bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Developing the evidence base for addressing inequalities and smoking in the United Kingdom
Authors: McNeill Ann , Amos Amanda , McEwen Andy , Ferguson Janet , Croghan Emma
Published: November 2012

Aims

Smoking is an increasing cause of health inequalities in high‐income countries. This supplement describes pilot projects set up in England to develop and test pathways to ensure that disadvantaged groups, where smoking is frequently the norm, are reached, encouraged and supported to stop their tobacco use. Target groups were: smokers attending centres set up for highly deprived parents; smokers with serious and enduring mental illness; pregnant smokers; prisoners/other offenders who smoked; South Asian tobacco chewers; and recent quitters from ‘routine and manual’ occupational groups.

Methods

Commonalities observed across the six projects are summarized, alongside recommendations for implementation.

Results

A significant barrier to implementation was the lack of mandatory identification of tobacco users across primary, secondary and community health‐care settings and routine use of expired air carbon monoxide monitoring, particularly for high‐risk groups. Appropriate use of financial incentives and national guidance is probably necessary to achieve both this and the adoption of ‘joined‐up’ tobacco dependence treatment pathways for these target groups. Further research is needed on the impact of ‘opt out’ pathways: while resulting in increased referral rates, success rates were lower. In general, smoking cessation service targets were a barrier to implementation. Flexibility and tailoring of interventions were required and most projects trained those already working in relevant settings, given their greater understanding of target groups. Mandatory training of all frontline health‐care staff was deemed desirable.

Conclusions

Implementing the findings of these projects will require resources, for training, incentivizing health‐care workers and further research. However, continuing with the status quo may result in sustained tobacco use health inequalities for the foreseeable future.
Barriers and facilitators to a criminal justice tobacco control coordinator: an innovative approach to supporting smoking cessation among offenders
Authors: Eadie Douglas , MacAskill Susan , McKell Jennifer , Baybutt Michelle
Published: November 2012

Aims

To examine the barriers and facilitators to effective operation of a regional tobacco control coordinator working within and across criminal justice and public health, whose goal was to raise tobacco control awareness and support the development of smoking cessation treatment for offenders.

Design

A reflexive, mixed‐methods case study approach using in‐depth interviews, project reports and observation of advisory board meetings.

Setting

The coordinator worked with prisons, probation and police custody, where there are high levels of social disadvantage and smoking.

Participants

Interviews (n = 34) at different stages of project with the coordinator, project advisers and local stakeholders from criminal justice and public health.

Measurements

Analysis of facilitators and barriers and the coordinator role from different perspectives.

Findings

Readiness to develop cessation services was a critical predictor of different criminal justice settings' engagement with the coordinator role. The coordinator enhanced cessation service delivery in individual prisons where there was a requirement and infrastructure in place to provide such services. In police custody, where there was no central guidance or pre‐existing requirements, efforts to establish smoking cessation on the local agenda proved ineffective. In probation settings, the coordinator documented examples of good practice and supported brief intervention training. Variability in willingness to engage limited the project's ability to create joined‐up working across criminal justice settings.

Conclusions

In the English criminal justice system, the prison service appears to provide a favourable context for development of smoking cessation support and a means of accessing hard‐to‐reach groups. Other criminal justice settings, most specifically police custody, appear less responsive to such activity. A coordinator role can improve smoking cessation support in the prison setting, and develop local improvements in tobacco control interventions in other settings such as probation, but as configured here, does not have the capacity to effect change across the criminal justice system.
Using text messaging to prevent relapse to smoking: intervention development, practicability and client reactions
Authors: Snuggs Sarah , McRobbie Hayden , Myers Katherine , Schmocker Frances , Goddard Jill , Hajek Peter
Published: November 2012

Aims

The NHS Stop Smoking Service (NHS‐SSS) helps approximately half its clients to quit for 4 weeks. However, most initially successful quitters relapse within 6 months. Short message service (SMS) texting has been shown to facilitate stopping smoking. We describe the development, implementation and subsequent evaluation, in terms of practicability and client response, of an SMS text‐based relapse prevention intervention (RPI) delivered within routine community and specialist National Health Service (NHS) Stop Smoking Service (SSS) provision in four Primary Care Trusts.

Design

Text messages aimed at motivation to remain abstinent, preventing careless lapses and continuing the full course of medicine for smoking cessation were developed and sent weekly to clients' mobile phones for 12 weeks and fortnightly for 6 months. They were asked to respond to some of the texts and contact the NHS SSS if they lapsed. They were also offered free nicotine mini lozenges to be sent via the mail on three occasions.

Setting

NHS SSS.

Participants

202 clients who had been abstinent for 4 weeks.

Measurements

Feasibility of introducing RPI into routine care; response to interactive messages and requests for the medication; rating of the helpfulness of RPI; self‐reported and carbon monoxide (CO)‐validated smoking status for up to 26 weeks.

Findings

A text‐based RPI was easy to implement within the NHS SSS provided by specialist advisers, but enrolment of clients from services provided by a network of pharmacists was difficult because client contact details were often lacking. Where records of the number of people invited to RPI were available, 94% of eligible participants enrolled. The RPI was well received by both SSS clients and staff, with 70% (n = 63) of clients who completed follow‐up considering the intervention helpful. Eighty‐five per cent (n = 172) of clients responded to at least one of the nine interactive text messages. Sixty‐four clients (32% of the total, 47% of those we managed to contact) reported continuous abstinence at 6 months. Eighteen (9%) clients who relapsed to smoking used the RPI to re‐engage with the NHS SSS and 10 (5%) successfully re‐established abstinence.

Conclusions

In smokers attending National Health Service Stop Smoking Services who are abstinent 4 weeks after their quit date, a relapse prevention intervention based on SMS text messaging was well received, and can be implemented economically and rapidly. A controlled trial is needed to establish whether it has a significant impact on relapse.
Smokeless tobacco cessation in South Asian communities: a multi‐centre prospective cohort study
Authors: Croucher Ray , Shanbhag Siddharth , Dahiya Manu , Kassim Saba , Csikar Julia , Ross Louise
Published: November 2012

Aim

To evaluate smokeless tobacco cessation in communities of South Asian origin.

Design

Multi‐centre prospective cohort study.

Setting

Three tobacco cessation services offering specialist smokeless tobacco cessation outreach clinic support to South Asians (Bangladeshi, Indian and Pakistani) resident in England.

Participants

A total of 239 South Asian participants seeking to stop smokeless tobacco use between November 2010 and December 2011.

Measurements

Socio‐demographics, tobacco use and dependence, self‐reported abstinence at 4 weeks and satisfaction measures.

Findings

Participants' mean age was 45 [standard deviation (SD) = 13] years, were predominantly female (76%), of Bangladeshi origin (74%), either home carers (53%) or not working (29%). Sixty‐three per cent were recruited from community locations, 21% through a clinical contact and 16% through friends and family. Mean daily number of smokeless tobacco intakes was 10 (SD = 7) and the mean dependence score was 4.5 (SD = 1.9). Sixty‐three per cent of participants achieved continuous abstinence 4 weeks after quitting. Using nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) versus not using it [OR = 3.47, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.25, 9.62] and below median (≤8) daily smokeless tobacco intakes (OR = 1.91, 95% CI: 1.07, 3.40) predicted successful abstinence.

Conclusion

South Asian smokeless tobacco users resident in England accessing services to help them stop appear to have short‐term success rates comparable with smokers attending stop‐smoking services, with higher success rates being reported by those using nicotine replacement therapy.
Do time‐lagged extinctions and colonizations change the interpretation of buffer strip effectiveness? – a study of riparian bryophytes in the first decade after logging
Authors: Hylander Kristoffer , Weibull Henrik
Published: November 2012

There is a risk that short‐term studies either underestimate disturbance effects because of time‐lagged responses, including both time‐lagged extinctions and colonizations, or overestimate them because of fast recovery.

To evaluate the conservation effectiveness of tree group retention (in this case, buffer strips along streams), we studied the bryophyte community once prior to, and twice after logging, comparing one buffer and one clear‐cut plot (0·1 ha) in each of 13 riparian sites. We asked whether time‐lagged responses or recovery processes had dominated the period between two re‐inventories, 2·5 and 10·5 years after logging, focusing both on the whole community and on species of conservation concern.

Although there were examples of recovering species in both clear‐cuts and buffer strips, the similarity in species composition to predisturbance conditions had decreased in the second re‐inventory. Even if the buffer strips displayed more time‐lagged colonizations and local extinctions over the later period compared to the clear‐cuts, the overall species composition in the buffer strips was still significantly more similar to the prelogging conditions than the clear‐cuts.

The red‐listed species had mostly declined during the first period, and the number of red‐list species per plot (mostly species growing on dead wood) was rather stable at <20% of predisturbance levels in clear‐cuts and <60% in buffer strips in the last re‐inventory.

Synthesis and applications. We show that most extinctions of red‐list species occurred soon after disturbance and that the conclusions drawn from a study carried out 2·5 years after the disturbance did not change profoundly 8 years later. Although the species composition in the buffer strips continued to change over time, sensitive species survived much better in buffer strips than in clear‐cuts, which supports the practice of retaining buffer strips for terrestrial species too. This knowledge should encourage managers to find ways of increasing the efficacy of this practice. One obvious measure could be to retain wider strips or implement other management practices that make the buffer strips less sensitive to wind, which will lead to higher tree retention to support a prelogging species composition.
Impacts of an invasive herbivore on indigenous forests
Authors: Gormley Andrew M. , Penelope Holland E. , Pech Roger P. , Thomson Caroline , Reddiex Ben
Published: November 2012

Invasive herbivores can have large negative impacts on natural ecosystems. Management of invasive populations often requires frequent, broadscale, expensive control, which must be justified by demonstrating progress in achieving conservation objectives. This study evaluates benefits of regular extensive control of an invasive herbivore and develops an alternative strategy based on damage thresholds.

We carried out replicated experimental management of brushtail possums, Trichosurus vulpecula, in three areas of native forest in New Zealand. Each area included a site that had extensive possum control for 10 years, prior to and during the 5‐year study, and a paired site with no control. We measured indices of possum browse on c.2400 possum ‘preferred’ and c.1200 ‘non‐preferred’ trees, and an index of possum abundance, at the beginning and end of the experiment.

Extensive control was effective in reducing possum browse on preferred tree species. Reductions in browse led to increased foliage cover and decreased probability of tree mortality. The probability of browse on an individual tree decreased with increasing amounts of possum‐preferred foliage on nearby trees but increased with tree size and with increasing levels of browse on nearby trees. At one site where possum control ceased prematurely, foliage cover decreased, reducing benefits from earlier control.

Synthesis and applications. Our study provides evidence that sustained, extensive control of invasive herbivores can result in significant conservation benefits to susceptible tree species, and that both impacts and benefits can be measured using data typically collected in herbivore impact studies. Furthermore, it shows how local factors such as forest composition can influence the impact of herbivory, how this can be included in large‐scale assessments of the benefits of pest control and how site‐ and species‐specific damage thresholds can be derived for improving pest management.
Amazon diversification and cross‐Andean dispersal of the widespread Neotropical tree species Jacaranda copaia (Bignoniaceae)
Authors: Scotti‐Saintagne Caroline , Dick Christopher W. , Caron Henri , Vendramin Giovanni G. , Troispoux Valérie , Sire Pierre , Casalis Maxime , Buonamici Anna , Valencia Renato , Lemes Maristerra R. , Gribel Rogerio , Scotti Ivan
Published: November 2012

Aim

The phylogeographical history of Neotropical species can be difficult to reconstruct because of superimposed Neogene and Quaternary histories, and because of taxonomic uncertainty. We analysed range‐wide genetic diversity in a widespread pioneer tree species, Jacaranda copaia (Aubl.) D. Don, to characterize phylogeographical structure, date the evolutionary relationships among lineages, and evaluate the role of dispersal and vicariance in establishing the present geographical range.

Location

Guiana Shield; central, southern and western Amazon Basin; Chocó region; Central America.

Methods

We analysed nine nuclear simple sequence repeat loci (nuSSR), eight chloroplast SSRs (cpSSR), and two cpDNA intergenic sequences in 341 adult trees. Genetic differentiation at nuSSRs was inferred using Bayesian clustering. Dating of chloroplast lineage divergence was obtained using a range of published mutation rates and Bayesian coalescence analyses. Population divergence dating was performed using an isolation‐with‐migration model for eight loci (one cp sequence and seven nuSSRs).

Results

Nuclear SSR variation identified three geographically overlapping clusters (nu‐1, nu‐2, nu‐3). Twelve cpDNA haplotypes were clustered into two haplogroups (cp‐1, cp‐2) with the central Amazon harbouring the highest diversity. Molecular dating analysis suggests that cpDNA haplotype diversification started around the end of the Pliocene (2.61 Ma on average), whereas population divergence was more recent and occurred during the mid‐Quaternary (point estimates between 357 and 436 ka).

Main conclusions

The genetic variation of J. copaia in the Neotropics was shaped mainly by Pleistocene events. Chloroplast diversity did not display the expected cis/trans Andean disjunction, indicating recent dispersal. Nuclear variation revealed that separate regions share a recent history, with a centre of diversity in the central Amazon Basin. The geographical pattern of diversity is congruent with the distribution of the two subspecies, J. copaia copaia and J. copaia spectabilis, and evidence of nuSSR admixture between the two taxa supports their classification as subspecies.
The effectiveness of a health education intervention on self‐care of traumatic wounds
Authors: Chen Yen‐Chin , Wang Yu‐Chun , Chen Wei‐Kung , Smith Marlaine , Huang Hsiang‐Ming , Huang Li‐Chi
Published: November 2012

Aims and objectives

To explore the effectiveness of wound care programme for emergency traumatic patient in Taiwan.

Background

Wound care is one of the most major issues for trauma patients at home. Wound infection has been alerted mostly on medical treatment. Little is known about how healthcare education impact patient care of traumatic wound after discharged from emergency department.

Design

A quasi‐experimental design was used by using two groups post‐test.

Methods

Random sampling was used to recruited participants, 89 participants in each group in emergency department at a medical centre in Taiwan. A 25‐minute wound care programme was given to patients in the intervention group. A questionnaire was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the programme after 72 hours as patient followed up in out‐patient department. The data of wound infection were collected from patient's medical record by followed 2 weeks after injured.

Results

After wound care programme, the knowledge, skills of wounds care, the satisfaction of health education in experimental group are better than the control group (p < 0·05). Wound infection rate in experimental group (9%) is lower than control group (20·2%), and statistically significant (p < 0·05).

Conclusion

The wound care programme could increase the knowledge, skills of wound care of emergency patient and reduce the wound infection rate.

Relevance to clinical practice

Wound care requites technical knowledge; thus, practical demonstration of teaching and self‐practice is more effectiveness for patients in learning their wound care. An appropriated health programme can improve the patients' wound care and care quality.
No decision about me without me: concordance operationalised
Authors: Snowden Austyn , Marland Glenn
Published: November 2012

Aims and objectives

To demonstrate that concordance can be operationalised to the benefit of patients. Concordance can be understood as a composite of knowledge, health beliefs and collaboration.

Background

In discussing any clinical decision, it would be ideal if different views could be incorporated to reach the most coherent decision. This is a definition of concordance, a widely agreed ideal in nursing. There are limits, however, that make the practice of concordance problematic. Sometimes there is little time or willingness to discuss issues in depth. Some views of the world are considered more worthy than others. As a consequence, clinical guidelines currently prioritise easier to measure outcomes of negotiation, such as adherence.

Design

This discursive article argues that prioritising adherence is a fundamental error, incoherent with current strategic rhetoric such as the Department of Health's ‘no decision about me without me’.

Methods

The impact of prioritising concordance is contrasted with adherence‐based interventions.

Results

Where adherence is a goal of treatment, non‐adherence is considered problematic. This value judgment is not useful and does not occur in a consultation that prioritises concordance. However, concordance is difficult to translate into clinical practice. This article shows that concordance can be operationalised by considering it a composite of health beliefs, knowledge and collaboration.

Conclusion

The main thesis is that different behaviours can always be incorporated into a concordance framework. This negates the necessity for adherence as an endpoint in itself.

Relevance to clinical practice

Fifty per cent of people do not take medicines as prescribed. Interventions focused towards improving adherence are only ever partially successful. This is because it presupposes the clinician is right. Concordance by contrast is more coherent with person centred care and thus more likely to generate clinically meaningful outcomes for patients.
The role of next of kin of patients with cancer: learning to navigate unpredictable caregiving situations
Authors: Blindheim Kari , Thorsnes Sigrid L , Brataas Hildfrid V , Dahl Berit M
Published: November 2012

Aims and objectives

The aims of this study are to develop knowledge about (1) the experiences of next of kin in caring for seriously ill patients with cancer and (2) the effects of strain and support on the next of kin's ability to cope.

Background

Better treatment has resulted in patients with cancer normally living longer. Because this treatment is typically administered in a polyclinic or at home, next of kin inherit the largely unknown and demanding role of caregiver.

Design

A qualitative, descriptive and interpretive design.

Methods

Focus group interviews were used. The sample comprised 16 adults who were the next of kin of patients with cancer. A thematic content analysis was performed, the text coded for meaning units, condensed and interpreted based on the understanding of the next of kin's role and ability to handle the situation.

Results

The role of next of kin is multifaceted and challenging. It is important for next of kin to be near and to take care of the sick. Next of kin's acceptance of the situation plays a crucial role in their ability to cope and to look forward. The unpredictability of the situation adds stress and affects the daily routines.

Conclusions

Providing next of kin with knowledge, support and guidance is important in helping them to understand and cope with the situation and to reduce the amount of strain that they experience in the caregiving role.

Relevance to clinical practice

This study emphasises the importance of health workers in possessing the knowledge and competence required to educate, guide and support the next of kin of those with cancer. Health workers should provide care to next of kin, and a support system for next of kin must also be available.
Quality of life in cervical cancer patients treated with radiation therapy
Authors: Pasek Małgorzata , Suchocka Lilia , Urbański Krzysztof
Published: November 2012

Aims and objectives

To evaluate the quality of life in hospitalised patients with cervical cancer treated by radiation therapy.

Background

Aside from clinical variables, the quality of life should be considered in the planning and monitoring of the therapeutic process in patients with cancer. Although it is widely known that this parameter can have a considerable impact on the therapeutic outcome, it is not routinely screened in oncological patients.

Design

Survey.

Methods

The study was performed in six cancer centres in Poland between June 2004–December 2005, and included 205 women hospitalised for any stage of cervical cancer. The EORTC QLQ‐C30 questionnaire (v.3) was used to evaluate the patients' quality of life. The survey was conducted three times: (1) stage 1 – before treatment, on admission, (2) stage 2 – after treatment, at discharge, and (3) stage 3 – five to six months after treatment.

Results

Physical functioning was assessed the worst before the radiation treatment and increased gradually throughout further stages; all interstage differences proved to be significant. In contrast, emotional functioning was scored the highest before the initiation of the treatment and was the lowest at stage 2, a difference that proved to be significant. Role functioning was highest immediately after the treatment and the lowest prior to the treatment. Differences between stages proved to be significant. Financial problems increased their negative impact on the quality of patients' lives significantly throughout consecutive stages of this study. Age and cancer stage did not significantly influence the way participants perceived their global health, physical, cognitive, emotional and social functioning, nor their financial difficulties. Overall, the quality of life was evaluated as highest immediately after the end of radiotherapy.

Conclusion

Although this study revealed that patients with cervical cancer subjected to radiotherapy are satisfied with their global quality of life, attention should be paid to certain dimensions of the latter (i.e. emotional functioning and role functioning) during post‐treatment period.

Relevance to clinical practice

The ability to performing everyday activities independently is perceived as the most important during all stages of the cervical cancer treatment, and therefore, appropriate support in this matter is necessary on the part of the nursing personnel.
Plant memory: a tentative model
Authors: Thellier M. , Lüttge U.
Published: November 2012

All memory functions have molecular bases, namely in signal reception and transduction, and in storage and recall of information. Thus, at all levels of organisation living organisms have some kind of memory. In plants one may distinguish two types. There are linear pathways from reception of signals and propagation of effectors to a type of memory that may be described by terms such as learning, habituation or priming. There is a storage and recall memory based on a complex network of elements with a high degree of integration and feedback. The most important elements envisaged are calcium waves, epigenetic modifications ofDNAand histones, and regulation of timingviaa biological clock. Experiments are described that document the occurrence of the two sorts of memory and which show how they can be distinguished. A schematic model of plant memory is derived as emergent from integration of the various modules. Possessing the two forms of memory supports the fitness of plants in response to environmental stimuli and stress.
Engineering photorespiration: current state and future possibilities
Authors: Peterhansel C. , Krause K. , Braun H.‐P. , Espie G. S. , Fernie A. R. , Hanson D. T. , Keech O. , Maurino V. G. , Mielewczik M. , Sage R. F.
Published: November 2012

Reduction of flux through photorespiration has been viewed as a major way to improve crop carbon fixation and yield since the energy‐consuming reactions associated with this pathway were discovered. This view has been supported by the biomasses increases observed in model species that expressed artificial bypass reactions to photorespiration. Here, we present an overview about the major current attempts to reduce photorespiratory losses in crop species and provide suggestions for future research priorities.
Non‐word repetition performance in Slovak‐speaking children with and without SLI: novel scoring methods
Authors: Kapalková Svetlana , Polišenská Kamila , Vicenová Zuzana
Published: November 2012

Background

Non‐word repetition (NWR) tasks have been found to correlate with language skills and to discriminate between groups of typically developing (TD) children and children with specific language impairment (SLI) across languages.

Aims

The main aim was to develop an easily‐administered NWR screening test that could discriminate between Slovak‐speaking TD children and children with SLI. The second aim was to establish if the novel scoring methods for NWR tasks were equally effective at differentiating between the TD versus SLI groups. As Slovak vowels are not reduced in unstressed syllables, it was also sought to establish whether scoring vowels (in addition to the consonants usually assessed in English language tests) would be informative.

Methods & Procedures

The paper evaluated the performance of a new NWR task for Slovak‐speaking children. Study 1 compared the performance of 60 TD children in three age groups: 3‐year‐olds (N = 20), 4‐your‐olds (N = 20) and 5‐year‐olds (N = 20). Five types of scoring methods were examined: whole‐item, number of syllables, syllable structure, consonants, and vowels. Study 2 compared performance on the NWR task administered in Study 1 across three groups of child participants: an SLI group (N = 16), a TD age‐matched group (N = 16), and a TD language‐matched group (N = 14).

Outcomes & Results

Study 1 found an age effect in the TD sample for three out of five of the scoring methods tested (number of syllables, syllable structure, and consonants). Study 2 showed that all five of the scoring methods discriminated between: (1) the group of children with SLI and the TD language‐matched (TDLM) sample and (2) the group of children with SLI and the TD age‐matched (TDAM) group.

Conclusions & Implications

The novel NWR tool reliably differentiated between children with SLI and TD children. Scoring cut‐off points which demonstrated high rates of success at verifying true‐positives (93.75%) and true‐negatives (100%) are provided. The most informative scoring methods for Slavic languages (whole‐item scoring and vowels correct) are identified and discussed.
Alcohol industry sponsorship and alcohol‐related harms in Australian university sportspeople/athletes
Authors: O'Brien Kerry S. , Lynott Dermot , Miller Peter G.
Published: November 2012

Introduction and Aims

Although there is evidence that alcohol sponsorship in sport is related to greater drinking, there is no empirical research on whether alcohol sponsorship is associated with alcohol‐related harms. We examined whether there is an association between receipt of alcohol industry sponsorship, and attendance at alcohol sponsor's drinking establishments (e.g. bars), and alcohol‐related aggression and antisocial behaviour in university students who play sport.

Design and Methods

University sportspeople (n = 652) completed surveys (response rate >80%) assessing receipt of alcohol industry sponsorship, attendance at sponsor's establishments and confounders [i.e. age, gender, sport type, location and alcohol consumption measured by Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test—alcohol consumption (AUDIT‐C) scores]. Participants also completed measures assessing displays and receipt of aggressive and antisocial behaviours (e.g. assaults, unwanted sexual advance, vandalism).

Results

Logistic regression models including confounders and reported attendance at alcohol sponsor's establishments showed that sportspeople receiving alcohol industry sponsorship were more likely to have been the victim of aggression (adjusted odds ratio 2.62, 95% confidence interval 1.22–5.64). Attending an alcohol sponsor's establishment was not associated with higher rates of other aggressive or antisocial behaviour. However, significant associations where found between AUDIT‐C scores and having displayed and received aggression, and having damaged or had property damaged. Male sportspeople were more likely to have displayed and received aggressive and antisocial behaviour.

Discussion and Conclusions

Higher AUDIT‐C scores, gender and receipt of alcohol industry sponsorship were associated with alcohol‐related aggression/antisocial behaviours in university sportspeople. Sport administrators should consider action to reduce the harms associated with excessive alcohol consumption and alcohol industry sponsorship in sport.
POLICY‐MAKING BEYOND POLITICAL IDEOLOGY: THE ADOPTION OF SMOKING BANS IN EUROPE
Authors: TOSHKOV DIMITER
Published: November 2012

Policy‐making is embedded in politics, but an increasing number of issues, like obesity, tobacco control, or road safety, do not map well on the major dimensions of political conflict. This article analyzes the enactment of restrictions on smoking in bars and restaurants in 29 European countries – a conflictual issue which does not fit easily traditional party ideologies. Indeed, the comparative empirical analyses demonstrate that government ideological positions are not associated with the strictness and the timing of adoption of the smoking bans. On the other hand, economic factors like the scale of tobacco production in a country, smoking prevalence in society and public support for tough anti‐smoking policy are all significantly related to the time it takes for a country to adopt smoking bans, and to the comprehensiveness and enforcement of these restrictions. In addition, horizontal policy diffusion is strongly implicated in the pattern of policy adoptions.
Psychometric evaluation of a Swedish Self‐Efficacy scale and Recovery Locus of Control scale in the context of minor illness
Authors: Gustafsson Silje , Sävenstedt Stefan , Vikman Irene
Published: November 2012

Reliable and valid instruments are essential when examining the role of self‐efficacy and locus of control in the self‐care context. The aim of this study was to test the validity and reliability of the Self‐Efficacy Scale in Self‐Care (SESSC) and the Swedish version of the Recovery Locus of Control scale (RLoC) in the context of minor illness. A descriptive correlational design was used to assess the psychometric characteristics of the scales. The study population was 317 randomly selected Swedish inhabitants aged 18–80. The results from this study showed that the RLoC has limitations in reliability and validity and should not be applied in the context of self‐care of minor illness. The SESSC proved to be a reliable and valid instrument in assessing self‐efficacy in self‐care for minor illness.
Social identity and stroke: ‘they don't make me feel like, there's something wrong with me’
Authors: Anderson Sharon , Whitfield Kyle
Published: November 2012

Over 85% of the people survive stroke; and of those, over 80% are discharged to the community. However, the majority do not recover completely. Loss of identity is a commonly reported experience after stroke. Studies focus on the individual survivors' use of their own cognitive resources to adapt to change, rather than examining the effects of social interactions on stroke survivors' identities. Social relationships are the foundation upon which survivors rebuild skills to engage with the world, yet little is known about the ways in which families, friends and neighbours provide a context for the recreation of a sense of self and activities after stroke. This article draws on situational analysis grounded theory analysis of in‐depth individual interviews with nine middle‐aged survivors of stroke. In situational analysis, the original grounded theory methods proposed by Glaser and Strauss are used; however, the situational context, and how environments and relationships influence actions, is explicitly analysed. Our objective was to understand the ways in which family, social, and community resources might enhance stroke survivors' participation in personally meaningful activities over the long term. The qualitative accounts of these survivors reveal how social support helped them maintain or more importantly regain a position in society. Following any life‐changing event, people's sense of self is fluid. A relevant social position entitles stroke survivors to become actively involved in setting their own goals and maintaining a positive identity. However, as these participants attested, stroke impaired their social position and resources to reject an imposed social position. It was difficult for these survivors to construct a valued social identity without the support of other people. Future studies should explore the consequences of social interactions with others and how social attitudes about stroke disability affects individual's activity options, professional practice, and ultimately development of a positive poststroke identity.
Missing the point? Urban planning and the normalisation of ‘pathological’ spaces in southern Africa
Authors: Kamete Amin Y
Published: November 2012

In this paper I consider ‘normalisation’ as a response to urban informal livelihoods in urban southern Africa. I demonstrate that urban planning systems have been mobilised to correct or eliminate ‘spatial pathologies’. Using illustrative cases from southern Africa, I argue that the authorities’ obsession with ‘normalising’ urban spaces they have designated as ‘pathologies’ is misplaced because it glaringly defies the reality on the ground. Interrogated in the paper is the reasoning behind, and effectiveness of, ‘corrective’ measures that exclude and marginalise informality through technicalisation, ‘expertisation’ and depoliticisation. I evaluate the basis, workings and deleterious outcomes of normalising technologies and question the relevance and efficacy of normalisation at a time when it is increasingly becoming clear that African urbanisation is – and will possibly continue to be – simultaneously driven and cushioned by informalisation.
Malls without stores (MwS): the affectual spaces of a Buenos Aires shopping mall
Authors: Miller Jacob C
Published: November 2012

As shopping malls have become increasingly common in urban and suburban landscapes, retail and consumer sciences have made these spaces more affectively intense by targeting the body of the consumer directly. Through a case study of a shopping mall in central Buenos Aires, Argentina, I suggest that non‐representational theory offers advantages in studying spaces like malls for two reasons. First, shopping malls offer an opportunity to study the engineering of affect that is central to this emerging literature on materiality, politics and technology. The analysis, then, will lead to a discussion of the mall’s capacity to function as a biopolitical technology as well as an economic one. Second, this approach sutures a false binary in the consumption literature between strong theories of producer power and the creativity of consumers. Interviews with mall visitors, participant observation and findings from ethnographic field work inform the figure of malls without stores (MwS), an analytic concept adapted from Deleuze and Guattari’s body without organs (BwO) that reconfigures a binary reading of the consumption literature and expands the purview of what is political about these spaces.
Challenging Small‐Scale Farming: A Non‐Parametric Analysis of the (Inverse) Relationship Between Farm Productivity and Farm Size in Burundi
Authors: Verschelde Marijn , D’Haese Marijke , Rayp Glenn , Vandamme Ellen
Published: November 2012

We use a non‐parametric approach to investigate the (inverse) relationship between farm productivity and farm size. A kernel regression is used on data of mixed cropping systems to study the determinants of production including different factors that have been identified in literature as missing variables in the testing of the inverse relationship such as soil quality, location and household heterogeneity. Household data on farm activities and crop production were gathered from 640 households in 2007 in two Northern provinces of Burundi. Our results do not reject the findings of an inverse relationship between farm size and productivity. However, we find that size returns vary substantially with farm size, that is, between 0.2 for the smallest farms and 0.8 for the largest farms. Other factors that significantly affect production include soil quality. Finally, we find a significant positive association between food security and farm size.
An analysis of the substantivity of hydrolysed reactive dyes and its implication for rinsing processes
Authors: Ferus‐Comelo Martin
Published: November 2012

Substantivity plays a key role in dyeing processes, for dye exhaustion and fixation as well as for dye removal during rinsing. The latter is especially relevant for reactive dyes when the hydrolysed dye has to be removed from the fibre. The substantivity of the hydrolysed form of 46 commercially important reactive dyes was analysed at two temperatures for a wide range of dye amounts, pH values and electrolyte concentrations. The results showed that substantivity was highly dye‐specific and varied, for each variable analysed, almost within the entire theoretically possible range of values. Substantivity values correlated best with the number of sulphatoethylsulphone groups in the dye molecule and dye solubility in the presence of sodium chloride. Sensitivity to electrolyte, pH, dye amount and temperature broadly correlated with each other, implying that a reduction in electrolyte concentration and an increase in pH and temperature are more beneficial in the removal of highly substantive reactive dyes. Some dyes remained highly substantive even at 90 °C, indicating that dye removal in industrial processes, too, would be difficult. For dyes with little substantivity, however, wash baths at the boil do not appear to be necessary, neither is the significant removal of electrolyte before rinsing at elevated temperature.
Effects of Intra‐Aortic Balloon Pump Timing on Baroreflex Activities in a Closed‐Loop Cardiovascular Hybrid Model
Authors: Fresiello Libera , Khir Ashraf William , Di Molfetta Arianna , Kozarski Maciej , Ferrari Gianfranco
Published: November 2012

Despite 50 years of research to assess the intra‐aortic balloon pump (IABP) effects on patients' hemodynamics, some issues related to the effects of this therapy are still not fully understood. One of these issues is the effect of IABP, its inflation timing and duration on peripheral circulation autonomic controls. This work provides a systematic analysis of IABP effects on baroreflex using a cardiovascular hybrid model, which consists of computational and hydraulic submodels. The work also included a baroreflex computational model that was connected to a hydraulic model with a 40‐cm3 balloon. The IABP was operated at different inflation trigger timings (−0.14 to 0.31 s) and inflation durations (0.05–0.45 s), with time of the dicrotic notch being taken as t = 0. Baroreflex‐dependent parameters—afferent and efferent pathway activity, heart rate, peripheral resistance, and venous tone—were evaluated at each of the inflation trigger times and durations considered. Balloon early inflation (0.09 s before the dicrotic notch) with inflation duration of 0.25 s generated a maximum net increment of afferent pathway activity of 10%, thus leading to a decrement of efferent sympathetic activity by 15.3% compared with baseline values. These times also resulted in a reduction in peripheral resistance and heart rate by 4 and 4.3% compared with baseline value. We conclude that optimum IABP triggering time results in positive effects on peripheral circulation autonomic controls. Conversely, if the balloon is not properly timed, peripheral resistance and heart rate may even increase, which could lead to detrimental outcomes.
Toward Low Energy Cities
Authors: Reiter Sigrid , Marique Anne‐Françoise
Published: November 2012

Within the framework of sustainable development, it is important to take into account environmental aspects of urban areas related to their energy use. In this article a methodology is proposed for assessing residential energy uses for buildings and transport at the city scale. This method is based on the use of geographic information system (GIS) tools combined with a statistical treatment of urban and transport criteria. The methodology allows us to model building and transport energy use at the city scale, as well as to consider the possible evolution of city energy consumption and to simulate the effects of some strategies of urban renewal. An application is given to study different energy management strategies for the urban area of Liège, Belgium. Building and transport energy consumption are compared at the city scale and their possible evolution in the future is highlighted. Forecast scenarios on future energy policies for Liège's building stock show that the European Directive on the Energy Performance of Buildings and even more selective energy policies applied only to new buildings are not sufficient to widely decrease building energy consumption at the city scale. Renovation of the existing building stock has a much larger positive impact on city energy consumption reductions. The methodology developed in this article can be adapted or reproduced for many other urban regions in Belgium, but also in Europe and even further.
Cyclosporin A therapy on idiopathic thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura in the relapse setting: two case reports and a review of the literature
Authors: Yilmaz Murvet , Eskazan Ahmet Emre , Unsal Abdulkadir , Taninmis Hakan , Kara Ekrem , Cetiner Mustafa , Ferhanoglu Burhan
Published: November 2012

Background

Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) is a life‐threatening disease, characterized by microangiopathic hemolytic anemia, thrombocytopenia, fever, neurologic disturbances, and renal failure. Plasma therapy has dramatically improved prognosis of TTP, whereas recurrent acute episodes still occur in approximately 40% of patients. Moreover, patients with acquired ADAMTS13 deficiency, which is a significant factor for relapse, may require additional immunosuppressive treatment to get a durable remission.

Study Design and Methods

We hereby report two patients with a history of relapsed idiopathic TTP, who both received cyclosporin A (CSA) as a prophylactic manner after the remission was achieved. We also discuss the efficacy of CSA in patients with relapsed idiopathic TTP with a review of the published literature.

Results

Under CSA therapy, both patients maintained their clinical remission state, and the ADAMTS13 levels were normalized.

Conclusion

To conclude, CSA therapy may be useful for the prevention of relapsed idiopathic TTP in patients with a history of frequent relapses.
Why Do Sellers Hold Out in the Housing Market? An Option‐Based Explanation
Authors: Qian Wenlan
Published: November 2012

In the residential housing market, home owners are reluctant to sell in a declining market. We build a model which focuses on the embedded call option associated with home ownership that allows owners to delay the (irreversible) sale. When prices are low, the (opportunity) cost of a sale, i.e., a higher implied gain from a future sale, likely exceeds its immediate trade benefit and an owner is better off waiting for market conditions to improve. The model also highlights the importance of supply conditions: a more constrained supply is associated with a longer delay. Using state‐level residential housing data, we find evidence consistent with the model. Transaction volume is increasing (decreasing) in the rental growth rate (volatility) in the cross section; their effects are amplified in areas with low supply elasticities, and in times with low market prices. Overall, this paper provides a rational explanation for delayed trading decisions in the housing market.
Real Estate Prices During the Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression
Authors: Nicholas Tom , Scherbina Anna
Published: November 2012

Using new data on market‐based transactions we construct real estate price indexes for Manhattan between 1920 and 1939. During the 1920s prices reached their highest level in the third quarter of 1929 before falling by 67% at the end of 1932 and hovering around that value for most of the Great Depression. The value of high‐end properties strongly co‐moved with the stock market between 1929 and 1932. A typical property bought in 1920 would have retained only 56% of its initial value in nominal terms two decades later. An investment in the stock market index (including dividends) would have outperformed an investment in a typical property (including net rental income) by a factor of 5.2 over our time period.
Another Angle on Pollution Experience: Toward an Anthropology of the Emotional Ecology of Risk Mitigation
Authors: Little Peter C.
Published: November 2012

Environmental contamination is socially experienced as environmental suffering, bodily distress, frustration, and even pain. Drawing on an ethnographic case study of a contaminated community in New York, I engage the complex and variegated ways in which angst, frustration, and uncertainty linger even after state and corporate scientific schemes to mitigate environmental disaster and contamination are initiated. Inspired by emerging discussions of “emotional geography,” I explore how in a sociospatial context where residents live in homes mitigated for intrusive toxic substances, frustration, and uncertainty—both frequent problems experienced by residents living in environments threatened by hazardous substances—continue to inform the pollution experience. Moreover, I address how ethnographic narrative exposes what I call the “emotional ecology of risk mitigation.”