bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Percentile distribution of the waist circumference among Mexican pre‐adolescents of a primary school in Mexico City
Authors: Gómez‐Díaz Rita A. , Martínez‐Hernández Arturo J. , Aguilar‐Salinas Carlos A. , Violante Rafael , Alarcón Mardia López , Villarruel Margarita Jiménez , Rodarte Niels Wacher‐ , Solórzano‐Santos Fortino 
Published: October 2005

Aim:  The aim of this study is to describe the percentile distribution of the waist circumference in Mexican pre‐pubertal children living in an urban, middle‐income area.Methods:  Children, aged 6–10, from a primary school, located in a middle‐income area in Mexico City were included (n = 833). Anthropometric measurements were made in the case of all children by using standardized procedures.Results:  The prevalence of obesity and overweight was greater among boys (p  <  0.001). Of them, 30 were obese (7.2%) and 47 were overweight (11.4%). Girls had a prevalence of obesity of 2.8% and of overweight of 8.8%. Boys had greater waist circumference than girls (p  <  0.001). This observation was independent from differences in age or body mass index (BMI). The distribution of the waist circumference was shifted towards higher values among boys. The values corresponding to the 85th percentile ranged, in boys aged 6–10, between 62.9 and 85.9 cm. By contrast, for girls, those values were 66.8 and 72.08 cm, respectively. A receiver–operator curve was constructed in order to identify the waist circumference most likely to be associated with a BMI of > 85th percentile. We found that age‐ and sex‐specific cut‐off points are required for the detection of central adiposity in children aged 6–10.Conclusions:  The percentile distribution of the waist circumference in Mexican pre‐pubertal children living in urban, middle‐income areas is described in this study. Moreover, included are the cut‐off points most likely to be associated with increased adiposity. This information can be used for defining abdominal obesity in paediatric populations.
Plasma IL‐6 concentration is inversely related to insulin sensitivity, and acute‐phase proteins associate with glucose and lipid metabolism in healthy subjects
Authors: Heliövaara M. K. , Teppo A.‐M. , Karonen S. L. , Tuominen J. A. , Ebeling P. 
Published: October 2005

Aim:  It has been shown that atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease. Recent data suggest that inflammation precedes type 2 diabetes. Hence, we wanted to study the interrelationship between IL‐6, insulin sensitivity, lipids and numerous acute‐phase proteins.Methods:  Twenty‐one healthy individuals [16 males/5 females, age 27.9 ± 1.8 years, body mass index (BMI) 24.1 ± 0.8 kg/m2] participated in the study. Each patient went through a 4‐h hyperinsulinaemic (40 mU/m2/min) euglycaemic clamp and 4‐h saline infusion. Blood samples were taken before and at the end of the infusions.Results:  Plasma interleukin (IL)‐6 concentration correlated inversely with insulin sensitivity (M‐value) (r = −0.49, p < 0.05). Moreover, the plasma levels of IL‐6 associated with c‐peptide (r = 0.49, p < 0.05), fat% (r = 0.43, p < 0.05) and diastolic blood pressure (r = 0.46, p < 0.05). α‐1‐acid glycoprotein was related to HbA1c (r = 0.47, p < 0.05), insulin (r = 0.55, p < 0.01), diastolic blood pressure (r = 0.58, p < 0.01), systolic blood pressure (r = 0.58, p < 0.01) and triglycerides (r = 0.58, p < 0.01). Haptoglobin was correlated with insulin (r = 0.46, p < 0.05), total cholesterol (r = 0.61, p < 0.01), BMI (r = 0.58, p < 0.01), fat% (r = 0.63, p < 0.01) and lipid oxidation during clamp (r = 0.43, p < 0.05). Diastolic blood pressure decreased during the clamp (from 78.3 ± 1.9 to 72.1 ± 2.0 mmHg, p = 0.001). Insulin infusion did not affect the serum levels of most acute‐phase proteins.Conclusions:  Our study suggests that low grade inflammation, as reflected by IL‐6, A1GP and haptoglobin contributes to the regulation of insulin sensitivity, lipid metabolism and blood pressure in normal human physiology.
Development and evaluation of a prostate sexual rehabilitation clinic: a pilot project
Authors: Davison B. Joyce , Elliott Stacy , Ekland Marci , Griffin Shannon , Wiens Kristin 
Published: September 2005

OBJECTIVETo evaluate a sexual rehabilitation service for men with prostate cancer and to use these results to inform the development of future care.PATIENTS AND METHODSThe study participants included 155 men with prostate cancer referred to a sexual rehabilitation clinic by their urologists or radiation oncologists, of whom the partners of 58 were in attendance. Questionnaires to measure sexual function and positive feelings towards the partner were completed before the clinic visit; and for satisfaction with the clinic service immediately after the appointment; and for sexual function, positive feelings towards the partner, and satisfaction with treatments at 4 months afterward.RESULTSNinety patients completed the 4‐month evaluation, of whom 35 were couples. Enhancement of erection and understanding sexual changes related to treatment were the two main concerns of patients. Phosphodiesterase‐5 inhibitors and intracavernosal injections were the treatments of choice. Compared with partners, patients had significantly greater positive feelings towards their partners at both measurement times and were more satisfied with their prescribed treatment. The total scores on sexual function were significantly higher at 4 months.CONCLUSIONSThese results support the need to include partners as a necessary part of these men's sexual rehabilitation. A structured follow‐up is necessary to monitor the success of treatment and to document the quality of erection.
Randomized, placebo‐controlled trial showing that finasteride reduces prostatic vascularity rapidly within 2 weeks
Authors: Donohue John F. , Hayne Dickon , Karnik Uttara , Thomas David R. , Foster Michael C. 
Published: September 2005

OBJECTIVETo measure expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and microvessel density (MVD) in the prostates of men after transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) following 2 weeks of treatment with finasteride.PATIENTS AND METHODSSixty‐four men scheduled to undergo TURP were randomized to receive 5 mg of finasteride or placebo daily for 2 weeks before surgery. Sections of prostatic urothelium were stained for VEGF expression and for CD31 to assess MVD. Ten consecutive, non‐overlapping high‐power fields were analysed in a blinded fashion.RESULTSIn all, 31 men received finasteride and 33 placebo; the groups were similar in patient age, resected prostate weight, preoperative catheterization, prostate‐specific antigen level, aspirin use, spinal anaesthesia and postoperative diagnosis of prostate cancer. The mean (95% confidence interval) MVD was significantly lower in the finasteride group (60, 55–65) than in the placebo group (71, 64–78; P < 0.01). Similarly, the mean expression of VEGF was significantly lower in the finasteride group (47, 43–52 vs 61, 54–67; P < 0.001)CONCLUSIONFinasteride inhibits angiogenic growth factors leading to reduced vascularity, and this is the basis of its action in reducing haematuria of prostatic origin. The present study shows that finasteride influences the prostatic microvasculature after only 2 weeks exposure.
Trends in Inequality in Infant Mortality in the North of England, 1921–1973, and their Association with Urban and Social Structure
Authors: Congdon P. , Southall H. 
Published: September 2005

SummaryThe paper analyses a time series of infant mortality rates in the north of England from 1921 to the early 1970s at a spatial scale that is more disaggregated than in previous studies of infant mortality trends in this period. The paper describes regression methods to obtain mortality gradients over socioeconomic indicators from the censuses of 1931, 1951, 1961 and 1971 and to assess whether there is any evidence for widening spatial inequalities in infant mortality outcomes against a background of an overall reduction in the infant mortality rate. Changes in the degree of inequality are also formally assessed by inequality measures such as the Gini and Theil indices, for which sampling densities are obtained and significant changes assessed. The analysis concerns a relatively infrequent outcome (especially towards the end of the period that is considered) and a high proportion of districts with small populations, so necessitating the use of appropriate methods for deriving indices of inequality and for regression modelling.
The Spatial Structure of Epidemic Emergence: Geographical Aspects of Poliomyelitis in North-Eastern USA, July–October 1916
Authors: Trevelyan Barry , Smallman-Raynor Matthew , Cliff Andrew D. 
Published: September 2005

SummaryThe great epidemic of poliomyelitis which swept New York City and surrounding territory in the summer of 1916 eclipsed all previous global experience of the disease. We draw on epidemiological information that is included in the seminal US Public Health Bulletin 91, ‘Epidemiologic studies of poliomyelitis in New York City and the northeastern United States during the year 1916’ (Washington DC, 1918), to re-examine the spatial structure of the epidemic. For the main phase of transmission of the epidemic, July–October 1916, it is shown that the maximum concentration of activity of poliomyelitis occurred within a 128-km radius of New York City. Although the integrity of the poliomyelitis cluster was maintained up to approximately 500 km from the metropolitan focus, the level and rate of propagation of disease declined with distance from the origin of the epidemic. Finally, it is shown that the geographical transmission of the epidemic in north-eastern USA probably followed a process of mixed contagious–hierarchical diffusion.
Modelling Reporting Bias: The Operative Mortality Rate for Ruptured Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair
Authors: Jackson Dan , Copas John , Sutton Alex J. 
Published: September 2005

SummaryIt is perhaps underappreciated that ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm is a significant cause of mortality in the UK. The only curative treatment is an emergency operation and quantifying the success of this presents many difficulties. In particular, there is empirical evidence of reporting bias, suggesting that studies failing to report operating theatre mortality may be those where death in theatre is more common. We suggest a procedure for correcting for this bias and re-examine a recent meta-analysis of the available data. This casts considerable doubt on some conclusions from naïve analyses that do not take into account the potential bias. Perhaps most importantly, our procedure indicates a modest improvement in operating theatre mortality over the last 50 years, which is a trend that is not evident from the usual naïve analyses.
Statistics for Weighing Benefits and Harms in a Proposed Genetic Substudy of a Randomized Cancer Prevention Trial
Authors: Baker Stuart G. , Kramer Barnett S. 
Published: September 2005

Summary
When evaluating potential interventions for cancer prevention, it is necessary to compare benefits and harms. With new study designs, new statistical approaches may be needed to facilitate this comparison. A case in point arose in a proposed genetic substudy of a randomized trial of tamoxifen versus placebo in asymptomatic women who were at high risk for breast cancer. Although the randomized trial showed that tamoxifen substantially reduced the risk of breast cancer, the harms from tamoxifen were serious and some were life threaten-ing. In hopes of finding a subset of women with inherited risk genes who derive greater bene-fits from tamoxifen, we proposed a nested case–control study to test some trial subjects for various genes and new statistical methods to extrapolate benefits and harms to the general population. An important design question is whether or not the study should target common low penetrance genes. Our calculations show that useful results are only likely with rare high penetrance genes.
Accurate motion‐produced distance and direction under systematically distorted perception
Authors: FUJITA NAOFUMI , SHIIHARA TORU , NOJI TERUKI 
Published: September 2005

Abstract: We report the visually directed actions of soccer players. After perceiving the location of a target on their left side at the starting point and traveling toward the ball without seeing the target, the players could kick the ball accurately (Experiment 2). In contrast, if they were verbally asked the direction of the target in a similar situation, the perceived direction was systematically distorted (Experiment 3). Our major concern in explaining the distorted perception was whether the egocentric distance before locomotion was perceived accurately or not, and whether the updating of the target location during locomotion was accurate or not. Combining these two possibilities, there should be four hypotheses, each of which assumes either: (1) accurate egocentric distance and accurate updating, (2) inaccurate egocentric distance and accurate updating, (3) accurate egocentric distance and inaccurate updating, or (4) inaccurate egocentric distance and inaccurate updating. Based on these hypotheses, we conducted four simulations, which revealed that the combination of the perception of the accurate egocentric distance and the distorted updating that substituted the constant function for the sine function produced not only a goodr2, but also three kinds of interactions obtained in Experiment 3. Why did the players, based on their distorted perception, perform accurately? We would like to suggest that through perceptual learning they might acquire a perceptual‐motor relation as the inverse function of the physical‐perceptual relation.
Perceived velocity of point‐light walkers under complex viewing and background conditions1,2
Authors: GRONER RUDOLF , SCHOLLERER ESTHER 
Published: September 2005

Abstract:  An experiment with a computer‐generated display of nine moving dots representing a human walker (Cutting, 1978) was carried out. The independent variables were the observer's perspective (stabilized or mobile), the background (vertical gratings with spatial frequencies of 0.2, 0.4, and 0.8 cycles/deg), the movement of the background (−1, 0, 1, 2, and 4 cycles/s), and the objective velocity of the walker. The dependent variable was the velocity estimated by the observer. It was predicted that the mobile observer's perspective should lead to a more precise estimate of the walker's velocity, because there were more motion cues available. There were 10 observers and their data were analyzed individually. Five observers perceived the walker's velocity faster under the mobile observer's perspective, three showed the opposite result, and two observed no significant difference. This large variability was attributed to the ambiguity of motion cues when there is no direct information available about the distance of the background from the moving object.
Perception of relative distance in a driving simulator1,2
Authors: BAUMBERGER BERNARD , FLÜCKIGER MICHELANGELO , PAQUETTE MARTIN , BERGERON JACQUES , DELORME ANDRE 
Published: September 2005

Abstract:  The aim of this experiment was to test, in a driving simulator, how a subject can control his approach towards several simulated car‐targets in different driving contexts. We assume that increasing complexity might influence driving performance according to the difficulty of perceiving distances properly. The subjects’ first task consisted of placing their car at an equal distance between two preceding cars. In the second task, the subjects had to place their car level with the preceding car. The target cars were either static or running at 40 or 60 km/h. The results showed a more precise distance perception when the difficulty of the task decreased. In all conditions the subjects underestimated distances. Subjects were better at 60 km/h than at 40 km/h and the performance improved with smaller car distances. In conclusion, the alignment tasks produced better performances than the mid‐distance tasks, as a consequence of their lower complexity. However, physical constraints due to the increase in velocity, as well as shorter distances between vehicles, improved performances.
The impact of the meal situation on the consumption of ready meals
Authors: Ahlgren Mia K. , Gustafsson Inga‐Britt , Hall Gunnar 
Published: September 2005

AbstractThe context in which a meal is eaten is known to affect intake and choice of food. The purpose of this study was to investigate in what typical situations ready meals are consumed and if consumer demands vary according to different situations. With a market survey four typical ready meal eating situations were identified, and the respondent's ready meal consumption was shown to be affected by situational factors. In the different eating situations there were dissimilar reasons for consumption. Two ready meal eating situations were investigated in greater detail in order to establish what triggered the ready meal consumption in these situations. One of these meal situations proved to be convenience driven and the other time driven. A situation‐oriented approach is suggested for further ready meal product development.
Turkish college students’ attitudes towards money
Authors: Özgen Özlen , Bayoğlu Ayşe Sezen 
Published: September 2005

AbstractThis research was carried out with 300 Turkish college students in Ankara in order to investigate attitudes to money. The questionnaire was given to subjects from three different universities. The data were analysed by using explanatory variables, including gender, age and family type. Findings indicated that college students’ money attitudes relating to the past and future were linked to selected demographics, especially gender and age variables. The results of this study are important to the understanding of financial behaviour of college students and to enable professionals in the field of family and consumer sciences to be more effective in their advice and teaching.
Cross‐seeding of wild‐type and hereditary variant‐type amyloid β‐proteins in the presence of gangliosides
Authors: Yamamoto Naoki , Matsuzaki Katsumi , Yanagisawa Katsuhiko 
Published: September 2005

AbstractWe investigated the molecular mechanism underlying the ganglioside‐induced initiation of the assembly of wild and hereditary variant‐type amyloid β‐proteins, including Arctic‐, Dutch‐, and Flemish‐type amyloid β‐proteins. We monitored the assembly of amyloid β‐protein by thioflavin‐T assay, western blotting and electron microscopy. We also examined how externally added amyloid β‐protein assembles in a cell culture. The assembly of wild‐, Arctic‐, Dutch‐, and Flemish‐type amyloid β‐proteins were accelerated in the presence of GM1, GM1, GM3 and GD3 gangliosides. Notably, all of these amyloid β‐proteins accelerated the assembly of different type of amyloid β‐protein, following prior binding to a specific ganglioside. A specific‐ganglioside‐bound form of variant‐type amyloid β‐protein was recognized by the antibody (4396C) specific to the GM1‐ganglioside‐induced altered conformation of wild‐type amyloid β‐protein. Moreover, the assembly of these amyloid β‐proteins in the presence of a specific ganglioside was markedly suppressed by coincubation with 4396C. This study suggests that cross‐seeding can occur between wild and hereditary variant‐type amyloid β‐proteins despite differences in their amino acid sequences.
Novel role of sphingosine kinase 1 as a mediator of neurotrophin‐3 action in oligodendrocyte progenitors
Authors: Saini Harsimran S. , Coelho Rochelle P. , Goparaju Sravan K. , Jolly Puneet S. , Maceyka Michael , Spiegel Sarah , Sato‐Bigbee Carmen 
Published: September 2005

AbstractWe had found previously that neurotrophin‐3 (NT‐3) is a potent stimulator of cAMP‐response element binding protein (CREB) phosphorylation in cultured oligodendrocyte progenitors. Here, we show that CREB phosphorylation in these cells is also highly stimulated by sphingosine‐1‐phosphate (S1P), a sphingolipid metabolite that is known to be a potent mediator of numerous biological processes. Moreover, CREB phosphorylation in response to NT‐3 involves sphingosine kinase 1 (SphK1), the enzyme that synthesizes S1P. Immunocytochemistry and confocal microscopy indicated that NT‐3 induces translocation of SphK1 from the cytoplasm to the plasma membrane of oligodendrocytes, a process accompanied by increased SphK1 activity in the membrane fraction where its substrate sphingosine resides. To examine the involvement of SphK1 in NT‐3 function, SphK1 expression was down‐regulated by treatment with SphK1 sequence‐specific small interfering RNA. Remarkably, the capacity of NT‐3 to protect oligodendrocyte progenitors from apoptotic cell death induced by growth factor deprivation was abolished by down‐regulating the expression of SphK1, as assessed by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick‐end labeling (TUNEL) assay. Altogether, these results suggest that SphK1 plays a crucial role in the stimulation of oligodendrocyte progenitor survival by NT‐3, and demonstrate a functional link between NT‐3 and S1P signaling, adding to the complexity of mechanisms that modulate neurotrophin function and oligodendrocyte development.
Proteomic profiling of cerebrospinal fluid identifies biomarkers for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Authors: Ranganathan Srikanth , Williams Eric , Ganchev Philip , Gopalakrishnan Vanathi , Lacomis David , Urbinelli Leo , Newhall Kristyn , Cudkowicz Merit E. , Brown Robert H. , Bowser Robert 
Published: September 2005

AbstractAmyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is characterized by degeneration of motor neurons. We tested the hypothesis that proteomic analysis will identify protein biomarkers that provide insight into disease pathogenesis and are diagnostically useful. To identify ALS specific biomarkers, we compared the proteomic profile of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from ALS and control subjects using surface‐enhanced laser desorption/ionization‐time of flight mass spectrometry (SELDI‐TOF‐MS). We identified 30 mass ion peaks with statistically significant (p < 0.01) differences between control and ALS subjects. Initial analysis with a rule‐learning algorithm yielded biomarker panels with diagnostic predictive value as subsequently assessed using an independent set of coded test subjects. Three biomarkers were identified that are either decreased (transthyretin, cystatin C) or increased (carboxy‐terminal fragment of neuroendocrine protein 7B2) in ALS CSF. We validated the SELDI‐TOF‐MS results for transthyretin and cystatin C by immunoblot and immunohistochemistry using commercially available antibodies. These findings identify a panel of CSF protein biomarkers for ALS.