bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Do urological symptoms cluster among women? Results from the Boston Area Community Health Survey
Authors: Hall Susan A. , Çinar Amy , Link Carol L. , Kopp Zoe S. , Roehrborn Claus G. , Kaplan Steven A. , Rosen Raymond C. 
Published: April 2008

OBJECTIVESTo conduct a cluster analysis of urological symptoms among women in the Boston Area Community Health (BACH) Survey, to describe the distribution of urological symptoms within each cluster, and to determine whether comorbidities, demographic characteristics, and lifestyle factors were associated with cluster membership.SUBJECTS AND METHODSThe BACH Survey is a racially and ethnically diverse random sample (3205 women) of community‐dwelling residents of Boston, MA, USA, aged 30–79 years. Fourteen urological symptoms measured by participant self‐report (using previously validated scales) were included in this analysis. Cluster analyses were conducted using hierarchical and non‐hierarchical (k‐means) methods. Within clusters, demographic characteristics, risk factors for urological symptoms and the interference of symptoms with daily activities were also assessed.RESULTSThree‐quarters of the sample reported at least one urological symptom; four symptom clusters were identified. Most symptomatic women (54%) were assigned to Cluster 1, which was characterized by storage symptoms (nocturia and urinary frequency) with an accompanying low prevalence of other urological symptoms; a second cluster was distinguished by frequency symptoms. Clusters 3 and 4 were characterized by a high prevalence of urinary incontinence and had increased interference scores and more symptoms overall (including voiding and post‐voiding symptoms) than the other two clusters. Cluster 4 (8% of symptomatic women) was characterized by a high prevalence of nearly all urological symptoms and the highest interference score. In this most symptomatic cluster, body size and waist circumference were markedly higher, as was the prevalence of diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease than in the other cluster groups or asymptomatic women. Women in Cluster 4 were more likely to be surgically menopausal, or to have had other forms of urogynaecological surgeries than women in the other clusters.CONCLUSIONFour distinct clusters of urological symptoms were identified among symptomatic women in the BACH Survey, two of which had a high prevalence of urinary incontinence. These cluster patterns provide a novel, empirically‐based framework for investigating aetiological mechanisms and management outcomes for common urological symptoms in women.
Beyond the cluster: methodological and clinical implications in the Boston Area Community Health survey and EPIC studies
Authors: Rosen Raymond C. , Coyne Karin S. , Henry David , Link Carol L. , Çinar Amy , Aiyer Lalitha Padmanabhan , Mollon Patrick , Kaplan Steven A. , Roehrborn Claus G. , Thompson Christine 
Published: April 2008

OBJECTIVETo test the replicability and robustness of findings about urological symptoms in men and women, classified using an objective statistical method, cluster analysis, by planned sensitivity analyses conducted within and across two large, epidemiological studies of lower urinary tract symptoms.METHODSSensitivity analyses were used to assess the effects of: (i) the number of urological symptoms included in the cluster analysis; (ii) the use of ordinal vs dichotomous scaling of responses; (iii) the type of cluster analysis used (hierarchical vs non‐hierarchical; random vs nonrandom seeds); and (iv) the distance metric (median difference vs root mean square) of the resulting clusters. These sensitivity analyses were conducted independently in each of the two studies, with results systematically compared using Cramer’s V statistic. Contingency tables were also used to assess the frequency of transitions or change in classification from one method to another.RESULTSThere were marked similarities in the cluster profiles in men and women across the two studies. For both men and women, the largest clusters consisted of low‐frequency, single‐symptom profiles, with urinary frequency and urgency symptoms reported by both genders. There was a multiple, mixed and highly symptomatic cluster profile in both genders in the Boston Area Community Health (BACH) and EPIC studies. The sensitivity analyses showed stability across both BACH and EPIC studies, and varying cluster methods and solutions (Cramer’s V, 0.37–0.93).CONCLUSIONSensitivity analyses show that cluster profiles are quite robust from EPIC to BACH, and that gender profiles within studies are relatively consistent across the methods and variables examined. Further studies are needed to investigate the mechanisms of action and clinical management implications of these findings.
Human papillomavirus L1 protein expressed in tobacco chloroplasts self‐assembles into virus‐like particles that are highly immunogenic
Authors: Fernández‐San Millán Alicia , Ortigosa Susana M. , Hervás‐Stubbs Sandra , Corral‐Martínez Patricia , Seguí‐Simarro José M. , Gaétan Julien , Coursaget Pierre , Veramendi Jon 
Published: April 2008

SummaryCervical cancer is the second most prevalent cancer in women worldwide. It is linked to infection with human papillomavirus (HPV). As the virus cannot be propagated in culture, vaccines based on virus‐like particles have been developed and recently marketed. However, their high costs constitute an important drawback for widespread use in developing countries, where the incidence of cervical cancer is highest. In a search for alternative production systems, the major structural protein of the HPV‐16 capsid, L1, was expressed in tobacco chloroplasts. A very high yield of production was achieved in mature plants (~3 mg L1/g fresh weight; equivalent to 24% of total soluble protein). This is the highest expression level of HPV L1 protein reported in plants. A single mature plant synthesized ~240 mg of L1. The chloroplast‐derived L1 protein displayed conformation‐specific epitopes and assembled into virus‐like particles, visible by transmission electron microscopy. Furthermore, leaf protein extracts from L1 transgenic plants were highly immunogenic in mice after intraperitoneal injection, and neutralizing antibodies were detected. Taken together, these results predict a promising future for the development of a plant‐based vaccine against HPV.
A comprehensive review of gastroesophageal reflux disease and obesity
Authors: Sise A. , Friedenberg F. K. 
Published: April 2008

SummaryObesity has been implicated as an important risk factor for the development of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). A variety of physiological abnormalities have been described which likely contribute to the association of GERD and obesity. These abnormalities involve the oesophageal body, lower oesophageal sphincter and stomach. For obese patients with GERD, weight loss in conjunction with anti‐secretory medications is first‐line therapy. For those with severe obesity who fail medical weight loss treatment, bariatric surgery has been shown to be beneficial. On balance, Roux‐en‐Y gastric bypass is probably the most efficacious surgery for patients with morbid obesity suffering from concomitant GERD.
Multinationals, Technology Upgrading, and Wages in Urban and Rural Indonesia
Authors: Takii Sadayuki 
Published: April 2008

AbstractThe author examines whether foreign direct investment has an effect on regional disparities in a developing country. For this purpose, the author compares the magnitude of productivity and wage spillovers derived from foreign presence to local firms in different locations. Using plant‐level panel data for Indonesian manufacturing in 1990–95, the study finds supporting evidence for the hypothesis that the effects of foreign presence on the level and growth of productivity and wages in locally owned plants are greater in regions where multinational corporation affiliates tend to have a higher concentration as compared to other regions in the same province. The findings indicate that spillovers occur locally and diffuse to neighboring regions in part, and thus that the concentration of foreign direct investment in a certain region imparts a greater positive externality on one hand, and negatively affects regional disparities on the other.
Improvement of pruritus and quality of life of children with atopic dermatitis and their families after joining support groups
Authors: Blessmann Weber M , De Tarso da Luz Fontes Neto P , Prati C , Soirefman M , Mazzotti NG , Barzenski B , Cestari TF 
Published: April 2008

AbstractIntroduction  Atopic dermatitis places a large burden on patients and their families, with greater risk of emotional disorders and behavioural problems. Preliminary evidence suggests that support groups and educational programs are helpful in reducing stress, disease and pruritus severity and improves quality of life (QoL).Objectives  To evaluate the intensity of pruritus and the QoL in children with atopic dermatitis and their families after joining support groups.Material and methods  Subjects were randomly assigned to intervention or control group and completed the Children's Dermatology Life Quality Index (CDLQI) and Family Dermatitis Impact (FDI). Pruritus was evaluated by the Yosipovitch's questionnaire for pruritus. Each patient/family unit was considered as one ‘patient’. Participants were divided into two different groups: one with children under 16 years and the second with patients’ relatives. Each unit was accompanied during 6 months.Results  Thirty‐two patients and their relatives completed the questionnaires satisfactorily. After intervention, pruritus intensity was similar (P = 0.42), but the pattern of pruritus improved in the intervention group. Overall QoL for CDLQI instruments improved significantly (P < 0.01) and, when specific domains were analysed, personal relationships (P = 0.02) and leisure (P = 0.04) showed marked enhancement. FDI scores failed to demonstrate differences in the QoL of patients’ relatives after treatment.Conclusion  The improvement on pruritus and QoL showed that atopic dermatitis patients had benefits with the attendance to support groups. We consider that these non‐pharmacological approaches can be a very effective accessory tools in the management of recalcitrant forms of the disease.
Influence of water depth on nest success of the endangered Cape Sable seaside sparrow in the Florida Everglades
Authors: Baiser B. , Boulton R. L. , Lockwood J. L. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractThe restoration of the Florida Everglades rests largely on the ability of managers to re‐create a more natural hydrologic regime throughout the remaining natural areas. The Cape Sable seaside sparrow, an endangered subspecies endemic to the freshwater marl prairies of the Everglades, has suffered from changes in the depth and the timing of water flows through its habitat. However, it remains unclear what temporal and spatial aspects of water inputs (both managed and natural) affect nesting success. We monitored 429 nests in two of the six extant sparrow subpopulations over 10 breeding seasons and a variety of water levels. Using an information‐theoretic approach, we find that nests initiated early in the breeding season experience substantially higher success rates than those initiated later. We suggest that this seasonal effect is due to a change in predator abundance or activity levels as the season progresses, which are tied to the increase in water levels that accompany the onset of the wet season. In addition, nest success is influenced to a lesser degree by where sparrows choose to nest across the landscape, the height of base water levels within the sparrow's breeding season and the height of water levels when nests are active. Our observation of extreme variability in nest success over the span of a single season suggests that successful late‐season breeding, although shown to be important for population recovery, is a rare event. Management actions that maximize the success of late‐season broods or increase the number of early broods are warranted, but the ecosystem implications of such actions are poorly understood.
Tissue engineering: strategies, stem cells and scaffolds
Authors: Howard Daniel , Buttery Lee D. , Shakesheff Kevin M. , Roberts Scott J. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractTissue engineering scaffolds are designed to influence the physical, chemical and biological environment surrounding a cell population. In this review we focus on our own work and introduce a range of strategies and materials used for tissue engineering, including the sources of cells suitable for tissue engineering: embryonic stem cells, bone marrow‐derived mesenchymal stem cells and cord‐derived mesenchymal stem cells. Furthermore, we emphasize the developments in custom scaffold design and manufacture, highlighting laser sintering, supercritical carbon dioxide processing, growth factor incorporation and zoning, plasma modification of scaffold surfaces, and novel multi‐use temperature‐sensitive injectable materials.
The Limits of Unilateral Migration Control: Deportation and Inter-state Cooperation
Authors: Ellermann Antje 
Published: April 2008

AbstractDespite the recent proliferation of policy initiatives designed to curb illegal immigration, advanced industrialized states have made little headway towards the goal of effective migration control. Examining the case of deportation in Germany and the European Union, this article contends that one of the most fundamental reasons underlying this failure is a unilateral policy bias that fails to take into account two related conditions. First, policies of migration control directly and substantially impinge upon the interests of foreign governments. Secondly, the cooperation of foreign officials is an essential condition for policy implementation. To the extent that they disregard these basic conditions, then, migration control policies are bound to fail. By examining the implementation of deportation policy, the article illustrates the limited efficacy of control measures that are dominated by the interests of advanced industrialized states to the exclusion of the concerns of foreign governments.
Botulinum Toxin Type‐A (BOTOX®) in the Treatment of Occipital Neuralgia: A Pilot Study
Authors: Taylor Martin , Silva Sachin , Cottrell Constance 
Published: April 2008

Objective.— To determine the efficacy of occipital nerve blocks using reconstituted botulinum toxin type‐A (BTX‐A) in providing significant and prolonged pain relief in chronic occipital neuralgia.Background.— Occipital neuralgia is a unilateral or bilateral radiating pain with paresthesias commonly manifesting as paroxysmal episodes and involving the occipital and parietal regions. Common causes of occipital neuralgia include irritation or injury to the divisions of the occipital nerve, myofascial spasm, and focal entrapment of the occipital nerve. Treatment options include medication therapy, occipital nerve blocks, and surgical techniques. BTX‐A, which has shown promise in relief of other headache types, may prove a viable therapeutic option for occipital neuralgia pain.Methods.— Botulinum toxin type‐A (reconstituted in 3 cc of saline) was injected into regions traversed by the greater and lesser occipital nerve in 6 subjects diagnosed with occipital neuralgia. Subjects were instructed to report their daily pain level (on a visual analog pain scale), their ability to perform daily activities (on several quality of life instruments) and their daily pain medication usage (based on a self‐reported log), 2 weeks prior to the injection therapy and 12 weeks following injection therapy. Data were analyzed for significant variation from baseline values.Results.— The dull/aching and pin/needles types of pain reported by the subjects did not show a statistically significant improvement during the trial period. The sharp/shooting type of pain, however, showed improvement during most of the trial period except weeks 3‐4 and 5‐6. The quality of life measures exhibited some improvement. The headache‐specific quality of life measure showed significant improvement by 6 weeks which continued through week 12. The general health‐ and depression‐related measures showed no statistical improvement. No significant reduction in pain medication usage was demonstrated.Conclusions.— Our results indicate that BTX‐A improved the sharp/shooting type of pain most commonly known to be associated with occipital neuralgia. Additionally, the quality of life measures assessing burden and long‐term impact of the headaches, further corroborated improvement seen in daily head pain.
Ethanol Enhances GABAergic Transmission Onto Dopamine Neurons in the Ventral Tegmental Area of the Rat
Authors: Theile Jonathan W. , Morikawa Hitoshi , Gonzales Reuben A. , Morrisett Richard A. 
Published: April 2008

Background:  Activation of the dopaminergic (DA) neurons of the ventral tegmental area (VTA) by ethanol has been implicated in its rewarding and reinforcing effects. At most central synapses, ethanol generally increases inhibitory synaptic transmission; however, no studies have explored the effect of acute ethanol on GABAergic transmission in the VTA.Methods:  Whole‐cell patch clamp recordings of inhibitory postsynaptic currents (IPSCs) from VTA‐DA neurons in midbrain slices from young rats.Results  Acute exposure of VTA‐DA neurons to ethanol (25 to 50 mM) robustly enhanced GABAergic spontaneous and miniature IPSC frequency while inducing a slight enhancement of spontaneous IPSC (sIPSC) amplitude. Ethanol (50 mM) enhanced paired‐pulse depression of evoked IPSCs, further suggesting enhanced GABA release onto VTA‐DA neurons. The frequency of sIPSCs was suppressed by the GABAB agonist, baclofen (1.25 μM) and enhanced by the antagonist, SCH50911 (20 μM); however, neither appeared to modulate or occlude the effects of ethanol on sIPSC frequency.Conclusions:  The present results indicate that ethanol increases postsynaptic GABAA receptor sensitivity, enhances action potential‐independent GABA release onto VTA‐DA neurons, and that this latter effect is independent of GABAB auto‐receptor inhibition of GABA release.
Loss of integrity of umbilical cord blood unit freezing bags: description and consequences
Authors: Thyagarajan Bharat , Berger Michael , Sumstad Darin , McKenna David H. 
Published: April 2008

BACKGROUND: Umbilical cord blood (UCB) is now a commonly used resource for hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplantation; great effort has been put forth in standardizing protocols for processing, storage, and testing of UCB units. Because UCB units are selected on an individual basis to maximize the chance of engraftment, loss of container integrity may have adverse effects on patient outcome.STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: All bag breaks involving UCB units thawed for transplantation at our institution between January 1, 2000, and May 31, 2006, were identified. Information on various laboratory variables and the clinical consequences of UCB bag breaks was obtained from the deviation database of the Clinical Cell Therapy Laboratory (CCTL). Patient medical charts were reviewed for infusion‐related data.RESULTS: The incidence of bag breaks over a 6½‐year period was 3.5 percent. A majority of cases of loss of container integrity occurred in units that had been cryopreserved for more than 2 years (75%) and resulted in minimal loss of product. There were no significant decreases in quantity or quality of UCB, as determined by various quality control tests; no adverse clinical outcomes related to receiving a broken UCB unit were noted except increased antibiotic usage.CONCLUSION: There was a relatively low incidence of UCB bag breaks in this study that did not result in significant loss of UCB or adverse clinical outcomes. With the FDA considering licensure of UCB for hematopoietic reconstitution, improvement in container design and possibly guidelines limiting length of storage will likely be addressed in detail.
Bound Together: The Future of Globalization
Authors: CHANDA NAYAN 
Published: April 2008

Globalization has indeed flattened the earth, paving the way for new beginnings and the resurgence of old cultures alike by levelling the playing field for all comers. While this new era of post‐globalization certainly heralds de‐Westernization by century's end, is it more likely to mean a revival of the old ways of the East or the new hybrid ways of the first global civilization?Some of Asia's most provocative voices, as well as the world's most renowned cellist and cross‐pollinating musician, offer their views.
Tibet and the Olympics
Authors: JINGSHENG WEI 
Published: April 2008

Globalization has indeed flattened the earth, paving the way for new beginnings and the resurgence of old cultures alike by levelling the playing field for all comers. While this new era of post‐globalization certainly heralds de‐Westernization by century's end, is it more likely to mean a revival of the old ways of the East or the new hybrid ways of the first global civilization?Some of Asia's most provocative voices, as well as the world's most renowned cellist and cross‐pollinating musician, offer their views.
Eulogy for the Dollar?
Authors: WACHTEL HOWARD M. 
Published: April 2008

Globalization has indeed flattened the earth, paving the way for new beginnings and the resurgence of old cultures alike by levelling the playing field for all comers. While this new era of post‐globalization certainly heralds de‐Westernization by century's end, is it more likely to mean a revival of the old ways of the East or the new hybrid ways of the first global civilization?Some of Asia's most provocative voices, as well as the world's most renowned cellist and cross‐pollinating musician, offer their views.
Headscarves Are Secular Turkey's Waterloo
Authors: SAHIN HALUK 
Published: April 2008

The drama between the secularist legacy of Ataturk and the popular surge of Islamist‐rooted politics continues in Turkey, centered on the debate over the headscarf. Is it a sign of religious reaction, or a sign of non‐Western modernization that will ensure higher education for Muslim women? We represent here all sides of the debate.Elsewhere in the Muslim world are the reformers and critics listening to each other, or impeding progress with a blame game? Europe's most controversial figures in this debate—Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Tariq Ramadan—engage here.
Woman's Turban Is Sign of Rebellion Against Ataturk
Authors: REFIG HALIT 
Published: April 2008

The drama between the secularist legacy of Ataturk and the popular surge of Islamist‐rooted politics continues in Turkey, centered on the debate over the headscarf. Is it a sign of religious reaction, or a sign of non‐Western modernization that will ensure higher education for Muslim women? We represent here all sides of the debate.Elsewhere in the Muslim world are the reformers and critics listening to each other, or impeding progress with a blame game? Europe's most controversial figures in this debate—Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Tariq Ramadan—engage here.