bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The expression of E‐selectin and chemokines in the cultured human lymphatic endothelium with lipopolysaccharides
Authors: Sawa Yoshihiko , Tsuruga Eichi 
Published: April 2008

AbstractThis study investigated the expression of selectins and chemokines in cultured human lymphatic endothelial cells stimulated with lipopolysaccharides. In microarray, vascular cell adhesion molecule‐1 and intercellular adhesion molecule‐1 gene expressions in the lymphatic endothelium with lipopolysaccharides did not change at 0.5 h but increased two‐ to three‐fold at 12 h, whereas E‐selectin increased 10‐fold at 0.5 h and 68‐fold at 12 h compared with untreated cells. The E‐selectin mRNA and protein increased in the lymphatic endothelial cells with lipopolysaccharides at more than two‐fold levels compared with human umbilical vein endothelial cells. Induction of Cys‐Cys chemokine ligand 2, 3, 5, 7, 8 and 20 mRNAs in the lymphatic endothelial cells with lipopolysaccharides was detected in microarray and real‐time PCR. The Cys‐Cys chemokine ligand 2, 5 and 20 mRNA amounts in cells with high concentration lipopolysaccharides were larger in the lymphatic endothelial cells than in human umbilical vein endothelial cells. The Cys‐Cys chemokine ligand 3 and 8 mRNAs were not detected in human umbilical vein endothelial cells. Induction of Cys‐X‐Cys chemokine ligand 1, 3, 5, 6 and 8 mRNAs was detected in the lymphatic endothelial cells with lipopolysaccharides. The Cys‐X‐Cys chemokine ligand 3, 5 and 8 mRNA amounts in cells with high concentration lipopolysaccharides were larger in the lymphatic endothelial cells than in human umbilical vein endothelial cells. In conclusion, it was demonstrated that the cultured human lymphatic endothelial cells express E‐selectin and phagocyte‐attractive chemokine genes.
Loyalty, naivety and powerlessness among Norwegian retail bank customers
Authors: Berg Lisbet 
Published: April 2008

AbstractThe quantitative analysis presented in this paper builds on a qualitative focus group study of mobility among bank customers. The main finding from the focus group study was that mobile bank customers had a reflective – often critical − relation to their banks, while the immobile bank customers had an unreflective – often trusting – relation to their banks. The study also resulted in a typology identifying different bank customer orientations. In the present paper, this typology has been operationalized and modified for further quantitative estimation and investigation. Nine different bank orientations are distinguished, and the results indicate that at least two of three bank customers do not regularly monitor their banking terms and conditions. In other words, it is reasonable to believe that the ordinary bank customer is not acting as expected according to the theory of well‐functioning market mechanisms.Resourceful consumers, with high incomes and education levels, tend to be more financially oriented than others. When people with meagre financial resources tend to end up in the more unfavourable banks, this is not solely a result of the banks’ own discrimination of the poor; it is also due to the fact that people with high incomes and education levels are more likely to monitor their banking conditions than people with low incomes, irrespective of whether or not they have bank loans.The quantitative material analysed was collected in February 2007 by computer‐assisted telephone interviews. One thousand randomly selected respondents answered the questions.
Short‐term impact of a voluntary health intervention on overall vs. preventive healthcare consumption
Authors: Maynard Leigh J. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractHealthtrac Rewards is a US‐based, workplace wellness intervention promoting healthy behaviour through voluntary self‐reporting of participants' dietary habits, physical activity and medical concerns. Monthly financial incentives encourage either primary participation or secondary participation requiring additional interaction with Healthtrac personnel. Using data from 17 533 eligible employees, the purpose of the study was to determine whether Healthtrac participants consumed fewer healthcare services, as measured by 2004 medical claim costs or numbers of procedures, relative to non‐participants. High‐cost individuals tended to self‐select into the programme. Costs were 22–27% greater among participants after controlling for other factors. Participants consumed more preventive care, however, which was correlated with reduced future procedures. The secondary intervention was more effective than the primary intervention, suggesting a priority on increasing intensity of involvement vs. basic enrolment.
Temporal lobe epilepsy surgery and the quest for optimal extent of resection: A review
Authors: Schramm Johannes 
Published: April 2008

Summary The efficacy of surgery to treat drug‐resistant temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) has been demonstrated in a prospective randomized trial. It remains controversial which resection method gives best results for seizure freedom and neuropsychological function. This review of 53 studies addressing extent of resection in surgery for TLE identified seven prospective studies of which four were randomized. There is considerable variability between the intended resection and the volumetrically assessed end result. Even leaving hippocampus or amygdalum behind can result in seizure freedom rates around 50%. Most authors found seizure outcome in selective amygdalohippocampectomy (SAH) to be similar to that of lobectomy and there is considerable evidence for better neuropsychological outcome in SAH. Studies varied in the relationship between extent of mesial resection and seizure freedom, most authors finding no positive correlation to larger mesial resection. Electrophysiological tailoring saw no benefit from larger resection in 6 of 10 studies. It must be concluded that class I evidence concerning seizure outcome related to type and extent of resection of mesial temporal lobe structures is rare. Many studies are only retrospective and do not use MRI volumetry. SAH appears to have similar seizure outcome and a better cognitive outcome than TLR. It remains unclear whether a larger mesial resection extent leads to better seizure outcome.
Biomarkers of Inflammation and Malnutrition Associated with Early Death in Healthy Elderly People
Authors: Carriere Isabelle , Dupuy Anne‐Marie , Lacroux Annie , Cristol Jean‐Paul , Delcourt Cécile ,   the Pathologies Oculaires Liées à l'Age Study Group
Published: April 2008

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether malnutrition and biomarkers of inflammation predict all‐cause, cancer, and cardiovascular mortality in healthy elderly subjects.DESIGN: Population‐based study, prospective cohort.SETTING: Sète, on the French Mediterranean coast.PARTICIPANTS: Five hundred and fifty‐three men and 888 women aged 60 and older from the Pathologies Oculaires Liées à l'Age cohort free of known comorbidities.MEASUREMENTS: Plasma levels of cholesterol, albumin, transthyretin (TTR), C‐reactive protein (CRP), and alpha 1‐acid glycoprotein (AAG) were measured at baseline. To investigate the risks of 5‐year (early) and 5‐ to 9‐year (late) mortality, hazard ratios (HR) were evaluated using Cox models.RESULTS: In men, early death was associated with high CRP and AAG and low albumin and TTR. In women, early death was associated with high AAG, low TTR and low cholesterol. For late death, the only significant association was with CRP in men. A synergistic effect was observed between biomarkers of inflammation and malnutrition. In men, the adjusted HR of early death was 4.98 (95% confidence interval (CI)=2.25–11.01) for both CRP in the highest quartile and albumin in the lowest. In men, this risk was greatest for both AAG in the highest quartile and TTR in the lowest (HR=6.86, 95% CI=3.20–14.71). In women, this risk was greatest for both AAG in the highest quartile and TTR in the lowest (HR=4.64, 95% CI=1.79–12.05). Cancer mortality was greater for high CRP and AAG and for low albumin and TTR in men but not in women.CONCLUSION: Biomarkers of inflammation and malnutrition together predict early mortality. In healthy elderly subjects, TTR and AAG could be helpful in identifying elderly subjects at higher risk of death.
Randomized, Placebo‐Controlled Trial of the Cognitive Effect, Safety, and Tolerability of Oral Extended‐Release Oxybutynin in Cognitively Impaired Nursing Home Residents with Urge Urinary Incontinence
Authors: Lackner Thomas E. , Wyman Jean F. , McCarthy Teresa C. , Monigold Melinda , Davey Cynthia 
Published: April 2008

OBJECTIVES: Determine the cognitive effect, safety, and tolerability of oral extended‐release oxybutynin in cognitively impaired older nursing home residents with urge urinary incontinence.DESIGN: Randomized, double‐blinded, placebo‐controlled trial.SETTING: Twelve skilled nursing homes.PARTICIPANTS: Fifty women aged 65 and older with urge incontinence and cognitive impairment.INTERVENTION: Four‐week treatment with once‐daily oral extended‐release oxybutynin 5 mg or placebo.MEASUREMENTS: Withdrawal rates and delirium or change in cognition from baseline at 1, 3, 7, 14, 21, and 28 days after starting treatment using the Confusion Assessment Method (CAM), Mini‐Mental State Examination (MMSE), and Severe Impairment Battery (SIB). The Brief Agitation Rating Scale, adverse events, falls incidence, and serum anticholinergic activity change with treatment were also assessed.RESULTS: Participants' mean age ±standard deviation was 88.6±6.2, and MMSE baseline score was 14.5±4.3. Ninety‐six percent of subjects receiving oxybutynin (n=26) and 92% receiving placebo (n=24) completed treatment (P=.50). The differences in mean change in CAM score from baseline to all time points were equivalent between the oxybutynin and placebo groups. Delirium did not occur in either group. One participant receiving oxybutynin was withdrawn because of urinary retention, which resolved without treatment. Mild adverse events occurred in 38.5% of participants receiving oxybutynin and 37.5% receiving placebo (P=.94).CONCLUSION: Short‐term treatment using oral extended‐release oxybutynin 5 mg once daily was safe and well tolerated, with no delirium, in older female nursing home participants with mild to severe dementia. Future research should investigate different dosages and long‐term treatment.
Engagement in Multiple Steps of the Advance Care Planning Process: A Descriptive Study of Diverse Older Adults
Authors: Sudore Rebecca L. , Schickedanz Adam D. , Landefeld C. Seth , Williams Brie A. , Lindquist Karla , Pantilat Steven Z. , Schillinger Dean 
Published: April 2008

OBJECTIVES: To assess engagement in multiple steps of the advance care planning (ACP) process 6 months after exposure to an advance directive. In this study, ACP is conceptualized similarly to the behavior change model.DESIGN: Descriptive study.SETTINGS: County general medicine clinic in San Francisco.PARTICIPANTS: One hundred seventy‐three English or Spanish speakers, aged 50 and older (mean 61) given a standard (12th‐grade reading level) and an easy‐to‐read (5th‐grade reading level) advance directive.MEASUREMENTS: Six months after exposure to two advance directives, self‐reported ACP contemplation; discussions with family, friends discussions with clinicians; and documentation were measured. Associations were examined between ACP steps and between subject characteristics ACP engagement.RESULTS: Most participants (73%) were nonwhite and 31% had less than a high school education. Sixty‐one percent contemplated ACP, 56% discussed ACP with family or friends, 22% discussed ACP with clinicians, and 13% documented ACP wishes. Subjects who had discussed ACP with their family or friends were more likely to discuss ACP with their clinicians (36% vs 2%, P<.001) and document ACP wishes (18% vs 4%, P=.009) than those who had not. Latinos and subjects with less than a high school education discussed ACP more often with family or friends (P<.06) and clinicians (P<.03) than other ethnic groups and subjects with more education.CONCLUSIONS: ACP involves distinct steps including contemplation, discussions, and documentation. The ACP paradigm should be broadened to include contemplation and discussions. Promoting discussions with family and friends may be one of the most important targets for ACP interventions, and literacy‐ and language‐appropriate advance directives may help reverse patterns of sociodemographic disparities in ACP.
Amount of Social Contact and Hip Fracture Mortality
Authors: Mortimore Edward , Haselow Dirk , Dolan Melissa , Hawkes William G. , Langenberg Patricia , Zimmerman Sheryl , Magaziner Jay 
Published: April 2008

OBJECTIVES: To study the association between amount of social contact and mortality after hip fracture in elderly participants.DESIGN: Prospective cohort.SETTING: Community residents of Baltimore, Maryland.PARTICIPANTS: Six hundred seventy‐four elderly participants.MEASUREMENTS: Amount of telephone and direct personal contact between participants and their relatives and friends and mortality up to 2 years after fracture.RESULTS: No social contact with friends during the 2 weeks before the fracture was associated with a five times greater risk of death over 2 years than daily contact with friends during the 2 weeks before the fracture (hazard ratio (HR)=5.04, 95% confidence interval (CI)=2.75–9.23). Participants with less than daily contact were also at greater risk of dying, although the CI spanned 1 (HR=1.76, 95% CI=0.99–3.13). Participants who had no contact with family members prefracture were more than twice as likely to die as those who communicated daily during the 2 weeks before fracture (HR=2.26, 95% CI=1.36–3.77). Participants who had less than daily contact were also more than twice as likely to die (HR=2.55, 95% CI=1.65–3.94).CONCLUSION: This study suggests that lower social contact before hip fracture is associated with poorer survival after 2 years.
Gestión de la flexibilidad e inspección del trabajo en el mundo latino
Authors: PIORE Michael J. , SCHRANK Andrew 
Published: April 2008

Resumen.Los autores estudian la función de la inspección del trabajo en el marco del resurgimiento de la ordenación del mercado laboral. Distinguen entre el modelo latino, en el que los inspectores pueden amoldar las normas a las necesidades de las empresas, y el planteamiento bastante más inflexible de los Estados Unidos. En el modelo latino las normas labor ales pueden conciliarse con la flexibilidad económica y los inspectores pueden convertirse en la fuerza de choque de una campaña en pro del trabajo decente. Para evitar que hay a comportamientos arbitrarios, habrá que renovar la cultura interna de la inspección, exponer y sistematizar el conocimiento tácito en el que se fundan las decisiones de los inspectores y hacer nuevos estudios sobre la relación entre las normas del trabajo y las prácticas que aplican las empresas.
Fijación del salario mínimo en los países en desarrollo. Deficiencias y soluciones
Authors: SAGET Catherine 
Published: April 2008

Resumen.Es bien sabido que una minoría considerable de países en desarrollo tiene unos salarios mínimos demasiado altos o demasiado bajos. La autora se vale de varios métodos de medición para comparar los niveles reales que alcanzan en unos países y otros. Por otra parte, averigua si el salario mínimo es efectivo, es decir, si cumple su función de umbral salarial del mercado de trabajo. Después estudia los factores institucionales que dan lugar a dichos valores extremos y las soluciones que permitirían fijar el salario mínimo en un nivel más idóneo y eficaz.
The use of a linear oscillating device in periodontal treatment: a review
Authors: Guentsch Arndt , Preshaw Philip M. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractBackground: The Vector™ system is an ultrasonic instrument that was introduced in 1999, and treatment outcomes with Vector have been compared with those achieved with the “gold standard” of scaling and root planing with Gracey curettes as well as conventional ultrasonic scalers. The aim of this paper is to review the existing literature regarding the Vector™ method.Material and Methods: This review is based on a MEDLINE search of the use of Vector up to January 2008 (focused on in vitro findings, periodontal treatment, peri‐implantitis therapy, clinical and microbiological data, and patient considerations). The MEDLINE search identified 128 papers, of which 18 were found to be relevant to this review. A hand search of the periodontal literature over the same period resulted in identification of a further 10 relevant papers.Conclusion: Vector™ used for treatment of chronic periodontitis results in clinical and microbiological outcomes comparable to those achieved by manual instrumentation and conventional ultrasonic instruments. Vector™ is less efficient when removing large masses of calculus, however, and cannot be recommended for the treatment of peri‐implantitis. Vector may be particularly useful in periodontal maintenance care as it is well tolerated by patients and results in less removal of cementum than other instruments.
Classification of Runoff in Headwater Catchments: A Physical Problem?
Authors: Hauhs Michael , Lange Holger 
Published: April 2008

AbstractLife on earth depends on water and where running water occurs on earth, there is life. Nevertheless, existing modelling approaches in hydrology almost completely neglect the biological aspects of water flow. We claim that ignoring biological behaviour and interaction in catchment runoff modelling is too restrictive, and that computational theories can be used to formalise behaviour and interaction and model the biological impact on runoff. To demonstrate this, starting with a general classification of catchment behaviour, as documented in runoff data, we will use symbolic dynamics to quantify randomness and complexity in the time series. This approach shows that runoff records from very different catchments show common behaviour. This behaviour can be fitted to a one‐parametric curve, stratified into three regions. In this manner, it becomes possible to represent and classify types of interactive behaviour that cannot be generated algorithmically. This suggests that physically based catchment models do not properly represent all types of interactive behaviour, and that signatures of biological interaction are present in runoff data.
Social Geographies of Education: Looking Within, and Beyond, School Boundaries
Authors: Collins Damian , Coleman Tara 
Published: April 2008

AbstractSchools have received less attention from geographers than institutions such as the clinic and the hospital – despite the fact that, for most people, encounters with sites of medicine are rarer than encounters with sites of education. Indeed, schools are central to the geographies of children and young people, and to the organization of much family life. Moreover, they play a central role in shaping social identities. In this article, we provide an introduction to, and review of, the literature that takes seriously the sociospatial dimensions of schooling. Our discussion is organized around two central themes: first, the organization of school space, and the ways in which it is implicated in issues of power, and the reproduction of preferred identities; second, the linkages between schools and broader communities, and what these tell us about the values and aspirations attached to schooling. In both respects, we suggest, schools are places of considerable social and political significance.
Geomorphology Fluid Flow Modelling: Can Fluvial Flow Only Be Modelled Using a Three‐Dimensional Approach?
Authors: Hardy R. J. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractThe application of numerical models to gain insight into flow processes is becoming a prevalent research methodology in fluvial geomorphology. The advantage of this approach is that models are particularly useful for identifying emergent behaviour in the landscape where combinations of processes act over several scales. However, there are a wide range of available models and it is not always apparent that methodological approach should be chosen. The decision about the amount of process representation required needs to be balanced against both the spatial and temporal scales of interest. In this article, it is argued that in order to gain a complete, high resolution process understanding of flow within the fluvial system a full three‐dimensional modelling approach with a complete physical basis is required.
Gendered Geographies of High‐Tech Regional Economies
Authors: James Al 
Published: April 2008

AbstractOver the last two decades, as part of a ‘cultural turn’, an expansive research agenda has developed in economic geography around the sociocultural dynamics of regional learning and innovation processes underpinning high‐tech regional development. At the same time within the subdiscipline, there has also emerged a substantial research agenda around cultural economies of gender. For the most part, these two research streams have proceeded separately from one another. Recently, however, a number of scholars have begun to challenge this intellectual divide. In parallel with similarly motivated research literatures in organizational psychology, management studies and human relations, scholars have explored how different dimensions of high‐tech regional economic development are fundamentally and unavoidably gendered. This article offers a summary introduction to this nascent research agenda, focused on three phenomena widely documented in the regional literature as supporting intra‐ and interfirm learning and innovation processes, but whose attendant gendered social relations and gender divisions have yet to be fully analysed and understood, namely, (i) processes of worker mobility, labour ‘churning’ and their brokering by different labour market intermediaries; (ii) venture capital financing, entrepreneurship and firm start‐up; and (iii) the origins and implications of (masculinist) corporate cultures for firms’ absorptive capacities. By way of conclusion, the article outlines some interesting directions in which future research in this area might usefully develop in order to contribute to a broader project around holistic regional (socio)economic development.
Critical Health Psychology: Developing and Refining the Approach
Authors: Crossley Michelle 
Published: April 2008

AbstractThis article outlines the need for a critical health psychology and how this approach was originally formulated as a challenge to mainstream health psychology. Critical health psychology articulates the need for a more reflexive approach – one that is able to analyse the complex moral, emotional, ethical and political issues underpinning peoples’ experiences of health and illness. This article discusses how critics have responded to the development of critical health psychology, to debates regarding what actually constitutes a critical approach, and finally, to how critical approaches might be refined in future research.