bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Cross‐cultural development and psychometric evaluation of a patient‐reported health‐related quality of life questionnaire for adults with haemophilia
Authors: RENTZ A. , FLOOD E. , ALTISENT C. , BULLINGER M. , KLAMROTH R. , GARRIDO R. P. , SCHARRER I. , SCHRAMM W. , GORINA E. ,   THE MEMBERS OF THE HAEMO‐QoL‐A STEERING COMMITTEE
Published: July 2008

Summary.  Co‐morbidities of haemophilia, such as arthropathy and blood‐borne infections, can adversely affect the quality of life of adult patients with haemophilia. The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a haemophilia‐specific health‐related quality of life questionnaire for adults (HAEMO‐QoL‐A). Subjects with varying severities of haemophilia completed the HAEMO‐QoL‐A at baseline and 4 weeks. Other assessments included the SF‐36 and Health Assessment Questionnaire – Functional Disability Index (HAQ‐FDI). Two‐hundred and twenty‐one participants completed the 41‐item HAEMO‐QoL‐A covering six domains (Physical Functioning, Role Functioning, Worry, Consequences of Bleeding, Emotional Impact and Treatment Concerns) and four independent items. Internal consistency was good‐to‐excellent (Cronbach’s α‐range: 0.75–0.95). Test–retest reproducibility was good, with intraclass correlation coefficients >0.80 except for the Emotional Impact domain (0.79). Concurrent validity between the HAEMO‐QoL‐A total and subscale scores and all SF‐36 subscale scores were generally good (correlations range: 0.13–0.87). Significant correlations between the HAEMO‐QoL‐A and the HAQ‐FDI ranged from −0.14 to −0.69. There were non‐significant correlations with the Treatment Concerns subscale and with the Worry subscale. The HAEMO‐QoL‐A discriminated significantly between adults with haemophilia by severity and HIV status. The Physical Functioning subscale discriminated between patients receiving prophylactic or on‐demand therapy. The HAEMO‐QoL‐A is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing quality of life in haemophilia patients.
Severe haemophilia A in a female resulting from an inherited gross deletion and a de novo codon deletion in the F8 gene
Authors: VENCESLÁ A. , FUENTES‐PRIOR P. , BAENA M. , QUINTANA M. , BAIGET M. , TIZZANO E. F.
Published: July 2008

Summary.  Haemophillia A (HA) is an X‐linked bleeding disorder caused by mutations in the F8 gene. While the disease affects 1 in 5000 males, phenotypic expression of haemophilia A is rare in females, similar to other X‐linked recessive disorders. We describe a 5‐year‐old female with severe haemophilia A. We determined the underlying molecular defect in the F8 genes of the proband and her closest family members by direct DNA sequencing, marker analysis and quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction. The patient showed two different mutations in the F8 gene: the paternal copy of the F8 gene had a de novo p.Phe652/653 deletion in exon 13 while the maternally inherited gene showed a large deletion encompassing exons 1 to 22. The structural analysis of residues Phe652/Phe653 based on a three‐dimensional model of activated factor VIII provides evidence of the impact of the mutant factor VIII protein in the clinical manifestations of the patient. This unusual finding highlights the need to perform a thorough molecular analysis including sequencing, marker and quantitative analyses to identify compound heterozygous females with HA.
Preparing nurses for practice: A phenomenological study of the new graduate in Australia
Authors: Kelly Jennifer , Ahern Kathy
Published: July 2008

Aims.  To explore the expectations of final year nursing students before they start employment and to describe the experiences of newly graduated nurses during their first six months of employment as registered nurses.

Background.  Nursing shortages are at crisis point world wide with registered nurses leaving the profession at a high rate and changing occupations. Thus, there is a need to reflect on new graduate nurses experiences in relation to retention and support.

Design.  Husserl’s phenomenological approach was used to gain insight and understanding into the lived experiences of new graduate nurses.

Methods.  Students enrolled in a Bachelor of Nursing programme at an Australian University were interviewed in their final semester and during employment in the hospital setting. Semi‐structured interviews were used to gather data from 13 participants. Data were collected at three intervals: prior to commencing employment, one month and six months postemployment and the results were analysed thematically.

Results.  As students, the participants held positive perceptions surrounding their impending role as a registered nurse and what it would encompass. However, after one month of employment, it became apparent that nursing comprised of a culture that embraced cliques which excluded them. The graduates were unprepared for ‘bitchiness’ and the limited amount of assistance with unfamiliar tasks they received from registered nurses. Participants also found rotating to different wards recreated the feelings they experienced on commencing employment.

Conclusions.  Nursing curricula should prepare new graduates for foreseeable stressors and oppressive practices so that graduates can become proactive in preventing and responding to factors such as silence and aggression. Moreover, nursing courses need to ensure that socialisation issues are addressed to assist in the eradication of oppressive practices. Finally, organisations need to address socialisation issues such as hostility within the workplace to address the attrition of new graduates from the profession.

Relevance to clinical practice.  Individuals in clinical practice settings need to be cognisant of the significant role that experienced registered nurses and nurse unit managers occupy in the socialisation of new graduate nurses. Additionally, there needs to be increased awareness that nursing culture can influence recruitment and retention of new graduates. Further, health care organisations need to evaluate the benefits of new graduates rotating through clinical areas in the first 12 months of employment.
SILIP: a novel stable isotope labeling method for in planta quantitative proteomic analysis
Authors: Schaff Jennifer E. , Mbeunkui Flaubert , Blackburn Kevin , Bird David McK. , Goshe Michael B.
Published: July 2008

Due to ease of manipulation, metabolic isotope coding of samples for proteomic analysis is typically performed in cell culture, thus preventing an accuratein vivo quantitative analysis, which is only achievable in intact organisms. To address this issue in plant biology, we developed SILIP (stable isotope labeling in planta) using tomato plants (Solanum lycopersicum cv. Rutgers) as a method that allows soil‐grown plants to be efficiently labeled using a 14N/15N isotope coding strategy. After 2 months of growth on 14N‐ and 15N‐enriched nitrogen sources, proteins were extracted from four distinct tomato tissues (roots, stems, leaves and flowers), digested, and analyzed by LC/MS/MS (data‐dependent acquisition, DDA) and alternating low‐ and elevated‐energy MS scans (data‐independent acquisition, MSE). Using a derived relationship to generate a theoretical standard curve, the measured ratio of the M (monoisotopic) and M‐1 isotopologues of 70 identified 15N‐labeled peptides from 16 different proteins indicated that 15N incorporation was almost 99%, which is in excellent agreement with the 99.3%15N‐enriched nitrate used in the soil‐based medium. Values for the various tissues ranged from 98.2 ± 0.3%15N incorporation in leaves to 98.8 ± 0.2% in stems, demonstrating uniform labeling throughout the plant. In addition, SILIP is compatible with root‐knot nematode (Meloidogyne spp.) development, and thus provides a new quantitative proteomics tool to study both plant and plant–microorganism systems.
The DOF transcription factor OBP1 is involved in cell cycle regulation in Arabidopsis thaliana
Authors: Skirycz Aleksandra , Radziejwoski Amandine , Busch Wolfgang , Hannah Matthew A. , Czeszejko Joanna , Kwaśniewski Mirosław , Zanor Maria‐Inès , Lohmann Jan U. , De Veylder Lieven , Witt Isabell , Mueller‐Roeber Bernd
Published: July 2008

In contrast to animal growth, plant growth is largely post‐embryonic. Therefore plants have developed new mechanisms to precisely regulate cell proliferation by means of internal and external stimuli whilst the general core cell cycle machinery is conserved between eukaryotes. In this work we demonstrate a role for the Arabidopsis thaliana DNA‐binding‐with‐one‐finger (DOF) transcription factor OBP1 in the control of cell division upon developmental signalling. Inducible overexpression of OBP1 resulted in a significant overrepresentation of cell cycle genes among the upregulated transcripts. Direct targets of OBP1, as verified by chromatin immunoprecipitation, include at least the core cell cycle gene CYCD3;3 and the replication‐specific transcription factor gene AtDOF2;3. Consistent with our molecular data, short‐term activation of OBP1 in cell cultures affected cell cycle re‐entry, shortening the duration of the G1 phase and the overall length of the cell cycle, whilst constitutive overexpression of OBP1 in plants influenced cell size and cell number, leading to a dwarfish phenotype. Expression during embryogenesis, germination and lateral root initiation suggests an important role for OBP1 in cell cycle re‐entry, operating as a transcriptional regulator of key cell cycle genes. Our findings provide significant input into our understanding of how cell cycle activity is incorporated into plant growth and development.
Selective mRNA translation coordinates energetic and metabolic adjustments to cellular oxygen deprivation and reoxygenation in Arabidopsis thaliana
Authors: Branco‐Price Cristina , Kaiser Kayla A. , Jang Charles J. H. , Larive Cynthia K. , Bailey‐Serres Julia
Published: July 2008

Cellular oxygen deprivation (hypoxia/anoxia) requires an acclimation response that enables survival during an energy crisis. To gain new insights into the processes that facilitate the endurance of transient oxygen deprivation, the dynamics of the mRNA translation state and metabolites were quantitatively monitored in Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings exposed to a short (2 h) or prolonged (9 h) period of oxygen and carbon dioxide deprivation and following 1 h of re‐aeration. Hypoxia stress and reoxygenation promoted adjustments in the levels of polyribosomes (polysomes) that were highly coordinated with cellular ATP content. A quantitative comparison of steady‐state and polysomal mRNA populations revealed that over half of the cellular mRNAs were restricted from polysome complexes during the stress, with little or no change in abundance. This selective repression of translation was rapidly reversed upon reoxygenation. Comparison of the adjustment in gene transcripts and metabolites demonstrated that profiling of polysomal mRNAs strongly augments the prediction of cellular processes that are altered during cellular oxygen deprivation. The selective translation of a subset of mRNAs promotes the conservation of ATP and facilitates the transition to anaerobic metabolism during low‐oxygen stress.
Role of Luteinizing Hormone in Primiparous Sow Responses to Split Weaning
Authors: Zak L , Foxcroft GR , Aherne FX , Kirkwood RN
Published: July 2008

Contents

In 45 primiparous sows, we examined endocrine, ovarian and reproductive responses to split‐weaning or five injections per day of 800 ng GnRH from 18 to 21 days of lactation. There was no effect of treatment on absolute or changes in sow weight or backfat depth during lactation. Average piglet growth rates were similar among treatments except that piglets suckling split‐weaned sows grew faster (p < 0.05) during days 18–21. On day 18, mean plasma LH concentrations and LH pulse frequency remained relatively stable in conventionally weaned sows but increased (p < 0.01) in response to split‐weaning and GnRH. Prior to weaning on day 21, mean plasma LH concentrations remained elevated in GnRH‐treated sows but had returned to control levels in split weaned sows. There was no treatment effect on preweaning LH pulse frequency noted on day 21. Weaning was associated with an increase in plasma LH concentrations in all the treatment groups. Mean plasma IGF‐I remained relatively constant in conventionally weaned and GnRH sows, decreased in response to split weaning on day 18 (p < 0.02), but were elevated (p < 0.03) in split wean sows on day 21. On the day after weaning, split wean sows had more (p < 0.04) ovarian follicles ≥3 mm than conventionally weaned sows, with GnRH sows being intermediate. The wean‐to‐oestrus interval was reduced in split‐wean sows compared with those conventionally weaned (p < 0.01), with GnRH sows being intermediate. There was no effect of treatment on ovulation rates, numbers of embryos, or embryonic survival rates. These data indicate that split‐weaning of litters results in a more rapid return to oestrus after weaning and that this effect is associated with a transient acute increase in circulating gonadotrophins and earlier resumption of ovarian follicular development.
Massage therapy in outpatient pediatric chronic pain patients: do they facilitate significant reductions in levels of distress, pain, tension, discomfort, and mood alterations?
Authors: SURESH SANTHANAM , WANG SHEILA , PORFYRIS SUZANNE , KAMASINSKI‐SOL RICHARD , STEINHORN DAVID M.
Published: July 2008

Background and objectives:  This study was designed to look at the efficacy of adjuvant massage therapy in children and adolescents who presented to a chronic pediatric pain clinic for management.

Methods:  After Institutional Review Board approval and informed consent and assent was obtained, all pediatric patients who presented to the outpatient chronic pain clinic at Children’s Memorial Hospital from July 2006 to May 2007 were invited to participate in a study that offered massage therapy as an adjunct to conventional pain treatment. Patients (n = 80 sessions, 57 patients) were asked to rate their levels of distress, pain, tension, discomfort, and degree of upset mood on a scale of 1–5 (e.g. for distress 1 = very calm; 5 = very distressed) before and after massage therapy. Paired t‐tests were used to compare pre‐ and postmassage ratings and probability values were corrected for multiple comparisons using the Bonferroni procedure.

Results:  After massage therapy, patients reported highly significant improvement in their levels of distress, pain, tension, discomfort, and mood compared with their premassage ratings (all t‐values >6.1, ****P < 1 × 10−8. To control for the possible effects of patients reporting improvements simply as a result of rating their symptoms, we collected control ratings before and after a comparable ‘no intervention’ time period in a subset of 25 patients. The ‘no intervention’ time period typically took place in the treatment room with the therapist present. Approximately 60% of the control ratings were obtained before the intervention and 40% were obtained after the massage therapy. None of the differences between the pre‐ and postratings associated with the ‘no intervention’ control time period were significant. In these same patients, the difference between the pre‐ and postmassage ratings were significant, all t‐values >3.8, **P < 0.001.
A randomized, controlled trial of aprotinin in neonates undergoing open‐heart surgery
Authors: WILLIAMS GLYN D. , RAMAMOORTHY CHANDRA , PENTCHEVA KRASSIMIRA , BOLTZ M. GAIL , KAMRA KOMAL , REDDY V. MOHAN
Published: July 2008

Background:  Neonates undergoing open‐heart surgery are especially at risk for massive bleeding and pronounced inflammation. The efficacy of aprotinin, a serine protease inhibitor, at ameliorating these adverse effects of cardiopulmonary bypass has not been clearly demonstrated in neonates.

Methods:  Term neonates were enrolled and randomly assigned in a blinded fashion to receive saline (group P, placebo) or high‐dose aprotinin (group A). Intraoperative management was standardized: surgeon, anesthesia, cardiopulmonary bypass and hemostasis therapy. Patients were admitted postoperatively to a pediatric cardiac intensive care unit. Primary outcome measure of efficacy was duration of the postoperative mechanical ventilation. Secondary outcome measures were total volume and units of blood products transfused intraoperatively and for 24 h after surgery, duration of chest tube in situ, and intensive care and hospital stays after surgery.

Results:  Twenty‐six neonates were enrolled; 13 received aprotinin and 13 received placebo. The study was halted prematurely because of US Food and Drug Administation’s concerns about aprotinin’s safety. Baseline patient, surgery and cardiopulmonary bypass characteristics were similar between groups. No outcome variables differed between groups (P > 0.05). Duration of postoperative ventilation was 115 ± 139 h (group A); 126 ± 82 h (group P); P = 0.29, and total blood product exposure was 8.2 ± 2.6 U (group A); 8.8 ± 1.4 U (group P); P = 0.1. Postoperative blood creatinine values did not differ between groups. In‐hospital mortality rate was 4%.

Conclusions:  Aprotinin was not shown to be efficacious in neonates undergoing open‐heart surgery. It is unclear whether adult aprotinin safety data are relevant to neonates undergoing open‐heart surgery.
Skin capillary permeability in the diabetic foot with critical limb ischaemia: the effects of a phVEGF165 gene product
Authors: De Leeuw K. , Kusumanto Y. , Smit A. J. , Oomen P. , Van Der Hoeven J. H. , Mulder N. H. , Hospers G. A. P.
Published: July 2008

Aims   To measure capillary permeability, assessed by skin capillary sodium fluorescein (NaF) leakage, in patients with diabetes mellitus with critical limb ischaemia (DM‐CLI) and to compare the effects of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) with those of placebo.

Methods   NaF leakage was assessed in 17 patients with DM‐CLI, in 24 diabetes mellitus (DM) patients without clinical signs of macrovascular disease or neuropathy (DM‐C) and in 22 healthy control subjects. The 17 DM‐CLI patients were randomized to receive phVEGF165 gene product (n = 11) or placebo (n = 6). Measurements were repeated after 28 days.

Results   DM‐CLI patients had a longer dye arrival time (DAT), but NaF leakage was similar to control subjects, while capillary permeability was increased in DM‐C compared with control subjects. Leakage curve rose in patients receiving VEGF and fell in those receiving placebo, 28 days after administration. The decrease in DAT in the VEGF group was not significant, whilst DAT rose in the placebo group. Perfusion pressures were similar in the two groups.

Conclusion   No increase in capillary leakage in DM‐CLI was found, probably because an increased capillary filtration coefficient is counterbalanced by a marked fall in perfusion pressures. Increased capillary leakage may be one explanation for oedema formation after VEGF treatment.
Human Allocentric Heading Orientation and Ability
Authors: Sholl M. Jeanne
Published: July 2008

Since the discovery of head-direction cells in nonhuman mammals, we have learned a great deal about how an internal compass-like system functions in the mammalian brain. In contrast, we know very little about how this system operates in humans—or, for that matter, whether humans even have an internal compass for computing body heading. This article reviews a recent line of inquiry that uses animal models of head-direction-system functioning to motivate behavioral research on human sense of direction.
Choice Modeler: A Web‐based Spatial Multiple Criteria Evaluation Tool
Authors: Jankowski Piotr , Zielinska Arika‐Ligmann , Swobodzinski Martin
Published: July 2008

This article presents a concept of a Web‐based spatial multiple criteria evaluation tool for individual and group use called Choice Modeler (CM). CM was originally conceived as part of a larger Participatory Geographic Information System for Transportation project (PGIST; http://www.pgist.org) aimed at developing and evaluating Internet‐hosted capabilities to support participatory decision processes. CM is designed to be either a part of a larger information system such as PGIST or a standalone tool used for evaluation of decision variants. The decision support functions provided by CM aid in reducing the cognitive complexity of the decision space characterized by multiple decision options, evaluation criteria, and criterion weights. This is achieved by incorporating in CM the sensitivity analysis functions for the identification of criteria that do not influence the decision option ranking. Users can remove such criteria from further consideration and thus lessen the cognitive burden of evaluation, which may be essential in multi‐stakeholder participatory decision processes. The additional capabilities of CM include a vote aggregation function to collate individual option rankings into a group ranking, and measures of agreement/disagreement to inform the participants about a group‐derived desirability of specific decision options. The design of CM was implemented using Web‐service architecture. In the article we describe the design of CM and discuss its advantages and limitations.
GIS Development in China's Urban Governance: A Case Study of Shenzhen
Authors: Lin Wen
Published: July 2008

Government agencies have been an important actor in using GIS and other information technologies across the world. However, contextual examinations of government GIS practices over time within non‐Western contexts remain sparse in the existing GIScience literature. In particular, little is known with respect to China's significant growth of using GIS in its urban government amidst its rapid urbanization and enormous transformation. This article presents an in‐depth investigation of the case of Shenzhen city, one of the China's leading cities in urban government GIS development. Drawing upon critical GIS research and GIS implementation studies, a synthesized theoretical framework is developed to interrogate the nature and evolutionary process of Shenzhen's government GIS practices. The analysis is focused on examining the role of broader social conditions, local contextual factors and organizational characteristics in shaping GIS development in Shenzhen's urban governance. Situated in this contextual analysis, this article also illustrates the three major transformations of GIS development in Shenzhen's planning agency over the past decade. The findings show that GIS development in Chinese urban governance has been influenced not only by the instrumental functions of GIS, but also by the interactions and relationships among different actors and institutions with various vested interests in the process of structuring and governing the urban spaces. This study will contribute to the ongoing discussion of understanding the interwoven relationship between GIS and society in GIScience research.
A New GIS Approach for Estimating Shallow Groundwater Recharge and Discharge
Authors: Lin Yu‐Feng , Wang Jihua , Valocchi Albert J
Published: July 2008

Groundwater recharge and discharge define the relationships among groundwater storage, precipitation, evapotranspiration, and surface water. Understanding and quantifying groundwater recharge and discharge is crucial for developing effective management options for water supply. Traditional recharge and discharge studies usually require time‐consuming (months or years) and labor‐intensive field characterization. Therefore, a fast initial recharge and discharge estimation will help scientists and decision makers design more accurate and cost‐effective research plans and management strategies. A new GIS based methodology along with an ArcMap plug‐in package, PRO‐GRADE, was developed to help hydrogeologists estimate recharge and discharge in a more efficient way than conventional methods. The Groundwater Recharge And Discharge Estimator (GRADE‐GIS) in the PRO‐GRADE package uses a mass balance approach for steady state two‐dimensional unconfined aquifers. GRADE‐GIS only requires relatively short preparation time (hours) using readily available data for water table and bedrock elevations, and hydraulic conductivities. The Pattern Recognition Organizer (PRO‐GIS) in the PRO‐GRADE package uses multiple image processing algorithms to estimate and visualize shallow recharge and discharge patterns and rates with GIS. The output of PRO‐GRADE can be used as an initial guideline for conventional field study planning and decision making, or an initial condition for numerical simulations.
Impersonals in Polish: an LFG perspective
Authors: Kibort Anna
Published: July 2008

Polish has a large number of constructions which have been referred to as impersonal because they lack a canonical subject. I discuss syntactic, morphological and lexical properties of these constructions in turn and argue that they can be classified into four distinct types: constructions with optionally unexpressed pronominal subjects, morpholexically derived constructions with obligatorily unexpressed syntactic subjects, genuinely subjectless constructions formed with defective verbs and passivised intransitive predicates, and constructions with overt non‐agreeing subjects. I offer LFG‐type analyses of the first three categories of construction. I identify subjects for two of them at the argument structure and functional structure levels of representation, and confirm only one type of construction as truly subjectless at all levels of syntactic representation of the predicate.
Interactions between seabirds and deep‐water hake trawl gear: an assessment of impacts in South African waters
Authors: Watkins B. P. , Petersen S. L. , Ryan P. G.
Published: July 2008

Many seabirds are killed or injured by fishing gear, contributing to the high proportion of threatened seabirds. This study estimates the impact of the South African deep‐water hake Merluccius spp. trawl fishery on seabirds. At least 30 birds were killed in 190 h of dedicated observations of trawl warps during 2004 and 2005. Most were killed when their wings were entangled around the trawl warp and they were dragged under by the force of the water passing over the warp. Albatrosses were killed most frequently: shy albatrosses Thalassarche cauta (43% of all birds killed) and black‐browed albatrosses Thalassarche melanophrys (37%), with smaller numbers of white‐chinned petrels Procellaria aequinoctialis (10%), Cape gannets Morus capensis (7%) and sooty shearwaters Puffinus griseus (3%). Mortalities occurred mainly during dumping of fishery wastes, and were more frequent in winter, when more birds attended fishing vessels. Average mortality rates were 0.56 (95% confidence interval 0.32–0.82) birds killed per hour during dumping in winter, 0.21 (0.07–0.38) during dumping in summer and 0.09 (0.02–0.19) when not dumping in winter. No birds were killed in the absence of dumping in summer. Albatrosses suffered a disproportionately high mortality rate, with 15% of birds dragged under drowning, compared with 4% of all other species. Deaths resulting from entanglement in fishing nets mainly affected Cape gannets M. capensis, and occurred at an average rate of 3.0 (0.9–5.4) birds per 100 trawls (n=331 trawls). Serious warp incidents were independent of age among albatrosses, but there was a tendency for immature gannets to have a higher interaction rate than adults. Crude extrapolation suggests that total mortality is c. 18 000 (8000–31 000) birds per year, of which 85% are killed on warps and 15% entangled in nets. These estimates are of the same order of magnitude as estimates of long‐line bycatch in South African waters. Mitigation measures have been implemented to reduce mortality in this fishery.
Adolescent borderline symptoms in the community: prognosis for functioning over 20 years
Authors: Winograd Greta , Cohen Patricia , Chen Henian
Published: July 2008

Background:  The long‐term prognosis associated with adolescent symptoms of borderline personality disorder (BPD) in the general population is virtually unknown. In this study, the relationship of early borderline symptoms to subsequent psychosocial functioning and attainment was investigated based on data from the Children in the Community cohort.

Method:  Using multilevel linear regression, symptoms of BPD at mean age 14 were employed as predictors of work/school/homemaker role function, social function (social support, relationship quality), and life satisfaction over the subsequent 20 years. Borderline symptoms were also employed as predictors of attainment at 20‐year follow‐up.

Results:  On average, those with higher levels of early adolescent borderline symptoms scored consistently lower in role function, social function, and life satisfaction from mid‐adolescence through mid‐adulthood. Borderline symptoms predicted lower academic and occupational attainment, less partner involvement, and fewer attained adult developmental milestones. Adolescent borderline symptoms were also associated with adult borderline symptoms, borderline diagnosis, general impairment, and need for services at mean age 33. These effects were evident despite symptom decline with age and were independent of adolescent Axis I disorders.

Conclusions:  Adverse prognosis associated with youth symptoms of BPD appeared early and persisted in important and interrelated life domains. These findings lend support to the utility of DSM‐IV BPD symptoms assessed by self‐report in early adolescence.
Early childhood aetiology of mental health problems: a longitudinal population‐based study
Authors: Bayer Jordana K. , Hiscock Harriet , Ukoumunne Obioha C. , Price Anna , Wake Melissa
Published: July 2008

Background:  Mental health problems comprise an international public health issue affecting up to 20% of children and show considerable stability. We aimed to identify child, parenting, and family predictors from infancy in the development of externalising and internalising behaviour problems by age 3 years.

Methods:  Design Longitudinal, population‐based survey completed by primary caregivers when children were 7, 12, 18, 24 and 36 months old. Participants 733 children sequentially recruited at 6–7 months from routine well‐child appointments (August–September 2004) across six socio‐economically and culturally diverse government areas in Victoria, Australia; 589 (80%) retained at 3 years. Measures 7 months: sociodemographic characteristics, maternal mental health (Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS)), substance misuse, home violence, social isolation, infant temperament; 12 months: partner relationship, parenting (Parent Behavior Checklist (PBC)); 18, 24 and 36 months: child behaviour (Child Behavior Checklist 1½–5 (CBCL)), PBC, DASS.

Results:  Sixty‐nine percent of all families attending well‐child clinics took part. The consistent and cumulative predictors of externalising behaviours were parent stress and harsh discipline. Predictors of internalising behaviours included small family size, parent distress, and parenting. Twenty‐five percent of variation in early externalising behaviour and 17% of variation in early internalising behaviour was explained.

Conclusions:  Effective and cost‐efficient population approaches to preventing mental health problems early in childhood are urgently needed. Programmes must support parents in reducing personal stress as well as negative parenting practices.
ETHICAL PROBLEMS IN CONDUCTING RESEARCH IN ACUTE EPIDEMICS: THE PFIZER MENINGITIS STUDY IN NIGERIA AS AN ILLUSTRATION
Authors: EZEOME EMMANUEL R. , SIMON CHRISTIAN
Published: July 2008

The ethics of conducting research in epidemic situations have yet to account fully for differences in the proportion and acuteness of epidemics, among other factors. While epidemics most often arise from infectious diseases, not all infectious diseases are of epidemic proportions, and not all epidemics occur acutely. These and other variations constrain the generalization of ethical decision‐making and impose ethical demands on the individual researcher in a way not previously highlighted. This paper discusses a number of such constraints and impositions. It applies the ethical principles enunciated by Emmanuel et al.1 to the controversial Pfizer study in Nigeria in order to highlight the particular ethical concerns of acute epidemic research, and suggest ways of meeting such challenges.

The paper recommends that research during epidemics should be partly evaluated on its own merits in order to determine its ethical appropriateness to the specific situation. Snap decisions to conduct research during acute epidemics should be resisted. Community engagement, public notification and good information management are needed to promote the ethics of conducting research during acute epidemics. Individual consent is most at risk of being compromised, and every effort should be made to ensure that it is maintained and valid. Use of data safety management boards should be routine. Acute epidemics also present opportunities to enhance the social value of research and maximize its benefits to communities.

Ethical research is possible in acute epidemics, if the potential challenges are thought of ahead of time and appropriate precautions taken.
The fertilizer equivalence of phosphorus and potassium in organic manures applied to arable soils
Authors: Heming S. D.
Published: July 2008

Previous papers [Soil Use and Management (2004) vol. 20, 410; (2007) vol. 23, 162] derived relationships for different soil types in south England of change in topsoil K (ΔKex) or P (ΔPres) against K or P balance over 3–5 years for fields in commercial farms given variable rates of fertilizer but no manure. Shown here is how ΔKex or ΔPres on manured fields can be converted to a fertilizer equivalent (fertilizer substitute) K or P value of the manure (FEK or FEP). There were significant increases in Pres and Kex when animal manures were applied, and in Pres using sewage sludge cake or liquid. Median FEP and FEK values for one application were – cattle farm yard manure (FYM) 36 kg P per hectare and 153 kg K per hectare, pig manure 70 and 149, digested sludge cake 62 P and digested liquid 31 P. Poultry manures and slurries also showed a significant benefit. When <12 months (only one cultivation) elapsed between application and soil sampling, FEP was much lower than in the second year and further increased over 4 years, whereas the maximum FEK was attained within a year of manure application. Release of P is slow compared with K. After 2–4 years FEP and FEK per tonne of FYM calculated as 0.95 kg P and 4.5 kg K, but farmer‐reported application rates may be inaccurate. For biosolids <60% of the total P showed as FEP within 4 years. Even single manure applications register a large benefit in soil P and K supply (currently worth >£225 per hectare as fertilizer), but are variable in effect, which must be evaluated by soil analysis: at least one season and two cultivations should elapse before sampling; ideally more than a 2‐year interval.
Impact of Physician Assistant Care on Office Visit Resource Use in the United States
Authors: Morgan Perri A. , Shah Nilay D. , Kaufman Jay S. , Albanese Mark A.
Published: July 2008

Objective. To investigate whether the use of physician assistants (PAs) as providers for a substantive portion of a patient's office‐based visits affects office visit resource use.

Data Source. Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) Household Component data from 1996 to 2004.

Study Design. This retrospective cohort study compares the number of office‐based visits per year between adults for whom PAs provided ≥30 percent of visits and adults cared for by physicians only.

Data Collection/Extraction Methods. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality collects MEPS data using methods designed to produce data representative of the U.S. noninstitutionalized civilian population. Negative binomial regression was used to compare the number of visits per year between persons with and without PA care, adjusted for demographic, geographic, and socioeconomic factors; insurance status; health status; and medical conditions.

Principal Findings. After case‐mix adjustment, patients for whom PAs provided a substantive portion of care used about 16 percent fewer office‐based visits per year than patients cared for by physicians only. This difference in the use of office‐based visits was not offset by increased office visit resource use in other settings.

Conclusions. Results indicate that the inclusion of PAs in the U.S. provider mix does not affect overall office visit resource use.
Rural Veterans and Access to High‐Quality Care for High‐Risk Surgeries
Authors: West Alan N. , Weeks William B. , Wallace Amy E.
Published: July 2008

Objectives. To determine whether older Veterans Health Administration (VA) health care enrollees obtain most high‐risk surgeries in non‐VA hospitals under Medicare, whether residence in less populous areas increases this reliance on non‐VA care or the likelihood of obtaining it in hospitals with higher mortality rates, and whether directing VA enrollees to better hospitals would add a substantial travel burden.

Data Sources. VA and Medicare hospital discharge data from 2000 and 2001 for VA enrollees 65 years or older who received any of 14 high‐risk elective procedures, including heart, vascular, and cancer surgeries.

Study Design/Data Extraction. We compared urban, suburban, and rural patients on use of VA versus non‐VA hospitals, use of non‐VA hospitals of higher versus lower mortality rates, travel times to get to these hospitals, and the additional travel burden if they had gone to lower mortality hospitals.

Principal Findings. Regardless of residence, VA enrollees obtained most high‐risk surgeries in non‐VA hospitals. Urban veterans were most likely to get heart or cancer surgeries in lower mortality hospitals, but rural veterans were most likely to get vascular surgeries in lower mortality hospitals. Average travel times to lower or higher mortality hospitals did not differ greatly.

Conclusions. Accessing better hospitals need not add a great travel burden for rural veterans.
Sample Size Effects on Estimates of Population Genetic Structure: Implications for Ecological Restoration
Authors: Sinclair Elizabeth A. , Hobbs Richard J.
Published: July 2008

The field of ecological restoration is growing rapidly, and the sourcing of suitable seed is a major issue. Information on the population genetic structure of a species can provide valuable information to aid in defining seed collection zones. For a practical contribution from genetics, a rapid approach to delineating seed collection zones using genetic markers (amplified fragment length polymorphisms [AFLPs]) has been developed. Here, we test the effects of sampling regime on the efficacy of this method. Genetic data were collected for an outcrossing seeder,Daviesia divaricatassp.divaricata, an important species in urban bushland restoration in Perth, Western Australia. The effect of sample size and number of AFLP markers on estimates of genetic variation and population structure was examined in relation to implications for sourcing material for restoration. Three different sample sizes were used (n= 8, 15, and 30) from six urban bushland remnants. High levels of genetic diversity were observed inD. divaricata(87.4% polymorphic markers), with significant population differentiation detected among sampled populations (ΘB= 0.1386,p< 0.001). Although sample size does not appear to affect the spatial pattern in principle co‐ordinates analysis (PCA) plots, the number of polymorphic loci increased with sample size and estimates of population subdivision (FSTand ΘB) and associated confidence intervals decreased with increasing sample size. We recommend using a minimum of 30 plants for sourcing seed for restoration projects.
Seasonal Effects of Four Control Methods on the Invasive Morrow’s Honeysuckle (Lonicera morrowii) and Initial Responses of Understory Plants in a Southwestern Pennsylvania Old Field
Authors: Love Jason P. , Anderson James T.
Published: July 2008

The first step in restoration often involves the removal of invasive plants, but few studies have determined if the response of plant communities matches management goals. The shrub Morrow’s honeysuckle (Lonicera morrowii Gray) is one of a suite of exotic bush honeysuckle species that have become pervasive woody invaders in eastern North America. In 2004, we tested four control methods (cut, mechanical removal, stump application of glyphosate, and foliar application of glyphosate) during late spring and early autumn within a degraded meadow at Fort Necessity National Battlefield, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. Our restoration goals are to control Morrow’s honeysuckle, restore native vegetation, and mimic the conditions present in the mid‐1700s. We established forty‐five 5 × 5–m plots to measure woody species; five plots of each treatment method were treated in spring, whereas the remaining five were treated in autumn. We maintained five control plots. Before control, mean density of Morrow’s honeysuckle was 67,920 ± 4,480 shrubs/ha. Foliar application of herbicide and mechanical removal were most effective at reducing the number of shrubs (≥62%). Overall, our treatments were less successful (26–68% reduction) than reported control efforts of other bush honeysuckle species; the sheer number of shrubs coupled with their open habitat made control efforts difficult. Spring treatments, particularly cut and mechanical treatments, had higher metrics of herbaceous community quality. However, continued restoration efforts, including follow‐up treatments, White‐tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) control, and the planting of native seeds and saplings, should be employed to favor the establishment of native seedlings and herbs.
Design, Meanings, and Radical Innovation: A Metamodel and a Research Agenda*
Authors: Verganti Roberto
Published: July 2008

Recent studies on design management have helped us to better comprehend how companies can apply design to get closer to users and to better understand their needs; this is an approach usually referred to as user‐centered design. Yet analysis of design‐intensive manufacturers such as Alessi, Artemide, and other leading Italian firms shows that their innovation process hardly starts from a close observation of user needs and requirements. Rather, they follow a different strategy called design‐driven innovation in this paper. This strategy aims at radically change the emotional and symbolic content of products (i.e., their meanings and languages) through a deep understanding of broader changes in society, culture, and technology. Rather than being pulled by user requirements, design‐driven innovation is pushed by a firm's vision about possible new product meanings and languages that could diffuse in society. Design‐driven innovation, which plays such a crucial role in the innovation strategy of design intensive firms, has still remained largely unexplored. This paper aims at providing a possible direction to fill this empty spot in innovation management literature. In particular, first it proposes a metamodel for investigating design‐driven innovation in which a manufacturer's ability to understand, anticipate, and influence emergence of new product meanings is built by relying on external interpreters (e.g., designers, firms in other industries, suppliers, schools, artists, the media) that share its same problem: to understand the evolution of sociocultural models and to propose new visions and meanings. Managing design‐driven innovation therefore implies managing the interaction with these interpreters to access, share, and internalize knowledge on product languages and to influence shifts in sociocultural models. Second, the paper proposes a possible direction to scientifically investigate the management of this networked and collective research process. In particular, it shows that the process of creating breakthrough innovations of meanings partially mirrors the process of creating breakthrough technological innovations. Studies of design‐driven innovation may therefore benefit significantly from the existing body of theories in the field of technology management. The analysis of the analogies between these two types of radical innovations (i.e., meanings and technologies) allows a research agenda to be set for exploration of design‐driven innovation, a relevant as well as underinvestigated phenomenon.
Neo‐Rawlsian Fringes: A New Approach to Market Segmentation and New Product Development*
Authors: Giloni Avi , Seshadri Sridhar , Tucci Christopher L.
Published: July 2008

Prior research into the link between new product development and market segmentation has focused on two main approaches: (1) design, segment, and do limited competitive evaluation; and (2) segment first, design second. This paper proposes a third approach, which is to simultaneously design, perform segmentation according to benefit and to evaluate against competitive designs. This research uses a benefit segmentation technique based on conjoint analysis (or other techniques that relate product attributes to consumer utility) in which the segments emerge simultaneously with the design based on certain design principles or “strategies.” Herein a method is proposed to narrow down the many possible feasible designs (combinations of attributes) to a finite set and to examine the appeal of each design. Five distinct design strategies are proposed for modeling and studying competitive reaction. These include “traditional” ones such as differentiation and new ones whose fringe customers have high utility. The paper shows that these five strategies are adequate for modeling competitive reaction using simulation. Another contribution of the paper is the way competitive reaction is modeled. In generating and evaluating a design the desire herein is also to assess the defensibility of the design and include it in the evaluation criteria. These issues are addressed by decomposing the solution procedure into two phases. In the first phase, different optimal designs are created based on predefined product development strategies. In the second, these optimal designs are compared against one another with regard to market share and potential to secure market leadership. This work shows that the nature of competition as well as the variability of customer preferences are critical to how a strategy performs. This process uncovers a surprisingly robust design strategy—developing attributes such that a “lower fringe” is most satisfied—that even achieves market dominance under certain conditions. This methodology is also applied to partworth data on refrigerators, which provides a concrete example of the concepts and demonstrates results consistent with the propositions developed earlier in the paper.
Smart World: Breakthrough Creativity and the New Science of Ideas by Richard Ogle and The Medici Effect: What Elephants & Epidemics Can Teach Us about Innovation by Frans Johansson
Authors: Klein Ruediger
Published: July 2008

As Ruediger Klein leads off in this group of reviews, “Innovation is everywhere—or so it seems.” Most of these reviews center on idea generation and processing. It will be interesting to see if—as Klein forecasts—this is indeed the decade of innovation and creativity.

In the next issue, we will try to be more balanced—or we may get even more creative!

Books reviewed in this issue:

Smart World: Breakthrough Creativity and the New Science of Ideas

The Medici Effect: What Elephants & Epidemics Can Teach Us about Innovation

Getting to Innovation: How Asking the Right Questions Generates the Great Ideas Your Company Needs

Hidden in Plain Sight

Human Factors in Project Management

The Fast Path to Corporate Growth: Leveraging Knowledge and Technologies to New Market Applications