bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
General practitioners believe that hypnotherapy could be a useful treatment for irritable bowel syndrome in primary care
Authors: Cox Stephen , de Lusignan Simon , Chan Tom 
Published: October 2004

Abstract
Background
Irritable bowel syndrome is a common condition in general practice. It occurs in 10 to 20% of the population, but less than half seek medical assistance with the complaint.

Methods
A questionnaire was sent to the 406 GPs listed on the West Sussex Health Authority Medical List to investigate their views of this condition and whether they felt hypnotherapy had a place in its management

Results
38% of general practitioners responded. The achieved sample shared the characteristics of target sample.
Nearly half thought that irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) was a "nervous complaint" and used a combination of "the placebo effect of personal care," therapeutic, and dietary advice. There is considerable divergence in the perceived effectiveness of current approaches. Over 70% thought that hypnotherapy may have a role in the management of patients with IBS; though the majority (68%) felt that this should not be offered by general practitioners. 84% felt that this should be offered by qualified hypnotherapist, with 40% feeling that this should be offered outside the health service.

Conclusions
General practitioners vary in their perceptions of what constitutes effective therapy in IBS. They are willing to consider referral to a qualified hypnotherapist.
Appraising and applying evidence about a diagnostic test during a performance-based assessment
Authors: Bergus George , Vogelgesang Scott , Tansey Janeta , Franklin Ellen , Feld Ronald 
Published: October 2004

Abstract
Background
The practice of Evidence-based Medicine requires that clinicians assess the validity of published research and then apply the results to patient care. We wanted to assess whether our soon-to-graduate medical students could appraise and apply research about a diagnostic test within a clinical context and to compare our students with peers trained at other institutions.

Methods
4th year medical students who previously had demonstrated competency at probability revision and just starting first-year Internal Medicine residents were used for this research. Following an encounter with a simulated patient, subjects critically appraised a paper about an applicable diagnostic test and revised the patient's pretest probability given the test result.

Results
The medical students and residents demonstrated similar skills at critical appraisal, correctly answering 4.7 and 4.9, respectively, of 6 questions (p = 0.67). Only one out of 28 (3%) medical students and none of the 15 residents were able to correctly complete the probability revision task (p = 1.00).

Conclusions
This study found that most students completing medical school are able to appraise an article about a diagnostic test but few are able to apply the information from the article to a patient. These findings raise questions about the clinical usefulness of the EBM skills possessed by graduating medical students within the area of diagnostic testing.
Serum S100B in primary progressive multiple sclerosis patients treated with interferon-beta-1a
Authors: Lim Ee Tuan , Petzold Axel , Leary Siobhan M , Altmann Daniel R , Keir Geoff , Thompson Ed J , Miller David H , Thompson Alan J , Giovannoni Gavin 
Published: October 2004

AbstractS100B belongs to a family of calcium-binding proteins implicated in intracellular and extracellular regulatory activities. This study of serum S100B in primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS) is based on data obtained from a randomized, controlled trial of Interferon β-1a in subjects with PPMS. The key questions were whether S100B levels were associated with either disability or MRI findings in primary progressive MS and whether Interferon β-1a has an effect on their S100B levels. Serial serum S100B levels were measured using an ELISA method. The results demonstrated that serum S100B is not related to either disease progression or MRI findings in subjects with primary progressive MS given Interferon β-1a. Furthermore there is no correlation between S100B levels and the primary and secondary outcome measures.
The prevalence and severity of oral impacts on daily performances in Thai primary school children
Authors: Gherunpong Sudaduang , Tsakos Georgios , Sheiham Aubrey 
Published: October 2004

Abstract
Background
Traditional methods of measuring oral health mainly use clinical dental indices and have been complemented by oral health related quality of life (OHRQoL) measures. Most OHRQoL studies have been on adults and elderly populations. There are no systematic OHRQoL studies of a population-based sample of children. The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence, characteristics and severity of oral impacts in primary school children.

Methods
Cross-sectional study of all 1126 children aged 11–12 years in a municipal area of Suphanburi province, Thailand. An OHRQoL measure, Child-Oral Impacts on Daily Performances index (Child-OIDP) was used to assess oral impacts. Children were also clinically examined and completed a self-administered questionnaire about demographic information and oral behaviours.

Results
89.8% of children had one or more oral impacts. The median impact score was 7.6 and mean score was 8.8. Nearly half (47.0%) of the children with impacts had impacts at very little or little levels of intensity. Most (84.8%) of those with impacts had 1–4 daily performances affected (out of 8 performances). Eating was the most common performance affected (72.9%). The severity of impacts was high for eating and smiling and low for study and social contact performances. The main clinical causes of impacts were sensitive tooth (27.9%), oral ulcers (25.8%), toothache (25.1%) and an exfoliating primary tooth (23.4%).

Conclusions
The study reveals that oral health impacts on quality of life in Thai primary school children. Oral impacts were prevalent, but not severe. The impacts mainly related to difficulty eating and smiling. Toothache, oral ulcers and natural processes contributed largely to the incidence of oral impacts.
Why do we need a new journal in autoimmunity?
Authors: D'Cruz David , Ablamunits Vitaly 
Published: October 2004

AbstractA new online Journal of Autoimmune Diseases is created as an independent open access journal. In addition to the obvious advantages of the open access, the Journal will practice a double-blind reviewing of the manuscripts, which means that both the reviewers and the authors remain anonymous to each other. We believe that such a policy will reduce the influence of personal and other non-scientific factors on the reviewer's decision making.
JNER: a forum to discuss how neuroscience and biomedical engineering are reshaping physical medicine & rehabilitation
Authors: Bonato Paolo 
Published: October 2004

AbstractAdvances in neuroscience and biomedical engineering deeply affect the clinical practice of physical medicine & rehabilitation. New research findings and engineering tools are continuously made available that have the potential of dramatically enhancing the ability of clinicians to design effective rehabilitation interventions. This quickly evolving research field is difficult to track because related literature appears in a wide range of scientific journals. There is a need for a scientific journal that offers to its readership a forum at the intersection of neuroscience, biomedical engineering, and physical medicine & rehabilitation. The Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation (JNER) is intended to fill this gap and foster cross-fertilizations among these disciplines. By making readily available to clinicians selected studies with potential impact on physical medicine & rehabilitation, JNER is anticipated to foster the development of novel and more effective rehabilitation strategies. Conversely, by presenting clinical problems to a readership of neuroscientists and engineers, JNER is expected to generate innovative work in neuroscience and biomedical engineering with future applications to physical medicine & rehabilitation. JNER will leverage on Open Access as a means to guarantee that its content is readily available to scientists, clinicians, and the general public thus promoting scientific and technological advances that are relevant to rehabilitation. JNER is an Open Access initiative. Open Access assures dissemination to the widest possible audience and is seen by many as essential for publicly funded research. BioMed Central offers an outstanding platform to make JNER possible and allow neuroscientists, biomedical engineers, and clinicians to see their work published in a timely manner and thus make an immediate impact in the field of rehabilitation. JNER will focus on innovative work with higher likelihood of a dramatic impact on rehabilitation. Thus, priority will be given to outstanding and visionary scientific reports, i.e. those proposing exceptionally innovative concepts with great potential in the field.
The Stability Study of an Innovative Steel Dome
Authors: Zeinoddini M. , Parke G.A.R. , Disney P. 
Published: October 2004

Global stability of an innovative dome comprising of double-layer space frame sections together with curved flexural members has been studied. The dome had both an outer flat and an inner spherical double-layer grid space frames and formed the roof over a joint ballroom and meeting space of 3,100 square metres. The relatively wide spans between the outer and the inner space structures were covered using thirty six curved flexural pipe members laid on a synclastic surface. These members were employed for architectural purposes to provide a clear glazed area for the roof. Introducing relatively large span flexural members joining the two lattice space frames together complicated the overall structural response of the dome. It also made the dome susceptible to different premature instability modes. The non-linear FE program ABAQUS [1] was utilised to study the global stability of the dome and to investigate fully both its pre and post failure behaviour. Different member configurations were considered for the dome and their effects on the behaviour; stability, snap through buckling and the collapse load of the structure were investigated. In the dome responses, several failure modes such as overall torsional buckling, in-plane ring buckling and symmetrical and non-symmetrical vertical snap through were identified. It was noted that the presence of restraints placed between the flexural members could prevent the occurrence of premature torsional and vertical snap through buckling in the dome. The global behaviour of the dome appeared to be very sensitive to both the type and configuration of the restraints applied along the flexural members. The dome was also found to be remarkably sensitive to non-symmetric loads.
Measurement of Cholesterol and other Lipoprotein Constituents in the Clinical Laboratory
Authors: Warnick G. Russel 
Published: October 2004

Abstract
Measurements of lipids and lipoproteins in the clinical laboratory have become increasingly important because of their predictive association with cardiovascular diseases, especially coronary artery disease. The US National Institutes of Health-sponsored National Cholesterol Education Program and counterparts in other countries have developed national consensus guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of coronary artery disease which provide risk cut-points and define use of the lipid/lipoprotein analytes in case finding and therapy. Total and low density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides are measured as positive risk factors and high density lipoprotein cholesterol as an inverse risk factor for coronary artery disease. A National Cholesterol Education Program-sponsored expert laboratory panel has developed guidelines for measurements with requisite analytical performance targets for total error and corresponding precision and bias. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have established reference methods for total and high density lipoprotein cholesterol and for triglycerides, with a method for low density lipoprotein cholesterol in development. Standardization programs for research laboratories and a Cholesterol Reference Method Laboratory Network for diagnostic manufacturers and clinical laboratories provide reliable access and documentation of traceability to accepted reference methods.
Methods for the lipid/lipoprotein analytes have improved dramatically in recent years and, coupled with improved chemistry analyzer systems and more attention to standardization by manufacturers, offer considerable improvement in analytical performance. Fully automated homogeneous assays for high density lipoprotein cholesterol and newer similar assays for low-density lipoprotein cholesterol have potential for better precision as well as more convenient and cost-effective measurements. Attention to pre-analytical sources of variation is also important in making reliable classification of patients.
Serum ras (p21) as a Marker for Occupationally Derived Lung Cancer?
Authors: Schneider Joachim , Presek Peter , Braun Alexandra , Löffler Simone , Woitowitz Hans-Joachim 
Published: October 2004

Abstract
Certain subsets of the population are especially sensitive to carcinogens, and this can be determined using molecular biological methods. In the literature there has been evidence presented for the use of p21ras (ras) as a tumor marker for human carcinogenic substances such as asbestos, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and vinyl chloride in the workplace. In this study we have examined whether serum ras could serve as a biomarker for the early detection of occupationally derived lung cancer, with an emphasis on Schneeberger (radon-induced) lung cancer.
Sera were taken from 65 male tumor patients. Fifty-nine patients suffered from primary lung cancer (including 18 patients with Schneeberger lung cancer and 12 patients with asbestos-related lung cancer). Additionally, 29 patients with non-malignant lung disease, and a healthy control group (44) including 32 former uranium miners of SDAG Wismut exposed to ionizing radiation (radon and its decay products) were examined. Ras protein was determined via three different methods: 1) immunoprecipitation followed by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and Western blotting; 2) SDS-PAGE using 5–17% gradient gels followed by Western blotting; 3) pre-incubation with Blue Sepharose, SDS-PAGE on 5–17% gradient gels, and Western blotting.
The results show that 1 ng ras protein was measurable in serum standards. This protein could not be detected in patient sera or in sera from any of the study groups. Thus, ras cannot be considered useful as a marker for the early detection of asbestos-induced or Schneeberger lung
Influence of in vivo Hemoglobin Carbamylation on HbA1c Measurements by Various Methods
Authors: Chachou Abdelhalim , Randoux Christine , Millart Hervé , Chanard Jacques , Gillery Philippe 
Published: October 2004

Abstract
Increased carbamylated hemoglobin formed in erythrocytes during uremia may interfere with Hba1c assays, but few studies compared directly both parameters. We measured carbamylated hemoglobin by HPLC in 45 non-diabetic uremic patients (16 with acute and two with chronic renal failure, 27 with transplant recipients) as 57.8 ± 22.3 μg carbamylvaline/g Hb (mean ± standard deviation) vs. 31.6 ± 5.1 in 15 controls (+83%, p < 0.001). In these samples, HbA1c was evaluated by three ion-exchange HPLC methods, 1: Diamat (BioRad), 2: A1c2.2 (Tosoh) and 3: HA8140 (Menarini), and one immunoassay method (Tinaquant II Roche). Whichever the method, mean HbA1c values obtained increased in patients with high (> 60 μg carbamylvaline/g Hb) vs. low (< 45) carbamylated hemoglobin values (+0.08 to 0.25% of total Hb), but differences were not significant. Minor peaks on the chromatograms were however increased in parallel to carbamylated hemoglobin. HbA1c values over 6% were found in 4, 1, 2 and 0 samples, with HPLC 1, 2, 3 and immunoassay, respectively. Fructosamine values were not significantly altered. Our results show that Hb adducts, whether due to carbamylation or to other chemical reactions, interfere to a variable extent with different HbA1c assay methods, and confirm that HbA1c values should be interpreted with caution in uremic patients.
Comparison of the Abbott IMx® and a High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Method for Measuring Total Plasma Homocysteine
Authors: Blanco-Vaca Francisco , Arcelús Rosa , González-Sastre Francesc , Ordóñez-Llanos Jordi , Queraltó-Compañó Josep M. 
Published: October 2004

Abstract
The determination of the total concentration of plasma homocysteine is of interest in a variety of clinical circumstances, especially, in the evaluation of the risk of cardiovascular disease. However, most of the methods available to date, many of them chromatographic, are not well suited for the majority of clinical laboratories. Several automated methods are now or will be, shortly, commercially available. We have compared one of them, the fluorescence polarization immunoassay (FPIA) adapted to the IMx® analyzer (Abbott Laboratories), with the high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method with fluorescent detection currently used in our laboratory. The results show that the FPIA-IMx® method is less imprecise and slightly more sensitive than the HPLC. The comparison of 67 clinical plasma specimens indicated that there is a proportional error disagreement between FPIA-IMx® and HPLC (FPIA=1.19 HPLC + 0.92; confidence region for slope and y-intercept were, respectively, from 1.06 to 1.31 and from−0.06 to 2.32). The nature of this error is not explained by the experiments performed to study the inaccuracy of both methods, which included the investigation of dilution parallelism, analytical recovery and cross-reactivity. The different results of homocysteine concentration obtained with FPIA-IMx® and HPLC must be taken into account when a change of methodology is under consideration.
Biochemical Composition and Electrolyte Balance of "Unstimulated" Whole Human Saliva
Authors: Rehak Nadja N. , Cecco Stacey A. , Csako Gyorgy 
Published: October 2004

Abstract
The biochemical composition of "unstimulated" whole saliva was determined in healthy adult subjects. Based on their relative concentration, salivary analytes could be classified into three arbitrary categories: concentration lower than in serum (saliva/serum ratio < 0.5; 12 analytes), similar to serum (ratio = 0.5–1.5; five analytes), and higher than in serum (ratio > 1.5; five analytes). Consistent with local production, an elevated lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity in the saliva was associated with a non-serum like LDH isoenzyme pattern: LDH5 >> LDH4 > LDH3 >> LDH2 > LDH1. Compared with serum, the concentrations of hydrogen (as reflected in the pH), potassium and inorganic phosphorus were much higher (saliva/serum ratio ≥ 3), whereas that of sodium, total magnesium, chloride, and total carbon dioxide were lower (saliva/serum ratio ≤ 0.3). The concentration of ionized calcium was similar in saliva and serum (saliva/serum ratio = 0.8), while ionized magnesium was unmeasurable in saliva. The salivary ionized calcium fraction was higher (0.76) than previously suggested (0.51). The difference between the main salivary cations (potassium, sodium), and anions (phosphate, chloride) was similar to serum (anion gap: 4 vs. 11 meq/l). Highly significant (p ≤ 0.012) correlations occured among salivary pH, dihydrophosphate, total calcium, and potassium. Our data suggest that calcium, potassium, chloride and phosphates are the major salivary complex-forming ions. The major compositional differences between serum and saliva show that saliva is not a passive "ultrafiltrate" of serum and salivary constituents may play a distinct physiological role.
Evaluation of a New Simple and Rapid Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay Kit for Neopterin Determination
Authors: Westermann Jürgen , Thiemann Frank , Gerstner Ludwig , Tatzber Franz , Kozák Ivan , Bertsch Thomas , Krüger Christian 
Published: October 2004

Abstract
A new commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit has been evaluated for the measurement of neopterin concentrations in serum, plasma and urine. This competitive ELISA is technically simple, requires only small sample volume and is rapid to perform. The assay procedure consists of sequential 1.5 h and 10 min room temperature incubation steps. The ELISA is accurate, sensitive, specific, and precise. Linear regression analysis of neopterin concentrations measured with the new ELISA and with an established method yielded a highly singificant correlation (r = 0.99). The new assay is applicable to ELISA workstations, thus enabling determination of neopterin in large series of samples. The neopterin ELISA kit has been used in routine laboratory testing of blood donations in a blood bank.
FESCC Survey on Accreditation and Post-Graduate Training in Clinical Chemistry in European Countries
Authors: Rossier Michelle , Blaton Victor , Franzini Carlo , Queralto José M. , Palicka Vladimir 
Published: October 2004

Abstract
Promotion of the professional growth and development of specialists in the field of clinical chemistry in European countries, and harmonisation of quality assessment and accreditation procedures are listed among the main goals and activities of Federation of European Societies of Clinical Chemistry (FESCC), according to its 1999–2000 strategic plan.
The European countries that are members of the European Union are in the process of establishing the "European Register for Clinical Chemists", based on minimum standards of education, training and experience as defined by the European Communities Confederation of Clinical Chemists (EC4). Many other European countries would like to adapt their system of professional education to this model. Data on postgraduate training in EC4 FESCC members have already been gathered in 1998. However, at the present time, there is no detailed knowledge of pre- and post-graduate professional education of specialists in clinical chemistry in the non-EC4 European countries.
FESCC launched a survey in July 1998 in order to gather this information with the hope to start a database about existing systems. All FESCC members received the same questionnaire on accreditation (seven questions) and non-EC4 FESCC members received an additional questionnaire with 11 questions related to post-graduate training in clinical chemistry.
The response rate of the 35 FESCC member countries was 93% from the 15 EC4 members (14 responses/15 countries) and 80% from the 20-non-EC4 (16 responses/20 countries). The heterogeneity of the data on post-graduate training in clinical chemistry indicates that a great effort will be needed before harmonisation is reached. These results, however, will provide an interesting basis for further discussion and promotion of post-graduate training in clinical chemistry.
The data provided on accreditation show that the total number of accredited laboratories was relatively low in EC4 countries and even lower in non-EC4 members. It was not surprising to see that the number of accredited laboratories was the highest in the two countries which started accreditation the earliest (i.e. Sweden and UK, 1992). This situation, however, is changing at a fast rate in most countries and the number of the accredited sites is expected to increase rapidly in the next few years.