bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Effect of urban closed circuit television on assault injury and violence detection
Authors: Sivarajasingam V , Shepherd J P , Matthews K 
Published: December 2003

Objective:To evaluate the effect of closed circuit television (CCTV) surveillance on levels of assault injury and violence detection.Design:Intervention versus control study design.Setting:Five town/cities with CCTV surveillance and five, matched control centres without CCTV surveillance in England.Intervention:CCTV installation and surveillance.Methods:Assault related emergency department attendances and violent offences recorded by the police in CCTV and control centres in the four years, 1995–99, two years before and two years after CCTV installation, were compared.Results:Assault related emergency department attendances decreased in intervention centres (3% decrease, ratio 0.96; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.93 to 0.99) and increased in control centres (11% increase, ratio 1.11; 95% CI 1.08 to 1.14). Overall, changes in emergency department assault attendance in CCTV and control centres were significantly different (ttest, p<0.05). Police recorded violence increased in CCTV (11% increase, ratio 1.16; 95% CI 1.08 to 1.24) and control centres (5% increase, ratio 1.06; 95% CI 0.99 to 1.13). Overall, changes in police recording in CCTV and control centres were not significantly different (ttest, p>0.05). In CCTV centres, decreases in assault related emergency department attendances and increases in police violence detection were not uniform.Conclusion:CCTV surveillance was associated with increased police detection of violence and reductions in injury or severity of injury. CCTV centre variation deserves further study.
Increases in booster seat use among children of low income families and variation with age
Authors: Apsler R , Formica S W , Rosenthal A F , Robinson K 
Published: December 2003

Objectives:To increase booster seat use among low income parents.Design/methods:A pre-test/post-test design conducted in nine daycare centers with post-test observations four to eight weeks after the intervention.Intervention:Parents who participated in an educational training received free seats, educational programs were provided to all daycare staff and children, and signs in parking lots informed parents about child restraints. At seven centers, new policies recommended compliance with state restraint laws. Parents at four centers randomly chosen from the seven received financial incentives if observed using booster seats.Main outcome measure:The percent of children aged 4–8 riding in booster seats.Results:Pre-test observations of 185 4–8 year olds found 56% riding unrestrained and fewer than 3% riding in booster seats. After the intervention, observation of 146 children found the number riding in booster seats increased to 38% and the number observed without restraints decreased to 26%. Most booster seat use occurred with 4 and 5 year olds. No 7 or 8 year olds rode in booster seats. Changing center policies to recommend compliance with state restraint laws and an offer of financial incentives appeared to have no additional impact.Conclusions:Booster seat usage among low income families can be increased dramatically, though use decreases with age. Providing free seats accompanied by training may be sufficient without the need for additional intervention.
Comparison of urban and rural non-fatal injury: the results of a statewide survey
Authors: Leff M , Stallones L , Keefe T J , Rosenblatt R , Reeds M 
Published: December 2003

Objectives:This study compared the epidemiology of non-fatal injury among urban and rural residents of Colorado.Design:A stratified probability sample with random digit dial methods was used to survey Colorado residents by telephone regarding injuries experienced in the last 12 months. Questions on the cause of the injury, the activity at the time of the injury, and the place of injury were based on the Nordic Medico Statistical Committee’s (NOMESCO) classification of external causes of injuries.Subjects:A total of 1425 urban and 1275 rural Colorado residents aged 18 and older were interviewed.Results:Age, gender, marital status, and rural residency were found to increase the odds of self reported injury. The adjusted odds ratio for self reported injury was 1.3 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.01 to 1.68) for rural compared with urban residents. Rural residence (odds ratio 1.02, 95% CI 0.51 to 7.01) was not a risk factor for injury among the highest risk group, those who were single and never married. No differences in injury characteristics were found by urban-rural status.Conclusions:The increased odds of self reported injury among rural residents were not explained by differences in the causes of injury or other injury characteristics. The differences in the importance of rural residence in increased odds of injury by marital status warrants further understanding and may be important in the development of injury prevention programs. Based on comparison with a similar survey, the NOMESCO coding system appears to be a viable alternative survey tool for gathering information on injury characteristics.
Childhood injuries due to falls from apartment balconies and windows
Authors: Istre G R , McCoy M A , Stowe M , Davies K , Zane D , Anderson R J , Wiebe R 
Published: December 2003

Background:Falls from balconies and windows are an important cause of childhood injury. This study investigated the circumstances around such falls and attempted to identify possible measures for their prevention.Population:Children <15 years living in Dallas County, Texas.Methods:Each child treated because of a fall from a building in 1997–99 had information about the injury collected, and a parent was contacted to obtain further information. For apartment related falls, an attempt was made to visit the apartment to measure windows and balcony rails.Results:Ninety eight children were injured in falls from buildings during the three year period; 39 (40%) were admitted to hospital. Seventy five of the falls (77%) involved apartments, and most occurred around noon or evening meal times. Among apartment falls, 39 (52%) fell from windows, 34 (45%) from balconies, and two (3%) from unknown sites. For more than two thirds of balcony related falls, the child fell from between the balcony rails, all of which were spaced more than 4 inches (10 cm) apart. On-site measurement showed the rails were an average of 7.5 inches (19 cm) apart; all of these apartments were built before 1984. For more than two thirds of window related falls, the window was situated within 2 feet (61 cm) of the floor.Conclusions:Two factors are important in falls from apartment windows and balconies: balcony rails more than 4 inches (10 cm) apart, and windows positioned low to the floor. Current building codes do not apply to older apartments, where most of these falls occurred. Nevertheless, these factors may be amenable to environmental modifications that may prevent most of these falls.
Vehicle year and the risk of car crash injury
Authors: Blows S , Ivers R Q , Woodward M , Connor J , Ameratunga S , Norton R 
Published: December 2003

Objective:To quantify the association between vehicle age and risk of car crash injury.Design and setting:Data from a population based case-control study conducted in the Auckland region in 1998/99 was used to examine the adjusted risk of car crash injury or death due to vehicle age, after controlling for a range of known confounders. Cases were all cars involved in crashes in which at least one occupant was hospitalized or killed anywhere in the Auckland region, and controls were randomly selected cars on Auckland roads. The drivers of the 571 case vehicles and 588 control vehicles completed a structured interview.Main outcome measure:Hospitalisation or death of a vehicle occupant due to car crash injury.Results:Vehicles constructed before 1984 had significantly greater chance of being involved in an injury crash than those constructed after 1994 (odds ratio 2.88, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.20 to 6.91), after adjustment for potential confounders. There was also a trend for increasing crash risk with each one year increase in vehicle age after adjustment for potential confounders (odds ratio 1.05, 95% CI 0.99 to 1.11; p = 0.09).Conclusion:This study quantifies the increased risk of car crash injury associated with older vehicle year and confirms this as an important public health issue.
Washing machine related injuries in children: a continuing threat
Authors: Warner B L , Kenney B D , Rice M 
Published: December 2003

Objective:To describe washing machine related injuries in children in the United States.Methods:Injury data for 496 washing machine related injuries documented by the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s National Electronic Injury Surveillance System and death certificate data files were analyzed. Gender, age, diagnosis, body part injured, disposition, location and mechanism of injury were considered in the analysis of data.Results:The upper extremities were most frequently injured in washing machine related injuries, especially with wringer machines. Fewer than 10% of patients required admission, but automatic washers accounted for most of these and for both of the deaths. Automatic washer injuries involved a wider range of injury mechanism, including 23 children who fell from the machines while in baby seats.Conclusions:Though most injuries associated with washing machines are minor, some are severe and devastating. Many of the injuries could be avoided with improvements in machine design while others suggest a need for increased education of potential dangers and better supervision of children if they are allowed access to areas where washing machines are operating. Furthermore, washing machines should only be used for their intended purpose. Given the limitations of educational efforts to prevent injuries, health professionals should have a major role in public education regarding these seemingly benign household appliances.
Missing cyclists
Authors: Langley J D , Dow N , Stephenson S , Kypri K 
Published: December 2003

Objectives:(1) For crashes on a public road, to compare serious cyclist crashes involving a motor vehicle with cyclist crashes not involving a motor vehicle, in terms of threat to life and length of stay in hospital. (2) To determine the proportion of all serious crashes involving cyclists on public roads which are recorded by the police. (3) To determine the degree to which under-reporting of serious crashes involving cyclists and motor vehicles on public roads is associated with various demographic, environmental, and injury factors.Study design:Records for the period 1995–99, of cyclists seriously injured on a public road and hospitalised were linked to the traffic crash report (TCR) database maintained by Land Transport Safety Authority (LTSA).Results:Of the 2925 cyclist crashes on public roads, only 652 (22%) could be linked to a TCR. Of the crashes involving motor vehicles (n = 1033), only 562 (54%) could be linked to the LTSA database. Age, ethnicity, injury severity, and cumulative length of stay were the only variables that predicted whether hospitalised cycle crash cases were more likely to have a corresponding TCR. There were substantial numbers of cyclist only crashes which typically are not captured in the TCR database. Nine percent of these resulted in serious or worse injury (that is,International Classification of Diseases/abbreviated injury scale score of 3+) and 7% resulted in hospital stays greater than seven days.Conclusion:Greater effort and precision needs to be applied to routinely document the burden of cyclist crashes, especially cyclist only crashes.
Evaluation of the IRI'S “Net Assessment” Seasonal Climate Forecasts: 1997–2001
Authors: Goddard L. , Barnston A. G. , Mason S. J. 
Published: December 2003

The International Research Institute for Climate Prediction (IRI) net assessment seasonal temperature and precipitation forecasts are evaluated for the 4-yr period from October–December 1997 to October–December 2001. These probabilistic forecasts represent the human distillation of seasonal climate predictions from various sources. The ranked probability skill score (RPSS) serves as the verification measure. The evaluation is offered as time-averaged spatial maps of the RPSS as well as area-averaged time series. A key element of this evaluation is the examination of the extent to which the consolidation of several predictions, accomplished here subjectively by the forecasters, contributes to or detracts from the forecast skill possible from any individual prediction tool.
Overall, the skills of the net assessment forecasts for both temperature and precipitation are positive throughout the 1997–2001 period. The skill may have been enhanced during the peak of the 1997/98 El Niño, particularly for tropical precipitation, although widespread positive skill exists even at times of weak forcing from the tropical Pacific. The temporally averaged RPSS for the net assessment temperature forecasts appears lower than that for the AGCMs. Over time, however, the IRI forecast skill is more consistently positive than that of the AGCMs. The IRI precipitation forecasts generally have lower skill than the temperature forecasts, but the forecast probabilities for precipitation are found to be appropriate to the frequency of the observed outcomes, and thus reliable. Over many regions where the precipitation variability is known to be potentially predictable, the net assessment precipitation forecasts exhibit more spatially coherent areas of positive skill than most, if not all, prediction tools. On average, the IRI net assessment forecasts appear to perform better than any of the individual objective prediction tools.
Nuclear factor–κB and STAT3 are constitutively active in CD138+ cells derived from multiple myeloma patients, and suppression of these transcription factors leads to apoptosis
Authors: Bharti Alok C. , Shishodia Shishir , Reuben James M. , Weber Donna , Alexanian Raymond , Raj-Vadhan Saroj , Estrov Zeev , Talpaz Moshe , Aggarwal Bharat B. 
Published: December 2003

AbstractChemoresistance is a major problem in the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma (MM). Because of the central role of the nuclear transcription factors nuclear factor–κB (NF-κB) and signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) in chemoresistance, cell survival, and proliferation, we investigated whether MM cells derived from patients express activated NF-κB and STAT3 and if their suppression induces apoptosis. We assayed CD138+ cells from the bone marrow of 22 MM patients and checked for the activated forms of NF-κB and STAT3 by immunocytochemistry. We found that MM cells from all the patients expressed the activated forms of NF-κB and STAT3 but to a variable degree (NF-κB: low, 3 of 22; moderate, 5 of 22; or high, 14 of 22; STAT3: none, 1 of 22; low, 3 of 22; moderate, 5 of 22; or high, 14 of 22). Constitutive activation of NF-κB was in some cases also independently confirmed by electrophoretic mobility gel shift assay. In contrast to MM patients, activated forms of NF-κB and STAT3 were absent in cells from healthy individuals. Suppression of NF-κB and STAT3 activation in MM cells by ex vivo treatment with curcumin (diferuloylmethane) resulted in a decrease in adhesion to bone marrow stromal cells, cytokine secretion, and in the viability of cells. When compared with curcumin, dexamethasone was less effective in suppression of NF-κB activation and induction of apoptosis in myeloma cells. Overall, our results indicate that fresh cells from MM patients express constitutively active NF-κB and STAT3, and suppression of these transcription factors inhibits the survival of the cells. (Blood. 2004;103:3175-3184)
CD4+CD25+ regulatory T-cell deficiency in patients with hepatitis C-mixed cryoglobulinemia vasculitis
Authors: Boyer Olivier , Saadoun David , Abriol Julien , Dodille Mélanie , Piette Jean-Charles , Cacoub Patrice , Klatzmann David 
Published: December 2003

AbstractPatients who are chronically infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) often develop mixed cryoglobulinemia (MC), a B-cell proliferative disorder with polyclonal activation and autoantibody production. We investigated if MC is associated with a deficit of CD4+CD25+ immunoregulatory T (Treg) cells, which have been shown to control autoimmunity. Because Treg cells express higher amounts of CD25 than activated CD4+ T cells, we analyzed blood CD4+CD25high Treg cells in 69 untreated patients chronically infected with HCV. Treg cell frequency in patients without MC (8.8% ± 2.3%) or with asymptomatic MC (7.4% ± 2.1%) was comparable to that of healthy controls (7.9% ± 1.3%). In contrast, it was significantly reduced in symptomatic MC patients (2.6% ± 1.2%, P &lt; .001) even when compared to a panel of untreated HCV- patients with different inflammatory disorders (6.2% ± 0.8%, P &lt; .0001). In symptomatic MC patients, the purified remaining CD4+CD25+ T cells retained suppressive activity in vitro. These results, together with experimental data showing that depletion of Treg cells induces autoimmunity, suggest a major role of Treg cell deficiency in HCV-MC vasculitis and this is the first report of a quantitative Treg cell deficiency in virus-associated autoimmunity. (Blood. 2004; 103:3428-3430)
GPIb-dependent platelet activation is dependent on Src kinases but not MAP kinase or cGMP-dependent kinase
Authors: Marshall Stuart J. , Senis Yotis A. , Auger Jocelyn M. , Feil Robert , Hofmann Franz , Salmon Gary , Peterson J. Thomas , Burslem Frank , Watson Steve P. 
Published: December 2003

Abstract
Glycoprotein Ib-IX-V (GPIb-IX-V) mediates platelet tethering to von Willebrand factor (VWF), recruiting platelets into the thrombus, and activates integrin αIIbβ3 through a pathway that is dependent on Src kinases. In addition, recent reports indicate that activation of αIIbβ3 by VWF is dependent on protein kinase G (PKG) and mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases. The present study compares the importance of these signaling pathways in the activation of αIIbβ3 by GPIb-IX-V. In contrast to a recent report, VWF did not promote an increase in cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP), while agents that elevate cGMP, such as the nitrous oxide (NO) donor glyco–SNAP-1 (N-(β-D-glucopyranosyl)-N2-acetyl-S-nitroso-D,L-penicillaminamide) or the type 5 phosphosdiesterase inhibitor, sildenafil, inhibited rather than promoted activation of αIIbβ3 by GPIb-IX-V and blocked aggregate formation on collagen at an intermediate rate of shear (800 s-1). Additionally, sildenafil increased blood flow in a rabbit model of thrombus formation in vivo. A novel inhibitor of the MAP kinase pathway, which is active in plasma, PD184161, had no effect on aggregate formation on collagen under flow conditions, whereas a novel inhibitor of Src kinases, which is also active in plasma, PD173952, blocked this response. These results demonstrate a critical role for Src kinases but not MAP kinases in VWF-dependent platelet activation and demonstrate an inhibitory role for cGMP-elevating agents in regulating this process.
Dynamic reorganization of chromatin structure and selective DNA demethylation prior to stable enhancer complex formation during differentiation of primary hematopoietic cells in vitro
Authors: Tagoh Hiromi , Melnik Svitlana , Lefevre Pascal , Chong Suyinn , Riggs Arthur D. , Bonifer Constanze 
Published: December 2003

AbstractIn order to gain insights in the true molecular mechanisms involved in cell fate decisions, it is important to study the molecular details of gene activation where such decisions occur, which is at the level of the chromatin structure of individual genes. In the study presented here we addressed this issue and examined the dynamic development of an active chromatin structure at the chicken lysozyme locus during the differentiation of primary myeloid cells from transgenic mouse bone marrow. Using in vivo footprinting we found that stable enhancer complex assembly and high-level gene expression are late events in cell differentiation. However, even before the onset of gene expression and stable transcription factor binding, specific chromatin alterations are observed. This includes changes in DNA topology and the selective demethylation of CpG dinucleotides located in the cores of critical transcription factor binding sites, but not in flanking DNA. These results firmly support the idea that epigenetic programs guiding blood cell differentiation are engraved into the chromatin of lineage-specific genes and that such chromatin changes are implemented before cell lineage specification. (Blood. 2004;103:2950-2955)
Impact of Obesity on Biochemical Control After Radical Prostatectomy for Clinically Localized Prostate Cancer: A Report by the Shared Equal Access Regional Cancer Hospital Database Study Group
Authors: Freedland Stephen J. , Aronson William J. , Kane Christopher J. , Presti Joseph C. , Amling Christopher L. , Elashoff David , Terris Martha K. 
Published: December 2003

Purpose Given the limited information regarding the impact of obesity on treatment outcomes for prostate cancer, we sought to examine the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and cancer control after radical prostatectomy (RP). Patients and Methods We compared clinicopathologic and biochemical outcome information across BMI groups from 1,106 men treated with RP between 1988 and 2002. Multivariate analysis was used to determine if BMI significantly predicted adverse pathology or biochemical recurrence. Results Obesity was related to year of surgery (P < .001) and race (P < .001), with black men having the highest obesity rates. Obese patients had higher biopsy and pathologic grade tumors (P < .001). On multivariate analysis, BMI ≥ 35 kg/m2 was associated with a trend for higher rates of positive surgical margins (P = .008). Overweight patients (BMI, 25 to 30 kg/m2) had a significantly decreased risk of seminal vesicle invasion (P = .039). After controlling for all preoperative clinical variables including year of surgery, BMI ≥ 35 kg/m2 significantly predicted biochemical failure after RP (P = .002). After controlling for surgical margin status, BMI ≥ 35 kg/m2 remained a significant predictor of biochemical failure (P = .012). There was a trend for BMI ≥ 35 kg/m2 to be associated with higher failure rates than BMI between 30 and 35 kg/m2 (P = .053). Conclusion The percentage of obese men undergoing RP in our data set doubled in the last 10 years. Obesity was associated with higher-grade tumors, a trend toward increased risk of positive surgical margins, and higher biochemical failure rates among men treated with RP. A BMI ≥ 35 kg/m2 was associated with a higher risk of failure than a BMI between 30 and 35 kg/m2.