bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Cost-effectiveness of alternative methods of surgical repair of inguinal hernia
Authors: Vale Luke , Grant Adrian , McCormack Kirsty , Scott Neil W. 
Published: July 2004

Objectives:To assess the relative cost-effectiveness of laparoscopic methods of inguinal hernia repair compared with open flat mesh and open non-mesh repair.Methods:Data on the effectiveness of these alternatives came from three systematic reviews comparing: (i) laparoscopic methods with open flat mesh or non-mesh methods; (ii) open flat mesh with open non-mesh repair; and (iii) methods that used synthetic mesh to repair the hernia defect with those that did not. Data on costs were obtained from the authors of economic evaluations previously conducted alongside trials included in the reviews. A Markov model was used to model cost-effectiveness for a five-year period after the initial operation. The outcomes of the model were presented using a balance sheet approach and as cost per hernia recurrence avoided and cost per extra day at usual activities.Results:Open flat mesh was the most cost-effective method of preventing recurrences. Laparoscopic repair provided a shorter period of convalescence and less long-term pain compared with open flat mesh but was more costly. The mean incremental cost per additional day back at usual activities compared with open flat mesh was €38 and €80 for totally extraperitoneal and transabdominal preperitoneal repair, respectively.Conclusions:Laparoscopic repair is not cost-effective compared with open flat mesh repair in terms of cost per recurrence avoided. Decisions about the use of laparoscopic repair depend on whether the benefits (reduced pain and earlier return to usual activities) outweigh the extra costs and intraoperative risks. On the evidence presented here, these extra costs are unlikely to be offset by the short-term benefits of laparoscopic repair.
Rehabilitation Benefits Highly Motivated Patients: A Six-Year Prospective Cost-Effectiveness Study
Authors: Grahn Birgitta E. M. , Borgquist Lars A. , Ekdahl Charlotte S. 
Published: July 2004

Objectives:To compare the six-year outcome of a multidisciplinary rehabilitation program with continued care within primary care in terms of health-related quality of life and cost-effectiveness. Furthermore, predictors of total costs to society were examined.Methods:A prospective, matched, controlled, six-year follow-up was designed. The study included 236 patients (42 men, 194 women) nineteen to sixty-one years of age with prolonged musculoskeletal disorders. The intervention comprised a four-week multidisciplinary rehabilitation and an active one-year follow-up based on a bio-psycho-social approach. The control group received continued care within primary care. The main outcome measures were quality of life measured using the Nottingham Health Profile, motivation identified by an interview and patient-specific total costs to society. Differences in mean costs between groups and cost-effectiveness were evaluated by applying nonparametric bootstrapping techniques.Results:Total costs per treated patient in the rehabilitation group and the control group were £43,464 (SD=31,093) and £44,123 (SD=33,333), respectively (p=.896). Multidisciplinary rehabilitation improved quality of life somewhat more cost-effectively. Motivation was revealed as a predictor of total costs.Conclusion:In the long-run, the evaluated multidisciplinary rehabilitation improved the highly motivated patients' quality of life most cost-effectively. The latently motivated patients may require rehabilitation, which is less intensive and with a longer duration, to improve their health in a whole-person perspective. The burden of prolonged musculoskeletal disorders to society was reaffirmed. Motivation could be a predictor of total costs, a factor which has to be taken into account in the examination procedure.
Magnetic resonance imaging for investigation of the knee joint: A clinical and economic evaluation
Authors: Bryan Stirling , Bungay Hilary P. , Weatherburn Gwyn , Field Stuart 
Published: July 2004

Objectives:The aim of the study reported here was to investigate whether the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) impacts on the clinical management of patients presenting with chronic knee problems, reduces costs, and improves patient outcome.Methods:A single-center randomized controlled trial was conducted. Patients attending with knee problems in whom surgery was being considered were randomized either to investigation using an MRI scan or to investigation using arthroscopy. The study investigated benefits in terms of avoidance of surgery and patient health-related quality of life (using SF-36 and EQ-5D). Costs were assessed from the perspectives of the National Health Service and patients. All analyses were by intention to treat.Results:The trial recruited 118 patients. No statistically significant differences were found between groups in terms of health outcome. However, the use of MRI was associated with a positive diagnostic/therapeutic impact: a significantly smaller proportion of patients in the MRI group underwent surgery (MRI=0.41, No-MRI=0.71;pvalue=.001). There was a similar mean overall cost for both groups.Conclusions:The use of MRI in patients with chronic knee problems, in whom surgery was being considered, did not increase costs overall, was not associated with worse outcomes, and avoided surgery in a significant proportion of patients.
Comparing short form and RAND physical and mental health summary scores: Results from total hip arthroplasty and high-risk primary-care patients
Authors: Blanchard Chris M. , Côté Isabelle , Feeny David 
Published: July 2004

Objectives: Summary physical health scores for the Short Form (SF) measures are computing using positive weights for physical items and negative weights for mental health items. Mental health summary scores use positive weights for mental items and negative weights for physical. The RAND Health Status Inventory (HSI) measures do not use negative weights. Do these different approaches to scoring matter? The objective was to compare summary scores using both the SF and RAND-HSI.Methods: SF-36 and the Health Utilities Index Mark 3 (HUI3) were administered to a cohort of patients waiting for elective total hip arthroplasty (THA). SF-12 and HUI3 were administered to a cohort of high-risk primary-care patients. Summary scores were generated and compared. Single-attribute utility scores for emotion in HUI3 were also computed. Canadian and US norms for SF, RAND-HSI, and HUI3 were used to interpret results.Results: For THA patients, mean physical health scores were 28 and 36 for SF and RAND-HSI. Mean mental health scores were 55 and 42. For the primary-care patients, the scores were 34 and 36 for physical and 46 and 40 for mental health.Conclusions: SF and RAND-HSI provided somewhat similar summary scores in the THA study. However, SF and RAND-HSI mental health scores differed in the primary-care patient cohort and results from HUI3 corroborate the mental health deficits identified by the RAND-HSI. It may be wise for investigators to use both SF and RAND-HSI scoring systems.
A tale of two cities: Hospitalization costs in 1897 and 1997
Authors: Boonen Annelies , Severens Johannes L. , van der Linden Sjef 
Published: July 2004

The longer you can look back, the better you can look forward—Sir Winston ChurchillObjectives:To compare the hospitalization day price, and the hospitalization costs 100 years ago with the present situation.Methods:Municipal and hospital archives of two cities, Maastricht in The Netherlands and Tongeren in Belgium, were studied systematically for reports of costs. These were compared with the present accounts.Results:Starting from the second part of the nineteenth century, an official day price was calculated each year by averaging the total hospital expenditures by the total number of hospitalization days. Of all expenditures, nutrition accounted for nearly 50% of expenses. Differences with the current situation are striking. Nowadays, the day price is a negotiated tariff. Management and salaries make up more than 70% of the present expenditures.Conclusions:Hospitalization day prices have been used for approximately 150 years to determine hospitalization costs. Since then, the total hospital expenditures and the relative cost components have changed considerably. Compared with the spending power of people, the cost of one day in the hospital increased substantially.
Exchange, religion, identity and central places in the early Middle Ages
Authors: Theuws Frans 
Published: July 2004

AbstractExchange in the early Middle Ages has traditionally been studied from a ‘technological’, ‘economic’ or ‘socio-political’ perspective, and has examined such issues as transport practices, supply and demand, or the ways in which exchange helps to maintain and reproduce the socio-political order. A particular focus of research has been the significance of the exchange of prestige goods for the power of the king and the aristocracy. There has been almost no analysis to date of the complexity of the exchange system as a whole, which – together with the exchange of commodities and gifts – includes the keeping of objects. Nor have archaeologists paid much attention to the relationship between forms of exchange (and the norms and values associated with them) and the imaginary world from which ‘value’ is derived in exchange. In the early medieval Frankish world there seems to have been a close relationship between exchange and the imaginary Christian world. In this contribution, I will attempt to examine the relationship between exchange and the imaginary world in the early Middle Ages, and to demonstrate how the results can modify the picture we have of central places like Maastricht (an old centre) and Dorestad (one of the new emporia).
Identification and Molecular Characterization of a de novo Supernumerary Ring Chromosome 18 in a Patient with Klippel‐Trenaunay Syndrome
Authors: Timur A. Anil , Sadgephour Azita , Graf Michael , Schwartz Stuart , Libby Eric D. , Driscoll David J. , Wang Qing 
Published: July 2004

SummaryKlippel‐Trenaunay syndrome (KTS) is a congenital vascular disorder comprised of capillary, venous and lymphatic malformations associated with overgrowth of the affected tissues. In this study, we report the identification of a de novo supernumerary ring chromosome in a patient with mild mental retardation, long tapering fingers, elongated, thin feet and Klippel‐Trenaunay syndrome (KTS). The ring marker chromosome was found to be mosaic, present in 24% of cells, and was later shown to be derived from chromosome 18, r(18). Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was used to define the breakpoints involved in the formation of r(18). The chromosome 18p breakpoint was localized between the markers WI‐9619 and D18S1150, which is less than 10 cM to the centromere. The 18q breakpoint was localized between the centromere and BAC clone 666n19, which is a region of less than 40 kb. These data suggest that the r(18) mostly originated from 18p, with an estimated size of less than 10 cM. These studies identify and characterize a new marker chromosome 18, provide insights into the understanding of the relationships between the clinical phenotypes and marker chromosomes, and establish a framework for finding a potential vascular and/or overgrowth gene located on chromosome 18.
A Note on the Genome Scan Meta‐Analysis Statistic
Authors: Koziol J. A. , Feng A. C. 
Published: July 2004

SummaryWise and colleagues (Ann. Hum. Genet. (1999) 63: 263‐72) introduced a rank‐based statistical technique for meta‐analysis of genome scans, the Genome Scan Meta‐Analysis (GSMA) method. We provide an alternative derivation of the null distribution of the GSMA statistic, with extensions, and we suggest approximations to the distribution of the GSMA statistic that may be useful in applications.
Tracing the Origin of the Most Common Thiopurine Methyltransferase (TPMT) Variants: Preliminary Data from the Patterns of Haplotypic Association with Two CA Repeats
Authors: Alves S. , Rocha J. , Amorim A. , Prata M. J. 
Published: July 2004

SummaryThiopurine methyltransferase (TPMT) is an essential enzyme for normal metabolism of thiopurine drugs. In humans TPMT activity is largely dependent upon genetic variation at the TPMT locus, with TPMT*3A and TPMT*3C being the most frequent mutant alleles associated with reduced activity. TPMT*3C is a widespread allele reaching the highest frequencies in Africans, whereas TPMT*3A is virtually restricted to Caucasian descendent populations. To estimate the time of origin of these two alleles, we analyzed the levels of diversity at two CA repeats flanking the TPMT gene. In accordance to its pattern of geographical distribution, the study of the decay in linkage disequilibrium over time indicated that TPMT*3A was the younger allele. The estimated age was 5700 years, which coincides with the Neolithic, a period characterized by major population expansion that could have been responsible for the spread of TPMT*3A from its place of origin, maybe a western Eurasian population. TPMT*3C was found to have arisen earlier, roughly 14000 years ago, which could explain the worldwide dispersal of TPMT*3C.
Molecular Genetics of Late‐Onset Alzheimer's Disease
Authors: Kamboh M. Ilyas 
Published: July 2004

SummaryLate‐onset Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a complex and multifactorial disease with the possible involvement of several genes. Apolipoprotein E (APOE), especially the APOE*4 allele, has been established as a strong susceptibility marker that accounts for nearly 30% of the risk in late‐onset AD. However, as the APOE*4 allele is neither necessary nor sufficient for the development of AD, it emphasizes the involvement of other genetic and/or environmental factors which, alone or in conjunction with APOE*4, can modify the risk of AD. Recently, genome‐wide linkage or linkage disequilibrium studies on late‐onset AD have provided informative data for the existence of multiple putative genes for AD on several chromosomes, with the strongest evidence on chromosomes 12, 10, 9 and 6. This paper attempts to review the current progress on the identification of additional genetic loci for late‐onset AD.
A statistical method for identifying differential gene–gene co-expression patterns
Authors: Lai Yinglei , Wu Baolin , Chen Liang , Zhao Hongyu 
Published: July 2004

Abstract
Motivation: To understand cancer etiology, it is important to explore molecular changes in cellular processes from normal state to cancerous state. Because genes interact with each other during cellular processes, carcinogenesis related genes may form differential co-expression patterns with other genes in different cell states. In this study, we develop a statistical method for identifying differential gene–gene co-expression patterns in different cell states.
Results: For efficient pattern recognition, we extend the traditional F-statistic and obtain an Expected Conditional F-statistic (ECF-statistic), which incorporates statistical information of location and correlation. We also propose a statistical method for data transformation. Our approach is applied to a microarray gene expression dataset for prostate cancer study. For a gene of interest, our method can select other genes that have differential gene–gene co-expression patterns with this gene in different cell states. The 10 most frequently selected genes, include hepsin, GSTP1 and AMACR, which have recently been proposed to be associated with prostate carcinogenesis. However, genes GSTP1 and AMACR cannot be identified by studying differential gene expression alone. By using tumor suppressor genes TP53, PTEN and RB1, we identify seven genes that also include hepsin, GSTP1 and AMACR. We show that genes associated with cancer may have differential gene–gene expression patterns with many other genes in different cell states. By discovering such patterns, we may be able to identify carcinogenesis related genes.
Availability: The R-codes for our study are available at http://bioinformatics.med.yale.edu/microarray/BioSupp1.html
Differences in gene expression between B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia and normal B cells: a meta-analysis of three microarray studies
Authors: Wang J. , Coombes K. R. , Highsmith W. E. , Keating M. J. , Abruzzo L. V. 
Published: July 2004

Abstract
Motivation: A major focus of current cancer research is to identify genes that can be used as markers for prognosis and diagnosis, and as targets for therapy. Microarray technology has been applied extensively for this purpose, even though it has been reported that the agreement between microarray platforms is poor. A critical question is: how can we best combine the measurements of matched genes across microarray platforms to develop diagnostic and prognostic tools related to the underlying biology?
Results: We introduce a statistical approach within a Bayesian framework to combine the microarray data on matched genes from three investigations of gene expression profiling of B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and normal B cells (NBC) using three different microarray platforms, oligonucleotide arrays, cDNA arrays printed on glass slides and cDNA arrays printed on nylon membranes. Using this approach, we identified a number of genes that were consistently differentially expressed between CLL and NBC samples.
Availability: Glass slide cDNA array data are available through the public archives of Stanford University at http://cmgm.stanford.edu/pbrown/. Oligonucleotide array data are available in the supplemental material from Klein ηl. Nylon membrane cDNA microarray data are freely available at our website, http://bioinformatics.mdanderson.org/pubdata.html. Software to batch-process gene annotations (GeneLink) is available at http://bioinformatics.mdanderson.org/GeneLink.html. Image quantification software (ScanAlyze) is available at http://rana.lbl.gov/downloads/ScanAlyze.zip. Statistical software (S-Plus 2000) is available commercially from Insightful Corp., Seattle, WA. Software to determine the co-occurrence of terms in PubMed abstracts (PDQ_MED) is commercially available from Inpharmix Inc., Greenwood, IN.
Systematic benchmarking of microarray data classification: assessing the role of non-linearity and dimensionality reduction
Authors: Pochet Nathalie , De Smet Frank , Suykens Johan A. K. , De Moor Bart L. R. 
Published: July 2004

Abstract
Motivation: Microarrays are capable of determining the expression levels of thousands of genes simultaneously. In combination with classification methods, this technology can be useful to support clinical management decisions for individual patients, e.g. in oncology. The aim of this paper is to systematically benchmark the role of non-linear versus linear techniques and dimensionality reduction methods.
Results: A systematic benchmarking study is performed by comparing linear versions of standard classification and dimensionality reduction techniques with their non-linear versions based on non-linear kernel functions with a radial basis function (RBF) kernel. A total of 9 binary cancer classification problems, derived from 7 publicly available microarray datasets, and 20 randomizations of each problem are examined.
Conclusions: Three main conclusions can be formulated based on the performances on independent test sets. (1) When performing classification with least squares support vector machines (LS-SVMs) (without dimensionality reduction), RBF kernels can be used without risking too much overfitting. The results obtained with well-tuned RBF kernels are never worse and sometimes even statistically significantly better compared to results obtained with a linear kernel in terms of test set receiver operating characteristic and test set accuracy performances. (2) Even for classification with linear classifiers like LS-SVM with linear kernel, using regularization is very important. (3) When performing kernel principal component analysis (kernel PCA) before classification, using an RBF kernel for kernel PCA tends to result in overfitting, especially when using supervised feature selection. It has been observed that an optimal selection of a large number of features is often an indication for overfitting. Kernel PCA with linear kernel gives better results.
Availability: Matlab scripts are available on request.
Supplementary information: http://www.esat.kuleuven.ac.be/~npochet/Bioinformatics/
BioRAT: extracting biological information from full-length papers
Authors: Corney David P. A. , Buxton Bernard F. , Langdon William B. , Jones David T. 
Published: July 2004

Abstract
Motivation: Converting the vast quantity of free-format text found in journals into a concise, structured format makes the researcher's quest for information easier. Recently, several information extraction systems have been developed that attempt to simplify the retrieval and analysis of biological and medical data. Most of this work has used the abstract alone, owing to the convenience of access and the quality of data. Abstracts are generally available through central collections with easy direct access (e.g. PubMed). The full-text papers contain more information, but are distributed across many locations (e.g. publishers' web sites, journal web sites and local repositories), making access more difficult.
In this paper, we present BioRAT, a new information extraction (IE) tool, specifically designed to perform biomedical IE, and which is able to locate and analyse both abstracts and full-length papers. BioRAT is a Biological Research Assistant for Text mining, and incorporates a document search ability with domain-specific IE.
Results: We show first, that BioRAT performs as well as existing systems, when applied to abstracts; and second, that significantly more information is available to BioRAT through the full-length papers than via the abstracts alone. Typically, less than half of the available information is extracted from the abstract, with the majority coming from the body of each paper. Overall, BioRAT recalled 20.31% of the target facts from the abstracts with 55.07% precision, and achieved 43.6% recall with 51.25% precision on full-length papers.
Availability: The software and documentation can be found at http://bioinf.cs.ucl.ac.uk/biorat