bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Trends and college‐level characteristics associated with the non‐medical use of prescription drugs among US college students from 1993 to 2001
Authors: McCabe Sean Esteban , West Brady T. , Wechsler Henry 
Published: February 2007

ABSTRACTAims  The present study examines the prevalence trends and college‐level characteristics associated with the non‐medical use of prescription drugs (i.e. amphetamines, opioids, sedatives, tranquilizers) and illicit drug use among US college students between 1993 and 2001.Design  Data were collected from self‐administered mail surveys, sent to independent cross‐sectional samples of college students from a nationally representative sample of 119 colleges in 4 years between 1993 and 2001.Setting  Nationally representative 4‐year US colleges and universities in 1993, 1997, 1999 and 2001.Participants  Representative samples of 15 282, 14 428, 13 953 and 10 904 randomly selected college students at these colleges in 1993, 1997, 1999 and 2001, respectively.Findings  The results indicate that life‐time and 12‐month prevalence rates of non‐medical use of prescription drugs (NMPD) increased between 1993 and 2001. Specific college‐level characteristics were found to be correlated positively (marijuana use) and negatively (historically black college status and commuter status) with NMPD, consistently across the four cross‐sectional samples. Significant between‐college variation in terms of trajectories in the prevalence of NMPD over time was found in hierarchical linear models, and selected college‐level characteristics were not found to explain all of the variation in the trajectories, suggesting the need for further investigation of what determines between‐college variance in the prevalence trends.Conclusions  The findings of the present study suggest that continued monitoring of NMPD and illicit drug use among college students is needed and collegiate substance prevention programs should include efforts to reduce these drug use behaviors.
Phase II study of three dose levels of continuous erythropoietin receptor activator (C.E.R.A.) in anaemic patients with aggressive non‐Hodgkin’s lymphoma receiving combination chemotherapy
Authors: Österborg Anders , Steegmann Juan Luis , Hellmann Andrzej , Couban Stephen , Mayer Jiri , Eid Joseph E. 
Published: February 2007

SummaryAnaemia is a common complication in the treatment of patients with aggressive non‐Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), but there are no published data on the effect of erythropoiesis‐stimulating agents in such patients. This is the first open‐label, phase II, dose‐finding study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of continuous erythropoietin receptor activator (C.E.R.A.). Ninety‐three anaemic patients with aggressive NHL who were receiving chemotherapy (including many advanced NHL, heavily pretreated patients) were randomised to receive 2·1, 4·2 or 6·3 μg/kg C.E.R.A. subcutaneously once every 3 weeks for 12 weeks. Haematopoietic response was achieved in 45%, 57% and 65% of patients at the respective dose level. During weeks 5–13, the mean haemoglobin changes from baseline in the intent‐to‐treat population were increases of 0·2, 2·4, and 5·7 g/l in the 2·1, 4·2, and 6·3 μg/kg treatment groups, respectively, and 4·4, 5·7 and 6·8 g/l in the per‐protocol population at the respective dose levels. C.E.R.A. was generally well tolerated in all three groups. C.E.R.A. appeared to have dose‐dependent clinical activity in most anaemic patients with aggressive NHL who were receiving chemotherapy.
Coronary flow reserve is impaired in patients with adult growth hormone (GH) deficiency
Authors: Oflaz Huseyin , Sen Fatma , Elitok Ali , Cimen Arif Oguzhan , Onur Imran , Kasikcioglu Erdem , Korkmaz Semra , Demirturk Mustafa , Kutluturk Faruk , Pamukcu Burak , Ozbey Nese 
Published: February 2007

SummaryObjective  Relationship between adult growth hormone deficiency (AGHD) and increased cardiovascular disease risk is very well known in hypopituitary patients treated with conventional hormone replacement therapy other than growth hormone (GH) administration. Endothelial dysfunction, an early and reversible event in pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, is associated with increased vascular smooth muscle tone, arterial stiffening and intima‐media thickness (IMT). Coronary flow reserve (CFR) measurement by transthoracic Doppler echocardiography (TTDE) reflects coronary microvascular and endothelial functions, as a cheaper and an easy screening test. We have used TTDE to evaluate endothelial function and coronary microvascular function in AGHD.Design  Cross‐sectional observational study.Patients  A total of 10 GH‐deficient adults on conventional replacement therapy other than GH (4 males, 6 females; mean age 37 ± 11 years) and 15 healthy subjects (7 males, 8 females; mean age 41 ± 11 years) were studied. Patients and controls were all nonsmokers, normotensive and nondiabetic.Measurements  IGF‐1, free T4, lipid profile, insulin, glucose, insulin resistance (IR), anthropometrical and physical parameters were recorded. CFR recordings and IMT measurements were performed using the Vivid 7 echocardiography device.Results  IMT were significantly higher in patients than controls (0·70 + 0·19 mm and 0·53 + 0·13 mm, respectively; P = 0·02). CFR was significantly lower in patients than in controls (1·96 ± 0·35 and 2·62 ± 0·45, respectively; P < 0·001). CFR was positively correlated with IGF‐1 levels (r = 0·54, P = 0·005).Conclusion  CFR is significantly lower in adults with GH deficiency than in controls. Direct correlation between CFR and IGF‐1 concentrations suggests GH replacement could improve microvascular function and thereby could decrease cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in AGHD.
Adequacy of current postglucose GH nadir limit (< 1 µg/l) to define long‐lasting remission of acromegalic disease
Authors: Ronchi Cristina L. , Arosio Maura , Rizzo Erica , Lania Andrea G. , Beck‐Peccoz Paolo , Spada Anna 
Published: February 2007

SummaryObjective  Some authors proposed to lower the present postglucose GH nadir cut‐off (i.e. < 1 µg/l) to that obtained in healthy subjects to establish remission of acromegaly. The aim of the study was to correlate GH nadir with hormonal and metabolic parameters and to confirm the adequacy of the current limit to define disease remission.Design and patients  Retrospective study of 40 acromegalic patients cured by surgery, followed by radiotherapy when appropriate, studied at the time of disease remission (Phase 1) and re‐evaluated after at least 3 years’ follow‐up (median 6·5 year, Phase 2). GH nadir was evaluated in 44 sex‐ and age‐matched controls.Measurements  Symptom score, pituitary function, neuroradiological imaging, metabolic parameters (BMI, glucose metabolism, insulin sensitivity, lipid profile, blood pressure).Results  The upper limit of the ‘normal’ GH nadir was fixed at 0·26 µg/l (mean + 2SD of controls). In Phase 1, GH nadir was < 0·26 µg/l in 16 patients (Group A) and > 0·26 µg/l in 24 patients (Group B). Group B had only slightly higher IGF‐1 SDS (0·4 ± 1·0 vs.– 0·1 ± 1·0, P = ns) and lower body mass index (BMI) than Group A (26·2 ± 2·4 vs. 30·6 ± 4·5 kg/m2, P < 0·005). GH nadir positively correlated with IGF‐1 (P < 0·05, r = 0·32) and negatively with BMI (P < 0·05, r = 0·42). In Phase 2, all patients had IGF‐1 levels in the normal range and GH nadir < 1 µg/l, both parameters being even lower than those found at the time of remission. No patient had either clinical or neuroradiological evidence of disease recurrence.Conclusions  The current GH nadir limit is still adequate to define both short‐ and long‐lasting remission of acromegaly, independently of the type of definitive treatment. Patients with the lowest GH nadir should probably be monitored long‐term for adequacy of their GH secretion.
Keeping allergy on the agenda: integrated guidelines for respiratory disease in developing countries
Authors: English R. G. , Fairall L. R. , Bateman E. D. 
Published: February 2007

Background:  Efforts to improve the care of patients with asthma and allergic conditions is in some developing countries being overwhelmed by the burden of tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases. Innovative approaches are required to ensure that these diseases are not neglected.Methods:  The Practical Approach to Lung Health in South Africa is an example of a syndromic integrated algorithm‐based diagnostic and management tool for priority chronic respiratory diseases and tuberculosis. It was developed for the needs of nurse care practitioners in poorly‐resourced and predominantly rural clinics and includes allergic diseases and asthma. Its diagnostic accuracy and effectiveness at improving the care offered to patients with asthma and rhinitis has been confirmed in two large studies performed in primary care clinics.Discussion and conclusion:  An integrated approach to the management of allergic diseases alongside other priority lung diseases may hold the key to ensuring that the needs of patients with these diseases gain and maintain recognition, and that health resources are appropriately allocated in developing countries.
Inflammation as a risk factor for carotid intimal‐medial thickening, a measure of subclinical atherosclerosis in haemodialysis patients: The role of chlamydia and cytomegalovirus infection
Authors: BUYUKHATIPOGLU HAKAN , TIRYAKI OZLEM , TAHTA KADIR , USALAN CELALETTIN 
Published: February 2007

SUMMARY:Objectives:  Atherosclerotic vascular disease is the most frequent complication seen in haemodialysis (HD) patients. Evidence suggests that inflammation may play a role in the pathogenesis and progression of atherosclerosis. Our aim was to evaluate the causative role of inflammation in atherosclerosis among HD patients.Methods:  Intima‐media thickness (IMT) in carotid arteries was determined in 54 HD patients and 52 controls. Plasma levels of lipids, glucose, albumin and several acute phase proteins, and immunoglobulin G titres against chlamydia and cytomegalovirus were measured in all subjects.Results:  Mean carotid IMT was significantly greater in HD patients than in controls (0.75 mm vs 0.56 mm, P < 0.005). While plasma levels of C‐reactive protein (CRP), serum amyloid A (SAA), lipoprotein (a) Lp(a), fibrinogen and ferritin were higher in HD patients, albumin levels were lower. In HD patients, carotid IMT was correlated positively with CRP (R = 0.29, P = 0.019), SAA (R = 0.69, P < 0.001), Lp(a) (R = 0.42, P = 0.001), fibrinogen (R = 0.57, P < 0.001) and chlamydia pneumonia immunoglobulin G titres (R = 0.50, P < 0.001), and negatively with albumin levels (R = −0.33, P = 0.02); there was no relationship between carotid IMT and hypertension, plasma lipid levels and cytomegalovirus. In multivariate regression analysis, these variables still showed a significant relationship with IMT (R2 = 0.694 and P < 0.001).Conclusion:  We conclude that atherosclerotic changes are more common in HD patients than in controls, and that inflammatory processes may play a role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis.
Vitamin D levels, bone turnover and bone mineral density show seasonal variation in patients with chronic kidney disease stage 5
Authors: ELDER GRAHAME J 
Published: February 2007

SUMMARY:Aim:  Many patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) have reduced levels of 25‐hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D). Although renal conversion of 25(OH)D to calcitriol is reduced or absent in CKD stage 5 (GFR < 15 mL/min per 1.73 m2 or on dialysis), 25(OH)D may have direct skeletal and non‐skeletal paracrine actions. The aim of this study was to assess seasonal variation in levels of 25(OH)D, bone turnover markers and bone mineral density, which would support a direct physiological role for 25(OH)D.Methods:  Vitamin D levels, bone turnover markers and bone mineral density were measured and assessed for seasonal variation in 257 patients about to undergo kidney or kidney pancreas transplantation.Results:  The mean age was 43 ± 11 years; 62% were on haemodialysis, 24% on peritoneal dialysis and 34% had type 1 diabetes. Serum 25(OH)D was less than 50 nmol/L in 39% and lower levels were associated with female sex, diabetes and peritoneal dialysis (P < 0.0001 for each). Levels of 25(OH)D varied by season (P = 0.018; anova) peaking in autumn with a nadir in spring and calcitriol levels followed a similar seasonal trend. Bone mineral denisty Z‐scores differed between summer and winter at the lumbar spine (P = 0.009) with a similar trend at the hip. Osteocalcin levels also showed seasonal periodicity (P = 0.0142) and together with alkaline phosphatase were higher in summer than winter.Conclusion:  In summary, these data suggest direct effects of 25(OH)D on bone parameters in CKD stage 5 and support the need for prospective studies to establish the effect of treatments that increase 25(OH)D levels in all stages of CKD.
Re‐thinking the complexities of ‘culture’: what might we learn from Bourdieu?
Authors: Lynam M. Judith , Browne A. J. , Reimer Kirkham S. , Anderson J. M. 
Published: February 2007

In this paper we continue an ongoing dialogue that has as its goal the critical appraisal of theoretical perspectives on culture and health, in an effort to move forward scholarship on culture and health. We draw upon a programme of scholarship to explicate theoretical tensions and challenges that are manifest in the discourses on culture and health and to explore the possibilities Bourdieu's theoretical perspective offers for reconciling them. That is, we hope to demonstrate the need to move beyond descriptions ‘of’ culture to an understanding of cultures as dynamic, and to show ways cultural practices create contexts that have the potential to foster or impede health.In our early research, largely undertaken in Canada's multicultural context, we sought to make visible the ways in which culture shaped conceptions of health and influenced health practices of immigrant groups. In recent years this focus has expanded to include populations that reflect the cultural and social diversity of our region. From the outset we attempted to move towards a conception of culture as negotiated, unifying, transformative and dynamic. While this position continues to hold appeal we are continually reminded that, despite our leanings towards constructivism, there is salience to the notion of culture as having enduring elements. It is this tension between the view of culture as embodied and enduring and culture as constructed and dynamic that we seek to examine.We explore whether Bourdieu's theoretical perspective offers promise for reconciling these apparently competing views. Using exemplars from our research we share insights that Bourdieu's work has offered to our analyses, thereby enabling us to move towards a view of culture that holds in tension these apparently contradictory positions of culture as both essence (albeit unstable, negotiated) and constructed.
Patient decision‐making for clinical genetics
Authors: Anderson Gwen 
Published: February 2007

Medicine is incorporating genetic services into all avenues of health‐care, ranging from the rarest to the most common diseases. Cognitive theories of decision‐making still dominate professionals’ understanding of patient decision‐making about how to use genetic information and whether to have testing. I discovered a conceptual model of decision‐making while carrying out a phenomenological‐hermeneutic descriptive study of a convenience sample of 12 couples who were interviewed while deciding whether to undergo prenatal genetic testing.Thirty‐two interviews were conducted with 12 men and 12 women separately. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and all data were analyzed using three levels of coding that were sorted into 30 categories and then abstracted into three emergent meta‐themes that described men's and women's attempts to make sense and find meaning in how to best use prenatal genetic technology. Their descriptions of how they thought about, communicated, and coped with their decision were so detailed it was possible to discern nine different types of thinking they engaged in while deciding to accept or decline testing.They believed that decision‐making is a process of working through your own personal style of thinking. This might include only one or any combination of the following types of thinking: analytical, ethical, moral, reflective, practical, hypothetical, judgmental, scary, and second sight, as described in detail by these 12 couples.
Non‐seasonal clade‐specificity and subclade microvariation in symbiotic dinoflagellates (Symbiodinium spp.) in Zoanthus sansibaricus (Anthozoa: Hexacorallia) at Kagoshima Bay, Japan
Authors: Reimer James D. , Ono Shusuke , Tsukahara Junzo , Takishita Kiyotaka , Maruyama Tadashi 
Published: February 2007

SUMMARYWhile much work has investigated the genetic diversity of symbiotic dinoflagellate genus Symbiodinium Freudenthal in cnidarians, investigations into such diversity over temporal scales (seasonal and/or annual) remain scarce. Here, we have sequenced the internal transcribed spacer of ribosomal DNA (ITS‐rDNA) of Symbiodinium from samples of designated Zoanthus sansibaricus Carlgren (Anthozoa: Hexacorallia) colonies collected for 12 months (August 2004–July 2005) at a high latitude non‐reefal coral community at Sakurajima, Kagoshima Bay, Japan (31°35′N, 130°35′E). Our results show that despite large ocean temperature changes (15.0–29.0°C) throughout the one‐year experimental period, Z. sansibaricus colonies contained only clade C Symbiodinium from many different subclade C1/C3‐related novel types not previously reported. While no temporal changes in clade‐level associations were seen, there were consistent and extremely large amounts (145 unique sequences out of 153 total obtained sequences) of genotypic microvariation observed in our obtained sequences. Despite Z. sansibaricus acquiring Symbiodinium horizontally and the presence of various other Symbiodinium clades (A, G) and subclades (e.g. C15 and derived subclades) in the immediate environment, Z. sansibaricus at Sakurajima specifically associates with subclade C1/C3‐related Symbiodinium. While subclades C1/C3 have been found in a variety of different environments and are believed to be ancestral, ‘generalist’ types of Symbiodinium, C1/C3‐related clades such as seen here may be more adapted to specialized niches. We theorize that specific and year‐round association with many different types of subclade C1/C3‐related Symbiodinium helps Z. sansibaricus to survive in the fluctuating Sakurajima environment.
First estimates of productivity in Lessonia trabeculata and Lessonia nigrescens (Phaeophyceae, Laminariales) from the southeast Pacific
Authors: Tala Fadia , Edding Mario 
Published: February 2007

SUMMARY Lessonia is the main Laminariales found along the southeast Pacific coast. Lessonia nigrescens Bory de Saint‐Vincent in the intertidal and Lessonia trabeculata Villouta et Santelices in the subtidal, are the most important habitat constructors in rocky coastal communities in northern and central Chile. In both species, the seasonal production and erosion of distal tissue were estimated in biomass units using the Area of Constant Biomass Model that combined the individual blade elongation, obtained with the traditional hole‐punching method, with the blade length and biomass distribution along the blade. In austral late spring (December 96) and autumn (May 97), blade production and erosion were transformed to the level of population from standing stock measurements (number and biomass of blades and plants per substrate area), considering that previous blade weight analysis showed the highest and lowest values at these times, as well as the population parameter extremes that were expected to occur. Both species displayed a seasonal pattern, with a production increase in later winter and spring and decrease towards the end of summer that coincided with higher distal tissue erosion. At the level of individual blades, Lessonia trabeculata showed higher mean production (0.026 g dw d−1) and erosion (0.01 g dw d−1) than L. nigrescens (production 0.01 g dw d−1 and loss 0.002 g dw d−1). The standing stocks, with respect to density and biomass, were similar in spring and autumn for both populations. Nevertheless, the net productivity (production minus erosion) of the intertidal L. nigrescens showed greater values due to the greater density of blades (2112 ± 1360 (SE) blades m−2) compared with the subtidal L. trabeculata (527 ± 151 (SE) blades m−2). Spring net productivities of 42 g dw m−2d−1 (254 g ww m−2d−1; 11.46 gC m−2d−1) for L. nigrescens and 11 g dw m−2 d−1 (64 g ww m−2 d−1; 2.46 gC m−2d−1) for L. trabeculata were estimated. A preliminary model of production and biomass fate for Lessonia populations is proposed.
THE UNEQUALIZING EFFECTS OF ICT ON ECONOMIC GROWTH
Authors: Becchetti Leonardo , Giacomo Stefania Di 
Published: February 2007

ABSTRACTWe analyse the effects of information and communication technology (ICT) on levels and growth of per capita GDP in two different ways: (1) by treating ICT as a specific type of physical capital and as a variable that helps to correct for quality existing physical capital measures, and (2) by considering that telephone lines, personal computers and internet hosts are ‘bottleneck‐reducing’ factors that increase the productivity of labour by making easier the diffusion and processing of (non‐rivalrous and almost non‐excludable) knowledge. We compare the relative significance of the two hypotheses in level and growth estimates and find that, when separately taken, both of them improve upon the classical Mankiw et al. (Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 107 (1992), pp. 407–437)/Islam (Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 110 (1995), pp. 1127–1169) framework. These findings show that our approach captures dimensions of time‐varying country‐specific technological progress that previous approaches in the literature did not take into account.
Missed opportunities? Reaching the ethnic consumer market
Authors: Emslie Lisa , Bent Richard , Seaman Claire 
Published: February 2007

AbstractChanging population demographics within the UK have become a source of increased interest to marketers as companies have realized the importance of targeting their products and advertising efforts towards minority and ethnic groups. In addition, as the UK’s ethnic minorities grow in both numbers and in terms of prosperity, so does the commercial significance of this market. A clearer understanding of both the nature of changing markets and the relative importance of different minority ethnic groups as consumers is imperative to facilitate both consumer understanding and business development; marketers need to understand better how to target these people, what they have in common with the mainstream and where the differences lie. This paper seeks to describe current understanding of ethnic consumers and their impact on the marketplace while highlighting an area where future research is potentially of considerable benefit.