bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Construction of the Mandarin version of the International Prostate Symptom Score inventory in assessing lower urinary tract symptoms in a Malaysian population
Authors: QUEK KIA FATT , CHUA CHONG BENG , RAZACK AZAD HASSAN , LOW WAH YUN , LOH CHIT SIN 
Published: January 2005

Abstract Background:  The purpose of the present study was to validate the Mandarin version of the International Prostate Symptom Score (Mand‐IPSS) in a Malaysian population.Methods:  The validity and reliability were studied in patients with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS; benign prostatic hyperplasia [BPH] group) and without LUTS (control group). Test–retest methodology was used to assess the reliability while Cronbach alpha was used to assess the internal consistency. Sensitivity to change was used to express the effect size index in the preintervention versus post‐intervention score in patients with LUTS who underwent transurethral resection of the prostate.Results:  For the control group and BPH group, the internal consistency was excellent and a high degree of internal consistency was observed for all seven items (Cronbach α = 0.86–0.98 and 0.90–0.98, respectively). Test–retest correlation coefficients for all items were highly significant. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was high for the control (ICC = 0.93–0.99) and BPH group (ICC = 0.91–0.99). The sensitivity and specificity showed a high degree of sensitivity and specificity to the effects of treatment. A high degree of significance between baseline and post‐treatment scores was observed across all seven items in the BPH group but not in the control group.Conclusions:  The Mand‐IPSS is a suitable, reliable, valid and sensitive instrument to measure clinical change in the Malaysian population.
Hyperoxia‐induced arterial compliance decrease in healthy man
Authors: Rossi Pascal , Boussuges Alain 
Published: January 2005

SummaryIntroduction:  Oxygen therapy is commonly used in emergency department and intensive care units without careful evaluation of its effects, especially on the haemodynamics and artery characteristics.Materials and methods:  A prospective laboratory study evaluated brachial circulatory effects of normobaric hyperoxia using ultrasonography‐Doppler. The study was set in a hospital research laboratory. The subjects were thirteen healthy volunteers. Investigations were performed under normal air ventilation and after 20 min of hyperoxic mixture ventilation using a high concentration mask. Two dimensional images and brachial blood flow velocities were recorded using ultrasonography and pulsed Doppler to study changes in cross sectional area, blood flow, resistance index, and cross‐sectional compliance coefficient.Results:  During hyperoxic exposure, mean PaO2 was 372 ± 21 mmHg. A significant decrease of heart rate was observed. Arterial pressures (systolic and diastolic arterial pressures) were not modified. A decrease of cross sectional areas at end diastole and end systole was observed. Pulsed Doppler study showed a decrease of brachial artery blood flow and an increase of the resistance index. Furthermore, a decrease of the cross‐sectional compliance coefficient was observed during hyperoxic exposure in all subjects.Conclusion:  This study using two‐dimensional ultrasonography and pulsed Doppler could demonstrate an increase in brachial arterial tone and a decrease in brachial blood flow under normobaric hyperoxia.
Lower body positive pressure by anti‐G garment inflation: a suitable method to increase pulmonary capillary wedge pressure in healthy elderly subjects
Authors: Remmen J. J. , Aengevaeren W. R. M. , Verheugt F. W. A. , Bos A. , Jansen R. W. M. M. 
Published: January 2005

SummaryIn a study on non‐invasive assessment of pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP), we sought a method to increase PCWP non‐invasively. We hypothesized that inflation of an anti‐G garment was suitable to increase PCWP non‐invasively in healthy elderly subjects. In 20 subjects, aged 70 ± 4 years (mean ± SD), before, immediately after, and 4 min after anti‐G garment inflation to 52 mmHg, PCWP and mean pulmonary artery pressure (MPAP) were measured with a Swan‐Ganz catheter, and mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) with Finapres, in supine and semi‐recumbent position. Supine, PCWP (mmHg, mean ± SD) increased from 9·9 ± 2·1 to 15·5 ± 3·9** immediately after inflation and 13·4 ± 3·7** at 4 min; semi‐recumbent from 8·9 ± 2·0 to 17·5 ± 3·3** and 14·7 ± 2·9** (*P<0·05, **P< 0·001 versus before inflation). MPAP (mmHg) increased after inflation: supine 16·9 ± 2·3 to 22·3 ± 4·6** and 20·6 ± 3·9** and semi‐recumbent 15·7 ± 2·8 to 24·3 ± 5·1** and 22·5 ± 3·5**, suggesting that increased preload was the primary effect of anti‐G garment inflation. Supine MAP (mmHg) increased from 96·0 ± 11·3 to 101·4 ± 13·4** and 100·5 ± 12·7* and semi‐recumbent from 102·0 ± 8·9 to 108·3 ± 11·4** and 106·0 ± 11·3*, suggesting an effect of increased afterload as well. The latter was supported by an increase in total peripheral resistance (d s cm−5) from 1346 ± 299 to 1441 ± 384 after 4 min (P = 0·057) and from 1461 ± 341 to 1532 ± 406 (P = 0·054), supine and semi‐recumbent respectively, while cardiac output remained unchanged. Complications did not occur. We conclude that in healthy elderly subjects, anti‐G garment inflation is a safe, non‐invasive, method to induce a significant increase in PCWP. Our findings justify its application in future studies in which non‐invasive temporary increase in PCWP is required.
Comparison of stroke volume estimation for non‐steady‐state and steady‐state graded exercise testing
Authors: Davis James A. , Sorrentino Kristin M. , Soriano April C. , Pham Patrick H. 
Published: January 2005

SummaryThe stroke volume (SV) during exercise is an important index of the heart's functional capacity. A new method has been developed for the non‐invasive estimation of exercise SV (SVex). It requires the determination of the slope for the oxygen uptake versus heart rate relationship in the steady state of graded exercise testing (GXT). The product of the slope and a constant (reciprocal of an assumed value of the arterial oxygen content) equals an estimated value for SVex. It was validated in a previous study using invasive measurements while subjects were performing steady‐state GXT. However, currently the most commonly used GXT protocols are non‐steady state, e.g. protocols with 1‐min increment durations. We tested the hypothesis that SVex is the same for steady‐state and non‐steady‐state GXT. A total of 30 subjects (15 males and 15 females) served as subjects for the study. Each subject performed two GXTs on different days with different increment durations – 1 and 4 min. Ventilation and gas exchange were measured with the Vacumed metabolic cart. For the male subjects, the mean (SD) SVex values for the 1‐ and 4‐min GXTs were 155·4 (39·5) and 134·6 (27·5) ml, respectively. The corresponding values for the female subjects were 151·6 (37·6) and 134·3 (36·4) ml. Paired t‐test analysis demonstrated that for both genders the mean SVex for the 1‐min GXT was significantly larger than the 4‐min GXT mean value (P<0·05). Hence, the commonly used 1‐min GXT does not yield the same values for SVex as the steady‐state GXT.
The relationship between job satisfaction and health: a meta-analysis
Authors: Faragher E B , Cass M , Cooper C L 
Published: January 2005

Background:A vast number of published studies have suggested a link between job satisfaction levels and health. The sizes of the relationships reported vary widely. Narrative overviews of this relationship have been published, but no systematic meta-analysis review has been conducted.Methods:A systematic review and meta-analysis of 485 studies with a combined sample size of 267 995 individuals was conducted, evaluating the research evidence linking self-report measures of job satisfaction to measures of physical and mental wellbeing.Results:The overall correlation combined across all health measures was r = 0.312 (0.370 after Schmidt-Hunter adjustment). Job satisfaction was most strongly associated with mental/psychological problems; strongest relationships were found for burnout (corrected r = 0.478), self-esteem(r = 0.429), depression (r = 0.428), and anxiety(r = 0.420). The correlation with subjective physical illness was more modest (r = 0.287).Conclusions:Correlations in excess of 0.3 are rare in this context. The relationships found suggest that job satisfaction level is an important factor influencing the health of workers. Organisations should include the development of stress management policies to identify and eradicate work practices that cause most job dissatisfaction as part of any exercise aimed at improving employee health. Occupational health clinicians should consider counselling employees diagnosed as having psychological problems to critically evaluate their work—and help them to explore ways of gaining greater satisfaction from this important aspect of their life.
Insomnia is more common among subjects living in damp buildings
Authors: Janson C , Norbäck D , Omenaas E , Gislason T , Nyström L , Jõgi R , Lindberg E , Gunnbjörnsdottir M , Norrman E , Wentzel-Larsen T , Svanes C , Jensen E J , Torén K 
Published: January 2005

Background:Insomnia is a condition with a high prevalence and a great impact on quality of life. Little is known about the relation between and sleep disturbances and the home environment.Aim:To analyse the association between insomnia and building dampness.Methods:In a cross-sectional, multicentre, population study, 16 190 subjects (mean age 40 years, 53% women) were studied from Reykjavik in Iceland, Bergen in Norway, Umeå, Uppsala, and Göteborg in Sweden, Aarhus in Denmark, and Tartu in Estonia. Symptoms related to insomnia were assessed by questionnaire.Results:Subjects living in houses with reported signs of building dampness (n = 2873) had a higher prevalence of insomnia (29.4v23.6%; crude odds ratio 1.35, 95% CI 1.23 to 1.48). The association between insomnia and different indicators of building dampness was strongest for floor dampness: “bubbles or discoloration on plastic floor covering or discoloration of parquet floor” (crude odds ratio 1.96, 95% CI 1.66 to 2.32). The associations remained significant after adjusting for possible confounders such as sex, age, smoking history, housing, body mass index, and respiratory diseases. There was no significant difference between the centres in the association between insomnia and building dampness.Conclusion:Insomnia is more common in subjects living in damp buildings. This indicates that avoiding dampness in building constructions and improving ventilation in homes may possibly have a positive effect on the quality of sleep.
Haloacetic acids in drinking water and risk for stillbirth
Authors: King W D , Dodds L , Allen A C , Armson B A , Fell D , Nimrod C 
Published: January 2005

Background:Trihalomethanes (THMs) occurring in public drinking water sources have been investigated in several epidemiological studies of fetal death and results support a modest association. Other classes of disinfection by-products found in drinking water have not been investigated.Aims:To investigate the effects of haloacetic acid (HAA) compounds in drinking water on stillbirth risk.Methods:A population based case-control study was conducted in Nova Scotia and Eastern Ontario, Canada. Estimates of daily exposure to total and specific HAAs were based on household water samples and questionnaire information on water consumption at home and work.Results:The analysis included 112 stillbirth cases and 398 live birth controls. In analysis without adjustment for total THM exposure, a relative risk greater than 2 was observed for an intermediate exposure category for total HAA and dichloroacetic acid measures. After adjustment for total THM exposure, the risk estimates for intermediate exposure categories were diminished, the relative risk associated with the highest category was in the direction of a protective effect, and all confidence intervals included the null value.Conclusions:No association was observed between HAA exposures and stillbirth risk after controlling for THM exposures.
A comparison of self-reported sickness absence with absences recorded in employers’ registers: evidence from the Whitehall II study
Authors: Ferrie J E , Kivimäki M , Head J , Shipley M J , Vahtera J , Marmot M G 
Published: January 2005

Aim:To compare self-reported sickness absence days in the last 12 months with recorded absences from the employers’ registers for the same period.Methods:Self-reported sickness absence data over the 12 months preceding baseline (1985–88) were compared with absence records from the employers’ registers over the same period for 2406 women and 5589 men, participants in the Whitehall II study of British civil servants. Associations with self-rated health, longstanding illness, minor psychiatric disorder, physical illness, and prevalent coronary heart disease at baseline were determined.Results:In general, women reported less sickness absence over the last year than was recorded in the employers’ registers, while men, with the exception of those in the lower employment grades, reported more. Agreement between self-reported and recorded absence days decreased as the total number of days increased. After adjustment for employment grade and the average number of recorded and self-reported absence days, the total number of self-reported absence days was within two days of the recorded number of days for 63% of women and 67% of men. Associations between annual self-reported sickness absence days and self-rated health, longstanding illness, minor psychiatric disorder, physical illness, and prevalent coronary heart disease were as strong as those for recorded absence days.Conclusion:These findings suggest that agreement between the annual number of self-reported and the annual number of recorded sickness absence days is relatively good in both sexes and that associations with health are equivalent for both measures.
Health of children working in small urban industrial shops
Authors: Nuwayhid I A , Usta J , Makarem M , Khudr A , El-Zein A 
Published: January 2005

Aims:To explore associations between work status and multidimensional health indices in a sample of urban Lebanese children.Methods:A cross-sectional survey was used to compare 78 male children (aged 10–17 years) working full time in small industrial shops, and a comparison group of 60 non-working male schoolchildren. All children lived and worked or studied in the poor neighbourhoods of three main Lebanese cities.Results:Working children reported frequent abuses. They smoked and dated more than the comparison group. They also reported a higher number of injuries (last 12 months) and recent skin, eye, and ear complaints (last two weeks). Physical examination revealed more changes in their skin and nails, but no differences in height or weight compared to non-working group. A higher blood lead concentration was detected among working children, but no differences in haemoglobin and ferritin. No differences were noted between the two groups of children regarding anxiety, hopelessness, and self-esteem. The drawings of the working children, however, revealed a higher tendency to place themselves outside home and a wider deficit in developmental age when compared to non-working children.Conclusion:Significant differences were found between working and non-working children with respect to physical and social health parameters, but differences were less with regard to mental health. Future research should focus on (1) more sensitive and early predictors of health effects, and (2) long term health effects. The generality of findings to other work settings in the developing world should also be tested.
Effect of different approaches to treatment of smoking as a potential confounder in a case–control study on occupational exposures
Authors: Richiardi L , Forastiere F , Boffetta P , Simonato L , Merletti F 
Published: January 2005

Aim:To evaluate the effect of different approaches to treatment of smoking as a potential confounder in an occupational study of lung cancer.Methods:Data were used from a case–control study on 956 men with lung cancer and 1253 population controls recruited in two northern Italian areas during 1990–1992. The risk of lung cancer associated with 11 selected job titles and eight selected industrial activities was estimated using seven different methods to treat smoking history. To evaluate the confounding effect of smoking, odds ratios obtained using the first six models were compared with estimates from the seventh and most complex model, in which cumulative tobacco consumption and time since cessation were considered.Results:Although crude odds ratios for some of the occupational categories were biased by up to 25%, such bias decreased to less than 10% when a simple model including smoking status (never, ex-, current) was used.Conclusions:In occupational studies on lung cancer risk, information on smoking status may allow satisfactory control of the potential confounding effect of the habit.
Improving International Governance in the Deep Sea
Authors: Lodge Michael 
Published: January 2005

AbstractIn light of new scientific discoveries and technological developments in the deep ocean, there is broad concern over the ability of the present system of international governance to deliver sustainable management. This article seeks to identify key objectives for the current international debate. These include: (i) bringing currently unregulated high seas fisheries under international management as soon as possible; (ii) developing a mechanism for the conservation of high seas biodiversity, including appropriate regulation of activities related to marine bioprospecting, and (iii) promoting ocean exploration for the benefit of mankind as a whole. It further suggests some practical ways in which existing governance mechanisms might be used and adapted in the short-term specifically in order to improve the management of deep-sea fisheries on the high seas and to accommodate new and developing uses of the deepocean environment.
Global Governance of Deep-Sea Fisheries
Authors: Hayashi Moritaka 
Published: January 2005

AbstractThis article considers the gaps in the existing legal regime on deep-sea fisheries and explores a more effective global governance system. It is proposed that a new global agreement, modeled on the 1995 UN Fish Stocks Agreement, be negotiated covering deep-sea stocks as well as other high seas resources, so that all fisheries on the high seas may be covered. The proposed agreement would complete the gaps in high seas fisheries regime and serve as an effective link between the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and regional fisheries bodies. As a short-term measure, FAO should prepare a set of guidelines covering all types of deep-sea fisheries, including shared and transboundary stocks as well as discrete high seas stocks. In addition, FAO's Committee on Fisheries should be strengthened in its global governance role, including co-ordination of all regional fisheries bodies
Evaluation of methods for predicting the topology of β-barrel outer membrane proteins and a consensus prediction method
Authors: Bagos Pantelis G , Liakopoulos Theodore D , Hamodrakas Stavros J 
Published: January 2005

Abstract
Background
Prediction of the transmembrane strands and topology of β-barrel outer membrane proteins is of interest in current bioinformatics research. Several methods have been applied so far for this task, utilizing different algorithmic techniques and a number of freely available predictors exist. The methods can be grossly divided to those based on Hidden Markov Models (HMMs), on Neural Networks (NNs) and on Support Vector Machines (SVMs). In this work, we compare the different available methods for topology prediction of β-barrel outer membrane proteins. We evaluate their performance on a non-redundant dataset of 20 β-barrel outer membrane proteins of gram-negative bacteria, with structures known at atomic resolution. Also, we describe, for the first time, an effective way to combine the individual predictors, at will, to a single consensus prediction method.

Results
We assess the statistical significance of the performance of each prediction scheme and conclude that Hidden Markov Model based methods, HMM-B2TMR, ProfTMB and PRED-TMBB, are currently the best predictors, according to either the per-residue accuracy, the segments overlap measure (SOV) or the total number of proteins with correctly predicted topologies in the test set. Furthermore, we show that the available predictors perform better when only transmembrane β-barrel domains are used for prediction, rather than the precursor full-length sequences, even though the HMM-based predictors are not influenced significantly. The consensus prediction method performs significantly better than each individual available predictor, since it increases the accuracy up to 4% regarding SOV and up to 15% in correctly predicted topologies.

Conclusions
The consensus prediction method described in this work, optimizes the predicted topology with a dynamic programming algorithm and is implemented in a web-based application freely available to non-commercial users at http://bioinformatics.biol.uoa.gr/ConBBPRED.
Structural comparison of metabolic networks in selected single cell organisms
Authors: Zhu Dongxiao , Qin Zhaohui S 
Published: January 2005

Abstract
Background
There has been tremendous interest in the study of biological network structure. An array of measurements has been conceived to assess the topological properties of these networks. In this study, we compared the metabolic network structures of eleven single cell organisms representing the three domains of life using these measurements, hoping to find out whether the intrinsic network design principle(s), reflected by these measurements, are different among species in the three domains of life.

Results
Three groups of topological properties were used in this study: network indices, degree distribution measures and motif profile measure. All of which are higher-level topological properties except for the marginal degree distribution. Metabolic networks in Archaeal species are found to be different from those in S. cerevisiae and the six Bacterial species in almost all measured higher-level topological properties. Our findings also indicate that the metabolic network in Archaeal species is similar to the exponential random network.

Conclusion
If these metabolic network properties of the organisms studied can be extended to other species in their respective domains (which is likely), then the design principle(s) of Archaea are fundamentally different from those of Bacteria and Eukaryote. Furthermore, the functional mechanisms of Archaeal metabolic networks revealed in this study differentiate significantly from those of Bacterial and Eukaryotic organisms, which warrant further investigation.