bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Prevalence of the metabolic syndrome among the Inuit in Greenland. A comparison between two proposed definitions
Authors: Jørgensen M. E. , Bjerregaard P. , Gyntelberg F. , Borch‐Johnsen K. ,   the Greenland Population Study
Published: October 2004

AbstractAims  To estimate the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome among Greenland Inuit according to the World Health Organization (WHO) definition and the definition suggested by the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP).Methods  From 1999 to 2001, 917 adult Inuit participated in a health survey in Greenland. The examination included a 75‐g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). Body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, waist‐to‐hip ratio and blood pressure were measured. Plasma glucose, serum insulin, lipids and urine albumin/creatinine ratio were measured. The metabolic syndrome was diagnosed according to the WHO criteria 1999 and to the working definition suggested by the NCEP 2001.Results  Using the WHO and the NCEP criteria, 20.7% and 17.9% of the participants had the metabolic syndrome, respectively. There was a moderate agreement between the two definitions, κ = 0.56 (95% CI 0.51–0.61). Of those with the WHO metabolic syndrome, 37.9% did not have the NCEP syndrome, and 28.5% of those with the NCEP syndrome were not classified with the metabolic syndrome under the WHO criteria. Compared with the WHO syndrome, men with the NCEP syndrome had higher mean values of waist circumference, BMI and triglycerides, and lower mean values of high‐density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol; among women, triglycerides were higher with the NCEP syndrome.Conclusion  The metabolic syndrome is common among Inuit using either the WHO definition or the proposed NCEP definition. The classification disagreement is considerable and a universally accepted definition is needed.
Isolation of Bordetella trematum from a diabetic leg ulcer
Authors: Daxboeck F. , Goerzer E. , Apfalter P. , Nehr M. , Krause R. 
Published: October 2004

AbstractBackground  The species Bordetella trematum (a Gram‐negative, opportunistic bacterium) was established in 1996. To date, 10 cases of human infection/colonization with the pathogen have been described.Case report  The first case of isolation of B. trematum from a diabetic ulcer is reported. Since there are no commercially available kits for identification of the organism, species diagnosis was based on 16S rDNA sequencing. B. trematum disappeared from the ulcer without antimicrobial therapy.Conclusion  In the present case, there was no evidence for a causative role of the organism in the diabetic foot infection, which is in agreement with previously published data. However, B. trematum has to be considered when otherwise unclassified Gram‐negative rods are isolated from infected diabetic ulcers.
Pre‐prandial vs. post‐prandial capillary glucose measurements as targets for repaglinide dose titration in people with diet‐treated or metformin‐treated Type 2 diabetes: a randomized controlled clinical trial
Authors: Gerstein H. C. , Garon J. , Joyce C. , Rolfe A. , Walter C. M. 
Published: October 2004

AbstractObjective  Repaglinide is an oral anti‐diabetic agent that has a short duration of action, and is suitable for preventing post‐prandial rises in glucose levels. Targeting post‐prandial glucose levels may lead to lower HbA1c levels and rates of hypoglycaemia than targeting pre‐prandial glucose levels.Research design and methods  In 42 centres, 193 drug‐naïve (n = 122) or metformin‐treated (n = 71) individuals with Type 2 diabetes were randomly allocated to a 40‐day period of repaglinide dose‐titration (starting at 0.5 mg three times daily) based on either self‐measured pre‐prandial or post‐prandial glucose levels. They were followed for a further 12 weeks and HbA1c and hypoglycaemia rates were recorded.Results  Repaglinide reduced HbA1c by 1.25 and 1.07% in the post‐prandial and pre‐prandial groups, respectively (P for difference = 0.6), and achieved target glucose levels in 80.7 and 66.7%, respectively (P = 0.16). The effect of titration strategy differed by baseline drug therapy, and was more effective in the metformin‐treated individuals who experienced a HbA1c fall of 0.6 vs. 1.10% with pre‐prandial vs. post‐prandial titration (P for metformin‐allocated group interaction = 0.043). The rate of hypoglycaemia did not differ by group.Conclusions  In drug‐naïve individuals with Type 2 diabetes, similar HbA1c levels are achieved with repaglinide when dosing is adjusted according to either post‐prandial or pre‐prandial levels. Conversely, in metformin‐treated individuals, repaglinide dosing according to post‐prandial levels may lead to better glycaemic control than dosing according to pre‐prandial levels.
Amylin replacement with pramlintide as an adjunct to insulin therapy improves long‐term glycaemic and weight control in Type 1 diabetes mellitus: a 1‐year, randomized controlled trial
Authors: Ratner R. E. , Dickey R. , Fineman M. , Maggs D. G. , Shen L. , Strobel S. A. , Weyer C. , Kolterman O. G. 
Published: October 2004

AbstractAims  The autoimmune‐mediated destruction of pancreatic β‐cells in Type 1 diabetes mellitus renders patients deficient in two glucoregulatory peptide hormones, insulin and amylin. With insulin replacement alone, most patients do not achieve glycaemic goals. We aimed to determine the long‐term efficacy and safety of adjunctive therapy with pramlintide, a synthetic human amylin analogue, in patients with Type 1 diabetes.Methods  In a double‐blind, placebo‐controlled, parallel‐group, multicentre study, 651 patients with Type 1 diabetes (age 41 ± 13 years, HbA1c 8.9 ± 1.0%, mean ± sd) were randomized to mealtime injections of placebo or varying doses of pramlintide, in addition to their insulin therapy, for 52 weeks.Results  Addition of pramlintide [60 µg three times daily (TID) or four times daily (QID)] to insulin led to significant reductions in HbA1c from baseline to Week 52 of 0.29% (P < 0.011) and 0.34% (P < 0.001), respectively, compared with a 0.04% reduction in placebo group. Three times the proportion of pramlintide‐ than placebo‐treated patients achieved an HbA1c of < 7%. The greater reduction in HbA1c with pramlintide was achieved without an increase in concomitant insulin use and was accompanied by a significant reduction in body weight from baseline to Week 52 of 0.4 kg in the 60 µg TID (P < 0.027) or QID (P < 0.040) pramlintide treatment groups, compared with a 0.8‐kg gain in body weight in the placebo group. The most common adverse event in pramlintide‐treated patients was transient, mild‐to‐moderate nausea.Conclusions  These results show that mealtime amylin replacement with pramlintide, as an adjunct to insulin therapy, improves long‐term glycaemic and weight control in patients with Type 1 diabetes.
Effects of improved glycaemic control maintained for 3 months on cognitive function in patients with Type 2 diabetes
Authors: Mussell M. , Hewer W. , Kulzer B. , Bergis K. , Rist F. 
Published: October 2004

AbstractBackground and aim  In a previous study we failed to find beneficial short‐term effects of improved glycaemic control on cognitive functioning in patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus. A subgroup of the entire sample was tested again to examine the effect of longer‐lasting improvement of metabolic control on cognitive functioning.Methods  The cognitive performance of 26 patients with Type 2 diabetes was assessed at baseline and 3 months after discharge. Thirteen controls were tested at the similar time‐points. Attention/concentration, psychomotor speed, verbal fluency, verbal memory and depressive symptoms were assessed. Improved glycaemic control was generally achieved with insulin therapy (20/26).Results  At baseline, there was a trend for diabetic patients to perform worse than controls. Both groups improved significantly over 3 months in several measures. However, diabetic patients did not improve more than controls.Conclusions  In individuals with long‐standing Type 2 diabetes, previous reports of improved cognitive capacity following restoration and maintenance of near‐normoglycaemia were not confirmed. This might relate to the type of anti‐diabetic therapy.
Sustainability and effectiveness of comprehensive diabetes care to a district population
Authors: Whitford D. L. , Roberts S. H. , Griffin S. 
Published: October 2004

AbstractAims  To evaluate whether diabetes care in a district population can be sustained over time and intensive management of multiple risk factors can be achieved against a background of rising prevalence of known diabetes and shift of responsibility towards primary care.Methods  Assessment of process and outcome measures achieved by a comprehensive diabetes service. Routine data were collected from patients registered with diabetes in a district population by repeated cross‐sectional survey in 1991 (n = 2284 patients) and 2001 (n = 5809 patients).Results  Between 1991 and 2001 the recording of body mass index (76.8 vs. 71.3%, P = 0.01) and HbA1c measurement (92.2 vs. 86.4%, P < 0.001) decreased, whereas recording of smoking status (72.4 vs. 82%, P < 0.001), cholesterol level (54.7 vs. 82.5%, P < 0.001) and eye screening result (86.1 vs. 91.3%, P < 0.001) improved. Surviving patients with Type 2 diabetes had significant improvements in systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure and cholesterol, significant deterioration in HbA1c and creatinine, and no change in body mass index. Changes in blood pressure and HbA1c over time were similar to those reported in the UKPDS.Conclusions  The delivery of processes and outcomes of care to a district population can be sustained at a high level over a 10‐year period within a comprehensive diabetes service. We would suggest that a multifaceted complex intervention is required to achieve these results.
Economic evaluation of therapeutic interventions to prevent Type 2 diabetes in Canada
Authors: Caro J. J. , Getsios D. , Caro I. , Klittich W. S. , O'Brien J. A. 
Published: October 2004

AbstractAims  To compare the health and economic outcomes of using acarbose, an intensive lifestyle modification programme, metformin or no intervention to prevent progression to diabetes in Canadian individuals with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT).Methods  A model was developed to simulate the course of individuals with IGT under each treatment strategy. Patients remain in the IGT state or transition from IGT to diabetes, to normal glucose tolerance (NGT) or to death. Effectiveness and resource use data were derived from published intervention trials. A comprehensive health‐care payer perspective incorporating all major direct costs, reported in 2000 Canadian dollars, was adopted.Results  Over a decade, 70 of the 1000 untreated patients are expected to die and 542 develop diabetes. Intensive lifestyle modification is estimated to prevent 117 cases of diabetes, while metformin would prevent 52 and acarbose 74 cases. The proportion of those who return to NGT also increases with any treatment. While lifestyle modification is more effective, it can increase overall costs depending on how it is implemented, whereas acarbose and metformin reduce costs by nearly $1000 per patient. Lifestyle modification was cost effective, varying from $749/life year gained (LYG) vs. no treatment to about $10 000/LYG vs. acarbose. Acarbose costs somewhat more than metformin, but is more effective: $1798/LYG.Conclusion  The results of this model suggest that the treatment of IGT in Canada is a cost‐effective way to prevent diabetes and may generate savings. While pharmacological treatments tended to be less costly, intensive lifestyle modification, if maintained, led to the greatest health benefits at reasonable incremental costs.
Engineering of enhanced glycine betaine synthesis improves drought tolerance in maize
Authors: Quan Ruidang , Shang Mei , Zhang Hui , Zhao Yanxiu , Zhang Juren 
Published: October 2004

SummaryGlycine betaine plays an important role in some plants, including maize, in conditions of abiotic stress, but different maize varieties vary in their capacity to accumulate glycine betaine. An elite maize inbred line DH4866 was transformed with the betA gene from Escherichia coli encoding choline dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.99.1), a key enzyme in the biosynthesis of glycine betaine from choline. The transgenic maize plants accumulated higher levels of glycine betaine and were more tolerant to drought stress than wild‐type plants (non‐transgenic) at germination and the young seedling stage. Most importantly, the grain yield of transgenic plants was significantly higher than that of wild‐type plants after drought treatment. The enhanced glycine betaine accumulation in transgenic maize provides greater protection of the integrity of the cell membrane and greater activity of enzymes compared with wild‐type plants in conditions of drought stress.
The structure of starch can be manipulated by changing the expression levels of starch branching enzyme IIb in rice endosperm
Authors: Tanaka Naoki , Fujita Naoko , Nishi Aiko , Satoh Hikaru , Hosaka Yuko , Ugaki Masashi , Kawasaki Shinji , Nakamura Yasunori 
Published: October 2004

SummaryWhen the starch branching enzyme IIb (BEIIb) gene was introduced into a BEIIb‐defective mutant, the resulting transgenic rice plants showed a wide range of BEIIb activity and the fine structure of their amylopectins showed considerable variation despite having the two other BE isoforms, BEI and BEIIa, in their endosperm at the same levels as in the wild‐type. The properties of the starch granules, such as their gelatinization behaviour, morphology and X‐ray diffraction pattern, also changed dramatically depending on the level of BEIIb activity, even when this was either slightly lower or higher than that of the wild‐type. The over‐expression of BEIIb resulted in the accumulation of excessive branched, water‐soluble polysaccharides instead of amylopectin. These results imply that the manipulation of BEIIb activity is an effective strategy for the generation of novel starches for use in foodstuffs and industrial applications.
Development of flexible visual recognition memory in human infants
Authors: Robinson Astri J. , Pascalis Olivier 
Published: October 2004

Abstract Research using the visual paired comparison task has shown that visual recognition memory across changing contexts is dependent on the integrity of the hippocampal formation in human adults and in monkeys. The acquisition of contextual flexibility may contribute to the change in memory performance that occurs late in the first year of life. To assess this skill, the images are presented on a background of one colour during familiarization and on a different coloured background during the recognition test. Our research showed that recognition memory is impaired by a change in context at 6 and 12 months of age but is unaffected at 18 and 24 months of age. The findings are discussed in relation to hippocampal development and the proposed developmental step in memory at 9–10 months of age.
A first step in form‐based category abstraction by 12‐month‐old infants
Authors: Gómez Rebecca L. , Lakusta Laura 
Published: October 2004

AbstractThe present experiments investigate how young language learners begin to acquire form‐based categories and the relationships between them. We investigated this question by exposing 12‐month‐olds to auditory structure of the form aX and bY (infants had to learn that a‐elements grouped with Xs and not Ys). Infants were then tested on strings from their training language versus strings from the other language using a preferential‐listening procedure. Importantly, the X and Y elements were new at test, requiring infants to generalize to novel pairings. We also manipulated the probability of encountering grammatical structures of the training language by mixing strings from two artificial languages according to 83/17 and 67/33 percentage ratios in Experiment 2. Experiment 1 shows that 12‐month‐olds are capable of forming categories of X‐ and Y‐elements based on a shared feature and, furthermore, form associations between particular a‐ and b‐elements and these categories. Experiment 2 shows that learning was sustained even when 17% of instances from another language were present during training. However, infants failed to generalize when exposed to a larger percentage of strings from another language. The findings demonstrate that the first step of form‐based category abstraction (the ability to generalize based on marker‐feature pairings) is in place by 12 months of age.
Twelve‐ and 16‐month‐old infants recognize properties of mentioned absent things
Authors: Saylor Megan M. 
Published: October 2004

AbstractAbsent reference comprehension is a critical achievement of early development, yet little is known about its emergence. In the current study, 12‐ and 16‐month‐old infants’ recognition of properties of mentioned absent things was used as an index of absent reference comprehension. Infants were presented with displays matching the color and prior spatial location of a mentioned absent object and displays matching the color and prior spatial location of a non‐mentioned absent object. Infants could reveal their comprehension of absent reference by directing more looking and gesturing at the display matching the mentioned absent object than at the display matching the non‐mentioned absent object. Infants at both ages revealed some tendency to do so, but infants at 16 months revealed more advanced understanding – infants at 16 months, but not at 12 months, coordinated their attention to the display matching properties of the mentioned absent thing with looks to the speaker. Implications for the infants’ understanding of communicative intentions are discussed.
Trade‐related Job Loss and Wage Insurance: a Synthetic Review
Authors: Kletzer Lori G. 
Published: October 2004

AbstractThe paper seeks to promote further integration of empirical and theoretical discussions of trade and worker adjustment. From the author's recent studies of the costs of job loss, she develops a set of stylized facts of trade‐related job loss, with a focus on worker characteristics and labor market consequences. These stylized facts are relevant to any (credible) model of trade liberalization and adjustment costs. The author discusses the basic ideas of wage insurance and summarizes the few data known about how a program might work if implemented in the United States. A final section provides a list of issues for a model of trade that will be consistent with the empirical stylized facts, and sets out questions for future research.
Outsourcing, Foreign Ownership, and Productivity: Evidence from UK Establishment‐level Data
Authors: Girma Sourafel , Görg Holger 
Published: October 2004

AbstractThe paper presents an empirical analysis of “outsourcing” using establishment‐level data for UK manufacturing industries. The authors analyze an establishment's decision to outsource and the subsequent effects of outsourcing on the establishment's productivity. Outsourcing is compared in domestic with foreign‐owned establishments. The empirical results suggest that high wages are positively related to outsourcing, suggesting that the cost‐saving motive is important. Foreign‐owned firms have higher levels of outsourcing than domestic establishments. In the productivity analysis, an establishment's outsourcing intensity is positively related to its labor productivity and total factor productivity growth, and this effect is more pronounced for foreign establishments.
Does Exporting Increase Productivity? A Microeconometric Analysis of Matched Firms
Authors: Girma Sourafel , Greenaway Avid , Kneller Richard 
Published: October 2004

AbstractExporting involves sunk costs, so some firms export whilst others do not. This proposition derives from a number of models of firm behavior and has been exposed to microeconometric analysis. Evidence from the latter suggests that exporting firms are generally more productive than nonexporters. They self‐select, in that they are more productive before they enter export markets, but the evidence suggests that entry does not make them any more productive. This paper investigates exporting and firm performance for a large panel of UK manufacturing firms, applying matching techniques. The authors find that exporters are more productive and they do self‐select. In contrast to other evidence, however, exporting further increases firm productivity.
Timescales for reaching steady‐state fluid flow in systems perturbed by formation of highly permeable faults
Authors: Malkovsky V. I. , Pek A. A. 
Published: October 2004

AbstractWe consider the case of an isothermal, fluid‐saturated, homogeneous rock layer with transverse fluid flow driven by an imposed constant fluid pressure gradient. A rupture in the centre of the rock layer generates a highly permeable fault and results in a change of the initially homogeneous permeability distribution. This leads to a perturbation of the fluid flow field and its gradual transition to a new steady‐state corresponding to the new permeability distribution. An examination of this transitional process permits us to obtain an analytical estimation of the transition stage duration. The application of the results obtained to km‐scale faults in crystalline rock bodies leads to the conclusion that the evolution of the fluid velocity field is rather rapid compared with geological timescales.
Combining finite element and finite volume methods for efficient multiphase flow simulations in highly heterogeneous and structurally complex geologic media
Authors: Geiger S. , Roberts S. , Matthäi S. K. , Zoppou C. , Burri A. 
Published: October 2004

AbstractThe permeability of the Earth's crust commonly varies over many orders of magnitude. Flow velocity can range over several orders of magnitude in structures of interest that vary in scale from centimeters to kilometers. To accurately and efficiently model multiphase flow in geologic media, we introduce a fully conservative node‐centered finite volume method coupled with a Galerkin finite element method on an unstructured triangular grid with a complementary finite volume subgrid. The effectiveness of this approach is demonstrated by comparison with traditional solution methods and by multiphase flow simulations for heterogeneous permeability fields including complex geometries that produce transport parameters and lengths scales varying over four orders of magnitude.