bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Compatibility Testing of Colored Cosmetics – A New Tool for Objective Testing Near Infrared Remission Spectroscopy (NIR‐RS)
Authors: Rohr M. , Ernst N. , Schrader A. 
Published: September 2005

Previous methods for skin compatibility testing of colored cosmetics were limited by their ability to detect erythema reactions (reddening) underneath non‐transparent products. The objective of this study is to present a new spectroscopic method to quantify reddening of human skin in vivo below colored cosmetics (e.g. hair dye, lipstick, makeup). The skin compatibility of non‐transparent cosmetic products was determined by detection of a remission band in the near‐infrared spectral region.In this study a spectrophotometer with a short arc xenon lamp and a single monochromator on the excitation side as well as an emission monochromator with a near‐infrared photodiode (NIR photodiode) on the detection side was used. To induce an erythema reaction different test areas were treated with a 1 molar solution of ammonia. Afterwards they were colored with a permanent oxidative hair dye or lipstick. Before the coloring procedure, the baseline state of the test areas was documented by measuring the remission in the range from 1050 nm to 1250 nm. This measurement was repeated after the erythema reaction had been covered by a colored cosmetic.The results of data analysis revealed a remission band at approximately 1150 nm that was directly linked to the intensity of the erythema reaction. Non‐visible reddening of the skin thus becomes measurable with this new method regardless of the optical properties of the product tested.
Anti‐Wrinkle Therapy: Significant New Findings in the Non‐Invasive Cosmetic Treatment of Skin Wrinkles with Beta‐Glucan
Authors: Pillai R. , Redmond M. , Röding J. 
Published: September 2005

Oat beta‐glucan is a water soluble, linear polymer of glucose consisting of 1,4 (70%) and 1,3 (30%) linkages with an average molecular weight of 1 × 106 Da. Scientific reports indicate beta‐glucan is a film‐forming moisturizer, a biological response modifier, and a promoter of wound healing. Our objective was to study the penetration of oat (1,4:1,3) beta‐glucan in human skin models and to evaluate clinically its efficacy for reducing fine‐lines and wrinkles. Penetration studies performed on human abdominal skin used a single application of 0.5% beta‐glucan solution at a dose of 5 mg per cm2. The results showed that beta‐glucan, despite its large molecular size, deeply penetrated the skin into the epidermis and dermis. A clinical study of 27 subjects was performed to evaluate the effects of beta‐glucan on facial fine‐lines and wrinkles. After 8 weeks of treatment, digital image analysis of silicone replicas indicated a significant reduction of wrinkle depth and height, and overall roughness.This work is the first ex vivo and in vivo demonstration of the physiological effects of beta‐glucan in the penetration and restructuring of human tissue. The study supports the use of oat beta‐glucan in the care and maintenance of healthy skin and the cosmetic treatment of the signs of aging.
Hospitalization because of diabetes and bereavement: a national cohort study of parents who lost a child
Authors: Olsen J. , Li J. , Precht D. H. 
Published: September 2005

AbstractAims  To examine whether parents who lost a child have an increased risk of hospitalization because of Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes.Methods  We identified all parents who lost a child in Denmark from 1980 to 1996 (stress exposed), and compared them with parents randomly selected from all other parents in the country at that time without such a bereavement. Fifteen non‐bereaved families were matched to each bereaved family for family size and the age of the children. First hospitalizations for Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes were monitored in these two groups up to 18 years after the bereavement. There were 21 062 parents in the bereaved cohort and 293 745 parents in the non‐bereaved cohort. The study was based upon linkage of several national registers, and first‐time hospitalization with diabetes (Type 1 or Type 2) was the end point.Results  Five hundred and fifty‐one cases were hospitalized because of Type 1 diabetes and 1569 cases because of Type 2 diabetes. There was a 29% higher risk of hospitalization because of Type 1 diabetes [95% CI −5 to 75%; corresponding to a relative risk (RR) of 1.29; 95% CI 0.95–1.75] and a 44% higher risk of hospitalization because of Type 2 diabetes (95% CI 21–71%; corresponding to an RR of 1.44; 95% CI 1.21–1.71) in the bereaved cohort. The high risk of hospitalization because of Type 2 diabetes following bereavement was only statistically significant for mothers.Conclusions  Psychological stress may be a contributing cause of, or have prognostic importance for, both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, but a statistically significant association was only seen for Type 2 diabetes.
Psychosocial problems and barriers to improved diabetes management: results of the Cross‐National Diabetes Attitudes, Wishes and Needs (DAWN) Study
Authors: Peyrot M. , Rubin R. R. , Lauritzen T. , Snoek F. J. , Matthews D. R. , Skovlund S. E. 
Published: September 2005

AbstractAims  To examine patient‐ and provider‐reported psychosocial problems and barriers to effective self‐care and resources for dealing with those barriers.Methods  Cross‐sectional study using face‐to‐face or telephone interviews with diabetic patients and health‐care providers in 13 countries in Asia, Australia, Europe and North America. Participants were randomly selected adults (n = 5104) with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes, and providers (n = 3827), including primary care physicians, diabetes specialist physicians and nurses.Results  Regimen adherence was poor, especially for diet and exercise; provider estimates of patient self‐care were lower than patient reports for all behaviours. Diabetes‐related worries were common among patients, and providers generally recognized these worries. Many patients (41%) had poor psychological well‐being. Providers reported that most patients had psychological problems that affected diabetes self‐care, yet providers often reported they did not have the resources to manage these problems, and few patients (10%) reported receiving psychological treatment.Conclusions  Psychosocial problems appear to be common among diabetic patients worldwide. Addressing these problems may improve diabetes outcomes, but providers often lack critical resources for doing so, particularly skill, time and adequate referral sources.
Sources of evidence for systematic reviews of interventions in diabetes
Authors: Royle P. L. , Bain L. , Waugh N. R. 
Published: September 2005

AbstractAims  To analyse the effect on systematic reviews in diabetes interventions of including only trials that are indexed in medline, and to assess the impact of adding trials from other databases and the grey literature.Methods  All systematic reviews of diabetes interventions which included a meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials, and were published since 1996, were selected. The impact on the meta‐analysis of including only those trials indexed in medline, and the effect of then adding trials from other sources, was assessed. Where possible this was measured quantitatively, by redoing the meta‐analysis, otherwise a qualitative estimate was made.Results  Forty‐four systematic reviews met our inclusion criteria. There were 120 articles reporting trial data which were not indexed in medline. These came from 52% of the reviews. In 34% of the reviews, basing a meta‐analysis on a search of only medline would miss trials that could affect the result. Sources of non‐medline data which had the biggest effect on the meta‐analyses were journal articles from central and embase (mainly in Diabetes, Nutrition and Metabolism) and unpublished data (mainly from industry). The exceptions were journal articles on herbal medicine, mostly indexed in Chinese language databases.Conclusions  A search of only the medline database is insufficient for systematic reviews of diabetes, because in about 34% of reviews the missed trials could affect the results of the meta‐analysis. It is recommended that central (on the Cochrane Library) also be searched. Scanning meeting abstracts, and seeking unpublished data are also recommended if the intervention has only recently been introduced.
Inequalities in glycaemic control in patients with Type 2 diabetes in primary care
Authors: Bebb C. , Kendrick D. , Stewart J. , Coupland C. , Madeley R. , Brown K. , Burden R. , Sturrock N. 
Published: September 2005

AbstractAims  To quantify relationships between patient and practice factors and glycaemic control in patients with Type 2 diabetes.Methods  A cross‐sectional study involving 1534 patients with Type 2 diabetes from 42 general practices in Nottingham, UK was undertaken. Patient characteristics were assessed by a clinical interview and case note review and practice characteristics by a questionnaire. The outcome measure was serum HbA1c concentration measured at entry to the study. Random effects linear regression was used to model patient and practice factors associated with glycaemic control.Results  In multivariable regression analysis, HbA1c increased with increasing body mass index (BMI) [change in HbA1c for one unit increase in BMI: 0.03%, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.01, 0.04], and was higher in those using oral medication (mean difference 0.75%, 95% CI 0.59, 0.92) or insulin compared with diet (mean difference 1.36%, 95% CI 1.10, 1.62). There was a dose–response relationship between HbA1c and increasing time since diagnosis. HbA1c was negatively associated with age (change per year −0.01%, 95% CI −0.02, −0.004). Patients registered at the most deprived practices had higher HbA1c values than those in the least deprived practices (mean difference 0.42%, 95% CI 0.14, 0.71), as did those in practices where annual reviews were carried out by the nurse alone (mean difference 0.24%, 95% CI 0.04, 0.44).Conclusions  Several patient and practice factors are related to glycaemic control. Poorer glycaemic control was associated with practice level deprivation and nurses undertaking annual reviews alone. Further research is required to explore outcomes of annual reviews undertaken by nurses alone. Greater resources may be needed by primary care teams working in deprived areas to address inequalities in diabetic control.
Unveiling the molecular basis of intrinsic skin aging1
Authors: Holtkötter O. , Schlotmann K. , Hofheinz H. , Olbrisch R. R. , Petersohn D. 
Published: September 2005

SynopsisThe process of skin aging is a combination of an extrinsic and intrinsic aspect, and knowing the molecular changes underlying both is a prerequisite to being able to effectively counter it. However, despite its importance for a deeper understanding of skin aging as a whole, the process of intrinsic skin aging in particular has barely been investigated. In this study, the molecular changes of intrinsic skin aging were analyzed by applying ‘Serial Analysis of Gene Expression’ (SAGETM) to skin biopsies of young and aged donors. The analysis resulted in several hundred differentially expressed genes with varying statistical significance. Of these, several genes were identified that either have never been described in skin aging before (e.g. APP) or have no identified function, e.g. EST sequences. This is the first time that intrinsic skin aging has been analyzed in such a comprehensive manner, offering a new and partially unexpected set of target genes that have to be analyzed in more detail in terms of their contribution to the skin aging process.
The Impact of Allergy and Pulmonary Specialist Care on Emergency Asthma Utilization in a Large Managed Care Organization
Authors: Erickson Sara , Tolstykh Irina , Selby Joe V. , Mendoza Guillermo , Iribarren Carlos , Eisner Mark D. 
Published: September 2005

Objective. To evaluate the longitudinal impact of asthma specialist care on the risk of emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalization for asthma.Data Sources/Study Setting. A prospective cohort study using both telephone survey and computerized utilization data.Study Design. We recruited a prospective cohort of 4,742 adult members of a closed panel managed care organization who were hospitalized for asthma (the “baseline hospitalization”).Data Collection/Extraction Methods. Visits to asthma specialists were ascertained from computerized utilization databases. Specialist visits after baseline hospitalization were defined as time‐dependent covariates. An alternative analysis defined specialist visits during the year preceding baseline hospitalization. A subcohort of 596 subjects completed telephone interviews.Principal Findings. Compared with subjects who received no specialist visits after baseline hospitalization, treatment by allergists (hazard ratio (HR) 1.04; 95 percent confidence interval (CI) 0.87–1.26) or pulmonologists (HR 0.92; 95 percent CI 0.71–1.19) was not associated with a reduction in the risk of future ED visits for asthma in the entire cohort, controlling for age, sex, race, recent asthma medication dispensing, and pharmacy benefits status. There was also no association between allergist visits and the risk of subsequent hospitalizations for asthma (HR 0.93; 95 percent CI 0.75–1.14). In contrast, visits to pulmonologists (HR 0.74; 95 percent CI 0.55–0.99) were related to a reduced risk of rehospitalization.Conclusions. Pulmonary specialist visits appeared to reduce the risk of hospitalization for asthma, whereas asthma specialist visits did not reduce the risk of ED visits. In the context of comprehensive prepaid health care, the benefit of specialist care was modest.
Impact of Generalist Care Managers on Patients with Diabetes
Authors: Dorr David A. , Wilcox Adam , Donnelly Steven M. , Burns Laurie , Clayton Paul D. 
Published: September 2005

Objective. To determine how the addition of generalist care managers and collaborative information technology to an ambulatory team affects the care of patients with diabetes.Study Setting. Multiple ambulatory clinics within Intermountain Health Care (IHC), a large integrated delivery network.Study Design. A retrospective cohort study comparing diabetic patients treated by generalist care managers with matched controls was completed. Exposure patients had one or more contacts with a care manager; controls were matched on utilization, demographics, testing, and baseline glucose control. Using role‐specific information technology to support their efforts, care managers assessed patients' readiness for change, followed guidelines, and educated and motivated patients.Data Collection. Patient data collected as part of an electronic patient record were combined with care manager‐created databases to assess timely testing of glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and low‐density lipoprotein (LDL) levels and changes in LDL and HbA1c levels.Principal Findings. In a multivariable model, the odds of being overdue for testing for HbA1c decreased by 21 percent in the exposure group (n=1,185) versus the control group (n=4,740). The odds of being tested when overdue for HbA1c or LDL increased by 49 and 26 percent, respectively, and the odds of HbA1c <7.0 percent also increased by 19 percent in the exposure group. The average HbA1c levels decreased more in the exposure group than in the controls. The effect on LDL was not significant.Conclusions. Generalist care managers using computer‐supported diabetes management helped increase adherence to guidelines for testing and control of HbA1c levels, leading to improved health status of patients with diabetes.
Are Primary Care Services a Substitute or Complement for Specialty and Inpatient Services?
Authors: Fortney John C. , Steffick Diane E. , Burgess James F. , Maciejewski Matt L. , Petersen Laura A. 
Published: September 2005

Objective. To determine whether strategies designed to increase members' use of primary care services result in decreases (substitution) or increases (complementation) in the use and cost of other types of health services.Study Setting. Encounter and cost data were extracted from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) administrative data sources for the period 1995–1999. This timeframe captures the VA's natural experiment of increasing geographic access to primary care by establishing new satellite primary care clinics, known as Community‐Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs).Study Design. We exploited this natural experiment to estimate the substitutability of primary care for other health services and its impact on cost. Hypotheses were tested using ordinary least squares (OLS) regression, which was potentially subject to endogeneity bias. Endogeneity bias was assessed using a Hausman test. Endogeneity bias was accounted for by using instrumental variables analysis, which capitalized on the establishment of CBOCs to provide an exogenous identifier (change in travel distance to primary care).Data Collection. Demographic, encounter, and cost data were collected for all veterans using VA health services who resided in the catchment areas of new CBOCs and for a matched group of veterans residing outside CBOC catchment areas.Principal Findings. Change in distance to primary care was a significant and substantial predictor of change in primary care visits. OLS analyses indicated that an increase in primary care service use was associated with increases in the use of all specialty outpatient services and inpatient services, as well as increases in inpatient and outpatient costs. Hausman tests confirmed that OLS results for specialty mental health encounters and mental health admissions were unbiased, but that results for specialty medical encounters, physical health admissions, and outpatient costs were biased. Instrumental variables analyses indicated that an increase in primary care encounters was associated with a decrease in specialty medical encounters and was not associated with an increase in physical health admissions, or outpatient costs.Conclusions. Results provide evidence that health systems can implement strategies to encourage their members to use more primary care services without driving up physical health costs.
Medicare Beneficiaries and the Impact of Gaining Prescription Drug Coverage on Inpatient and Physician Spending
Authors: Briesacher Becky A. , Stuart Bruce , Ren Xiaoqang , Doshi Jalpa A. , Wrobel Marian V. 
Published: September 2005

Objective. To assess whether gaining prescription drug coverage produces cost offsets in Medicare spending on inpatient and physician services.Data Source. Two‐year panels constructed from 1995 to 2000 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey, a dataset of Medicare claims and health care surveys from the Medicare population.Study Design. We estimated a series of fixed‐effects panel models to calculate adjusted changes in Medicare spending as drug coverage was acquired (Gainers) relative to the spending of beneficiaries who never had drug coverage (Nevers). Explanatory variables in the model include age, calendar year, income, and health status.Principal Findings. Assessments of inpatient and physician services spending provided no evidence of overt selection behavior prior to the acquisition of drug coverage (i.e., there were no preswitch spikes in Medicare spending for Gainers). After enrollment, the medical spending of Gainers resembled those of beneficiaries who never had drug coverage. Overall, the multivariate models showed no systematic postenrollment changes in either inpatient or physician spending that could be attributed to the acquisition of drug coverage.Conclusions. We found no consistent evidence that drug coverage either increases or reduces spending for hospital and physician services. This does not necessarily mean that drug therapy does not substitute for or complement other medical treatments, but rather that neither effect predominates across the Medicare population as a whole.
Dividend Taxes and Implied Cost of Equity Capital
Authors: DHALIWAL DAN , KRULL LINDA , LI OLIVER ZHEN , MOSER WILLIAM 
Published: September 2005

ABSTRACTWe estimate firm‐level implied cost of equity capital based on recent advances in accounting and finance research and examine the effect of dividend taxes on the cost of equity capital. We investigate whether dividend taxes affect firms' cost of capital by testing the relation between the implied cost of equity capital and a measure of the tax‐penalized portion of dividend yield, which we define as the product of dividend yield and the dividend tax penalty. The results generally support the dividend tax capitalization hypothesis. We find a positive relation between the implied cost of equity capital and the tax‐penalized portion of dividend yield that is decreasing in aggregate institutional ownership, our proxy for tax‐advantaged investors. The evidence in this study adds to the understanding of the effect of investor‐level taxes on equity value.
Budesonide in previously untreated autoimmune hepatitis
Authors: Wiegand Johannes , Schüler Andreas , Kanzler Stephan , Lohse Ansgar , Beuers Ulrich , Kreisel Wolfgang , Spengler Ulrich , Koletzko Sibylle , Jansen Peter L. M. , Hochhaus Günther , Möllmann Helmut W. , Pröls Markus , Manns Michael P. 
Published: September 2005

Abstract: Background: Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is a chronic liver disease that is effectively treated with immunosuppressive therapy. Predniso(lo)ne, often in combination with azathioprine, is the basic therapeutic option to induce remission. However, this regimen can cause numerous side effects. The aim of the present study was to evaluate budesonide as a treatment option in the induction of remission in patients with previously untreated AIH.Methods: Between October 1998 and August 1999, 12 patients were treated with 3 mg budesonide thrice daily for 3 months in this open one‐arm multicenter phase IIa study. Primary end point was induction of remission indicated by a drop of aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase levels below two times the upper limit of normal.Results: Seven of the 12 patients (58%) reached complete remission, three patients (25%) had a partial response. Thus, 10/12 individuals (83.3%) responded to therapy. Therapy was tolerated well in 10/12 cases (83.3%).Conclusions: Budesonide monotherapy was effective in the induction of remission and well tolerated in treatment naïve patients with AIH. It should be further evaluated in prospective controlled trials and should be compared to predniso(lo)ne both in monotherapy and in combination with azathioprine.