bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The N2pc component and its links to attention shifts and spatially selective visual processing
Authors: Kiss Monika , Van Velzen José , Eimer Martin 
Published: October 2007

AbstractThe N2pc component has recently become a popular tool in attention research. To investigate whether this component exclusively reflects attentional target selection or also prior stages in attentional processing (covert orienting, target‐unspecific spatial attention), a spatial cuing procedure was combined with a visual search task. In some blocks, informative cues indicated the side of upcoming singleton targets that were present on most trials among uniform distractors. In other blocks, cues were spatially uninformative, and no preparatory shifts of attention were possible. The N2pc in response to targets was unaffected by this manipulation, showing that this component is not associated with attention shifts. Following informative cues, an attenuated N2pc was elicited by uniform nontarget arrays, suggesting that the N2pc may also reflect spatially specific processing of stimulus features at task‐relevant locations prior to target selection.
Modulation of ongoing cognitive processes by emotionally intense words
Authors: Carretié Luis , Hinojosa José A. , Albert Jacobo , López‐Martín Sara , De La Gándara Belén S. , Igoa José M. , Sotillo María 
Published: October 2007

AbstractContrary to what occurs with negative pictures, negative words are, in general, not capable of interfering with performance in ongoing cognitive tasks in normal subjects. A probable explanation is the limited arousing power of linguistic material. Especially intense words (insults and compliments), neutral personal adjectives, and pseudowords were presented to 28 participants while they executed a lexical decision task. Insults were associated with the poorest performance in the task and compliments with the best. Amplitude of the late positive component of the event‐related potentials, originating at parietal areas, was maximal in response to compliments and insults, but latencies were delayed in response to the latter. Results suggest that intense emotional words modulate ongoing cognitive processes through both bottom‐up (attentional capture by insults) and top‐down (facilitation of cognitive processing by arousing words) mechanisms.
Isolation and characterization of the first polymorphic microsatellite markers for Schistosoma haematobium and their application in multiplex reactions of larval stages
Authors: GOLAN R. , GOWER C. M. , EMERY A. M. , ROLLINSON D. , WEBSTER J. P. 
Published: October 2007

AbstractThe ability of microsatellite loci to reveal genetic diversity within the trematode Schistosoma haematobium is demonstrated for the first time. Nine novel polymorphic microsatellite markers were isolated and their viability assessed on 36 S. haematobium adult worm individuals from three geographical populations. Allelic diversity and gene diversity ranged from two to seven and from 0.29 to 0.76, respectively, suggesting high variability between individuals and between unrelated populations. Three primers also amplified Schistosoma mansoni and two Schistosoma japonicum. The results suggest these primers are useful for population genetic analyses of S. haematobium.
The Financial Burden of Overweight and Obesity among Elderly Americans: The Dynamics of Weight, Longevity, and Health Care Cost
Authors: Yang Zhou , Hall Allyson G. 
Published: October 2007

Objective. To investigate the financial burdens attributed to overweight and obesity on the U.S. health care system among elderly Americans.Data Source. Longitudinal Cost and Use files of the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey from 1992 to 2001.Study Design. We constructed a simultaneous equation system to model the dynamic relationship between changes in body weight, chronic diseases, functional status, longevity, and health care expenditures using maximum likelihood estimation. Based on the estimation, we conducted a simulation of one cohort with different baseline weights at age 65 and followed to death or up to age 100 of their health outcomes and lifetime health care expenditures.Principal Findings. The elderly men who were overweight or obese at age 65 had 6–13 percent more lifetime health care expenditures than the same age cohort within normal weight range at age 65. Elderly women who were overweight or obese at age 65 spent 11–17 percent more than those in a normal weight range. Both elderly men and women who were overweight or obese at age 65 had worse health outcomes than the normal weight cohorts. The average body mass index among survivors decreased by age.Conclusion. Overweight and obesity could place significant financial burdens on the U.S. health care system.
Nonprice Competition and Quality of Care in Managed Care: The New York SCHIP Market
Authors: Liu Hangsheng , Phelps Charles E. 
Published: October 2007

Objective. To examine the effect of nonprice competition among managed care plans on the quality of care in the New York SCHIP market.Data Sources. U.S. Census 2000; 2002 New York State Managed Care Plan Performance Report; and 2001 New York State Managed Care Annual Enrollment Report.Study Design. Each market is defined as a county, and competition is measured as the number of plans in a market. Quality of care is measured in percentages using three Consumer Assessment of Health Plans Survey and three Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set scores. Two‐stage least squares is applied to address the endogeneity between competition and the quality of care, using population as an instrument.Principle Findings. We find a negative association between competition and quality of care. An additional managed care plan is significantly associated with a decrease of 0.40–2.31 percentage points in four out of six quality measures. After adjusting for production cost, a positive correlation is observed between price and quality measures across different pricing regions.Conclusions. It seems likely that pricing policy is a constraint on quality production, although it may not be interpreted as a causal relationship and further study is needed.
Live imaging of Smad2/3 signaling in mouse skin wound healing
Authors: Chong Alphonsus K.S. , Satterwhite Thomas , Pham Hung M. , Costa Melinda A. , Luo Jian , Longaker Michael T. , Wyss‐Coray Tony , Chang James 
Published: October 2007

ABSTRACTBiophotonics and real‐time imaging are novel technologies that can greatly enhance the study of complex biological processes. We applied this technology in a transgenic mouse with a luciferase reporter gene fused to a transforming growth factor‐β (TGF‐β) responsive Smad2/3‐binding element to study bioluminescence after skin wounding. Two dorsal midline excisional skin wounds were made using a biopsy punch. One wound was randomized to suture closure and the other allowed to heal by secondary intention (n=8 each wound). Bioluminescence was measured at fixed time points following surgery. Phospho‐Smad2/3 immunohistochemistry was performed to localize expression in skin wound samples. In vivo bioluminescence increased following skin wounding. Peak activity occurred on day 17 and was fourfold that of baseline (p<0.05). Subgroup analysis of primary and secondary healing showed that primarily sutured wounds had peak activities earlier than those with secondary healing, although this did not reach statistical significance. Intense phospho‐Smad2/3 staining was found in the hair follicles. In vivo bioluminescence tracks Smad2/3‐dependent TGF‐β signaling in the in vivo wound healing process. Our findings suggest that signaling increases after wound healing, which contrasts with other studies that show raised TGF‐β signaling in the initial days following wounding.
Measurement of venous leg ulcers with a laser‐based three‐dimensional method: Comparison to computer planimetry with photography
Authors: Kecelj‐Leskovec Nada , Jezeršek Matija , Možina Janez , Pavlović Miloš D. , Lunder Tomaž 
Published: October 2007

ABSTRACTA lack of reproducible and practical methods to assess venous leg ulcer healing is a major problem encountered by investigators evaluating various treatments. We aimed to compare a new laser‐based three‐dimensional (3D) measuring device with computer planimetry with photography for the assessment of venous leg ulcers, and to estimate the reliability of measurements by the methods. Sixty measurements of perimeter and area of 15 venous leg ulcers, <10 cm in diameter (eight patients; six females; mean age 71 years; range 52–90 years), were made with both methods. Two independent investigators performed the measurements at the first visit and 2–4 weeks later. The precision and accuracy of the methods were determined and compared. The accuracies for computer planimetry with photography in comparison with the laser‐based 3D measuring method were 8.4% for perimeter and 16.0% for area measurements. The precisions of ulcer area and perimeter measurements did not differ significantly between the two methods (p=0.993 and 0.201, respectively). The main advantage of the laser‐based measuring method is the 3D ulcer measurement with a precision of 7.5%, which also takes into account distortions created by the limb convexity. The system is accurate, inexpensive, user‐friendly, and appropriate for everyday practice.
Methods Used to Eliminate Colic in Infants in the Eastern Parts of Turkey
Authors: Çiftçi Esra Karaca , Arikan Duygu 
Published: October 2007

ABSTRACT
Objective: Infant colic is a common problem characterized by excessive crying and fussing. There is not a consistent treatment method used to eliminate colic. Mothers make use of various models together to eliminate colic in their infants. This study was carried out to delineate the methods used by mothers to eliminate colic in their infants and to determine the efficacy of the various methods.Design: Descriptive study.Methods: The study was performed by visiting the homes of 186 babies (1–3 months of age) whose mothers had previously registered at a health center in Eastern Turkey between January 1 and February 28, 2005. Questionnaires and Wessel's criteria were used to obtain the data. The methods used by mothers to eliminate colic were classified as behavioral, natural, and drug treatments and were examined accordingly.Results: According to mothers' statements, 75.8% of the babies had colic, while according to the Wessel criteria, 51.1% had colic symptoms. One hundred percent of the mothers used behavioral treatments, 66% used drug therapies, and 64.5% used natural treatment methods to eliminate colic.Conclusions: Mothers indicated that they achieved the most benefit from behavioral interventions, followed by natural therapies, and the least from drug treatments.
Predictors of Health Services Utilization by Hypertensive Patients in South Korea
Authors: Ham Ok Kyung , Lee Chung Yul 
Published: October 2007

ABSTRACT
Objectives: The purpose of this study was to elucidate the factors that influence making contact with health care services after a diagnosis of hypertension and the volume of health services utilization by the hypertensive patients.Methods: A secondary data analysis with 3 data sets, including health screening, health survey, and national health insurance reimbursement data. Data on 841,630 public servants aged between 21 and 65 years who underwent health screenings in 2000 and 2002 were provided by the National Health Insurance Cooperation.Results: Of the 841,630 screened participants, 204,099 (24.25%) were hypertensives and 9,057 (1.08%) were newly diagnosed as having hypertension. Age, sex, systolic blood pressure, comorbidity, alcohol consumption, and tobacco use were significantly associated with making contact with health care services, while age, sex, place of residence, occupation, body mass index, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, comorbidity, alcohol consumption, and tobacco use were significantly associated with the volume of health services utilized by the hypertensive patients.Conclusions: Health professionals should devise strategies to encourage nonusers and inappropriate users of health services to obtain timely health services while considering the factors that influence making contact with health care services and the volume of health services utilization.
Preliminary Tests of an Ecological Model of Hispanic Farmworker Health
Authors: Ward Louise S. 
Published: October 2007

ABSTRACT
Objective: The purpose of this study was to propose and test an ecological model to structure research and practice concerning farmworker health in the United States. The research question was, “What is the relationship of selected social, cultural, and economic indicators to the health of adult Hispanic migrant farmworkers?”Design: A model of biogenetic, social, cultural, economic, individual response, and access factors affecting health was derived from the literature and nursing practice. Data from the 1998 National Agricultural Workers Survey (NAWS), conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor, were used in a secondary analysis to perform preliminary tests of the relationships proposed in the model.Sample: The NAWS conducts interviews with a nationally representative sample of farmworkers employed in the United States. Because of the importance of theorized cultural factors, the sample for this study was limited to farmworkers who identified themselves as Hispanic, resulting in 1,864 subjects.Measurements: Variables were used directly from the data or constructed from the available data, and proposed relationships were tested statistically.Results: Analysis of the data supported the relationships proposed in the model.Conclusions: The proposed model is a useful tool for organizing variables and giving direction to farmworker health research. Suggestions for future research are made.
Non‐Pulmonary Vein Epicardial Foci of Atrial Fibrillation Identified in the Left Atrium after Pulmonary Vein Isolation
Authors: YAMADA TAKUMI , MURAKAMI YOSHIMASA , OKADA TARO , YOSHIDA NAOKI , NINOMIYA YUICHI , TOYAMA JUNJI , YOSHIDA YUKIHIKO , TSUBOI NAOYA , INDEN YASUYA , HIRAI MAKOTO , MUROHARA TOYOAKI , McELDERRY HUGH T. , EPSTEIN ANDREW E. , PLUMB VANCE J. , NEAL KAY G. 
Published: October 2007

Background:

Pulmonary vein (PV) isolation (PVI) has been demonstrated to be an effective technique for curing atrial fibrillation (AF). AF foci that cannot be isolated by PVI (non‐PV foci) can become the cause of AF recurrence. The purpose of this study was to investigate the characteristics of non‐PV AF foci.
Methods and Results:

Two hundred consecutive patients with symptomatic AF underwent electrophysiologic studies. In all patients, successful ostial or antral PVI was achieved with a multielectrode basket catheter (MBC). In 45 patients, spontaneous AF was induced even after PVI. In 23 of those patients, 30 AF foci were found in the left atrium (LA) (12 in the PV antrum, and 18 in the LA wall). Twenty‐six of those foci were eliminated by focal ablation guided by an MBC. Five of those foci (four in the PV antrum and one in the LA posterior wall) were speculated to be located epicardially because a small potential preceding the LA potential was recorded from the MBC electrodes during AF initiation at the successful ablation site where single large potentials were recorded during sinus rhythm and a longer duration of radiofrequency energy delivery was needed to eliminate them.
Conclusions:

MBC mapping with induction of spontaneous AF may be useful for identifying non‐PV AF foci in the LA after PVI. In some of those non‐PV foci, mainly around the PVI lesions, a few electrophysiologic findings suggesting an epicardial location were observed. This may be a rationale for the efficacy of extensive PV ablation
Intravenous Magnesium Sulfate Enhances the Ability of Intravenous Ibutilide to Successfully Convert Atrial Fibrillation or Flutter
Authors: TERCIUS ALIX J. , KLUGER JEFFREY , COLEMAN CRAIG I. , MICHAEL WHITE C. 
Published: October 2007

Background:

A previous randomized trial found that adjunctive use of intravenous magnesium (a total of 4 grams) can attenuate the corrected QT interval (QTc) prolongation associated with ibutilide, but its impact on ibutilide efficacy has not been elucidated.
Methods:

This was a cohort evaluation of 229 consecutive patients who received ibutilide in the presence or absence of intravenous magnesium. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine the impact of magnesium on ibutilide efficacy as well as the impact of magnesium dosing intensity on ibutilide efficacy.
Results:

The overall chemical conversion rate with ibutilide in the presence or absence of magnesium was 59.8%. The concurrent administration of magnesium (n = 141) was associated with a 78% increased odds of successful chemical conversion (adjusted odds ratio, AOR; 1.78 [95% confidence intervals,CI 1.02–3.09]) compared to those who did not receive magnesium (n = 88). Magnesium dosing intensity appeared to be an important determinant of ibutilide efficacy, with the 4 grams dose associated with a threefold increase in the odds of successful chemical conversion (AOR; 2.98 [95% CI 1.46–6.11). The 1 to 3 grams subgroup was associated with only a trend toward an improvement. There was only one case of Torsade de Pointes (TdP) which occurred in the no adjunctive magnesium group.
Conclusions:

Concurrent use of magnesium enhanced the ability of ibutilide to successfully convert atrial fibrillation (AF) or flutter (AFl). The 4 grams magnesium dose appeared to provide the greatest benefit.
The Impact of Age and Gender on Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy Outcome
Authors: ZARDKOOHI OMEED , NANDIGAM VEENA , MURRAY LORNE , KEVIN HEIST E. , MELA THEOFANIE , ORENCOLE MARY , RUSKIN JEREMY N. , SINGH JAGMEET P. 
Published: October 2007

Background:

Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) outcome varies significantly among patients. We aimed to determine the impact of age, gender, and heart failure etiology on the long‐term outcome of patients receiving CRT.
Methods:

A total of 117 patients with drug‐refractory heart failure, New York Heart Association (NYHA) Class III or IV, and a wide QRS complex, who received CRT, were followed for one year. Long‐term outcome was measured as a combined end point of hospitalization for heart failure and/or all cause mortality. Efficacy of CRT was compared between men and women, between older and younger patients, and between patients with ischemic and nonischemic heart disease. Time to the primary end point was estimated by the Kaplan‐Meier method and comparisons were made using the Breslow‐Wilcoxon test.
Results:

Baseline clinical characteristics were comparable between gender, age, and heart failure etiology subgroups. There was no significant difference in the combined end point between older versus younger (age >70, (n = 71), versus age < 70, (n = 46), P = 0.52); both genders (men, n = 91 vs women, n = 26, P = 0.46) and etiology of the cardiomyopathy (ischemic (n = 79) vs nonischemic (n = 38), P = 0.12). Substratification of the genders by the etiology of the cardiomyopathy, showed that women with ischemic cardiomyopathy (IW, n = 10) had a trend to a worse outcome compared to the other groups i.e., nonischemic women (NIW, n = 16), ischemic men (IM, n = 69), and nonischemic men (NIM, n = 22), P = 0.04. After adjusting for potential covariates, a Cox regression analysis showed no significant difference between the groups (P = 0.61).
Conclusions:

CRT outcome appears independent of age, gender, and heart failure etiology in this single institution study.
Acute bacterial conjunctivitis
Authors: Høvding Gunnar 
Published: October 2007

Abstract.Acute bacterial conjunctivitis is the eye disease most commonly seen by general practitioners, and is estimated to represent approximately 1% of all consultations in primary care. This article gives a review of the epidemiology, aetiology, clinical picture, complications, differential diagnoses, in vitro examinations and therapy of acute bacterial conjunctivitis. Until now, topical antibacterial therapy has generally been preferred by both physicians and patients because this will usually shorten the course of the disease slightly and allow the early readmittance of children to their kindergarten or school. Recently, several reports from primary care have confirmed the well‐known clinical experience that the disorder has an excellent prognosis with a high frequency of spontaneous remission. In accordance, an expectant attitude or delayed prescription policy are now frequently strongly recommended. However, these reports also emphasize the difficulty in making a correct clinical distinction between bacterial and viral conjunctivitis. The effect of a general non‐prescription attitude on transmission rates of pathogens also remains to be clarified. This must be born in mind when deciding how these patients should be handled. The socioeconomic and medical pros and cons of different treatment policies are discussed, and a highly personal view on the optimal handling strategy for these patients is also presented.
Effect of mandibular distraction osteogenesis on developing molars
Authors: Kleine‐Hakala M , Hukki J , Hurmerinta K 
Published: October 2007

Structured AbstractAuthors –  Kleine‐Hakala M, Hukki J, Hurmerinta KObjective –  To observe the effect of mandibular distraction osteogenesis (DO) on developing molars.Design –  Descriptive clinical study.Setting –  University hospital setting. Seventeen children (mean age 7.6 years) with various syndromes (hemifacial/craniofacial microsomia, Goldenhar syndrome, Treacher Collins syndrome, Nager syndrome and Pyle–Bakwin–Krida syndrome) participated.Experimental variable –  Severely retrognathic lower jaws were distracted (mean 30 days) with an extraoral bicortically fixed DO device.Outcome measure –  Consecutive panoramic tomograms were analysed after a mean follow‐up period of 3.6 years, range 1–6.9 years.Results –  The mandibular molars were affected by DO in 13 of the 17 patients which included 18 of 63 mandibular molars studied. Structural changes included root malformations, hindered tooth development and the destruction of tooth follicles. Positional changes such as shifted and tilted teeth were also found. Three injured teeth failed to erupt. These changes were because of splitting of the tooth follicle during the osteotomy (22%), piercing of the tooth follicle by the pin (39%) or migration of tooth germ towards the newly created bone (39%). Fifteen per cent of first molars, 43% of second molars and 31% of third molars were affected during the distraction process. Of all dental injuries, 44% were noticed while the appliance was in place. A further 17% of injuries were noted between 3 months and 1 year postoperatively and 33% during the second postoperative year.Conclusions –  Although dental injuries are a minor disadvantage compared with the vast benefits offered by DO, focusing on these drawbacks might lead to re‐consideration of the type of the device as well as the timing of DO.