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Existing Classification (existing + classification)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	50%

Selected Abstracts

The Effect of Insomnia Definitions, Terminology, and Classifications on Clinical Practice

JOURNAL OF AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY, Issue S7 2005
Andrew D. Krystal MD
There is a need for newer, more clinically useful classifications for insomnia. Identification of specific subtypes of insomnia helps anchor research, allows for prediction of prognosis/course of the condition, and may allow for individualization of treatment. Existing classifications differ, and many terms remain inadequately defined, which leads to diagnostic confusion. Historically, insomnia has been classified according to symptom type, symptom duration, and underlying cause, but these classifications have not been based on evidence of their utility, and newer research suggests the need for change. Symptoms may include difficulty falling asleep, trouble staying asleep, and not feeling restored by sleep, although it has not been clear that it is possible to identify distinct subtypes of patients by symptom or that distinguishing symptom type affects the course of clinical treatment. Classification of insomnia by duration most commonly involves three categories: transient (no more than a few days), short-term (up to 3 weeks), and long-term (more than 3 weeks). This categorization is of uncertain utility and has been primarily based on nonempiric concerns about treatment with sedative-hypnotic medications for periods longer than several weeks. The subtyping of insomnia in terms of whether there is an identifiable underlying cause such as a psychiatric or medical illness was based on an unproven assumption that in most instances other disorders caused insomnia. Recent studies suggest the need to revisit these classification strategies. Evidence that symptom types typically overlap and change over time complicates the categorization of subjects by whether they have difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep or have nonrestorative sleep. New studies of the treatment of chronic insomnia change the perspective on duration of treatment and, as a result, classification of duration of disease. Two studies of nightly pharmacotherapy for insomnia including more than 800 insomnia patients have not identified any increase in the risks after 3 to 4 weeks of treatment. In addition, nonpharmacological treatments demonstrate long-lasting efficacy in patients with chronic insomnia, and the development of abbreviated cognitive-behavioral therapies, which are particularly well suited to primary care practice, have improved their applicability. Newer studies of the relationships between insomnia and associated medical and psychiatric conditions undermine the notion that insomnia is always a symptom and caused by an underlying condition. They suggest that, although it is important to identify and treat these conditions, this may not be sufficient to alleviate the insomnia, which may adversely affect the course of the associated disorder. As a result, treatment targeted specifically to the insomnia should be considered. All of these developments point to an increasing ability to tailor therapy to the particular needs of patients and to optimize the clinical management of insomnia. [source]

A New Perspective on Ownership Identities in China's Listed Companies

MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION REVIEW, Issue 3 2006
Andrew Delios
abstract We introduce a new perspective on the conceptualization and measurement of ownership identities of China's listed companies. Previous work analyzing the strategy and performance implications of the ownership structure in Chinese firms has used the official categorization provided by state bodies in China. In this categorization, state shareholding, legal person shareholding and A-shares dominate. This official categorization, however, obscures the ultimate identity of a shareholder; this can confound conceptual and empirical work on the strategy and performance implications of ownership identity. We refine the existing classification by recategorizing shareholders into 16 types, which can then be regrouped into relevant categories of shareholders, such as government or private, to enable analysis of ownership identity and ownership concentration issues in China's listed companies. Our new classification can help provide consistency in the burgeoning research on the strategy and performance implications of the concentration and identity aspects of ownership structure in China's listed companies. [source]

Higher-level phylogeny of the Ithomiinae (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae): classification, patterns of larval hostplant colonization and diversification

CLADISTICS, Issue 4 2006
Keith R. Willmott
We present a higher-level phylogenetic hypothesis for the diverse neotropical butterfly subfamily Ithomiinae, inferred from one of the largest non-molecular Lepidoptera data sets to date, including 106 species (105 ingroup) and 353 characters (306 informative) from adult and immature stage morphology and ecology. Initial analyses resulted in 1716 most parsimonious trees, which were reduced to a single tree after successive approximations character weighting. The inferred phylogeny was broadly consistent with other past and current work. Although some deeper relationships are uncertain, tribal-level clades were generally strongly supported, with two changes required to existing classification. The tribe Melinaeini is polyphyletic and Athesis + Patricia require a new tribe. Methona should be removed from Mechanitini into the restored tribe Methonini. Dircennini was paraphyletic in analyses of all data but monophyletic based on adult morphology alone, and its status remains to be confirmed. Hypothyris, Episcada, Godyris, Hypoleria and Greta are paraphyletic. A simulation analysis showed that relatively basal branches tended to have higher partitioned Bremer support for immature stage characters. Larval hostplant records were optimized on to a reduced, generic-level phylogeny and indicate that ithomiines moved from Apocynaceae to Solanaceae twice, or that Tithoreini re-colonized Apocynaceae after a basal shift to Solanaceae. Ithomiine clades have specialized on particular plant clades suggesting repeated colonization of novel hostplant niches consistent with adaptive radiation. The shift to Solanum, comprising 70% of neotropical Solanaceae, occurs at the base of a clade containing 89% of all ithomiines, and is interpreted as the major event in the evolution of ithomiine larval hostplant relationships. © The Willi Hennig Society 2006. [source]

Measurement of peripheral B cell subpopulations in common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) using a whole blood method

CLINICAL & EXPERIMENTAL IMMUNOLOGY, Issue 3 2005
B. L. Ferry
Summary Recent reports have described reduced populations of CD27+ memory B cells and increased percentages of undifferentiated B cells in peripheral blood of patients with common variable immunodeficiency (CVID). This work has prompted two attempts to classify CVID based on rapid flow cytometric quantification of peripheral blood memory B cells and immature B cells. Evidence to support the hypothesis that such in vitro B cell classification systems correlate with clinical subtypes of CVID is being sought. For the classification to be useful in routine diagnosis, it is important that the flow cytometric method can be used without prior separation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). We have examined 23 CVID patients and 24 controls, using both PBMC and whole blood, and find an excellent correlation between these methods. The reproducibility of the method was excellent. We classified the CVID patients by all three of the existing classifications, including secretion of immunoglobulin by B cells in vitro as described by Bryant, as well as the more recent flow cytometric classification methods. Only one patient changed classification as a result of using whole blood. [source]