bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Telephone and Web: Mixed‐Mode Challenge
Authors: Greene Jessica , Speizer Howard , Wiitala Wyndy 
Published: June 2007

Objective. To explore the response rate benefits and data limitations of mixing telephone and web survey modes in a health‐related research study.Data Sources/Study Setting. We conducted a survey of salaried employees from one large employer in the manufacturing sector in the summer of 2005.Study Design. We randomized 751 subjects, all of whom had previously completed a web survey, to complete a health‐related survey either by telephone (with web follow‐up for nonrespondents) or over the web (with telephone follow‐up).Principal Findings. Survey response rates were significantly higher for the mixed mode survey than they would have been if we fielded either an exclusively telephone or web survey (25 and 12 percent higher, respectively). Telephone respondents were more likely to provide socially desirable responses to personal lifestyle questions and web respondents provided more missing data when questions were difficult or did not relate to their circumstances. Telephone respondents were also more likely to “agree” to knowledge statements and provide the same response across a series of items with similar response scales than were web respondents.Conclusions. Mixed mode telephone/web surveys can substantially boost response rates over single‐mode surveys. Modal differences in responses can be minimized by handling missing data options consistently in the two modes, avoiding agree/disagree formats, and not including questions on personal lifestyle or other sensitive issues.
Identification of Dementia: Agreement among National Survey Data, Medicare Claims, and Death Certificates
Authors: Østbye Truls , Taylor Donald H. , Clipp Elizabeth C. , Scoyoc Lynn Van , Plassman Brenda L. 
Published: June 2007

Objective. To estimate the proportion of seniors with dementia from three independent data sources and their agreement.Data Sources. The longitudinal Asset and Health Dynamics among the Oldest Old (AHEAD) study (n=7,974), Medicare claims, and death certificate data.Study Design. Estimates of the proportion of individuals with dementia from: (1) self‐ or proxy‐reported cognitive status measures from surveys, (2) Medicare claims, and (3) death certificates. Agreement using Cohen's κ; multivariate logistic regression.Principal Findings. The proportion varied substantially among the data sources. Agreement was poor (κ: 0.14–0.46 depending upon comparison assessed); the individuals identified had relatively modest overlap.Conclusions. Estimates of dementia occurrence based on cognitive status measures from three independent data sources were not interchangeable. Further validation of these sources is needed. Caution should be used if policy is based on only one data source.
Nurse Staffing Levels: Impact of Organizational Characteristics and Registered Nurse Supply
Authors: Blegen Mary A. , Vaughn Thomas , Vojir Carol P. 
Published: June 2007

Objective. To assess the impact of nurse supply in the geographic areas surrounding hospitals on staffing levels in hospital units, while taking into account other factors that influence nurse staffing.Data Sources. Data regarding 279 patient care units, in 47 randomly selected community hospitals located in 11 clusters in the United States, were obtained directly from the hospitals from the U.S. Census report, National Council of State Boards of Nursing, and The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.Study Design. Cross‐sectional analyses with linear mixed modeling to control for nesting of units in hospitals were conducted. For each patient care unit, the hours of care per patient day from registered nurses (RNs), LPNs, nursing assistants, and the skill‐mix levels were calculated. These measures of staffing were then regressed on type of unit (intensive care, medical/surgical, telemetry/stepdown), unit size, hospital complexity, and RN supply.Principal Findings. RN hours per patient day and RN skill mix were positively related to intensity of patient care, hospital complexity, and the supply of RNs in the geographic area surrounding the hospital. LPN hours, and licensed skill mix were predicted less reliably but appear to be used as substitutes for RNs. Overtime hours increased in areas with a lower RN supply. Vacancy and turnover rates and the use of contract nurses were not affected by nurse supply.Conclusions. This study is the first to show that hospital RN staffing levels on both intensive care and nonintensive care units decrease as the supply of RNs in the surrounding geographic area decreases. We also show that LPN hours rise in areas where RN supply is lower. Further research to describe the quality of hospital care in relation to the supply of nurses in the area is needed.
Gastric Cancer and Helicobacter pylori: A Critical Evaluation of the Epidemiological Evidence
Authors: Palli Domenico 
Published: June 2007

Despite a dramatic reduction in incidence and mortality, gastric cancer (GC) still was recently reported to be the second most common neoplastic cause of death worldwide. GC treatment has not been improved substantially, and large‐scale early diagnosis programs have not proved feasible outside Japan. On the other hand, even if diet has been shown to play a relevant role in the etiology of GC, primary prevention programs based on dietary modifications are difficult to implement, and results of human chemoprevention trials, although encouraging, have not been confirmed. Overall, the observed reduction in GC risk can reasonably be considered to be the result of a spontaneous trend, somehow related to the widespread improvements in socioeconomic conditions. Domestic refrigeration, an increased availability of fresh fruit and vegetables, and a reduced use of salt are considered to be the most relevant factors in explaining the decreasing temporal trend and the geographical patterns of GC.Recently, evidence of an association between Helicobacter pylori infection and GC has been provided by epidemiological studies, particularly three studies specifically designed as nested case‐control studies in which blood samples were collected well before diagnosis was made. The results of these studies, however, have been confirmed only in part. A strong direct association is not yet widely accepted, and no specific carcinogenic compound or mechanism has been identified. Relevant aspects of GC and H. pylori epidemiology actually do not fit perfectly in a causal hypothesis (i.e., the geographical and gender distribution, the paradoxical association with duodenal ulcer) though, on the other hand, several other factors certainly play a role in the complex multifactorial process leading, over several decades, to GC. Studies focused on H. pylori eradication and its effects on lesions that predispose to GC (atrophic gastritis and metaplasia), however, represent a priority for research, in view of the potential preventive applications. This issue remains controversial, and it is possible that progression of these lesions might occur after eradication.
Usefulness of Serology in Preendoscopic Screening
Authors: Vaira Dino , Menegatti Marcello , Landi Fabiana , Ricci Chiara , Ali’ Anna , Miglioli Mario , For The Italian Pylori Helicobacter , Group Study 
Published: June 2007

Background.Over the last 20 years, upper gastrointestinal endoscopy has become the investigation of choice for patients with symptoms referrable to the upper gastrointestinal tract. As the increasing number of patients referred for endoscopy has led to enlarged waiting lists and medical expenses, it has been recommended that preendoscopic screening strategies might identify patients at low risk of having major pathology. These patients could avoid prompt endoscopy and might safely undergo different management. Since the recognition of the major role played by Helicobacter pylori in gastroduodenal pathology, H. pylori serological and demographical features have been proposed as part of preendoscopic screening strategies in dyspeptic patients referred to endoscopy, in an attempt to reduce endoscopic workload and medical expenses.Methods.We evaluate data presented in the literature and aim to give interpretations possibly helpful in the clinical practice.Results.The analysis of the endoscopic findings showed that applying a preendoscopic strategy based on age and H. pylori status in local hospitals without a specific interest in H. pylori research would have meant missing a proportion of relevant pathology: 35 of 557 (6.3%) peptic ulcers (24 duodenal and 11 gastric ulcers) and two gastric cancers (0.3%).Conclusions.Although we do understand the need to increase the cost‐effectiveness of endoscopy and realize that considering age and H. pylori status could help to get to this target, we conclude that similar preendoscopic screening strategies must be refined further before being adopted on a large scale.
Autoantibodies to Gastric Mucosa in Helicobacter pylori Infection
Authors: Negrini Riccardo , Savio Antonella , Appelmelk Ben J. 
Published: June 2007

Background.Although Helicobacter pylori is recognized as the main cause of chronic gastritis and its associated diseases, very little is known about the pathogenetic mechanisms leading to intestinal metaplasia and atrophic gastritis.Methods.We reviewed the data regarding the possible pathogenetic role played by the anti–H. pylori immune responses in the genesis of atrophic gastritis and intestinal metaplasia.Results.Although only type A (corpus‐restricted atrophic gastritis), often associated to pernicious anemia, is considered autoimmune in nature, abundant evidence supports the presence of cellular and humoral autoimmune responses also in patients with H. pylori infection. In a mechanism known as antigenic mimicry, highly conserved immunogenic molecules expressed by infectious pathogens may act as a trigger for the induction of humoral and cellular immune responses that cross‐react with host cellular antigens. Numerous studies support the view that H. pylori is very effective in inducing antigenic mimicry, and antibodies against H. pylori have been found to cross‐react with both antral mucosal cells (the membrane of the secretory canalicular structures of the parietal cells) and gastrin‐producing cells. Such autoantibodies were detected both in human infections and in experimental work in rodents.Conclusions.The detection of antibodies that cross‐react with H. pylori and various components of the gastric mucosa provides strong support to the view that immune responses against H. pylori not only participate in the pathogenetic mechanisms leading to atrophy in the progressive atrophic gastritis associated with Helicobacter infection but also in the corpus‐restricted autoimmune gastritis.
Primary Gastric MALT Lymphoma: Trivial Condition or Serious Disease?
Authors: Genta Robert M. , Graham David Y. 
Published: June 2007

Background.Primary gastric B‐cell lymphomas originating from the mucosa‐associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) have been demonstrated to be closely associated with Helicobacter pylori infection. Approximately 70% of these tumors regress within 1 year of eradication of H. pylori. Currently, there is little consensus on the best strategies for diagnosing, treating, and following up these lymphomas. Our objective was to review the current strategies for the diagnosis and management of MALT lymphomas and to describe the management guidelines used in our own institution.Methods.Our approach consisted of a review of the literature and personal experience.Results.Rigorous histopathological criteria (Isaacson’s criteria) must be applied to the diagnosis of gastric biopsies with atypical lymphoid aggregates. Molecular and immunohistochemical studies might play have a role in determining the clonality of the lesions, but correlation with the histopathological aspects is crucial.Conclusions.Little solid information exists on the natural history and evolution of MALT lymphomas. While studies are being carried out, we suggest that even a suspected MALT lymphoma in a gastric biopsy specimen should be treated as a potentially serious condition. The diagnosis should be confirmed by an experienced histopathological laboratory, and H. pylori infection must be sought and treated. Because the response of lymphomas to antibacterial therapy cannot be predicted, close follow‐up of affected patients is essential.
Linking Letters: Translating Ancient History into Medieval Romance
Authors: Mueller Alex 
Published: June 2007

Abstract This essay won the 2006 Literature Compass Graduate Essay Prize, Medieval Section. In his prologue to the late fourteenth‐century romance, the Destruction of Troy, John Clerk of Whalley negotiates between his roles as translator, historian and alliterative poet to introduce his account of the fall of Troy for medieval English readers. Professing to tell the true story of Britain's ancient ancestors, he invokes the fiction of translatio imperii, in which the power of empire passes from Troy to Rome to Britain. According to Clerk, his translation of Guido delle Colonne's Historia destructionis Troiae provides vernacular readers access to historical truth that had not previously been available to them. Clerk's assumption of Guido's history separates his romance from the historiographic tradition of the vastly influential Geoffrey of Monmouth, whose Historia regum Britannie celebrates Britain's Trojan ancestry and promises future glory to the Britons. Rather than venerate Troy as a font of imperial power, Guido condemns the martial policy of the Trojans that causes their defeat, characterizing Troy as a tainted origin of Western civilization. By comparing Clerk's text with another translation of Guido's Historia, John Lydgate's Troy Book, I argue that Clerk's translational method, which he calls a ‘linking of letters’, reflects a commitment to connecting a destructive past with an English present.
Effects of temperature and rainfall on date of release of ascospores ofLeptosphaeria maculans(phoma stem canker) from winter oilseed rape (Brassica napus) debris in the UK
Authors: Huang Y.J. , Liu Z. , West J.S. , Todd A.D. , Hall A.M. , Fitt B.D.L. 
Published: June 2007

AbstractData from a controlled environment experiment investigating effects of temperature on maturation ofLeptosphaeria maculanspseudothecia were used to derive equations describing the times until 30% or 50% of pseudothecia were mature as a function of temperature. A wetness sensor was developed to estimate the oilseed rape debris wetness and operated with debris exposed in natural conditions in 2000 and 2001. The maturation ofL. maculanspseudothecia on debris and concentrations of airborneL. maculansascospores were observed from 1999 to 2004. There were considerable differences between years, with the first mature pseudothecia observed in September in most years. There were linear relationships between the first date when 10% of maximum ascospore release was observed and the dates when 30% or 50% of pseudothecia were mature. By summing the daily temperature‐dependent rate of pseudothecial maturation for days after 1 August with rainfall >0.5 mm, the dates when 30% or 50% of pseudothecia were mature were predicted. There was good agreement between predicted and observed dates when 30% or 50% of pseudothecia were mature. These equations for predicting the timing ofL. maculansascospore release could be incorporated into schemes for forecasting, in autumn, the severity of phoma stem canker epidemics in the following spring/summer in the UK.
A Late Holocene Pollen and Charcoal Record from La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica
Authors: Kennedy Lisa M. , Horn Sally P. 
Published: June 2007

ABSTRACTPollen and charcoal analysis of a 5.9‐m‐long sediment profile from a swamp on an alluvial terrace on the edge of La Selva biological station, Costa Rica (10°26′23″ N, 84°00′24″ W, 36 m asl), documents three millennia of human and natural disturbance within a lowland tropical rain forest. The record indicates that the highly diverse rain forest that presently surrounds the Cantarrana swamp regrew following forest clearing and maize agriculture that ended only a few centuries ago. The first maize pollen appears in sediments deposited ∼1070 calendar‐year BP. Older sediments below the ‘maize zone’ contain macroscopic charcoal, abundant microscopic charcoal, and possible pollen indicators of forest clearance, perhaps signaling local cultivation of root crops that left no pollen in the sediments. Interpretation of local archaeology indicates that La Selva reserve may have been most heavily populated during the El Bosque and La Selva regional archaeological phases from 2250–950 yr BP. However, the distribution of maize pollen in the sediments is clear evidence that the reserve was also occupied during the later La Cabaña phase (950–400 yr BP), from which few artifacts have yet surfaced. Natural forest disturbance from treefalls and stream dynamics, and hydrological shifts associated with late‐Holocene climate variability, form a backdrop to the human land‐use history preserved in the Cantarrana sediment profile.
Rates of Student‐Reported Antisocial Behavior, School Suspensions, and Arrests in Victoria, Australia and Washington State, United States
Authors: Hemphill Sheryl A. , McMorris Barbara J. , Toumbourou John W. , Herrenkohl Todd I. , Catalano Richard F. , Mathers Megan 
Published: June 2007

ABSTRACTBackground:  Few methodologically rigorous international comparisons of student‐reported antisocial behavior have been conducted. This paper examines whether there are differences in the frequency of both antisocial behavior and societal responses to antisocial behavior in Victoria, Australia and Washington State, United States. These 2 states were chosen due to their similarities on sociodemographic characteristics and their differences in policy frameworks around problem behavior including antisocial behavior and substance use.Methods:  State representative samples of students (N = 5769) in school grades 5, 7, and 9 in Victoria and Washington State completed a modified version of the Communities That Care self‐report survey of behavior and societal responses to behavior. Chi‐square analyses compared frequencies of antisocial behavior, school suspensions, and police arrests in the 2 states. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted for each outcome measure to examine the effect of state, controlling for sample design, clustering of students within schools, age, socioeconomic status, and urbanicity.Results:  Few state differences in student‐reported antisocial behavior were found, although frequencies varied across behavior type and grade level. Differences in societal responses were observed across grade levels with grade 5 Washington students reporting higher rates of school suspension. Older Washington students reported more arrests.Conclusions:  Rates of student antisocial behavior appear similar in these 2 states in Australia and the United States. However, youth in the United States relative to Australia may experience greater societal consequences for problem behavior. Further research is required to examine the impact of these consequences on subsequent behavior.
Into the Conventional‐Implicature Dimension
Authors: Potts Christopher 
Published: June 2007

AbstractGrice coined the term ‘conventional implicature’ in a short passage in ‘Logic and Conversation’. The description is intuitive and deeply intriguing. The range of phenomena that have since been assigned this label is large and diverse. I survey the central factual motivation, arguing that it is loosely unified by the idea that conventional implicatures contribute a separate dimension of meaning. I provide tests for distinguishing conventional implicatures from other kinds of meaning, and I briefly explore ways in which one can incorporate multiple dimensions of meaning into a single theory.
SEASONAL OCCURRENCE OF NORTH ATLANTIC RIGHT WHALE (EUBALAENA GLACIALIS) VOCALIZATIONS AT TWO SITES ON THE SCOTIAN SHELF
Authors: Mellinger David K. , Nieukirk Sharon L. , Matsumoto Haru , Heimlich Sara L. , Dziak Robert P. , Haxel Joe , Fowler Matt , Meinig Christian , Miller Hendrick V. 
Published: June 2007

AbstractA year‐long acoustic survey for critically endangered North Atlantic right whales was conducted at two sites on the central and western Scotian Shelf. Autonomous hydrophones recorded sound continuously from July 2004 to August 2005. Right whale contact calls (upcalls) were identified using automatic recognition software, and the resulting detections were checked manually. Substantial numbers of hours with upcalls were observed at both sites, with approximately four times as many hours with calls at the western site as the central one. Calls occurred mainly from August through October, with the earliest calls in late June and the latest at the end of December at both sites. In addition to this seasonal trend, there was a significant diel pattern in calling at the central site but not at the more westerly site. Results are analyzed in light of feeding ecology and broad‐scale movements of right whales.
Extra copies of chromosomes 16 and X in invasive breast carcinomas are related to aggressive phenotype and poor prognosis
Authors: Nakopoulou Lydia , Panayotopoulou Effie G , Giannopoulou Ioanna , Tsirmpa Ioanna , Katsarou Sophia , Mylona Eleni , Alexandrou Paraskevi , Keramopoulos Antonios 
Published: June 2007

Background:Breast cancer is a genetically complex disease, which involves the accumulation of various structural and numerical chromosomal aberrations.Aim:To assess the numerical status of chromosomes 16 and X by interphase cytogenetics, in 114 women with primary invasive breast carcinomas, in relation to clinicopathological parameters, patients’ overall survival and indices of cell growth (c-erbB-2, topoisomerase IIα (topoIIα)) and cell survival (caspase-3, bcl-2).Experimental design:Chromogenic in situ hybridisation with pericentromeric probes was performed for molecular analysis, while oestrogen and progesterone receptors, cerbB-2, topoIIα, caspase-3 and bcl-2 expression was immunohistochemically detected (ABC/HRP). The results were statistically assessed by univariate and multivariate analyses.Results:Polysomy of chromosomes 16 and X was detected as the predominant aberration (73.7% and 57.9%, respectively). Gain of chromosome 16 copies was associated with high nuclear grade (p = 0.009), increased tumour size (p = 0.041), advanced stage (p = 0.002), the expression of topoIIα (p = 0.005) and worse overall survival by multivariate analysis (p = 0.032). Chromosome X polysomy was increased in ductal carcinomas of high histological grade (p = 0.008), in high nuclear grade tumours (p = 0.001), and was associated with the expression of topoIIα (p = 0.005), loss of caspase-3 (p = 0.036) and impaired prognosis of ductal carcinomas (p = 0.041).Conclusions:Polysomy of chromosomes 16 and X was reported as the predominant alteration in phenotypically aggressive breast tumours, characterised by poor differentiation, increased growth potential and impaired prognosis, whereas gain of chromosome X in particular is probably implicated in cell survival.