bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Alcohol Dependence and Reproductive Onset: Findings in Two Australian Twin Cohorts
Authors: Waldron Mary , Heath Andrew C. , Bucholz Kathleen K. , Madden Pamela A. F. , Martin Nicholas G. 
Published: September 2008

Background: Although early alcohol use is a strong predictor of future alcohol problems and adolescent drinking is associated with risky sexual behavior predictive of early childbearing, reproductive dysfunctions associated with delayed childbearing have been reported in adult drinkers. We examine the relationship between lifetime history of alcohol dependence (AD) and timing of first childbirth across reproductive development.Methods: Data were drawn from two cohorts of Australian twins born between 1893 and 1964 (3634 female and 1880 male twins) and between 1964 and 1971 (3381 female and 2748 male twins). Survival analyses were conducted using Cox proportional hazards regression models predicting age at first childbirth from AD, with sociodemographic characteristics, regular smoking, history of psychopathology, and family and childhood risks included as control variables in adjusted models.Results: Results suggest alcoholic women in both cohorts show overall delayed reproduction, with little effect of AD on timing of first reproduction in men. Effects of AD are particularly strong for women in the older cohort, where AD is associated with 73% decreased likelihood of first childbirth after age 29 [hazard ratio (HR) = 0.27, 95% CI: 0.10–0.75]. In adjusted models, effects reduce only slightly (HR = 0.29, 95% CI: 0.11–0.80). For women in the young cohort, AD is associated with delayed reproduction after age 24, with 40% decreased likelihood of first childbirth (HR = 0.60, 95% CI: 0.48–0.75). AD remains predictive in adjusted models, but without age interaction (HR = 0.72, 95% CI: 0.62–0.85).Conclusions: Findings of delayed reproductive onset in alcoholic women are consistent with alcohol‐related reproductive dysfunctions, although underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown. To better understand AD differences in reproductive onset, continued research on both biological and psychosocial risks is needed.
Dynamic Modeling of In‐Use Cement Stocks in the United States
Authors: Kapur Amit , Keoleian Gregory , Kendall Alissa , Kesler Stephen E. 
Published: September 2008

SummaryA dynamic substance‐flow model is developed to characterize the stocks and flows of cement utilized during the 20th century in the United States, using the generic cement life cycle as a systems boundary. The motivation for estimating historical inventories of cement stocks and flows is to provide accurate estimates of contemporary cement in‐use stocks in U.S. infrastructure and future discards to relevant stakeholders in U.S. infrastructure, such as the federal and state highway administrators, departments of transportation, public and private utilities, and the construction and cement industries. Such information will assist in planning future rehabilitation projects and better life cycle management of infrastructure systems. In the present policy environment of climate negotiations, estimates of in‐use cement infrastructure can provide insights about to what extent built environment can act as a carbon sink over its lifetime. The rate of addition of new stock, its composition, and the repair of existing stock are key determinants of infrastructure sustainability. Based upon a probability of failure approach, a dynamic stock and flow model was developed utilizing three statistical lifetime distributions—Weibull, gamma, and lognormal—for each cement end‐use. The model‐derived estimate of the “in‐use” cement stocks in the United States is in the range of 4.2 to 4.4 billion metric tons (gigatonnes, Gt). This indicates that 82% to 87% of cement utilized during the last century is still in use. On a per capita basis, this is equivalent to 14.3 to 15.0 tonnes of in‐use cement stock per person. The in‐use cement stock per capita has doubled over the last 50 years, although the rate of growth has slowed.
Influence of Ventriculoatrial Timing on Hemodynamics and Symptoms During Supraventricular Tachycardia
Authors: LAURENT GABRIEL , LEONG‐POI HOWARD , MANGAT IQWAL , KORLEY VICTORIA , PINTER ARNOLD , HU XUDONG , SO PETSY PUI‐SZE , RAMADEEN ANDREW , DORIAN PAUL 
Published: September 2008

Aims:
Patients with reentrant supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) are often highly symptomatic and the mechanism of symptoms is not well understood. We hypothesized that variation in ventriculoatrial interval (QRS to P) modulates the left atrial pressure and symptoms during tachycardia.
Methods and Results:
Three hundred twenty‐six patients awaiting electrophysiological study completed a questionnaire regarding “neck pounding” or “shirt flapping” during tachycardia. Mean left atrial pressure was measured during simulated atrioventricular reentry tachycardia (AVRT) and atrioventricular nodal reentry tachycardia (AVNRT) in 18 patients. Pulmonary venous flow reversal was assessed using transesophageal echocardiography in 12 dogs when pacing at 220 bpm with different VA delays (0 to 250 ms). “Shirt flapping” is present more often during AVNRT than during AVRT (58.6% vs 43.8%, respectively, P < 0.05). Simulated AVNRT is associated with higher left atrial pressure compared with AVRT (19.4 ± 4.8 mmHg vs 13.7 ± 3.9 mmHg, respectively, P < 0.05). In dogs, pulmonary venous flow reversal during atrial systole was observed with significantly decreasing amplitude as VA delays increased: 668 ± 167% at 0 ms; 492 ± 138% at 100 ms; 278 ± 148% at 180/ms; and 134 ± 91% at 220 ms.
Conclusion:“Shirt flapping” and “neck pounding” frequently occur during AVNRT. LA contractions during AV valve closure increase left atrial pressure and may explain differences in certain symptoms between AVNRT and AVRT.
Is Hospital Admission and Observation Required after a Normal Abdominal Computed Tomography Scan in Children with Blunt Abdominal Trauma?
Authors: Awasthi Smita , Mao Amy , Wooton‐Gorges Sandra L. , Wisner David H. , Kuppermann Nathan , Holmes James F. 
Published: September 2008

AbstractObjectives:  The objective was to determine if hospital admission of children with blunt abdominal trauma for observation of possible intraabdominal injury (IAI) is necessary after a normal abdominal computed tomography (CT) scan in the emergency department (ED).Methods:  The authors conducted a prospective observational cohort study of children less than 18 years of age with blunt abdominal trauma who underwent an abdominal CT scan in the ED. Abdominal CT scans were obtained with intravenous contrast but no oral contrast. The decision to hospitalize the patient was made by the attending emergency physician (EP) with the trauma or pediatric surgery teams. An abnormal abdominal CT scan was defined by the presence of any visualized IAI or findings suggestive of possible IAI (e.g., intraperitoneal fluid without solid organ injury). Patients were followed to determine if IAI was later diagnosed and the need for acute therapeutic intervention if IAI was present.Results:  A total of 1,295 patients underwent abdominal CT, and 1,085 (84%) patients had normal abdominal CT scans in the ED and make up the study population. Seven‐hundred thirty‐seven (68%) were hospitalized, and 348 were discharged to home. None of the 348 patients discharged home and 2 of the 737 hospitalized patients were identified with an IAI after a normal initial abdominal CT. The IAIs in patients with normal initial CT scans included a 10‐year‐old with a mesenteric hematoma and serosal tear at laparotomy and a 10‐year‐old with a perinephric hematoma on repeat CT. Neither underwent specific therapy. The negative predictive value (NPV) of a normal abdominal CT scan for IAI was 99.8% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 99.3% to 100%).Conclusions:  Children with blunt abdominal trauma and a normal abdominal CT scan in the ED are at very low risk of having a subsequently diagnosed IAI and are very unlikely to require a therapeutic intervention. Hospitalization of children for evaluation of possible undiagnosed IAI after a normal abdominal CT scan has a low yield and is generally unnecessary.
Summative Assessment in Medicine: The Promise of Simulation for High‐stakes Evaluation
Authors: Boulet John R. 
Published: September 2008

AbstractThroughout their careers, physicians are exposed to a wide array of assessments, including those aimed at evaluating knowledge, clinical skills, and clinical decision‐making. While many of these assessments are used as part of formative evaluation activities, others are employed to establish competence and, as a byproduct, to promote patient safety. In the past 10 years, simulations have been successfully incorporated in a number of high‐stakes physician certification and licensure exams. In developing these simulation‐based assessments, testing organizations were able to promote novel test administration protocols, build enhanced assessment rubrics, advance sophisticated scoring and equating algorithms, and promote innovative standard‐setting methods. Moreover, numerous studies have been conducted to identify potential threats to the validity of test score interpretations. As simulation technology expands and new simulators are invented, this groundbreaking work can serve as a basis for organizations to build or expand their summative assessment activities. Although there will continue to be logistical and psychometric problems, many of which will be specialty‐ or simulator‐specific, past experience with performance‐based assessments suggests that most challenges can be addressed through focused research. Simulation, whether it involves standardized patients (SPs), computerized case management scenarios, part‐task trainers, electromechanical mannequins, or a combination of these methods, holds great promise for high‐stakes assessment.
Procedures Can Be Learned on the Web: A Randomized Study of Ultrasound‐guided Vascular Access Training
Authors: Chenkin Jordan , Lee Shirley , Huynh Thien , Bandiera Glen 
Published: September 2008

AbstractObjectives:  Web‐based learning has several potential advantages over lectures, such as anytime–anywhere access, rich multimedia, and nonlinear navigation. While known to be an effective method for learning facts, few studies have examined the effectiveness of Web‐based formats for learning procedural skills. The authors sought to determine whether a Web‐based tutorial is at least as effective as a didactic lecture for learning ultrasound‐guided vascular access (UGVA).Methods:  Participating staff emergency physicians (EPs) and junior emergency medicine (EM) residents with no UGVA experience completed a precourse test and were randomized to either a Web‐based or a didactic group. The Web‐based group was instructed to use an online tutorial and the didactic group attended a lecture. Participants then practiced on simulators and live models without any further instruction. Following a rest period, participants completed a four‐station objective structured clinical examination (OSCE), a written examination, and a postcourse questionnaire. Examination results were compared using a noninferiority data analysis with a 10% margin of difference.Results:  Twenty‐one residents and EPs participated in the study. There were no significant differences in mean OSCE scores (absolute difference = −2.8%; 95% confidence interval [CI] = −9.3% to 3.8%) or written test scores (absolute difference = −1.4%; 95% CI = −7.8% to 5.0%) between the Web group and the didactic group. Both groups demonstrated similar improvements in written test scores (26.1% vs. 25.8%; p = 0.95). Ninety‐one percent (10/11) of the Web group and 80% (8/10) of the didactic group participants found the teaching format to be effective (p = 0.59).Conclusions:  Our Web‐based tutorial was at least as effective as a traditional didactic lecture for teaching the knowledge and skills essential for UGVA. Participants expressed high satisfaction with this teaching technology. Web‐based teaching may be a useful alternative to didactic teaching for learning procedural skills.
Hyperactivity‐inattention symptoms in childhood and suicidal behaviors in adolescence: the Youth Gazel Cohort
Authors: Galéra C. , Bouvard M. P. , Encrenaz G. , Messiah A. , Fombonne E. 
Published: September 2008

Objective:  Although a link has been suggested between attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and completed suicide, little is known about the association with suicidal behaviors in community settings. This study addresses the relationship between childhood hyperactivity‐inattention symptoms (HI‐s) and subsequent suicidal behaviors.Method:  Nine hundred sixteen subjects aged 7–18 were recruited from the general population and surveyed in 1991 and 1999. Parent and adolescent self‐reports provided psychopathology and suicidal behavior pattern measures. Multivariate modeling was used to evaluate the effects of childhood HI‐s and other risk factors on adolescent suicidal behaviors.Results:  In males, HI‐s independently accounted for the risk of lifetime suicide plans/attempts (OR=3.25, P = 0.02) and adolescent 12‐month prevalence rates of suicide plans/attempts (OR=5.46, P = 0.03). In females, HI‐s did not independently heighten the likelihood of suicidal behaviors.Conclusion:  This survey suggests a possible specific link between HI‐s and suicide plans/attempts in males.
UNIONS AND UPWARD MOBILITY FOR LOW‐WAGE WORKERS
Authors: Schmitt John , Waller Margy , Fremstad Shawn , Zipperer Ben 
Published: September 2008

This essay examines the impact of unionization on the pay and benefits in fifteen important low‐wage occupations. Even after controlling for important differences between union and nonunion workers—including such factors as age and education level—unionization substantially improves the pay and benefits offered in what are otherwise low‐paying occupations.On average, in the low‐wage occupations analyzed here, unionization raised workers’ wages by just over 16 percent—about $1.75 per hour—compared to those of nonunion workers. Unionization also raises the likelihood that a worker has employer‐provided health insurance or an employer‐sponsored retirement plan by 25 percentage points. These union wage and benefit effects are particularly impressive given the widespread belief that many of the jobs analyzed here are inherently incapable of providing decent pay and benefits.
HLA antibody testing: a tool to facilitate not to prevent organ transplantation
Authors: Claas Frans H. J. 
Published: September 2008

SummaryThe introduction of very sensitive HLA antibody screening assays has destroyed the old dogma that pre‐existence of donor specific HLA antibodies in the patient is a contra‐indication for transplantation. The challenge is now to reach consensus on the parameters which predict the clinical relevance of donor specific HLA antibodies. Antibody screening assays should not only be used to prevent transplantation of patients with donor specific antibodies but also to facilitate transplantation of highly sensitized patients, both by defining acceptable HLA mismatches and non‐detrimental donor specific HLA antibodies.
Terror Management Theory: Implications for Understanding Prejudice, Stereotyping, Intergroup Conflict, and Political Attitudes
Authors: Greenberg Jeff , Kosloff Spee 
Published: September 2008

AbstractTerror management theory posits that to maintain psychological security despite the awareness of personal mortality, humans must maintain faith in cultural worldviews. These worldviews provide ways for humans to believe they are significant enduring beings in a world of meaning rather than mere animals fated only to obliteration upon death. We review basic support for terror management theory and research exploring the implications of terror management theory for understanding prejudice, stereotyping, intergroup conflict, and political attitudes. This research shows that when the psychological need to defend these worldviews is heightened by reminders of death (mortality salience), prejudice, stereotyping, and support for charismatic leaders and aggression against outgroups is increased. Terror management concerns also lead targets of prejudice to disidentify with their ingroup and confirm negative stereotypes of their group. We conclude by considering the implications of terror management theory and research for the alleviation of prejudice and intergroup conflict.
Why We Need Interdependence Theory
Authors: Rusbult Caryl E. , Van Lange Paul A. M. 
Published: September 2008

AbstractThe exceptional sociability of human life colors nearly every phenomenon in the social and behavioral sciences. However, most psychological theories continue to adopt a within‐person perspective, analyzing human behavior by reference to individual‐level biological processes, personal dispositions, or cognitive experiences. Interdependence theory is an important antidote to this actor‐focused bias. Interdependence theory identifies the most important characteristics of interpersonal situations via a comprehensive analysis of situation structure and describes the implications of structure for understanding intrapersonal and interpersonal processes. Situation structure matters because it is the interpersonal reality within which motives are activated, toward which cognition is oriented and around which interaction unfolds. This paper describes key principles of interdependence structure and processes, and illustrates the utility of an interdependence theoretic analysis via a review of four phenomena – regulatory fit, persistence in the face of dissatisfaction, tit‐for‐tat versus generosity, and the origins and consequences of trust.
Reclaiming Embodiment within Critical Psychology: A Material‐Discursive Analysis of the Menopausal Body
Authors: Ussher Jane M. 
Published: September 2008

AbstractSocial and Critical Psychology have been accused of ‘disembodying’ the discipline through the negation of embodied experience. In contrast, Bio‐Medicine and Biological Psychology focus on the body, within a realist framework. A material‐discursive approach, and a critical‐realist epistemology, is proposed as a way forward to examine embodiment in a socio‐cultural context, wherein the materiality of the body is recognised, but always mediated by culture, language, and subjectivity. As a case example, women's experience of embodied change at menopause is examined. The bio‐medical positioning of the menopausal body as the site of disease, distress, and debilitation, necessitating medical management, is contrasted with women's reports of minimal distress, and effective negotiation of midlife changes. Cultural context, relational factors and the positioning of embodied changes as symptoms, or as natural, are key factors determining women's coping. This material‐discursive approach thus allows us to ‘re‐embody’ psychology and move beyond the mind–body divide.
Political, Biographical, and Cultural Consequences of Social Movements
Authors: Giugni Marco 
Published: September 2008

AbstractThis essay reviews recent and less recent literature on the consequences of social movements and protest activities. It focuses on three types of consequences: political, personal and biographical, and cultural. Political consequences and, in particular, policy outcomes receive most attention, as they are those which have been addresses most often by students of social movements. The review of existing work shows that the field is full of valuable works dealing with this crucial issue and is rapidly growing thanks in particular to a new wave of scholars interested in this topic. Further work should pay more attention to the unintended consequences of social movements, look also at other types of impacts, and carry more comparative analyses.
Long‐term outcome of transpupillary thermotherapy as primary treatment of selected choroidal melanoma
Authors: Parrozzani Raffaele , Boccassini Barbara , De Belvis Valentina , Radin Pietro Paolo , Midena Edoardo 
Published: September 2008

Abstract.Purpose:  To evaluate prospectively, on a long‐term range, the clinical outcomes of transpupillary thermotherapy (TTT) as primary treatment of selected choroidal melanoma.Methods:  Seventy‐seven eyes of 77 patients affected by small posterior choroidal melanoma were treated with TTT as a sole treatment, using an infrared diode laser at 810 nm according to a standard procedure. Follow‐up was longer than 36 months.Results:  Seventeen tumours (22%) were parapapillary (PP) and 60 tumours (78%) were non‐parapapillary (NPP) in location. Mean follow‐up was 55.2 ± 17.9 months in PP tumours and 44.3 ± 23.7 months in NPP tumours. Thirteen (76%) PP tumours and 55 (92%) NPP tumours regressed (P > 0.05). Nine tumours recurred: seven were retreated using Iodine‐125 brachytherapy and two were enucleated (both parapapillary). Four patients (5%) developed liver metastasis and died during follow‐up. Tumour thickness was found to be predictive of recurrence (odds ratio: 4.3). Complications were found in 20 eyes (26%): macular pucker in 11 (14%), macular oedema in three (4%), retinal vein occlusion in six (8%), vitreous and subretinal haemorrhage in two (3%) and neovascular glaucoma in three (4%). PP tumours had more local complications (but this was not statistically significant; P > 0.05). Complications appeared more frequently in tumours treated with more than one TTT session (P = 0.01), and time‐risk to develop intraocular complications seems longer in the PP group, without reaching statistical significance (P = 0.07).Conclusion:  TTT may be a clinically effective method for conservative treatment of selected, non‐parapapillary, small posterior choroidal melanoma.
Intravitreal anti‐vascular endothelial growth factor therapy with bevacizumab for tuberous sclerosis with macular oedema
Authors: Saito Wataru , Kase Satoru , Ohgami Kazuhiro , Mori Shohei , Ohno Shigeaki 
Published: September 2008

Abstract.Purpose:  To describe two patients with macular oedema secondary to tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) who were treated with intravitreal bevacizumab injection.Methods:  Interventional case reports. Bevacizumab 1.25 mg was injected into the vitreous of two patients with TSC‐associated macular oedema / exudative retinal detachment. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) concentration in the vitreous fluid was measured by enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in one of these patients.Results:  Patient 1: a 22‐year‐old woman with TSC was diagnosed as having multiple retinal hamartomas in both eyes. Eleven years later, the patient developed macular oedema with epiretinal membrane formation in the right eye. The patient underwent pars‐plana vitrectomy with retinal photocoagulation for retinal tumours. VEGF concentration in the vitreous fluid was high compared to that in patients without retinal vascular diseases. Recurrent macular oedema disappeared by intravitreal injection of bevacizumab. Patient 2: a 32‐year‐old woman with TSC‐associated retinal hamartoma, temporally showing macular exudative retinal detachment, developed neovascularization originated from the tumour. By intravitreal bevacizumab injection, the tumour size reduced markedly with regression of neovascularization.Conclusion:  These results suggest that VEGF derived from retinal hamartomas causes macular oedema associated with TSC. Intravitreal injections of bevacizumab may be a useful therapeutic option for macular oedema secondary to TSC.
Recognition and treatment of herpes simplex keratitis
Authors: LAIBSON P 
Published: September 2008

AbstractAlthough the incidence of ocular herpes simplex virus infection has not diminished in recent years, we are encountering fewer severe problems such as necrotizing stromal keratitis and diffuse disciform keratitis which may necessitate penetrating keratoplasty. The earlier recognition of herpes simplex viral keratitis and the better management utilizing oral antivirals and topical corticosteroids is probably responsible for this improved outlook of herpes simplex keratitis. Early recognition and management of acute and chronic herpetic keratitis, as well as the management of keratoplasty for herpes will be reviewed.