bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Extending the assessment of patient‐centredness in health care: Development of the updated Valuing Patients as Individuals Scale using exploratory factor analysis
Authors: Jones Martyn C , Williams Brian , Rattray Janice , MacGillivray Steve , Baldie Debbie , Abubakari Abdul‐Razak , Coyle Joanne , Mackie Susan , McKenna Eileen 
Published: April 2017

Aims and objectivesTo update and re‐validate the Valuing Patients as Individuals Scale for use as a patient appraisal of received healthcare.BackgroundHealthcare in the United Kingdom and beyond is required to deliver high quality, person‐centred care that is clinically effective and safe. However, patient experience is not uniform, and complaints often focus on the way patients have been treated. Legislation in United Kingdom requires health services to gather and use patients' evaluations of care to improve services.DesignThis study uses scoping literature reviews, cognitive testing of questionnaire items with patient and healthcare staff focus groups, and exploratory factor analysis.Methods/Setting/ParticipantsData were collected from 790 participants across 34 wards in two acute hospitals in one National Health Service Health Board in Scotland from September 2011–February 2012. Ethics and Research and Development approval were obtained.ResultsFifty six unique items identified through literature review were added to 72 original Valuing Patients as Individuals Scale items. Face validity interviews removed ambiguous or low relevance items leaving 88 items for administration to patients. Two hundred and ninety questionnaires were returned, representing 37% response rate, 71 were incomplete. Thus 219 complete data were used for Exploratory Factor Analysis with varimax orthogonal rotation. This revealed a 31 item, three factor solution, Care and Respect; Understanding and Engagement; Patient Concerns, with good reliability, concurrent and discriminant validity in terms of gender. A shortened 10 item measure based on the top 3 or 4 loading items on each scale was comparable.ConclusionsThe Updated Valuing Patients as Individuals Scale is sufficiently developed to capture patient appraisals of received care.Relevance to clinical practiceThe short scale version is now being routinized in real‐time evaluation of patient experience contributing to this United Kingdom, National Health Service setting meeting its policy and legislative requirements.
Involvement of patients’ perspectives on treatment with noninvasive ventilation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease—A qualitative study
Authors: Christensen Helle Marie , Huniche Lotte , Titlestad Ingrid L 
Published: April 2017

Aims and objectivesTo clarify chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients’ perspectives on treatment with noninvasive ventilation and develop management strategies for the treatment based on these perspectives.BackgroundThe effect of treating chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients with noninvasive ventilation is well‐documented, as is the problem of patient difficulties in tolerating the treatment. Knowledge of how patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease experience and evaluate treatment with noninvasive ventilation is limited; therefore, more information of patient perspectives is needed to develop treatment practices in respiratory medicine.MethodThis study is based on critical psychological practice research.DesignA co‐researcher group comprising diverse health professionals was set up and headed by the principal researcher. The group convened seven times over 12 months to develop new management strategies based on patients’ perspectives on noninvasive ventilation. Health professionals contributed with experience‐based perspectives, and the researcher contributed with data from participant observation in the department and semi‐structured interviews with 16 patients and four relatives.ResultsInterviews revealed that patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease regarded noninvasive ventilation treatment positively even though they experienced discomfort and anxiety. Patients’ perspectives revealed that patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease conduct their everyday lives with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease looking at chronic obstructive pulmonary disease as a basic life condition rather than an illness. This approach had a major impact on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients’ attitudes to noninvasive ventilation treatment and hospitalisation.ConclusionInvestigation of patient perspectives generated results that were highly productive in facilitating multidisciplinary collaboration and in developing and sustaining new management strategies. Critical psychological practice research facilitated ongoing development of clinical practice related to noninvasive ventilation treatment.Relevance to clinical practiceFocus on patients’ perspectives in treatment with noninvasive ventilation resulted in the development of new management strategies regarding patient care, joint ward rounds, and in addition, one room at the ward, to which a nurse was assigned, was designated for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients treated with noninvasive ventilation.
Child Skills and Teacher Qualifications: Associations with Elementary Classroom Teachers’ Reading Instruction for Struggling Readers
Authors: Bratsch‐Hines Mary E. , Vernon‐Feagans Lynne , Varghese Cheryl , Garwood Justin 
Published: April 2017

AbstractThis study explored the extent to which kindergarten and first grade teachers provided individualized reading instruction to struggling readers during a unique one‐on‐one reading instruction task. Three outcomes of teachers’ instructional strategies were captured: code‐focused strategies, meaning‐focused strategies, and level of challenge. Child skills in decoding and vocabulary/oral language as well as teacher qualifications of education, experience, and knowledge of reading were examined in relation to the three instructional strategies. Multilevel analyses showed relationships between child skills and reading instructional strategies, with teachers generally using code‐focused and meaning‐focused strategies, as well as an appropriate level of challenge, with children who struggled less with early reading. Although teacher education was not associated with any of the reading instructional strategies, teacher experience and knowledge of reading was associated with meaning‐based instruction and the level of challenge provided to struggling readers.
Onset and duration of gray seal (Halichoerus grypus) molt in the Wadden Sea, and the role of environmental conditions
Authors: Schop Jessica , Aarts Geert , Kirkwood Roger , Cremer Jenny S. M. , Brasseur Sophie M. J. M. 
Published: April 2017

AbstractSurveys of gray seals (Halichoerus grypus) during the molt period, when they are abundant on land, can be used to monitor changes in population size, but accurate interpretation of results requires an understanding of the molt process and how it may vary between years. This study investigates variability in onset (start date) and duration of visible molt by gray seals in the Wadden Sea, and the influence of environmental conditions on the onset. Molt was monitored in nine captive seals and observed molt phases were applied to wild seals over seven annual molt periods between 2004 and 2010, monitored using aerial photography. The onset of visible molt varied significantly between years, for example it differed 28 d between 2008 and 2009. Model selection by AIC retained one environmental variable that correlated with molt onset; however, its effect was inconsistent within the molt season and did not explain some of the apparent observed annual variation. Hence, the main causes of interannual variability in the onset of molt remain unclear and warrant further study. Researchers should account for annual variability in the onset of molt when interpreting survey results based on molt counts.
Changes in richness and community composition of ectomycorrhizal fungi among altitudinal vegetation types on Mount Kinabalu in Borneo
Authors: Geml József , Morgado Luis N. , Semenova‐Nelsen Tatiana A. , Schilthuizen Menno 
Published: April 2017

Summary

The distribution patterns of tropical ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi along altitudinal gradients remain largely unknown. Furthermore, despite being an iconic site for biodiversity research, virtually nothing is known about the diversity and spatial patterns of fungi on Mt Kinabalu and neighbouring mountain ranges.

We carried out deep DNA sequencing of soil samples collected between 425 and 4000 m above sea level to compare richness and community composition of ECM fungi among altitudinal forest types in Borneo. In addition, we tested whether the observed patterns are driven by habitat or by geometric effect of overlapping ranges of species (mid‐domain effect).

Community composition of ECM fungi was strongly correlated with elevation. In most genera, richness peaked in the mid‐elevation montane forest zone, with the exception of tomentelloid fungi, which showed monotonal decrease in richness with increasing altitude. Richness in lower‐mid‐ and mid‐elevations was significantly greater than predicted under the mid‐domain effect model.

We provide the first insight into the composition of ECM fungal communities and their strong altitudinal turnover in Borneo. The high richness and restricted distribution of many ECM fungi in the montane forests suggest that mid‐elevation peak richness is primarily driven by environmental characteristics of this habitat and not by the mid‐domain effect.
Oral alendronate in pediatric chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis
Authors: Hirano Daishi , Chiba Kosuke , Yamada Saya , Ida Hiroyuki 
Published: April 2017

AbstractChronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis (CRMO) primarily affects children and adolescents, and is characterized by episodic sterile osteomyelitis over several years. No definitive treatment is available. Non‐steroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs (NSAID) are common first‐line agents, but provide limited improvement in bone pain and do not affect disease duration. Several agents are utilized in the case of non‐response to NSAID, including corticosteroids, methotrexate, and tumor necrosis factor‐blocking agents. Bisphosphonates are increasingly being used. Most case series involve cyclic i.v. pamidronate, but this restricts the social lives of children and their families. Although oral medication has advantages over cyclic i.v. infusion because it does not require repeated hospital admissions, there have been no reports on treatment with oral bisphosphonates, such as alendronate, in pediatric CRMO patients. This case report describes the use of oral bisphosphonate as an alternative treatment in CRMO patients in whom standard therapy has failed.
No evidence of contemporary interploidy gene flow between the closely related European woodland violets Viola reichenbachiana and V. riviniana (sect. Viola, Violaceae)
Authors: Migdałek G. , Nowak J. , Saługa M. , Cieślak E. , Szczepaniak M. , Ronikier M. , Marcussen T. , Słomka A. , Kuta E. 
Published: April 2017

Abstract

Viola reichenbachiana (2n = 4x = 20) and V. riviniana (2n = 8x = 40) are closely related species widely distributed in Europe, often sharing the same habitat throughout their overlapping ranges. It has been suggested in numerous studies that their high intraspecific morphological variability and plasticity might have been further increased by interspecific hybridisation in contact zones, given the sympatry of the species and the incomplete sterility of their hybrid. The aims of this study were to: (i) confirm that V. reichenbachiana and V. riviniana have one 4x genome in common, and (ii) determine the impact of hybridisation and introgression on genetic variation of these two species in selected European populations.

For our study, we used 31 Viola populations from four European countries, which were analysed using AFLP and sequencing of a variable plastid intergenic spacer, trnH‐psbA.

Our analysis revealed that V. reichenbachiana exhibited larger haplotype diversity, having three species‐specific haplotypes versus one in V. riviniana. The relationships among haplotypes suggest transfer of common haplotypes into V. riviniana from both V. reichenbachiana and hypothetically the other, now extinct, parental species. AFLP analysis showed low overall genetic diversity of both species, with V. riviniana showing higher among‐population diversity. None of the morphologically designated hybrid populations had additive AFLP polymorphisms that would have indicated recent hybridisation. Also, kinship coefficients between both species did not indicate gene flow. V. riviniana showed significant population subdivision and significant isolation by distance, in contrast to V. reichenbachiana.

The results indicate lack of gene flow between species, high influence of selfing on genetic variability, as well as probably only localised introgression toward V. riviniana.
Inhibitory effect of Thymus vulgaris and Origanum vulgare essential oils on virulence factors of phytopathogenic Pseudomonas syringae strains
Authors: Carezzano M. E. , Sotelo J. P. , Primo E. , Reinoso E. B. , Paletti Rovey M. F. , Demo M. S. , Giordano W. F. , Oliva M. de las M. 
Published: April 2017

Abstract

Pseudomonas syringae is a phytopathogenic bacterium that causes lesions in leaves during the colonisation process. The damage is associated with production of many virulence factors, such as biofilm and phytotoxins. The essential oils of Thymus vulgaris (thyme) and Origanum vulgare (oregano) have been demonstrated to inhibit P. syringae. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of T. vulgaris and O. vulgare essential oils on production of virulence factors of phytopathogenic P. syringae strains, including anti‐biofilm and anti‐toxins activities.

The broth microdilution method was used for determination of MIC and biofilm inhibition assays. Coronatine, syringomycin and tabtoxin were pheno‐ and genotypically evaluated.

Both oils showed good inhibitory activity against P. syringae, with MIC values from 1.43 to 11.5 mg·ml−1 for thyme and 5.8 to 11.6 mg·ml−1 for oregano. Biofilm formation, production of coronatine, syringomycin and tabtoxin were inhibited by thyme and oregano essential oil in most strains.

The results presented here are promising, demonstrating the bactericidal activity and reduction of virulence factor production after treatment with thyme and oregano oil, providing insight into how they exert their antibacterial activity. These natural products could be considered in the future for the control of diseases caused by P. syringae.
Policy Science at an Impasse: A Matter of Conceptual Stretching?
Authors: Carlsson Lars 
Published: April 2017

Policy science, particularly the policy network approach, is teeming with new studies and concepts. This abundance has resulted from the inescapably multidisciplinary approach of policy science and from our ambition to surpass traditional policy analysis. The field's concepts are developing so rapidly, however, that new hybrids and mutations threaten us with confusion and overcomplication rather than providing us with clarity, and cumulative improvement and theory development are thus hampered. These unintended consequences are intimately associated with errors of conceptual stretching, that is, using valuable concepts with clear meaning to refer to inapplicable phenomena, thus misusing and diminishing the value of our conceptual tools. In policy science, this is also the case with central analytic tools, frameworks, models, and theories. Therefore, although policy making can be messy, if we hope to escape the alleged impasse in policy science, we cannot afford to tolerate the current inaccuracies of conceptual stretching.Related Articles

Raile, Eric D.,
Amber N. W. Raile,
Charles T. Salmon, and
Lori Ann Post. 2014. “.” Politics & Policy 42 (): 103‐130. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/polp.12063/full

Shanahan, Elizabeth A.,
Mark K. McBeth, and
Paul L. Hathaway. 2011. “.” Politics & Policy 39 (): 373‐400. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1747-1346.2011.00295.x/full

Gruber, Lloyd. 2013. “.” Politics & Policy 41 (): 723‐764. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/polp.12034/full
Education Policies and Taxation without Commitment
Authors: Findeisen Sebastian , Sachs Dominik 
Published: April 2017

AbstractWe study the implications of limited commitment on education and tax policies set by benevolent governments. Consistent with real‐world practices, a government can decide to subsidize different levels of education at different rates. A lack of commitment, however, affects the optimal structure of education subsidies. The direction of the effect depends on how labor taxes are designed. With linear labor tax rates and a transfer for redistribution, subsidies become more progressive. By contrast, if the government is only constrained by informational asymmetries when designing taxes, subsidies become more regressive.
Inviting perspective transformation: Sexual history awareness for professional formation
Authors: Ott Kate 
Published: April 2017

AbstractHow do we deal with our own sexuality as teachers and as learners in the classroom? As a seminary professor in a mainline Christian context, I find that discussing sexuality increases student discomfort levels by threatening to raise questions about the connections between morality, behavior, and bodies of those in the room – questions we have been culturally trained to avoid. In order to decrease discomfort, many instructors approach sexuality only as content‐based subject matter. Particularly for ministry students, this approach can be a disservice to their discernment process and preparation for future ministry contexts, especially for those in turmoil regarding sexuality‐related issues. By explicitly engaging how personal experience and cultural contexts shape our sexuality, pedagogical models can promote critical self‐reflection and seek perspective transformation, not values change, as a resource for professional sexual ethics training in ministry.
Teaching about teaching sexuality and religion
Authors: Stephens Darryl W. 
Published: April 2017

AbstractClassroom instructors implementing pedagogical strategies for embodied learning about sexuality and religion need institutional support and assistance from colleagues and mentors to be successful. One means of providing institutional and peer support for classroom instructors is to host and lead a pedagogy workshop. Building on the work of Ott and Stephens on embodied learning and other articles and teaching tactics found throughout this issue of Teaching Theology and Religion, this article presents a sample design for a two‐hour workshop with faculty and/or graduate teaching assistants on the topic of teaching sexuality and religion. Non‐expert facilitators can lead this workshop and it is intended to start a conversation about pedagogy rather than to provide definitive answers to end the discussion. The goals are to demystify a taboo topic and to provide concrete strategies for teaching that will promote responsible engagement and a better‐integrated learning experience for students.
The Accessibility of Informal Urban Women Workers (Study of Street Vendors in Malang, Indonesia)
Authors: Avina Diyah Ayu Amalia 
Published: April 2017

The effort to increase people’s welfare through empowerment of informal woman workers to increase household income becomes interesting and important to do it. The empowerment of informal woman workers has important roles to decrease unequal distribution income and give substantial contribution for overcome the problem of unemployment. However, although woman had given income in the family, the man dominates the decision-making of the household rules. The accessibility should be directly proportional to the decision-making in the household rules. The purpose of this research is for 1) to analyze the motivation of informal urban woman worker, 2) to analyze the experience of woman worker, 3) to analyze education, 4) to analyze the capital of the worker, 5) to analyze the urban informal decision-making in the household rules. This research did in Malang. The population of this research is 1000 street vendors in Malang. Then, the sampling is taken using Random Sampling Method. The sample of this research consists of 24 respondents of street vendors. The result of the research is between motivation of work, work experience, and the fund are positively related to accessibility and the decision-making in the household rules have not high accessibility. It is due to very strong culture of patriarchy in society.
Diverging effects of diabetes mellitus in patients with peripheral artery disease and abdominal aortic aneurysm and the role of advanced glycation end-products: ARTERY study — protocol for a multicentre cross-sectional study
Authors: de Vos L C , Boersema J , Hillebrands J L , Schalkwijk C G , Meerwaldt R , Breek J C , Smit A J , Zeebregts C J , Lefrandt J D 
Published: April 2017

IntroductionDiabetes mellitus is a well-defined risk factor for peripheral artery disease (PAD), but protects against the development and growth of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). Diabetes mellitus is associated with arterial stiffening and peripheral arterial media sclerosis. Advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) are increased in diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease. AGEs are known to form cross-links between proteins and are associated with arterial stiffness. Whether AGEs contribute to the protective effects of diabetes mellitus in AAA is unknown. Therefore, the ARTERY (Advanced glycation end-pRoducts in patients with peripheral arTery disEase and abdominal aoRtic aneurYsm) study is designed to evaluate the role of AGEs in the diverging effects of diabetes mellitus on AAA and PAD.Methods and analysisThis cross-sectional multicentre study will compare the amount, type and location of AGEs in the arterial wall in a total of 120 patients with AAA or PAD with and without diabetes mellitus (n=30 per subgroup). Also, local and systemic vascular parameters, including pulse wave velocity, will be measured to evaluate the association between arterial stiffness and AGEs. Finally, AGEs will be measured in serum, urine, and assessed in skin with skin autofluorescence using the AGE Reader.Ethics and disseminationThis study is approved by the Medical Ethics committees of University Medical Center Groningen, Martini Hospital and Medisch Spectrum Twente, the Netherlands. Study results will be disseminated through peer-reviewed journals and scientific events.Trial registration numbertrialregister.nl NTR 5363.