bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A batch-wise non-linear fitting and analysis tool for treating large X-ray diffraction data sets
Authors: Davies R. J.
Published: March 2006

Synchrotron sources offer high-brilliance X-ray beams which are ideal for spatially and time-resolved studies. Large amounts of wide- and small-angle X-ray scattering data can now be generated rapidly, for example, during routine scanning experiments. Consequently, the analysis of the large data sets produced has become a complex and pressing issue. Even relatively simple analyses become difficult when a single data set can contain many thousands of individual diffraction patterns. This article reports on a new software application for the automated analysis of scattering intensity profiles. It is capable of batch-processing thousands of individual data files without user intervention. Diffraction data can be fitted using a combination of background functions and non-linear peak functions. To compliment the batch-wise operation mode, the software includes several specialist algorithms to ensure that the results obtained are reliable. These include peak-tracking, artefact removal, function elimination and spread-estimate fitting. Furthermore, as well as non-linear fitting, the software can calculate integrated intensities and selected orientation parameters.
Improved statistics for determining the Patterson symmetry from unmerged diffraction intensities
Authors: Sauter Nicholas K. , Grosse-Kunstleve Ralf W. , Adams Paul D.
Published: March 2006

Procedures for detecting the point-group symmetry of macromolecular data sets are examined and enhancements are proposed. To validate a point group, it is sufficient to compare pairs of Bragg reflections that are related by each of the group's component symmetry operators. Correlation is commonly expressed in the form of a single statistical quantity (such asRmerge) that incorporates information from all of the observed reflections. However, the usual practice of weighting all pairs of symmetry-related intensities equally can obscure the fact that the various symmetry operators of the point group contribute differing fractions of the total set. In some cases where particular symmetry elements are significantly under-represented, statistics calculated globally over all observations do not permit conclusions about the point group and Patterson symmetry. The problem can be avoided by repartitioning the data in a way that explicitly takes note of individual operators. The new analysis methods, incorporated into the programLABELIT(http://cci.lbl.gov/labelit), can be performed early enough during data acquisition, and are quick enough that it is feasible to pause to optimize the data collection strategy.
Molecular replacement: the approach of the programREMO
Authors: Caliandro Rocco , Carrozzini Benedetta , Cascarano Giovanni Luca , De Caro Liberato , Giacovazzo Carmelo , Mazzone Anna Maria , Siliqi Dritan
Published: March 2006

A new program for molecular replacement,REMO, has been written. In the rotation step, the orientation of the model molecule is found by rotating the weighted reciprocal lattice of the protein with respect to the calculated transform of the model structure: the fitting is searched in the reciprocal space. The space group of the model structure is assumed to be the symmorphic variant of the protein space group. The algebra necessary to optimize the correlation factor between protein and model structure-factor moduli is described. The oriented model molecule is located by using the correlation function coupled with a translation function calculated by fast Fourier transforms.REMOhas been successfully applied to a variety of test problems and extensively compared with other currently available molecular replacement programs.
Calibration of a heating/cooling chamber for X-ray diffraction measurements of mechanical stress and crystallographic texture
Authors: Wohlschlögel M. , Welzel U. , Maier G. , Mittemeijer E. J.
Published: March 2006

Methods have been developed for the calibration of specimen temperature and of specimen displacement caused by the thermal expansion of the specimen holder in a heating/cooling chamber equipped with a strip or plate heater mounted on an X-ray diffractometer. For the temperature calibration two methods were proposed. One method relies on X-ray diffraction measurements of thermal lattice strains, whereas the other method is based on resistance thermometry. The method proposed for the determination of the temperature-dependent specimen displacement is based on the measurement of diffraction-line positions of the specimen employing two diffraction geometries, one being sensitive to the specimen displacement and the other being insensitive to the specimen displacement. The thermal displacement of the specimen due to thermal expansion of the specimen holder is significant and was determined as about 38 µm per 100 K.
A “Delta Method” Approach to Bahadur–Kiefer Theorems
Authors: Knight Keith
Published: March 2006

We consider an approach to deriving Bahadur–Kiefer theorems based on a “delta method” for sequences of minimizers. This approach is used to derive Bahadur–Kiefer theorems for the sample median and other estimators.
Cobalamin status during normal pregnancy and postpartum: a longitudinal study comprising 406 Danish women
Authors: Milman Nils , Byg Keld‐Erik , Bergholt Thomas , Eriksen Lisbeth , Hvas Anne‐Mette
Published: March 2006

Abstract:  Objectives: To assess cobalamin (vitamin B12) status during normal pregnancy and postpartum in a longitudinal setting. Methods: This study was performed in 1995–1996. It comprised 406 healthy, pregnant Danish Caucasian women, living in Copenhagen County. Cobalamin status, i.e. plasma (P‐) cobalamin, P‐methylmalonic acid and P‐homocysteine was measured at 18, 32 and 39 wk gestation and 8 wk postpartum during lactation. Results: P‐cobalamin showed a gradual, significant decline during pregnancy (P < 0.0001) followed by a significant increase postpartum (P < 0.0001); at 18, 32, 39 wk gestation and 8 wk postpartum median values were 225, 172, 161 and 319 pmol/L, respectively. P‐methylmalonic displayed a gradual, significant increase during pregnancy as well as postpartum (P < 0.001) with median values of 0.11, 0.13, 0.14, and 0.16 μmol/L, respectively. P‐homocysteine demonstrated a significant increase during pregnancy and postpartum (P < 0.001). The frequency of P‐cobalamin values <150 pmol/L increased during pregnancy from 15% at 18 wk to 43% at 39 wk gestation and subsequently declined to 3% postpartum. Conclusion: Low cobalamin status may occur among pregnant women, especially in late pregnancy. The recommendations for periconceptional vitamin B12 supplementation should be reconsidered.
Gender, Nation and the Politics of Dress in Twentieth‐Century Philippines
Authors: Roces Mina
Published: March 2006

This paper examines the politics of dress in twentieth‐century Philippines, exploring the imbrication of dress, politics and gender. It argues that there was an inherent tension between Western Dress/Filipino Dress in the period as the contrast between these two types of dress came to represent opposing political and gendered identities. The visual categories of Western Dress/Filipino Dress did not always 'naturally' correspond to not nationalist/nationalist, powerful/disempowered, modern/traditional, or even other/self. The gendering of costume mirrored men's and women's positioning in the political axis of the nation as the status of 'bearer and wearer of national tradition' shifted from women to men once the colony became an independent nation‐state.
Tales from the Other Side of the Bridge: YMCA Manhood, Social Class and Social Reform in Turn‐of‐the‐Twentieth‐Century Philadelphia
Authors: Mieras Emily
Published: March 2006

This article examines the interplay of gender and class ideologies at University House, a settlement house run by University of Pennsylvania Christian Association students in Philadelphia. University House exemplified a pioneering national movement to inculcate social responsibility in college youth. As an initiative sponsored by a campus Christian Association that joined a national YMCA movement to evangelise college campuses, the settlement had a unique agenda. The settlement's advocates intended to reform the neighbourhood's working‐class Irish Catholic boys, but also to forge character and manhood in the students who worked there. Moreover, settlement leaders and volunteers preached a brand of manhood steeped in the rhetoric of evangelical Protestantism, an ideal that guided their actions among city boys. Though their publicly stated mission was to make men of city youths, they turned manhood into a tool for preserving class distinctions and cementing their own place among the country's educated élite. Meanwhile, they modified their own definitions of manhood through the practice of social reform.
Foremothers: Neera Desai (b. 1925)
Authors: Forbes Geraldine , Thakkar Usha
Published: March 2006

Neera Desai (b. 1925), best known as the founder of India's first Women's Studies Research Unit, also wrote the first analytical history of Indian women. In Woman in Modern India, published in 1957, the central concern is women's lack of opportunity and progress from the Vedic period to the 1950s. A college student at the time of the Quit India movement in 1942, Neera belongs to a generation of women who entered the professions in newly independent India and continue to ask the hard questions about gender and power.
Missionaries of the Volksgemeinschaft: Ordinary Women and the Nazification of the East
Authors: Eley Geoff
Published: March 2006

Book reviewed:

Elizabeth Harvey, Women and the Nazi East: Agents and Witnesses of Germanization
Extended flexible sigmoidoscopy performed by colonoscopists for colorectal cancer screening: a pilot study
Authors: LEE J. G. , LUM D. , URAYAMA S. , MANN S. , SAAVEDRA S. , VIGIL H. , VILAYSAK C. , LEUNG J. W. , LEUNG F. W.
Published: March 2006

Background  Caecal intubation can be achieved by extended flexible sigmoidoscopy in 32% of patients.

Aim  To assess the feasibility of extended flexible sigmoidoscopy performed by colonoscopists for colorectal cancer screening.

Methods  We enrolled 41 patients referred for screening flexible sigmoidoscopy. After purging, examination was performed with a colonoscope. All patients completed sigmoidoscopy (success in meeting referral goal); 93% and 71% had examination to the transverse or ascending colon, and caecum, respectively. Overall yield and right‐sided polyps was 56% and 27%, respectively. Caecal intubation and complete examination with polypectomy took 6.0 ± 2.5 and 18.3 ± 5.1 min, respectively; with no complications. Twelve patients requested colonoscope withdrawal because of discomfort. Although 46% reported moderate to severe discomfort, 39% and 36%, respectively, were definitely or probably willing to repeat flexible sigmoidoscopy.

Results  Unsedated colonoscopy introduced as extended flexible sigmoidoscopy emphasizes the benefits of added yield rather than the negative image of withholding of discomfort relief. The patient can choose to accept the equivalent of an unsedated colonoscopy or reject the option based on perceived discomfort during extended flexible sigmoidoscopy performed by the colonoscopist.

Conclusion  Extended flexible sigmoidoscopy is a feasible option in carefully selected patients, fully prepared and by an experienced colonoscopist.
Risk factors, Sequential Organ Failure Assessment and Model for End‐stage Liver Disease scores for predicting short term mortality in cirrhotic patients admitted to intensive care unit
Authors: CHOLONGITAS E. , SENZOLO M. , PATCH D. , KWONG K. , NIKOLOPOULOU V. , LEANDRO G. , SHAW S. , BURROUGHS A. K.
Published: March 2006

Background  Prognostic scores in an intensive care unit (ICU) evaluate outcomes, but derive from cohorts containing few cirrhotic patients.

Aims  To evaluate 6‐week mortality in cirrhotic patients admitted to an ICU, and to compare general and liver‐specific prognostic scores.

Methods  A total of 312 consecutive cirrhotic patients (65% alcoholic; mean age 49.6 years). Multivariable logistic regression to evaluate admission factors associated with survival. Child–Pugh, Model for End‐stage Liver Disease (MELD), Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) scores were compared by receiver operating characteristic curves.

Results  Major indication for admission was respiratory failure (35.6%). Median (range) Child–Pugh, APACHE II, MELD and SOFA scores were 11 (5–15), 18 (0–44), 24 (6–40) and 11 (0–21), respectively; 65% (n = 203) died. Survival improved over time (P = 0.005). Multivariate model factors: more organs failing (FOS) (<3 = 49.5%, ≥3 = 90%), higher FiO2, lactate, urea and bilirubin; resulting in good discrimination [area under receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) = 0.83], similar to SOFA and MELD (AUC = 0.83 and 0.81, respectively) and superior to APACHE II and Child–Pugh (AUC = 0.78 and 0.72, respectively).

Conclusions  Cirrhotics admitted to ICU with ≥3 failing organ systems have 90% mortality. The Royal Free model discriminated well and contained key variables of organ function. SOFA and MELD were better predictors than APACHE II or Child–Pugh scores.
Systematic review: the use of mesalazine in inflammatory bowel disease
Authors: BERGMAN R. , PARKES M.
Published: March 2006

Background Mesalazine is among the medications most commonly prescribed by gastroenterologists, having to a large extent superseded sulfasalazine (sulphasalazine). However, there are still a number of aspects regarding its use which provoke debate and controversy.

Aim To provide a systematic assessment of the evidence for the use of mesalazine in ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease.

Methods References were identified using PubMed database. Additional references were identified with related article searches.

Results Mesalazine has a clear role in the maintenance of remission in ulcerative colitis and management of mild to moderately active disease, although the efficacy of topical preparations or combined topical and oral is clearly superior to oral alone. Evidence that increasing the dose of oral mesalazine improves efficacy is not clear‐cut. The benefits of mesalazine in the management of acute Crohn's disease and the maintenance of remission are questionable and alternative treatments are usually more appropriate. Emerging evidence suggests that maintenance mesalazine reduces the risk of neoplastic progression in chronic ulcerative colitis. Compliance with therapy is thus important, as is an understanding of individuals most likely to default on this.

Conclusion Evidence for a beneficial effect of mesalazine is largely confined to the management of ulcerative colitis.
Circulating ghrelin level is increased in coeliac disease as in functional dyspepsia and reverts to normal during gluten‐free diet
Authors: LANZINI A. , MAGNI P. , PETRONI M. L. , MOTTA M. , LANZAROTTO F. , VILLANACCI V. , AMATO M. , MORA A. , BERTOLAZZI S. , BENINI F. , RICCI C.
Published: March 2006

Background  It is controversial whether serum ghrelin concentration is altered in coeliac disease and whether this alteration is related to nutritional impairment or to inflammatory changes of duodenal mucosa.

Aim  To investigate clinical and histopathological variables affecting circulating ghrelin in coeliac patients by comparison with dyspeptic patients and with healthy controls.

Methods  We measured serum ghrelin and obtained gastric and duodenal biopsies in 44 coeliac patients before and after 1‐year gluten‐free diet, in 39 dyspeptic patients and 53 healthy controls.

Results  Serum ghrelin concentration was significantly higher in coeliac (531 ± 29 pg/mL, P < 0.05) and in dyspeptic patients (526 ± 14 pg/mL, P < 0.01) than in healthy controls (451 ± 8 pg/mL), and body mass index was significantly lower in coeliac (20 ± 1) and in dyspeptic patients (20 ± 1) than in healthy controls (22 ± 1, P < 0.05). In coeliac patients serum ghrelin concentration was not related to the severity of duodenal lesions. Serum ghrelin reverted to normal (399 ± 30 pg/mL) and body mass index increased significantly (0.6 ± 0.1 kg/m2 increase, P < 0.05) during gluten‐free diet despite persistent duodenal lymphocytic infiltration.

Conclusions  Ghrelin concentration is increased and body mass index is decreased in coeliac and in dyspeptic patients irrespective of presence and severity of duodenal inflammation. Nutritional impairment is a key factor in elevating plasma ghrelin levels in coeliac disease.
Pharmacogenetics of thiopurine therapy in paediatric IBD patients
Authors: DE RIDDER L. , VAN DIEREN J. M. , VAN DEVENTER H. J. H. , STOKKERS P. C. F. , VAN DER WOUDE J. C. J. , VAN VUUREN A. J. , BENNINGA M. A. , ESCHER J. C. , HOMMES D. W.
Published: March 2006

Background  Azathioprine is widely used in the treatment of children with inflammatory bowel disease. The occurrence and type of adverse events to azathioprine may be related to thiopurine S‐methyltransferase (TPMT) enzyme activity and to inosine triphophate pyrophosphatase (ITPase) deficiency.

Aim  Investigate frequencies of functional TPMT polymorphisms and ITPA polymorphisms and their association with the occurrence of adverse events during azathioprine therapy in a paediatric inflammatory bowel disease population.

Methods  Seventy‐two azathioprine treated paediatric inflammatory bowel disease patients, 47% girls, mean age 12.5 years (range 6.5–17.5), were assessed for TPMT and ITPA polymorphisms and for adverse events. The relation between polymorphisms and adverse events is evaluated.

Results  Of all azathioprine treated patients, 11 experienced an adverse event for which azathioprine was stopped: pancreatitis (n = 4), leucopenia (n = 2) and ‘general malaise’ (n = 5). Of the 11 patients who stopped azathioprine because of adverse events, 10 had wild‐type alleles for all investigated genotypes. Genotyping of ITPA 94C>A polymorphisms showed that two patients were homozygous, both tolerated azathioprine well.

Conclusions  No association of functional ITPA and TPMT polymorphisms and the occurrence of azathioprine related adverse events could be detected. Pharmacogenetic assessment prior to thiopurine therapy does not seem warranted.
Effects of low‐dose aspirin on gastric erosions, cyclooxygenase expression and mucosal prostaglandin‐E2 do not depend on Helicobacter pylori infection
Authors: VENERITO M. , TREIBER G. , WEX T. , KUESTER D. , ROESSNER A. , DI MARIO F. , MALFERTHEINER P.
Published: March 2006

Background  The mechanisms by which Helicobacter pylori and low‐dose aspirin induce gastric damage are not completely elucidated.

Aim  To evaluate the effects of low‐dose aspirin on gastric damage, mucosal prostaglandin‐E2 levels and cyclooxygenase‐enzyme expression in relation to the H. pylori status.

Methods  Twenty healthy volunteers (H. pylori positive, n = 10; H. pylori negative, n = 10) received aspirin 100 mg/die for 1 week. At days 0, 1, 3 and 7, gastric mucosal lesions were studied by oesophagogastroduodenoscopy and histology. COX‐1 and COX‐2 were determined by immunohistochemistry and reverse‐transcriptase polymerase chain reaction, and mucosal prostaglandin‐E2 levels by enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay. Nine H. pylori‐positive subjects repeated the protocol after H. pylori eradication.

Results  All groups developed a similar number of erosions. COX‐1 and COX‐2 expression, as well as mucosal prostaglandin‐E2 levels were not influenced by H. pylori status and aspirin medication. Helicobacter pylori‐negative and H. pylori‐eradicated subjects who developed aspirin‐induced erosions had significant lower pre‐treatment antral prostaglandin‐E2 levels than those without erosions (3.6 ng/μg vs. 6.3 ng/μg protein and 3.6 ng/μg vs. 6.0 ng/μg protein, respectively, P < 0.01 Mann–Whitney U‐test).

Conclusions  In healthy subjects, low‐dose aspirin for 1 week does neither affect cyclooxygenase expression nor mucosal prostaglandin‐E2 levels. Antral prostaglandin‐E2‐basal levels appear to be critical for development of aspirin‐induced gastric damage in subjects without H. pylori infection.
Nitrogen retention in the riparian zone of catchments underlain by discontinuous permafrost
Authors: O'DONNELL JONATHAN A. , JONES JEREMY B.
Published: March 2006

1. Riparian zones function as important ecotones that reduce nitrate concentration in groundwater and inputs into streams. In the boreal forest of interior Alaska, permafrost confines subsurface flow through the riparian zone to shallow organic horizons, where plant uptake of nitrate and denitrification are typically high.

2. In this study, riparian zone nitrogen retention was examined in a high permafrost catchment (approximately 53% of land area underlain by permafrost) and a low permafrost catchment (approximately 3%). To estimate the contribution of the riparian zone to catchment nitrogen retention, we analysed groundwater chemistry using an end‐member mixing model.

3. Stream nitrate concentration was over twofold greater in the low permafrost catchment than the high permafrost catchment. Riparian groundwater was not significantly different between catchments, averaging 13 μm overall. Nitrogen retention, measured using the end‐member mixing model, averaged 0.75 and 0.22 mmol N m−2 day−1 in low and high permafrost catchments, respectively, over the summer. The retention rate of nitrogen in the riparian zone was 10–15% of the export in stream flow.

4. Our results indicate that the riparian zone functions as an important sink for groundwater nitrate and dissolved organic carbon (DOC). However, differences in stream nitrate and DOC concentrations between catchments cannot be explained by solute inputs from riparian groundwater to the stream and differences between streams are probably attributable to deeper groundwater inputs or flows from springs that bypass the riparian zone.
The generation of diversity in systems of patches and ranked dominance
Authors: Navarro Alberto Jorge A. , Manly Bryan F. J.
Published: March 2006

Aim  Mac Nally and Lake proposed a statistic (η) for determining whether the diversity in archipelagos is better generated by several small patches (SS‐dominance) or by a few large patches (SL‐dominance). The η statistic improves the study of the generation of diversity in systems of patches, but the dependence of η on a particular species–area relationship may reduce its effectiveness. In this paper we show that η may be affected by the criterion used to distinguish between large and small patches. We propose alternative measures (ranked m‐dominance indices) for the detection of SS/SL dominance, which separate the effects of each class of patch size on the generation of diversity.

Location  We use previously published species lists from three archipelagos: lizard species on 25 islands in the Gulf of California; non‐introduced species of reptiles of the Canary Islands (order Squamata); and finch species from 19 islands of the West Indies. We also use one artificial data set.

Methods  Presence–absence data and the rank order of patch areas are used to define the m‐dominance indices, interpreted as measures of preferential size of patches occupied by m species. A Monte Carlo procedure is implemented for testing the significance of the observed indices. Row and column totals in the simulated presence–absence matrices are kept fixed in order to maintain differences in species richness among sites and differences in occurrence frequencies among species, but the allocation of each occurrence to a specific ranked area is randomized. The analyses are exemplified with the three published data sets taken from the literature, and a hypothetical patch system neither SS‐ nor SL‐dominated.

Results  The new m‐dominance indices identified correctly the hypothetical patch system, while η was positive, suggesting an incorrect SL‐dominant result. For the lizard data set, the standardized ranked m‐dominance was significantly large for small m, confirming an SL‐dominated system. Islands of varying size in the Canary archipelago hosted restricted reptile species, but matrix sparseness seems to have caused the non‐significant results for the m‐dominance indices in this case. The overall pattern of the West Indies system shows that medium‐large islands are dominant, but most Monte Carlo analyses were not significant, also possibly as a result of matrix sparseness.

Main conclusions  The m‐dominance indices have the virtue of summarizing composition–area relationships, and including Monte Carlo procedures for testing whether patch size and the type of species distribution (species restricted to m patches, m = 1,…,s) are random or not. When m is as low as 1 or 2, the m‐dominance indices may typify the role of restricted species on the generation of diversity in the system of patches. The procedure developed here can be generalized to include other ordinal properties of patches, such as isolation or habitat heterogeneity.
Supplementary prescribing: potential ways to reform hospital psychiatric care
Authors: JONES A.
Published: March 2006

The objective of this study was to explore perceptions held by nurses and psychiatrists towards the potential application of supplementary prescribing on acute psychiatric wards. Six focus groups were conducted with 19 nurses and seven psychiatrists who worked on three wards. Two major themes were identified: first, ways in which patients could receive care and treatment through supplementary prescribing and in new forms of partnership and second, ways by which nurses and psychiatrists could be organized to deliver their care through a supplementary prescribing framework. Nurses and psychiatrists were generally positive about the advent of prescribing and offered positive views as to how patient care could be improved and a general willingness for nurses to adapt and work differently. Findings from this exploratory study offer practical solutions to how supplementary prescribing could work on acute psychiatric wards.
Hospital‐based industrial therapy units and the people who work within them – an Irish case analysis using a soft‐systems approach
Authors: WELLS J. S. G.
Published: March 2006

Occupational training and employment is seen as a central concern in the delivery of community‐orientated mental health services aimed at enhancing the quality of life of people with enduring mental illness. A range of schemes from sheltered to open employment now operates in a number of countries, with a concomitant growth of interest in their evaluation. At the same time, hospital‐based workshops, often referred to as industrial therapy units (ITUs), have steadily declined because they are seen as outdated and less efficacious compared with community‐located training and employment. However, whether the total disappearance of the traditional ITU is a positive development may be open to question. This paper reports on a study of five mental health hospital‐based sheltered workshops located in one Health Board area in Ireland, which catered for the needs of people with enduring mental health problems. Utilizing a soft‐systems methodological approach, it examined their role and significance to ‘users’ who spent occupational time in them, the staff who worked in them and the clinicians who referred users to them.
Integration of a suicide risk assessment and intervention approach: the perspective of youth
Authors: MURRAY B. L. , WRIGHT K.
Published: March 2006

The process of suicide risk assessment is often a challenge for mental health nurses, especially when working with an adolescent population. Adolescents who are struggling with particular problems, stressors and life events may exhibit challenging and self‐harm behaviour as a means of communication or a way of coping. Current literature provides limited exploration of the effects of loss, separation and divorce, blended families, conflict and abuse on child and adolescent development and the increased vulnerability of at‐risk youth. There is also limited research that provides clear and practical models for the assessment and management of youth suicidal ideation and behaviour. This paper will discuss the integration of a number of theories to establish a comprehensive assessment of risk. The research study described the perspective of youth and their families who had experienced this particular model; however, this paper will discuss only the youth perspective. In order for this model to be successful, it is important for mental health nurses to make a connection with the youth and begin to understand the self‐harm behaviour in context of the adolescents’ family, and their social and school experiences. It also requires recognition that adolescents with challenging and self‐harm behaviour arehurting and troubledadolescents withhurtful and troublesomebehaviour.
‘Let a hundred flowers blossom, let a hundred schools of thought contend’: a case for therapeutic pluralism in mental health nursing
Authors: HURLEY J. , BARRETT P. , REET P.
Published: March 2006

With the dominance of cognitive behavioural therapies within mental health nursing educational and practice settings, a danger exists that a narrow application of therapy interventions and micro skills will result. Given the rich and diverse variations of presenting circumstances to community mental health services, an incorporation of therapy approaches beyond the cognitive behavioural model is essential. This paper initially aims to demonstrate the core values of mental health nursing as being at least partially incongruent with those of cognitive behavioural therapies. This paper also aims to provide brief examples of the use of alternate evidential practice‐based therapies more reflective of mental health nursing values across a spectrum of community mental health service where the authors are employed.
The effect of a training course on mental health nurses’ attitudes on the reasons of patient aggression and its management
Authors: HAHN S. , NEEDHAM I. , ABDERHALDEN C. , DUXBURY J. A. D. , HALFENS R. J. G.
Published: March 2006

Aggression in healthcare systems poses a major problem for nurses because they are the most susceptible to suffer violence. Studies demonstrate that attitudes of nurses influence their behaviour regarding aggression and violence. Training programmes can positively change nurses’ attitudes. This quasi‐experimental study aimed to examine the effects of a systematic training course in aggression management on mental health nurses’ attitudes about the reasons for patients’ aggression and on its management. Sixty‐three nurses (29 in the intervention and 34 in the control group) participated in this quasi‐experimental pre‐test and post‐test study. The attitude of the participants of a training course was recorded by the German version of the Management of Aggression and Violence Attitude Scale (MAVAS). No significant attitude changes occurred in the intervention group at post‐test. It is concluded that trainings intending to influence attitudes regarding the reason for patient aggression should consider the impact of the pedagogical quality of the training course, organizational support, and the user's perception. Moreover, it remains questionable to what extent a single instrument of measurement can record attitude changes.
Clinical governance in practice: closing the loop with integrated audit systems
Authors: TAYLOR L. , JONES S.
Published: March 2006

Clinical governance has been acknowledged as the driving force behind National Health Service (NHS) reform since the government white paper outlined a new style of NHS in the UK in 1997. The framework of clinical governance ensures that NHS organizations are accountable for continually improving the quality of their services and safeguarding high standards of care by creating an environment in which excellence in clinical care will develop. A major component of a clinical governance framework requires utilizing audit procedures, which assess the effectiveness of current systems and ultimately direct continual quality improvement. This paper describes the audit component of a local clinical governance framework designed for a unit based within an NHS trust, which has utilized a multidisciplinary approach to assess the effectiveness of a newly commissioned service and its impact on the residents and staff. The unit is a 12‐bedded, low‐secure‐intensive rehabilitation unit for clients with severe and enduring mental illness. Using recognized and standardized psychometric outcome measures, information was collected on clinical symptoms, social functioning, social behaviour, quality of life, relationship quality with named nurses and medication side‐effects. Additionally, confidential staff measures were included to assess levels of burnout, identify expressed emotion and assess staff perception of models of illness. The paper includes a comprehensive account of how managerial commitment, teaching processes and application of technology ensured prompt data collection and maintained the momentum through the audit timescale. Data analysis and presentation of data in both clinical reviews and in senior management meetings within the unit are discussed. Findings highlight the full integration of the audit system into the processes of the unit. Clinically, the paper highlights the enhancement of the knowledge base of the client group and the influence on clinical decision‐making processes and care delivery as a result of the audit. Brief clinical examples are given. In conclusion, the impact of the audit on unit strategy and organizational efficiency are discussed to highlight the importance of closing the audit loop and completing the cycle of clinical governance. The audit system has positive implications for replication in other services.
Use of Ecotilling as an efficient SNP discovery tool to survey genetic variation in wild populations of Populus trichocarpa
Authors: GILCHRIST ERIN J. , HAUGHN GEORGE W. , YING CHENG C. , OTTO SARAH P. , ZHUANG JUN , CHEUNG DOROTHY , HAMBERGER BJÖRN , ABOUTORABI FARIBA , KALYNYAK TATYANA , JOHNSON LEE , BOHLMANN JOERG , ELLIS BRIAN E. , DOUGLAS CARL J. , CRONK QUENTIN C. B.
Published: March 2006

Ecotilling was used as a simple nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) discovery tool to examine DNA variation in natural populations of the western black cottonwood, Populus trichocarpa, and was found to be more efficient than sequencing for large‐scale studies of genetic variation in this tree. A publicly available, live reference collection of P. trichocarpa from the University of British Columbia Botanical Garden was used in this study to survey variation in nine different genes among individuals from 41 different populations. A large amount of genetic variation was detected, but the level of variation appears to be less than in the related species, Populus tremula, based on reported statistics for that tree. Genes examined varied considerably in their level of variation, from PoptrTB1 which had a single SNP, to PoptrLFY which had more than 23 in the 1000‐bp region examined. Overall nucleotide diversity, measured as Total, was relatively low at 0.00184. Linkage disequilibrium, on the other hand, was higher than reported for some woody plant species, with mean r2 equal to 0.34. This study reveals the potential of Ecotilling as a rapid genotype discovery method to explore and utilize the large pool of genetic variation in tree species.
FAST‐TRACK: Waves of parthenogenesis in the desert: evidence for the parallel loss of sex in a grasshopper and a gecko from Australia
Authors: KEARNEY MICHAEL , BLACKET MARK J. , STRASBURG JARED L. , MORITZ CRAIG
Published: March 2006

The rarity of parthenogenesis, reproduction without sex, is a major evolutionary puzzle. To understand why sexual genetic systems are so successful in nature, we must understand why parthenogenesis sometimes evolves and persists. Here we use DNA sequence data to test for similarities in the tempo and mode of the evolution of parthenogenesis in a grasshopper and a lizard from the Australian desert. We find spectacular congruence between genetic and geographic patterns of parthenogenesis in these distantly related organisms. In each species, parthenogenesis evolved twice and appears to have expanded in parallel waves across the desert, suggesting a highly general selective force against sex.
Molecular detection of predation by soil micro‐arthropods on nematodes
Authors: READ D. S. , SHEPPARD S. K. , BRUFORD M. W. , GLEN D. M. , SYMONDSON W. O. C.
Published: March 2006

The relative importance of the factors driving change in the population dynamics of nematodes in the soil is almost completely unknown. Top‐down control by micro‐arthropod predators may have a significant impact on nematode population dynamics. We report experiments showing that mites and Collembola were capable of reducing nematode numbers in the laboratory and were feeding on a targeted nematode species in the field. A PCR‐based approach was developed for the detection of predation on three species of slug‐ and insect‐pathogenic nematodes:Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita,Heterorhabditis megidisandSteinernema feltiae. The collembolanFolsomia candidaand the mesostigmatid miteStratiolaelaps mileswere employed as model predators to calibrate post‐ingestion prey DNA detection times. Fragments of cytochrome oxidase I (COI) mtDNA were sequenced and species‐specific primers were designed, amplifying 154‐, 154‐ and 203‐bp fragments for each of the nematode species. Detection times for nematode DNA within the guts of Collembola were longer than in mites, with half‐lives (50% of samples testing positive) of 08.75 h and 05.03 h, respectively.F. candidasignificantly reduced numbers of the nematodeH. megidis, with rates of predation of ∼0.4 nematode infective juveniles per collembolan per hour over 10 h. Four taxa of field‐caught micro‐arthropod that had been exposed to the nematodeP. hermaphroditafor a period of 12 h were analysed and significant numbers of three taxa tested positive. This is the first application of PCR techniques for the study of nematophagy and the first time these techniques have been used to measure predation on nematodes in the field.
Insights into the mating habits of the tiger salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum tigrinum) as revealed by genetic parentage analyses
Authors: GOPURENKO DAVID , WILLIAMS ROD N. , McCORMICK CORY R. , DeWOODY J. ANDREW
Published: March 2006

Among urodeles, ambystomatid salamanders are particularly amenable to genetic parentage analyses because they are explosive aggregate breeders that typically have large progeny arrays. Such analyses can lead to direct inferences about otherwise cryptic aspects of salamander natural history, including the rate of multiple mating, individual reproductive success, and the spatial distribution of clutches. In 2002, we collected eastern tiger salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum tigrinum) egg masses (> 1000 embryos) from a ~80 m linear transect in Indiana, USA. Embryos were genotyped at four variable microsatellite loci and the resulting progeny array data were used to reconstruct multilocus genotypes of the parental dams and sires for each egg mass. UPGMA analysis of genetic distances among embryos resolved four instances of egg mass admixture, where two or more females had oviposited at exactly the same site resulting in the mixing of independent cohorts. In total, 41 discrete egg masses were available for parentage analyses. Twenty‐three egg masses (56%) consisted exclusively of full‐siblings (i.e. were singly sired) and 18 (44%) were multiply sired (mean 2.6 males/clutch). Parentage could be genetically assigned to one of 17 distinct parent pairs involving at least 15 females and 14 different males. Reproductive skew was evident among males who sired multiply sired clutches. Additional evidence of the effects of sexual selection on male reproductive success was apparent via significant positive correlations between male mating and reproductive success. Females frequently partitioned their clutches into multiple discrete egg masses that were separated from one another by as many as 43 m. Collectively, these data provide the first direct evidence for polygynandry in a wild population of tiger salamanders.
Control of the endonuclease activity of type I restriction‐modification systems is required to maintain chromosome integrity following homologous recombination
Authors: Blakely Garry W. , Murray Noreen E.
Published: March 2006

A type I restriction‐modification enzyme will bind to an unmethylated target sequence in DNA and, while still bound to the target, translocate DNA through the protein complex in both directions. DNA breakage occurs when two translocating complexes collide. However, if type I restriction‐modification systems bind to unmodified target sequences within the resident bacterial chromosome, as opposed to incoming ‘foreign’ DNA, their activity is curtailed; a process known as restriction alleviation (RA). We have identified two genes in Escherichia coli, rnhA and recG, mutations in which lead to the alleviation of restriction. Induction of RA in response to these mutations is consistent with the production of unmodified target sequences following DNA synthesis associated with both homologous recombination and R‐loop formation. This implies that a normal function of RA is to protect the bacterial chromosome when recombination generates unmodified products. For EcoKI, our experiments demonstrate the contribution of two pathways that serve to protect unmodified DNA in the bacterial chromosome: the primary pathway in which ClpXP degrades the restriction endonucleas and a mechanism dependent on the lar gene within Rac, a resident, defective prophage of E. coli K‐12. Previously, the potential of the second pathway has only been demonstrated when expression of lar has been elevated. Our data identify the effect of lar from the repressed prophage.
Dynamics of stomatal water relations following leaf excision
Authors: POWLES JULIA E. , BUCKLEY THOMAS N. , NICOTRA ADRIENNE B. , FARQUHAR GRAHAM D.
Published: March 2006

We examined the stomatal response to leaf excision in an evergreen woody shrub,Photinia × fraseri, using a novel combination of gas exchange, traditional water relations and modelling. Plants were kept outdoors in mild winter conditions (average daily temperature range: −1 to 12 °C) before being transferred to a glasshouse (temperature range: 20–30 °C) and allowed to acclimate for different periods before experiments. ‘Glasshouse plants’ were acclimated for at least 9 d, and ‘outdoor plants’ were acclimated for fewer than 3 d before laboratory gas exchange experiments. The transient stomatal opening response to leaf excision was roughly twice as long in outdoor plants as in glasshouse plants. To elucidate the reason for this difference, we inferred variables of stomatal water relations (epidermal and guard cell turgor pressures and guard cell osmotic pressure:Pe,Pgandπg, respectively) from stomatal conductance (gs) and bulk leaf water potential (ψl), using a hydromechanical model ofgs.ψlwas calculated from cumulative post‐excision transpirational water loss using empirical relationships betweenψland relative water content obtained on similar leaves. InferredPgandPeboth declined immediately after leaf excision. Inferredπgalso declined after a lag period. The kinetics ofπgadjustment after the lag were similar in outdoors and glasshouse plants, but the lag period was much longer in outdoor plants. This suggests that the longer transient opening response in outdoor plants resulted from slower induction, not slower execution, of guard cell osmoregulation. We discuss the implications of our results for the mechanism of short‐term stomatal responses to hydraulic perturbations, for dynamic modelling ofgsand for leaf water status regulation.
Valeseguyidae, a new family of Diptera in the Scatopsoidea, with a new genus in Cretaceous amber from Myanmar
Authors: De Souza Amorim Dalton , Grimaldi David A.
Published: March 2006

Abstract.  The genus Cretoseguya, gen.n., is described for C. burmitica, sp.n., based on a female found in mid‐Cretaceous amber from Myanmar. Valeseguya Colless was classified previously as a subfamily of the ‘woodgnats’, family Mycetobiidae (Anisopodoidea). Thoracic and male terminalia morphology of Valeseguya rieki Colless, from the Recent of Australia, and V. disjuncta Grimaldi, in Miocene amber from the Dominican Republic, are redescribed. The new family Valeseguyidae includes two species in Valeseguya and one in Cretoseguya. Phylogenetic analysis of characters on the head, wing (venation), legs, terminalia and, especially, thoracic pleural sclerites indicate that the correct placement of the family is as the sister group to the ‘scavenger gnats’ Scatopsidae + Canthyloscelidae (including Synneuron). The concept and definition of Scatopsoidea are expanded to include these three families.
A marked decrease in heart rate variability associated with junctional rhythm during anesthesia with sevoflurane and fentanyl
Authors: Fujiwara Y. , Asakura Y. , Shibata Y. , Nishiwaki K. , Komatsu T.
Published: March 2006

Heart rate variability (HRV) was investigated using a new technique for time series analysis combining the maximum entropy method and non‐linear least squares method – the ‘MemCalc method’–in patients undergoing general anesthesia with sevoflurane and fentanyl for elective surgery. As the occurrence of junctional rhythm coincided with the measurement of these variables in two patients, we successfully evaluated the entropy, low (LF) and high (HF) frequency component of the HRV during junctional rhythm and found that the occurrence of junctional rhythm is associated with marked decreases in the entropy, LF and HF of HRV. When evaluating autonomic control of the heart using HRV analysis, the decrease in HRV caused by the occurrence of junctional rhythm must be taken into account.
Maternal sex and mate relatedness affect offspring quality in the gynodioeciousSilene acaulis
Authors: Keller S. R. , Schwaegerle K. E.
Published: March 2006

In gynodioecious species, females sacrifice fitness by not producing pollen, and hence must have a fitness advantage over hermaphrodites. Because females are obligately outcrossed, they may derive a fitness advantage by avoiding selfing and inbreeding depression. However, both sexes are capable of biparental inbreeding, and there are currently few estimates of the independent effects of maternal sex and multiple levels of inbreeding on female advantage. To test these hypotheses, females and hermaphrodites from six Alaskan populations of Silene acaulis were crossed with pollen from self (hermaphrodites only), a sibling, a random plant within the same population, and a plant from a different population. Germination, survivorship and early growth revealed inbreeding depression for selfs and higher germination but reduced growth in sib-crosses, relative to outcrosses. Independent of mate relatedness, females germinated more seeds that grew faster than offspring from hermaphrodites. This indicates that inbreeding depression as well as maternal sex can influence breeding system evolution. The effect of maternal sex may be explained by higher performance of female genotypes and a greater abundance of female genotypes among the offspring of female mothers.
Flight of Sharovipteryx mirabilis: the world's first delta-winged glider
Authors: Dyke G. J. , Nudds R. L. , Rayner J. M. V.
Published: March 2006

The 225 million-year-old reptile Sharovipteryx mirabilis was the world's first delta-winged glider; this remarkable animal had a flight surface composed entirely of a hind-limb membrane. We use standard delta-wing aerodynamics to reconstruct the flight of S. mirabilis demonstrating that wing shape could have been controlled simply by protraction of the femora at the knees, and by variation in incidence of a small forelimb canard. Our method has allowed us to address the question of how identifying realistic glide performance can be used to set limits on aerodynamic design in this small animal. Our novel interpretation of the bizarre flight mode of S. mirabilis is the first based directly on interpretation of the fossil itself and the first grounded in aerodynamics.