bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Prescription of diamorphine, dipipanone and cocaine in England and Wales
Authors: SELL LOUISE , FARRELL MICHAEL , ROBSON PHILIP 
Published: October 2005

AbstractThe vast majority of substitute prescribing to opiate addicts in England and Wales is of oral methadone [1]. The prescription of diamorphine, dipipanone and cocaine to addicts is allowed subject to the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act. Prescription of these drugs has aroused international interest and controversy in the United Kingdom although research is scanty [2,3]. This report is a description of the current attitudes about, and practice of, prescribing diamorphine, dipipanone and cocaine by medical practitioners in the addiction field in England and Wales. A questionnaire was devised and sent to drug services in England and Wales which provided a prescribing service. Among respondents who reported that they currently hold a licence for heroin, dipipanone or cocaine, the number of patients treated by each doctor varied widely; from a handful of patients to 100 heroin patients. Dosage currently used ranged from a minimum of 10 mg to a maximum of 1000 mg daily for heroin. Doses of dipipanone were lower. More respondents thought that heroin and dipipanone were clinically justified in some situations than thought that they should never be prescribed, while the opinions were reversed in the case of cocaine.
Personality disorder and drug use: a review
Authors: SEIVEWRIGHT NICHOLAS , DALY CHRISTOPHER 
Published: October 2005

AbstractThe concept of personality disorder (PD) is more relevant in the clinical management of drug users than other approaches to personality assessment. A problem in diagnosis is separating behaviours inherent in the activity of drug misuse from true evidence of PD, especially the anti‐social type (ASPD), and rating instruments vary in their ability to do this. Nevertheless, the available evidence suggests that approximately two‐thirds of drug users in treatment have PD, with ASPD the most common. Studies have mainly been in opiate users, while the prevalence of PD may be lower across the range of drugs, and in non‐treatment settings. PD has been found to be associated with a range of complications and adverse outcomes in drug use, including psychiatric problems, poor social functioning, dropout from treatment, and increased HIV risk behaviours and infection rates. Outcomes for ASPD individuals in methadone maintenance treatment appear reasonable, however, and it may be that early recourse to such treatment is the most practical option for many PD opiate users, a potential criticism being that this does not directly address the PD problems.
Alcohol and suicide in Switzerland—an aggregate‐level analysis
Authors: GMEL GERHARD , REHM JÜRGEN , GHAZINOURI AMIR 
Published: October 2005

AbstractAt the aggregate‐data level, time‐series analysis of annual data for the period 1950–90 gives little support for a relation between alcohol consumption and suicide in Switzerland. Input series in the analysis were per capita consumption and rates of unemployment and divorce. Output series were gender‐specific and age‐adjusted suicide rates. Different time‐series techniques were used to assure stationarity and to avoid spurious correlation because of common trends. The Box‐Jenkins approach on differenced data was compared with simultaneous equation modelling, where time trends were modeled by means of dummy variables. The effects were weak and unstable for different methods. The advantage of simultaneous equation models is discussed. Furthermore, a single “harmonic” long‐term wave explained more of the variance in the suicide rates than any input variable examined. Its implication for a “natural suicide rate” is considered.
Support for harm‐reduction among staff of specialized addiction treatment services in Ontario, Canada
Authors: OGBORNE ALAN C. , BIRCHMORE‐TIMNEY CAROL 
Published: October 2005

AbstractIn a mail survey of staff of specialized addiction treatment services in Ontario, respondents from different types of services varied in their level of support for a variety of harm reduction initiatives. Across all types of services support was common for needle exchange services (82–95% in favour) and for short‐term non‐abstinence goals for clients with alcohol or drug problems (51–98% in favour). However, mean ratings for the effectiveness of methadone maintenance were negative or near zero, and only in assessment/referral and out‐patient samples did the majority (61% in each case) have a positive view of methadone maintenance programmes. Only a minority of respondents (15% to 35%) indicated support for the prescription of heroin to heroin addicts. In multivariate analyses, support for harm‐reduction strategies was found to be positively related to belief in the effectiveness of pharmacological and cognitive‐behavioural interventions and working in an out‐patient treatment service, and negatively related to belief in interventions based on the disease model.
Resistance of grammatical impairment to computerized comprehension training in children with specific and non‐specific language impairments
Authors: Bishop D. V. M. , Adams C. V. , Rosen S. 
Published: October 2005

AbstractBackground: Receptive language impairments in school‐age children have a poor prognosis, yet there is a dearth of research on effective interventions.Aims: Children's responses to a computerized grammatical training program were evaluated to consider whether repeated responding to spoken sentences with variable semantic content and the same syntactic structure would lead to consistent and fluent comprehension.Methods & Procedures: Children with receptive language impairments aged from 8 to 13 years were randomly assigned to three groups: Group S (n= 12) responded to reversible sentences in a computerized game, using speech stimuli with pauses before critical phrases. Group M (n= 12) had the same stimuli acoustically modified to lengthen and amplify dynamic portions of the signal. Group U (n= 9) was an untrained control group. On average, children in groups S and M completed over 1000 training trials, focusing on training comprehension of reversible sentences.Outcomes & Results: Although responses speeded up over the course of training, and most children performed well above chance, accuracy typically remained below 95% correct for constructions such as above/below and reversible active/passive. Trained groups did not differ from untrained children on language or auditory outcomes. There was no evidence that acoustically modified speech input enhanced comprehension.Conclusions: Rote training of comprehension of reversible sentences does not seem to be an effective approach to remediating such problems. For most children, the pattern of performance suggested that the problem was not a lack of syntactic knowledge, bur rather limited processing capacity that led to failures of on‐line computation of meaning.
Electrical stimulation of unloaded muscles causes cardiovascular exercise by increasing oxygen demand
Authors: Banerjee Prithwish , Clark Andrew , Witte Klaus , Crowe Louis , Caulfield Brian 
Published: October 2005

BackgroundThe development of new strategies to encourage increased levels of physical activity can help to reduce the incidence of cardiovascular disease. A new system of electrical muscle stimulation (EMS) has been developed that attempts to cause an increase in energy expenditure by mimicking the action of shivering in the body. The purpose of this study was to show that this form of EMS is capable of eliciting a cardiovascular exercise response in healthy adults.DesignAn observational study.MethodsTen healthy volunteers completed a maximal treadmill test and four EMS sessions using a hand-held EMS device that delivered current to the body via five silicone rubber electrodes on each leg. At each session subjects completed 3 min stimulation at each of four stimulation outputs (10, 20, 30 and 40% of maximum output) while cardiopulmonary gas exchange and heart rate (HR) were measured. Physiological responses at increasing levels of stimulation were evaluated.ResultsAverage (±SD) HR and oxygen consumption (VO2) levels of 67 ± 11 bpm and 4.7 ± 1.2 ml/kg per min at rest, respectively, were increased to 186 ± 10 bpm and 44.9 ± 9.8 ml/kg per min at peak exercise intensity on treadmill testing. The electrical stimulation was generally well tolerated by the subjects. Subjects demonstrated statistically significant increases in all physiological variables measured with successive increases in stimulation intensity. Peak HR and VO2at 40% stimulation intensity were 101 ±12 bpm and 14.9 ± 4.3 ml/kg per min, respectively.ConclusionsThese results demonstrate that this form of EMS is capable of producing a physiological response consistent with cardiovascular exercise at mild to moderate intensities. It achieves this without producing gross movement of the limbs or loading of the joints. This EMS-induced cardiovascular exercise response could be used to promote increased levels of physical activity in populations unable to participate in voluntary exercise.
A comparison of the associations between risk factors and cardiovascular disease in Asia and Australasia
Authors:   Asia Pacific Cohort Studies Collaboration∗
Published: October 2005

Background Cardiovascular disease is already the leading cause of death in many Asian populations. Relationships between vascular risk factors and cardiovascular disease may differ in Asian and western populations. Previously, a lack of prospective data has prevented the reliable quantification of such differences, which, if they were shown to exist, would suggest that novel cardiovascular prevention and treatment strategies are required for Asia. Design An individual participant data meta-analysis of 32 studies from the Asia-Pacific region involving 331 100 subjects (75% from Asia; 25% from the predominantly Caucasian populations of Australia and New Zealand). Methods Outcomes were death from coronary heart disease, ischaemic and haemorrhagic stroke. Hazard ratios were estimated from Cox models for systolic blood pressure (SBP), total cholesterol, triglycerides, body mass index, diabetes and current cigarette smoking, stratified by study and sex and adjusted for age, the other risk factors and regression dilution. Results After an average period of follow-up of 4 years there were 2082 deaths from coronary heart disease, 600 from haemorrhagic stroke and 420 from ischaemic stroke. The direction and strength of the associations between risk factors and cardiovascular outcomes were similar in the two regions, although in two cases there were significant differences. Triglycerides were more strongly associated with coronary heart disease in Australia and New Zealand ( P = 0.03), whereas SBP showed a stronger relationship with haemorrhagic stroke in Asia ( P = 0.04). Conclusions Classical vascular risk factors act similarly in Asian and Caucasian populations; prevention and treatment strategies should thus be similar. Blood pressure reduction should be particularly effective in Asia.
Building prediction models for coronary heart disease by synthesizing multiple longitudinal research findings
Authors: Hu Guizhou , Root Martin M. 
Published: October 2005

Background No methodology is currently available to allow the combining of individual risk factor information derived from different longitudinal studies for a chronic disease in a multivariate fashion. This paper introduces such a methodology, named Synthesis Analysis, which is essentially a multivariate meta-analytic technique. Design The construction and validation of statistical models using available data sets. Methods and results Two analyses are presented. (1) With the same data, Synthesis Analysis produced a similar prediction model to the conventional regression approach when using the same risk variables. Synthesis Analysis produced better prediction models when additional risk variables were added. (2) A four-variable empirical logistic model for death from coronary heart disease was developed with data from the Framingham Heart Study. A synthesized prediction model with five new variables added to this empirical model was developed using Synthesis Analysis and literature information. This model was then compared with the four-variable empirical model using the first National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES I) Epidemiologic Follow-up Study data set. The synthesized model had significantly improved predictive power ( x2 = 43.8, P < 0.00001). Conclusions Synthesis Analysis provides a new means of developing complex disease predictive models from the medical literature.
Moral problems and distress among nurse practitioners in primary care
Authors: Laabs Carolyn A. 
Published: October 2005

PurposeTo identify the ethical issues nurse practitioners (NPs) encounter in primary care, examine the types of moral problems that arise related to those issues, and determine the level of distress NPs experience.Data sourceSelf‐reported responses to an investigator‐designed, anonymous, mailed survey on a convenience sample of 71 NPs practicing in primary care in one midwestern metropolitan area.ConclusionsThis preliminary descriptive study identified a number and variety of ethical issues NPs encounter in primary care. The issue encountered with the greatest frequency was patient refusal of appropriate treatment. Distress was reported most often over problems of moral dilemma, followed by moral distress, and least often, moral uncertainty and moral outrage. Another type of moral problem, possibly related to conflict between patient autonomy and NP beneficence, occurred almost as often as moral dilemma. Not as many NPs reported encountering ethical issues or being distressed as the literature suggests. The reason for this is unclear but may be related to NPs’ sense of moral responsibility or their ability to discern subtle ethical issues in the complex primary care environment. Regardless of moral problem, NPs felt frustrated and powerless. As a result, some changed jobs and contemplated leaving advanced practice.Implications for practiceMore research is needed to clearly understand ethical issues and moral problems for NPs in primary care, how NPs identify and manage problems, and the effects on NPs and patients.
Interdiffusion in the System SrF2‐BaF2
Authors: SCHEIDECKER R. W. , BERARD M. F. 
Published: October 2005

A microprobe study of interdiffusion between 1033° and 1238°C in the system SrF2‐BaF2 was conducted using single crystals. The interdiffusion coefficient, D, generally decreased with increasing SrF2 concentration, but the composition dependence of D decreased with decreasing temperature. Extrapolation of D values to infinite dilution allowed the impurity cation self‐ diffusion coefficients:
image
The values for DSr in BaF2 are in excellent agreement with tracer results. An analysis of the activation energies for cations diffusing in alkaline‐earth fluorides shows a direct correlation between constriction ratio and migration energy for a single ion diffusing in different fluorides. An apparent anomaly arises when attempting to correlate migration energy with structural information for different cations diffusing in the same fluoride.
Genetic diversity among horse populations with a special focus on the Franches‐Montagnes breed
Authors: Glowatzki‐Mullis M. L. , Muntwyler J. , Pfister W. , Marti E. , Rieder S. , Poncet P. A. , Gaillard C. 
Published: October 2005

SummaryGenetic characterization helps to assure breed integrity and to assign individuals to defined populations. The objective of this study was to characterize genetic diversity in six horse breeds and to analyse the population structure of the Franches‐Montagnes breed, especially with regard to the degree of introgression with Warmblood. A total of 402 alleles from 50 microsatellite loci were used. The average number of alleles per locus was significantly lower in Thoroughbreds and Arabians. Average heterozygosities between breeds ranged from 0.61 to 0.72. The overall average of the coefficient of gene differentiation because of breed differences was 0.100, with a range of 0.036–0.263. No significant correlation was found between this parameter and the number of alleles per locus. An increase in the number of homozygous loci with increasing inbreeding could not be shown for the Franches‐Montagnes horses. The proportion of shared alleles, combined with the neighbour‐joining method, defined clusters for Icelandic Horse, Comtois, Arabians and Franches‐Montagnes. A more disparate clustering could be seen for European Warmbloods and Thoroughbreds, presumably from frequent grading‐up of Warmbloods with Thoroughbreds. Grading‐up effects were also observed when Bayesian and Monte Carlo resampling approaches were used for individual assignment to a given population. Individual breed assignments to defined reference populations will be very difficult when introgression has occurred. The Bayesian approach within the Franches‐Montagnes breed differentiated individuals with varied proportions of Warmblood.
Predominance of type 1 CD4+T cells in human abdominal aortic aneurysm
Authors: Galle C , Schandené L , Stordeur P , Peignois Y , Ferreira J , Wautrecht J-C , Dereume J-P , Goldman M 
Published: October 2005

Summary
The functional repertoire of T cells in abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) and the exact nature of aortic wall adaptive cellular immune responses still remains a matter of debate. In this study, we sought to determine whether type 1 or type 2 responses occur predominantly in human aneurysmal aortic lesions. We first examined the phenotype and cytokine secretion profile of T lymphocytes freshly isolated from aneurysmal aortic wall for comparison with their circulating counterparts using flow cytometry. We found that both populations of infiltrating CD4+ and CD8+T cells displayed a unique activated memory phenotype. In addition, we identified the presence in human aneurysmal aortic lesion of CD4+T cells producing high levels of interferon (IFN)-γ but not interleukin (IL)-4, reflecting their type 1 nature. Quantitative analysis of cytokine gene expression confirmed increased IFN-γ transcript levels in infiltrating cells compared to controls. We next analysed aortic wall responses using LightCycler-based quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Compared to control non-diseased aortic samples, we demonstrated that whole AAA tissues exhibited high mRNA levels of IFN-γ but not IL-4. Overexpression of the transcription factor T-bet in the absence of significant GATA-3 expression further assessed the type 1 polarization of aortic wall immune responses. These findings indicate that type 1 CD4+T cells predominate in human AAA lesions. This study has important implications for the pathogenesis of aneurysm disease. Through the production of IFN-γ, T cells may indeed contribute to orchestrate extracellular matrix remodelling.
Long‐term records of strontium isotopic composition in tree rings suggest changes in forest calcium sources in the early 20th century
Authors: Drouet Thomas , Herbauts Jacques , Demaiffe Daniel 
Published: October 2005

AbstractMany studies made in Europe and North America have shown an increasing depletion of exchangeable base cations that may cause tree nutritional deficiencies in sensitive soils. We use radial variation of strontium isotope in tree‐rings (87Sr/86Sr ratio) to monitor possible changes in Ca sources for tree nutrition (Sr is used as an analog to Ca). The two main sources of Ca in forest stands are mineral weathering release and atmospheric inputs. Measurements in several forest stands in temperate regions show a steep decrease from pith to outer wood of the Sr isotope ratio from∼1870 to∼1920 except for stands developed on soils with a higher Ca status. This suggests a decrease of the weathering contribution (high 87Sr/86Sr ratio) when cations are displaced from the soil exchange complex by acid deposition at a rate faster than the replenishment of the cation pool by mineral weathering. This displacement enhances the atmospheric contribution, which is characterized by a low 87Sr/86Sr ratio. Tree‐ring chronologies are an exceptional historic‐timing record of chemical changes in the soil environment induced by atmospheric pollution. The reliability of the tree‐ring recorder has been verified with a well‐controlled nutritional perturbation in the context of a limed forest stand (with a known liming Sr isotopic signature). Our data suggest that forest ecosystems were affected by atmospheric inputs of strong acids earlier than previously thought.
Vegetation, climatic changes and net carbon sequestration in a North‐Scandinavian subarctic mire over 30 years
Authors: Malmer Nils , Johansson Torbjörn , Olsrud Maria , Christensen Torben R. 
Published: October 2005

AbstractThis study deals with changes in the plant cover and its net carbon sequestration over 30 years on a subarctic Sphagnum‐mire with permafrost near Abisko, northernmost Sweden, in relation to climatic variations during the same period. Aerial colour infrared images from 1970 and 2000 were compared to reveal changes in surface structure and vegetation over the whole mire, while the plant populations were studied within a smaller, mainly ombrotrophic part. The results demonstrated two processes, namely (1) that wet sites dominated by graminoids expanded while hummock sites dominated by dwarf shrubs receded, and (2) that on the hummocks lichens expanded while evergreen dwarf shrubs and mosses decreased, both processes creating an instability in the surface structure. A successive degradation of the permafrost is the likely reason for the increase in wet areas, while the changes in the hummock vegetation might have resulted from higher spring temperatures giving rise to an intensified snow melt, exposing the vegetation to frost drought. Because of the vegetation changes, the annual litter input of carbon to the mire has increased slightly, by 4 g m−2 a−1 (7.3%), over these years while an increased erosion has resulted in a loss of 40–80 Mg carbon or 7–17 g m−2 a−1 for the entire mire over the same period. As the recalcitrant proportion of the litter has decreased, the decay rate in the acrotelm might be expected to increase in the future.