bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Motor Functioning and Alcohol Dependence
Authors: De Wilde Bieke , Dom Geert , Hulstijn Wouter , Sabbe Bernard 
Published: October 2007

Background:  Autopsy and neuroimaging research in stably abstinent alcoholics illuminated structural and functional abnormalities in brain areas that organize and coordinate motor functioning. Researchers that used behavioural tasks to measure motor functioning found that abstinent alcoholics perform worse than healthy controls. These researchers however did not analyze timed responses into their cognitive and motor components. They thus were unable to decide which aspects of information processing are impaired. We here used a Fitts’ task to examine differences in cognitive and motor components between abstinent alcoholics and healthy controls.Methods:  Fifty‐two abstinent alcoholics and 52 healthy controls participated in this research design. Fine motor functioning was assessed by means of the Fitts’ task.Results:  Abstinent alcoholics needed more time to perform timed responses than healthy controls. As both reaction and movement times were higher in abstinent alcoholics, both cognitive and motor processes seem to be impaired. When the task became more difficult (small targets instead of large targets) abstinent alcoholics needed proportionally more time to give the correct response than healthy controls. This phenomenon solely applied to movement times.Conclusions:  These research data indicate that abstinent alcoholics are somewhat impaired on a behavioral level. The execution of timed responses indeed was lengthier in abstinent alcoholics than in healthy controls. As both cognitive and motor processes were impaired, we here assume that both central and peripheral processes are affected by progressive alcohol intake. Abstinent alcoholics also have more difficulties to adapt their motor responses to changing task conditions.
Variation in GABRA2 Predicts Drinking Behavior in Project MATCH Subjects
Authors: Bauer Lance O. , Covault Jonathan , Harel Ofer , Das Sourish , Gelernter Joel , Anton Raymond , Kranzler Henry R. 
Published: October 2007

Background:  Previous studies demonstrated, and replicated, an association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within the GABRA2 gene and risk for alcohol dependence. The present study examines the association of a GABRA2 SNP with another definition of alcohol involvement and with the effects of psychosocial treatment.Methods:  European‐American subjects (n = 812, 73.4% male) provided DNA samples for the analysis. All were participants in Project Matching Alcoholism Treatment to Client Heterogeneity (MATCH), a multi‐center randomized clinical trial evaluating the efficacy of 3 types of psychosocial treatment for alcoholism: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET), or twelve‐step facilitation (TSF). The daily probabilities of drinking and heavy drinking were estimated during the 12‐week treatment and 12‐month post‐treatment periods.Results:  Subjects homozygous for the allele associated with low risk for alcohol dependence in previous studies had lower daily probabilities of drinking and heavy drinking in the present study. This low‐risk allele was also associated with a greater difference in drinking outcomes between the treatments. In addition, it enhanced the relative superiority of TSF over CBT and MET. Population stratification was excluded as a confound using ancestry informative marker analysis.Conclusions:  The assessment of genetic vulnerability may be relevant to studies of the efficacy of psychosocial treatment: GABRA2 genotype modifies the variance in drinking and can therefore moderate power for resolving differences between treatments.
Effects of Cigarette Smoking and Family History of Alcoholism on Sweet Taste Perception and Food Cravings in Women
Authors: Pepino Marta Yanina , Mennella Julie A. 
Published: October 2007

Background:  Despite popular beliefs that smoking affects the sensitivity and liking of sweet‐tasting foods and beverages, few psychophysical studies have examined this phenomenon and none have taken into account the individual’s family history of alcoholism (FH+), a predictor of heightened sweet preferences.Methods:  A within‐ and between‐subjects study was conducted to determine the effect of both cigarette smoking and an acute exposure to nicotine on sweet taste sensitivity and preferences in women. Two groups were studied on 2 days separated by 1 week: women who were current smokers (n = 27, 18 were FH+) and those who never smoked in their lifetime (n = 22, 9 were FH+). Current smokers smoked nicotine‐containing cigarettes during 1 test session and nicotine‐free cigarettes during the other. The procedures were identical during both test sessions for the group of never smokers, with the exception that they did not smoke. Two‐alternative staircase methods and forced‐choice tracking procedures were used to assess sucrose thresholds and preferences, respectively, during both test session. Standardized questionnaires were administered to assess food cravings as well as smoking and alcohol usage and dependence. The Family Interview for Genetic Studies was used to detect alcoholism according to the DSM III criteria for family members up to second‐degree relatives.Results:  Acute exposure to nicotine did not affect sucrose detection thresholds or preferences, but smokers had significantly higher sucrose detection thresholds than never smokers. The greater the smoking dose in pack‐years, the lower the sucrose sensitivity. Regardless of smoking status, women who were FH+ preferred significantly higher sucrose concentrations and craved sweets more often than women who were not.Conclusions:  Both smoking and having a family history of alcoholism had differential effects on sweet taste. Smoking was associated with decreased sweet taste sensitivity whereas having a family history of alcoholism was associated with heightened sweet preferences. These findings suggests that future research on the effects of smoking on food habits and cravings should take into account family history of alcoholism given its association with sweet liking and the increased likelihood to develop a tobacco disorder.
Use of Real‐Time Interactive Voice Response in a Study of Stress and Alcohol Consumption
Authors: Andersson Claes , Söderpalm Gordh Anna H. V. , Berglund Mats 
Published: October 2007

Background:  The goal of this study was to investigate whether Interactive Voice Response is a technology with which to perform real‐time assessments of alcohol consumption and stress.Methods:  Fifteen subjects (men and women) were recruited from a previous 4‐year intervention study (n = 2,032). The Interactive Voice Response technique was based on mobile telephones. During 1 week, stress and alcohol were measured automatically 3 times daily. In addition, the subjects called the system at the start of the drinking session, and an automated hourly contact was established for the drinking period.Results:  Of the data collection calls, 305 (97%) were answered. Real‐time drinking was assessed 9 times of 9 (100%). The average length of the IVR assessment was only 28 seconds because of modified technology. Individuals with an estimated blood alcohol concentration above 0.1% under‐reported drinking in their day‐after reports by between 1 and 10 drinks. The same subjects had more pronounced stress reduction than those with lower BAC levels.Conclusion:  Interactive Voice Response methodology offers a promising new technology for daily as well as real‐time assessments.
Loneliness in Older Chinese Adults: A Risk Factor for Elder Mistreatment
Authors: Dong XinQi , Simon Melissa A. , Gorbien Martin , Percak Jeffrey , Golden Robyn 
Published: October 2007

OBJECTIVES: To examine loneliness as a risk factor for elder mistreatment in an urban, community‐dwelling Chinese population.DESIGN: Cross‐sectional descriptive study.SETTING: Major urban medical center in NanJing, China.PARTICIPANTS: Four hundred twelve subjects aged 60 and older who presented to the general medical clinic. The mean age of the participants was 70, and 34% were female. Mean education level was 8.5 years of schooling.MEASUREMENTS: Loneliness was assessed using validated instruments, and direct questions were asked regarding mistreatment experienced by older adults.RESULTS: Elder mistreatment was found in 35.2% of the participants. After adjusting for confounding factors, feeling of often lacking companionship (odds ratio (OR)=4.06; 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.49–11.10) and feeling of sometimes being left out in life (OR=1.69; 95% CI=1.01–2.84) were positively associated with the risk of mistreatment. Risk of mistreatment was also correlated with higher total loneliness scores (OR=2.74; 95% CI=1.19–6.26).CONCLUSION: Loneliness appeared to be a risk factor associated with elder mistreatment in this older Chinese population. Further prospective studies are needed to confirm this finding. An exploration of Chinese culture and tradition may yield insight into shaping a prevention framework for mistreatment of older Chinese people.
Elderly Patients' Preferences and Experiences with Providers in Managing Their Drug Costs
Authors: Tseng Chien‐Wen , Dudley R. Adams , Brook Robert H. , Keeler Emmett , Steers W. Neil , Alexander G. Caleb , Waitzfelder Beth E. , Mangione Carol M. 
Published: October 2007

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether elderly patients with high drug expenditures want and receive providers' help in managing drug costs.DESIGN: Cross‐sectional survey.SETTING: A Medicare managed care plan (>400,000 members) in one state in 2002.PARTICIPANTS: One thousand one hundred six seniors (62% response rate) sampled so that half exceeded caps on their drug benefits the previous year, and all had total drug expenditures in the top quartile of members in their cap level.MEASUREMENTS: Participants' preferences and experiences with providers discussing costs and participation in choosing medications.RESULTS: Two‐thirds reported difficulty paying for medications, and one‐fourth decreased medication use because of cost. Most wanted providers to ask about medication affordability (81%), consider cost (86%), offer choices (70%), and to persuade them or decide for them which medication to use (88%), but few said providers asked about affordability (17%), usually or always discussed prices (19%), or offered choices (45%), although nearly all said providers chose their medications (93%). Sixty‐two percent had asked providers for help with drug costs, although 34% who used less medication because of cost or had difficulty paying for medications had not asked for help.CONCLUSION: Providers should be aware that elderly patients want their help in managing drug costs but do not always receive it or ask for help when they need it. Providers could improve communication by initiating conversations about cost and by asking patients about preferences when prescribing.
Risking Regulation, Regulating Risk: Lessons from the Transatlantic Biotech Dispute
Authors: Zerbe Noah 
Published: October 2007

AbstractDebates over the future of new technologies frequently implicate governmental policies and regulation, the purpose of which has traditionally been to mitigate the dangers of new technologies through promotion of conditions of safe use. It is increasingly recognized, however, that regulation is predicated on a particular conception of the nature of risk which may or may not correspond to the views and beliefs held by society. Here I explore three broadly related questions in the context of the debates around agricultural biotechnology. First, what are the implications of varying conceptions of risk for regulatory policy in the United States and in the European Union? Second, what are the implications of differing conceptions of risk and resulting regulatory policy for agricultural trade relations between the two giants of international trade? And finally, what lessons might we draw from contemporary disputes over agricultural biotechnology?
Registered Traveler Program: The Financial Value of Registering the Good Guys
Authors: Stone Charles A. , Zissu Anne 
Published: October 2007

AbstractWe discuss how the Registered Traveler (RT) program can enhance simultaneously aviation security and passenger convenience. We point out some of the potential weaknesses in the program from both a security and civil liberty perspective. The RT program is a public–private partnership between the Transportation Security Agency (TSA) and the private sector. As in any partnership between private enterprises and the public sector, there are tensions that must be monitored, managed, and resolved. We note that financial distress of a RT service provider will place increased pressure on TSA resources. We review the resources allocated by the public and private sectors and the natural tensions that exist between companies investing capital with the expectation of earning a market rate of return and an agency of the Department of Homeland Security, the TSA, with one of its responsibilities being to assure the safety and security of air travel.
The role of the plant in attracting parasitoids: response to progressive mechanical wounding
Authors: Connor Edward C. , Rott Anja S. , Samietz Jörg , Dorn Silvia 
Published: October 2007

AbstractBased on the model system of Brussels sprouts [Brassica oleracea var. gemmifera (Brassicaceae)], the herbivore cabbage white caterpillar, Pieris brassicae (L.) (Lepidoptera: Pieridae), and the parasitoid wasp, Cotesia glomerata (L.) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), the influence of plant damage type, and damage duration were assessed on plant volatile emission and subsequent recruitment of natural antagonists of the herbivore. Plants were damaged by three methods for a period of either 3 or 8 h: herbivore damage (HD), progressive mechanical damage, and final mechanical damage inflicted in a single event. Wind‐tunnel bioassays evaluated whether the mode of damage affected female parasitoid oriented flight. After both periods of damage, all treatments were highly significantly preferred by naïve C. glomerata to undamaged control plants. After 3 h, herbivore‐damaged plants were significantly preferred to plants with final damage (FD). Most remarkably, following 8‐h damage, the parasitoid preferred both herbivore‐damaged and progressively damaged plants to plants with FD and did not significantly discriminate between herbivore and progressively damaged plants, thus indicating a similarity in plant response to herbivore and progressive mechanical damage. In addition to wind‐tunnel bioassays, emitted plant volatiles were collected and analysed by thermal desorption gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, following 3 and 8 h of damage in order to correlate volatiles released from different damage types with the attraction of the parasitoid. Differences in volatile profiles from all damage types were similar following both 3 and 8 h of damage, with only (Z)‐3‐hexenyl acetate found to be emitted in significantly higher quantities by final mechanical damage compared with HD after 3 h. In conclusion, the plant's response to progressive mechanical damage was more similar to HD than final mechanical damage deployed at a single point in time, irrespective of damage duration, and C. glomerata did not significantly discriminate between progressive damage and HD.
Strabismus and eye muscle function
Authors: Lennerstrand Gunnar 
Published: October 2007

Abstract.Studies of external eye muscle morphology and physiology are reviewed, with respect to both motor and sensory functions in concomitant strabismus. The eye muscles have a more complex fibre composition than other striated muscle, and they are among the fastest and most fatigue‐resistant muscles in the body. However, it is not generally believed that concomitant strabismus is due to a primary abnormality of the eye muscles or the ocular motor system. The gross anatomy of eye muscles, including the shape and position of the eye muscle pulleys, was not changed in strabismus. The histology of the eye muscle fibres was also basically the same, but changes have been observed in the cellular and biochemical machinery of the fibres, most notably in the singly innervated orbital fibres. Functionally, this was seen as slower contractions and reduced fatigue resistance of eye muscles in animals with strabismus and defects of binocular vision. Most likely the changes represented an adaptation to modified visual demands on the ocular motor control, because of the defects of binocular vision in strabismus from an early age. Adaptation of eye muscle function to visual demands could be seen also in the adult human ocular motor system, but here the effects could be reversed with treatment in some conditions. External eye muscles in the human have sensory organs, muscle spindles and tendon organs, responding to changes in muscle force and length. It is not known how these proprioceptors are used more specifically in ocular motor control, and there is no stretch reflex in the external eye muscles. However, a clear influence on space localization and eye position can be demonstrated with vibratory stimulation of the eye muscles, presumably activating muscle spindles. Different effects were observed in normal subjects and in adult patients with strabismus, which would indicate that the proprioceptive input from one eye of strabismic patients could be suppressed by the other eye, similar to visual suppression in concomitant strabismus. Such an interaction would most likely occur in the visual cortex, and not in the ocular motor system. Further studies of proprioceptive mechanisms, during the postnatal developmental stage and in adult concomitant strabismus may shed light on the mechanisms of childhood strabismus and may, in this respect, be a more fruitful avenue for further research than eye motor studies.
Glycaemic control and control of risk factors in diabetes patients in an ophthalmology clinic: what lessons have we learned from the UKPDS and DCCT studies?
Authors: Higgins Gareth T. , Khan Javeed , Pearce Ian A. 
Published: October 2007

Abstract.Purpose:  The Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT) and UK Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS) have studied glycaemic control as well as other risk factors in preventing the progression of diabetic end‐organ disease, including diabetic retinopathy. We wished to determine to what extent a cross‐section of diabetes patients attending our eye clinic met the targets laid down by recent landmark studies.Methods:  We prospectively assessed 44 consecutive diabetes patients attending outpatient clinics for assessment of diabetic retinopathy. Each patient had HbA1c levels, serum cholesterol and blood pressure checked. A proforma was completed for each patient.Results:  Of the 44 patients studied, 11 had type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM) and 33 had type 2 DM (11 insulin‐dependent DM [IDDM], 22 non‐insulin‐dependent DM [NIDDM]). The mean age of type 1 DM patients was 43 years; that of type 2 DM patients was 62 years. Five of 11 (46%) type 1 DM patients had poorly controlled diabetes (HbA1c > 9%) compared with four of 33 (12%) type 2 DM patients. Overall, 27 of 44 (62%) patients were on antihypertensive medication. The prevalence of poorly controlled blood pressure (> 150/85 mmHg treated; > 160/90 mmHg untreated) was 16 of 44 (36%) patients overall, and was higher for type 2 DM patients (13/33, 39%) than for type 1 DM patients (3/11, 27%). Random serum cholesterol levels > 5.2 were found in 10 of 44 (23%) patients overall (4/11 [36%] type 1 and 6/33 [18%] type 2 DM patients).Conclusions:  Control of HbA1c, hypertension and hypercholesterolaemia can slow progression of retinopathy and other DM end‐points. Many of our patients were poorly controlled in terms of these risk factors. More attention should be addressed to these primary preventative factors in the management of diabetes patients.
Functional implications of short‐term retinal detachment in porcine eyes: study by multifocal electroretinography
Authors: Voss Kyhn Maria , Kiilgaard Jens F. , Lopez Ana Garcia , Scherfig Erik , Prause Jan U. , La Cour Morten 
Published: October 2007

Abstract.Purpose:  The aim of the study was to determine the type and magnitude of detectable changes in pig multifocal electroretinography (mfERG) induced by the vitreoretinal surgical procedures necessary to gain access to the subretinal space.Methods:  Twenty pigs underwent posterior segment surgery. Six animals had a vitrectomy (V), six had in addition a retinal bleb detachment (V + B); five had in addition a retinal diathermia on the bleb (V + B + D) and three received a retinotomy in the diathermized retinal area (V + B + D + R). mfERG evaluation was performed at baseline and 1 and 6 weeks postoperatively. Selected eyes were enucleated for histological evaluation.Results:  The retinal detachments blebs all reattached spontaneously. All four surgical sequences resulted in slight, non‐significant changes in the mfERG peaks. A trend towards an amplitude reduction of the mfERG peaks N1, P1 and N2 were observed within the first postoperative week. After 6 weeks, all amplitudes had normalized. Of the implicit times only that of peak N1 (after retinal diathermia) was prolonged significantly at 1 week (P = 0.037). However, it returned to the preoperative level after 6 weeks. Histologically, the retinal detachment bleb was characterized by transient double layering of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and loss photoreceptor outer segments.Conclusion:  Access to the subretinal space in pigs can be gained without permanent detectable changes in the mfERG. A short‐term retinal detachment was found to cause only reversible electrophysiological and histological changes in the outer retina, which suggests that this procedure is tolerated well in the porcine retina. The size of the known destructive lesion (retinotomy) was too small to be detected, given the spatial resolution of the mfERG method applied. In the future, the presented protocol can be used to assess the functional outcome of surgery and transplantation in the subretinal space in pigs.
Paediatric cataract surgery
Authors: Zetterström Charlotta , Kugelberg Maria 
Published: October 2007

ABSTRACT.Bilateral congenital cataract is the most common cause of treatable childhood blindness. Nuclear cataract is usually present at birth and is non‐progressive, while lamellar cataract usually develops later and is progressive. Prompt surgery has to be performed in cases with dense congenital cataract: if nystagmus has developed, the amblyopia is unfortunately irreversible. A treatment regime based on surgery within 2 months of life, combined with prompt optical correction of the aphakia and occlusion therapy with frequent follow‐up, have been successful in both unilateral and bilateral cases. The surgery ought to include anterior and posterior capsulorexis in all children at the present time. Intraocular lens implantation has been safely performed below the age of 1 year and has also been successfully performed in bilateral cases. Anterior dry vitrectomy should be performed in preschool children to avoid visual axis opacification. Visual axis opacification is the most common complication found after cataract surgery in children. Secondary glaucoma is by far the most sight‐threatening complication and is, unfortunately, common in the newborn so lifelong follow‐up is essential in these cases.