bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Does the availability of maternal HbA1c results improve the accuracy of sonographic diagnosis of macrosomia?
Authors: Weissmann‐Brenner A. , O'Reilly‐Green C. , Ferber A. , Divon M. Y. 
Published: April 2004

AbstractObjectiveTo determine whether measuring maternal glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) can improve the accuracy of sonographic estimation of fetal macrosomia.MethodsSonographic estimation of fetal weight (EFW) and maternal HbA1c were obtained in term, non‐diabetic patients within 1 week before delivery. Neonatal birth weights were recorded at delivery and compared with both sonographic estimations and HbA1c. Macrosomia was defined as birth weight of ≥4000 g. The absolute error of the sonographic EFW was calculated. Receiver–operating characteristics (ROC) curve analysis was used to evaluate sonographic EFW and HbA1c as predictors of birth weight ≥4000 g. Variables were tested using regression analysis and student's t‐test.ResultsOne hundred and sixty two patients were evaluated between July and December 2002. Twenty‐eight patients (17.3%) delivered macrosomic infants. Sonographic EFW ≥4000 g predicted macrosomia with sensitivity, specificity and positive and negative predictive values of 66.6%, 88.8%, 54.5% and 93.0%, respectively. Its overall accuracy was 85.5%. The area under the ROC curve of sonographic EFW in the prediction of macrosomia was 0.9 (P < 0.001). HbA1c levels in women delivering macrosomic and non‐macrosomic neonates were 5.3 ± 0.7% and 5.2 ± 0.5%, respectively (P = 0.27). The area under the ROC curve of HbA1c in the prediction of macrosomia was 0.53 (P = 0.27).ConclusionsMaternal HbA1c is not a useful test in the prediction of birth weight. It therefore cannot be used to improve the accuracy of sonographic EFW. Copyright © 2004 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Quasi‐brittle to ductile transition in impact‐modified PVC
Authors: Yu J. , Summers J. , Hiltner A. , Baer E. 
Published: April 2004

AbstractThe toughness of impact‐modified poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) compounds was examined by using a modified Charpy test. Increasing impact speed resulted in a quasi‐brittle to ductile transition in all PVC compounds. In the quasi‐brittle region, a PVC of 56,000 Mw fractured through a craze‐like damage zone that could be described by a modified Dugdale model. Furthermore, the same molecular‐weight PVC modified with either 10 pph (parts per hundred parts by weight) of chlorinated polyethylene (CPE) or 10 pph of methylmethacrylate‐butadiene‐styrene (MBS) impact modifier also conformed to the Dugdale model with the craze‐like damage zone. The CPE effectively improved the impact performance of PVC by shifting the quasi‐brittle to ductile transition to a higher loading rate. Compared to CPE, MBS was a better impact modifier, and its use resulted in a higher quasi‐brittle to ductile transition loading rate in the same PVC matrix. Fracture initiation toughness of all the materials was described by the Hayes‐Williams modification of the Dugdale model. The intrinsic brittle fracture energy obtained by extrapolation to zero craze length was determined only by the PVC matrix and was independent of the impact modifier. However, the kinetics of craze growth, and hence the response to rapid loading, depended on the impact modifier. Increasing the molecular weight of the PVC resin resulted in a more complex damage zone that was not amendable to the Dugdale analysis. J. Vinyl Addit. Technol. 10:11–16, 2004. © 2004 Society of Plastics Engineers.
Polybutadiene‐modified clay and its polystyrene nanocomposites
Authors: Su Shengpei , Jiang David D. , Wilkie Charles A. 
Published: April 2004

AbstractVinylbenzyl chloride was allowed to react with a low‐molecular‐weight oligomer of butadiene in order to give a material that could then be used to alkylate an amine to form an ammonium salt. This ammonium salt was ion‐exchanged onto a clay to give a new organically modified clay, which was used to prepare polystyrene‐clay nanocomposites by solution and bulk polymerization and by melt blending. The nanocomposites were characterized by using X‐ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, cone calorimetry, and the evaluation of mechanical properties. These systems show good nanodispersion and improvement in thermal and mechanical properties. J. Vinyl Addit. Technol. 10:44–51, 2004. © 2004 Society of Plastics Engineers.
Safe and Permissible Limits of Hepatectomy in Obstructive Jaundice Patients
Authors: Takahashi Tetsuya , Togo Shinji , Tanaka Kuniya , Endo Itaru , Fujii Yoshiro , Shimada Hiroshi 
Published: April 2004

ABSTRACTThe safe and permissible limits of hepatectomy in obstructive jaundice patients and the usefulness of preoperative portal embolization (PE) for increasing the limit for safe hepatectomy were examined. We classified 416 patients with hepatectomy performed over 9 years under the following headings: normal liver function (n = 242); chronic hepatitis (n = 71); liver cirrhosis (n = 64); and liver after relief of obstructive jaundice (n = 39). Hepatectomy was done after the total bilirubin level was reduced below 3 mg/dl by preoperative biliary drainage. Factors influencing the maximum total bilirubin level measured within 2 weeks after hepatectomy were investigated, and this level was taken to reflect the degree of surgical stress. PE was carried out in 18 patients with obstructive jaundice. The maximum total bilirubin, expressed as a logarithm, was significantly correlated with the percent of liver resected in all groups. Hepatectomy followed by a maximum total bilirubin of less than 8.5 mg/dl was accepted as safe, and hepatectomy followed by a bilirubin level of 14.4 mg/dl was deemed the maximum permissible resection. On the basis of these results, the safe and permissible limits of hepatectomy in patients with obstructive jaundice were 48.7% and 71.6%, respectively. PE decreased the maximum total bilirubin from 8.5 mg/dl to 3.9 mg/dl when 48.7% of the liver (a safe proportion in all cases) was resected; PE increased the safe limit of hepatectomy from 48.7% to 67.4% when a maximum posthepatectomy total bilirubin level of 8.5 mg/dl was accepted as safe.
Effect of Glutamine and Bile Acid on Hepatocyte Apoptosis after Bile Duct Ligation in the Rat
Authors: Sheen‐Chen Shyr‐Ming , Hung Kuo‐Sheng , Ho Hsin‐Tsung , Chen Wei‐Jen , Eng Hock‐Liew 
Published: April 2004

ABSTRACTApoptosis is an important process in a wide variety of biologic systems. Cholestasis, or impaired bile formation, occurs in a wide variety of human liver diseases. Retention and accumulation of toxic hydrophobic bile salts in hepatocytes may cause hepatocyte toxicity by inducing apoptosis. In addition, the translocation of bacteria and endotoxin, well documented in patients with obstructive jaundice, contribute to the induction of hepatocyte apoptosis. We hypothesized that oral bile acid replacement, glutamine administration, or both can attenuate or abolish hepatocyte apoptosis. Male Sprague‐Dawley rats weighing 250 to 300 g were randomized to four groups (10 in each group). Group 1 underwent a sham operation and was simultaneously treated with normal saline. Group 2 underwent common bile duct (CBD) ligation and was simultaneously treated with normal saline. Group 3 underwent CBD ligation and was simultaneously treated with oral glutamine. Group 4 underwent CBD ligation and was simultaneously treated with oral bile acid replacement. After 3 days (n = 5) and 7 days (n = 5), liver tissues were harvested for histopathologic analysis and apoptosis measurements. When compared with the sham operation group, significantly increased hepatocyte apoptosis and ductular proliferation occurred after CBD ligation for either 3 or 7 days. After administration of either glutamine or bile acid, the increased hepatocyte apoptosis and ductular proliferation after CBD ligation for 3 days were significantly diminished. However, both failed to diminish the changes after CBD ligation for 7 days. Significantly increased hepatocyte apoptosis and ductular proliferation occurred after CBD ligation. The administration of either glutamine or bile acid effectively diminished the hepatocyte apoptosis and ductular proliferation after CBD ligation for 3 days, whereas both failed to show the same effect after CBD ligation for 7 days.
Improved Biomechanical Resistance Using an Expanded Polytetrafluoroethylene Composite‐Structure Prosthesis
Authors: Bellón Juan M. , Rodríguez Marta , Serrano Natalia , San‐Martín Antonio Carrera , Buján Julia 
Published: April 2004

ABSTRACTWe designed a composite‐structure (laminar‐reticular) prosthesis using expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) as the biomaterial in an attempt to improve the biomechanical resistance of the same biomaterial in the form of a single lamina. Defects (7 × 5 cm) were created in the abdominal wall of male white New Zealand rabbits (n = 24). The defects, which comprised all the wall layers except the skin, were then repaired with one of two types of ePTFE prosthesis. One was a latest generation laminar prosthesis (DualMesh, or Gore‐Tex) and the other was a composite of in‐house design (CV‐4 mesh composite) made by suturing a mesh woven out of ePTFE thread to an ePTFE lamina. After sacrificing the animals at 14 or 90 days after surgery, implant specimens were subjected to morphologic analysis (light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy); and adhesion formation, neoperitoneal thickness, and biomechanical strength were evaluated. No significant differences were recorded between the two prosthesis regarding the consistency of adhesions or the area occupied by adhesions (DM 0.17 ± 0.06; CV‐4 mesh composite 0.18 ± 0.08 cm2) (p > 0.05). Notably, improved tissue integration was achieved using the composite prosthesis; its reticular side became infiltrated by dense connective tissue that enveloped the mesh filaments. In contrast, the DM prosthesis became encapsulated by host tissue. The neoperitoneum induced by both prostheses was homogeneous and orderly, with a layer of typical mesothelial cells lining its inner surface. The thickness of the neoperitoneum was similar (p > 0.05) for the two implants (385.0 ± 3.4 vs. 390 ± 3.1 μm), although significantly higher (p < 0.05) mechanical resistance values were recorded for the composite prosthesis (26.75 ± 3.71 vs. 14.11 ± 3.71 N). Our findings suggest that the use of a reticular and a laminar ePTFE layer in the same prosthesis leads to better repair and biomechanical behavior compared to the use of a single‐structure laminar implant.
Tort Reform and Insurance Markets
Authors: Viscusi W. Kip 
Published: April 2004

AbstractProposed tort reforms have focused on punitive damages and noneconomic damages, each of which pose problems for jury decision making. The U.S. Supreme Court decision in State Farm v. Campbell will greatly limit very large punitive damages awards, and will affect smaller punitive awards to a lesser degree. Noneconomic damages caps enacted by state legislatures have greatly enhanced insurance market performance. Insurers operate within the context of a highly imperfect, regulated market in which there is substantial price rigidity induced by regulation. Reform efforts should strive to establish greater predictability and stability in these awards components rather than simply being concerned with imposing specific numerical caps.
Asymmetric Information Problems in Taiwan's Automobile Insurance Market: The Effect of Policy Design on Loss Characteristics
Authors: Wang Jennifer L. 
Published: April 2004

AbstractThis article investigates asymmetric information problems for the automobile insurance market in Taiwan. Using panel data for the comprehensive automobile insurance coverage from 1995 to 1999, this article analyzes how types of coverage, deductible amounts, and experience ratings have affected the adverse selection and moral hazard problems in Taiwan's automobile insurance market. The empirical results provide partial evidence to demonstrate that the loss frequency and loss ratio were reduced by the addition of self‐selection mechanisms in policies with different levels of coverage. In addition, the deductible amounts, experience ratings, and better control of underwriting and claims processing were shown possibly to have decreased potential losses from adverse selection and moral hazard problems.
Food for Thought: Malnutrition and Obesity
Authors: Shaw D. J. 
Published: April 2004

The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2003: Monitoring Progress towards the World Food Summit and Millennium Goals. By FAO Ending Hunger in Our Lifetime: Food Security and Globalization. By C. Ford Runge, Benjamin Senauer, Philip G. Pardey and Mark W. Rosegrant Combating Malnutrition: Time to Act. Edited by Stuart Gillespie, Milla McLachlan and Roger Shrimpton The Economist's Tale: A Consultant Encounters Hunger and the World Bank. By Peter Griffiths Disease‐Related Malnutrition: An Evidence‐based Approach to Treatment. By R. J. Stratton, C. J. Green and M. Elia Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All‐American Meal. By Eric Schlosser Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health. By Marion Nestle Food Fight: The Inside Story of the Food Industry, America's Obesity Crisis, and What We Can Do About It. By Kelly D. Brownell and Katherine Battle Horgen
Psychiatric medication‐induced obesity: a review
Authors: Schwartz T. L. , Nihalani N. , Jindal S. , Virk S. , Jones N. 
Published: April 2004

SummaryA majority of psychiatric medications are known to generate weight gain and ultimately obesity in some patients. There is much speculation about the prevalence of weight gain and the degree of weight gain during acute and longitudinal treatment with these agents. There is newer literature looking at the aetiology of this weight gain and the potential treatments being used to alleviate this side‐effect. We found solid evidence that weight gain is often associated with the mood stabilizers, and antipsychotics and antidepressants. Only few weight neutral or weight loss producing psychotropics are available, and weight gain, outside of an immediate side‐effect, may generate secondary side‐effects and medical comorbidity. Weight gain may cause hypertension, diabetes, osteoarthritis, sedentary lifestyle, coronary artery disease, etc. Given the likelihood of inducing weight gain with psychotropic medications and the longitudinal impact on physical health, a thorough literature review is warranted to determine the epidemiology, aetiology and treatment options of psychotropic‐induced weight gain.
Relations of Young Children's Agreeableness and Resiliency to Effortful Control and Impulsivity
Authors: Cumberland‐Li Amanda , Eisenberg Nancy , Reiser Mark 
Published: April 2004

AbstractThe hypothesis that the relations of effortful control and impulsivity to children's agreeableness would be at least partly indirect through their resiliency was tested. Eighty‐two children (M age=58.67 mos.) were participants. Children nominated peers on agreeableness and completed a behavioral measure of effortful control. Teachers and a subsample of parents reported on children's effortful control, impulsivity, resiliency, and agreeableness. In a structural equation model, effortful control predicted high agreeableness, and this relation was indirect through resiliency. Impulsivity predicted high resiliency and was negatively related to agreeableness. In an alternative model, effortful control predicted high resiliency indirectly through agreeableness and impulsivity was not related to agreeableness. A third model indicated that with the exception of a path from effortful control to agreeableness, agreeableness and resiliency did not predict effortful control or impulsivity. The findings suggest that effortful control and impulsivity may contribute to resiliency and agreeableness, that resiliency and agreeableness are interrelated, and that resilient children are not overly controlled.
Anger Perception, Caregivers’ Use of Physical Discipline, and Aggression in Children at Risk
Authors: Fine Sarah E. , Trentacosta Christopher J. , Izard Carroll E. , Mostow Allison J. , Campbell Jan L. 
Published: April 2004

AbstractWe analyzed the relations between teacher reports of aggressive behaviors, caregiver reports of their use of physical discipline, anger perception accuracy, and anger perception bias in middle childhood and teacher reports of aggressive behaviors two years later in a sample of children from economically disadvantaged families (n =152). Fisher r‐to‐z analyses showed a gender difference in the relation between anger perception accuracy and aggressive behavior in third grade. For girls, anger perception accuracy was significantly negatively related to aggression, and for boys, there was no relation between anger perception accuracy and aggression. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that third grade aggressive behavior, caregivers’ reports of their use of physical discipline, and anger perception bias were significantly positively related to teacher reports of aggressive behavior two years later after controlling for gender and anger perception accuracy.
Antisocial and Prosocial Teasing Among Children: Perceptions and Individual Differences
Authors: Barnett Mark A. , Burns Susan R. , Sanborn Fred W. , Bartel Jeffrey S. , Wilds Stacey J. 
Published: April 2004

AbstractTwo studies examined fifth‐ and sixth‐grade students’ perceptions of antisocial and prosocial teasing among peers and potential correlates of individual differences in their tendencies to engage in both forms of teasing. The children were rated as showing a greater tendency to be prosocial teasers than antisocial teasers by both teachers and peers. In addition, the children indicated that they generally experienced and observed prosocial teasing more frequently than antisocial teasing at home and in school. Although boys were perceived to tease in a hostile, antisocial manner to a greater extent than were girls, the evidence for a gender difference in affiliative, prosocial teasing among these children was relatively weak. Additionally, systematic relations were found among ratings of the children's tendencies to engage in antisocial and prosocial teasing with peers, teachers’ ratings of their general level of antisocial and prosocial behavior with peers, ratings of the frequency with which they experienced antisocial and prosocial teasing at home and at school, and their attitudes toward antisocial and prosocial teasing.
The Various Roles of Animal Models in Understanding Human Development
Authors: Gottlieb Gilbert , Lickliter Robert 
Published: April 2004

AbstractIn this article, the authors take a very conservative view of the contribution of animal models to an understanding of human development. We do not think that homologies can be readily documented with even our most closely related relatives’ behavior and psychological functioning. The major contribution of animal models is their provision of food for thought (hypotheses, not facts) about human development and general principles of development, and we describe some of the more significant and interesting of these at length. We also briefly discuss the other applications of animal research toward understanding the development and evolution of behavior, more generally speaking.
Michel de Certeau and the Limits of Historical Representation
Authors: Weymans Wim 
Published: April 2004

AbstractThe polymath Michel de Certeau is traditionally seen as one of a group of French post‐structuralist thinkers who reject constructs in the social sciences in favor of the diversity of the everyday or the past. However, in this paper I will show that, as a historian, Certeau did not discard these constructs, but rather valued them as a means of doing justice to the “strangeness” of the past. The position that Certeau adopts can be seen most clearly from his theoretical debate with Paul Veyne, which is the starting point of this article. I then show how Certeau's first major historical work, The Possession at Loudun, exemplifies his theoretical position. An analysis of this work demonstrates how the historian's active reconstruction of interactions between exorcists, medical doctors, state officers, and possessed nuns helps us to perceive the complexity of the past in a way that can be seen as a microhistory avant la lettre. I will suggest that during his writing of the history of Loudun, Certeau implicitly raises more theoretical and epistemological problems, and in so doing he “practices” a theory of history. The most elusive aspect of the story at Loudun turns out to be the drama around the priest Grandier. This article demonstrates how Certeau pays tribute to Grandier by using “scientific” methods, thus showing the “limits of representation” through disciplinary means. Finally, the article explores the implications of Certeau's theory and practice of the writing of history for understanding historiography at large. The historian not only appears as a tramp who looks for remains that are forever lost to us, but is also a “scientist” who uses both models and concepts in order to put them to the test.
Familial localized connective tissue nevus of the scalp with alopecia (report of a very unusual case)
Authors: Aroni K , Kyriazi E , Aivaliotis M , Davaris P 
Published: April 2004

ABSTRACTConnective tissue nevi are benign hamartomas that usually appear as widespread, multiple, papular, skin lesions. They are subdivided into collagen, elastin, proteoglycans and mixed type, depending on their particular histopathologic features, and they often appear as a component of Buschke–Ollendorff Syndrome.
Maculopapular eruption with enlarged macrophages in eight patients receiving G‐CSF or GM‐CSF
Authors: Álvarez‐Ruiz S , Peñas PF , Fernández‐Herrera J , Sánchez‐Pérez J , Fraga J , García‐Díez A 
Published: April 2004

ABSTRACTIn the last years, granulocyte and granulocyte‐macrophage colony‐stimulating factors (G‐CSF and GM‐CSF) are being increasingly used and several cutaneous eruptions have been reported in relation to these treatments. In 1991 Horn et al. described three patients with maculopapular eruption that paralleled the time of infusion of GM‐CSF. Two of the cases showed an increase in the number and size of macrophages in the biopsy specimen. Since then, several cases have been reported showing this histopathological alteration that has been considered characteristic of reaction to G‐CSF or GM‐CSF. Although maculopapular eruption with enlarged macrophages can appear after chemotherapy treatment, we have found that the presentation of this eruption after the beginning of cytokine treatment is suggestive of the involment of G‐CSF and GM‐CSF in the eruption. We described eight cases of patients treated with G‐CSF or GM‐CSF that developed maculopapular eruptions with enlarged macrophages.
Acute generalized exanthematous pustulosis due to thallium
Authors: Aziz Jalali MH , Mirzazadeh Javaheri S , Salehian P 
Published: April 2004

ABSTRACTAcute generalized exanthematous pustulosis (AGEP) is characterized clinically by fever, pruritus and acute pustular eruption. Usually a drug is found to be the responsible agent. We present a patient who experienced an acute generalized exanthematous pustulosis due to radioactive thallium. The eruption cleared rapidly after discontinuation of the drug and systemic corticosteroid therapy.