bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans: A clinicopathological analysis of 10 cases in Asians
Authors: Tan Audrey WH , Tan Suat Hoon 
Published: December 2004

SUMMARYDermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DFSP) is a locally aggressive cutaneous neoplasm that exhibits a marked tendency for recurrence after local excision. This case series aims to study the clinical, histological and immunohistochemical features of DFSP in Asians. Ten patients with DFSP diagnosed between 1992 and 2001 were reviewed. There were more women than men in a ratio of 4:1. There were six Chinese, two Malays, one Indian and one Eurasian. The mean age was 38 years. The duration of each lesion before excision varied from 6 months to 27 years. Fifty per cent of tumours occurred on the trunk. On histology, all the lesions were dermal‐centred spindle cell tumours, extending to the subcutis, and exhibited the characteristic storiform pattern. One tumour also demonstrated fibrosarcomatous changes. Two tumours were of the rare pigmented variant (Bednar tumour). Immunohistochemistry with CD34 was positive in all cases, except the fibrosarcomatous area of one tumour, which was negative for CD34. For comparison, six cases of deep‐penetrating dermatofibroma were stained for CD34 and all showed an absence of CD34 expression. Wide excision of the tumour was performed in all cases of DFSP. There was no recurrence after mean follow up of 6 years (range 2.25–9.5 years).
Periodic painful purpura: Fact or factitious?
Authors: Vun Yin Y , Muir James 
Published: December 2004

SUMMARYA 60‐year‐old woman with multiple psychosocial issues presented with a history of spontaneous painful bruising on her left upper arm. Extensive investigations did not reveal any abnormality apart from an elevated activated partial thromboplastin time as a result of factor XII deficiency. An autoerythrocyte sensitization test reproduced the tender bruises on her back. Our patient reported relief of pain with promethazine injections. She was subsequently referred to the psychiatric team for ongoing assessment and management. Having an awareness of this rare condition will assist in the prevention of unnecessary investigation of such cases and will allow the early referral of patients for appropriate psychological counselling.
Allergic contact dermatitis caused by the clothing dye, disperse blue 106, an important contact allergen that may be frequently missed
Authors: Dawes‐Higgs Elizabeth , Freeman Susanne 
Published: December 2004

SUMMARYA 43‐year‐old woman presented with a history of dermatitis in a somewhat linear pattern under her breasts, across her back and around her waist. This dermatitis occurred after wearing a new blue dress with a blue lining. Patch testing showed an allergy to disperse blue 106 dye and also to her dress lining. However, she was not positive to p‐phenylene‐diamine, a dye in the standard patch test series. We recommend that any patient even slightly suspected of having an allergy to a textile dye should be tested with disperse blue, in addition to the standard series.
Simultaneous bilateral percutaneous nephrolithotomy in children
Authors: Salah Morshed A. , Tállai Béla , Holman Endre , Khan Munim A. , Tóth György , Tóth Csaba 
Published: December 2004

In the paediatric section, two papers relating to the upper urinary tract are presented. The first, from Hungary, describes simultaneous bilateral percutaneous nephrolithotomy in 13 patients, where it was deemed feasible; this is the first such report. Authors from London report on unilateral nephrectomy in patients with nephrogenic hypertension, and found that it was successful in normalising blood pressure in patients with renal hypertension with a normal contralateral kidney.OBJECTIVETo evaluate the efficacy of removing bilateral kidney stones simultaneously from children, in one session.PATIENTS AND METHODSThirteen patients (three girls and 10 boys, 26 kidneys; mean age 8 years, range 3–14) underwent simultaneous bilateral percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) in the same session, under general anaesthesia, starting with ureteric catheter insertion into both kidneys and using a 26 F adult nephroscope. The mean (range) stone diameter was 2 (1–3.5) cm. Three patients had staghorn stones in one of their kidneys. Ultrasonic disintegration was used; two patients had bilateral and two others unilateral endopylotomy, and one patient had percutaneous suprapubic cystolithotomy in the same session. The mean (range) operative duration was 65 (55–90) min.RESULTSAll patients were rendered stone‐free; there was no severe bleeding or any other complication. On one side in one of the patients, a second session was needed because of residual stone. The nephrostomy tubes were removed 3 and 4 days after PCNL and the hospital stay was 6 (1–11) days.CONCLUSIONThe advantages of simultaneous bilateral PCNL are reduced psychological stress, one cystoscopy and anaesthesia, less medication and a shorter hospital stay and convalescence, with considerable savings in cost. In experienced hands this method can be used not only in adults but also in children. To our knowledge this is the only report of this technique in children.
Comparison of bipolar transurethral resection of the prostate with standard transurethral prostatectomy: shorter stay, earlier catheter removal and fewer complications
Authors: Starkman Jonathan S. , Santucci Richard A. 
Published: December 2004

Authors from Detroit assess the use of the bipolar TURP against the monopolar technique; there were relatively few patients, reflecting the decreasing requirement for TURP in the USA. In addition, the amount of resected tissue was not particularly large, almost certainly a reflection of the decreasing size of resected prostatic tissue in that country. They found the bipolar TURP to have many advantages over standard monopolar TURP, and these are described.Acute urinary retention is a common urological emergency, and authors from London found that it had a measurable impact on the health‐related quality of life of patients who develop this problem. They describe particularly how painful a condition it is, and that it had a significant economic burden.OBJECTIVETo assess bipolar transurethral prostatectomy (TURP) using the Gyrus system (Gyrus Medical, Maple Grove, MD) compared with a standard monopolar TURP.PATIENTS AND METHODSAll 43 patients undergoing TURP from November 2000 to August 2002 were reviewed retrospectively; the 1.5‐year observation period allowed for the detection of late complications. In all, 18 consecutive patients had standard and 25 had bipolar TURP.RESULTSThe resection was 18 g for standard and 15 g for the Gyrus TURP (part of the Gyrus chips are vaporized during resection). The Foley catheter was removed sooner (1.8 vs 3.2 days) and the hospital stay was less in the Gyrus group (1.2 vs 2.1 days). Acute complications occurred in a third of the standard group and four (16%) of the Gyrus group. Long‐term complications were comparable, at two each in the standard and Gyrus groups. Four patients (15%) with small glands went home on the day of surgery, needing no bladder irrigation after Gyrus TURP.CONCLUSIONFew innovations in TURP technique have been described in the past few decades but comparing Gyrus to standard TURP showed that the former allows earlier removal of the urinary catheter and earlier discharge from hospital, while decreasing complications. The Gyrus system also has other benefits; it allows coagulation of tissue during resection, resulting in excellent intraoperative visualization, and normal saline is used as the irrigant fluid, reducing the potential for TUR syndrome. The shorter stay after Gyrus TURP can result in cost savings of up to $1200/patient/day at our institution.
Para‐Graph: Graph‐Based Parameterization of Triangle Meshes with Arbitrary Genus
Authors: Patanè Giuseppe , Spagnuolo Michela , Falcidieno Bianca 
Published: December 2004

AbstractThis paper describes a novel approach to the parameterization of triangle meshes representing 2‐manifolds with an arbitrary genus. A topology‐based decomposition of the shape is computed and used to segment the shape into primitives, which define a chart decomposition of the mesh. Then, each chart is parameterized using an extension of the barycentric coordinates method. The charts are all 0‐genus and can be of three types only, depending on the number of boundary components. The chart decomposition and the parameterization are used to define a shape graph where each node represents one primitive and the arcs code the adjacency relationships between the primitives. Conical and cylindrical primitives are coded together with their skeletal lines that are computed from and aligned with their parameterization. The application of the parameterization approach to remeshing guarantees that extraordinary vertices are localized only where two patches share a boundary and they are not scattered on the whole surface.
Visual image retrieval: seeking the alliance of concept-based and content-based paradigms
Authors: Enser Peter 
Published: December 2004

In the commercial use of picture collections, a heavy dependency continues to be exhibited on a concept-based image retrieval paradigm in which the query is verbalised by the client and resolved as a metadata text-matching operation. The practical and philosophical challenges posed by the indexing aspect of image metadata construction are significant and frequently expressed. Nevertheless, it has taken image digitisation to bring this particular information retrieval problem to prominence in the research agenda. Metamorphosed into a binary data structure, the digital image offers some enticing processing opportunities which content-based image retrieval techniques are exploiting with developing success. Drawing on studies of user need, this paper seeks to explain why a heavy dependency will continue to be placed on concept-based rather than content-based image retrieval techniques within archival image collections. In contrast, the promising nature of content-based techniques from the viewpoint of a growing clientele with less traditional visual information needs will also be considered. The paper concludes by offering the view that, while both concept-based and content-based approaches suffer from operational limitations, the further development of a hybrid image retrieval paradigm which combines the two approaches makes a potentially valuable contribution to the research agenda for visual image retrieval.
The impact of computer usage on scholarly communication among social scientists
Authors: Costa Sely , Meadows Jack 
Published: December 2004

An examination has been made of the effects of using information technology on the communication of research by social scientists in Brazil. Two disciplines were studied - economics and sociology - via both interviews and a questionnaire survey. A small sample of UK social scientists was also interviewed. The results indicate that major changes in communication habits are occurring. These are already well advanced for informal communication and are beginning to appear for formal communication. Differences have been found between economists and sociologists, with the former more active in their use of electronic facilities. Along with such discipline-related differences, the developments also appear to be influenced, in part, by pressures from the research community and from the institutional environment. One significant impact of information technology seems to be an increasing democratisation of the international research community.
Are structured abstracts more or less accurate than traditional ones? A study in the psychological literature
Authors: Hartley James 
Published: December 2004

Background: Recent studies of structured abstracts in medical journal articles have shown that they do not always reflect accurately the work that is reported in more detail in the subsequent text. It is not known, however, whether or not structured abstracts fare better or worse than traditional ones in this respect. Aim: The aim of this study was to compare the accuracy of traditional and structured versions of the same abstracts prepared for publication in psychology journals. Method: Thirty traditional abstracts - originally written to accompany articles submitted for publication in journals published by the British Psychological Society (BPS) - were compared with the 30 structured ones that the authors were required to submit when their papers had been later accepted for publication. The abstracts were examined to see whether or not they contained data that were inconsistent with the corresponding data in the subsequent articles. Results: Few inaccuracies were found and there was no evidence that these structured abstracts fared any better or worse than the traditional abstracts in this respect. The structured abstracts contained more information and were, therefore, more informative, but they were no more inaccurate than the traditional ones. However, there were examples of what might be called ‘selective reporting’ in both types of abstract and both styles contained information that could have been provided more clearly. Conclusions: This study suggests that there are few inaccuracies in abstracts published by the BPS and few differences between traditional and structured abstracts in this respect. The difference between these results and those obtained in the medical field most probably reflects the nature of the abstracts in these different disciplines.
A review of the status of 20 digital libraries
Authors: Meyyappan N. , Chowdhury G. G. , Foo Schubert 
Published: December 2004

Recent proliferation of research in digital libraries has given rise to a number of working digital libraries around the world. These digital libraries have been defined, designed and developed differently and therefore the experience that one might have from one particular digital library might not be the same with other digital libraries. Current status of 20 digital libraries around the world: twelve from the USA, three from the UK, two from Australia, one from New Zealand, one from Singapore and one from Canada, has been reviewed. Various features of these selected digital libraries were collected from their home pages, journal articles and the information published on the World Wide Web. The parameters used to study the chosen digital libraries include: contents, type of library, organisation, user interface, access, information retrieval, search features, output format and links to other Internet resources. While some of the chosen digital libraries cater for specific subject or document format, others play the role of digital as well as virtual libraries, giving access to the local digital collection as well as remote collections accessible through the Web. While most of these digital libraries have been developed for use in-house or by authorised users, some digital libraries are globally accessible. The chosen digital libraries differ in terms of the information search and output facilities; very few have the facility to store search histories. Only four digital libraries have books in electronic form: National Library of Canada in general area, GUTENBERG in subject-specific area and SETIS and Carnegie Mellon University in special collection areas. The review confirms that while digital libraries to date have been quite useful, there is need for further improvements in terms of user interfaces and information facilities. Additionally, this study reveals that two different types of digital libraries are likely to emerge in future. The first are subject- and document-specific digital libraries that will cater for specific subjects and types of information, like digital video, maps, photographs and paintings, theses, and so on. The second are hybrid libraries that will link the traditional libraries with its online public access catalogue (OPAC), CD-ROM and online databases to the world of digital libraries and virtual libraries or gateways. The provision of personalised information services is an emerging trend in digital libraries to provide the next higher level of functionality to support users’ specific information needs and preferred search and retrieval strategies.
Evaluating consumer website logs: a case study of The Times/The Sunday Times website
Authors: Nicholas David , Huntington Paul , Lievesley Nat , Wasti A. 
Published: December 2004

Information professionals have featured strongly in the evaluation of the use of commercial online hosts and online public access catalogues, but not so strongly in the evaluation of the use of websites. This paper describes a piece of research that was conducted on The Times/The Sunday Times websites, to determine the most appropriate methods for evaluating use and to establish what forms of analysis could best be derived. A database of one million subscribers and three months’ worth of logs, constituting 65 million lines of data, were obtained and the data were analysed using parsing techniques and the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. There were problems associated with the analysis, largely because of the difficulties in establishing the identity of Web users, determining what actually constitutes use and measuring the time spent online. Men in their 30s were the sites’ most numerous subscribers. The majority of subscribers were foreign and came from commercial organisations. Use varied considerably from hour to hour and day to day and from country to country: in the UK, midweek lunchtimes proved very popular. On average, a user conducted 2.35 sessions over the survey period, spent 15 minutes on a search session and 0.5-2.1 minutes on reading a page. Commercial organisations and Americans were the heaviest users and news pages proved to be the most popular.
Building competitive skills in small and medium-sized enterprises through innovation management techniques: overview of an Italian experience
Authors: Libutti Luciana 
Published: December 2004

The paper reports on the work and the results of the IMTIC (Innovation Management Techniques for Industry Clusters) Project supported by the European Commission’s Innovation Programme. The purpose of the project was to make industrial small and medium-sized enterprises aware of the possibilities offered by innovation management techniques (IMTs) in planning and implementing long-term business strategies. IMTs were presented and outlined to a number of industrial clusters in five Italian regions in the areas of: (i) marketing of innovation, (ii) Technology Watch (TW), (iii) Technology Search (TS), (iv) management of intellectual property rights and (v) quality management. The Institute for Studies on Research and Scientific Documentation (ISRDS) of the National Research Council (CNR) of Italy was one of the subcontractors for the project. The main task assigned to ISRDS/CNR was to set up the methodological framework for two innovative techniques: TW and TS. In particular, the methodological process for setting up TW and TS is described. Monitoring by ISRDS of the project phases and the control of the results are also described.
A critical review of the application of citation studies to the Research Assessment Exercises
Authors: Warner Julian 
Published: December 2004

The Research Assessment Exercises (RAE) conducted in the UK have attractedvarious types of published response. These include citation analyses and a review of the public reception of the RAE 1996, which included a brief critique of the citation studies. This paper develops the critique. Largely unexplored issues in the theory or assumptions of bibliometrics, e.g. the level of citation which corresponds to a quantum of research quality, are found to emerge in the studies. A weak, and unsatisfactorily treated, correlation between citation aggregates and research quality for individual entities is revealed. The proposal to replace informed peer review by citation analysis is regarded as highly unrealistic. Productive uses for citation analysis in research evaluation are suggested. A historically rare instance of correlation between rankings derived from citation aggregates and from real world peer review has been revealed by the studies. The future value of citation analysis could be to inform, but not to determine, judgements of research quality. A combination of methods is advocated for future studies of the RAEs. Information science must attend to considerations of value, as well as using established techniques, if it is to avoid marginalisation.
Internet technologies in the Himalayas: lessons learned during the 1990
Authors: Akhtar Shahid , Gregson Jon 
Published: December 2004

The Himalayan region is characterised by mountain communities that have many of the poorest and isolated peoples in the world. These communities suffer from poor infrastructure and lack of access to basic resources and services, including relevant information. Since the mid-1990s, Internet technologies have been used increasingly in different parts of the Himalayan region, in an attempt to address problems of information access and sharing and of communication among and between communities. The overall objectives of using these technologies in mountain areas have been to bring about an improvement in the quality of life and to seek to avoid increasing marginalisation of mountain communities through a widening ‘information gap’ between the richer, ‘connected’ urban populations and the poorer isolated rural communities. There is growing interest on the part of various players, including governments, private organisations and nongovernmental organisations (NGOs), to promote the use of the Internet and related information and communication technologies. Among the international NGOs, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) plays a unique role in the Himalayas, as it has a mandate to specifically serve communities in mountain areas and it works throughout the region, in Afghanistan, North Pakistan, North India, Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Myanmar. This paper traces the history of Internet usage in the Himalayas and introduces the issues and problems faced in implementing projects and other initiatives to promote usage. Specific reference is made to examples arising from some of ICIMOD’s projects; lessons learned from these experiences are highlighted.
Incorporating window-based passage-level evidence in document retrieval
Authors: Xi Wensi , Xu-Rong Richard , Khoo Christopher S.G. , Lim Ee-Peng 
Published: December 2004

This study investigated whether document retrieval can be improved if documents are divided into smaller sub-documents or passages and the retrieval score for these passages are incorporated in the final retrieval score for the whole document. The documents were segmented by sliding a window of a certain size across the document and extracting the words displayed each time the window stopped. A retrieval score was calculated for each of the passages extracted and the highest score obtained by a passage of that size was taken as the document’s passage-level score for that window size. A range of window sizes was tried. The experimental results indicated that using a fixed window size of 50 words gave better results than other window sizes for the TREC-5 and TREC-6 test collections. This window size yielded a significant retrieval improvement of 24% compared to using the whole-document retrieval score (using the traditional tf*idf weighting scheme with cosine normalisation). However, combining this window score and the whole-document retrieval score did not yield a retrieval improvement. Using a variable window size (ranging from 50 to 400 words) yielded a retrieval improvement of about 5% over using a fixed window size of 50. Different window sizes were found to work best for different queries. If the best window size to use for each query could be predicted accurately, a maximum retrieval improvement of 42% could be obtained. Subsequent work suggests that the usefulness of passage-level evidence in document retrieval depends on the weighting scheme and type of normalisation used in the retrieval method.