bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Integral spectrophotometric analysis of 5‐aminolaevulinic acid‐induced fluorescence cytology of the urinary bladder
Authors: TAUBER STEPHAN , STEPP HERBERT , MEIER RICHARD , BONE AGNETA , HOFSTETTER ALFONS , STIEF CHRISTIAN 
Published: April 2006

OBJECTIVETo evaluate whether tumour cells can be detected in bladder lavage fluid samples by an objective spectrofluorometric method, as 5‐aminolaevulinic acid (ALA)‐induced fluorescence endoscopy (AFE) and cytology are promising valuable tools for detecting transitional cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder (TCCB).MATERIALS AND METHODSAfter instilling ALA into the urinary bladder, lavage samples were collected and their sediments analysed spectroscopically under blue excitation at ≈ 400 nm wavelength. During AFE, biopsies were taken. From 62 cases, 24 patients had a histologically confirmed TCCB (group A), 28 had a history of TCCB but no evidence of disease (group B) and 10 were negative for TCCB (group C).RESULTSLavage sediments of all patients fluoresced in the green spectral range, typical of cellular autofluorescence. Sediments of all patients of group A caused red fluorescence peaking at 635 nm, indicating protoporphyrin IX (PPIX). The PPIX signals derived from bleaching spectra were significantly different between benign and malignant findings (P = 0.001). There was another red fluorescence peak at ≈ 620 nm; in 19 cases its intensity exceeded the intensity of the PPIX signal.CONCLUSIONSSpectrofluorometric analysis of lavage sample sediments can be used to detect tumour‐associated red fluorescence of PPIX in TCCB. Immediate significant and objective measurements are possible, which could be further automated for the rapid diagnosis of TCCB.
Clinical trials in patients with biochemically relapsed prostate cancer
Authors: LIN AMY M. , RINI BRIAN I. , SMALL ERIC J. 
Published: April 2006

In this section there is a wide diversity of mini‐reviews, covering several areas of interest for readers. Authors from the USA write about clinical trials in patients with biochemically relapsed prostate cancer, again bridging the divide between medical oncologists and urologists who specialise in urological oncological surgery. The second paper is a joint one from Germany and the USA, bringing the reader up to date with advances in the treatment of stress urinary incontinence.Finally there are two papers from Australia describing the use of positron emission tomography in renal cancer and in prostate cancer.
Immunostaining for placental alkaline phosphatase on fine‐needle aspiration specimens to detect noninvasive testicular cancer: a prospective evaluation in cryptorchid men
Authors: TAVOLINI IVAN M. , BETTELLA ANDREA , BERTO RAFAEL BOSCOLO , BASSI PIER F. , LONGO RAFFAELE , MENEGAZZO MASSIMO , GAROLLA ANDREA , FORESTA CARLO 
Published: April 2006

OBJECTIVETo assess, in a 12‐year prospective study, the potential for early detection of testicular carcinoma in situ (CIS) by immunocytochemistry, using anti‐placental alkaline phosphatase (PLAP) monoclonal antibodies on testicular fine‐needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) specimens taken from a group of formerly cryptorchid patients, as such men are at greater risk of developing testicular cancer.PATIENTS AND METHODSSixty‐eight men who had had orchidopexy at the Urological Department of the University of Padova between 1975 and 1983 were evaluated first in 1993, by a protocol including a history, physical examination, testicular ultrasonography and serum tumour markers, to eliminate the presence of testicular cancer. In 57 of the 68 men, specimens taken from bilateral testicular FNAC were stained immunocytochemically using anti‐PLAP monoclonal antibodies. After 8 years, the same protocol was repeated on the 57 men, and the follow‐up was prolonged until March 2005 for men with previous positive PLAP immunostaining.RESULTSIn 1993, six of the 57 men, (10.5%) had unilateral positive immunostaining for PLAP. By 2001, none of these men had developed testicular cancer, while of the other 51 men, only one developed a nonseminomatous tumour. The uninterrupted surveillance of PLAP‐positive men showed no overt cancer until March 2005.CONCLUSIONThe present findings do not seem to confirm the reliability of PLAP immunostaining of testicular specimens from FNAC for detecting CIS. These findings might depend on the geographical variability of both CIS and testicular cancer incidence, as well as on the variable relationship between CIS and successive occurrence of invasive testis cancer.
Disease progression and survival in patients with prostate carcinoma and positive lymph nodes after radical retropubic prostatectomy
Authors: KROEPFL DARKO , LOEWEN HEINRICH , ROGGENBUCK ULLA , MUSCH MICHAEL , KLEVECKA VIRGILIUS 
Published: April 2006

OBJECTIVETo determine disease progression and survival in patients with lymph node‐positive prostate carcinoma after ascending radical retropubic prostatectomy (RP) and pelvic lymphadenectomy with different forms of postoperative adjuvant treatment.PATIENTS AND METHODSWe analysed 82 patients with lymph node metastases at the time of surgery and who had a RP between 1993 and 2002. Data from clinical records and follow‐up questionnaires were used. Overall survival, time to clinical disease progression and time to biochemical progression were used as endpoints to assess the outcome. Clinical progression was defined as documented local recurrence or distant metastases, and biochemical as an increase in prostate‐specific antigen (PSA) of ≥ 0.4 ng/mL. Variables analysed included PSA level, Gleason score before and after RP, clinical and pathological stage, number of positive lymph nodes and hormone therapy after RP. The statistical assessment included univariate regression analysis, and to analyse the distribution of clinical findings in different groups, Mantel–Haenszel statistics were used to test for differences in the numbers of patients. Survival and progression‐free interval were assessed by Kaplan–Meier estimates and differences between groups calculated by log‐rank statistics and Cox regression models.RESULTSThe median (range) follow‐up was 55  (10–125) months. Adjuvant hormonal treatment was used in 77 patients, five of whom had immediate adjuvant radiotherapy, and nine delayed radiotherapy because of local progression or symptomatic bone metastases; five had no additional treatment. The rates for 5‐ and 10‐year overall survival, clinical progression‐free survival and biochemical progression‐free survival were 84% and 79%, 83% and 77%, and 70% and 60%, respectively. Ten patients died (12%), eight (10%) of them from the cancer; bone metastases were detected in nine (11%). Local recurrences developed in three (4%) patients, 10 (12%) had a PSA increase of ≥ 0.4 ng/mL alone and 58 (71%) had no signs of progression, but two died from other causes.CONCLUSIONSMost patients with prostate cancer who had RP and pelvic lymphadenectomy followed by adjuvant hormone therapy, and who had lymph node metastases at the time of surgery, had excellent overall and progression‐free survival in the long term.
Physiological fatigue of smooth muscle contractions in rat urinary bladder
Authors: PAGALA MUARLI , LEHMAN DANIEL S. , MORGAN MICHAEL P. , JEDWAB JOSHUA , WISE GILBERT J. 
Published: April 2006

OBJECTIVETo characterize the physiological fatigue in bladder smooth muscles that can occur within 60 s of stimulation, which is closer to the duration of normal voiding.MATERIALS AND METHODSLongitudinal and transverse strips of rat bladder were used; the muscles were mounted in an in vitro multi‐muscle chamber, and the decline in contractile tension recorded during continuous electrical stimulation at frequencies of 5–30 Hz for 60 s. The effect of muscle length on fatigue was assessed by monitoring the decline in tension during 30 Hz stimulation at rest length, and at 60% and 100% stretched lengths of the bladder strips. To assess some of the factors involved in the development of fatigue, tension responses of fatigued muscles were monitored on exposure to 80 mm potassium or 1 µm bethanechol.RESULTSIn both longitudinal and transverse bladder strips stimulated at 30 Hz, peak contractile tension declined to 50% of original after ≈ 33 s, and to 30% after 60 s of stimulation. After 10 s rest, 60% of the original tension was recovered. Increasing the frequency of fatigue stimulation from 5 to 30 Hz significantly increased the extent of the decline in tension and reduced the time to a 50% decrease in tension. Stretching the bladder strips from rest length to 100% stretched length significantly reduced the extent of tension decline and increased the time to a 50% decrease in tension. Exposure of fatigued muscles to high potassium or bethanechol generated more tension than electrical stimulation.CONCLUSIONContractile fatigue occurs in both longitudinal and transverse strips of the bladder smooth muscles within the duration of normal voiding. Increasing the frequency of stimulation from 5 to 30 Hz increased the degree and rate of fatigue. Stretching the bladder strips from rest length by 60–100% reduced the degree and rate of fatigue. Bladder fatigue may be caused by decreased depolarization of the smooth muscle membranes, reduced release of acetylcholine from presynaptic nerve terminals, or by other yet undetermined mechanisms.
Phasic non‐micturition contractions in the bladder of the anaesthetized and awake rat
Authors: STRENG TOMI , HEDLUND PETTER , TALO ANTTI , ANDERSSON KARL‐ERIK , GILLESPIE JAMES I. 
Published: April 2006

OBJECTIVETo characterize the contractile activity that occurs in the bladder during the filling phase of the micturition cycle (non‐micturition contractions, NMCs), which generate transient rises in intravesical pressure not associated with urine flow.MATERIALS AND METHODSThe experiments were conducted using anaesthetized (chloral hydrate) and un‐anaesthetized rats. In un‐anaesthetized rats bladder contractile activity was measured using an intravesical cannula implanted under full surgical anaesthesia 3 days previously. In the anaesthetized rats the bladder was exteriorized and a cannula inserted through the dome. In these experiments electrical activity within the detrusor was also measured with a suction electrode on the bladder surface. For each rat, the experimental protocol involved filling the bladder at a constant rate (10 mL/h) to evoke micturition cycles, or infusion of a fixed volume and recording made under effective isovolumetric conditions.RESULTSIn both anaesthetized and un‐anaesthetized rats there were transient rises in bladder pressure (0.5–3 cmH2O). In the anaesthetized rats the amplitude of the transients increased throughout the filling phase, with little change in frequency. The phasic NMCs generating these pressure transients were accompanied by electrical changes in the detrusor. In the middle phase of bladder filling the slow pressure changes were accompanied by slow waves of electrical activity which changed in the pressure cycles immediately before micturition to high‐frequency low‐amplitude signals. In the un‐anaesthetized rats there was a period immediately after voiding where there was no activity. As filling proceeded, low‐amplitude low‐frequency NMCs appeared that gradually increased in frequency and amplitude during the filling phase. However, the frequency of the transients decreased immediately before micturition despite an increase in amplitude. Similar responses were seen during isovolumetric recording.CONCLUSIONThe present results show the presence of NMCs in the rat bladder, identify volume‐dependent changes in the pattern of this activity during the micturition cycle, and show that NMCs are accompanied by electrical changes in the detrusor. The physiological significance of NMCs is not known but it might be linked to the generation of afferent discharge from mechanoreceptors in the wall, so contributing to sensations related to bladder volume.
Networks of Agri‐Environmental Action: Temporality, Spatiality and Identity in Agricultural Environments
Authors: Lockie Stewart 
Published: April 2006

AbstractEngineering new networks between state agencies, farmers and other actors is central to contemporary agri‐environmental policy. This article examines relationships between network membership, identity and changes in farming practice from the perspective of three different conceptualisations of social networks. These include social network analysis, the network society thesis and actor‐network theory. Despite their common reliance on the metaphor of ‘networks’ to focus sociological analysis, these approaches are based on divergent ontological assumptions and suggest a number of different research foci. The paper finds that while social networks embedded in group membership and interactions among farmers appear to have had dramatic impacts on the expression of personal and group identities – particularly in relation to women – their impact on the adoption of more overtly environmentally sound farming practices has been limited in several important ways. By contrast, less visible relationships of knowledge and expertise that extend beyond the co‐present interactions of producers appear to shape farming identities and practices ‘at a distance’, in ways that contribute to the limited impact of agri‐environment group membership.
Estimating the Prevalence of Male Clients of Prostitute Women in Vancouver With a Simple Capture–Recapture Method
Authors: Roberts John M. , Brewer Devon D. 
Published: April 2006

SummaryCapture–recapture techniques are widely used to estimate the size of difficult-to-count human populations. Applications often focus on the overlap between two or more samples, but another type of data that is encountered in human studies involves only the number of times that particular individuals were encountered in the study period. We present a method for estimating the population size in this situation. This method is simple and technically accessible and allows for entries and exits by individuals and for a difference between probabilities of initial and subsequent contacts. We apply the method to arrest data on male clients of prostitute women in Vancouver.
Reducing Bias in Ecological Studies: An Evaluation of Different Methodologies
Authors: Lancaster Gillian A. , Green Mick , Lane Steven 
Published: April 2006

SummaryStatistical methods of ecological analysis that attempt to reduce ecological bias are empirically evaluated to determine in which circumstances each method might be practicable. The method that is most successful at reducing ecological bias is stratified ecological regression. It allows individual level covariate information to be incorporated into a stratified ecological analysis, as well as the combination of disease and risk factor information from two separate data sources, e.g. outcomes from a cancer registry and risk factor information from the census sample of anonymized records data set. The aggregated individual level model compares favourably with this model but has convergence problems. In addition, it is shown that the large areas that are covered by local authority districts seem to reduce between-area variability and may therefore not be as informative as conducting a ward level analysis. This has policy implications because access to ward level data is restricted.
The Formation and Outcomes of Cohabiting and Marital Partnerships in Early Adulthood: The Role of Previous Partnership Experience
Authors: Steele Fiona , Kallis Constantinos , Joshi Heather 
Published: April 2006

SummaryWe estimate a joint model of the formation and dissolution of cohabiting and marital unions among British women who were born in 1970. The focus of the analysis is the effect of previous cohabitation and marriage on subsequent partnership transitions. We use a multilevel simultaneous equations event history model to allow for residual correlation between the hazards of moving from an unpartnered state into cohabitation or marriage, converting a cohabiting union into marriage and dissolution of either form of union. A simultaneous modelling approach allows for the joint determination of these transitions, which may otherwise bias estimates of the effects of previous partnership outcomes on later transitions.
Calibrating Remotely Sensed Chlorophyll-A Data by Using Penalized Regression Splinesa
Authors: Clarke E. D. , Speirs D. C. , Heath M. R. , Wood S. N. , Gurney W. S. C. , Holmes S. J. 
Published: April 2006

Summary
The distribution and biomass of phytoplankton in the upper layers of the ocean are important indicators of productivity and carbon cycling. Large scale perturbations in phytoplankton are linked to global climate change, so accurate monitoring is increasingly important. The chlorophyll-a pigment concentration in the water is routinely measured as an index of algal biomass. Direct water sampling from ships and moorings provides accurate data, but woefully poor spatial and temporal coverage of the oceans. In contrast, multispectral sea surface reflectance data from orbiting satellite-borne sensors, which in principle can be used to derive pigment concentration, give the prospect of globally detailed spatial and temporal coverage. Unfortunately, there are some locally variable confounding factors, which the algorithms for converting reflectance data to ocean chlorophyll-a concentration do not take into account. Hence, statistical methods are needed to obtain accurate predictions of chlorophyll-a concentration by using data from both these sources. We use penalized regression splines to model water sample data as a three-dimensional function of satellite measurements, seabed depth and time of year. The models are effectively complex calibrations of the satellite data against the bottle data. We compare the results by using thin plate regression splines and tensor product splines using generalized cross-validation to choose the relative amounts of smoothing for each of the covariates. Since the thin plate spline penalty functional is isotropic, this requires the introduction of two scaling parameters, which are also chosen by generalized cross-validation, to scale the covariates relatively to one another. The tensor product spline smooths each covariate appropriately by use of separate smoothing parameters for each covariate. The models are tested by application to data from the north-east Atlantic, first randomly subsampling the data to achieve even coverage over the entire region. Both approaches perform equally well, achieving R2≈65%, both for the data that are used to fit the model and for a validation data set. Of particular concern in this application is that monthly predictions from the models should be biologically plausible over the whole region, describing the broad regional features that are apparent in the satellite data and extrapolating sensibly where satellite data are not available. To achieve this, the satellite data must be one of the covariates in the model; spatiotemporal covariates alone are not sufficient to extrapolate sensibly into areas where no data are available.
Analysing Survey Data with Incomplete Responses by Using a Method Based on Empirical Likelihood
Authors: Leung Denis H. Y. , Qin Jing 
Published: April 2006

Summary
In many surveys, missing response is a common problem. As an example, Zahner, Jacobs, Freeman and Trainor analysed data from a study of child psychopathology in the State of Connecticut, USA. In that study, the response variable, psychopathology, was inferred from questions that were addressed to teachers of the children and was subject to a high level of missingness. However, the missing responses were supplemented by surrogate information that was provided by the parents and/or the primary care providers of the children. In such a situation, it is conceivable that the supplemental information can be used to recover some of the information that has been lost in the cases with missing response. This paper considers a method using empirical likelihood. Empirical likelihood is well known in providing nonparametric inference. But its application has largely been confined to complete-data situations. The method proposed exploits the semiparametric nature of empirical likelihood. The method gives consistent estimates if the cases with non-missing responses form a random sample of the population. In large samples, the method behaves similarly to a regression estimate that is applied to estimating equations. The method is easy to implement with standard statistical packages. In a small sample study, the method was found to give favourable results, when compared with existing methods.
Inference of a Hidden Spatial Tessellation from Multivariate Data: Application to the Delineation of Homogeneous Regions in an Agricultural Field
Authors: Guillot Gilles , Kan-King-Yu Denis , Michelin Joël , Huet Philippe 
Published: April 2006

Summary
In a precision farming context, differentiated management decisions regarding fertilization, application of lime and other cultivation activities may require the subdivision of the field into homogeneous regions with respect to the soil variables of main agronomic significance. The paper develops an approach that is aimed at delineating homogeneous regions on the basis of measurements of a categorical and quantitative nature, namely soil type and resistivity measurements at different soil layers. We propose a Bayesian multivariate spatial model and embed it in a Markov chain Monte Carlo inference scheme. Implementation is discussed using real data from a 15-ha field. Although applied to soil data, this model could be relevant in areas of spatial modelling as diverse as epidemiology, ecology or meteorology.
CYANOPHYTA‐BACTERIA SYSTEMS: EFFECTS OF ADDED CARBON COMPOUNDS OR PHOSPHATE ON ALGAL GROWTH AT LOW NUTRIENT CONCENTRATIONS1
Authors: Lange Willy 
Published: April 2006

SUMMARYPlanktonic blue‐green algae are known to be always associated with bacteria. Earlier work has shown that the addition of a bacteria‐assimilable carbon source to a normal Zehnder‐Gorham culture medium (No. 11) will produce enhanced growth of these algae when atmospheric CO2 has become the limiting factor. In new work, phosphate‐rich culture media were diluted so that they simulated nutrient levels found in the Great Lakes, e.g., Lake Erie. At these low concentrations and when atmospheric CO2 was not available in a sufficient supply, the addition of sucrose to either a 1/100 or a 1/1000 diluted Z‐G, medium (10 mg or 2 mg of sucrose, respectively) also produced enhanced, growth of the tested blue‐green algae. The stimulation of algal growth was apparently due to an increased bacterial production of CO2 and possibly other carbon compounds approaching the composition of the CO2 molecule. The literature suggests that during vigorous algal growth in lakes, atmospheric CO2 will be severely limiting. Productive lakes always contain nonliving organic matter. The presence of bacteria‐assimilable matter is probably one of the important factors leading to algal bloom.