bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Whose Appendicectomy? – Do Laparoscopic Appendicectomies Impair SHO Training?
Authors: Owais Anwar E , Wilson Timothy R , Sethi Neeraj , Aldoori Munther I 
Published: October 2008

INTRODUCTION Open appendicectomy is an ideal procedure for junior surgical trainees to develop operative skills. However, in recent years, we have noticed a decline in the number of appendicectomies performed by basic surgical trainees and a shift towards increasing use of laparoscopic appendicectomy. The aim of this study was to determine whether the growing popularity of laparoscopic appendicectomy is having a detrimental impact on the training experience of SHOs. PATIENTS AND METHODS We undertook a retrospective review of all cases of appendicectomies performed in one district hospital over a 7-year period (August 1999 to August 2006.) A standard performa was used to extract data from the original case notes of these patients relating to the operating surgeon and technique. RESULTS Data were obtained for 857 appendicectomies. Between February 2002 and July 2003, there was asignificant decline in the proportion of appendicectomies performed by SHOs from 78.7% to 29.3% (P < 0.001). Either side of this decline there were no significant changes in the proportion of SHO appendicectomies. The number of appendicectomies performed laparoscopically only began to rise after February 2004, with ayear-on-year increase. The number of appendicectomies performed by SHOs remained stable during this time. No laparoscopic appendicectomy was performed by an SHO. CONCLUSIONS We found no evidence that the popularisation of laparoscopic appendicectomy has contributedtothe decline of appendicectomies performed by SHOs. Nevertheless, with the continual rise in popularity of this procedure, it is important to balance training opportunities for both junior and higher surgical trainees.
Treatment of Varicose Veins: The Present and the Future – A Questionnaire Survey
Authors: Winterborn RJ , Corbett CRR 
Published: October 2008

INTRODUCTION The treatment options for varicose veins have increased over the last few years. Despite alack of randomised trials comparing the various modalities, many surgeons are changing their practice. The aim of this study was to assess the current practice of surgeons in Great Britain and Ireland. MATERIALS AND METHODS A postal questionnaire survey was sent to surgical members of the Vascular Society of Great Britain and Ireland and the Venous Forum of The Royal Society of Medicine. Of 561 questionnaires sent, 349 were returned completed (62%). RESULTS The types of varicose vein treatments offered by each surgeon varied widely in both NHS and private practice. The vast majority (96%) offered conventional surgery (CS) on the NHS. Foam sclerotherapy (FS) endovenous laser (EVL) and radiofrequency ablation (RF) were more likely to be offered in private practice than in NHS practice. Overall, 38% of respondents for NHS practice and 45% of respondents for private practice offered two or more modalities. Of the respondents who were not yet performing FS, EVL, or RF, 19% were considering or had undertaken training in FS, 26% in EVL and 9% in RF. When asked to consider future practice, 70% surgeons felt that surgery would remain the most commonly used treatment. This was followed by FS (17%), EVL (11%) and RF (2%). CONCLUSIONS Over one-third of respondents are now offering more than one treatment modality for the treatment of varicose veins. Whilst there is movement towards endovascular treatments, the problem of cost has yet to be solved. At present, surgery remains the most popular modality in both the NHS and private practice; however, improved outcomes and patient preference may lead to a change in practice.
Lipopolysaccharide-Binding Protein: A New Biomarker for Infectious Endocarditis?
Authors: Vollmer Tanja , Piper Cornelia , Kleesiek Knut , Dreier Jens 
Published: October 2008

Abstract
Background: Infectious endocarditis (IE) is a bacterial infection of the endocardium. Diagnosis is based on results obtained from echocardiography, blood cultures, and molecular genetic screening for bacteria and on data for inflammatory markers such as the leukocyte (WBC) count and the C-reactive protein (CRP) concentration. The aim of the present study was to evaluate lipopolysaccharide-binding protein (LBP) as a supportive biomarker for the diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring of IE.
Methods: We measured LBP and CRP concentrations and WBC counts in 57 IE patients at hospital admission, 40 patients with noninfectious heart valve diseases (HVDs), and 55 healthy blood donors. The progression of these 3 markers and the influence of cardiac surgery on them were evaluated in 29 IE patients and 21 control patients.
Results: Serum LBP concentrations were significantly higher in IE patients [mean (SD), 33.41 (32.10) mg/L] compared with HVD patients [6.67 (1.82) mg/L, P &lt; 0.0001] and healthy control individuals [5.61 (1.20) mg/L]. The progression in the LBP concentration during therapy of IE patients correlated with the changes in the CRP concentration. The 2 markers were equally influenced by antibiotic treatment and surgical intervention.
Conclusions: Serial LBP measurement may provide an effective and useful tool for evaluating the response to therapy in IE patients. We found a strong correlation between LBP and CRP concentrations; LBP has a tendency to increase earlier in cases of reinfection.
Association of Lipoprotein-Associated Phospholipase A2 Mass and Activity with Coronary and Aortic Atherosclerosis: Findings from the Dallas Heart Study
Authors: Brilakis Emmanouil S , Khera Amit , Saeed Bilal , Banerjee Subhash , McGuire Darren K , Murphy Sabina A , de Lemos James A 
Published: October 2008

Abstract
Background: Our aim was to characterize the association of lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2) with coronary and aortic atherosclerosis in a large population-based study.
Methods: Lp-PLA2 mass and activity were measured in 2171 subjects 30–65 years old participating in the Dallas Heart Study. We examined the association of Lp-PLA2 levels with 3 atherosclerosis phenotypes: coronary artery calcium (CAC) measured by electron-beam computed tomography and abdominal aortic plaque (AAP) and aortic wall thickness (AWT) measured by magnetic resonance imaging.
Results: CAC and AAP were detected in 21% and 40% of subjects, respectively, and mean AWT (SD) was 1.70 (0.32) mm. In univariable analyses, Lp-PLA2 mass (but not activity) was higher in both men (P = 0.04) and women (P = 0.02) with detectable CAC. Lp-PLA2 mass and activity were higher (P = 0.004 and P = 0.01, respectively) and AWT was greater (P &lt; 0.001 and P = 0.02, respectively) in women with aortic atheroma, but not in men. After adjustment for traditional atherosclerosis risk factors and C-reactive protein concentrations, Lp-PLA2 mass and activity were not associated with AAP or AWT in either sex, but Lp-PLA2 mass remained modestly associated with detectable CAC only in men (odds ratio 1.20 per 1 standard deviation increase, 95% CI 1.01–1.42, P = 0.04).
Conclusions: Although Lp-PLA2 mass was independently associated with CAC in men, it was not associated with AAP or AWT in men or with any of the atherosclerosis phenotypes in women. These findings suggest that if Lp-PLA2 independently influences clinical events, it does so by promoting atherosclerotic plaque instability rather than by stimulating atherogenesis.
New Spain and the 1808 Crisis of the Spanish Monarchy
Authors: Rodríguez O. Jaime E. 
Published: October 2008

This article examines New Spain's reaction to the 1808 crisis of the Spanish Monarchy. It considers the proposal of the Ayuntamiento of Mexico to establish a congress of cities, the reaction of some peninsulares, the juntas generales, and the golpe de Estado of 1808. Although the Americans expressed loyalty to the Spanish Monarchy while insisting on their rights, many Europeans considered their actions as little better than treason. These peninsulares also feared that Viceroy José de Iturrigaray, whom they believed to be corrupt, sought to separate New Spain from the composite Spanish Monarchy and make himself king. The article demonstrates that the Americans desired home rule not independence. They viewed themselves as loyal citizens who were responding to an extraordinary threat to the Monarchy. The Americans and their European allies, including Viceroy Iturrigaray, based their arguments for a congress of cities on traditional Hispanic political principles. It also demonstrates that, despite the accusations made by his enemies, Viceroy Iturrigaray was neither a traitor nor corrupt.
Este artículo examina la reacción de la Nueva España frente a la crisis de la Monarquía española en 1808. Se considera la propuesta del Ayuntamiento de México de establecer un congreso de ciudades, la reacción de algunos peninsulares, las juntas generales, y el golpe de Estado de 1808. Aunque los americanos expresaran lealtad a la Monarquía española insistiendo en sus derechos, muchos europeos consideraron sus acciones como una traición. Estos peninsulares también temieron que el Virrey José de Iturrigaray, que ellos creyeron que era corrupto, procurara separar a la Nueva España de la Monarquía española y autonombrarse rey. El artículo demuestra que los americanos deseaban autonomía y no independencia. Ellos se veían a sí mismos como ciudadanos leales que respondían a una amenaza extraordinaria contra la Monarquía. Los americanos y sus aliados europeos, incluso el Virrey Iturrigaray, basaron sus argumentos para un congreso de ciudades en principios políticos hispanos tradicionales. También se demuestra que, a pesar de las acusaciones hechas por sus enemigos, el Virrey Iturrigaray no era ni traidor ni corrupto.
Decreased lipin 1β expression in visceral adipose tissue is associated with insulin resistance in polycystic ovary syndrome
Authors: Mlinar Barbara , Pfeifer Marija , Vrtačnik-Bokal Eda , Jensterle Mojca , Marc Janja 
Published: October 2008

ObjectiveIn polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), insulin resistance (IR) appears with high prevalence and represents the major cause of cardiometabolic complications. Lipin 1β regulates lipid metabolism and augments insulin sensitivity. The impact of lipin 1β expression in visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue of PCOS patients on IR was studied for the first time.MethodsEighty-five PCOS patients and 44 controls were enrolled for subcutaneous tissue biopsy, of whom 25 patients and 30 controls also underwent visceral adipose tissue biopsy. Gene expression of lipin 1β was measured, together with that of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ, lipoprotein lipase, hormone-sensitive lipase, adiponectin and glucose transporter 4 in subcutaneous and visceral adipose tissue. Markers of obesity, IR and PCOS were also measured.ResultsIn PCOS patients, lipin 1β expression in both adipose depots was lower than in controls: 0.76 (0.67–0.84) vs 1.16 (0.90–1.43) for visceral and 0.91 (0.73–1.10) vs 1.30 (1.03–1.57) for s.c. depot (both P<10−4). The difference remained significant after adjustment for body mass index (BMI) and also when comparing only lean patients with lean controls. In PCOS patients, visceral adipose lipin 1β expression correlated negatively with homeostasis model assessment–IR (r=−0.474, P=0.017), BMI (r=−0.511, P=0.009) and waist circumference (r=−0.473, P=0.017), waist circumference remaining significant (P=0.027) in multiple regression. Subcutaneous lipin 1β expression in PCOS correlated negatively with BMI, waist circumference and plasma triglycerides, and positively with high density lipoprotein-cholesterol. Subcutaneous, but not visceral lipin 1β expression, correlated positively with the studied genes.ConclusionsLipin 1β appears to be involved in the pathogenesis of IR in PCOS.
Vessel Shrinkage as a Sign of Atherosclerosis Progression in Type 2 Diabetes
Authors: Jiménez-Quevedo Pilar , Suzuki Nobuaki , Corros Cecilia , Ferrer Cruz , Angiolillo Dominick J. , Alfonso Fernando , Hernández-Antolín Rosana , Bañuelos Camino , Escaned Javier , Fernández Cristina , Costa Marco , Macaya Carlos , Bass Theodore , Sabaté Manel 
Published: October 2008

OBJECTIVE—The aim of this study was to determine the natural history of vascular remodeling of atherosclerotic plaques in patients with type 2 diabetes and the predictors of vessel shrinkage.
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—In this serial intracoronary ultrasound (IVUS) study, 237 coronary segments from 45 patients enrolled in the DIABETES I, II, and III trials were included. Quantitative volumetric IVUS analyses (motorized pullbacks at 0.5 mm/s) were performed in the same coronary segment after the index procedure and at the 9-month follow-up. Nontreated mild lesions (angiographic stenosis &lt;25%) with ≥0.5 mm plaque thickening and length of ≥5 mm assessed by IVUS were included. Vessel shrinkage was defined as a Δexternal elastic membrane area/Δplaque area &lt; 0. Statistical adjustment by multiple segments and multiple lesions per patient was performed.
RESULTS—Vessel shrinkage was identified in 37.1% of segments and was associated with a significant decrease in lumen area at 9 months (vessel shrinkage, 10 ± 4 mm2 vs. non–vessel shrinkage, 11 ± 4 mm2; P = 0.04). Independent predictors of vessel shrinkage were insulin requirements (odds ratio 4.6 [95% CI 1.40–15.10]; P = 0.01), glycated hemoglobin (1.5 [1.05–2.10]; P = 0.02), apolipoprotein B (0.96 [0.94–0.98]; P &lt; 0.001), hypertension (3.7 [1.40–10.30]; P = 0.009), number of diseased vessels (5.6 [2.50–12.50]; P &lt; 0.001), and prior revascularization (17.5 [6.50–46.90]; P &lt; 0.001).
CONCLUSIONS—This serial IVUS study suggests that progression of coronary artery disease in patients with type 2 diabetes may be mainly attributed to vessel shrinkage. Besides, vessel shrinkage is influenced by insulin requirements and metabolic control and is associated with more advanced coronary atherosclerosis.
Phenotypic Switching of Adipose Tissue Macrophages With Obesity Is Generated by Spatiotemporal Differences in Macrophage Subtypes
Authors: Lumeng Carey N. , DelProposto Jennifer B. , Westcott Daniel J. , Saltiel Alan R. 
Published: October 2008

OBJECTIVE—To establish the mechanism of the phenotypic switch of adipose tissue macrophages (ATMs) from an alternatively activated (M2a) to a classically activated (M1) phenotype with obesity.
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—ATMs from lean and obese (high-fat diet–fed) C57Bl/6 mice were analyzed by a combination of flow cytometry, immunofluorescence, and expression analysis for M2a and M1 genes. Pulse labeling of ATMs with PKH26 assessed the recruitment rate of ATMs to spatially distinct regions.
RESULTS—Resident ATMs in lean mice express the M2a marker macrophage galactose N-acetyl-galactosamine specific lectin 1 (MGL1) and localize to interstitial spaces between adipocytes independent of CCR2 and CCL2. With diet-induced obesity, MGL1+ ATMs remain in interstitial spaces, whereas a population of MGL1−CCR2+ ATMs with high M1 and low M2a gene expression is recruited to clusters surrounding necrotic adipocytes. Pulse labeling showed that the rate of recruitment of new macrophages to MGL1− ATM clusters is significantly faster than that of interstitial MGL1+ ATMs. This recruitment is attenuated in Ccr2−/− mice. M2a- and M1-polarized macrophages produced different effects on adipogenesis and adipocyte insulin sensitivity in vitro.
CONCLUSIONS—The shift in the M2a/M1 ATM balance is generated by spatial and temporal differences in the recruitment of distinct ATM subtypes. The obesity-induced switch in ATM activation state is coupled to the localized recruitment of an inflammatory ATM subtype to macrophage clusters from the circulation and not to the conversion of resident M2a macrophages to M1 ATMs in situ.
Manolos, Marriage, and Mantras
Authors: Butler Pamela , Desai Jigna 
Published: October 2008

Abstract
Critical readings of “chick lit” are typically limited to a framework that understands the popular fiction genre as a sign or symptom of “postfeminism” in the U.S. In its readings of chick lit in general, and of South Asian American chick lit as a particular women of color subgenre, this essay steps away from the framework of postfeminism that so dominates academic and popular discussions of chick lit, and instead uses critical race and transnational feminist critique to foreground questions of race, nation, empire, and political economy. Beginning with transnational and critical race feminisms in this way illuminates not only the operations of chick lit and the middle-class neoliberal subjects it produces, but also interrogates the ways in which hegemonic feminisms in the U.S. (as exemplified by chick-lit criticism) continue to disregard such questions. We analyze South Asian American chick-lit novels through sites—consumption, marriage, and realism—that are central to neoliberal subject-making, and that highlight the ways in which the novels work to produce a (trans)national, racialized, feminine subject embedded within neoliberalism, heteronormativity, and racism. At the same time, we explore contradictions in the production of such subjectivities, thus underscoring ways in which capital and neoliberalism are incomplete formations, and reimagining the possibilities and limitations for representations of subjectivity in the context of neoliberal capitalism and globalization.
“The Future of Our Worlds”
Authors: Hong Grace Kyungwon 
Published: October 2008

Abstract
Taking as its point of departure an essay published in 1994 by renowned Black feminist Barbara Christian, this paper examines the U.S. university as a crucial site for contemporary transnational capital's management of race. The university adapts to the new demands of a globalized economy in at least two distinct but related ways. One is certainly in relation to issues of demography and access; in the deindustrializing economy of the United States, the university is complicit in the maintenance of wealth and resource inequities in a variety of ways. Thus, the question of whom the university excludes and whom it exploits is a very important one. However, any complete attempt to address the university's changing role under globalization requires a consideration of the university as an institution of knowledge production, a function that remains surprisingly underexamined. This paper examines these two questions—the economic and the epistemic—in relation to each other, by examining the university's management of racialized bodies as a function of its management of racialized knowledge. Indeed, if we take the university as an exemplary institution of global capital, we find that knowledge production is a key mechanism through which economic or demographic processes are organized. Against such a mobilization of knowledge, this essay situates black feminism as a site of alternative futurity.
Some Research Problems with the Alcoholic and Drug Dependent Prisoner
Authors: Bartholomew Allen A. 
Published: October 2008

The problem of the alcoholic and drug dependent prisoner is considered under two main headings: the “alcoholic offender” e.g. the “drunk and disorderly” and the offender who may, incidentally, be an alcoholic. Research in terms of both groups is badly needed and the major topics may be considered under three headings: (a) Epidemiology; (b) Natural history and aetiological factors; and (c) Treatment techniques and their evaluation. It is suggested that further research may well demonstrate that there is no one clinical entity to be termed “alcoholism” but that there are “ the alcoholisms” and that some of these may have much in common with such as gambling and recidivism from a psycho-pathological point of view and thus from the standpoint of therapeutic requirements. Another field for research is concerned with the “family” of the alcoholics and this field overlaps the problem of after-care which, as an aspect of treatment, is of very considerable importance.
The Response to Treatment in Hypochondriacal Disorders
Authors: Pilowsky I. 
Published: October 2008

Response to treatment has been studied in a group of 147 hypochondriacal patients. A variety of social and clinical variables were found to be related to outcome. Anxiety and depression correlated with a good prognosis, whilst poor outcome was related to other variables, from which two sex-related clinical pictures emerge. These consist of older men who are resentful, particularly resistant to reassurance and non-responsive to E.C.T., and females who are younger, have hysterical personalities and see a variety of non-psychiatric consultants before finally being referred to a psychiatric service.
Family Relationships of Elderly Mental Hospital Patients
Authors: Davies G. Vernon 
Published: October 2008

This paper is a summary of an investigation into family relationships of 200 elderly patients admitted consecutively to the Mont Park Mental Hospital, Melbourne, in 1965–66. From the study, some data of statistical significance concerning social aspects of mental disorders of late life were obtained. Most of these data concerned senile dementia, which was the diagnostic group to which one-third of the patients was allotted. The survey was the basis for a thesis submitted to the Department of Psychiatry in the University of Melbourne for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
Suicide in and after Discharge from a Private Psychiatric Hospital over a Period of Eighty-Six Years
Authors: Medlicott R. W. , Medlicott P. A. W. 
Published: October 2008

Inpatient suicides (twelve cases) in a private psychiatric hospital between 1882 and 1968 are studied as to age, sex, marital status, diagnosis, time in hospital, stage of illness, physical health, previous threats, previous attempts and method of suicide. They are also divided into a pre-1947 group, when the hospital was primarily custodial, and a post-1947 group, when the hospital became an active treatment unit. Known ex-patient suicides (forty-nine cases) in the post-1947 era are discussed under similar categories and compared both with a matched control group and with the inpatient suicides. Special mention is made of suicides in patients with personality disorders.
Precausal and Paracausal Thinking: Concepts of Causality in Aboriginal Children
Authors: Nurcombe B. 
Published: October 2008

This paper is the outcome of fieldwork carried out in Arnhem Land during 1968. After a brief introduction to Piaget's theory of the development of causal thinking, the manifestations of pre-causality are described. Using a standard questionnaire developed by Canadian workers, the author has examined in English 21 transitional Aboriginal children, aged from 11 to 12 years, with regard to their concepts of the dream process, the nature of life, the origin of night and the movement of clouds. Criteria for the rating of the level of concept development are described and the performance of the children has been scored accordingly. This is compared with norms for Canadian children. Important and markedly significant differences emerge, particularly in concepts of the nature of life and the origin of night. To eliminate the possibility of language bias, a number of the children were examined in the vernacular. Their performances did not change significantly. Possible reasons for the marked differences between Aboriginal and western children are discussed. The evidence suggests that a relative lack of verbal and material stimulation in critical pre-school years is the most significant factor. The paper ends with a consideration of the ethnocentrism implicit in studies of this nature, and examples are given of the complex modes of thinking found in adult Aborigines.