bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Information processing biases among chronic pain patients and ankylosing spondylitis patients: the impact of diagnosis
Authors: Wells Heather J , Pincus Tamar , McWilliams Elaine 
Published: February 2003

AbstractThe aim of this research was to explore the impact that diagnostic status has on information processing biases among chronic pain (CP) and ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients. AS patients, CP patients, and healthy hospital staff controls, completed a questionnaire and short computer task. During the computer task participants endorsed sensory, depression, illness, and neutral adjectives, following a cue question (which facilitated encoding of the adjectives in relation to the self). They were then asked to recall the adjectives in a surprise memory task. Diagnosed CP patients demonstrated a recall bias away from depression related stimuli, whilst the non‐diagnosed CP patients did not. The results also suggest an association between receipt of a diagnosis and better psychological outcome in terms of information processing biasing. It was questioned whether the presence of a diagnosis among CP patients who are not currently depressed may protect or ‘buffer’ them against cognitive biasing towards classic depression related stimuli. The diagnosed AS group showed a bias towards sensory stimuli, perhaps reflecting the presence of an enduring and over‐riding pain schema. The non‐pain control group also displayed a sensory bias, which was attributed to a frequency effect as a result of working in an environment where they were regularly exposed to sensory language. The results are discussed in relation to existing literature in this area and implications for clinical practice are provided.
Epidural ketamine potentiates epidural morphine but not fentanyl in acute nociception in rats
Authors: Hoffmann Vincent L.H , Baker Alexis K , Vercauteren Marcel P , Adriaensen Hugo F , Meert Theo F 
Published: February 2003

AbstractEpidural opioids have been reported to provide superior analgesia in acute pain management. Despite the fact that the required doses are low, major side effects such as respiratory depression may still occur. In an effort to maximize analgesia and to minimize the rate of side effects, epidural NMDA receptor antagonists, especially ketamine, may be co‐administered with opioids. This study investigated whether ketamine had beneficial effects on fentanyl‐ or morphine‐induced antinociception in an acute pain model in rats.In male Wistar rats, an epidural catheter was placed under general anaesthesia. After 1 week the animals were subjected to the tail withdrawal reaction (TWR) test. After determination of the basal reaction latencies, fentanyl, morphine, ketamine or combinations of an opioid with ketamine were administered epidurally. TWR latencies were measured for up to 2 h after treatment.Both opioids showed a dose related antinociceptive effect. Fentanyl had a fast onset and a short duration of action whereas the reverse was true for morphine. Ketamine exhibited only limited antinociceptive properties. In the combinations, ketamine improved morphine‐induced antinociception both in terms of maximal possible effect (MPE) as well as in duration of action. The combination of fentanyl with ketamine did not result in any improvement, neither in terms of MPE nor in duration of action. Moreover, increasing doses of ketamine tended to decrease the MPE of various doses of fentanyl. These data confirm that ketamine, contrary to opioids, does not possess important antinociceptive properties in an acute test such as the TWR test. Furthermore, these data indicate that additive drugs such as ketamine may have different effects on different opioids.
Antinociceptive effect in mice of intraperitoneal N‐methyl‐d‐aspartate receptor antagonists in the formalin test
Authors: Berrino Liberato , Oliva Patrizia , Massimo Francesco , Aurilio Caterina , Maione Sabatino , Grella Antonio , Rossi Francesco 
Published: February 2003

AbstractAlthough the antinociceptive effect of NMDA antagonists in the formalin test is well recognised, these compounds can induce adverse motor effects. The aim of this study was to identify the systemic doses of NMDA antagonists that induce analgesia without causing side effects. Male Swiss mice (30–40 g) received a subcutaneous (sc) injection of 1.25% formalin () in the dorsal surface of the right hind‐paw and, 15 min before or after formalin, an ip injection of one of the following NMDA receptor antagonists: MK 801 (0.01, 0.025, and 0.05 mg/kg), memantine (0.1, 0.5, and 1 mg/kg), ketamine (0.125, 0.25, and 0.5 mg/kg), dextromethorphan (5, 10, and 20 mg/kg), and CGP 37849 (4, 6, and 8 mg/kg). Pain‐related behaviour (licking, lifting, favouring, shaking, and flinching of the treated paw) was recorded at 5‐min intervals for 60 min. The NMDA receptor antagonists significantly (p<0.01) and dose‐dependently reduced, versus controls, nociceptive activity during the second phase of the formalin test (from the 20th to the 60th min): at the highest doses, 97.6±0.1% with MK 801; 90.4±0.2% with memantine; 74.7±0.3% with ketamine; 92.8±0.4% with dextromethorphan; and 80.7±0.3% with CGP 37849, without affecting coordination. The rank order potency of antinociceptive activity of NMDA antagonists was: . The NMDA antagonists administered after formalin (during the analgesic interval) did not affect the late phase of the formalin test. In conclusion, systemic administration of NMDA receptor antagonists decreases the nociception observed during the late phase of the formalin test.
Psychophysics of phasic and tonic heat pain stimuli by quantitative sensory testing in healthy subjects
Authors: Granot Michal , Sprecher Elliot , Yarnitsky David 
Published: February 2003

AbstractThe increased use of quantitative sensory testing in the study of pain raises the need to characterize various aspects of psychophysical response to noxious stimulation in healthy subjects. The present study aims to address several issues regarding the use of heat pain stimuli: (a) Are pain scores for short‐term repeated phasic stimuli consistent? (b) Does an exposure to tonic heat pain stimulus cause sensitization and change the scores for subsequent phasic stimuli? and (c) Are pain scores for phasic and tonic heat pain correlated? To address these questions, a series of four phasic heat pain stimuli of 47 °C were given to the forearms of 70 healthy volunteers, over the course of an hour. Pain scores by Visual Analog Scale (VAS) were obtained for each stimulus. In 50 subjects, a tonic heat pain of 70 s duration at 47.5 °C was given between the first and second phasic stimuli. Pain scores were obtained at four points along this tonic stimulus. Repeated measures ANOVA and a sensitive post hoc analysis indicated that, while the pain perception was reduced on the second, nearly immediate trial, subsequent VAS scores of pain perception were not different from the first (#1: 35.2±19.2; #2: 31.4±20.2, #3: 33.0±21.6; and #4: 33.2±20.1, respectively), with strong correlation among the phasic tests. The average tonic pain score was 53.7±23.1. Administration of tonic pain stimuli did not result in different VAS scores of subsequent phasic pain stimuli, compared to those subjects who did not receive tonic pain stimuli. Tonic and phasic pain were positively correlated (e.g., for the first phasic stimuli). However, no relation was found between the level of perceived pain, either for phasic or for tonic stimuli, and presence or absence of temporal summation during the tonic pain. In conclusion: (i) phasic pain scores assessments at 30′ and 60′ after baseline is consistent; (ii) tonic heat pain, despite relatively high VAS scores, does not cause a change in the scoring of subsequent phasic stimuli; and (iii) phasic and tonic pain scores correlate with each other. Thus, the normal pattern of pain perception is stable and not altered by single tonic pain stimulation.
3motif: visualizing conserved protein sequence
motifs in the protein structure database
Authors: Bennett Steven P. , Nevill-Manning Craig G. , Brutlag Douglas L. 
Published: February 2003

Abstract
Summary: 3motif is a web application that visually maps conserved sequence motifs onto three-dimensional protein structures in the Protein Data Bank (PDB; Berman et al., Nucleic Acids Res., 28, 235–242, 2000). Important properties of motifs such as conservation strength and solvent accessible surface area at each position are visually represented on the structure using a variety of color shading schemes. Users can manipulate the displayed motifs using the freely available Chime plugin.
Availability: http://motif.stanford.edu/3motif/
Contact: brutlag@stanford.edu
Supplementary information: http://motif.stanford.edu/3motif/supplementary/
* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
† Present adress: Google, Inc., 2400 Bayshore Parkway, Mountain View, CA~94043, USA
IS: a web-site for intron statistics
Authors: Barta Endre , Kaján László , Pongor Sándor 
Published: February 2003

Abstract
Summary: A web server has been established for the statistical evaluation of introns in various taxonomic groups and the comparison of taxonomic groups in terms of intron type, length, base composition, etc. The options include the graphic analysis of splice sites and a probability test for exon-shuffling within the selected group.
Availability: introns.abc.hu, http://www.icgeb.trieste.it/introns
Contact: barta@abc.hukajan@icgeb.trieste.itpongor@icgeb.trieste.it
* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
The European Bioinformatics Institute web site: a new view
Authors: Lopez Rodrigo , Robinson Stephen , Kibria Asif , Harte Nicola , Patel Gulam , Harper Rob , Quevillon Emmanuel , Silventoinen Ville , Kallio Kimmo , Jokinen Petteri 
Published: February 2003

Abstract
Summary: The European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI), and outstation of the European Molecular Biology laboratory, has revamped its web site for the second time since 1997 in order to address increased user demand as well as establishing better uniformity and easier accessibility for the ever growing number of users and services it offers to the community. A GRID-like hardware infrastructure has been put in place to provide round the clock services in a redundant and reliable fashion.
Availability: http://www.ebi.ac.uk/
Contact: rls@ebi.ac.uk
* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
† EBI’s Systems group.
Subnetwork hierarchies of biochemical pathways
Authors: Holme Petter , Huss Mikael , Jeong Hawoong 
Published: February 2003

Abstract
Motivation: The vastness and complexity of the biochemical networks that have been mapped out by modern genomics calls for decomposition into subnetworks. Such networks can have inherent non-local features that require the global structure to be taken into account in the decomposition procedure. Furthermore, basic questions such as to what extent the network (graph theoretically) can be said to be built by distinct subnetworks are little studied.
Results: We present a method to decompose biochemical networks into subnetworks based on the global geometry of the network. This method enables us to analyze the full hierarchical organization of biochemical networks and is applied to 43 organisms from the WIT database. Two types of biochemical networks are considered: metabolic networks and whole-cellular networks (also including for example information processes). Conceptual and quantitative ways of describing the hierarchical ordering are discussed. The general picture of the metabolic networks arising from our study is that of a few core-clusters centred around the most highly connected substances enclosed by other substances in outer shells, and a few other well-defined subnetworks.
Availability: An implementation of our algorithm and other programs for analyzing the data is available from http://www.tp.umu.se/forskning/networks/meta/
Supplementary information: Supplementary material is available at http://www.tp.umu.se/forskning/networks/meta/
Contact: holme@tp.umu.sehussm@kth.sehjeong@nd.edu
* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Economic burden of smoking in Korea
Authors: Kang H Y , Kim H J , Park T K , Jee S H , Nam C M , Park H W 
Published: February 2003

Objective:To support tobacco control policies in Korea by providing the estimated annual economic burden attributed to cigarette smoking.Methods:The following two different approaches were used to estimate the cost: “disease specific” and “all causes”. In the disease specific approach, we focused on estimating direct and indirect costs involved in treatments of cardiovascular, respiratory, and gastrointestinal diseases, and cancer as a result of smoking, by using an epidemiologic approach—the population attributable risk (PAR). To compute PAR, the relative risks of smoking in terms of physician visits, hospital admission, and death were estimated using the Cox proportional hazard model. In the all causes approach, we examined the differences in direct and indirect costs between smokers and non-smokers for all conditions and types of disease. The major data source was the Korea Medical Insurance Corporation cohort study, which had complete records of smoking status as of 1992 for 115 682 male and 67 932 female insured workers.Results:By the disease specific approach, the estimated costs attributable to smoking in 1998 in Korea ranged from US$2269.42 million ($4.89 million per 100 000 population; 0.59% of gross domestic product (GDP)) to $2956.75 million ($6.37 million; 0.78% of GDP). The all causes approach yielded a minimum cost of $3154.75 million ($6.79 million; 0.82% GDP) and a maximum of $4580.25 million ($9.86 million; 1.19% GDP).Conclusion:The study confirms that smoking places a substantial economic burden on Korean society. In light of this, our study provides evidence for a strong need to develop a national policy to effectively control tobacco consumption in Korea.
The importance of social sources of cigarettes to school students
Authors: Croghan E , Aveyard P , Griffin C , Cheng K K 
Published: February 2003

Objective:To discover the importance of social sources of tobacco to young people as opposed to commercial sources; to describe the peer market for cigarettes in schools and the consequences for young people of their involvement in it.Study design:Cross sectional questionnaire survey, one-to-one interviews, and focus groups.Setting:Seven schools in Birmingham, UK.Subjects:All students in two randomly selected classes from each school completed the questionnaire, and never smokers, occasional smokers, and regular smokers were interviewed.Results:Two thirds of occasional smokers and one quarter of regular smokers obtained cigarettes socially, mostly for free. A few smokers regularly bought their cigarettes from others. Among friendship groups, both smokers and non-smokers were involved in the exchange of cigarettes, often for money, which is a common activity. A few young people use the selling of cigarettes to fund their own smoking. Some young people, smokers and non-smokers, are involved in semi-commercial selling of cigarettes. All school students are aware of where to purchase cigarettes from non-friends, which is only used “in emergency” because of the high price. One school had a strong punishment policy for students caught with cigarettes. In this school, more people bought singles from the peer market and the price was higher.Conclusions:The passing and selling of cigarettes in school is a common activity, which from the young persons perspective, ensures that all share cross counter purchases. A few people are prepared to use the peer market for monetary gain and it appears to be responsive to external conditions. The peer market might mean that efforts to control illegal sales of cigarettes are not as effective as hoped.
Cigarette use among male and female grade 8–10 students of different ethnicity in South African schools
Authors: Swart D , Reddy P , Ruiter R A C , de Vries H 
Published: February 2003

Objectives:To provide data on the prevalence of cigarette use by male and female South African students of different ethnic backgrounds in grades 8–10 (ages ⩽ 11 to ⩾ 17 years), their age of initiation of cigarette use, as well as their access to cigarettes through underage sales.Design:A nationally representative survey was conducted using self administered questionnaires translated into seven languages.Setting:School based.Participants:Students in grades 8–10 in all of South Africa’s nine provinces.Outcome measures:The prevalence data for current users of cigarettes (smoked on one or more days in 30 days preceding the survey), and for the age of initiation (first smoking cigarettes before the age of 10) were analysed.Results:Of the 160 selected schools, 123 schools participated in the survey. The completed survey comprised 6045 of 7074 selected students; 23% of the sample reported being current users of cigarettes. Significantly more males (28.8%) than females (17.5%), and significantly more “Coloured” students than “Black/African” students were classified as current smokers. Sex was the strongest contributor to the prediction of current smoking status. On the issue of age of initiation, 18.5% of students reported having first smoked cigarettes before the age of 10 years with more “Black/African” students than “Coloured” having done so.Conclusions:In order to tailor tobacco control programmes to the needs of students, historical “racial”/ethnic and sex differences have to be taken into account. Specific determinant studies are needed to understand these differences and to develop appropriate responses.
Use of cognitive therapy for relapse prevention in chronic depression
Authors: Scott Jan , Palmer Stephen , Paykel Eugene , Teasdale John , Hayhurst Hazel 
Published: February 2003

BackgroundThere is a lack of data on the cost-effectiveness of relapse prevention in depression.MethodA total of 158 subjects with partially remitted major depression despite adequate clinical treatment were randomly allocated to cognitive therapy in addition to antidepressants and clinical management v. antidepressants and clinical management alone. Relapse rates and health care resource utilisation were measured prospectively over 17 months.ResultsCumulative relapse rates in the cognitive therapy group were significantly lower than in the control group (29%v.47%). The incremental cost incurred in subjects receiving cognitive therapy over 17 months (£779; 95% CI £387–£1170) was significantly lower than the overall mean costs of cognitive therapy (£1164; 95% CI £1084–£1244). The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio ranged from £4328 to £5027 per additional relapse prevented.ConclusionsIn individuals with depressive symptoms that are resistant to standard treatment, adjunctive cognitive therapy is more costly but more effective than intensive clinical treatment alone.
Disintegration of the components of language as the path to a revision of Bleuler's and Schneider's concepts of schizophrenia
Authors: Ceccherini-Nelli Alfonso , Crow Timothy J. 
Published: February 2003

BackgroundThe 20th century ended without a resolution of the debate about the supremacy of Schneider's psychopathological conceptualisation of schizophrenia (the first-rank symptoms) over Bleuler's ‘four As' (disorders of association and affect, ambivalence and autism).AimsTo examine the relationships between linguistic deviations and symptoms in patients with acute psychosis.MethodWe assessed language disturbances and first-rank symptoms with the Clinical Language Disorder Rating Scale (CLANG) in 30 consecutive patients with acute psychosis, selected for the presence of at least one active first-rank symptom, and 15 control participants with depression but no psychotic symptoms.ResultsStrong positive correlations were found between the CLANG factor ‘poverty’ (of speech) and first-rank delusions of control and (‘delusional perceptions’) between semantic/phonemic paraphasias and verbal auditory hallucinations. Language disturbances were superior to nuclear symptoms in discriminating ICD–10 schizophrenia from other psychoses.ConclusionsEvaluating the features of psychosis as deviations in the cerebral organisation of language paves the way to a concept of psychosis that supersedes these traditional but competing categorical concepts.
Care needs of elderly people with schizophrenia
Authors: Mcnulty Seamus V. , Duncan Laing , Semple Margaret , Jackson Graham A. , Pelosi Anthony J. 
Published: February 2003

BackgroundLittle is known of the needs of elderly patients with psychotic illnesses.AimsTo measure the care needs of an epidemiologically based group of patients over the age of 65 years suffering from psychotic illness, using a standardised assessment.MethodAll patients aged 65 years and over with a diagnosis of schizophrenia and related disorders from a defined catchment area were identified. Their health and social care needs were investigated using the Cardinal Needs Schedule.ResultsThe 1-year prevalence of schizophrenia and related disorders was 4.44 per 1000 of the population at risk. There were high levels of unmet need for many patients, including those in National Health Service (NHS) continuing-care beds.ConclusionsMany needs were identified, all of which could be addressed using the existing skills of local health and social care professionals. The investigation raises serious concerns about standards of hospital and community care for elderly patients with schizophrenia. The findings may be unique, reflecting long-standing problems within a particularly hard-pressed part of the NHS. However, it is not known whether a similar situation exists in other parts of the UK.
Assertive community treatment across the Atlantic: comparison of model fidelity in the UK and USA
Authors: Fiander Matthew , Burns Tom , Mchugo Gregory J. , Drake Robert E. 
Published: February 2003

BackgroundThe significant reductions in hospital admission demonstrated in US assertive community treatment (ACT) studies have not been replicated in the UK. Explanations cite poor UK ‘model fidelity’ and/or better UK standard care. No international model-fidelity comparisons exist.AimsTo compare high-fidelity US ACT teams with a UK team.MethodThe UK700's ACT team (n=97) was compared with high-fidelity US ACT teams (n=73) by using two measures: a forerunner of the Dartmouth Assertive Community Treatment schedule (to assess adherence to ACT principles) and 2-year prospective activity data.ResultsThe UK and US teams had similar high-fidelity scores. Although significant differences were found in the amount and type of activity, practice differences in areas central to ACT were not great.ConclusionsThe failure of UK ACT studies to demonstrate the outcome differences of early US studies cannot be attributed entirely to the lack of ACT fidelity.
Electroconvulsive therapy in Hong Kong
Authors: Chung K.-F. , Ng Y.-K. , Yiu G.-C. , Cheung H.-K. 
Published: February 2003

Aims and MethodWe conducted the first systematic territory-wide survey of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) practice and utilisation in Hong Kong. All public ECT services were evaluated with a postal questionnaire, a visit and observations of ECT administration. All private ECT practitioners were surveyed using a postal questionnaire.ResultsMost practice areas at the public ECT services in Hong Kong complied with College guidelines. However, a few private practitioners were still using outdated ECT machines. The number of ECT courses completed in 1998 was 0.34 per 10 000 population, which was much lower than the rate of ECT use in Western countries.Clinical ImplicationsWe obtained basic information on ECT services in Hong Kong and on areas requiring immediate attention.