bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Oral chemotherapy practices at Ontario cancer centres
Authors: Ahmad Noor , Simanovski Vicky , Hertz Sherrie , Klaric Goran , Kaizer Leonard , Krzyzanowska Monika K
Published: April 2014

Purpose

The use of oral chemotherapy agents in cancer treatment is increasing. To better understand issues affecting the optimal use of these agents, Cancer Care Ontario conducted an environmental scan of current practices in Ontario related to prescribing, dispensing, patient education, and supporting regimen adherence.

Methods

A series of semi-structured interviews were conducted either by phone (11 regions) or via email (two regions) with Ontario’s Regional Cancer Centres over a 3-month period in 2012. A questionnaire was pre-circulated to the regions to guide the discussions.

Results

Responses were received from 13 of 14 regions. Considerable variation in practice was found. Of 13 responding regions, 12 (92%) lacked formal procedures or processes for the prescription of oral chemotherapy. Ten regions (77%) reported using either handwritten prescriptions or a mixture of methods with only three regions routinely using computerized order entry systems for oral chemotherapy prescribing. Oral chemotherapy was reported to be labeled as “chemotherapy” in 46% of the regions. Twenty-three percent indicated that they provide extensive patient education through a multi-disciplinary approach. A number of tools were used to encourage patient adherence in different regions. Patient education was identified as an area where more work could be done.

Conclusion

Results indicate a lack of formal policies and variable practices across all aspects of oral chemotherapy in many regions. However, some regions have developed and implemented successful initiatives. The results from this review are informing provincial priorities and being shared between regions to support collaborative learning.
An Overview of the Biological and Psychosocial Context Surrounding Neurocognition in HIV
Authors: Vance David E. , Randazza Jason , Fogger Suzanne , Slater Larry Z. , Humphrey Shameka C. , Keltner Norman L.
Published: April 2014

The presence of a psychiatric illness increases the risk of exposure to HIV and disease complications; however, effective treatments have substantially reduced mortality in adults with HIV. Despite such effective treatments, nearly half of adults with HIV experience neurocognitive deficits that can affect job-related and everyday tasks, thus reducing their quality of life. This article provides an overview of the context in which neurocognitive deficits occur in adults with HIV; it also includes implications for treatment and mitigation of such neurocognitive deficits. Understanding the underlying neurocognitive changes related to HIV can help psychiatric nurses provide better care to patients that may improve medication compliance and everyday functioning.
Predictors of HIV-Risk Sexual Behavior
Authors: Majer John M. , Rodriguez Jaclyn , Bloomer Craig , Jason Leonard A.
Published: April 2014

BACKGROUND: Lifetime histories of sexual and physical abuse have been associated with increased HIV-risk sexual behavior, and some studies have identified other variables associated with these relationships. However, there is a dearth of literature that has critically examined abuse histories and HIV-risk sexual behavior in relation to these other variables. OBJECTIVES: Predictors of HIV-risk sexual behavior were analyzed among a sample of ex-offenders who were completing inpatient substance dependence treatment to identify factors related to increases in HIV-risk sexual behavior beyond that of abuse histories. DESIGN: Hierarchical linear regression was conducted to examine sociodemographic characteristics, recent substance use, and current psychiatric problem severity in addition to lifetime histories of sexual/physical abuse in a cross-sectional design. RESULTS: Gender, substance use, and psychiatric problem severity predicted increases in HIV-risk sexual behavior beyond what was predicted by abuse histories. Proportionately more women than men reported abuse histories. In addition, significantly more unprotected sexual than safer sexual practices were observed, but differences in these practices based on lifetime abuse histories and gender were not significant. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest recent substance use and current psychiatric problem severity are greater risk factors for HIV-risk sexual behavior than lifetime abuse histories among persons who have substance use disorders.
The Role of Customer Engagement Behavior in Value Co-Creation
Authors: Jaakkola Elina , Alexander Matthew
Published: April 2014

Recent developments in marketing and service research highlight the blurring of boundaries between firms and customers. The concept of customer engagement (CE) aggregates the multiple ways customer behaviors beyond transactions may influence the firm. However, the term is embryonic and academics and practitioners alike lack understanding on how CE contributes to value co-creation. This article marks the first attempt to conceptualize the role of customer engagement behavior (CEB) in value co-creation within a multistakeholder service system. We combine the theoretical perspectives of CE and value co-creation research to the analysis of a rich case study of a public transport service system involving consumers, communities, businesses, and governmental organizations. Our findings describe drivers for CEB, identify four types of CEB, and explore the value outcomes experienced by various stakeholders. This article proposes that CEB affects value co-creation by virtue of customers’ diverse resource contributions toward the focal firm and/other stakeholders that modify and/or augment the offering, and/or affect other stakeholders’ perceptions, preferences, expectations, or actions toward the firm or its offering. Through inducing broader resource integration, CEB makes value co-creation a system-level process. We offer nine research propositions explicating the connections CEB has to value co-creation by focal customers, the focal firm, and other stakeholders. Our research suggests that firms should focus greater attention on the resources that customers can contribute, explore the potential to engage diverse stakeholders around a common cause, and employ organically emerging systems that provide opportunities for more extensive value co-creation.
Being Yourself
Authors: Zackariasson Maria
Published: April 2014

A person’s identity, both social and personal, can be said to be constituted by several different aspects, such as gender, age, ethnicity, class and also religious affiliation. In a country like Sweden, where only a small number of youths are involved in religious organizations, it is, however, not necessarily uncontroversial for youths to present themselves as religiously active. To openly declare your religious commitment, places you in particular collective identities associated with certain beliefs or stereotypes that may challenge norms surrounding how Swedish youths are expected to think, behave and act. This article examines how a number of youths, active in the Christian youth organization of one of the Swedish free churches, present themselves and their religious involvement to friends at school. The results show different strategies used for handling experienced or anticipated reactions to their involvement in a religious organization and the collective identities they may be ascribed because of it.
‘I can read further and there’s more meaning while I read’: An exploratory study investigating the impact of a rhythm-based music intervention on children’s reading
Authors: Long Marion
Published: April 2014

A substantial proportion of children underachieve in reading (Brooks & Tough, 2006; Doubek & Cooper, 2007; Tymms & Merrill, 2007). This paper builds on the existing evidence base for the link between reading and rhythm, presenting findings of an investigation into a rhythm-based music intervention. Following participation in the intervention, an entrainment strategy, significant gains occurred in the children’s reading comprehension, reading accuracy and reading rate. An analysis of reading fluency revealed significant gains in the prosodic features of reading behaviour, highlighting syllable division, grammatical structures and phrase contours, and explicating the children’s deeper engagement with connected text. Rhythm-based training in music emphasized group interaction and the children themselves also reported positive changes in their sense of well-being.
‘Making every contact count’: Evaluation of the impact of an intervention to train health and social care practitioners in skills to support health behaviour change
Authors: Lawrence Wendy , Black Christina , Tinati Tannaze , Cradock Sue , Begum Rufia , Jarman Megan , Pease Anna , Margetts Barrie , Davies Jenny , Inskip Hazel , Cooper Cyrus , Baird Janis , Barker Mary
Published: April 2014

A total of 148 health and social care practitioners were trained in skills to support behaviour change: creating opportunities to discuss health behaviours, using open discovery questions, listening, reflecting and goal-setting. At three time points post-training, use of the skills was evaluated and compared with use of skills by untrained practitioners. Trained practitioners demonstrated significantly greater use of these client-centred skills to support behaviour change compared to their untrained peers up to 1 year post-training. Because it uses existing services to deliver support for behaviour change, this training intervention has the potential to improve public health at relatively low cost.
The dieting experience: A Jewish perspective
Authors: Mount Amanda , Bogle Vanessa
Published: April 2014

Considered to be a chronic recidivist condition, obesity places significant burdens on the society. The search for appropriate interventions remains challenging. Research suggests individuals’ environments should be considered when addressing eating behaviours. Nomothetic accounts of the dieting experiences of eight self-selected British Jews within a commercially run, community-based weight-management programme adapted to Jewish participants’ cultural needs were explored using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Four themes were identified: ‘Me, myself and I’, ‘behaviour change’, ‘structural framework’ and ‘social interaction’. Emergent aspects were social support and structural flexibility to motivate participants to initiate and sustain behaviour change. Implications for future weight-loss interventions are discussed.
Close contact with racial outgroup members moderates attentional allocation towards outgroup versus ingroup faces
Authors: Dickter Cheryl L. , Gagnon Kyle T. , Gyurovski Ivo I. , Brewington B. Scott
Published: April 2014

Some research has demonstrated that White perceivers direct more initial attention to Black relative to White target faces, while other work has failed to show this relationship. Several variables have been identified that moderate early attention to racial outgroup versus racial ingroup faces. In the current paper, two studies sought to extend this work by testing whether close contact with racial outgroup members moderates the amount of initial attention directed towards racial outgroup members relative to ingroup members using a dot-probe task. In Study 1, Whites’ attentional allocation to Black versus White faces was moderated by the amount of close and meaningful contact with Blacks. Study 2 extended these findings by demonstrating that Whites’ attentional allocation to Asian relative to White faces was moderated by close contact with Asians. These findings identify close outgroup contact as an additional moderating variable in the attentional capture of racial outgroup versus ingroup faces, for groups both associated and not associated with threat.
Affordances and reflexivity in ethical life: An ethnographic stance
Authors: Keane Webb
Published: April 2014

Naturalistic, normative, and ethnographic approaches to ethical life seem to describe very different worlds. Focusing on ordinary social interactions and ideologies surrounding them, this article argues the ethnographic stance allows us to look in two directions, where we can see some points of articulation among these worlds. In one, the domain of naturalistic explanations, ethical life draws on affordances offered by psychological, linguistic, and other processes usually described as operating beneath the level of people’s awareness. In the other, the normative domain of reasons, principles, and arguments about them, it is the demands of ordinary social interaction that form some of the most ubiquitous inducements for people to account for themselves in ways that can become conscious, reflexive, and purposeful. When explicit reasons and justifications result they may give rise to historical objects like moral codes and ethical precepts.
‘I have seen Königsberg burning’: Philosophical anthropology and the responsiveness of historical experience
Authors: Wentzer Thomas Schwarz
Published: April 2014

It is December 1944 in East Prussia, and a German mother with the four youngest of her 13 children is fleeing from the Red Army. Some 30 years later one of her sons talks about his memories, using the phrase: ‘I have seen Königsberg burning’ – what a sentence. The city of Immanuel Kant, the most important philosopher of the German Enlightenment and an icon in human moral thought, is burning down. But then again, is it legitimate to take this symbolic interpretation as the proper meaning of this sentence? Drawing on Gadamer’s philosophical hermeneutics I present an account of historical experience, exemplifying the experiential and existential character of human life. Historical experience arises subsequently, in retrospection, in response to a demand without access to the original event that encompassed the essence or the real content to be experienced. Hence the notion of historical experience has to be deconstructed (against historical realism or historicism) and defended (against constructivism and structuralism) at the very same time. The concept of responsiveness is introduced in order to encompass the paradox contained in this agenda, in particular the need to think of the human as a responsive being.
From essence back to existence: Anthropology beyond the ontological turn
Authors: Vigh Henrik Erdman , Sausdal David Brehm
Published: April 2014

This article takes a critical look at ‘the ontological turn’. Illuminating ‘the turn’s’ theoretical point of departure, and clarifying its anthropological implications, the article argues that two key problems arise if the theory is to be taken at face value. It points, first of all, to the difficulty in studying ‘radical alterity’, in the manner proposed by the new understanding of ontology within anthropology. If anthropology is, as the ontological turn advocates, not a study of multiple ‘world-views’ but of essentially different ‘worlds’ altogether, how, we ask, does one approach this methodologically? Put in other words, if we really believe in radically essential, fundamental ontological difference with what registers can we, then, conceive and describe ontological others in ways that do them ethnographic justice? Secondly, the article ponders the issues of radical essentialism and immanence advocated by the ontological turn, and shows how an anthropological endeavour that advocates incommensurable difference, as an analytical point of departure, may be problematic in relation to the impact that anthropology has outside academia. As history has so vividly shown us, anthropological constructions of radical alterity and ontological difference offer themselves, in social terms, all too easily to political constructions of Otherness.
Envelope Type and Response Rates in a Survey of Health Professionals
Authors: Ziegenfuss Jeanette Y. , Tilburt Jon C. , Lackore Kandace , Jenkins Sarah , James Katherine , Beebe Timothy J.
Published: April 2014

Surveys are an important tool for assessing physician and nursing professionals’ practice patterns and guideline adherence. Obtaining quality survey data consisting of low item and unit nonresponse remains a persistent challenge in these populations. We tested the relative impact of two envelope types (padded vs. priority mail) on unit and item nonresponse in a survey of Minnesota health care workers. Respondents were randomized to receive a survey in one of two envelope types: a padded 8.5′′ × 11′′ envelope or a similarly sized priority mail envelope. After the first mailing, the response rate was 53.9% and did not differ across envelope conditions. Females and RNs were more likely to respond to the priority envelope than the padded envelope, but this finding did not hold in multivariate analysis. There was no difference in item nonresponse across the two envelope conditions. It may be that our two approaches were not enough to permeate the semi-porous membrane of gatekeeping that has been posited as a driver of low physician survey response rates relative to those observed in the general population. Nonetheless, our findings suggest that packaging may matter for some populations and not others.
Ballot Secrecy Concerns and Voter Mobilization
Authors: Gerber Alan S. , Huber Gregory A. , Biggers Daniel R. , Hendry David J.
Published: April 2014

Recent research finds that doubts about the integrity of the secret ballot as an institution persist among the American public. We build on this finding by providing novel field experimental evidence about how information about ballot secrecy protections can increase turnout among registered voters who had not previously voted. First, we show that a private group’s mailing designed to address secrecy concerns modestly increased turnout in the highly contested 2012 Wisconsin gubernatorial recall election. Second, we exploit this and an earlier field experiment conducted in Connecticut during the 2010 congressional midterm election season to identify the persistent effects of such messages from both governmental and non-governmental sources. Together, these results provide new evidence about how message source and campaign context affect efforts to mobilize previous non-voters by addressing secrecy concerns, as well as show that attempting to address these beliefs increases long-term participation.
Cognitive–Behavioral Treatment of Depression in Men
Authors: Spendelow Jason S.
Published: April 2014

Depression is a significant public health issue and many researchers have suggested that modifications to conventional cognitive–behavioral therapy (CBT) are required to address infrequent help-seeking in men and counter negative effects of traditional masculinity on therapeutic engagement. This narrative review summarizes recommended alterations to CBT in the areas of therapeutic setting, process, and content. Key themes from this literature include a focus on behavioural interventions, and harmful cognitions that orginate from the traditional male gender stereotype. This literature is marked by limited empirical support for many of the recommended treatment modifications, and several options for future research are outlined.
Clinical Strategies for Managing Dyslipidemias
Authors: Lavie Carl J. , Swift Damon L.
Published: April 2014

There is substantial evidence that lipids are critical in the development and progression of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. In November 2013, the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association in conjunction with the National Cholesterol Education Program IV developed new guidelines for the treatment of blood cholesterol. In this report, we review these new guidelines and emphasize the potential benefits of physical activity and exercise training on plasma lipids.
Visualization experiments on extrudate swell behavior at the microscale
Authors: Meng Limin , Wu Daming , He Xiaoxiang , Zhuang Jian
Published: April 2014

Extrudate swell exerts a significant impact on the shape and dimensional accuracy of extruded products. It is one of the important factors to be considered when designing the extrusion die and controlling the quality of products. The die swell ratio (B) is used to evaluate the degree of extrudate swell. In this article, comparative experiments were performed in order to simulate and observe in a precise fashion the extrudate swell behavior of carboxymethyl cellulose solution at a microscale by means of a visualization device. We chose micro dies capillaries where the inner diameter was in the range of 0.1–0.5 mm. The effects of capillary geometry, entrance velocity, and shear rate (shear stress) on extrudate swell were investigated. The results indicated that shear rate (shear stress) increases and the value of B is enhanced with decreasing capillary diameter under the same capillary entrance velocity. At different entrance velocities, the die swell behavior from 0.3- to 0.5-mm-diameter capillaries was similar to that of conventional ones, and the value of B increased with increasing shear rate. Additionally, the extrudate swell from the 0.2-mm-diameter capillaries revealed a decline, whereas that from the 0.1-mm-diameter capillaries first diminished and then increased concomitantly with rising shear rate. We expect that this was due to wall slip that occurred analytically in our micro channel.
This is Abuse… Or is it? Domestic abuse perpetrators’ responses to anti-domestic violence publicity
Authors: Gadd David , Corr Mary-Louise , Fox Claire L , Butler Ian
Published: April 2014

Social marketing has become a key component of policy initiatives aimed at reducing the incidence of domestic abuse. However, its efficacy remains debated, with most measures of effectiveness being somewhat crude. More subtle effects of social marketing, such as the boomerang effect whereby the message engenders the opposite effect to that intended, have been detected, suggesting a need for modes of analysis sensitive to the multiple ways in which viewers react to social opprobrium. This article attempts to deliver just this. It begins with a short history and critique of the concept of social marketing. It then proceeds to explore the utility of the more complex notion that viewers often identify with the subject positions thrown open by social marketing on a quite temporary basis, before reconfiguring them. Using the responses of domestic abuse perpetrators exposed to the UK Government’s This is Abuse campaign film, the article shows how contradictory identifications with both anti-violence messages and victim-blaming discourses are negotiated by those young men prone to perpetrating domestic abuse. The article concludes by exploring how effectiveness might be better conceptualised and assessed with regard to the impact of anti-violence social marketing that speaks to domestic abuse perpetrators.
Distributed leadership: A critical analysis
Authors: Jones Sandra
Published: April 2014

Changes to the governance and management of institutions of higher education (often described as ‘new managerialism’) and the effects this is having on the work of academics have been the subject of much discourse over the last 30 years in the pursuit of a globally appropriate model for higher education. Less attention has been afforded to discussion of new forms of institutional leadership needed to effectively respond to the associated challenges. Despite growing research into shared models of leadership, particularly distributed leadership, as a potentially appropriate approach distinct from traditional structural/positional leadership, discussion has been principally confined to normative description of the parameters that describe distributed leadership rather than rigorous critical analysis of its applicability in, and effectiveness for, higher education. Underpinning this discourse is the presumption that increased collaboration is synonymous with distributed leadership. This paper presents a more critical analysis of the experience of a distributed leadership approach used to build leadership capacity in learning and teaching in an Australian university. This example demonstrates first, that despite evidence of a relationship between distributed leadership and collaboration, there is no evidence of an inherent direct causal relationship, second, that a distributed leadership, while it may increase participation of academics in decision making, is not synonymous with democratic decision making. It is concluded that for a distributed leadership approach to be appropriate and effective, higher education institutions need to instigate action supported by formal leaders and underpinned by an action reflective approach that enables change over time.
The Hermeneutics of Hannity: Format Innovation in the Space of Opinion after September 11
Authors: Jacobs Ronald , Townsley Eleanor
Published: April 2014

This article explores changes in media and political culture in the US since 11 September 2001. Our specific focus is opinion media on cable television, in particular Fox News Channel’s Hannity & Colmes program. We argue that the events of September 11 provided an opportunity for conservative pundits to respond to some of the cultural limitations that had been associated with the cable talk format, creating a new cultural environment for mediated political debate in the US. These changes have pushed the cable talk shows even further away from the dominant practices of the journalistic field, turning them into clearly-delineated partisan interpretive communities, in which the crafting of political narratives is moving beyond the control of political party leaders.
Defining a role for laquinimod in multiple sclerosis
Authors: Kieseier Bernd C.
Published: April 2014

Multiple sclerosis (MS), an inflammatory disease affecting the central nervous system, is considered to exhibit an important neurodegenerative component as well. Laquinimod is an orally administered quinoline-3-carboxamide under development for the treatment of MS. In vitro and animal studies have revealed various mechanisms by which laquinimod may exert its effects on the immune and nervous systems. These include effects on the innate immune system that promote the differentiation of anti-inflammatory/regulatory T cells, the activation of microglia cells, an increase in the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor, as well as the prevention of inflammation-induced excitotoxicity. Two phase III studies revealed the clinical benefits of laquinimod in patients with relapsing–remitting MS and exhibited a benign safety profile for this drug. Ongoing clinical trials will help to define the optimal dose and indication for laquinimod in MS. This article reviews current experimental and clinical evidence on the role of laquinimod in patients with this disabling disease.
Factors affecting short- and long-term outcomes of manipulation under anaesthesia in patients with adhesive capsulitis of the shoulder
Authors: Theodorides Anthony A , Owen John M , Sayers Adrian E , Woods David A
Published: April 2014

Background

The present study aimed to evaluate and determine the factors that affect short- and long-term outcome following manipulation under anaesthesia (MUA) of patients with adhesive capsulitis.

Methods

Patients recruited from January 1999 to January 2010 were retrospectively analyzed and classified as having primary or secondary adhesive capsulitis. All patients were assessed for range of movement (ROM) and Oxford Shoulder Scores (OSS) before and immediately postoperatively, as well as for OSS more than 1 year post MUA.

Results

In total, 295 patients (315 shoulders) were sequentially recruited, and information was collected at baseline, as well as at a mean follow-up of 28 days and 3.6 years. A significant improvement in OSS and ROM was noted 1 month post MUA ( p < 0.0001) with females benefiting more than males ( p < 0.0025). Long-term follow-up revealed that the improvement in OSS was maintained ( p < 0.0001). Secondary adhesive capsulitis significantly reduced the efficacy of MUA as assessed by ROM ( p < 0.0001). Other factors (age, initial ROM and OSS, and length of symptoms prior to MUA) did not significantly affect the outcome over the short- or long-term.

Conclusions

The findings of the present study show that all patient groups had a significantly improved ROM and OSS in the short-term with long-term maintenance of improved OSS.
Chondroprotective Effect of Kartogenin on CD44-Mediated Functions in Articular Cartilage and Chondrocytes
Authors: Ono Yohei , Ishizuka Shinya , Knudson Cheryl B. , Knudson Warren
Published: April 2014

Objective:

A recent report identified the small molecule kartogenin as a chondrogenic and chondroprotective agent. Since changes in hyaluronan metabolism occur during cartilage degeneration in osteoarthritis, we began studies to determine whether there was a connection between extracellular hyaluronan, CD44–hyaluronan interactions and the effects of kartogenin on articular chondrocytes.

Methods:

Chondrocytes cultured in monolayers, bioengineered neocartilages, or cartilage explants were treated with kartogenin with or without stimulation by IL-1β. Accumulation of matrix was visualized by a particle exclusion assay or by safranin O staining and release of sulfated glycosaminoglycans was determined. Production of aggrecanases and aggrecan G1-ITEGE neoepitope, fragmentation of CD44 and the SMAD1/5/8 signaling pathway were evaluated by western blotting.

Results:

Kartogenin treatment enhanced chondrocyte pericellular matrix assembly and retention in the presence of IL-1β. The chondroprotective effects of kartogenin on IL-1β-induced release of sulfated glycosaminoglycans from articular cartilage explants, reduction in safranin O staining of neocartilage discs as well as a reduction in aggrecan G1-ITEGE neoepitope in chondrocyte and explant cartilage cultures were observed. Kartogenin partially blocked the IL-1β-induced increased expression of ADAMTS-5. Additionally, kartogenin-treated articular chondrocytes exhibited a decrease in CD44 proteolytic fragmentation. However, kartogenin treatment did not enhance proteoglycan in control, non-IL-1β-treated cultures. Similarly, kartogenin enhanced the SMAD1 phosphorylation but only following pretreatment with IL-1β.

Conclusion:

These studies provide novel information on the chondroprotective function of kartogenin in adult articular cartilage. The effects of kartogenin are significant after activation of chondrocytic chondrolysis, which may occur following disruption of homeostasis maintained by hyaluronan–CD44 interactions.
Autologous Matrix-Induced Chondrogenesis in the Knee
Authors: Lee Yee Han Dave , Suzer Ferzan , Thermann Hajo
Published: April 2014

Objective:

Autologous matrix-induced chondrogenesis (AMIC) is a 1-step cartilage restoration technique that combines microfracture with the use of an exogenous scaffold. This matrix covers and mechanically stabilizes the clot. There have been an increasing number of studies performed related to the AMIC technique and an update of its use and results is warranted.

Design and methods:

Using the PubMed database, a literature search was performed using the terms “AMIC” or “Autologous Matrix Induced Chondrogenesis.” A total of 19 basic science and clinical articles were identified.

Results:

Ten studies that were published on the use of AMIC for knee chondral defects were identified and the results of 219 patients were analyzed. The improvements in Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score, International Knee Documentation Committee Subjective, Lysholm and Tegner scores at 2 years were comparable to the published results from autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI) and matrix ACI techniques for cartilage repair.

Conclusions:

Our systematic review of the current state of the AMIC technique suggests that it is a promising 1-stage cartilage repair technique. The short-term clinical outcomes and magnetic resonance imaging results are comparable to other cell-based methods. Further studies with AMIC in randomized studies versus other repair techniques such as ACI are needed in the future.
Pain reporting in older adults: the influence of cognitive impairment – results from the Cambridge City >75 Cohort study
Authors: Docking Rachael E , Fleming Jane , Brayne Carol , Zhao Jun , Macfarlane Gary J , Jones Gareth T ,   The Cambridge City over-75s Cohort (CC75C) study collaboration
Published: April 2014

Objectives:

Evidence suggests that while disabling back pain (BP), and rheumatic diseases associated with pain, continues to increase with age, the prevalence of non-disabling BP reaches a plateau, or even decreases, in the oldest old. This study aimed to determine whether this age-related pattern of non-disabling BP is a function of increasing cognitive impairment.

Methods:

Cross-sectional study of adults aged >77 years. Participants answered interviewer-administered questions on BP and cognitive function, assessed using the Mini-Mental State Examination, categorised into normal versus mild, moderate or severe impairment. The relationship between cognitive function and BP was examined using multinomial logistic regression, adjusted for age, sex and residence.

Results:

Of 1174 participants with BP data, 1126 (96%) completed cognitive assessments. The relationship between cognitive function and BP differed for disabling and non-disabling BP. Across categories of cognitive impairment, increasingly higher prevalence of disabling BP was reported, compared to those with normal cognition, although this was not statistically significant (odds ratio (OR) = 1.7; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.7–4.6). No association was found between cognitive function and non-disabling BP (OR = 0.8; 95% CI = 0.4–1.6).

Conclusion:

This study found no association between the reporting of BP and level of cognitive impairment, suggesting that increasing cognitive impairment is an inadequate explanation for age-related decline in self-reported non-disabling BP. Future research should determine the reasons for the decline in non-disabling pain in older adults, although, meanwhile, it is important to ensure that this group receive appropriate pain assessment and pain management.

Key points

Prevalence of non-disabling back pain decreases in the oldest old. Some have proposed that this may be a function of cognitive impairment in older age, and an increasing inability to adequately report pain. Our findings do not support this hypothesis.
Does classroom-based Crew Resource Management training improve patient safety culture? A systematic review
Authors: Verbeek-van Noord Inge , de Bruijne Martine C , Zwijnenberg Nicolien C , Jansma Elise P , van Dyck Cathy , Wagner Cordula
Published: April 2014

Aim:

To evaluate the evidence of the effectiveness of classroom-based Crew Resource Management training on safety culture by a systematic review of literature.

Methods:

Studies were identified in PubMed, Cochrane Library, PsycINFO, and Educational Resources Information Center up to 19 December 2012. The Methods Guide for Comparative Effectiveness Reviews was used to assess the risk of bias in the individual studies.

Results:

In total, 22 manuscripts were included for review. Training settings, study designs, and evaluation methods varied widely. Most studies reporting only a selection of culture dimensions found mainly positive results, whereas studies reporting all safety culture dimensions of the particular survey found mixed results. On average, studies were at moderate risk of bias.

Conclusion:

Evidence of the effectiveness of Crew Resource Management training in health care on safety culture is scarce and the validity of most studies is limited. The results underline the necessity of more valid study designs, preferably using triangulation methods.
Cerebral contrast retention after difficult cardiac catheterization: Case report
Authors: Khan Shahid M , Ho David W , Lazar Jason M , Marmur JD
Published: April 2014

Background:

We report a diagnostic dilemma in a rare case of cerebral contrast retention after difficult cardiac catheterization in an elderly patient loaded with prasugrel.

Our case report describes a 77-year-old female with history of hypertension, diabetes, and dyslipidemia who presented to emergency department complaining of chest pain. Patient was found to have an inferior wall ST elevation myocardial infarction. The patient was loaded with aspirin and prasugrel and taken for emergent cardiac catheterization. Cardiac catheterization revealed two-vessel coronary artery disease with unsuccessful attempt of percutaneous intervention. Immediately after procedure, patient developed an episode of seizure. Emergent computed tomography scan of the brain revealed hyperdensity in the right frontoparietal region consistent with intracerebral bleed. Repeat computed tomography (24 h later) revealed substantial interval improvement of hyperdensity. Follow-up magnetic resonance imaging of the head was normal. Given the lack of magnetic resonance imaging changes, the rate of resolution on computed tomography without expected subacute changes, and the lack of neurologic findings, the initial hyperdensity seen on computed tomography of the brain was believed to be secondary to contrast leakage during cardiac catheterization as opposed to intracranial hemorrhage.
Swelling of bilateral parotid glands: An unusual symptom of multisystem Langerhans cell histiocytosis
Authors: Yuan Xiaojun , Tang Mengjie , Sheng Qi , Zhu Xiaodong , Zhang Qin
Published: April 2014

Objective:

Langerhans cell histiocytosis is an unusual disorder of unknown etiology with heterogeneous clinical behaviors and variable outcomes. It can involve one or more organs or systems, but to our best knowledge, parotid glands involvement in Langerhans cell histiocytosis is extremely rare in English literature.

Method:

We report a 13-month-old girl who presented with bilateral parotid swelling as presenting symptom. She was misdiagnosed for 4 months, but final diagnosis was multisystem Langerhans cell histiocytosis.

Result:

After being treated for 18 months, the patient acquired complete remission and attained similar growth status to other healthy children.

Conclusion:

Langerhans cell histiocytosis may involve any organ; in patients with parotid enlargement, Langerhans cell histiocytosis should be kept in mind in the differential diagnoses. We emphasize the importance of biopsy for histologic evaluation as soon as possible and even repeatedly if initial results are negative for Langerhans cell histiocytosis.
Honor on Death Row
Authors: Eaton Judy
Published: April 2014

The Southern United States is described as having a culture of honor, an argument that has been used to explain higher crime rates in the Southern United States than in the rest of the country. This research explored whether the combination of honor-related violence and traditional southern politeness norms is related to regional differences in the degree of remorse expressed by those who have committed violent crimes. It was proposed that different social norms regarding politeness and apologies in the Southern United States would be reflected in the narratives provided by offenders. The data came from the final statements that offenders on death row made before they were executed. Results showed that, compared with offenders executed in the non-Southern United States, offenders executed in the South more often apologized for their crimes in their final statements, but they were not necessarily more remorseful.
Facilitators and Impediments for Elective Music and Sport in Adolescent Males
Authors: Waters Simone , McPherson Gary E. , Schubert Emery
Published: April 2014

Within the culture of an all-male private school, sport often holds a special status as compared with music. As an area of learning and participation, sport is typically associated with masculinity and receives broad social acceptance, whereas music is often seen at the margins of the curriculum and considered as an activity for a select few who are innately talented. Because of these perceptions, participation rates for males are often higher for sport than they are for music. With this as our context, this study examined differences between the two elective subjects of music and sport, by seeking to investigate boys’ motivation to choose whether or not to elect music and sport in the final years of high school. The study utilized an online survey that was completed by 293 subjects (13 to 16 years old, school years 8 to 10). Results indicate that the boys were more motivated to select elective sport rather than music (42.7% vs. 4.8%, respectively), with 49.8% choosing neither music nor sport. A comparison of facilitators of elective music and sport revealed similarities across the two domains, with interest in the subject (music or sport) receiving the highest mean rating for elective facilitation. Seven of the nine impediment scales were significantly higher for music (only importance of the subject and parental influence were statistically identical across sport and music). The study is the first of which we are aware that directly compares music and sport as school subjects, and as such, offers insight into the different motivational forces that act to either facilitate or impede students’ choice of these subjects within an all-male private school.
Hypomanic Experience in Young Adults Confers Vulnerability to Intrusive Imagery After Experimental Trauma
Authors: Malik Aiysha , Goodwin Guy M. , Hoppitt Laura , Holmes Emily A.
Published: April 2014

Emotional mental imagery occurs across anxiety disorders, yet is neglected in bipolar disorder despite high anxiety comorbidity. Furthermore, a heightened susceptibility to developing intrusive mental images of stressful events in bipolar disorder and people vulnerable to it (with hypomanic experience) has been suggested. The current study assessed, prospectively, whether significant hypomanic experience (contrasting groups scoring high vs. low on the Mood Disorder Questionnaire, MDQ) places individuals at increased risk of visual reexperiencing after experimental stress. A total of 110 young adults watched a trauma film and recorded film-related intrusive images for 6 days. Compared to the low MDQ group, the high MDQ group experienced approximately twice as many intrusive images, substantiated by convergent measures. Findings suggest hypomanic experience is associated with developing more frequent intrusive imagery of a stressor. Because mental imagery powerfully affects emotion, such imagery may contribute to bipolar mood instability and offer a cognitive treatment target.
The Healing Community: A Catholic Social Justice Critique of Modern Health Care
Authors: Sullins Donald Paul
Published: April 2014

Catholic social thought calls for persons to be treated as subjects, not only as objects, and for a society in which basic health care is available to all. Treating the body as an object, isolated from other bodies and composed of many parts or systems, has led to great success in treating disease but has also degraded human dignity in patient care. Healthcare costs in the U.S. impede ready access to care, leading to financial collapse for millions each year; this is largely a generational result of rising expectations of long life for the elderly and widespread abortion of the very young (unborn); which practices follow in turn from the presumption that health results from human ingenuity and management. Catholic social thought affirms that love is essential to true health care and acknowledges that God is the source of healing. Such a perspective could point the way to humanizing the hospital experience and redressing the socioeconomic inequalities of modern health care.
Certain Grüss type inequalities involving the generalized fractional integral operator
Authors: Wang Guotao , Agarwal Praveen , Chand Mehar
Published: April 2014

A remarkably large number of Grüss type fractional integral inequalities involving the special function have been investigated by many authors. Very recently, Kalla and Rao (Matematiche LXVI(1):57-64, 2011) gave two Grüss type inequalities involving the Saigo fractional integral operator. Using the same technique, in this paper, we establish certain new Grüss type fractional integral inequalities involving the Gauss hypergeometric function. Moreover, we also consider their relevances for other related known results.

MSC: 26D10, 26A33.
Determining the prevalence and predictors of sleep disordered breathing in patients with chronic heart failure: rationale and design of the SCHLA-HF registry
Authors: Woehrle Holger , Oldenburg Olaf , Arzt Michael , Graml Andrea , Erdmann Erland , Teschler Helmut , Wegscheider Karl ,   the SCHLA-HF Investigators
Published: April 2014

Background

The objective of the SCHLA-HF registry is to investigate the prevalence of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) in patients with chronic heart failure with reduced left ventricular systolic function (HF-REF) and to determine predictors of SDB in such patients.

Methods

Cardiologists in private practices and in hospitals in Germany are asked to document patients with HF-REF into the prospective SCHLA-HF registry if they meet predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Screening was started in October 2007 and enrolment was completed at the end of May 2013. After enrolment in the registry, patients are screened for SDB. SDB screening is mainly undertaken using the validated 2-channel ApneaLink™ device (nasal flow and pulse oximetry; ResMed Ltd., Sydney, Australia). Patients with a significant number of apneas and hypopneas per hour recording time (AHI ≥15/h) and/or clinical symptoms suspicious of SDB will be referred to a cooperating sleep clinic for an attended in-lab polysomnography with certified scoring where the definite diagnosis and, if applicable, the differentiation between obstructive and central sleep apnea will be made. Suggested treatment will be documented.

Discussion

Registries play an important role in facilitating advances in the understanding and management of cardiovascular disease. The SCHLA-HF registry will provide consistent data on a large group of patients with HF-REF that will help to answer questions on the prevalence, risk factors, gender differences and stability of SDB in these patients by cross-sectional analyses. Further insight into the development of SDB will be gained by extension of the registry to include longitudinal data.