bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Effect of bromocriptine on antipsychotic drug‐induced hyperprolactinemia: Eight‐week randomized, single‐blind, placebo‐controlled, multicenter study
Authors: Lee Moon‐Soo , Song Hyun‐Cheol , An Hyonggin , Yang Jaewon , Ko Young‐Hoon , Jung In‐Kwa , Joe Sook‐Haeng
Published: November 2009

Aim:  The objective of the present study was to assess the efficacy and safety of bromocriptine treatment for patients with antipsychotic‐drug‐induced hyperprolactinemia in clinical practice.

Methods:  This was an 8‐week randomized, single‐blind, placebo‐controlled, multicenter study. Sixty female schizophrenia patients were enrolled and were randomly assigned to one of four treatment groups: bromocriptine 2.5 mg/day, 5 mg/day, 10 mg/day, and placebo. Serum levels of prolactin, estradiol (E2), luteinizing hormone (LH), and follicle‐stimulating hormone (FSH) were evaluated on three occasions (baseline, and 4 and 8 weeks after commencement of the treatment paradigm). Extrapyramidal symptoms (EPS) and clinical symptoms were assessed using the Simpson–Angus scale and the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), respectively.

Results:  Of the 60 subjects who were enrolled, 48 completed the study (n = 14, 13, 11, and 10 in the bromocriptine 2.5 mg/day, 5 mg/day, and 10 mg/day, and placebo groups, respectively). Four patients in the 10‐mg/day group, two in the 5‐mg/day group, and one in the placebo group resumed menses during the study. The mean level of prolactin significantly decreased from baseline to week 4, and then plateaued, showing no significant change for the remaining 4 weeks of the study. No significant changes in LH, FSH, or E2 levels were observed throughout the 8‐week study period, either within or between groups.

Conclusion:  Administration of bromocriptine is a safe method for treating antipsychotic‐drug‐induced hyperprolactinemia without exacerbating either psychotic symptoms or EPS.
Relationship of psychopathological symptoms and cognitive function to subjective quality of life in patients with chronic schizophrenia
Authors: Tomida Kenji , Takahashi Nagahide , Saito Shinichi , Maeno Nobuhisa , Iwamoto Kunihiro , Yoshida Keizo , Kimura Hiroyuki , Iidaka Tetsuya , Ozaki Norio
Published: November 2009

Aims:  The purpose of the present study was to examine the extent of the effects of psychopathological symptoms and cognitive function on quality of life (QOL) in patients with chronic schizophrenia.

Methods:  Data were obtained using the Japanese Schizophrenia Quality of Life Scale (JSQLS), Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), Wisconsin Card‐Sorting Test (WCST) Keio version, and Continuous Performance Test (CPT) for 52 schizophrenia patients.

Results:  Stepwise regression analysis showed that PANSS depression/anxiety factors predicted JSQLS psychosocial conditions and motivation/energy, and that WCST Categories Achieved predicted JSQLS symptoms/side‐effects.

Conclusions:  Psychopathological symptoms and cognitive function affect subjective QOL in patients with schizophrenia. If the final goal is treatment that improves QOL in a manner that patients themselves are aware of, clinicians probably need to consider a treatment strategy that improves depression/anxiety symptom.
Deterioration of intelligence in methamphetamine‐induced psychosis: Comparison with alcohol dependence on WAIS‐III
Authors: Lin Shih‐Ku , Huang Ming‐Chy , Lin Hui‐Che , Pan Chun‐Hong
Published: November 2009

Aims: Long‐term use of methamphetamine could induce psychosis, but consequences with regards to intelligence have seldom been investigated. Long‐term use of alcohol could also result in intellectual deterioration.

Methods: The IQ of 34 methamphetamine‐induced psychosis (MIP) patients (age, 28.7 ± 6.1 years) and 34 alcohol‐dependent (AD) patients (age, 40.7 ± 7.3 years) was compared using the Chinese version of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale–Third Edition (WAIS‐III).

Results: The average full‐scale IQ, verbal IQ, performance IQ, verbal comprehension index, working memory index, perceptual organization index, and processing speed index was 82.3 ± 10.8, 84.3 ± 11.9, 81.9 ± 12.1, 85.5 ± 11.9, 84.7 ± 12.5, 85.4 ± 13.6, and 78.5 ± 12.7 in MIP patients and 90.5 ± 12.0, 95.2 ± 11.3, 86.0 ± 13.7, 95.5 ± 11.0, 87.1 ± 14.5, 96.2 ± 13.1, and 84.5 ± 15.0 in AD patients, respectively. There were six MIP patients (17.6%) whose full‐scale IQ was <70 and 13 (38.2%) whose full‐scale IQ was <85 and >70, while one AD patient had a full‐scale IQ <70 (2.9%) and 10 (22%) had full‐scale IQ <85 and >70.

Conclusions: Long‐term use of methamphetamine can result not only in psychosis, but also in mentality deterioration. Intelligence deterioration is more severe in clinical MIP patients than AD patients. Assessment of the mentality of MIP patients is suggested to help with the implementation of rehabilitative programs for these patients.
Japanese pediatric guidelines for the treatment and management of bronchial asthma 2008
Authors: Kondo Naomi , Nishimuta Toshiyuki , Nishima Sankei , Morikawa Akihiro , Aihara Yukoh , Akasaka Toru , Akasawa Akira , Adachi Yuichi , Arakawa Hirokazu , Ikarashi Takao , Ikebe Toshiichi , Inoue Toshishige , Iwata Tsutomu , Urisu Atsuo , Ebisawa Motohiro , Ohya Yukihiro , Okada Kenji , Odajima Hiroshi , Katsunuma Toshio , Kameda Makoto , Kurihara Kazuyuki , Kohno Yoichi , Sakamoto Tatsuo , Shimojo Naoki , Suehiro Yutaka , Tokuyama Kenichi , Nambu Mitsuhiko , Hamasaki Yuhei , Fujisawa Takao , Matsui Takehiko , Matsubara Tomoyo , Mayumi Mitsufumi , Mukoyama Tokuko , Mochizuki Hiroyuki , Yamaguchi Koichi , Yoshihara Shigemi
Published: November 2009

The fourth version of the Japanese Pediatric Guidelines for the Treatment and Management of Bronchial Asthma 2008 (JPGL 2008) was published by the Japanese Society of Pediatric Allergy and Clinical Immunology in December 2008. In JPGL 2008, the recommendations were revised on the basis of the JPGL 2005. The JPGL 2008 is different to the Global Initiative for Asthma guideline in that it contains the following items: a classification system of asthma severity; recommendations for long‐term management organized by age; a special mention of infantile asthma; and an emphasis on prevention and early intervention. Here we show a summary of the JPGL 2008 revising our previous report concerning JPGL 2005.
Regional invariance among microbial communities
Authors: Östman Örjan , Drakare Stina , Kritzberg Emma S. , Langenheder Silke , Logue Jürg B. , Lindström Eva S.
Published: November 2009

Microbial ecology has focused much on causes of between‐site variation in community composition. By analysing five data‐sets each of aquatic bacteria and phytoplankton, we demonstrated that microbial communities show a large degree of similarity in community composition and that abundant taxa were widespread, a typical pattern for many metazoan metacommunities. The regional abundance of taxa explained on average 85 and 41% of variation in detection frequency and 58 and 31% of variation in local abundances for bacteria and phytoplankton, respectively. However, regional abundance explained less variation in local abundances with increasing environmental variation between sites within data‐sets. These findings indicate that the studies of microbial assemblages need to consider similarities between communities to better understand the processes underlying the assembly of microbial communities. Finally, we propose that the degree of regional invariance can be linked to the evolution of microbes and the variation in ecosystem functions performed by microbial communities.

Ecology Letters (2010) 13: 118–127
CUT‐THROAT FRINGE COMPETITION IN AN EMERGING COUNTRY MARKET: TAX EVASION OR THE ABSENCE OF MARKET POWER?*
Authors: SALVO ALBERTO
Published: November 2009

Brazil's established soft‐drink firms recently lost ground to multiple low‐price entrants, with small‐scale operations and minimal advertising. While incumbents attributed such undercutting to entrants' lower costs from non‐compliance with the law, ‘generics’ counterargued that incumbents' high prices stemmed from unilateral market power rather than cost heterogeneity. By estimating a structural model, I can single‐handedly explain established brands' high prices through low equilibrium price elasticities of demand. Tax evasion in the fringe, while plausible, appears to be offset by higher procurement costs or less efficient scale. More generally, a competitive informal sector can alleviate the allocative distortions in certain concentrated industries.
The use of mobile technology for work‐based assessment: the student experience
Authors: Coulby Ceridwen , Hennessey Scott , Davies Nancy , Fuller Richard
Published: November 2009

This paper outlines a research project conducted at Leeds University School of Medicine with Assessment & Learning in Practice Settings Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, collaboration between the Universities of Leeds, Huddersfield, Bradford, Leeds Metropolitan University and the University of York St John.

The research conducted is a proof of concept, examining the impact of delivering competency based assessment via personal digital assistants (PDAs) amongst a group of final year undergraduate medical students. This evaluation reports the student experience of mobile technology for assessment with positive effects; concluding that overall the students found completing assessments using a PDA straight forward and that the structured format of the assessment resulted in an increased, improved level of feedback, allowing students to improve their skills during the placement. A relationship between using the PDA for learning and setting goals for achievement was clearly demonstrated.
The Winter of Discontent Thirty Years On
Authors: HAY COLIN
Published: November 2009

Thirty years on, and in the context of our own crisis, it is perhaps useful to take stock of the last Winter of Discontent. The industrial strife that beset the Callaghan government in the winter of 1978/79 was seen at the time as a key factor in Labour's defeat in the general election of 1979; but its legacy is considerable and its significance enduring. These four themed essays come from a public seminar at the British Academy to mark the thirtieth anniversary of the Winter of Discontent. Colin Hay argues that the Winter of Discontent was, in key respects, a manufactured crisis lived, experienced and responded to through a very particular construction of the events that is difficult to reconcile with the evidence itself. Reponses by Lords Baker, Lea and Lipsey follow and the section concludes with a transcribed and edited version of the lively discussion which ensued.
Language Is a Complex Adaptive System: Position Paper
Authors:   The “Five Graces Group”, Beckner Clay , Blythe Richard , Bybee Joan , Christiansen Morten H. , Croft William , Ellis Nick C. , Holland John , Ke Jinyun , Larsen‐Freeman Diane , Schoenemann Tom
Published: November 2009

Language has a fundamentally social function. Processes of human interaction along with domain‐general cognitive processes shape the structure and knowledge of language. Recent research in the cognitive sciences has demonstrated that patterns of use strongly affect how language is acquired, is used, and changes. These processes are not independent of one another but are facets of the same complex adaptive system (CAS). Language as a CAS involves the following key features: The system consists of multiple agents (the speakers in the speech community) interacting with one another. The system is adaptive; that is, speakers’ behavior is based on their past interactions, and current and past interactions together feed forward into future behavior. A speaker's behavior is the consequence of competing factors ranging from perceptual constraints to social motivations. The structures of language emerge from interrelated patterns of experience, social interaction, and cognitive mechanisms. The CAS approach reveals commonalities in many areas of language research, including first and second language acquisition, historical linguistics, psycholinguistics, language evolution, and computational modeling.
The Speech Community in Evolutionary Language Dynamics
Authors: Blythe Richard A. , Croft William A.
Published: November 2009

Language is a complex adaptive system: Speakers are agents who interact with each other, and their past and current interactions feed into speakers’ future behavior in complex ways. In this article, we describe the social cognitive linguistic basis for this analysis of language and a mathematical model developed in collaboration between researchers in linguistics and statistical physics. The model has led us to posit two mechanisms of selection—neutral interactor selection and weighted interactor selection—in addition to neutral evolution and replicator selection (fitness). We describe current results in modeling language change in terms of neutral interactor selection and weighted interactor selection.
Constructing a Second Language: Analyses and Computational Simulations of the Emergence of Linguistic Constructions From Usage
Authors: Ellis Nick C. , Larsen‐Freeman Diane
Published: November 2009

This article presents an analysis of interactions in the usage, structure, cognition, coadaptation of conversational partners, and emergence of linguistic constructions. It focuses on second language development of English verb‐argument constructions (VACs: VL, verb locative; VOL, verb object locative; VOO, ditransitive) with particular reference to the following: (a) Construction learning as concept learning following the general cognitive and associative processes of the induction of categories from experience of exemplars in usage obtained through coadapted micro‐discursive interaction with conversation partners; (b) the empirical analysis of usage by means of corpus linguistic descriptions of native and nonnative speech and of longitudinal emergence in the interlanguage of second language learners; (c) the effects of the frequency and Zipfian type/token frequency distribution of exemplars within the Verb and other islands of the construction archipelago (e.g., [Subj V Obj Oblpath/loc]), by their prototypicality, their generic coverage, and their contingency of form‐meaning‐use mapping, and (d) computational (emergent connectionist) models of these various factors as they play out in the emergence of constructions as generalized linguistic schema.
Meaning in the Making: Meaning Potential Emerging From Acts of Meaning
Authors: Matthiessen Christian M. I. M.
Published: November 2009

This article is concerned with how meaning potential, in particular an individual's personalized meaning potential, emerges from acts of meaning. This happens during different time frames: logogenetic—the creation of meaning in text; ontogenetic—the learning of a personalized meaning potential; and phylogenetic—the evolution of the collective meaning potential. Logogenetically, a person learns through text in interaction with others, distilling meaning potential from the instantial acts of meaning and constantly revising their own personalized meaning potential, both qualitatively and quantitatively. This learning involves both learning language and learning “content” through language, locally within a single text or cumulatively over many texts. I will model both these aspects of learning and show how they vary registerially according to the contexts in which texts unfold.
Individual Differences: Interplay of Learner Characteristics and Learning Environment
Authors: Dörnyei Zoltán
Published: November 2009

The notion of language as a complex adaptive system has been conceived within an agent‐based framework, which highlights the significance of individual‐level variation in the characteristics and contextual circumstances of the learner/speaker. Yet, in spite of this emphasis, currently we know relatively little about the interplay among language, agent, and environment in the language acquisition process, which highlights the need for further research in this area. This article is intended to pursue this agenda by discussing four key issues in this respect: (a) conceptualizing the agent, (b) conceptualizing the environment and its relationship to the agent, (c) operationalizing the dynamic relationship among language, agent, and environment, and (d) researching dynamic systems.
Occupational classification in the South African census before ISCO‐581
Authors: CHRISTOPHER A. J.
Published: November 2009

The population census is one of the major statistics gathering exercises undertaken by the state, when information on a wide range of personal attributes is demanded. None is more problematic than occupation, which, for clarity, requires the subsequent simplification and classification of the myriad of self‐descriptions collected. Nowhere is this more evident than in South Africa before 1958. Conflict between British imperial directives and local peculiarities, notably the issue of race, resulted in the adoption of widely fluctuating classification schemes. Consequently, direct comparisons between the published occupational statistics of successive enumerations are highly problematic, if not impossible.
Review of long‐term mortality and vascular morbidity amongst young adults with cerebral infarction
Authors: Naess H. , Waje‐Andreassen U.
Published: November 2009

The incidence of cerebral infarction amongst patients <45 years ranges from 3.4 to 11.3 per 100 000. Aetiology of cerebral infarction is more heterogeneous amongst young patients than amongst older patients including frequent dissection of neck vessels. Because of longer expected survival, prognosis is of special importance amongst younger patients. Average annual long‐term mortality rate after the first year of cerebral infarction ranges from 0.6% to 1.8% and is about 10 times higher than amongst matched controls. Long‐term mortality is associated with cardiac embolism and atherosclerosis, whilst dissection of neck vessels is associated with low long‐term mortality. Average annual long‐term recurrence rate of cerebral infarction ranges from 0.3% to 1.7% after the first year. Recurrence of cerebral infarction and other vascular events is highly associated with traditional risk factors including smoking, diabetes mellitus and symptomatic atherosclerosis. Dissection of neck vessel is associated with low long‐term mortality rate and low recurrence rate of cerebral infarction. Tailoring secondary preventive treatment according to aetiology and risk factors suggests better prognosis.
Evolution of striatal degeneration in McLeod syndrome
Authors: Valko P. O. , Hänggi J. , Meyer M. , Jung H. H.
Published: November 2009

Background and purpose:  McLeod neuroacanthocytosis syndrome (MLS) is an X‐linked multisystem disorder with CNS manifestations resembling Huntington disease. Neuroimaging studies revealed striatal atrophy with predominance of the caudate nucleus. Our previous cross‐sectional MRI study showed an association of volume loss in the caudate nucleus and putamen with the disease duration.

Methods:  In the present study, we examined three brothers with genetically confirmed diagnosis of MLS using an observer‐independent and fully automated subcortical segmentation procedure to measure striatal volumes.

Results:  In a cross‐sectional comparison with 20 healthy age‐matched control men, the volumes of the caudate nucleus of the three patients were significantly smaller as confirmed by z‐score transformations. On an individual basis, volumes in the two more severely affected and older patients were smaller than in the less affected younger brother. Longitudinal MRI‐based measurements over 7 years demonstrated a statistical trend towards significant decreased caudate volumes in McLeod patients.

Conclusions:  Our findings indicate that structural MRI combined with fully automated computational morphometric analyses represents an objective and observer‐independent imaging tool for the representation of progressive striatal degeneration in MLS and might be a valuable methodology for cross‐sectional as well as longitudinally volumetric studies in other rare neurodegenerative diseases, even on individual patients.
Predictive value of ankle brachial index in patients with acute ischaemic stroke
Authors: Purroy F. , Coll B. , Oró M. , Setó E. , Piñol‐Ripoll G. , Plana A. , Quílez A. , Sanahuja J. , Brieva L. , Vega L. , Fernández E.
Published: November 2009

Background:  The ankle brachial index (ABI) is a known measure of lower‐limb peripheral artery disease (PAD), as well as a marker for other cardiovascular disease events.

Objective:  Our goal was to compare the prevalence of abnormal ABI scores (ABI ≤ 0.9) between: consecutive patients with acute ischaemic stroke (IS), primary care patients with refractory hypertension (rHT), and patients at intermediate cardiovascular risk (ICVR). Also, to determine the prognostic value of abnormal ABI for stroke recurrence in patients with IS.

Methods:  We compared 116 consecutive patients with IS with 190 rHT and 150 ICVR patients. Clinical data and ultrasonographic findings were recorded. Stroke recurrence and risk of new vascular events were assessed after 18 months of follow‐up.

Results:  Low ABI was more frequent in rHT (35.8%) than in the IS (24.1%) and ICVR (24.7%) groups (P = 0.031). Amongst patients with IS, ABI ≤ 0.9 was associated with vascular risk factors (VRF) ≥3 (33.8% vs. 7.1%, P = 0.001) and large‐artery atherosclerosis (LAA) (43.5% vs. 19.4%, P = 0.015). Multivariate analyses (logistic regression) only identified VRF > 3 as independently associated with low ABI (OR: 6.46; 1.81‐23.02; P = 0.004). Abnormal ABI was associated with stroke recurrence (32.1% vs. 13.6%, P = 0.027) and the appearance of any major vascular event (50.0% vs. 17.0%, P < 0.001). In the logistic regression analysis, adjusted for VRF, age, and LAA, ABI remained as an independent predictor of vascular events (HR 3.99; 1.90–8.41 P < 0.001).

Conclusion:  Abnormal ABI was associated with classical risk factors, especially hypertension. The measurement of ABI amongst patients with IS appeared to be useful to identify high‐risk patients and plan adequate prevention therapies.
The development of animal personality: relevance, concepts and perspectives
Authors: Stamps Judy , Groothuis Ton G. G.
Published: November 2009

Recent studies of animal personality have focused on its proximate causation and its ecological and evolutionary significance, but have mostly ignored questions about its development, although an understanding of the latter is highly relevant to these other questions. One possible reason for this neglect is confusion about many of the concepts and terms that are necessary to study the development of animal personality. Here, we provide a framework for studying personality development that focuses on the properties of animal personality, and considers how and why these properties may change over time. We specifically focus on three dimensions of personality: (1) contextual generality at a given age or time, (2) temporal consistency in behavioural traits and in relationships between traits, and (3) the effects of genes and experience on the development of personality at a given age or life stage. We advocate using a new approach, contextual reaction norms, to study the contextual generality of personality traits at the level of groups, individuals and genotypes, show how concepts and terms borrowed from the literature on personality development in humans can be used to study temporal changes in personality at the level of groups and individuals, and demonstrate how classical developmental reaction norms can provide insights into the ways that genes and experiential factors interact across ontogeny to affect the expression of personality traits. In addition, we discuss how correlations between the effects of genes and experience on personality development can arise as a function of individuals' control over their own environment,vianiche‐picking or niche‐construction. Using this framework, we discuss several widely held assumptions about animal personality development that still await validation, identify neglected methodological issues, and describe a number of promising new avenues for future research.
Assessing NGO Empowerment in Housing Development Frameworks: Discourse and Practice in the Philippines
Authors: Takahashi Kaoko
Published: November 2009

Amid the rise of democratization movements since the 1980s, many governments in developing countries have proactively introduced the ideas of decentralization and devolution into the policy arena. In the pursuit of democratic planning processes where civil society is encouraged to be a part of the formal decision‐making system, articles advocating the empowerment of non‐governmental organizations (NGOs) have been included into a series of legislations. This shift was soon reflected in housing development frameworks for the poor, leading to the formulation of a new approach called “enablement.” The Philippines' experience for the last two decades follows this line of development. Filipino NGOs are now prescribed as a catalyst to add further dynamism to the improvement of substandard living environments. Empirical findings of this study exemplify that NGO empowerment has been increasingly accelerated by the combination of NGOs' self‐endeavors and governments' initiatives. By utilizing the paradigm shift under the enablement approach, NGOs are engaged in the attempt of alliance‐formation and network‐building to expand their influence. Contrary to ideals, however, NGO empowerment may reveal some adverse effects such as excessive dependency on NGOs and distorted representation by NGOs. Moreover, the professionalization of NGOs is an additional factor which generates hierarchization at the grass‐roots level. This study suggests that further research analyze the depth and width to which NGO empowerment has been penetrated in order to precisely capture the processes and consequences resulting in disempowerment.
Environmental Synergisms and Extinctions of Tropical Species
Authors: LAURANCE WILLIAM F. , USECHE DIANA C.
Published: November 2009

Abstract:  Environmental synergisms may pose the greatest threat to tropical biodiversity. Using recently updated data sets from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, we evaluated the incidence of perceived threats to all known mammal, bird, and amphibian species in tropical forests. Vulnerable, endangered, and extinct species were collectively far more likely to be imperiled by combinations of threats than expected by chance. Among 45 possible pairwise combinations of 10 different threats, 69%, 93%, and 71% were significantly more frequent than expected for threatened mammals, birds, and amphibians, respectively, even with a stringent Bonferroni‐corrected probability value (p= 0.003). Based on this analysis, we identified five key environmental synergisms in the tropics and speculate on the existence of others. The most important involve interactions between habitat loss or alteration (from agriculture, urban sprawl, infrastructure, or logging) and other anthropogenic disturbances such as hunting, fire, exotic‐species invasions, or pollution. Climatic change and emerging pathogens also can interact with other threats. We assert that environmental synergisms are more likely the norm than the exception for threatened species and ecosystems, can vary markedly in nature among geographic regions and taxa, and may be exceedingly difficult to predict in terms of their ultimate impacts. The perils posed by environmental synergisms highlight the need for a precautionary approach to tropical biodiversity conservation.
Understanding the Diversity of Public Interests in Wildlife Conservation
Authors: TEEL TARA L. , MANFREDO MICHAEL J.
Published: November 2009

Abstract:  North American state wildlife agencies are increasingly faced with the challenge of effectively representing a diverse public. With increasing social conflict over wildlife issues, the future of wildlife conservation hinges on preparedness of the profession to respond to this challenge. In the interest of finding ways to improve response, 19 agencies in the western U.S. joined forces to initiate an investigation that would provide a better understanding of the diversity of wildlife‐related interests in the region. Specific objectives, accomplished through use of a mail survey administered in 2004, were to categorize people on the basis of their value orientations toward wildlife and explore how different groups were distributed across states and to examine differences on sociodemographic characteristics and attitudes toward wildlife‐related topics among groups. The focus was on two orientations: domination (view of wildlife that prioritizes human well‐being over wildlife and treats wildlife in utilitarian terms); and mutualism (view of wildlife as capable of relationships of trust with humans and defined by a desire for companionship with wildlife). Four types of people were identified on the basis of these orientations. Types differed in their geographic distribution and wildlife‐related attitudes and behaviors, revealing how value orientations can form the foundation for conflict on wildlife issues. Our characterizations of stakeholder groups offer a framework that can be applied over time and across geographic scales to improve conservation planning efforts and inform broader thinking about the social aspects of wildlife conservation.
Surrogates for Macrofungi and Mosses in Reservation Planning
Authors: MCMULLAN‐FISHER SAPPHIRE J. M. , KIRKPATRICK JAMIE B. , MAY TOM W. , PHARO EMMA J.
Published: November 2009

Abstract:  Our knowledge of cryptogam taxonomy and species distributions is currently too poor to directly plan for their conservation. We used inventory data from four distinct vegetation types, near Hobart Tasmania, to address the proposition that vegetation type, vascular plant taxon composition, and environmental variables can act as surrogates for mosses and macrofungi in reservation planning. The four vegetation types proved distinct in their taxon composition for all macrofungi, mosses, and vascular plants. We tested the strength of the relationships between the composition of cryptogam taxonomic groups and vascular plant composition and between the environmental variables and canopy cover. Taxon composition of woody vascular plants and vascular plants was the best predictor of the taxon composition of mosses and macrofungi. Combinations of environmental variables and canopy cover were also strong predictors of the taxon composition of mosses and macrofungi. We used an optimization routine for vascular plant taxa and woody plant species and determined the representation of cryptogam taxa in these selections. We identified sites with approximately 10% and 30% of the greatest proportions of vascular plants and woody vascular plants and calculated representation of mosses and macrofungi at these sites. We compared the results of these site selections with random site selections and random selections stratified by vegetation type. Random selection of sites by vegetation type generally captured more cryptogams than site selection by vascular plants at the 10% level. Vascular plant and woody plant taxon composition, vegetation type, and environmental and structural characteristics, all showed promise as surrogates for capturing common cryptogams in reserve systems.
The Experience of Planned Home Birth: Views of the First 500 Women
Authors: Janssen Patricia A. , Henderson Angela D. , Vedam Saraswathi
Published: November 2009

Background:
Home birth remains a contentious issue in North America. Professional regulatory bodies are in conflict about the safety of home birth as an option for healthy women. The voices of women have largely been ignored in this debate. The purpose of this study is to report on the experiences of 559 women who had a planned home birth over a 2‐year period in British Columbia, Canada.
Methods:
We asked all women in the Province of British Columbia who had planned for their birth to be at home with a regulated midwife in attendance to answer an open‐ended question about positive and negative aspects of their birth. The qualitative method of interpretive description was used to understand what women believed to be the essence of their experience.
Results:
Women felt strongly positive about their trust in their midwife's skill and knowledge, a sense of emotional support and empowerment attained through their relationship with the midwife, perceptions of relaxation in their own home, being informed and included in the planning of their care, and the amount of time the midwife spent with their family. They believed that the confidence arising from their intense preparation and partnership with their midwives permitted them to choreograph their birth experience to a degree that would not be possible in a formal setting.
Conclusions:
Women who planned a home birth with a registered midwife in British Columbia were overwhelmingly positive about their experience. Our qualitative report underscores the value women place on having the choice to give birth at home.
Men's Psychological Transition to Fatherhood: An Analysis of the Literature, 1989–2008
Authors: Genesoni Lucia , Tallandini Maria Anna
Published: November 2009

Background:The most recent review on men's transition to fatherhood was published in 1986. The present paper reports on how the literature has portrayed fatherhood over the past 20 years. The aim was to investigate men's psychological transition to fatherhood from pregnancy of the partner through the infant's first year of life.Methods:The PsycINFO, PubMed, MEDLINE, Ingenta, Ovid, EMBASE, and WoS databases were accessed to conduct a literature search on the topic. The concepts of self‐image transformation, triadic relationship development, and social environment influence were used to examine the complexity of the fatherhood transition process. Specific focus was placed on men's intrapsychic relational and social dimensions.Results:Our analysis of the yielded results revealed three specific fatherhood stages: prenatal, labor and birth, and postnatal periods. Partner pregnancy was found to be the most demanding period in terms of psychological reorganization of the self. Labor and birth were the most intensely emotional moments, and the postnatal period was most influenced by environmental factors. The latter was also experienced as being the most interpersonally and intrapersonally challenging in terms of coping with the new reality of being a father.Conclusions:Men's transition to fatherhood is guided by the social context in which they live and work and by personal characteristics in interplay with the quality of the partner relationship. Men struggle to reconcile their personal and work‐related needs with those of their new families.
Oxytocin as a “High Alert Medication”: A Multilayered Challenge to the Status Quo
Authors: Rooks Judith P.
Published: November 2009

Oxytocin is the drug most commonly associated with preventable adverse perinatal outcomes. In 2007 it was added to the Institute for Safe Medication Practices short list of medications “bearing a heightened risk of harm,” which may “require special safeguards to reduce the risk of error.” In January 2009 the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology published a Clinical Opinion paper about oxytocin's inclusion on the list and how the obstetrics profession in the United States should respond. The authors call for the development of specific evidence‐based guidelines to reduce the likelihood of patient harm by limiting elective use of oxytocin, decreasing the need for indicated use, reducing dosages during necessary use, giving more responsibility and authority for the patient's safety to the professional who is “at the bedside administering and monitoring the oxytocin infusion” (i.e., the nurse), and accepting that “more time rather than more oxytocin is generally preferable” once adequate uterine activity has been achieved. It is unfortunate that this important paper discounted the risk of harm from cesarean sections and did not mention the strong linkage between epidural analgesia and use of oxytocin. Physicians, midwives, nurses, and others should examine and discuss these issues further in view of increased alertness to the risk of harm from unsafe use of oxytocin.
The Role of Ethnic Matching Between Patient and Provider on the Effectiveness of Brief Alcohol Interventions With Hispanics
Authors: Field Craig , Caetano Raul
Published: November 2009

Background:  Evaluating the effectiveness of treatments such as brief alcohol interventions among Hispanics is essential to effectively addressing their treatment needs. Clinicians of the same ethnicity as the client may be more likely to understand the culture‐specific values, norms, and attitudes and, therefore, the intervention may be more effective. Thus, in cases in which Hispanic patients were provided intervention by a Hispanic clinician improved drinking outcomes were expected.

Methods:  Patients were recruited from an urban Level I Trauma following screening for an alcohol‐related injury or alcohol problems. Five hundred thirty‐seven Hispanics were randomly assigned to brief intervention or treatment as usual. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to determine the effects of ethnic match on drinking outcomes including volume per week, maximum amount, and frequency of 5 or more drinks per occasion. Analyses controlled for level of acculturation and immigration status.

Results:  For Hispanics who received brief motivational intervention, an ethnic match between patient and provider resulted in a significant reduction in drinking outcomes at 12‐month follow‐up. In addition, there was a tendency for ethnic match to be most beneficial to foreign‐born Hispanics and less acculturated Hispanics.

Conclusion:  As hypothesized, an ethnic match between patient and provider significantly enhanced the effectiveness of brief intervention among Hispanics. Ethnic concordance between patient and provider may have impacted the effectiveness of the intervention through several mechanisms including cultural scripts, ethnic‐specific perceptions pertaining to substance abuse, and ethnic‐specific preferred channels of communication.
Ethanol‐Regulated Genes That Contribute to Ethanol Sensitivity and Rapid Tolerance in Drosophila
Authors: Kong Eric C. , Allouche Lorien , Chapot Paul A. , Vranizan Karen , Moore Monica S. , Heberlein Ulrike , Wolf Fred W.
Published: November 2009

Background: Increased ethanol intake, a major predictor for the development of alcohol use disorders, is facilitated by the development of tolerance to both the aversive and pleasurable effects of the drug. The molecular mechanisms underlying ethanol tolerance development are complex and are not yet well understood.

Methods: To identify genetic mechanisms that contribute to ethanol tolerance, we examined the time course of gene expression changes elicited by a single sedating dose of ethanol in Drosophila, and completed a behavioral survey of strains harboring mutations in ethanol‐regulated genes.

Results: Enrichment for genes in metabolism, nucleic acid binding, olfaction, regulation of signal transduction, and stress suggests that these biological processes are coordinately affected by ethanol exposure. We also detected a coordinate up‐regulation of genes in the Toll and Imd innate immunity signal transduction pathways. A multi‐study comparison revealed a small set of genes showing similar regulation, including increased expression of 3 genes for serine biosynthesis. A survey of Drosophila strains harboring mutations in ethanol‐regulated genes for ethanol sensitivity and tolerance phenotypes revealed roles for serine biosynthesis, olfaction, transcriptional regulation, immunity, and metabolism. Flies harboring deletions of the genes encoding the olfactory co‐receptor Or83b or the sirtuin Sir2 showed marked changes in the development of ethanol tolerance.

Conclusions: Our findings implicate novel roles for these genes in regulating ethanol behavioral responses.
Greater Activation in Left Hemisphere Language‐Related Regions During Simple Judgment Tasks Among Substance‐Dependent Patients in Treatment for Alcoholism
Authors: Gilman Jodi M. , Davis Megan B. , Hommer Daniel W.
Published: November 2009

Background:  Alcoholism is often associated with impaired emotional control. Alcoholics have also been found to have deficits in frontal lobe executive functions. Recent functional imaging studies have suggested that alcoholics show greater activation than nonalcoholics in circuits involving frontal lobes, as well as more posterior brain regions, when engaged in executive‐type tasks. In this study, we compared brain activations of alcohol‐dependent patients and healthy nonalcoholics while they performed 2 simple judgment tasks designed to activate frontal circuits involved in a basic form of decision making. Participants completed 1 judgment task that required an emotional judgment and 1 task that did not, which enabled us to study whether alcoholics had greater brain activation while performing executive tasks, and to determine if emotional tasks elicited even greater activation than nonemotional tasks.

Methods:  We performed functional magnetic resonance imaging scans while alcoholic patients and nonalcoholic controls viewed pictures from the International Affective Picture System. In 3 separate runs, participants viewed the images without making a judgment, determined whether the images were indoor or outdoor scenes, or decided if they liked or disliked the images.

Results:  There was little difference in brain activation between alcoholics and controls when no judgment was required. When participants made judgments about either the location or whether they liked or disliked an image, however, we observed significantly increased activation in frontal, limbic, and temporal regions in the patients relative to the controls. Increases were particularly robust in the frontal lobe and in areas of the brain associated with language. When we compared the emotional to the nonemotional judgment, the alcoholics, but not the controls, showed greater activation in the ventral mesial frontal cortex.

Conclusions:  Alcoholic patients appear to use brain language areas more than nonalcoholics while making judgments about the setting or liking of emotionally arousing visual images. This increased activation may reflect a compensatory recruitment of brain regions to perform simple decision‐making tasks.
Rejected by the Nation: The Electoral Defeat of Candidates Included in the Self Is Experienced as Personal Rejection
Authors: Young Steven G. , Bernstein Michael J. , Claypool Heather M.
Published: November 2009

The current research was designed to examine how the outcome of the 2008 United States presidential election would affect participants' feelings of being rejected. Specifically, we set out to test whether participants who favored the losing candidate would feel as if they had been personally rejected. Additionally, we were interested in whether these feelings of rejection would be predicted by the extent to which participants included the major party candidates in their own self‐representation, as measured with the Inclusion of Other in the Self (IOS) scale. We find that conservative participants who included John McCain in the self reported feeling less satisfaction of their basic needs (a composite of belonging, self‐esteem, belief in a meaningful existence, and sense of control), compared with conservative participants low in McCain IOS, and these effects are independent of mood. Applied and theoretical implications of these results are discussed.
Photodynamic therapy of circumscribed choroidal hemangioma: comparison of dosage and timing
Authors: URBAN F , PILOTTO E , PARROZZANI R , MIDENA E
Published: November 2009

Purpose To compare standard versus bolus photodynamic therapy (PDT) in the treatment of symptomatic circumscribed choroidal hemangioma (CCH).

Methods Twenty consecutive cases of CCH were included in this prospective randomized study. Each patient was randomly assigned to receive either standard PDT (10‐minutes 6mg/mq2 verteporfin infusion; treatment at 15 min; 50 J/cm2; 83 sec) or bolus‐PDT (6mg/mq2 verteporfin intravenously bolus in 2 min; treatment at 5 min; 100 J/cm2; 166 sec). All patients were treated with a single PDT application. Best correct visual acuity, fundus photography, optical coherence tomography, fluorescein and indocyanine green angiography were performed at baseline and at each follow‐up examination. Retinal sensitivity was tested with microperimetry after treatment. Follow‐up was longer than 24 months.

Results Mean follow‐up was 28 ± 4 months. All cases (100%) showed clinical regression of the treated lesion, complete resolution of subretinal fluid and reduction of choroidal leakage on angiograms. Cases treated with bolus‐PDT showed retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) hyperplastic changes over treated area. No similar RPE changes were found in patients treated with standard PDT. Two patients treated with bolus‐PDT developed macular pucker, respectively 4 and 5 months after treatment. Microperimetry examination revealed areas of reduced sensitivity after bolus‐PDT compare to standard PDT (p<0.001).

Conclusion Both standard and bolus‐PDT seem effective in the treatment of symptomatic CCH. Bolus‐PDT may cause reactive retinal changes impairing retinal sensitivity, whereas standard PDT never impairs (and sometimes restores) retinal function.
Genetic influences on ‘environmental’ factors
Authors: Vinkhuyzen A. A. E. , Van Der Sluis S. , De Geus E. J. C. , Boomsma D. I. , Posthuma D.
Published: November 2009

Childhood environment, social environment and behavior, leisure time activities and life events have been hypothesized to contribute to individual differences in cognitive abilities and physical and emotional well‐being. These factors are often labeled ‘environmental’, suggesting they shape but not reflect individual differences in behavior. The aim of this study is to test the hypothesis that these factors are not randomly distributed across the population but reflect heritable individual differences. Self‐report data on Childhood Environment, Social Environment and Behavior, Leisure Time Activities and Life Events were obtained from 560 adult twins and siblings (mean age 47.11 years). Results clearly show considerable genetic influences on these factors with mean broad heritability of 0.49 (0.00–0.87). This suggests that what we think of as measures of ‘environment’ are better described as external factors that might be partly under genetic control. Understanding causes of individual differences in external factors may aid in clarifying the intricate nature between genetic and environmental influences on complex traits.