoring systems used in animal models and assessment of interobserver reproducibility
Authors: DEMİRTURK Fazli , AYTAN Hakan , CALİSKAN Ahmet C. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractTwo commonly used adhesion scoring systems were compared and the interobserver variability was assessed in 30 Wistar albino rats. Thirty‐five milligrams per kilogram leflunomide was administered orally and intraperitoneally. Two weeks later, adhesion formation was assessed using the two scoring systems. The results showed that the two currently used adhesion scoring systems are subjective and the final results change depending on the observer and the type of the scoring system that has been used.
Right parietal lobe syndrome as a clinical variant of Creutzfeldt‐Jakob disease
Authors: KOMURO Ryutaro , KOBAYASHI Katsuji , SHIMAZAKI Masao , SUGIMORI Kaoru , KOSHINO Yoshifumi , SATOU Katsuaki , ODA Yoshio 
Published: July 2006

AbstractWe report a 57‐year‐old patient with Creutzfeldt‐Jakob disease that initially presented with right parietal lobe syndrome. He featured early dystonic and hemiparetic posture of the left upper limb, finger agnosia, geographic disorientation and acalculia and developed myoclonus from the left upper extremity and right‐sided periodic synchronized discharges. He died 2 years and 3 months later. Brain autopsy revealed a marked reduction in brain weight, extensive cortical spongiform changes and white matter degeneration. Immunolabeled prion proteins were deposited diffusely in the neuropil. Accentuation of the cortical change was unclear but white matter degeneration was more severe in the right parietal lobe than in the left parietal lobe. Right parietal lobe syndrome is rarely reported as an initial symptom of Creutzfeldt‐Jakob disease and can be a clinical variant of the disease.
Clinical Implications of Headache in Lacunar Stroke: Relevance of Site of Infarct
Authors: Arboix Adrià , Grau‐Olivares Marta , García‐Eroles Luis , Massons Joan , Comes Emili , Targa Cecilia 
Published: July 2006

Objective.—To assess whether the infarction topography influenced upon the incidence of headache and the likelihood of neurological recovery in lacunar infarction.Background.—The relationship between topography of infarction and the incidence of headache as well as the influence of headache on neurological outcome in patients with lacunar stroke are still unclear.Methods.—In a cohort of 387 patients with neuroimaging‐proven acute lacunar infarction collected from a prospective hospital‐based stroke registry over a 12‐year period, 43 patients (11.1%) presented with headache within a 72‐hour interval of stroke onset.Results.—Headache was more common in deep brain gray matter or brainstem lacunar infarction than in supratentorial white matter lacunar infarction (14.9% vs 8%, P < .033), but lacunar infarctions in the supratentorial white matter had less frequently absence of limitation at discharge (15.1% vs 25.1%, P < .013). In deep brain gray matter or brainstem lacunar infarction, early neurological recovery decreased from 26.2% to 19.2% when headache was present at stroke onset. In the multivariate analysis, dysarthria‐clumsy hand and absence of headache in deep brain gray matter or brainstem lacunar infarction were independent predictors of favorable outcome.Conclusions.—In patients with lacunar infarction, headache at stroke onset was more common in deep brain gray matter or brainstem topographies than in supratentorial white matter lesions. In deep brain gray matter or brainstem lacunar infarctions, early neurological recovery was less likely when headache was present.
Language Lateralization in Temporal Lobe Epilepsy: A Comparison between fMRI and the Wada Test
Authors: Benke Thomas , Köylü Bülent , Visani Pamela , Karner Elfriede , Brenneis Christian , Bartha Lisa , Trinka Eugen , Trieb Thomas , Felber Stephan , Bauer Gerhard , Chemelli Andreas , Willmes Klaus 
Published: July 2006

Summary:  Purpose: Recent studies have claimed that language functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) can identify language lateralization in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and that fMRI‐based findings are highly concordant with the conventional assessment procedure of speech dominance, the intracarotid amobarbital test (IAT). Methods: To establish the power of language fMRI to detect language lateralization during presurgical assessment, we compared the findings of a semantic decision paradigm with the results of a standard IAT in 68 patients with chronic intractable right and left temporal lobe epilepsy (rTLE, n = 28; lTLE, n = 40) who consecutively underwent a presurgical evaluation program. The patient group also included 14 (20.6%) subjects with atypical (bilateral or right hemisphere) speech. Four raters used a visual analysis procedure to determine the laterality of speech‐related activation individually for each patient. Results: Overall congruence between fMRI‐based laterality and the laterality quotient of the IAT was 89.3% in rTLE and 72.5% in lTLE patients. Concordance was best in rTLE patients with left speech. In lTLE patients, language fMRI identified atypical, right hemisphere speech dominance in every case, but missed left hemisphere speech dominance in 17.2%. Frontal activations had higher concordance with the IAT than did activations in temporoparietal or combined regions of interest (ROIs). Because of methodologic problems, recognition of bilateral speech was difficult. Conclusions: These data provide evidence that language fMRI as used in the present study has limited correlation with the IAT, especially in patients with lTLE and with mixed speech dominance. Further refinements regarding the paradigms and analysis procedures will be needed to improve the contribution of language fMRI for presurgical assessment.
Facial Emotion Recognition after Curative Nondominant Temporal Lobectomy in Patients with Mesial Temporal Sclerosis
Authors: McClelland Shearwood , Garcia Rebeca E. , Peraza Daniel M. , Shih Tina T. , Hirsch Lawrence J. , Hirsch Joy , Goodman Robert R. 
Published: July 2006

Summary: Purpose:The right (nondominant) amygdala is crucial for processing facial emotion recognition (FER). Patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) associated with mesial temporal sclerosis (MTS) often incur right amygdalar damage, resulting in impaired FER if TLE onset occurred before age 6 years. Consequently, early right mesiotemporal insult has been hypothesized to impair plasticity, resulting in FER deficits, whereas damage after age 5 years results in no deficit. The authors performed this study to test this hypothesis in a uniformly seizure‐free postsurgical population.Methods:Controls (n = 10), early‐onset patients (n = 7), and late‐onset patients (n = 5) were recruited. All patients had nondominant anteromedial temporal lobectomy (AMTL), Wada‐confirmed left‐hemisphere language dominance and memory support, MTS on both preoperative MRI and biopsy, and were Engel class I 5 years postoperatively. By using a standardized (Ekman and Friesen) human face series, subjects were asked to match the affect of one of two faces to that of a simultaneously presented target face. Target faces expressed fear, anger, or happiness.Results:Statistical analysis revealed that the early‐onset group had significantly impaired FER (measured by percentage of faces correct) for fear (p = 0.036), whereas the FER of the late‐onset group for fear was comparable to that of controls. FER for anger and happiness was comparable across all three groups.Conclusions:Despite seizure control/freedom after AMTL, early TLE onset continues to impair FER for frightened expressions (but not for angry or happy expression), whereas late TLE onset does not impair FER, with no indication that AMTL resulted in FER impairment. These results indicate that proper development of the right amygdala is necessary for optimal fear recognition, with other neural processes unable to compensate for early amygdalar damage.
Quality of Care for Acute Myocardial Infarction in Elderly Patients with Alcohol‐Related Diagnoses
Authors: Fiellin David A. , O'Connor Patrick G. , Wang Yongfei , Radford Martha J. , Krumholz Harlan M. 
Published: July 2006

Background: Elderly adults with alcohol‐related diagnoses represent a vulnerable population that may receive lower quality of treatment during hospitalization for acute myocardial infarction. We sought to determine whether elderly patients with alcohol‐related diagnoses are less likely to receive standard indicators of quality care for acute myocardial infarction.Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort analysis using administrative and medical record data from the Cooperative Cardiovascular Project. Subjects were Medicare beneficiaries with a confirmed principal discharge diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction from all acute care hospitals in the United States over an 8‐month period. Our primary outcome was the receipt of 7 guideline‐recommended care measures among all eligible patients and patients who were ideal candidates for a given measure.Results: In all, 1,284 (1%) of the 155,026 eligible patients met criteria for an alcohol‐related diagnosis. Among the alcohol‐related diagnoses, 1,077/1,284 (84%) were for the diagnoses of alcohol dependence or alcohol abuse. Patients with alcohol‐related diagnoses were less likely than those without alcohol‐related diagnoses to receive β‐blockers at the time of discharge (55% vs. 60%, p=0.02). We found no other significant differences in performance of the quality indicators after stratifying by indication and adjustment for baseline characteristics.Conclusions: Alcohol‐related diagnoses are not a barrier to receiving most quality of care measures in elderly patients hospitalized for acute myocardial infarction.
Validity of Transdermal Alcohol Monitoring: Fixed and Self‐Regulated Dosing
Authors: Sakai Joseph T. , Mikulich‐Gilbertson Susan K. , Long Robert J. , Crowley Thomas J. 
Published: July 2006

Background: To study the validity of transdermal assessment of alcohol concentration measured by a lightweight, noninvasive device.Methods: Subjects wore a 227‐g anklet that sensed transdermal alcohol concentrations (TACs) every 15 to 30 minutes, downloading results to a remote computer each day. Twenty‐four subjects entered a laboratory and received a dose of 0, 0.28, or 0.56 g/kg of ethanol. Breath alcohol concentrations (BrAC) and TAC were measured every 15 to 30 minutes Twenty others [10 alcohol dependent (AD) and 10 not (NAD)] in the community who wore the anklet for 8 days kept a drinking log and provided a BrAC sample each day.Results: In the laboratory, no zero‐dose subject, and every subject receiving alcohol, had alcohol‐positive TACs. The device distinguished low‐ and high‐alcohol–dosing groups using peak (t14=3.37; p<0.01) and area under the curve (t14=3.42; p<0.01) of TACs. Within dosing groups, average TAC curves were broader (right‐shifted) and had lower peaks than average BrAC curves. For community participants, self‐reported number of drinks (t18=−3.77; p<0.01), area under the TAC curve (t9.5=−3.56; p<0.01), and mean TAC (t9.9=−3.35; p<0.01) all significantly distinguished the AD and NAD groups. However, individual transdermal readings were not reliably quantitatively equivalent to simultaneously obtained breath results.Conclusions: Within the limits of the laboratory study, the device consistently detected consumption of approximately 2 standard drinks. On average, the device shows discriminative validity as a semiquantitative measure of alcohol consumption but individual readings often are not equivalent to simultaneous BrACs.
Sedative and GABAergic Effects of Ethanol on Male and Female Rats
Authors: Cha Young May , Li Qiang , Wilson Wilkie A. , Swartzwelder H. Scott 
Published: July 2006

Background: Women consume less alcohol than men, and yet they are more susceptible than men to the negative medical consequences of alcohol use, such as cirrhosis of the liver, cardiac disease, and cognitive impairments. This sex difference is also reflected in animal studies, in which male and female rats differ on both behavioral and electrophysiological measures. Given that one significant difference between males and females is the cycling fluctuations of the sex hormones, this study aimed to compare the relative sensitivity of adolescent and adult rats of both sexes and varying estrous stages to the behavioral and electrophysiological effects of ethanol.Methods: Adult female rats were lavaged daily for estrous cycle assessment. Following administration of 5 g/kg ethanol, adolescent and adult male and female animals were observed for loss of the righting reflex. Then, using whole‐cell recording, we tested the response of spontaneous, gamma‐aminobutyric acid (GABAA) receptor‐mediated inhibitory postsynaptic currents (sIPSCs) in hippocampal slices from drug‐naïve adult male and female rats.Results: Consistent with previous findings, adolescent animals were less sensitive than adults to the effect of ethanol on the righting reflex. In addition, adult proestrous and diestrous female rats were less sensitive than male rats to the sedative effects of ethanol. Finally, ethanol increased the frequency of sIPSCs in hippocampal pyramidal neurons and did so more potently in cells from male rats than in those from female rats.Conclusions: Female animals are less sensitive to the behavioral sedative effects of ethanol than adult male rats, and the effect is pronounced in the proestrous and diestrous states. This sex difference may be related to differential sensitivity of GABA receptor–mediated central nervous system function to ethanol in females.
Gene by Environment Interaction: The −159C/T Polymorphism in the Promoter Region of the CD14 Gene Modifies the Effect of Alcohol Consumption on Serum IgE Levels
Authors: Campos Joaquin , Gude Francisco , Quinteiro Celsa , Vidal Carmen , Gonzalez‐Quintela Arturo 
Published: July 2006

Background: Serum IgE is increased in heavy drinkers. Endotoxin mediates most of the immunological alterations associated with heavy drinking. The −159C/T polymorphism in the promoter region of the gene encoding CD14 (an endotoxin receptor) is associated with serum IgE levels in different populations.Aim: To investigate the possible interaction between alcohol intake and the −159C/T polymorphism in the promoter region of the CD14 gene for serum IgE levels.Methods: A total of 415 individuals (51.6% males, median age 50 years, range 18–92 years) were studied. A total of 140 individuals were alcohol abstainers, 112 were moderate drinkers (1–280 g/week), and 163 were heavy drinkers (>280 g/week). Main determinations included the CD14/−159C/T genotype, a panel of skin prick tests, total serum IgE, and specific serum IgE against common aeroallergens (Phadiatop test).Results: Heavy drinking was associated with increased total serum IgE values and with positive specific serum IgE to common aeroallergens, but the association was stronger in carriers of the CD14/−159C allele (either CC homozygotes or CT heterozygotes) than in CD14/−159TT homozygotes. Both additive and multiplicative interactions between heavy drinking and the CD14/−159C allele for total and specific serum IgE values was still present after adjusting for potential confounders. Neither alcohol consumption nor the CD14/−159 genotype was associated with skin prick test positivity.Conclusions: The CD14/−159C/T polymorphism modifies the effect of alcohol consumption on serum IgE levels.
Rapid Induction of Apoptosis in Gastrulating Mouse Embryos by Ethanol and Its Prevention by HB‐EGF
Authors: Kilburn Brian A. , Chiang Po Jen , Wang Jun , Flentke George R. , Smith Susan M. , Armant D. Randall 
Published: July 2006

Background:Ethanol exposure during gastrulation and early neurulation induces apoptosis within certain embryonic cell populations, leading to craniofacial and neurological defects. There is currently little information about the initial kinetics of ethanol‐induced apoptosis, and interest in the ability of endogenous survival factors to moderate apoptosis is growing. Ethanol alters intracellular signaling, leading to cell death in chick embryos, suggesting that apoptosis could occur rapidly and that signaling pathways activated by survival factors might reduce apoptosis.Methods:Pregnant mice were intubated with 1, 2, or 4 g/kg ethanol on day 7.5 of embryogenesis (E7.5) 1, 3, or 6, hours before harvesting gastrulation‐stage embryos. Control animals received maltose/dextran. Blood alcohol concentrations (BAC) were determined by gas chromatography. E7.5 embryos isolated from untreated dams were cultured in vitro for 1 or 3 hr with 0 or 400 mg% ethanol and 0 or 5 nM heparin‐binding epidermal growth factor (EGF)‐like growth factor (HB‐EGF). Apoptosis was quantified using fluorescence microscopy to detect annexin V binding and DNA fragmentation [terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase‐mediated dUTP‐Xnickendlabeling (TUNEL)] in whole‐mount or sectioned embryos.Results:Both annexin V binding and TUNEL were elevated (p<0.05) in embryos exposed in utero to 1 g/kg ethanol for 3 hours, increasing linearly with time and ethanol concentration. Apoptosis increased (p<0.05) in all germ cell layers. Mice treated with 4 g/kg sustained BAC of 400 mg% for nearly 3 hours, significantly increasing apoptosis within the first hour. Cultured embryos exposed to 400 mg% ethanol displayed 2‐ to 3‐fold more TUNEL than vehicle‐treated embryos (p<0.05); however, exogenous HB‐EGF prevented apoptosis.Conclusions:Ethanol rapidly produced apoptosis in gastrulation‐stage embryos, consistent with induction by intracellular signaling. The ethanol‐induced apoptotic pathway was blocked by the endogenous survival factor, HB‐EGF. Differences in the expression of survival factors within individual embryos could be partly responsible for variations in the teratogenic effects of ethanol among offspring exposed prenatally.
Effects of Chronic Alcohol and Repeated Deprivations on Dopamine D1 and D2 Receptor Levels in the Extended Amygdala of Inbred Alcohol‐Preferring Rats
Authors: Sari Youssef , Bell Richard L. , Zhou Feng C. 
Published: July 2006

Background:Dopaminergic (DA) activity in the extended amygdala (EA) has been known to play a pivotal role in mediating drug and alcohol addiction. Alterations of DA activity within the EA after chronic exposure to alcohol or substances of abuse are considered a major mechanism for the development of alcoholism and addiction. To date, it is not clear how different patterns of chronic alcohol drinking affect DA receptor levels. Therefore, the current studies investigated the effects of chronic ethanol consumption, with or without deprivations, on D1 and D2 receptor densities within the EA.Methods:Inbred alcohol‐preferring (iP) rats were divided into 3 groups with the following treatments: (1) water for 14 weeks; (2) continuous alcohol (C‐Alc) for 14 weeks [24‐hour concurrent access to 15 and 30% (v/v) ethanol]; or (3) repeatedly deprived of alcohol (RD‐Alc) (24‐hour concurrent access to 15 and 30% ethanol for 6 weeks, followed by 2 cycles of 2 weeks of deprivation of and 2 weeks of reexposure to ethanol access). At the end of 14 weeks, the rats were killed for autoradiographic labeling of D1 and D2 receptors.Results:Compared with the water control group, both the C‐Alc and the RD‐Alc groups displayed increases in D1 receptor binding density in the anterior region of the Acb core, whereas the RD‐Alc group displayed additional increases in D1 receptor binding density in anterior regions of the lateral and intercalated nuclei of the amygdala. Additionally, both C‐Alc and RD‐Alc rats displayed increases in D2 receptor binding density in anterior regions of the Acb shell and core, whereas RD‐Alc rats displayed additional increases in D2 receptor binding density in the dorsal striatum.Conclusion:The results of this study indicate that 14‐week extended alcohol drinking with continuous chronic or repeated deprivations increase binding sites of D1 and D2 receptors in specific regions of the EA with greater sensitivity in the anterior regions. The repeated deprivation has greater effect on altering D1 and D2 receptor binding sites in the Acb, dorsal striatum, and subamygdala regions. The current result indicates that the two drinking paradigms may have common as well as differential mechanisms on alteration of dopamine receptor–binding sites in specific regions of the EA.
Alcohol Prices, Beverage Quality, and the Demand for Alcohol: Quality Substitutions and Price Elasticities
Authors: Gruenewald Paul J. , Ponicki William R. , Holder Harold D. , Romelsjö Anders 
Published: July 2006

Background:Although the published literature on alcohol beverage taxes, prices, sales, and related problems treats alcoholic beverages as a simple good, alcohol is a complex good composed of different beverage types (i.e., beer, wine, and spirits) and quality brands (e.g., high‐, medium‐, and low‐quality beers). As a complex good, consumers may make substitutions between purchases of different beverage types and brands in response to price increases. For this reason, the availability of a broad range of beverage prices provides opportunities for consumers to mitigate the effects of average price increases through quality substitutions; a change in beverage choice in response to price increases to maintain consumption.Methods:Using Swedish price and sales data provided by Systembolaget for the years 1984 through 1994, this study assessed the relationships between alcohol beverage prices, beverage quality, and alcohol sales. The study examined price effects on alcohol consumption using seemingly unrelated regression equations to model the impacts of price increases within 9 empirically defined quality classes across beverage types. The models enabled statistical assessments of both own‐price and cross‐price effects between types and classes.Results:The results of these analyses showed that consumers respond to price increases by altering their total consumption and by varying their brand choices. Significant reductions in sales were observed in response to price increases, but these effects were mitigated by significant substitutions between quality classes.Conclusions:The findings suggest that the net impacts of purposeful price policy to reduce consumption will depend on how such policies affect the range of prices across beverage brands.