bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Life‐Sustaining Treatment and Assisted Death Choices in Depressed Older Patients
Authors: Blank Karen , Robison Julie , Doherty Erin , Prigerson Holly , Duffy James , Schwartz Harold I. 
Published: July 2002

OBJECTIVES: The major purpose of this study was to examine the effect of depressed mood in older, medically ill, hospitalized patients on their preferences regarding life‐sustaining treatments, physician‐assisted suicide (PAS), and euthanasia and to determine the degree to which financial constraints affected their choices.DESIGN: Cross‐sectional study. SETTING: General medical hospital.PARTICIPANTS: One hundred fifty‐eight medically hospitalized, nondemented patients age 60 or older, mean age 74.1 (range 60–94). The sample was divided, based on Center for Epidemiologic Studies‐Depression (CES‐D) scores, into a depressed group (n = 71) and a nondepressed control group.MEASUREMENTS: Subjects underwent a structured interview evaluating their life‐sustaining treatment choices and whether they would accept or refuse PAS or euthanasia under a variety of hypothetical conditions. These choices were reevaluated with the introduction of financial impact. In addition, assessment included measures of depression, suicide, cognition, social support, functioning, and religiosity.RESULTS: Depression was found to be highly associated with acceptance of PAS and euthanasia in most hypothetical clinical scenarios in addition to patients' current condition. Compared with nondepressed people, depressed respondents were 13 times as likely to accept PAS when considering their current condition (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.68–110.98), and over twice as likely to accept PAS when facing a hypothetical terminal illness or coma. Depression alone was weakly associated with life‐sustaining treatment choices but, when financial impact was introduced, significantly more depressed subjects refused treatment options they had previously desired than did nondepressed subjects. The presence of suicidal ideation, even passive ideation, was strongly predictive of life‐sustaining treatment refusals and increased interest in PAS and euthanasia. Depression's effect on acceptance of PAS was confirmed by logistic regression, which also showed that religious coping was significantly correlated with less interest in PAS in two hypothetical scenarios.CONCLUSION: Depressed subjects and even subjects with subtle, passive suicidal ideation were markedly more interested in PAS and euthanasia than nondepressed subjects in hypothetical situations. Depressed subjects were also particularly vulnerable to rejecting treatments if financial consequences might have resulted.
Effect of diffusion on chaotic advection in Stokes flow
Authors: Dutta P. , Chevray R. 
Published: July 2002

The effect of molecular diffusion has been studied both numerically and experimentally for the case of Stokes flow between two eccentric cylinders. The parameters (eccentricity, time periods, and directions of rotation of the cylinders) are so chosen that for the nondiffusive case, we obtain a mixed phase space of regular and chaotic regions. This enables us to study the relative effects of molecular diffusion in the two kinds of regions of the same flow. The Lagrangian description of a diffusing particle has been modeled by the use of Langevin equation (as done by Aref and Jones in Ref. 1) in which the instantaneous velocity of a particle has a deterministic component (as a result of the flow solution) and a stochastic component (arising out of the Brownian motion of the molecules).
The stochastic component is assumed to be a Gaussian process with zero mean and variance proportional to the diffusivity. The numerical investigation is carried out by locating circular blobs of particles in various regions of the given phase space. Each blob is represented by about 1000 evenly distributed points inside a small circle. With a given value of diffusivity, D, our two-cylinder system is stirred by completing three cycles of motion followed by three reverse cycles. For a deterministic case, the particles are expected to return to their initial locations after flow reversal, as has been observed for the case with D=0. For D&gt;0, the mean-square separation of the particles from their initial locations has been evaluated with the idea of finding an effective diffusivity for each blob location. The mean-square separations for the stirred cases are then compared with that of the unstirred case for the same value of D. It has been found that the mean-square separation in a regular region is slightly greater than that of the unstiffed case, whereas in the chaotic region it is greater than that of the corresponding unstirred case by an order of magnitude. The reason for this enhancement of diffusion by stirring, as explained by Aref and Jones,1 is that stirring causes an increase of intermaterial area for diffusion to act over a longer interface. Since stretching is identified to be the cause of enhancement of diffusion, Lyapunov exponents have been evaluated for various regions of the flow. In the regular regions, the Lyapunov exponents have been found to be nearly zero, and it is found that the greater the separation, the greater the exponent in that region. A correlation between the two quantities has been established. However, the Lyapunov exponents in the chaotic regions have been found to be highly positive, indicating a high rate of stretching. It is also found that there is a variation of separation within the chaotic region, indicating a difference in the degree of chaos between various regions within the chaotic sea. Corresponding experimental observations, made by using the same apparatus as in Chaiken et al.,2 show good agreement with the numerical results.
What future for initial teacher education? New curriculum and new directions
Authors: Burgess Hilary 
Published: July 2002

ABSTRACTThis article analyses aspects of the implementation of the National Curriculum for initial teacher training (ITT). It focuses on the impact of the standards upon course design and structure and particularly the emphasis on the development of subject knowledge. The assessment of students in terms of subject knowledge and the standards for qualified teacher status (QTS) are explored alongside the development of partnership schools and mentoring programmes. The impact of external agencies such as OFSTED and the TTA is included in the discussion. Future implications for primary and secondary ITT programmes are considered.
Temporal Variations in the Circumstellar Shell IRC+10216
Authors: Sada Pedro Antonio Valdes 
Published: July 2002

ABSTRACT
The dynamical evolution of the inner sections of the circumstellar shell (CS) surrounding the prototypical evolved carbon star IRC+10216 is studied through the analysis and modeling of high resolution (<0.02 cm-1) infrared 12CO and 13CO vibrational-rotational fundamental (4.6 microns) and overtone (2.3 microns) band absorption line profiles. The overtone band lines in particular sample a zone within the circumstellar shell, near the Long-Period Variable (LPV) central star, where the mass ejection and dust formation and acceleration mechanisms dominate (2-10 R*).Temporal changes in the line profiles observed over the past 12 years indicates evolution of this region of the CS. Modeling of the dust and gas components of the circumstellar shell in the observer's frame of reference is performed for each available spectroscopic data set in an effort to reproduce broadband photometric flux measurements and the observed molecular line profiles. The dust density distribution and the gas velocity fields are adjusted in the model, yielding a time sequence of synthetic lines which implies evolution of the CS structure. Short-term (phase dependent) and long-term (years) systematic changes in line shapes are successfully reproduced by this method, yielding further insight on the physical conditions governing this region of the circumstellar shell. The dust condensation point in the model roughly coincides with the location of the largest gas velocity gradient, supporting the notion that the dust formation and gas mass loss mechanisms are associated. Radiation pressure, acting on co-spatial momentum-coupled dust particles, accelerates the ambient gas component by 7.3 ± 1.8 x 10-4 cm s-2 (0.23 ± 0.06 km s-1 yr-1) throughout the probed region of the CS. Evolution of the observed absorption line components suggests that the principal mass loss mechanism in cool evolved stars is not related to the pulsation period of the central star, but may be stochastic in nature. Broadband photometric observational data indicates that an episodic disturbance that modifies the line profiles between 1979 and 1991 may have originated sometime between 1975 and 1978, and that it progressed outward through the CS. This analysis indicates that broadband IR monitoring of thermal dust emission from carbon stars can be used as an indicator of the onset of episodic mass loss events.
NIGHT-SKY HIGH-RESOLUTION SPECTRAL ATLAS OF OH EMISSION LINES FOR ECHELLE SPECTROGRAPH WAVELENGTH CALIBRATION. II.
Authors: Osterbrock D. E. , Fulbright J. P. , Bida T. A. 
Published: July 2002

ABSTRACT
The potential of night-sky emission lines recorded on every long-exposure astronomical spectrum, for wavelength calibration, is reemphasized. The previously published high-resolution atlas, based on spectra obtained with the Keck 10-meter telescope on Mauna Kea and the HIRES high-resolution echelle spectrograph, is extended from 9000 Å to 10600 Å, the present effective long-wavelength limit for reasonable exposure times with current CCD's. The extension of the atlas shows many OH night-sky lines, and makes it possible to identify them easily on high-resolution spectra. Accurate wavelengths and references to their sources are given. Measured intensity ratios for the resolved, well measured lambda-type doublets are presented, and the probable errors in the listed wavelengths of the unresolved doublets, based on them, are discussed. Observations and identifications of a number of lines of weak satellite or intecombination bands of OH in the night-sky spectrum are discussed, and the "not proven" result of a search for OH lines in the (10 - 5) and (10 - 4) bands is mentione.
Monte Carlo simulation of electrical discharges in gases
Authors: R W L Thomas  , W R L Thomas  
Published: July 2002

New Monte Carlo methods of calculation for tracing the motion of electrons in gases are described. Two problems have been treated by these methods, and the techniques applied to electron swarms in neon. Firstly, the probability of back-scatter of electrons to the cathode has been estimated for values ofE/p0between 10 and 200 V cm-1torr-1(Eis the electric field andp0the pressure reduced to 0 °C) and for emission energies up to the lowest excitation potential. Secondly, Townsend primary ionization coefficients α/p0and drift velocities have been evaluated for values ofE/p0from 20 to 400 V cm-1torr-1. It is shown that the use of the ergodic hypothesis is not valid, yielding values of α/p0which are up to 40% too high in neon, and that entire avalanches must be simulated before meaningful results can be obtained. The present results agree well with those obtained recently at Swansea using the Boltzmann equation, indicating that the Lorentz approximation employed in the latter method leads to only small errors in estimates of the mean properties of the electron swarms.The equilibrium of the swarm with the field is considered in detail. It is shown that, for uniform fields, deviations from exponential growth of current with increasing electrode separation occur if the interelectrode voltage is not at least three times the mean energy of electrons impinging on the anode.
Black-White Inequalities in Mortality and Life Expectancy, 1933–1999: Implications for Healthy People 2010
Authors: Levine Robert S. , Foster James E. , Fullilove Robert E. , Fullilove Mindy T. , Briggs Nathaniel C. , Hull Pamela C. , Husaini Baqar A. , Hennekens Charles H. 
Published: July 2002

Objectives. Optimistic predictions for the Healthy People 2010 goals of eliminating racial/ethnic disparities in health have been made based on absolute improvements in life expectancy and mortality. This study sought to determine whether there is evidence of relative improvement (a more valid measure of inequality) in life expectancy and mortality, and whether such improvement, if demonstrated, predicts future success in eliminating disparities. Methods. Historical data from the National Center for Health Statistics and the Census Bureau were used to predict future trends in relative mortality and life expectancy, employing an Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) model. Excess mortality and time lags in mortality and life expectancy for blacks relative to whites were also estimated. Results. Based on data for 1945 to 1999, forecasts for relative black:white age-adjusted, all-cause mortality and white:black life expectancy at birth showed trends toward increasing disparities. From 1979, when the Healthy People initiative began, to 1998, the black:white ratio of age-adjusted, gender-specific mortality increased for all but one of nine causes of death that accounted for 83.4% of all US mortality in 1998. From 1980 to 1998, average numbers of excess deaths per day among American blacks relative to whites increased by 20%. American blacks experienced 4.3 to 4.5 million premature deaths relative to whites in 1940–1999. Conclusions. The rationale that underlies the optimistic Healthy People 2010 forecasts, that future success can be built on a foundation of past success, is not supported when relative measures of inequality are used. There has been no sustained decrease in black-white inequalities in age-adjusted mortality or life expectancy at birth at the national level since 1945. Without fundamental changes, most probably related to the ways medical and public health practitioners are trained, evaluated, and compensated for prevention-related activities, as well as further research on translating the findings of prevention studies into clinical practice, it is likely that simply reducing disparities in access to care and/or medical treatment will be insufficient. Millions of premature deaths will continue to occur among African Americans.
Factors Associated with Adolescent Initiation of Injection Drug Use
Authors: Fuller Crystal M. , Vlahov David , Arria Amelia M. , Ompad Danielle C. , Garfein Richard , Strathdee Steffanie A. 
Published: July 2002

Objective. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the extent to which demographic, sexual, and non-injection drug use practices predict adolescent initiation of injection drug use. Methods. Street recruited injection drug users 15–30 years of age in Baltimore, Maryland, who initiated injection within five years of study enrollment, completed a questionnaire that included a year-by-year history regarding the five years prior to initiation of injection. Factors associated with initiation during adolescence (≤21 years of age) versus young adult-hood (>21) were determined using logistic regression. Results. Of 226 participants, most were female (61%) and African American (64%). Median age of participants was 25; median age at initiation of injection was 23. Factors significantly associated with adolescent initiation in multivariate analysis included race other than African American, and practices prior to initiating injection including condom use, lack of cocaine use, exclusive crack smoking just prior to initiation, and smoking marijuana. Adolescent initiates also had shorter durations of illicit drug use prior to initiating injection. Conclusion. Short-term non-injection drug use, particularly exclusive crack smoking, was associated with adolescent initiation of injection drug use. Early prevention efforts targeting this high-risk group of younger drug users are warranted in order to delay or prevent onset of injection drug use.
Profile of Arthritis Disability
Authors: Verbrugge Lois M. , Juarez Lucia 
Published: July 2002

Using the 1994–95 National Health Interview Supplement Disability Supplement, the authors study levels of disabilities and accommodations among US adults with arthritis disability, compared to people with disability due to other conditions. Arthritis-disabled people are defined in two ways. One definition covers a broad range of arthritis and rheumatic conditions, and the other concentrates solely on arthritis. The authors find that arthritis-disabled people have more total disabilities than other-disabled people. However, their disabilities are less severe, have shorter durations, and accumulate more gradually over time. Despite more disabilities, people with arthritis disability use fewer assistive and service accommodations than other-disabled people. They do use more mobility aids. Because arthritis is the leading chronic condition for middle-aged and older adults, this profile of extensive but mild-to-moderate disability is experienced by many millions of adults. Accommodations for arthritis may also be extensive but aimed more toward self-care than toward assistive and medical services.
Safer Choices: Reducing Teen Pregnancy, HIV, and STDs
Authors: Coyle Karin , Basen-Engquist Karen , Kirby Douglas , Parcel Guy , Banspach Stephen , Collins Janet , Baumler Elizabeth , Carvajal Scott , Harrist Ronald 
Published: July 2002

Objectives. This study evaluated the long-term effectiveness of Safer Choices, a theory-based, multi-component educational program designed to reduce sexual risk behaviors and increase protective behaviors in preventing HIV, other STDs, and pregnancy among high school students. Methods. The study used a randomized controlled trial involving 20 high schools in California and Texas. A cohort of 3869 ninth-grade students was tracked for 31 months from fall semester 1993 (baseline) to spring semester 1996 (31-month follow-up). Data were collected using self-report surveys administered by trained data collectors. Response rate at 31-month follow-up was 79%. Results. Safer Choices had its greatest effect on measures involving condom use. The program reduced the frequency of intercourse without a condom during the three months prior to the survey, reduced the number of sexual partners with whom students had intercourse without a condom, and increased use of condoms and other protection against pregnancy at last intercourse. Safer Choices also improved 7 of 13 psychosocial variables, many related to condom use, but did not have a significant effect upon rates of sexual initiation. Conclusions. The Safer Choices program was effective in reducing important risk behaviors for HIV, other STDs, and pregnancy and in enhancing most psychosocial determinants of such behavior.
Pathological and Ultrastructural Characterization of an Edwardsiella ictaluri Triple hemR Mutant
Authors: Ibrahim Iman , Abdelhamed Hossam , Baumgartner Wes , Wills Robert W. , Awadin Walaa , Elbegawy Mahmoud , Lawrence Mark L. , Karsi Attila 
Published: May 2022

Abstract
Enteric septicemia of catfish, which is caused by Edwardsiella ictaluri, is detrimental to farmed Channel Catfish Ictalurus punctatus. The hemin receptor HemR is involved in binding and uptake of heme into bacteria. Here, we explored pathological and ultrastructural changes in catfish fry that were immunized with a triple hemR mutant of E. ictaluri and challenged with wild-type E. ictaluri (EiWT) 28 d after immunization. Following immunization, pathological changes in the triple hemR-immunized fry were less severe compared to the EiWT-exposed control fry. Widely disseminated bacteria and severe necrosis in most organs, especially the kidney and spleen, were detected in both groups at days 4, 5, and 6. Multifocal granulomatous encephalitis with bacteria was seen in hemR-immunized fry at days 21 and 28 and in EiWT-exposed control fry at day 14. Phagocytic cells in the kidney and spleen of EiWT-exposed control fry contained more replicating bacteria compared to hemR-immunized fry. During the EiWT challenge of immunized fry, a robust immune response was observed in the triple hemR-immunized fry compared to the sham-vaccinated group. Many activated phagocytic cells were detected in the kidney and spleen with fragmented or no bacteria in the triple hemR-immunized fry. Our data suggested that virulence of triple hemR was lower and the onset of the lesions was delayed compared to EiWT. Additionally, triple hemR-immunized fry could mount an immune response and had milder lesions compared to the sham control after EiWT exposure.
Experimental dosimetry of EDR2 films in scanning carbon‐ion irradiation
Authors: Wang Weiwei , Deng Yu , Huang Zhijie 
Published: May 2022

AbstractPurposeTo investigate the dose‐sensitometric response of extended dose range (EDR2) films to scanning carbon‐ion beams and to evaluate the applications of the obtained response curves to carbon‐ion dose distributions.MethodsEDR2 films were irradiated by mono‐energetic scanning carbon‐ion beams with different doses to obtain sensitometric curves at different integrated depth doses (DDDs). Six different DDDs were generated by using a proper buildup for each mono‐energetic beam and were used to investigate the energy dependence. The sensitometric curves were obtained by fitting the net optical density (netOD) to dose at different DDDs. The dose difference between the value converted from the netOD and that calculated in the treatment planning system (TPS) was investigated to evaluate the application scope of the sensitometric curve.ResultsDigitizing the EDR2 film with a resolution of 0.36 (72 dpi) provided a good signal‐to‐noise ratio, and the sensitometric curve was linear at all DDDs of clinically relevant incident kinetic energies in the netOD range of 0.02–1.70 for carbon‐ion film dosimetry. The factors used to convert the netOD to absorbed dose were expressed as a linear function of DDDs, with which the depth dose difference between converted and TPS was less than 3% in the proximal area for incident kinetic energies lower than 307.5 MeV/u.ConclusionThe EDR2 film is a feasible tool for scanning carbon‐ion beam profile measurements by directly evaluating the netOD distribution with proper digitizing resolution and netOD range. By applying the conversion factors, the EDR2 film can also be employed to perform the percentage depth dose consistency checking and linear energy transfer comparison of carbon‐ion lower than 307.5 MeV/u.
Sigmoid model analysis of breast dynamic contrast‐enhanced MRI: Distinguishing between benign and malignant breast masses and breast cancer subtype prediction
Authors: Koori Norikazu , Miyati Tosiaki , Ohno Naoki , Kawashima Hiroko , Nishikawa Hiroko 
Published: May 2022

AbstractDynamic contrast‐enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE‐MRI) is performed to distinguish between benign and malignant lesions by evaluating the changes in signal intensity of the acquired image (kinetic curve). This study aimed to verify whether the existing breast DCE‐MRI analyzed by the sigmoid model can accurately distinguish between benign and invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) and predict the subtype.A total of 154 patients who underwent breast MRI for detailed breast mass examinations were included in this study (38 with benign masses and 116 with IDC. The sigmoid model involved the acquisition of images at seven timepoints in 1‐min intervals to determine the change in signal intensity before and after contrast injection. From this curve, the magnitude of the increase in signal intensity in the early phase, the time to reach the maximum increase, and the slopes in the early and late phases were calculated. The Mann–Whitney U‐test was used for the statistical analysis.The IDC group exhibited a significantly larger and faster signal increase in the early phase and a significantly smaller rate of increase in the late phase than the benign group (P < 0.001). The luminal A‐like group demonstrated a significantly longer time to reach the maximum signal increase rate than other IDC subtypes (P < 0.05).The sigmoid model analysis of breast DCE‐MRI can distinguish between benign lesions and IDC and may also help in predicting luminal A‐like breast cancer.