bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Impairments in Health Functioning and Sleep Quality in Older Adults with a History of Depression
Authors: Motivala Sarosh J. , Levin Myron J. , Oxman Michael N. , Irwin Michael R. 
Published: June 2006

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether older adults with a history of depression show impairments in health functioning and sleep quality at a gradient between older adults with no history of depression and those with current major depression and to examine whether poor sleep quality contributes to declines in health functioning in addition to the contribution of depressive symptoms.DESIGN: Cross‐sectional.SETTING: Three urban communities: Denver, Colorado, and Los Angeles and San Diego, California.PARTICIPANTS: Two hundred community‐dwelling adults aged 60 and older who were never mentally ill, 143 with a history of major or minor depressive disorder in remission, and 67 with a current depressive disorder.MEASUREMENTS: Diagnosis, Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition; health functioning (Medical Outcomes Study 36‐item Short‐Form Health Survey); depressive symptom severity (Beck Depression Inventory); and sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index).RESULTS: Older adults with a history of depression showed impairments in sleep quality and had lower levels of health functioning than controls; these impairments were at a gradient with declines in those with current depression. Poor sleep quality was independently associated with declines in health perception in older adults with and without depression.CONCLUSION: These findings have important health implications for older people who have a lifetime history of depression, given evidence that poor health functioning is a risk factor for depression recurrence as well as mortality. Moreover, in view of the association between sleep quality and health status, testing of interventions that target sleep quality might identify strategies to improve health functioning in older adults.
Cognitive Status, Body Mass Index, and Hip Fracture in Older Hispanic Adults
Authors: Alfaro‐Acha Ana , Ostir Glenn V. , Markides Kyriakos S. , Ottenbacher Kenneth J. 
Published: June 2006

OBJECTIVES: To examine the interactive effect of cognition and body weight on hip fracture.DESIGN: A 7‐year (1993–2000) prospective cohort study.SETTING: Five southwestern states (Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and California).PARTICIPANTS: Noninstitutionalized Mexican Americans (N=2,653) aged 65 and older and free of hip fracture at baseline interview.MEASUREMENTS: Incidence of hip fracture at 2‐, 5‐, and 7‐year follow‐up interviews. Body weight and cognition were measured using body mass index (BMI) and Mini‐Mental State Examination score, respectively. Covariates included sociodemographics, self‐reported medical conditions, visual acuity, and Short Physical Performance Battery.RESULTS: A significant interaction between BMI and hip fracture was found in persons with cognitive impairment (hazard ratio =0.91, 95% confidence interval=0.85–0.98; P=.02), after adjusting for covariates. In the lowest BMI category, the hip fracture rate in cognitively impaired subjects was more than four times the hip fracture rate for subjects who were not cognitively impaired with the same BMI (34.6% vs 8.7%). Hip fracture rates in the highest BMI category were similar in persons with and without cognitive impairment (9.3% vs 6.1%).CONCLUSION: Low cognitive function increased the conditional association between BMI and hip fracture in older Mexican Americans. The relationship between BMI and cognition is potentially important in identifying persons at risk for hip fracture and supports the need to include cognitive and anthropometric measures in the assessment of hip fracture risk into osteoporosis screening programs.
Site‐Specific Influence of Transversal Conduction Across Crista Terminalis on Recognition of Isthmus Block
Authors: OTOMO KIYOSHI , OKAMURA HIDEO , NODA TAKASHI , SATOMI KAZUHIRO , SHIMIZU WATARU , SUYAMA KAZUHIRO , KURITA TAKASHI , AIHARA NAOHIKO , KAMAKURA SHIRO 
Published: June 2006

Background: Transversal conduction across crista terminalis (CT) is commonly observed during low‐rate coronary sinus (CS) pacing after isthmus ablation and sometimes mimics incomplete clockwise isthmus block (IB). Site‐specific influence of trans‐cristal conduction gap on recognition of clockwise IB has been poorly understood.
Methods: Forty‐five patients with common‐type atrial flutter underwent mapping of CT and free wall lateral to CT during CS pacing of 100 ppm using CARTO after verification of IB, while duodecapolar catheter was positioned along tricuspid annulus to map periannular activation.
Results: A total of 43 gaps were demonstrated at upper (n = 15, 35%), middle (n = 17, 40%), and lower one‐thirds of CT (n = 11, 25%) in 36 of 45 patients (80%). Gaps were single in 31 (69%) and multiple in 5 patients (11%). Activation patterns of free wall lateral to CT in CARTO maps were descending pattern without gaps (n = 9, 20%), collision pattern with a single gap (n = 31, 69%), and simultaneous pattern with multiple gaps (n = 5, 11%). Activation sequence of duodecapolar catheter was complete block pattern in 41 (91%) and incomplete block pattern in 4 patients (9%), masquerading as persistent clockwise isthmus conduction. The incomplete block pattern in duodecapolar catheter was exclusively associated with a gap at the lower CT (0/15, 0/17, and 4/11 gaps at upper, middle, and lower CT, respectively; P < 0.01) and was attributable to faster conduction across CT gaps than in complete block pattern.
Conclusions: Trans‐cristal conduction was commonly observed during low‐rate CS pacing. Rapid transversal conduction exclusively across lower CT masqueraded as incomplete clockwise IB.
Discordant Regulation of CRP and NT‐proBNP Plasma Levels After Electrical Cardioversion of Persistent Atrial Fibrillation
Authors: BUOB AXEL , JUNG JENS , SIAPLAOURAS STEPHANOS , NEUBERGER HANS‐RUPRECHT , MEWIS CHRISTIAN 
Published: June 2006

Background: B‐type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and C‐reactive protein (CRP) have been suggested to be prognostically relevant markers in patients with cardiovascular disease. Additionally, BNP and CRP plasma levels seem to be independently elevated in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). However, there are only sparse data about the significance and temporal course of these plasma markers after restoration of sinus rhythm (SR).
Methods: We performed a prospective study in consecutive patients with symptomatic atrial fibrillation. NT‐proBNP and CRP plasma levels were measured before and one month after electrical cardioversion (CV). Patients with infections, an acute coronary syndrome, or surgery 4 weeks prior to CV, were excluded.
Result: Twenty‐five patients (men 84%, age 66 ± 8 years, duration of AF 90 ± 75 days, left ventricular ejection fraction 0.57 ± 0.11) were analyzed. At follow‐up (33 ± 6 days after CV) 14 patients (56%) were in SR and 11 patients (44%) in AF. In patients with SR there was a significant reduction of NT‐proBNP levels (baseline 1647 ± 1272 pg/mL, follow‐up 772 ± 866 pg/mL, P < 0.05), even in a subgroup of patients (n = 10) with normal left ventricular ejection fraction (1262 ± 538 vs 413 ± 344 pg/mL, P < 0.001). CRP levels in patients with SR were similar at baseline and at follow‐up (3.5 ± 3.6 vs 3.2 ± 2.5 mg/L, P = 0.8).
Conclusion: We conclude that even in patients with normal left ventricular ejection fraction restoration of sinus rhythm leads to a significant reduction of NT‐proBNP plasma levels. In contrast, CRP plasma levels seem not to be influenced during the first 4 weeks after electrical cardioversion.
Atrioventricular Delay Optimization by Doppler‐Derived Left Ventricular dP/dt Improves 6‐Month Outcome of Resynchronized Patients
Authors: MORALES MARIA‐AURORA , STARTARI UMBERTO , PANCHETTI LUCA , ROSSI ANDREA , PIACENTI MARCELLO 
Published: June 2006

Background: Atrioventricular (AV) interval optimization, ensuring the best filling and the abolishment of presystolic mitral regurgitation, is crucial for the efficacy of cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). The methods proposed to optimize AV delay have many limitations. The maximum left ventricular pressure derivative (LV dP/dt)—an index of cardiac performance—could provide a clue for AV optimization. DP/dt can be calculated by the Doppler curve of mitral regurgitation jet and it is related to micromanometer‐derived dP/dt.
Aim: The aim of this study was to assess whether optimal AV delay, defined as the highest noninvasive dP/dt, may provide clinical and functional benefits in CRT patients.
Methods: Of 41 consecutive patients, 23 echo Doppler recordings were obtained at AV delays of 60, 80, 100, 120, 140, 160, 180 ms (Group I). Three patients were discarded because of suboptimal Doppler signal. In 15 patients an empiric AV delay of 120 ms was chosen (Group II). Both groups were programmed to atriosynchronous pacing mode and synchronous VV stimulation.
Results: In Group I optimal AV delay was 60 ms in one patient, 80 ms in 6, 100 in 6, 120 in 8, 140 in 2. At 6 months follow‐up, Group I showed a significantly lower NYHA class (2.1 ± 0.1 vs 3 ± 0.2 P < 0.01) and higher LV ejection fraction (LVEF): 32.1 + 1 versus 27.5 ± 1.6% (P < 0.05) as compared to Group II.
Conclusions: Doppler‐derived dP/dt for AV delay optimization determines better functional class and LVEF at 6 months follow‐up relative to an empiric AV delay program.
Increasing Left Ventricular Pacing Output Decreases Interventricular Conduction Time in Patients with Biventricular Pacing Systems
Authors: SAUER WILLIAM H. , SUSSMAN JONATHAN S. , VERDINO RALPH J. , COOPER JOSHUA M. 
Published: June 2006

Objective: To evaluate the effect of increasing LV pacing output on interventricular timing in patients with biventricular pacing systems.
Background: Clinical improvement with biventricular pacing is likely related to reduction in ventricular dysynchrony in patients with cardiomyopathy. We hypothesized that increasing left ventricular pacing output would reduce interventricular conduction time and could affect ventricular synchrony.
Methods: Forty‐two sequential patients with biventricular pacing systems that permitted independent LV pacing were selected at the time of routine device interrogation. The interval between LV pacing stimulus and onset of the RV electrogram was measured during LV pacing at capture threshold and at maximum pacing output for each patient.
Results: The average time from LV pacing stimulus to right ventricular electrogram onset was 142.5 ± 32.5 ms (range 90–230 ms) at threshold and 132.3 ± 30.4 ms (range 90–220 ms) at maximum pacing output, with a mean decrease in conduction time of 10.2 ± 10.9 ms (range 0–45 ms). There was significantly greater interventricular conduction shortening with increased pacing output in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy compared to others (14.9 ± 11.9 ms vs 4.0 ± 4.6 ms; P < 0.01).
Conclusions: Conduction time from LV to RV shortens as LV pacing output is increased. This effect is seen to a greater degree in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy, possibly related to the presence of myocardial scar near the pacing electrode. Further investigation is needed to assess the clinical outcomes related to this new method for optimizing resynchronization therapy.
The Different Ablation Effects on Atrioventricular Nodal Reentrant Tachycardia in Children with and without Dual Nodal Pathways
Authors: LEE PI‐CHANG , HWANG BETAU , TAI CHING‐TAI , CHIANG CHERN‐EN , CHEN SHIH‐ANN 
Published: June 2006

Background: Previous studies in adults have shown a significant shortening of the fast pathway effective refractory period (ERP) after successful slow pathway ablation. However, information on atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia (AVNRT) in children is limited. The purpose of this retrospective study was to investigate the different effects of radiofrequency (RF) catheter ablation in pediatric AVNRT patients between those with and without dual atrioventricular (AV) nodal pathways.
Methods: From January 1992 to August 2004, a total 67 pediatric patients with AVNRT underwent an electrophysiologic study and RF catheter ablation at our institution. We compared the electrophysiologic characteristics between those obtained before and after ablation in the children with AVNRT with and without dual AV nodal pathways.
Results: Dual AV nodal pathways were found in 37 (55%) of 67 children, including 36 (54%) with antegrade and 10 (15%) with retrograde dual AV nodal pathways. The antegrade and retrograde fast pathway ERPs in children with dual AV nodal pathways were both longer than the antegrade and retrograde ERPs in children without dual AV nodal pathways (300 ± 68 vs 264 ± 58 ms, P = 0.004; 415 ± 70 vs 250 ± 45 ms, P < 0.001) before ablation. In children with antegrade dual AV nodal pathways, the antegrade fast pathway ERP decreased from 300 ± 68 ms to 258 ± 62 ms (P = 0.008). The retrograde fast pathway ERP also decreased after successful ablation in the children with retrograde dual AV nodal pathways (415 ± 70 vs. 358 ± 72 ms, P = 0.026).
Conclusion: The dual AV nodal physiology could not be commonly demonstrated in pediatric patients with inducible AVNRT. After a successful slow pathway ablation, the fast pathway ERP shortened significantly in the children with dual AV nodal pathways.
English Manuscripts 1060 to 1220 and the Making of a Re‐source1
Authors: Da Rold Orietta 
Published: June 2006

AbstractEleventh‐, twelfth‐ and thirteenth‐century England is a complex multilingual jigsaw, and a much underestimated period of literary production. This article surveys and explores the close relationship between English, Latin and French book production, offering valuable insights into English manuscript culture in this period and re‐contextualising texts and their manuscripts, calling for each to be studied in its own right and understood as part of a pattern of wider manuscript production. The article also introduces the reader to key and crucial issues in literary production in this period, and to new research in the field.
Early Modern Women’s Writing in 2005
Authors: Longfellow Erica 
Published: June 2006

AbstractThis article charts the development of early modern women’s writing as a specialist subject within English Literature research. The article outlines the tensions that shaped the criticism of early modern women in the 1980s and early 1990s, in particular debates about women’s agency, the role of patriarchy, the possibility of ‘feminist’ resistance, and the role of aesthetics and aesthetic value in the study of early modern women’s writing. The article then argues that these tensions, far from limiting scholarship, have in fact encouraged researchers towards innovative models and directions of study that have been at the forefront of developments in early modern studies. The concluding section outlines new tensions within the subject, including continuing debates about literary value and the differing aims of literary criticism and historical inquiry, and ends with the provocative proposal that the goal of early modern women’s writing scholarship may be its own demise.
Contemporary Approaches to the Literature of the First World War: A Critical Survey
Authors: Scutts Joanna 
Published: June 2006

AbstractContemporary studies of First World War literature share a sense of common ancestry in Paul Fussell’s 1975 study The Great War and Modern Memory, in which the author proclaims irony as the defining mode of war writing, and identifies the archetypal writer as a young, upper‐class English infantry officer. Post‐Fussellian critics worked first to expand this narrow canon, primarily through the rediscovery and evaluation of neglected writing by women. Critics also began to question the war canon’s assumed separation from mainstream modernism, and argued that these two strands of postwar literary production were in fact fundamentally entwined. In the 1990s, cultural studies approaches generated productive readings of the war literature in its wider context, alongside non‐fiction and ephemeral writings, non‐literary artistic productions, and public memorial efforts. This interdisciplinary approach was complemented by a new internationalism: comparative historiography, championed by Jay Winter, aimed to correct the mistaken assumptions that arose from a conventional focus on the political and cultural affairs of any single country. Taken together, these trends are evidence that the current priority in this ever‐expanding field is to acknowledge and explore the diversity of the war experience.
State‐of‐the‐Evidence Reviews: Advantages and Challenges of Including Grey Literature
Authors: Benzies Karen M. , Premji Shahirose , Hayden K. Alix , Serrett Karen 
Published: June 2006

ABSTRACT Background: Increasingly, health policy decision‐makers and professionals are turning to research‐based evidence to support decisions about policy and practice. Systematic reviews are useful for gathering, summarizing, and synthesizing published and unpublished research about clearly defined interventions. State‐of‐the‐evidence reviews are broader than traditional systematic reviews and may include not only published and unpublished research, but also published and unpublished non‐research literature. Decisions about whether to include this “grey literature” in a review are challenging and lead to many questions about whether the advantages outweigh the challenges. Aims: The primary purpose of this article is to describe what constitutes grey literature, and methods to locate it and assess its quality. The secondary purpose is to discuss the core issues to consider when making decisions to include grey literature in a state‐of‐the‐evidence review. Methods: A recent state‐of‐the‐evidence review is used as an exemplar to present advantages and challenges related to including grey literature in a review. Results: Despite the challenges, in the exemplar, inclusion of grey literature was useful to validate the results of a research‐based literature search. Conclusion: Decisions about whether to include grey literature in a state‐of‐the‐evidence review are complex. A checklist to assist in decision‐making was created as a tool to assist the researcher in determining whether it is advantageous to include grey literature in a review. Worldviews on Evidence‐Based Nursing 2006; 3(2):55–61.
Constructing a New Approach to Developing Evidence‐Based Practice with Nurses and Older People
Authors: Tolson Debbie , Irene Schofield , Booth Jo , Kelly Timothy B. , James Louise 
Published: June 2006

ABSTRACT Purpose: Providing evidence‐based nursing care to older people is central to the international development agenda. This paper is a report on the first 5 years (2000–2005) of a participatory research project, the purpose of which was to collaborate with practitioners and older people to develop approaches to promote the attainment of evidence‐based nursing care across Scotland. Design: Many theoretical influences shaped the design of this action research study including realistic evaluation, participatory social learning theory, and descriptions of communities of practice. Multiple methods of data collection were used during four action cycles. The inaugural community of practice comprised 30 nurses, a second group of 30 nurses joined midway, followed by a third group of 15 nurses, and finally, an older person‐carer community of 21 members was established. Findings: Project outputs included the construction of an internet‐based, practice‐development college. A procedural model for developing and demonstrating care guidance drawn from a diversity of evidence and reflective of an agreed set of principles was piloted and endorsed by the national standard setting agency. A preliminary version of a promising approach to practice development, “the Caledonian Model,” was delineated for future testing and refinement. Conclusion: This work indicates the merits of using participatory research to find solutions to the challenge of promoting evidence‐based practice. Evaluation data suggest that in combination, the approaches developed in this project empower nurses to work with older people to champion developments even in seemingly unfavorable conditions. Worldviews on Evidence‐Based Nursing 2006; 3(2):62–72.
An Integrative Research Review: Effective School‐Based Childhood Overweight Interventions
Authors: Cole Kristen , Waldrop Julee , D’Auria Jennifer , Garner Heather 
Published: June 2006

PURPOSE.  To describe theoretical and methodological characteristics of effective school‐based interventions that used healthy lifestyle education, dietary habits, and/or physical activity in children ages 4 to 14. DESIGN.  Integrative research review. METHODS.  Stetler's model of research utilization. RESULTS.  Social Cognitive Theory was the stated or implied theory in eight of the 10 studies. Healthy lifestyle education was initiated in nine studies, dietary habits in four, and physical activity in eight. Four of the 10 studies used a combination of all three interventions; three used a combination of two interventions; and three used only one intervention. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS.  Social Cognitive Theory and the role of social learning are useful when designing interventions for preventing and treating childhood overweight.
Bump-Type Foil Bearing Structural Stiffness: Experiments and
Predictions
Authors: Rubio Dario , San Andrés Luis 
Published: June 2006

Abstract
Gas foil bearings (FB) satisfy many of the requirements noted for novel oil-free turbomachinery. However, FB design remains largely empirical, in spite of successful commercial applications. The mechanical structural characteristics of foil bearings, namely stiffness and damping, have been largely ignored in the archival literature. Four commercial bump-type foil bearings were acquired to measure their load capacity under conditions of no shaft rotation. The test bearings contain a single Teflon-coated foil supported on 25 bumps. The nominal radial clearance is 0.036mm for a 38mm journal. A simple test setup was assembled to measure the FB deflections resulting from static loads. The tests were conducted with three shafts of increasing diameter to induce a degree of preload into the FB structure. Static measurements show nonlinear FB deflections, varying with the orientation of the load relative to the foil spot weld. Loading and unloading tests evidence hysteresis. The FB structural stiffness increases as the bumps-foil radial deflection increases (hardening effect). The assembly preload results in notable stiffness changes, in particular for small radial loads. A simple analytical model assembles individual bump stiffnesses and renders predictions for the FB structural stiffness as a function of the bump geometry and material, dry-friction coefficient, load orientation, clearance and preload. The model predicts well the test data, including the hardening effect. The uncertainty in the actual clearance (gap) upon assembly of a shaft into a FB affects most of the predictions.
Feedback Control of Braking Deceleration on Railway Vehicle
Authors: Nankyo Masanobu , Ishihara Tadashi , Inooka Hikaru 
Published: June 2006

AbstractAn increase of the deceleration in high-speed and high-density train operations degrades riding comfort and frequently causes wheel skids. This requires an introduction of the control technology to upgrade the control performance of brake systems on railway vehicles. We are now studying control methods for a mechanical brake that uses friction and pneumatic pressure, including nonlinear elements as the basis of a brake force. Furthermore, the system itself has certain “dead time,” which is not negligible and makes control difficult. One of our targets is to develop a brake control device that can control the deceleration in accordance with a decelerating pattern that optimizes the riding comfort of trains and prevents wheel skids. In this paper, a design method of the controller for the deceleration tracking control and the system compensating the dead time are proposed. Finally, the effects of them are confirmed through computer simulations and experimental results on a dynamo test stand.