bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Clinical management of blunt trauma patients with unilateral rib fractures: A randomized trial
Authors: Gabram Sheryl G. A. , Schwartz Robert J. , Jacobs Lenworth M. , Lawrence Denise , Murphy Marlene A. , Morrow Jeffrey S. , Hopkins Julia S. , Knauft R. Frederic 
Published: October 2004

AbstractOptimal pain management is essential in blunt trauma patients sustaining significant chest trauma. The purpose of this randomized prospective trial was to measure the difference in pulmonary function in nonintubated patients with unilateral multiple rib fractures receiving two modalities of pain relief: systemic narcotic medications alone or local anesthetics given by intrapleural catheter (IPCs). Forty‐two patients were randomized to receive systemic narcotic medications or IPCs for pain control. The patients with IPCs statistically had more compromised pulmonary function as measured by forced vital capacity (FVC) on admission; however, they tended toward a greater objective improvement of FVC on discharge. When analyzing a cohort of severely impaired patients (initial FVC<20%), half of the systemic medication patients compared to only 10% of the IPC group failed and required another mode of therapy. Catheter complications were minor and did not contribute to overall morbidity. The IPC patients had fewer failures than the systemic medication patients.
Octreotide for treatment of postoperative alimentary tract fistulas
Authors: Paran Haim , Neufeld David , Kaplan Ofer , Klausner Joseph , Freund Uri 
Published: October 2004

AbstractEighteen patients with postoperative fistulas of the gastrointestinal tract were treated with the somatostatin analog octreotide between November 1989 and November 1992. Fourteen patients had enterocutaneous fistulas: seven from the duodenum and seven from the ileum. Another three patients had pancreatic fistulas, and one patient had a biliary fistula. Within 24 hours of octreotide treatment, a mean reduction of 52% in the intestinal fistulas' output, 40% in the pancreatic fistulas, and 30% in the biliary fistula was noted. In the intestinal fistulas group the closure rate was 72% after a mean of 11 days. Early closure (mean 6 days) was achieved in all three pancreatic fistulas. In the patient with the biliary fistula a 30% reduction was observed twice following the administration of octreotide, and an increase occurred when it was withheld. The reduction rate of the secretions in high‐output intestinal fistulas (>500 ml/day) was higher than in the low‐output fistulas (63±8% versus 39±4%, p<0.05). Fistula output and the initial response to octreotide treatment had no value in predicting spontaneous healing. In conclusion, octreotide is a valuable tool for the conservative treatment of fistulas of the digestive tract. It is especially valuable for management of high‐output enteric fistulas and pancreatic fistulas.
Impaired liver function and long‐term prognosis after hepatectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma
Authors: Yasui Motoshi , Harada Akio , Torii Akihito , Nakao Akimasa , Nonami Toshiaki , Takagi Hiroshi 
Published: October 2004

AbstractPatients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) show a wide variety of histologic changes in the noncancerous liver parenchyma, and these changes may affect the prognosis. In this study, we grouped patients according to the extent of liver impairment and investigated their long‐term prognosis after hepatectomy for HCC. A total of 194 patients were divided into two groups according to their plasma clearance rate of indocyanine green (ICG‐K) values: those with values <0.13 min‐1 (group A, n=97) and those with values of ≥0.13 min‐1 (group B, n=97). Eighty‐nine patients with stage I or II HCC were also divided into two groups: those with values <0.13 min‐1 (group C, n=52) and those with values of ≥0.13 min‐1 (group D, n=37). Group B patients tended to survive longer than group A patients during 4 years after hepatectomy, and group D patients survived significantly longer than group C patients (p<0.01). There was no significant difference in the recurrence‐free survival rates between those in groups A and B or groups C and D. Because patients with poor liver function frequently had multiple recurrent lesions and limited therapeutic options, patients with good liver function received more intensive treatment. In conclusion, the extent of liver impairment is one of the factors determining long‐term prognosis after hepatectomy for HCC, especially during the early stage of the disease.
High throughput approaches in neuroscience
Authors: Morris C.M. , Wilson K.E. 
Published: October 2004

AbstractTraditional approaches to understanding biological problems are now being advanced with the use of high throughput technologies, which analyse multiple samples simultaneously, or thousands of analytes in a single sample. The application of these technologies in neurochemistry and neuroscience is beginning to be explored and is assisting in the development of new models of drug action, neuroanatomical investigations, and in identifying molecular pathways involved in neurological and psychiatric disease. Tools such as microarray‐based gene expression profiling and 2D and multidimensional proteomic methods are uncovering functional components to a wide variety of neuroscience paradigms and the application of these technologies is set to become standard in analysis.
Strategies to prevent eclampsia in a developing country: II. Use of a maternal pictorial card
Authors: MacGillivray I. , McCaw‐Binns A.M. , Ashley D.E. , Fedrick A. , Golding J. 
Published: October 2004

AbstractObjective: To assess the efficacy and acceptability of a patient‐held pictorial card aimed at raising awareness and appropriate health seeking behavior in response to prodromal symptoms of imminent eclampsia. Method: Pictorial cards (and posters) were issued to antenatal clinics and used to focus instruction and advice to pregnant women. Mothers were surveyed before and after the cards were introduced to assess maternal likelihood of seeking care if edema was seen, and of attending hospital if so advised. We monitored the eclampsia rate. Health workers were interviewed 6 months after cards and posters were issued to determine the acceptability of using the cards as part of routine antenatal care. Results: The card was seen as widely acceptable by health professionals, and increased their own awareness of the prodromal symptoms of eclampsia and their discussion of these symptoms with antenatal mothers. Mothers' awareness and response to symptoms improved significantly and there was a marked drop in eclampsia incidence. Suggested improvements to the card were made by mothers and health workers. Conclusion: The cost of providing a card for every pregnant mother is likely to be offset by health service delivery savings.
Ultrasonographic evaluation of lower uterine segment thickness in patients of previous cesarean section
Authors: Sen S. , Malik S. , Salhan S. 
Published: October 2004

AbstractObjectiveTo evaluate by ultrasonography, the lower uterine segment thickness of women with a previous cesarean delivery and determine a critical thickness above which safe vaginal delivery is predictable.MethodsA prospective observational study of 71 antenatal women with previous cesarean delivery and 50 controls was carried out. Transabdominal and transvaginal ultrasonography were used in both groups to evaluate lower uterine segment thickness. The obstetric outcome in patients with successful vaginal birth and intraoperative findings in women undergoing cesarean delivery were correlated with lower segment thickness.ResultsThe overall vaginal birth after cesarean section (VBAC) was 46.5% and VBAC success rate was 63.5%, the incidence of dehiscence was 2.82%, and there were no uterine ruptures. There was a 96% correlation between transabdominal ultrasonography with magnification and transvaginal ultrasonography. The critical cutoff value for safe lower segment thickness, derived from the receiver operator characteristic curve, was 2.5 mm.ConclusionUltrasonographic evaluation permits better assessment of the risk of scar complication intrapartum, and could allow for safer management of delivery.
Value of subtraction in fat‐saturated three‐dimensional contrast‐enhanced magnetic resonance angiography of the hemodialysis fistula
Authors: Takahashi N. , Sato M. , Niitsu M. , Saida Y. 
Published: October 2004

Purpose: To evaluate image subtraction in a three‐dimensional contrast‐enhanced magnetic resonance angiography (3D CE‐MRA) using fat suppression for the hemodialysis fistula. Material and Methods: Fifteen patients suffering from hemodialysis fistula dysfunction were imaged with 3D CE‐MRA using fat suppression and digital subtraction angiography (DSA). Non‐subtracted and subtracted MRA images using maximum intensity projection (MIP) were constructed and the validity of the MRA interpretations of the degree of vascular stenoses was evaluated using DSA as the standard of reference. Image quality was assessed using qualitative analysis (vessel contrast) and quantitative analysis (contrast‐to‐noise ratio (CNR) of the vessel versus the background). Results: In the vessels with stenosis of 50% or greater, the sensitivity and specificity of the non‐subtracted MRA were 89.5% and 81.8%, respectively, and of the subtracted MRA 89.5% and 86.4%, respectively. There was no significant difference in the detectability of stenoses between either MRA. The vessel contrast of the anterior interosseous artery and the CNR of the anterior interosseous artery versus the background on the subtracted MRA were significantly superior to those on the non‐subtracted MRA. With regard to the radial artery and cephalic vein, there was no significant difference in the vessel contrast and CNR between either MRA. Conclusion: Both subtracted and non‐subtracted MRA techniques are useful in detecting hemodialysis fistula dysfunction.
Repeatability of sonographic measurements in clubfeet
Authors: Aurell Y. , Adlercreutz C. , Andriesse H. , Jonsson K. 
Published: October 2004

Purpose: To assess the intra‐ and interobserver agreement of ultrasound assessment of clubfoot patho‐anatomy in early childhood. Material and Methods: Seventeen clubfeet in 12 children were sequentially scanned by 2 examiners and repeat assessments were carried out independently. Three well‐defined imaging planes were chosen to evaluate navicular displacement: the medial malleolus‐navicular (MM‐N) distance, soft tissue thickness, talar deformity and the calcaneo‐cuboid (C‐C) distance. Intra‐ and interobserver agreement was analysed using Cohen's kappa for the discrete variables and by Bland‐Altman's graphic technique for measurements. Results: Kappa values for intra‐observer agreement were 0.82 for navicular displacement, 0.93 for “talar head pointing laterally”, and 0.70 for medial deviation of the talar neck. The corresponding interobserver kappa values were 0.70, 0.68, and 0.36. The mean difference between the two observers for the MM‐N distance was 0.42±3.0 mm and for the soft tissue thickness 0.35±2.0 mm; the C‐C distance showed a mean interobserver distance of 0.0±2.8 mm. Conclusion: The imaging planes used to study the talo‐navicular and calcaneo‐cuboid relationships are reproducible and relatively easy to learn. Intra‐ and interobserver assessments were acceptable for MM‐N distance, soft tissue thickness, navicular displacement and “talar head pointing laterally”, but questionable for the C‐C distance and medial deviation of the talar neck.
Usefulness of diffusion tensor imaging of white matter in alzheimer disease and vascular dementia
Authors: Sugihara S. , Kinoshita T. , Matsusue E. , Fujii S. , Ogawa T. 
Published: October 2004

Purpose: To evaluate the usefulness of diffusion tensor imaging in detecting the water diffusivity caused by neuropathological change in Alzheimer disease and vascular dementia. Material and Methods: Twenty patients with Alzheimer disease, 20 with vascular dementia, and 10 control subjects were examined. Diffusion tensor imaging applied diffusion gradient encoding in six non‐collinear directions. Fractional anisotropy values were compared in the genu and splenium of the corpus callosum, and anterior and posterior white matter among the three groups. Results: In the patients with Alzheimer disease, fractional anisotropy values of the posterior white matter were significantly lower than those of controls. In patients with vascular dementia, fractional anisotropy values of the anterior white matter tended to be lower than those of the posterior white matter ( P=0.07). Conclusion: Diffusion tensor imaging reflects the neuropathological changes in the white matter, and may be useful in the diagnosis of Alzheimer disease and vascular dementia.
BagBoosting for tumor classification with gene expression data
Authors: Dettling Marcel 
Published: October 2004

Abstract
Motivation: Microarray experiments are expected to contribute significantly to the progress in cancer treatment by enabling a precise and early diagnosis. They create a need for class prediction tools, which can deal with a large number of highly correlated input variables, perform feature selection and provide class probability estimates that serve as a quantification of the predictive uncertainty. A very promising solution is to combine the two ensemble schemes bagging and boosting to a novel algorithm called BagBoosting.
Results: When bagging is used as a module in boosting, the resulting classifier consistently improves the predictive performance and the probability estimates of both bagging and boosting on real and simulated gene expression data. This quasi-guaranteed improvement can be obtained by simply making a bigger computing effort. The advantageous predictive potential is also confirmed by comparing BagBoosting to several established class prediction tools for microarray data.
Availability: Software for the modified boosting algorithms, for benchmark studies and for the simulation of microarray data are available as an R package under GNU public license at http://stat.ethz.ch/~dettling/bagboost.html
TFExplorer: integrated analysis database for predicted transcription regulatory elements
Authors: Kim Jinsoo , Seo Jungmin , Lee Young Seek , Kim Sangsoo 
Published: October 2004

AbstractSummary: TFExplorer is a web-based integrated database for predicted regulatory elements in human, mouse and rat. It shows predicted binding sites of transcription factors in the promoter regions, along with their phylogenetic footprinting information. In addition, TFExplorer can search for genes that have a given sequence pattern in their promoter regions using the motif-searching method.Availability: TFExplorer is freely available at http://mars.kribb.re.kr:8080/tfExplorer/Contact: sskimb@kribb.re.kr
Long-term accumulation of uranium in bones of Wistar rats as a function of intake dosages
Authors: Arruda-Neto J. D. T. , Manso Guevara M. V. , Nogueira G. P. , Saiki M. , Cestari A. C. , Shtejer K. , Deppman A. , Pereira Filho J. W. , Garcia F. , Geraldo L. P. , Gouveia A. N. , Guzmán F. , Mesa J. , Rodriguez O. , Semmler R. , Vanin V. R. 
Published: October 2004

Abstract
Groups of Wistar rats were fed with ration doped with uranyl nitrate at concentration A ranging from 0.5 to 100 ppm, starting after the weaning period and lasting until the postpuberty period when the animals were sacrificed. Uranium in the ashes of bones was determined by neutron activation analysis. It was found that the uranium concentration in the bones, as a function of A, exhibits a change in its slope at ∼20 ppm—a probable consequence of the malfunctioning of kidneys. The uranium transfer coefficient was obtained and an analytical expression was fitted into the data, thus allowing extrapolation down to low doses. Internal and localized doses were calculated. Absorbed doses exceeded the critical dose, even for the lowest uranium dosage.
1-Chloro-1,3,3,5,5-pentaphenoxycyclotriphosphazene: a precursor of functionalized cyclophosphazene derivatives
Authors: Sopková-de Oliveira Santos Jana , Bauchart Diane , Besset Celine , Dez Isabelle 
Published: October 2004

The crystal structure of the title compound, C30H25ClN3O5P3, shows that the direct bonding between P and Cl does not modify the structural parameters in the vicinity of this P atom. It also confirms the structural difference between the two P atoms which are each bonded to two phenoxy groups, observed in the 31P NMR spectrum. The crystal packing consists principally of complex stacking interactions.
Poverty and Neo‐Liberal Bias in the Middle East and North Africa
Authors: Bush Ray 
Published: October 2004

AbstractThis article examines the definition of poverty and the evidential base for the claims that the region of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has historically low levels of poverty and relatively good levels of income distribution. It argues that the dominant trend in the literature on poverty in the global south in general, and in MENA in particular, has a neo‐classical bias. Amongst other things, that bias fails to understand that poverty does not emerge because of exclusion but because of poor people's ‘differential incorporation’ into economic and political processes. It also raises the question: if the MENA has indeed had relatively low levels of poverty and good income distribution, does this complicate the issue of autocracy and the western drive to remove political ‘backwardness’ in the region? In particular, the characterization of autocracy and the west's attempt to promote political liberalization is likely to impact adversely on the social contract that autocratic rulers have enforced regarding the delivery of basic services.
The Transmigration of Rights: Women, Movement and the Grassroots in Latin American and Caribbean Communities
Authors: Burton Barbara 
Published: October 2004

AbstractIn order to better understand both the global and local contours and impact of transnationalism as a political and cultural force, this article suggests the need for an exploration of shifting gender roles and expectations as they are becoming manifest in situated arenas. The awkwardness of transposing an international rights discourse into local communities and settings deeply infused with tradition, or onto grassroots nationalist movements that work to resist foreign impositions is a widely recognized concern. At the same time, the influence of diaspora populations is seen to leaven and situate global discourse for local movements in a sending country and translates more local interests into global concerns in important and effective ways. Transnational feminist discourse now often concerns itself with the different strategies employed by diasporas, the strategic uses of global discourse, and the meaningful efforts to resist it. Through illustrations drawn from a study of women refugees in El Salvador, the Haitian democracy movement, and a rural Brazilian women's organization, this article links the experience of transmigration to women's mobilizing efforts and the proliferation of rights discourses.
Prejunctional Muscarinic Receptor Modulation of Noradrenaline Release from Sympathetic Neurones in Rabbit Aorta *
Authors: Lomholt Mads , Nedergaard Ove A. 
Published: October 2004

Abstract:The prejunctional muscarinic modulation of stimulation‐evoked release of 3H‐noradrenaline from sympathetic neurones in rabbit aorta was examined. The role of transmitter uptake, α‐adrenoceptor blockade, stimulation frequency and endothelium on the modulation was investigated. Rings of aorta were incubated with (‐)‐3H‐noradrenaline and subsequently subjected to electrical‐field stimulation. Fractional 3H‐overflow was determined by liquid scintillation counting. Acetylcholine (10−8–3×10−6 M) added cumulatively, reduced the stimulation‐evoked 3H‐overflow up to 80%. The effect of acetylcholine was the same in intact and endothelium‐free aorta. The inhibitory effect of acetylcholine was inversely related to the frequency of stimulation (1–10 Hz). The maximal inhibition (%) was 80 (1 Hz), 53 (3 Hz) and 14 (10 Hz). The inhibitory effect of acetylcholine (10−6 M) and carbachol (10−5 M) reached a maximum 15 min. after addition and then remained almost constant. Cocaine (3×10−5 M) did not alter the effect of acetylcholine. Desipramine (10−6 M) and corticosterone (4×10−5 M) attenuated the inhibition seen with low concentrations (10−8–10−7 M) of acetylcholine. The acetylcholine‐induced inhibition was antagonized by desipramine. Cocaine plus corticosterone attenuated the inhibition seen with high concentrations (10−6–3×10−6 M) of acetylcholine. Rauwolscine (10−6 M) enhanced the maximal inhibitory effect of acetylcholine. We conclude that the inhibitory effect of acetylcholine on 3H‐overflow from rabbit aorta preloaded with 3H‐noradrenaline is (1) inversely related to stimulation frequency; (2) independent of endothelium; (3) unaffected by neuronal and extraneuronal transmitter uptake; (4) that cocaine is not a prejunctional muscarinic antagonist; (5) that cocaine, but not desipramine, is suited as a neuronal uptake inhibitor in studies of prejunctional muscarinic receptor subtypes; and (6) and that there is an inverse interaction between prejunctional α2‐adrenoceptors and muscarinic receptors.
Asset Pricing of Insurance Loss Liabilities: Some Examples
Authors: O'Brien Thomas J. 
Published: October 2004

I construct examples of valuing insurance loss liabilities with asset pricing models, comparing the Rubinstein‐Leland model with the better‐known CAPM. The two models give different values only if the loss payment is asymmetric and correlated with the market portfolio, conditions which can result from the nature of the underlying loss or from the impact of insolvency on the insurer's payment.In examples where insolvency is not possible and there is no liquidity cost of raising new equity on short notice, the value of a loss liability is equal to the value of the underlying loss, i.e., of the promised coverage, and depends neither on (1) the size of the loss pool; nor on (2) the unsystematic risk of the insurer's liabilities; nor on (3) the composition of an insurer's investment portfolio; nor on (4) the amount of insurer equity.These factors do affect the value of a loss liability in examples where insolvency and liquidity costs are considered. Other things equal, if a factor increases the likelihood of insolvency, the fair value of a loss liability is lower because the insured is partially self‐insuring; but the liquidity cost of maintaining solvency by raising new equity on short notice is higher, implying a higher fair value of the loss liability.