bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Comparison of Composite Measure Methodologies for Rewarding Quality of Care
Authors: Eapen Zubin J. , Fonarow Gregg C. , Dai David , O'Brien Sean M. , Schwamm Lee H. , Cannon Christopher P. , Heidenreich Paul A. , Bhatt Deepak L. , Peterson Eric D. , Hernandez Adrian F.
Published: October 2011

Background—

Composite indices of health care performance are an aggregation of underlying individual performance measures and are increasingly being used to rank hospitals. We sought to conduct an observational analysis to determine the influence of the opportunity-based and all-or-none composite performance measures on hospital rankings.

Methods and Results—

We examined 194 245 patients hospitalized with acute myocardial infarction between July 2006 and June 2009 from 334 hospitals participating in the Get With The Guidelines–Coronary Artery Disease (GWTG–CAD) quality improvement program. We analyzed hospital opportunity-based and all-or-none composite scores and 30-day risk-standardized all-cause mortality and readmission rates. We found that the median calculated opportunity-based score for these hospitals was 95.5 (interquartile range, 90.4, 98.0). The median all-or-none score was 88.9 (interquartile range, 79.7, 94.4). The 2 scoring methods were significantly correlated with one another (
r
=0.98,
P
<0.001). Rankings generated by the two methods were significantly correlated (
r
=0.93,
P
<0.001). The two methods had a modest correlation with the 30-day risk-standardized mortality rate (opportunity-based score:
r
=−0.25,
P
<0.001; all-or-none score:
r
=−0.24,
P
<0.001). Neither composite measure correlated with the 30-day risk-standardized readmission rate. Over time, the number of hospitals new to the top and bottom quintiles of hospital rankings diminished similarly for both composite measures. When including additional performance measures into the composite score, the two methods produced similar changes in hospital rankings.

Conclusions—

The opportunity-based and all-or-none coronary artery disease composite indices are highly correlated and yield similar ranking of the top and bottom quintiles of hospitals. The two methods provide similarly modest correlations with 30-day mortality, but not readmission.
Is Missing Orographic Gravity Wave Drag near 60°S the Cause of the Stratospheric Zonal Wind Biases in Chemistry–Climate Models?
Authors: McLandress Charles , Shepherd Theodore G. , Polavarapu Saroja , Beagley Stephen R.
Published: October 2011

Nearly all chemistry–climate models (CCMs) have a systematic bias of a delayed springtime breakdown of the Southern Hemisphere (SH) stratospheric polar vortex, implying insufficient stratospheric wave drag. In this study the Canadian Middle Atmosphere Model (CMAM) and the CMAM Data Assimilation System (CMAM-DAS) are used to investigate the cause of this bias. Zonal wind analysis increments from CMAM-DAS reveal systematic negative values in the stratosphere near 60°S in winter and early spring. These are interpreted as indicating a bias in the model physics, namely, missing gravity wave drag (GWD). The negative analysis increments remain at a nearly constant height during winter and descend as the vortex weakens, much like orographic GWD. This region is also where current orographic GWD parameterizations have a gap in wave drag, which is suggested to be unrealistic because of missing effects in those parameterizations. These findings motivate a pair of free-running CMAM simulations to assess the impact of extra orographic GWD at 60°S. The control simulation exhibits the cold-pole bias and delayed vortex breakdown seen in the CCMs. In the simulation with extra GWD, the cold-pole bias is significantly reduced and the vortex breaks down earlier. Changes in resolved wave drag in the stratosphere also occur in response to the extra GWD, which reduce stratospheric SH polar-cap temperature biases in late spring and early summer. Reducing the dynamical biases, however, results in degraded Antarctic column ozone. This suggests that CCMs that obtain realistic column ozone in the presence of an overly strong and persistent vortex may be doing so through compensating errors.
The Role of Sea Ice Thickness Distribution in the Arctic Sea Ice Potential Predictability: A Diagnostic Approach with a Coupled GCM
Authors: Chevallier Matthieu , Salas-Mélia David
Published: October 2011

The intrinsic seasonal predictability of Arctic sea ice is investigated in a 400-yr-long preindustrial simulation performed with the Centre National de Recherches Météorologiques Coupled Global Climate Model, version 3.3 (CNRM-CM3.3). The skill of several predictors of the pan-Arctic sea ice area was quantified: the sea ice area itself, the pan-Arctic sea ice volume, and some areal predictors built from the subgrid ice thickness distribution (ITD). Sea ice area provides a potential predictability of about 3 months, which is consistent with previous studies using model and observation data. Sea ice volume predictive skill for winter sea ice area prediction is weak. Nevertheless, there is a higher potential to predict the September ice area with the June volume anomaly than with the June area anomaly. Using ITD-based predictors, two “regimes” of predictability were highlighted. The first one, a “persistence regime,” applies to winter/early spring sea ice seasonal predictability. The winter sea ice cover can be predicted in late fall/early winter from the amount of young ice formed since the freeze-up onset in the margins. However, sea ice area itself is potentially the best predictor of winter sea ice area at seasonal time scales. The second regime is a “memory regime.” It applies to the predictability of summer sea ice area. An ice area anomaly in September is potentially predictable up to 6 months in advance, using the area covered by ice thicker than a critical thickness lying between 0.9 and 1.5 m. Results of this study are preliminary; however, they provide information for the design of future prediction systems and highlight the need for observations and a state-of-the-art sea ice model.
Early vocabulary development: The importance of joint attention and parent-child book reading
Authors: Farrant Brad M , Zubrick Stephen R
Published: October 2011

The current study brought a bioecological approach to children’s early vocabulary development using data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. Relevant data were available for 2188 children (1119 male) who had a median age of 9 months ( M = 9.3 months, SD = 2.1 months) at Wave 1 and a median age of 34 months ( M = 34.2 months, SD = 2.5 months) at Wave 2. Results support the developmental importance of joint attention and parent-child book reading as well as the argument that the effects of individual (e.g., parent) and environmental (context) characteristics are primarily indirect, mediated through their impact on proximal processes (Bronfenbrenner, 1995). The evidence indicates that joint attention and parent-child book reading are important facilitators of children’s early vocabulary development.
Mother–child talk during joint book reading in low-income American and Taiwanese families
Authors: Luo Ya-Hui , Snow Catherine E , Chang Chien-Ju
Published: October 2011

This study compares interactions during joint book reading of 14 Taiwanese and 15 American mother–child pairs from low-income families. All mother–child pairs read the same book, ‘ The very hungry caterpillar’, at home and their interactions were recorded. Taiwanese and American mothers demonstrated both similarities and differences during joint book reading. Taiwanese mothers talked more, gave and requested more information, but requested and received fewer evaluations from their children. These cross-cultural differences reveal that joint book reading is not just for entertainment; instead, it is a means for transmission of moral values and proper conduct as well as for the socialization of appropriate parent–child conversation styles in the Taiwanese and American families studied.
Psychometric Evaluation and Normative Data for the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales-21 (DASS-21) in a Nonclinical Sample of U.S. Adults
Authors: Sinclair Samuel Justin , Siefert Caleb J. , Slavin-Mulford Jenelle M. , Stein Michelle B. , Renna Megan , Blais Mark A.
Published: October 2011

Health care professionals are coming under increased pressure to empirically monitor patient outcomes across settings as a means of improving clinical practice. Within the psychiatric and primary care communities, many have begun utilizing brief psychometric measures of psychological functioning to accomplish these goals. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties and clinical utility of the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales—21-item version (DASS-21), and contribute normative data to facilitate interpretation using a sample of U.S. adults ( N = 503). Item-scale convergence was generally supported, although assumptions of item-scale divergence were not met. Only 86%, 50%, and 43% of Depression, Anxiety, and Stress items, respectively, correlated significantly greater with their hypothesized scales than other scales. Internal consistency reliability was acceptable for all scales and comparable to existing research (αs = .91, .80, and .84 for Depression, Anxiety, and Stress, respectively). Scale-level correlations were greater than what has been reported elsewhere (range of rs = .68 to .73), and principal components analysis supported the extraction of only one component accounting for 47% of the item-level variance. However, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) favored a three-factor structure when compared to a one-factor model. The implications for the health care professions are discussed.
Performance-based tests in subjects with stroke: outcome scores, reliability and measurement errors
Authors: Faria Christina DCM , Teixeira-Salmela Luci F , Neto Mansueto Gomes , Rodrigues-de-Paula Fátima
Published: October 2011

Objectives: To assess the intra- and inter-rater reliabilities and measurement errors of seven widely applied performance-based tests for stroke subjects (comfortable/maximal gait speeds and both stair ascending/descending cadences, as well as the Timed ‘Up and Go’ test) and to verify whether the use of different types of outcome scores (one trial, the means of two and three trials, and the best and the worst values of the three trials) affected the score values, as well as their reliability and measurement errors.

Design: Intra- and inter-rater reliability study.

Setting: Research laboratory.

Subjects: Sixteen stroke subjects with a mean age of 52 ± 17.9 years.

Main measures: Seven performance-based tests, over two sessions, seven days apart, evaluated by two independent examiners. A third examiner recorded all data. One-way ANOVAs, intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs) and percentages of the standard errors of measurement (SEM%) were used for analyses.

Results: For all tests, similar results were found for all types of outcome scores (0.01 ≤ F ≤ 0.56; 0.34 ≤ p ≤ 0.99). For instance, at the comfortable gait speed, the means (SD) values for the first trial, the means of two and three trials and the best and worst of three trials were, respectively, 1.04 (0.25), 1.04(0.24), 1.05 (0.24), 1.10 (0.26), 1.02 (0.24) seconds. Significant and adequate values of intra- (0.75 ≤ ICC ≤ 0.96; p ≤ 0.002) and inter-rater (0.75 ≤ ICC ≤ 0.97; p ≤ 0.001) reliabilities were found for all tests and outcome scores. Measurement errors were considered low (5.01 ≤ SEM% ≤14.78) and were also similar between all outcome scores.

Conclusions: For the seven tests, only one trial was necessary to provide consistent and reliable results regarding the functional performances of stroke subjects.
Agreement about Identifying Patients Who Change over Time
Authors: Feeny David , Spritzer Karen , Hays Ron D. , Liu Honghu , Ganiats Theodore G. , Kaplan Robert M. , Palta Mari , Fryback Dennis G.
Published: October 2011

Background. Preference-based measures of health-related quality of life all use the same dead = 0.00 to perfect health = 1.00 scale, but there are substantial differences among measures. Objective. The objective was to examine agreement in classifying patients as better, stable, or worse. Methods. The EQ-5D, Health Utilities Index Mark 2 and Mark 3, Quality of Well-Being–Self-Administered scale, Short-Form 36 (Short-Form 6D), and disease-targeted measures were administered prospectively in 2 clinical cohorts. The study was conducted at academic medical centers: University of California, Los Angeles; University of California, San Diego; University of Wisconsin–Madison; and University of Southern California. Patients undergoing cataract extraction surgery with lens replacement completed the 25-item National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI-VFQ-25). Patients newly referred to congestive heart failure specialty clinics completed the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (MLHF). In both cohorts, subjects completed surveys at baseline and at 1 and 6 months. The NEI-VFQ-25 and MLHF were used as gold standards to assign patients to categories of change. Agreement was assessed using κ. Results. There were 376 cataract patients recruited. Complete data for baseline and the 1-month follow-up were available on all measures for 210 cases. Using criteria specified by Altman, agreement was poor for 6 of 9 pairs of comparisons and fair for 3 pairs. There were 160 heart failure patients recruited. Complete data for baseline and the 6-month follow-up were available for 86 cases. Agreement was negligible for 5 pairs and fair for 1. The study was conducted on selected patients at a few academic medical centers. Conclusions. The results underscore the lack of interchangeability among different preference-based measures.
Reflexive attentional orienting in migraineurs: The behavioral implications of hyperexcitable visual cortex
Authors: Mickleborough Marla JS , Hayward Jake , Chapman Christine , Chung Janelle , Handy Todd C
Published: October 2011

Introduction: Although migraine is classified as a headache disorder, a key part of migraine pathophysiology is a heightened excitability of visual cortices in between headache events. The goal of our study was to examine the behavioral impact of this visuocortical hyperexcitability, in terms of its effect on reflexive visual attentional orienting.

Methods and results: In Experiment 1, using a non-predictive spatial cuing task that relied on sensory-evoked responses in the visual cortex for triggering attentional orienting, we found that migraineurs had greater attentional enhancement of manual target responses, relative to non-migraine controls. In two control experiments we confirmed that this heightened attention effect in migraineurs is not due to exaggerated reflexive orienting responses in general, but rather, it appears to be specifically associated with sensory-evoked attentional triggers.

Discussion: Taken together, this confirms that the functional consequences of hyperexcitable visual cortex in migraineurs are not just purely sensory in nature, but directly impact at least some forms of reflexive attention. This provides evidence of at least one cognitive implication of hyperexcitable visual cortical responses in migraineurs, namely heightened reflexive visual-spatial orienting specific to sudden-onset peripheral events.
Est-il possible et souhaitable traduire sous forme de probabilites un coefficient logit ?- Réponse aux remarques formulées par Marion Selz à propos de mon article paru dans le BMS en 2010
Authors: Deauvieau Jérôme
Published: October 2011

Is It Possible and Desirable to Translate a Logit Coefficient into Probabilities — Reply to Comments by Marion Selz on My BMS 2010 Article: Marion Selz responded to my BMS article on the translation of a logit coefficient into probabilities. I propose here to respond to her objections by showing that the translation is not a problem when one thoroughly understands what takes place. We first show the relationship between linear models and logistic models, and then the relationship between the translation of a logit coefficient and standardization in demography, and finally the sociological interest of such a translation in the general framework of logit modeling.
The Effect of Invitation Design on Web Survey Response Rates
Authors: Kaplowitz Michael D. , Lupi Frank , Couper Mick P. , Thorp Laurie
Published: October 2011

Web surveys present methodological challenges including lower response rates as compared to other survey methods. The literature on invitations to participate in web surveys builds on previous research suggesting that advance letters are cost-effective means for increasing response rates in mail surveys and interviewer-administered surveys. The efficacy and appropriateness of design elements of invitations to participate in a web survey is not yet well understood. This research reports results of a full-factorial experiment ( n = 15,652) of five design elements of web survey invitations—invitation mode, subject line, location of URL link, length of the invitation text, and survey time/effort estimate. There were significant effects of different design elements on response rates. The results suggest that some design elements of invitations may have similar effects across subsets of populations, while others may have different effects on different subsets of potential respondents.
Representing collective reasons for group decisions: The judgment aggregation problem revisited
Authors: Knops Andrew
Published: October 2011

This article argues that the discursive dilemma and the judgement aggregation which causes it are based on a misconception of what it means for a group to give reasons for a democratic decision. Judgement aggregation analyses fail to distinguish between the procedure for determining such a decision, which should involve a vote of all group members, and the process for determining the reasons for such a decision, which should only take account of the views of the members that supported that decision. On the basis of this improved interpretation, the article advances a method for representing reasons for group decisions that is both democratic and rational, thus avoiding the choice between these apparently incompatible goals suggested by the discursive dilemma.
Jobs in politicians’ backyards: Party leadership competition and patronage
Authors: Kemahlioglu Ozge
Published: October 2011

What are the factors that lead to variation in the clientelistic use of state resources in electoral contexts? In this article I provide one answer to this question by focusing on the role of intra-party politics and analyzing the empirical case of patronage jobs in the Argentine provinces between 1984 and 2001. Patronage jobs in provincial administrations help governors build political support both in their own party and with the general public. However, when governors need their party (leader)’s support for their political careers and when the national party leadership position is open to competition, they reduce their clientelistic efforts not to lose the party’s (or party leader’s) support. The statistical analysis of public employment confirms this prediction that patronage is lower when the party’s (or party leader’s) support is important for politicians and when the leadership position within parties is open to competition.
Unravelling Bueno De Mesquita’s group decision model
Authors: Scholz Jason B , Calbert Gregory J , Smith Glen A
Published: October 2011

Political scientist Professor Bruce Bueno De Mesquita, has made significant claims for the predictive accuracy of his computational model of group decision making, receiving much popular press, including newspaper articles, books and a television documentary entitled ‘The New Nostradamus’. Despite these and many journal and conference publications related to the topic, no clear elucidation of the model exists in the open literature or can be found in a single place. We expose and present the model by careful navigation of the literature and illustrate the soundness of our interpretation by replicating De Mesquita’s own results. We also raise issues regarding sensitivity and convergence.
Welfare state expenditure and inequalities in voluntary association participation
Authors: van Ingen Erik , van der Meer Tom
Published: October 2011

There are large gaps in associational involvement along education, income and gender lines and across different organizations. This paper examines the extent to which these gaps vary across countries. We argue that, next to the discussion about crowding out effects that is often found in the literature, it is important to look at conditioning effects of welfare states. Through welfare state policies, resources are redistributed in society. In turn, these resources enable participation in voluntary associations and organizations. Our analyses — based on multi-level models and data of the European Social Survey — indicate that extensive welfare state expenditures reduce participatory inequalities, with some variation according to the kind of organization under study. Our findings suggest that conditioning effects of welfare states deserve greater attention in research and that participatory inequalities may be reduced by social policy.
More than just money: Patterns of disaggregated welfare expenditure in the enlarged Europe
Authors: Kuitto Kati
Published: October 2011

This article demonstrates the potential of the disaggregated expenditure approach in comparative welfare state analysis by applying it for comparing patterns of welfare spending across 28 European countries. An initial factor analysis shows that welfare states differ primarily along their emphasis either on cash transfers for the elderly or on social services and cash transfers for the working-age population. European welfare states cluster along these two spending dimensions in a way that to a great extent coincides with the well-known delineation of welfare regimes based on institutional characteristics. Furthermore, the results attest to the emergence of a variety of welfare arrangements in the post-communist region, yet with a general orientation toward a Bismarckian or conservative model. The results of this analysis demonstrate that disaggregated welfare expenditure measures retain considerable importance in elucidating the realities of contemporary welfare policy.
Impact of delayed diagnosis time in estimating progression rates to hepatitis C virus-related cirrhosis and death
Authors: Fu Bo , Wang Wenbin , Shi Xin
Published: October 2011

Delay of the diagnosis of hepatitis C virus (HCV), and its treatment to avert cirrhosis, is often present sincethe early stage of HCV progression is latent. Current methods to determine the incubation time to HCV-related cirrhosis and the duration time from cirrhosis to subsequent events (e.g. complications or death) used to be based on the time of liver biopsy diagnosis and ignore this delay which led to an interval censoring for the first event time and a double censoring for the subsequent event time. To investigate the impact of this delay in estimating HCV progression rates and relevant estimating bias, we present a correlated two-stage progression model for delayed diagnosis time and fit the developed model to the previously studied hepatitis C cohort data from Edinburgh. Our analysis shows that taking the delayed diagnosis into account gives a mildly different estimate of progression rate to cirrhosis and significantly lower estimated progression rate to HCV-related death in comparison with conventional modelling. We also find that when the delay increases, the bias in estimating progression increases significantly.
Regulating Financial Derivatives? Risks, Contested Values, and Uncertain Futures
Authors: Alessandrini Donatella
Published: October 2011

This article engages with debates concerning the regulation of financial derivatives and, in particular, with the assumption according to which their speculative ‘excesses’ can be effectively curbed so to restore an otherwise healthy system of production, usually the industrial/manufacturing one, endowed with a ‘real’ value separate from that produced by financial markets. Arguing that derivatives complicate such an assumption, the article asks the question of how to act when the ‘value’ they refer to becomes contested. In this respect it explores the potential of the Ecuadorian Proposal for a New Regional Financial Architecture to act in the face of the contestability of value of exchange rates and, in so doing, to represent an alternative to the real/financial economy split and the regulatory debate as carried out so far.
Against Abstinence-Only Education Abroad
Authors: Mikal Jude P. , Grace Kathryn
Published: October 2011

As the old model of study abroad welcomes a new generation of student, administrators are forced to grapple with how and whether to adapt the old model to new communication technologies. Assumed in the traditional model of study abroad, and in the cultural and language learning theories around which those programs were constructed, is that learning takes place in face-to-face (FTF) encounters with the host culture. Under these assumptions, the Internet is merely a distraction and ought to be avoided during study abroad. However, more recent research on Internet-mediated communication no longer situates Internet-mediated communication as diametrically opposed to FTF communication. Study abroad participants and administrators have long grappled with how to decrease stress and increase integration during study abroad. Literature on Internet-mediated social support, and computer-mediated communication, suggests that the Internet may be an effective means through which to access socially supportive peer networks, and break down barriers to communication—both of which have the potential to reduce stress and increase integration while abroad. The present study is a descriptive analysis of how students are using the Internet to enhance their experience abroad. An original survey instrument constructed from qualitative data was used to determine the ways in which students use the Internet to both access and to create networks of support during study abroad. The results indicate that the Internet bolsters confidence and risk taking by providing students with the perception of available support, valuable informational support, and access to a broader social network. These results are then analyzed with respect to students’ acculturative stress levels and increased integration.
Demographics and Faculty Time Allocation of Music Education Professors in the United States
Authors: Brewer Wesley D. , Rickels David A.
Published: October 2011

The purpose of this study was to construct a demographic and time allocation profile of the typical music education faculty member in the United States. Participant institutions ( n = 220) were selected from a random sample of National Association of Schools of Music–accredited institutions offering music education degrees ( N = 517). The authors sent invitations to complete the online survey to 665 music education professors at the institutions in the sample. The completed response rate for the survey was 35% ( n = 236). Findings aided in the construction of a profile of the typical music education faculty member in the United States. The data demonstrate that the typical respondent has a doctorate, 9 to 12 years of K–12 teaching experience, and is 51.5 years old, but entered the professoriate around age 36. The typical respondent spends approximately 11 hours per week teaching undergraduate students and has only 10% of his or her workload devoted to research. The report explores numerous other variables as well. Certain characteristics of the profile varied according to the type of institution at which the respondent worked. For example, the data demonstrate a significant difference in mean percentage of workload devoted to teaching and research between various institution types but not in time devoted to service. The exploration of demographic and time allocation norms in the music education professoriate may be of interest to those who prepare music teacher education faculty. Such information may also be of value to current and future graduate students preparing for careers in the music education professoriate.
Does Participation Really Matter in Urban Regeneration Policies? Exploring Governance Networks in Catalonia (Spain)
Authors: Parés Marc , Bonet-Martí Jordi , Martí-Costa Marc
Published: October 2011

In this article we focus our attention on the progressively prominence of the citizen participation into the networks of governance oriented toward urban regeneration. We expound the main results of our recent research carried out in 10 deprived neighborhoods in Catalonia (Spain), going in depth into three central issues: (1) the weight of citizen participation in the governance networks, (2) the substantive effects of this participation, and (3) the factors that influence the variety of experiences of participation in urban regeneration. We conclude that the development of participatory governance networks is dialectically related to policy outcomes and to prior structural elements like the position of the neighborhoods within the urban system or the availability and characteristics of the local social capital.
Quality or Price? Evidence from ODA-Financed Public Procurement
Authors: Estache Antonio , Iimi Atsushi
Published: October 2011

Infrastructure is essential for economic growth, and public procurement is an important instrument to use limited resources effectively. Among public procurers there remains a strong view that quality should not be compromised, particularly in high-value transactions, such as infrastructure projects. The common practice excludes incompetent applicants from the selection process. An alternative view is that infrastructure procurement can stimulate the economy by loosing qualification standards. The article examines this trade-off between price and quality. Using procurement data from electricity projects in developing countries, it shows that the adoption of substantive quality qualification increases bid prices for technical reasons and deters the bidder entry, which would raise procurement costs further. The auctioneer’s decision to adopt the quality qualification procedure is also found exogenous, meaning that auctioneers would not compromise the quality of projects regardless of the level of competition. This is an important measure to ensure the quality of complex infrastructure works.
Protective Effect of Recombinant Human Erythropoietin Against Cisplatin-Induced Oxidative Stress and Nephrotoxicity in Rat Kidney
Authors: Rjiba-Touati Karima , Boussema Imen Ayed , Belarbia Anis , Achour Abdelatif , Bacha Hassen
Published: October 2011

Cisplatin (Cisp) is one of the most widely used chemotherapeutic agents for the treatment of several human malignancies. The efficacy of Cisp is dose dependent and at higher doses serious kidney injury may occur. Recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEPO) has recently been shown to exert an important cytoprotective effect in experimental brain injury and ischemic acute renal failure. The aim of the present study was to explore whether rhEPO administration is protective against Cisp-induced oxidative damage and renal injury. Our results showed that Cisp induced a marked oxidative stress and renal failure. Administration of rhEPO (pre-, co- or postadministration with regard to Cisp) decreased oxidative damage induced by Cisp. Recombinant human EPO reduced malondialdehyde and protein carbonyl levels. Recombinant human EPO also prevented glutathione depletion and ameliorated the increased catalase activity induced by Cisp treatment. Furthermore, rhEPO restored creatinine and blood urea nitrogen levels increased by Cisp. We concluded that rhEPO administration especially in pretreatment condition protected rats against Cisp-induced renal oxidative stress and nephrotoxicity.
Immunotoxicity of 3 Chemical Forms of Beryllium Following Inhalation Exposure
Authors: Muller Caroline , Salehi Fariba , Mazer Bruce , Bouchard Michèle , Adam-Poupart Ariane , Chevalier Gaston , Truchon Ginette , Lambert Jean , Zayed Joseph
Published: October 2011

The toxicity of 3 chemical forms of beryllium (Be) was compared in this study. A total of 160 mice equally divided into 4 groups were exposed by inhalation (nose only) for 3 consecutive weeks, 5 d/week, 6 h/d. One group was used as control, while the 3 others were exposed to fine particles of Be metal, Be oxide (BeO), or Be aluminum (BeAl). Except for the controls, the target level of exposure was 250 μg/m3. In all, 35 mice/group were sacrificed 1 week postexposure and another 5 mice 3 weeks postexposure. The BeO group showed the highest lung Be concentration with higher interleukin 12 (IL-12) and interferon-γ (IFN-γ) levels, while the Be group produced the most severe lung inflammation and higher tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and CD4+ T cells levels. Data suggested that Be and BeO apparently produced more pulmonary toxicity than BeAl. However, this conclusion is not definitive, because of different confounding factors such as particle sizes, specific surface area, and solubility.
Peer observation of teaching: A decoupled process
Authors: Chamberlain John Martyn , D’Artrey Meriel , Rowe Deborah-Anne
Published: October 2011

This article details the findings of research into the academic teaching staff experience of peer observation of their teaching practice. Peer observation is commonly used as a tool to enhance a teacher’s continuing professional development. Research participants acknowledged its ability to help develop their teaching practice, but they also reported that it could operate superficially as a tick box exercise, that its outcomes were frequently decoupled from formal staff development processes, and that its purpose and usefulness therefore seemed unclear. This article argues that the presence of decoupling reinforces the need to account for structural factors that can interact with peer observation of teaching to ensure it is a meaningful exercise for all teaching staff. It concludes that the published academic literature is perhaps guilty of overplaying the role of personal choice and individual tutor characteristics when addressing the complex issue that is staff disengagement with peer observation of teaching.
The Mourning After
Authors: Hjorth Larissa , Kim Kyoung-hwa Yonnie
Published: October 2011

In news media of late, much has been touted about the agency of social and mobile media in the events of political uprising or at times of natural disasters and crisis management. While these events did not become events because of social media, the media did affect how we experienced the situation. This leads us to ask, Just how helpful are social mobile media in maintaining relationships in times of crisis management, and how, if at all, do they depart from previous media and methods? Drawing from case studies conducted with participants living in Tokyo at the time of the horrific events surrounding Japan’s earthquake and tsunami disaster of March 11, 2011 (called 3.11), this article reflects on the role of new media in helping, if at all, people manage crisis and grief. The authors argue that while social media provide new channels for affective cultures in the form of mobile intimacy, they also extend on earlier media practices and rituals such as the postcard.
African American Participation in Alzheimer’s Disease Research That Includes Brain Donation
Authors: Darnell Kathryn R. , McGuire Caitlin , Danner Deborah D.
Published: October 2011

Historically, minority groups have been underrepresented in research and clinical trials. The lack of participation by minorities has been attributed to a variety of factors including a mistrust of the predominately white research establishments and a lack of education about the purpose of research. The current study was designed to determine African American interest in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) research and to recruit African Americans as normal controls in current AD studies with the goal of eventually gaining consent for brain donation upon death. Participants were 46 African Americans aged 65 or older, who were interviewed about the knowledge of medical procedures and experience with research. After initial recruitment interviews, 31.7% of participants agreed to yearly testing with eventual brain donation. Study findings suggest a moderate relationship between participants' knowledge of medical procedures used to prolong life and willingness to donate one’s brain.
Rivastigmine in Alzheimer’s Disease and Parkinson’s Disease Dementia
Authors: Weintraub Daniel , Somogyi Monique , Meng Xiangyi
Published: October 2011

Rivastigmine treatment is associated with significant improvements on the cognitive subscale of the Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale (ADAS-cog) in patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease dementia (PDD). Both AD and PDD are purported to have different profiles of cognitive impairment, which may respond differentially to rivastigmine treatment. This was a retrospective analysis of 3 randomized, double-blind, rivastigmine trial databases (Investigation of transDermal Exelon in ALzheimer's disease [IDEAL; AD], EXelon in PaRkinson's disEaSe dementia Study [EXPRESS; PDD], and Alzheimer's Disease with ENA 713 [ADENA; AD]). Factor analyses of the 11 baseline ADAS-cog items derived the same factors in the 2 diseases, that is, “memory” and “language”. Rivastigmine-treated AD and PDD patients showed significant improvements ( P < .0001 versus placebo) on both factors. For both AD and PDD, rivastigmine had a numerically greater effect on memory than language. Treatment effect sizes were numerically greater in PDD compared with AD. Rivastigmine treatment is associated with improvement in memory and language in AD and PDD. The numerically greater response in PDD is consistent with greater cholinergic deficits in this disease state.
A Pilot Study to Evaluate the Safety and Clinical Performance of Leucopatch, an Autologous, Additive-Free, Platelet-Rich Fibrin for the Treatment of Recalcitrant Chronic Wounds
Authors: Jørgensen Bo , Karlsmark Tonny , Vogensen Hanne , Haase Lone , Lundquist Rasmus
Published: October 2011

This prospective, uncontrolled pilot study evaluated the safety and clinical performance of Leucopatch an additive-free, autologous platelet-rich fibrin in the treatment of recalcitrant chronic wounds. Fifteen patients, with 16 lower extremity chronic wounds of varying etiologies were treated weekly with Leucopatch, prepared at the point of care from a donation of the patients’ blood, for 6 weeks, or until healing was complete. The wounds had been present for 2 to 108 months (median 24 months) and ranged in size from 0.4 to 15.7 cm2 (median 2.3 cm2) and had not responded to previous treatments. Of the 13 wounds (12 patients) included in the per-protocol efficacy analysis, 4 healed completely (31%). Mean wound area decreased significantly by 65% (95% confidence interval = 45.6% to 83.8%) resulting in a median wound size of 0.9 cm2 (range = 0-9.6cm2). There were no serious adverse events. Two adverse events, one of noncompliance and one infection, were observed; neither was considered to be related to treatment. The results indicate that Leucopatch is easy to prepare and apply in the clinic, is safe, and may be a clinically effective treatment of recalcitrant chronic wounds.
Respect in prisons: Prisoners’ experiences of respect in public and private sector prisons
Authors: Hulley Susie , Liebling Alison , Crewe Ben
Published: October 2011

Interpretations of ‘respect’ in prison have tended to be narrow, focusing on courteous and considerate staff–prisoner relationships. In a recent study, we found that respect was defined by prisoners not just in terms of interpersonal relationships but also ‘getting things done’ (what might be called ‘organizational respect’). We expected prisoners in the study, which compared quality of life in public and private sector prisons, to rate private prisons well in terms of respect, due to previous research findings and the history and self-declared values of the companies who run them. The findings from the study revealed a more complex picture. There was mixed support for previous claims that the private sector offers a more courteous prison environment than the public sector, and, among the matched prisons in our study, the public sector establishments were better than the private sector prisons at ‘getting things done’: a distinct component of respect in prison, according to prisoners. These differences influenced prisoners’ evaluations of the ‘respectfulness’ of their treatment in each sector.
Navigating through an obstacle course: The complaints mechanism for victims of crime in England and Wales
Authors: Manikis Marie
Published: October 2011

The Code of Practice for Victims of Crime, introduced by the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004, is portrayed as an important advance on the previous two Charters, particularly with regards to the complaints process available in cases where service providers breach these obligations. This article provides a detailed description of the Code’s complaints process as well as its functioning in order to evaluate its efficacy. The methodology behind this evaluation comprises several interviews with members of the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s office and analysis of legal documents such as statutes, case law, reports and the relevant academic literature on victims. The article argues that the Code’s complaints process is not an effective and adequate mechanism for victims of crime, since contrary to its aims, it is largely inaccessible, long, overly complex and does not provide sufficient guarantees of privacy and objectivity as well as adequate redress and remedies for victims when service providers breach their duties. Instead, victims of crime would benefit from the development of a new mechanism that is sensitive to their needs, values accessibility and objectivity and provides effective remedies to ensure redress and accountability.
A comparison of Stone Cone versus lidocaine jelly in the prevention of ureteral stone migration during ureteroscopic lithotripsy
Authors: Bastawisy Mohamed , Gameel Tarek , Radwan Mohamed , Ramadan Ahmed , Alkathiri Mutie , Omar Adel
Published: October 2011

Background: Intracorporeal lithotripsy modalities and stone removal devices have been created to facilitate endoscopic management of ureteral stones. These devices, along with improved techniques, have resulted in stone-free rates greater than 95% with low morbidity. However, problems remain that preclude consistent 100% stone-free rates with endoscopic treatment of ureteral calculi. Retrograde migration during ureteroscopic procedures remains a significant problem.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare the Stone Cone device and instillation of lubricating lidocaine jelly as two methods to prevent retrograde stone migration during ureteroscopic lithotripsy.

Patients and methods: This study included patients suffering from ureteral stones that were treated with intracorporeal lithotripsy using the pneumatic Lithoclast. These patients were divided into two groups. In group I, the Stone Cone device was used, while in group II, lidocaine jelly 2% concentration was used.

Results: This study included 40 patients with a mean age of 38.6 ± 9.3 years (20 patients in each group). There was no significant difference between the groups with regards to stone site, size or state of the upper urinary tract by excretory urography. The pneumatic Lithoclast allowed successful fragmentation of all calculi into small fragments. Upward stone migration did not occur in patients in the Stone Cone group, while in the lidocaine jelly group it occurred in three patients (15%). The operative time in the Stone Cone group ranged between 30 and 55 minutes (mean, 41.8 ± 5.3), while in the lidocaine jelly group it ranged between 40 and 71 minutes (mean, 51.4 ± 3.4), and this difference was statistically significant ( p < 0.05).

Conclusion: The Stone Cone is safe and efficient in preventing proximal stone migration during ureteroscopic pneumatic lithotripsy. It maintained continuous ureteral access and demonstrated a statistically significant advantage over the lidocaine jelly in terms of proximal stone migration, operative time, and the need for auxiliary procedures.
VKORC1 and CYP2C9 genotype and patient characteristics explain a large proportion of the variability in warfarin dose requirement among children
Authors: Biss Tina T. , Avery Peter J. , Brandão Leonardo R. , Chalmers Elizabeth A. , Williams Michael D. , Grainger John D. , Leathart Julian B. S. , Hanley John P. , Daly Ann K. , Kamali Farhad
Published: October 2011

Although genetic and environmental factors explain approximately half of the interindividual variability in warfarin dose requirement in adults, there is limited information available in children. In a cross-sectional study of anticoagulated children from 5 tertiary care centers, 120 children with a stable warfarin dose were genotyped for VKORC1 (−1639G > A; rs9923231), CYP2C9 (*2 and *3 alleles; rs1799853 and rs1057910), and CYP4F2 (V433M; rs2108622) polymorphisms. Clinical and demographic features were recorded. Multiple regression analysis of the data showed that, although CYP4F2 made no contribution to the dose model, 72.4% of the variability in warfarin dose requirement is attributed to by patient height, genetic polymorphisms in VKORC1 and CYP2C9, and indication for warfarin. The recently published International Warfarin Pharmacogenetics Consortium pharmacogenetic-based warfarin dosing algorithm (based on data derived from anticoagulated adults) consistently overestimated warfarin dose for our cohort of children. A similar proportion of the interindividual variability in warfarin dose is explained by genetic factors in children compared with adult patients, although height is a greater predictor in children. A pharmacogenomic approach to warfarin dosing has the potential to improve the efficacy and safety of warfarin therapy in children. However, algorithms should be derived from data in children if their potential benefit is to be realized.