bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Reduction of medical error at the point‐of‐care using electronic clinical information delivery
Authors: Wilcox R. A. , Whitham E. M. 
Published: November 2003

Abstract There is accumulating evidence that point‐of‐care delivery of clinical information such as evidence‐based medicine, practice guidelines and drug information can streamline clinical practice and reduce preventable errors. In Australia, hospital‐based physicians have ­generally been slow to fully use these resources to enhance their clinical practice. Here we provide an introduction to the practical application of several hand‐held and electronic information systems available to Australian physicians. (Intern Med J 2003; 33: 537−540)
Secondary screening for osteoporosis in patients admitted with minimal‐trauma fracture to a major teaching hospital
Authors: Wong P. K. K. , Spencer D. G. , McElduff P. , Manolios N. , Larcos G. , Howe G. B. 
Published: November 2003

Abstract Aims:  The aim of the present study was to determine: (i) the prevalence of the investigation and treatment of osteoporosis in patients admitted to hospital with a minimal‐trauma fracture, (ii) the prevalence of osteo­porosis using bone mineral density assessment by dual X‐ray absorptiometry (DEXA) in such patients and (iii) a clinical pathway for the management of osteo­porosis in such patients.Methods:  A cross‐sectional study was undertaken involving all patients admitted with a fracture to Westmead Hospital, Sydney, Australia, between January 1999 and June 2000 (n = 327). Of these, 264 were excluded because of: (i) the fracture following significant trauma (n = 83), (ii) unavailability of medical records for review (n = 38), (iii) nursing home status (n = 37), (iv) previous malignancy (n = 18), (v) deceased (n = 11), (vi) recent osteoporosis screening and/or treatment (n = 18), (vii) refusal to participate (n = 37), (viii) uncontactable (n = 16) and (ix) inadequate English (n = 6). The remaining 63 patients underwent DEXA assessment and the following laboratory investigations: (i) liver function tests, (ii) urea, (iii) electrolytes, (iv) calcium, (v) phosphate, (vi) full blood count, (v) 25‐hydroxyvitamin D level and (vi) thyroid‐function tests. In men, levels of serum free testosterone, luteinizing hormone, follicle‐stimulating hormone and prolactin were also obtained.Results:  Of the 63 study participants, 87% of the 47 women were either osteoporotic (T <−2.5) or osteopenic (−2.5 <T <−1) at a mean of 12.7 ± 5.4 months post‐fracture. Of the 16 men screened, 75% had a T‐score ≤−1. Forty‐four per cent of the study sample had a low 25‐hydroxyvitamin D level, 6% were biochemically hyperthyroid and 40% of the men had a low serum free testosterone. Only 16% had an effective anti‐­osteoporotic medication added following the fracture.Conclusions:  Secondary screening and treatment of osteo­porosis in patients following minimal‐trauma fracture are low. The implementation of a clinical pathway for osteoporosis management in these patients may be useful. (Intern Med J 2003; 33: 505−510)
Perceived temperature effects on microwave heated meals and meal components
Authors: Ryynänen Suvi , Tuorila Hely , Hyvönen Lea 
Published: November 2003

AbstractTwo experiments were carried out to evaluate the effect of serving temperature on the pleasantness of microwave heated ready meals and meal components. Serving temperature clearly affected sensory attributes and the pleasantness of the meal components. However, while instrumental measurements had indicated large differences in temperatures between two microwave heated ready meals with different arrangement of meal components, the consumer panel perceived only small differences in some sensory attributes. Regardless of temperature differences, the overall pleasantness of the two microwave heated meals was judged to be similar. We concluded that serving temperature is critical for the pleasantness of food but, to the extent that it varied in microwave heating, it did not have a major impact on the overall pleasantness of the meal. Possibly in long‐term use, very uneven temperature distribution may become a nuisance and therefore, the arrangement of meal components with a more uniform temperature distribution is recommended.
Interaction of aqueous fluids with calcareous metasediments during high‐T, low‐P regional metamorphism in the Qadda area, southern Arabian Shield
Authors: DROOP G. T. R. , AL‐FILALI I. Y. 
Published: November 2003

The S.W. Nabitah Mobile Belt, Saudi Arabia, contains a Proterozoic island‐arc complex. In the Qadda area, the metavolcanic‐dominated supracrustal sequence records amphibolite facies regional metamorphism of high‐T , low‐P type. Calcsilicate rocks and aluminous dolomitic marbles within the supracrustal sequence have been studied in detail to refine estimates of peak metamorphic P–T  conditions and assess the role of fluids during prograde and retrograde metamorphism.Fluid‐independent thermobarometers (including the calcite–dolomite thermometer and P‐sensitive equilibria involving grossular, wollastonite, anorthite, meionite, quartz and calcite) yield peak P–T  conditions of c. 650–660 °C, 4 kbar, both higher than previous estimates, giving a revised average thermal gradient of c. 45 °C km–1.The close match between the peak temperatures implied by calcite–dolomite thermometry and those recorded by univariant devolatilization equilibria suggests that the calcareous rocks were fluid‐bearing during late‐prograde and peak metamorphic stages. These fluids were essentially binary H2O–CO2 mixtures with low NaCl and HF concentrations. Most were H2O‐rich, with XCO2 between 0.02 and 0.2, but values of c. 0.6 are recorded by two samples. High modal abundances of the solid products of decarbonation reactions (e.g. c. 10–50% wollastonite) in many of the rocks that record low‐XCO2 equilibrium fluids implies infiltration of significant quantities of externally derived aqueous fluid during late‐prograde metamorphism, but not enough to exhaust the buffering capacity of the rocks. Calculated minimum time‐integrated fluid‐to‐rock ratios of five wollastonite‐bearing calcsilicate rocks range from 0.7±0.22 to 1.39±0.46 (1σ); those of six marbles range from c. 0 to 4±1.4. The latter variation occurs on a metre‐scale, implying focusing of fluid flow. Diopside‐rich rocks record fluid‐to‐rock ratios of up to 88±48. Penetrative wollastonite lineations indicate a temporal link between infiltration and distributed ductile deformation. Infiltrating fluids were probably derived both from the prograde dehydration of adjacent metabasalts and metatuffs and from crystallization of voluminous pretectonic granitoid intrusions. In general, fluid‐to‐rock ratios deduced for the metavolcanic‐dominated Qadda area are similar to those recorded by rocks in the metasediment‐dominated terrane of N. New England.The occurrence of post‐tectonic retrograde hydration textures in both carbonate‐bearing and carbonate‐free rocks otherwise lacking hydrous minerals testifies to infiltration of aqueous fluids during retrograde metamorphism in the absence of penetrative deformation. Minimum fluid‐to‐rock ratios calculated for secondary grossular reaction rims in some calcsilicates are c. 0.04. Later patchy hydration of scapolite probably utilized static, pore‐filling fluids remaining after the early retrograde infiltration.
The effect of second‐phase particles on stable grain size in regionally metamorphosed polyphase calcite marbles
Authors: MAS D. L. , CROWLEY P. D. 
Published: November 2003

Samples of the calcite‐rich Shelburne Marble collected at the Pfizer Quarry in Adams, Massachusetts, show an order of magnitude variation in grain size. Calcite grain size ranges from 94 to 1101 μm. Because these calcite marbles share the same pressure, temperature and strain histories, some other factor must be responsible for the grain size variation.Grain size appears to be controlled by the concentration of impurity or second‐phase particles. Large calcite grain size occurs where the volume fraction of second‐phase particles is low and grain size decreases as second‐phase volume fraction increases. The relationship between calcite grain size (D), second‐phase grain size (d ) and second‐phase volume fraction ( f ) can be described by the power law D/d=1.4/f  0.36, a result that is consistent with models based upon short‐term (hours or days) laboratory experiments with metals and ceramics and computer simulations of grain growth. Grain growth appears to be greatly restricted by as little as a few per cent of second‐phase particles, with a transition from highly restricted to almost unrestricted grain growth occurring at ≈5% volume of second‐phase particles. These results indicate that second‐phase particles exercise an important control on grain size and can effectively inhibit grain growth in metamorphic rocks. The behaviour of second‐phases in short‐term laboratory experiments may closely approximate the behaviour of second‐phases in grain growth lasting several orders of magnitude longer in the metamorphic environment.
SNP cherry picker: maximizing the chance of finding an association with a disease SNP
Authors: Harris Mark , Martin Jeremy M. R. , Peden John F. , Rawlings Christopher J. 
Published: November 2003

Abstract
Summary: The high cost of genotyping single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) generally prohibits the systematic mapping of entire genetic linkage regions in order to find the polymorphisms associated with increased risk of disease. In practice, SNPs are selected at approximately equal spacing across the linkage region to try to locate a SNP lying in the haplotype block of the disease SNP. The size of the haplotype block may not be known, however, and SNPs taken from public domain sources may not in fact be polymorphic. Our program will choose a subset of the SNPs in a linkage region so as to maximize the expected proportion of the sequence that lies within a given distance of a real SNP.
Availability: The software is available, free of charge, for academic use on request from the authors.
Supplementary Information: www.oxagen.co.uk
Electrophoretic data classification for phylogenetics and biostatistics
Authors: Cardinali Gianluigi , Maraziti Francesco , Selvi Sabrina 
Published: November 2003

Abstract
Summary: This paper presents ClassMaker, a macro of MS Excel® able to classify continuous data of molecular weight data as binary (1/0) values. The output is represented by a binary matrix, which can be introduced in every software application for phylogenetics or multivariate statistics. This application is designed in order to be a link between image analysis programs and statistical or phylogenetic applications, in order to produce a complete series of free programs able to carry out the complete analysis from the gel to the dendrogram.
Availability: ClassMaker is freely available from http://www.agr.unipg.it/cardinali/index.html, where a list of the URLs from which programs of image analysis, statistics and phylogenetics can be freely downloaded.
An unsupervised hierarchical dynamic self-organizing approach to cancer class discovery and marker gene identification in microarray data
Authors: Hsu Arthur L. , Tang Sen-Lin , Halgamuge Saman K. 
Published: November 2003

Abstract
Motivation: Current Self-Organizing Maps (SOMs) approaches to gene expression pattern clustering require the user to predefine the number of clusters likely to be expected. Hierarchical clustering methods used in this area do not provide unique partitioning of data. We describe an unsupervised dynamic hierarchical self-organizing approach, which suggests an appropriate number of clusters, to perform class discovery and marker gene identification in microarray data. In the process of class discovery, the proposed algorithm identifies corresponding sets of predictor genes that best distinguish one class from other classes. The approach integrates merits of hierarchical clustering with robustness against noise known from self-organizing approaches.
Results: The proposed algorithm applied to DNA microarray data sets of two types of cancers has demonstrated its ability to produce the most suitable number of clusters. Further, the corresponding marker genes identified through the unsupervised algorithm also have a strong biological relationship to the specific cancer class. The algorithm tested on leukemia microarray data, which contains three leukemia types, was able to determine three major and one minor cluster. Prediction models built for the four clusters indicate that the prediction strength for the smaller cluster is generally low, therefore labelled as uncertain cluster. Further analysis shows that the uncertain cluster can be subdivided further, and the subdivisions are related to two of the original clusters. Another test performed using colon cancer microarray data has automatically derived two clusters, which is consistent with the number of classes in data (cancerous and normal).
Availability: JAVA software of dynamic SOM tree algorithm is available upon request for academic use.
Supplementary information: A comparison of rectangular and hexagonal topologies for GSOM is available from http://www.mame.mu.oz.au/mechatronics/journalinfo/Hsu2003supp.pdf
Felix Culpa: Luck In Ethics And Epistemology
Authors: Axtell Guy 
Published: November 2003

Abstract:Luck threatens in similar ways our conceptions of both moral and epistemic evaluation. This essay examines the problem of luck as a metaphilosophical problem spanning the division between subfields in philosophy. I first explore the analogies between ethical and epistemic luck by comparing influential attempts to expunge luck from our conceptions of agency in these two subfields. I then focus upon Duncan Pritchard's challenge to the motivations underlying virtue epistemology, based specifically on its handling of the problem of epistemic luck. I argue that (1) consideration of the multifold nature of the problem of epistemic luck to an adequate account of human knowledge drives us to a mixed externalist epistemology; and (2) the virtue‐theoretical approach presents a particularly advantageous way of framing and developing a mixed externalist epistemology.
Virtue and Luck, Epistemic and Otherwise
Authors: Greco John 
Published: November 2003

Abstract:This essay defends virtue reliabilism against a line of argument put forward by Duncan Pritchard. In the process, it discusses (1) the motivations for virtue reliabilism, (2) some analogies between epistemic virtue and moral virtue, and (3) the relation between virtue (epistemic and otherwise) and luck (epistemic and otherwise). It argues that considerations about virtue and luck suggest a solution to Gettier problems from the perspective of a virtue theory.
Delivering Improvement from Truth — the Fragile Link Between Analysis and Effective Change
Authors: Falkenhausen Hasso Freiherr Von 
Published: November 2003

In the history of operations research in industry there has been an abundance of analyses and recommendations produced in millions of man hours by dedicated OR specialists. And yet the net improvement is significantly lower than expected. There are numerous reasons for this shortfall: incomplete analysis, too much theory, incomplete implementation, unreliable recommendations, or a combination of some of these reasons.By describing several examples, the major reasons for the fragility of the link between recommendation and implementation will be reviewed. What has to be done today to increase the likelihood of implementing an OR recommendation and thus improve the performance of an industrial entity by using the power of OR tools will then be described.
Computerizing Accounting Systems in Developing Bureaucracies: Lessons from Kenya
Authors: Peterson Stephen , Kinyeki Charles , Mutai Joseph , Ndungu Charles 
Published: November 2003

Kenya's agriculture ministries are reforming their accounting systems and the reform includes computerization. This article examines the impact of computers on accounts and the lessons that can be drawn from Kenya about building computerized accounting systems.Four propositions emerge about the impact of computers on the accounting systems. First and surprisingly, the initial impact of computers is indirect. Their primary impact is to strengthen the manual accounts which the ministries continue to rely upon. Second, computers promote effectiveness reforms by changing procedures, rather than efficiency reforms by accelerating the throughput of data with existing procedures. Third, computers do not initially promote document processing but do improve data processing. Fourth, computers do promote rudimentary analysis.One conclusion from the Kenya case is that modular implementation of computerized accounting is helpful. Implementing modules rather than an integrated system means that accounting reforms can begin without waiting for lengthy procedural reforms. Modular implementation also facilitates agency involvement in the design of the system.
Budget Reform in Malaysia and Australia Compared
Authors: Xavier John Antony 
Published: November 2003

The study, using the recent contrasting experience of budget reform in Malaysia and Australia, inquires why quite similar changes were attempted in different socio‐economic and fiscal settings. It explains why their implementation differed and identifies the factors that shaped, sustained, or impeded the respective efforts.Three basic themes emerge. First, political and administrative will are necessary requirements for the success of any budget reform effort. Second, the more correspondent the bureaucratic culture is with the culture upon which the new budget system is premised, the more easily change occurs. Third, a model of reform predicated upon the assumption of fiscal restraint cannot effectively function in a climate of fiscal relaxation. Malaysia adapted its budget model from the Australian system. As the Australian model suited the paradigm of expenditure restraint, the adapted model proved less workable against the Malaysian climate of fiscal relaxation.
Functional and Biochemical Analysis of
Chlamydia trachomatis
MurC, an Enzyme Displaying UDP-
N
-Acetylmuramate:Amino Acid Ligase Activity
Authors: Hesse Lars , Bostock Julieanne , Dementin Sebastien , Blanot Didier , Mengin-Lecreulx Dominique , Chopra Ian 
Published: November 2003

ABSTRACT

Chlamydiae are unusual obligate intracellular bacteria that cause serious infections in humans. Chlamydiae contain genes that appear to encode products with peptidoglycan biosynthetic activity. The organisms are also susceptible to antibiotics that inhibit peptidoglycan synthesis. However, chlamydiae do not synthesize detectable peptidoglycan. The paradox created by these observations is known as the chlamydial anomaly. The MurC enzyme of chlamydiae, which is synthesized as a bifunctional MurC-Ddl product, is expected to possess UDP-
N
-acetylmuramate (UDP-MurNAc):
l
-alanine ligase activity. In this paper we demonstrate that the MurC domain of the
Chlamydia trachomatis
bifunctional protein is functionally expressed in
Escherichia coli
, since it complements a conditional lethal
E. coli
mutant possessing a temperature-sensitive lesion in MurC. The recombinant MurC domain was overexpressed in and purified from
E. coli
. It displayed in vitro ATP-dependent UDP-MurNAc:
l
-alanine ligase activity, with a pH optimum of 8.0 and dependence upon magnesium ions (optimum concentration, 20 mM). Its substrate specificity was studied with three amino acids (
l
-alanine,
l
-serine, and glycine); comparable
V
max
/

K
m

values were obtained. Our results are consistent with the synthesis of a muramic acid-containing polymer in chlamydiae with UDP-MurNAc-pentapeptide as a precursor molecule. However, due to the lack of specificity of MurC activity in vitro, it is not obvious which amino acid is present in the first position of the pentapeptide.
The ADP-Ribosylating Toxin, AexT, fromAeromonas salmonicidasubsp.salmonicidaIs Translocated via a Type III Secretion Pathway
Authors: Burr Sarah E. , Stuber Katja , Frey Joachim 
Published: November 2003

ABSTRACTAexT is an extracellular ADP ribosyltransferase produced by the fish pathogenAeromonas salmonicidasubsp.salmonicida. The protein is secreted by the bacterium via a recently identified type III secretion system. In this study, we have identified a further 12 open reading frames that possess high homology to genes encoding both structural and regulatory components of theYersiniatype III secretion apparatus. Using marker replacement mutagenesis ofaopB, theA. salmonicidasubsp.salmonicidahomologue ofyopBinYersinia, we demonstrate that the bacterium translocates the AexT toxin directly into the cytosol of cultured fish cells via this type III secretion pathway. AnacrVmutant ofA. salmonicidasubsp.salmonicidadisplays a calcium-blind phenotype, expressing and secreting significant amounts of AexT even in the presence of CaCl2concentrations as high as 10 mM. ThisacrVmutant is also unable to translocate AexT into the cytosol of fish cells, indicating AcrV is involved in the translocation process. Inactivation of either theaopBoracrVgene inA. salmonicidasubsp.salmonicida(resulting in an inability to translocate AexT) is accompanied by a loss of cytotoxicity that can be restored bytranscomplementation. Finally, we present data indicating that preincubation of the wild-type bacteria with antibodies directed against recombinant AcrV-His protein provides fish cells protection against the toxic effects of the bacterium.
Purification and Characterization of the PcrA Helicase ofBacillus anthracis
Authors: Naqvi Asma , Tinsley Eowyn , Khan Saleem A. 
Published: November 2003

ABSTRACTPcrA is an essential helicase in gram-positive bacteria, and a gene encoding this helicase has been identified in all such organisms whose genomes have been sequenced so far. The precise role of PcrA that makes it essential for cell growth is not known; however, PcrA does not appear to be necessary for chromosome replication. ThepcrAgene was identified in the genome ofBacillus anthracison the basis of its sequence homology to the corresponding genes ofBacillus subtilisandStaphylococcus aureus, with which it shares 76 and 72% similarity, respectively. ThepcrAgene ofB. anthraciswas isolated by PCR amplification and cloning intoEscherichia coli. The PcrA protein was overexpressed with a His6fusion at its amino-terminal end. The purified His-PcrA protein showed ATPase activity that was stimulated in the presence of single-stranded (ss) DNA (ssDNA). Interestingly, PcrA showed robust 3′→5′ as well as 5′→3′ helicase activities, with substrates containing a duplex region and a 3′ or 5′ ss poly(dT) tail. PcrA also efficiently unwound oligonucleotides containing a duplex region and a 5′ or 3′ ss tail with the potential to form a secondary structure. DNA binding experiments showed that PcrA bound much more efficiently to oligonucleotides containing a duplex region and a 5′ or 3′ ss tail with a potential to form a secondary structure than to those with ssDNAs or duplex DNAs with ss poly(dT) tails. Our results suggest that specialized DNA structures and/or sequences represent natural substrates of PcrA in biochemical processes that are essential for the growth and survival of gram-positive organisms, includingB. anthracis.