bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Evidence of Management Discrimination Among Analysts during Earnings Conference Calls
Authors: MAYEW WILLIAM J. 
Published: March 2008

ABSTRACTThis paper considers the potential for public information disclosures to complement the existing private information of financial analysts. In such a setting, analysts allowed to participate during earnings conference calls by asking questions receive public signals that can facilitate the generation of new and valuable private information for the asking analyst. Realizing these public signals are valuable for the asking analyst, managers can use their discretion to discriminate among analysts by granting more participation to more favorable analysts. I use post–Regulation Fair Disclosure conference call transcripts to document that the probability of an analyst asking a question during an earnings conference call is increasing in the favorableness of the analyst's outstanding stock recommendation. I also find that downgrades are associated with decreases in access to management during the conference call relative to other recommendation change activity. Analyst prestige moderates these effects. Favorable and prestigious analysts have higher participation probabilities than favorable and unprestigious analysts. Further, downgrades result in participation decreases only for unprestigious analysts. These findings are consistent with practitioner and regulatory concerns that managers discriminate among analysts by allowing more management access to more favorable analysts.
Regulation Fair Disclosure and the Cost of Adverse Selection
Authors: SIDHU BALJIT , SMITH TOM , WHALEY ROBERT E. , WILLIS RICHARD H. 
Published: March 2008

ABSTRACTRegulation Fair Disclosure (FD), imposed by the Securities and Exchange Commission in October 2000, was designed to prohibit disclosure of material private information to selected market participants. The informational advantage such select participants gain is unclear. If multiple “insiders” receive identical information, private information is immediately incorporated in price and each insider has zero expected profit. If, on the other hand, Regulation FD has curtailed the flow of information from firms, private information becomes longer‐lived and more valuable. Hence, market makers will demand increased compensation by widening the adverse selection component of the bid‐ask spread. We identify the cost components of the bid‐ask spread for a sample of NASDAQ stocks surrounding the implementation of Regulation FD. Controlling for other factors affecting the spread, we find that adverse selection costs increase approximately 36% after Regulation FD. We interpret our finding as Regulation FD failing to achieve one of its desired objectives.
Did Clément Marot really offer his Trente Pseaulmes to the Emperor Charles V in January 1540?
Authors: Wursten Dick 
Published: March 2008

ABSTRACTIn both popular and scholarly literature, the offering of an early manuscript of the Trente Pseaulmes by Clément Marot to the Emperor Charles V, passing through France in the winter of 1539–1540, is presented as a matter of fact, often combined with an identification of this manuscript with Ms. Cod. Vind. 2644 (Vienna, Staatsbibliothek).1 The fact that this story is only known from one source, the so‐called Villemadon Letter, dated 1559, is hardly ever taken into account when referring to this event. This article raises questions concerning the historical trustworthiness of the information contained in this letter by sketching the historical background of it (the French Wars of Religion), and the way the reference to the ‘Psalm offering’ functions in the propagandist discourse of the Letter. Finally, the common identification of the presentation copy with the Ms. Cod. Vind. 2644 is discussed.
Headache in patients with epilepsy: A prospective incidence study
Authors: Kwan Patrick , Man Celeste B. L. , Leung Howan , Yu Evelyn , Wong Ka S. 
Published: March 2008

Summary High prevalence of headache has been reported in patients with refractory epilepsy in cross‐sectional surveys based on retrospective recall. We conducted a prospective study to document the incidence of headache over a 3‐month observation period in a cohort of 227 adult patients with less refractory epilepsy. The mean seizure frequency was 2.46 per month. Fifty (22%) patients reported to have had at least one headache episode, 45 (19.8%) had interictal headache, 11 (4.8%) had periictal headache, and 5 (2.2%) had both interictal and periictal headache. Forty‐nine percent of the patients with headache took over‐the‐counter analgesics as acute treatment. The headache was rated to have made very severe or substantial impact on their lives by 34% of patients. A formal headache diagnosis was not made in any of the patients prior to the survey. Although the incidence of headache in epilepsy patients appeared to be low, it was underdiagnosed and associated with substantial negative impact.
Brain penetration and anticonvulsant efficacy of intranasal phenobarbital in rats
Authors: Czapp Marion , Bankstahl Jens P. , Zibell Guido , Potschka Heidrun 
Published: March 2008

Summary
Purpose: The use of alternate methods for antiepileptic drug delivery has been proposed as a putative strategy to enhance efficacy and tolerability of chronic pharmacotherapy. Intranasal administration is of specific interest based on its general potential for targeted central nervous system delivery. Therefore we analyzed whether intranasal administration of phenobarbital may render a valuable therapeutic approach.
Methods: Brain penetration of phenobarbital following its intranasal administration in rats was studied by microdialysis and by analysis of brain homogenates. The anticonvulsant efficacy of intranasal phenobarbital was determined in the amygdala kindling model.
Results: Phenobarbital was efficiently delivered to the rat brain following intranasal administration. A mucoadhesive preparation of phenobarbital thereby resulted in brain concentrations that were superior to those obtained with intranasal administration of an aqueous solution. In comparison with concentrations reached following intravenous administration of 5.4 mg/kg phenobarbital, intranasal administration of the same dosage resulted in 2.4‐fold higher Cmax values in cortical dialysates. Ten minutes following intranasal administration, PB concentrations in the olfactory bulb exceeded that in more caudal parts of the brain, thus, indicating that phenobarbital has at least been partially targeted to the brain via local pathways. Testing in the amygdala kindling model demonstrated that effective brain concentrations were reached with intranasal phenobarbital delivery.
Discussion: In conclusion, intranasal administration of phenobarbital in rats is associated with efficient brain penetration rates allowing to achieve therapeutic concentrations. Based on these data, intranasal phenobarbital administration seems to render a suitable alternate delivery route for this antiepileptic drug, which should be further evaluated.
Interictal regional polyspikes in noninvasive EEG suggest cortical dysplasia as etiology of focal epilepsies
Authors: Noachtar Soheyl , Bilgin Özgür , Rémi Jan , Chang Nelly , Midi Ipek , Vollmar Christian , Feddersen Berend 
Published: March 2008

Summary
Purpose: To evaluate the clinical significance of interictal regional polyspikes in focal epilepsies secondary to cortical dysplasia.
Methods: We performed a data search for the term “regional polyspikes” in the database of our epilepsy‐monitoring unit. Patients with generalized epilepsies including Lennox‐Gastaut syndrome were excluded. Regional interictal epileptiform discharges were recorded in 513 patients with noninvasive EEG.
Results: We identified 29 patients with interictal regional polyspikes and focal epilepsies. Another 484 patients showed regional epileptiform discharges other than polyspikes. The etiology of the epilepsy was significantly more frequently cortical dysplasia in the group of patients with regional polyspikes (35%, 10 of 29 patients) than in the patients with other regional epileptiform discharges (5%, 24 of 484 patients) (p < 0.01). The polyspikes were significantly more frequently localized to the extratemporal (72%; n = 21) than temporal (28%; n = 8) regions (p < 0.01). In contrast, regional epileptiform discharges other than polyspikes were significantly more frequently localized to the temporal lobe (75%; n = 362) than extratemporal regions (25%; n = 122) (p < 0.01). Eight of the 10 patients with focal cortical dysplasia had extratemporal polyspikes.
Discussion: Noninvasively recorded regional polyspikes suggest cortical dysplasias as etiology of predominantly extratemporal epilepsies.
Cumulative Deficits Better Characterize Susceptibility to Death in Elderly People than Phenotypic Frailty: Lessons from the Cardiovascular Health Study
Authors: Kulminski Alexander M. , Ukraintseva Svetlana V. , Kulminskaya Irina V. , Arbeev Konstantin G. , Land Kenneth , Yashin Anatoli I. 
Published: March 2008

OBJECTIVES: To compare how well frailty measures based on a phenotypic frailty approach proposed in the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS) and a cumulative deficits approach predict mortality.DESIGN: Cohort study.SETTING: The main cohort of the CHS.PARTICIPANTS: Four thousand seven hundred twenty‐one individuals.MEASUREMENTS: A phenotypic frailty index (PFI) was defined in the same way as proposed in the CHS: assessing weight loss, exhaustion, low physical activity, slowness, and poor grip strength. A cumulative deficit index (DI) was defined based on 48 elderly deficits (signs, symptoms, impairments, diseases) included in the index, with equal weights.RESULTS: Of the 1,073 frailest individuals with the lowest survival, the PFI, categorized as proposed in the CHS into robust, prefrail, and frail categories, underestimated the risk of death for 720 persons, whereas the DI categorized into the same three frailty categories underestimated the mortality risk for 134 persons. The higher power of the DI for discriminating frail individuals in their susceptibility to death also followed from comparison of quasi‐instantaneous values of both indices. The three‐level DI identified 219 individuals as frail of 361 individuals identified as frail according to the three‐level PFI.CONCLUSION: The DI can more precisely evaluate chances of death because it assesses a broader spectrum of disorders than the PFI. Both indices appear to be frailty related. Integration of both approaches is highly promising for increasing the precision of discrimination of the risk of death and especially for identification of the most vulnerable elderly people.
Consensus List of Signals to Detect Potential Adverse Drug Reactions in Nursing Homes
Authors: Handler Steven M. , Hanlon Joseph T. , Perera Subashan , Roumani Yazan F. , Nace David A. , Fridsma Douglas B. , Saul Melissa I. , Castle Nicholas G. , Studenski Stephanie A. 
Published: March 2008

OBJECTIVES: To develop a consensus list of agreed‐upon laboratory, pharmacy, and Minimum Data Set signals that a computer system can use in the nursing home to detect potential adverse drug reactions (ADRs).DESIGN: Literature search for potential ADR signals, followed by an internet‐based, a two‐round, modified Delphi survey.SETTING: A nationally representative survey of experts in geriatrics.PARTICIPANTS: Panel of 13 physicians, 10 pharmacists, and 13 advanced practitioners.MEASUREMENTS: Mean score and 95% confidence interval (CI) for each of 80 signals rated on a 5‐point Likert scale (5=strong agreement with likelihood of indicating potential ADRs). Consensus agreement indicated by a lower‐limit 95% CI of 4.0 or greater.RESULTS: Panelists reached consensus agreement on 40 signals: 15 laboratory and medication combinations, 12 medication concentrations, 10 antidotes, and three Resident Assessment Protocols (RAPs). Highest consensus scores (4.6, 95% CI=4.4–4.9 or 4.4–4.8) were for naloxone when taking opioid analgesics; phytonadione when taking warfarin; dextrose, glucagon, or liquid glucose when taking hypoglycemic agents; medication‐induced hypoglycemia; supratherapeutic international normalized ratio when taking warfarin; and triggering the Falls RAP when taking certain medications.CONCLUSION: A multidisciplinary expert panel was able to reach consensus agreement on a list of signals to detect potential ADRs in nursing home residents. The results of this study can be used to prioritize an initial list of signals to be included in paper‐ or computer‐based methods for potential ADR detection.
Older Women with Age‐Related Macular Degeneration Have a Greater Risk of Falls: A Physiological Profile Assessment Study
Authors: Szabo Shelagh M. , Janssen Patricia A. , Khan Karim , Potter Michael J. , Lord Stephen R. 
Published: March 2008

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether older women with exudative age‐related macular degeneration (AMD) are at greater risk of falls.DESIGN: Cross‐sectional study.SETTING: A hospital‐based ophthalmology clinic in Vancouver, Canada.PARTICIPANTS: One hundred fifteen older (aged ≥70) community‐dwelling women with exudative AMD (AMD cohort) and two control groups: 54 community‐dwelling women without exudative AMD drawn from the same community (non‐AMD cohort) and 341 community‐dwelling Australian women (Australian normative cohort).MEASUREMENTS: Participants were assessed for falls risk using the short‐form Physiological Profile Assessment (PPA), which provides a fall risk index score and subcomponent measures of vision, proprioception, strength, reaction time, and postural sway.RESULTS: The mean fall risk index score in the AMD cohort (3.20) was significantly greater than that of the non‐AMD cohort (1.21; P<.001), and fall risk scores increased with age to a greater extent in the AMD cohort. The higher fall risk scores in the AMD cohort resulted from significantly worse performance on each PPA test, not just the test of vision. The AMD cohort also performed worse than the Australian normative cohort in tests of vision, reaction time, and postural sway.CONCLUSION: Older women with AMD have impaired balance, slow visual reaction times, and poor vision, which in combination result in a significantly greater risk of falls than population norms. These deficits are clearly indicated in the physiological falls profile for the group. Strategies to enhance balance may be particularly beneficial to prevent falls in this group.
Distribution and Correlates of Lipoprotein‐Associated Phospholipase A2 in an Elderly Cohort: The Cardiovascular Health Study
Authors: Furberg Curt D. , Nelson Jeanenne J. , Solomon Cam , Cushman Mary , Jenny Nancy Swords , Psaty Bruce M. 
Published: March 2008

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether high levels of lipoprotein‐associated phospholipase A2 (Lp‐PLA2) are associated with prevalent cardiovascular disease (CVD) and to evaluate factors most influencing Lp‐PLA2 levels in a community‐based cohort of older adults.DESIGN: Cross‐sectional.SETTING: The Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS), a population‐based cohort study of men and women aged 65 and older.PARTICIPANTS: Five thousand five hundred thirty‐one CHS participants.MEASUREMENTS: Levels of Lp‐PLA2 activity were determined using stored blood samples from the baseline examination.RESULTS: Mean Lp‐PLA2 was higher in participants with electrocardiographically determined ventricular conduction defect and major Q‐wave abnormality and was positively correlated with left ventricular (LV) mass. It was high in those with echocardiographically determined abnormal LV ejection fraction, which persisted after adjustment. Mean Lp‐PLA2 was also higher in participants with mild renal insufficiency and kidney disease. After multivariable adjustment, there was a modest but significant 27% greater risk of prevalent CHF per standard deviation increment of Lp‐PLA2 and a modest but significant 12% greater risk of prevalent myocardial infarction. Lp‐PLA2 was weakly but mainly most strongly correlated with cholesterol and lipoproteins, but those correlations were not especially strong. Lp‐PLA2 was weakly positively correlated with soluble intercellular adhesion molecule‐1 but not interleukin‐6. In total, all factors considered could explain only 29% of Lp‐PLA2 activity.CONCLUSION: Novel findings in the study are the associations, in those aged 65 and older, between Lp‐PLA2 activity and LV dysfunction, CHF, and renal disease. CVD risk factors only minimally explain levels of Lp‐PLA2.
Body Mass Index, Obstructive Sleep Apnea, and Outcomes of Catheter Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation
Authors: JONGNARANGSIN KRIT , CHUGH AMAN , GOOD ERIC , MUKERJI SIDDHARTH , DEY SUJOYA , CRAWFORD THOMAS , SARRAZIN JEAN F. , KUHNE MICHAEL , CHALFOUN NAGIB , WELLS DARRYL , BOONYAPISIT WARANGKNA , PELOSI, Jr FRANK , BOGUN FRANK , MORADY FRED , ORAL HAKAN 
Published: March 2008

Background:
Obesity and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are associated with atrial fibrillation (AF). The effects of a large body mass index (BMI) and OSA on the results of radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFA) of AF are unclear.
Objective:
To evaluate the effect of BMI and OSA on the efficacy of RFA for AF.
Methods:
RFA was performed in 324 consecutive patients (mean age = 57 ± 11 years) with paroxysmal (234) or chronic (90) AF. OSA was diagnosed by polysomnography in 32 of 324 patients (10%) prior to ablation. Among the 324 patients, 18% had a normal BMI (<25 kg/m2), 39% were overweight (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2 and <30 kg/m2), and 43% were obese (≥30 kg/m2). RFA was performed to eliminate complex fractionated atrial electrograms (CFAE) in the pulmonary vein antrum and left atrium.
Results:
At 7 ± 4 months after a single ablation procedure, 63% of patients without OSA and 41% with OSA were free from recurrent AF without antiarrhythmic drug therapy (P = 0.02). Multivariate analysis including variables of age, gender, type and duration of AF, OSA, BMI, left atrial size, ejection fraction, and hypertension demonstrated that OSA was the strongest predictor of recurrent AF (OR = 3.04, 95% CI: 1.11–8.32, P = 0.03). There was no association between BMI and freedom from recurrent AF. A serious complication occurred in 3 of 324 patients, with no relationship to BMI.
Conclusions:
OSA is a predictor of recurrent AF after RFA independent of its association with BMI and left atrial size. Obesity does not appear to affect outcomes after radiofrequency catheter ablation of AF.
Ventricular Tachycardia Storm After Initiation of Biventricular Pacing: Incidence, Clinical Characteristics, Management, and Outcome
Authors: NAYAK HEMAL M. , VERDINO RALPH J. , RUSSO ANDREA M. , GERSTENFELD EDWARD P. , HSIA HENRY H. , LIN DAVID , DIXIT SANJAY , COOPER JOSHUA M. , CALLANS DAVID J. , MARCHLINSKI FRANCIS E. 
Published: March 2008

Introduction: Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) or biventricular pacing (BVP) is becoming an important treatment option in patients with severe congestive heart failure (CHF) and electrical dyssynchrony. When combined with implantable cardioverter‐defibrillator (ICD) therapy, cardiac resynchronization therapy with a defibrillator (CRT‐D) has been shown to improve quality of life, functional class, and, most recently, survival. However, left ventricular (LV) stimulation in the form of BVP in patients at high risk of developing ventricular tachyarrhythmias has raised concerns that BVP may be proarrhythmic. We describe the incidence, clinical characteristics, and management in a series of patients who developed ventricular tachycardia storm (VTS) after initiation of BVP. Methods and Results: Clinical data on all patients undergoing CRT‐D were collected prospectively. VTS occurred in eight of 191 (4%) patients and was characterized by recurrent sustained monomorphic ventricular tachycardia (MMVT) with a single morphology. All patients with VTS were men (seven with ischemic heart disease, one with nonischemic cardiomyopathy) with a remote (5 ± 2 years) history of MMVT. VTS developed a mean of 16 ± 12.5 days after initiation of BVP. All patients presented with palpitations and/or decompensated CHF. VTS was refractory to intravenous antiarrhythmic medication and was managed by turning off LV pacing and/or radiofrequency catheter ablation and long‐term oral antiarrhythmic therapy. Despite elimination of VT, presenting with VTS carried a poor prognosis in that all eight patients subsequently developed refractory CHF. Conclusions: VTS with recurrent MMVT can occur after initiation of BVP. Patients present with decompensated CHF and are best managed by either turning off LV pacing or radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFA) in combination with long‐term antiarrhythmic medication. Despite eliminating MMVT, most patients have poor outcomes.
Lone Atrial Fibrillation: Influence of Familial Disease on Gender Predilection
Authors: CHEN LIN Y. , HERRON KATHLEEN J. , TAI BEE C. , OLSON TIMOTHY M. 
Published: March 2008

Introduction: Epidemiological studies report a male predominance in lone atrial fibrillation (LAF). Phenotypic differences between sporadic and familial LAF could aid in deciding which cases should undergo family screening. We sought to determine gender distribution in sporadic and familial LAF, gender‐based differences, and phenotypic differences between sporadic and familial LAF. Methods: Since November 2000, 192 unrelated LAF probands were recruited. Sporadic LAF was defined as the absence of a family history of LAF. Familial LAF was classified as possible if one first‐ or second‐degree relative had LAF, or confirmed if ≥ 2 relatives had LAF. Affected relatives (n = 87) of 34 confirmed familial probands were also evaluated. For unrelated LAF probands, differences in proportions and means were tested using χ2 and ANOVA, respectively. Difference in gender ratio among the family history groups was tested using mixed models. Results: Male proportion was greater among sporadic (82%) and possible familial probands (84%) than confirmed familial probands (62%), and affected relatives (54%), P < 0.001. Sporadic LAF was more common in men (62%) than women (51%), P = 0.03. More women were affected by palpitation and nocturnal symptoms than men. More patients had permanent AF in the confirmed familial group (27%), compared with the possible familial (7%) and the sporadic LAF group (8%), P = 0.05, but no other phenotypic discriminators were identified. Conclusions: Male predilection for LAF is attenuated as the likelihood of dominant Mendelian inheritance increases. Increased frequency of “sporadic” LAF among men could be partially due to X‐linked recessive inheritance. Finally, sporadic and familial LAF are clinically indistinguishable.
Amber‐colored excreta: a source of arrestment pheromone in firebrats, Thermobia domestica
Authors: Woodbury Nathan , Gries Gerhard 
Published: March 2008

AbstractFemale, male, and juvenile firebrats, Thermobia domestica (Packard) (Thysanura: Lepismatidae), employ a pheromone that arrests conspecifics on contact. Paper shelters placed in a T. domestica colony accumulate fecal excreta (= frass) and other insect‐derived debris. Such shelters elicit arrestment by conspecifics. However, the definitive source of the arrestment pheromone was not known. We tested the hypothesis that one or more debris components from a T. domestica shelter constitute the source of the arrestment pheromone. In dual‐choice, still‐air olfactometer experiments, scales, exuviae, antennae, caudal filaments, gregarine parasite cysts, and silk (each intact or macerated) retrieved from shelters and separated for experiments, as well as saliva, hemolymph, and fat body extracted from insects all failed to arrest female T. domestica. Similarly, paper that had been fed upon by insects did not elicit an arrestment response, eliminating insect‐altered cellulose as the arrestant pheromone. In contrast, insect‐exposed glass significantly arrested females. Moreover, females were significantly arrested by (i) loose, insect‐derived debris brushed from shelters, (ii) a frass mixture manually separated from loose debris, and (iii) specific amber‐type frass manually separated from the frass mixture. These results lead us to conclude that amber‐type frass constitutes the source of at least part of the T. domestica arrestment pheromone.