bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Malnutrition Screening Tool versus objective measures to detect malnutrition in hip fracture
Authors: Bell J. J. , Bauer J. D. , Capra S. 
Published: July 2013

AbstractBackgroundThe Malnutrition Screening Tool (MST) is the most commonly used screening tool in Australia. Poor screening tool sensitivity may lead to an under‐diagnosis of malnutrition, with potential patient and economic ramifications. The present study aimed to determine whether the MST or anthropometric parameters adequately detect malnutrition in patients who were admitted to a hip fracture unit.MethodsData were analysed for a prospective convenience sample (n = 100). MST screening was independently undertaken by nursing staff and a nutrition assistant. Mid upper arm circumference (MUAC) was measured by a trained nutrition assistant. Nutritional risk [MST score ≥ 2, body mass index (BMI) < 22 kg m–2, or MUAC < 25 cm] was compared with malnutrition diagnosed by accredited practicing dietitians using International Classification of Diseases version 10‐Australian Modification (ICD10‐AM) coding criteria.ResultsMalnutrition prevalence was 37.5% using ICD10‐AM criteria. Delirium, dementia or preadmission cognitive impairment was present in 65% of patients. The BMI as a nutrition risk screen was the most valid predictor of malnutrition (sensitivity 75%; specificity 93%; positive predictive value 73%; negative predictive value 84%). Nursing MST screening was the least valid (sensitivity 73%; specificity 55%; positive predictive value 50%; negative predictive value 77%). There was only fair agreement between nursing and nutrition assistant screening using the MST (κ = 0.28).ConclusionsIn this population with a high prevalence of delirium and dementia, further investigation is warranted into the performance of nutrition screening tools and anthropometric parameters such as BMI. All tools failed to predict a considerable number of patients with malnutrition. This may result in the under‐diagnosis and treatment of malnutrition, leading to case‐mix funding losses.
Low‐Income Women's Recommendations for Promoting Early Pregnancy Recognition
Authors: Ayoola Adejoke B. , Zandee Gail L. 
Published: July 2013

IntroductionThis study explored low‐income women's perspectives on how to promote early recognition of pregnancy as one strategy to address community residents’ concerns related to unintended pregnancy. Unintended pregnancy, which is more prevalent among low‐income women and minorities, has been associated with various adverse pregnancy outcomes.MethodsThis study used the ideological perspective of community‐based participatory research. Six focus groups were conducted in 3 low‐income, urban, medically underserved neighborhoods with ethnically diverse populations. Neighborhood women who were either pregnant or had experienced a pregnancy within 3 years were invited to participate in the study. A structured interview guide focused the discussion on how to promote early recognition of pregnancy within the existing context of unintended pregnancies in the neighborhoods. Focus‐group sessions were audiotaped, then transcribed verbatim; the data were analyzed using an open‐coding template approach assisted by QSR NVivo 8 software.ResultsForty‐one women aged 18 to 44 years participated in the study. Thirty‐nine percent were African American, 24.4% were Hispanic/Latino, 19.5% were American Indians, and 17.1% were white. Three primary themes were identified: 1) women should know the menstrual/ovulation and pregnancy‐related changes that occur in their bodies; 2) women should be prepared to confirm their pregnancies early, as soon as they suspect they may be pregnant; and 3) both information and emotional support are needed for pregnancy‐related issues. “Knowing your body” was the strongest advice to promote early recognition of pregnancy.DiscussionThe participants in this study suggested that education about reproductive changes should be initiated during early adolescence and in the preconception period. Early testing and confirmation of pregnancy should also be promoted, especially for women who have unprotected intercourse. Local resources for information and emotional support during pregnancy should be accessible to women.
Information and Communication Technology: Students' Health Education in 1st‐ to 6th‐Grade South Korea Elementary Schools
Authors: Lee Eunjoo , Park Hyejin , Whyte James , Jeong Eunhoe 
Published: July 2013

ABSTRACTBACKGROUNDThe purposes of this study were to (1) identify school nurses' awareness of information and communication technology (ICT) use in students' health education and (2) explore the barriers or reasons for the adoption of ICT in school nursing practice, while (3) presenting strategies to speed ICT diffusion and dissemination into practice.METHODSFor data collection, 209 primary school nurses in K province of Korea were selected and e‐mailed the questionnaires. Collected data were analyzed as frequency, percentages, and chi‐square tests.RESULTSThe major reasons to adopt ICT were increasing school nurses' confidence in providing health education and improving teaching methods using diverse multimedia. The major barriers to utilization of ICT were lack of time for preparation of educational materials, lack of software availability, and lack of computer skills of school nurses and students. Several strategies were suggested to speed the diffusion of ICT into students' health education, such as integrating a health education course into regular curriculum.CONCLUSIONSIt is important to identify barriers and reasons for adoption of ICT in school nursing. In addition, strategies should be emphasized that result in more rapid diffusion of these technologies in school nursing practice.
Molecular cloning and functional analysis of serotonin N‐acetyltransferase from the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803
Authors: Byeon Yeong , Lee Kyungjin , Park Youn‐Il , Park Sangkyu , Back Kyoungwhan 
Published: July 2013

AbstractSerotonin N‐acetyltransferase (SNAT) catalyzes conversion of serotonin into N‐acetylserotonin, which is a direct precursor for melatonin biosynthesis in all organisms. Molecular cloning of plant SNAT from rice led to a screening for SNAT homolog genes in other species. We identified a cyanobacterium SNAT‐like gene (cSNAT) that showed 56% amino acid homology with the rice SNAT. To confirm whether cSNAT encoded SNAT enzyme activity, we expressed cSNAT DNA in Escherichia coli and purified the cSNAT protein as a C‐terminal His‐tagged form. The purified cSNAT protein exhibited SNAT enzyme activities, transferring the acetyl group into either serotonin or tryptamine substrates. The optimum temperature was 55°C, but it was still highly active at 70°C, suggesting that cSNAT is a thermotolerant enzyme. The Km and Vmax were 823 μm and 1.6 nmol/min/mg protein, respectively. The cSNAT gene is highly conserved in all cyanobacterial taxa and seems to be an origin of SNAT in higher plants. The thermotolerance of cSNAT suggests that melatonin plays a role in the response to high‐temperature stress. Further analysis of this role of melatonin in higher plants is needed.
Distal Penile Shaft Reconstruction and Reinforcement: The “Double-Windsocks” Technique
Authors: Egydio Paulo H. , Kuehhas Franklin E. 
Published: July 2013

ABSTRACT

Introduction
The management of penile prosthesis protrusion and the implantation of a prosthesis in fibrotic penile corporal bodies represents a challenging task even for experienced surgeons.

Aim
To demonstrate the long-term efficacy and safety of a new technique for distal shaft reconstruction and reinforcement in cases of penile prosthesis protrusion or cases of penile prosthesis implantation in corporal fibrosis.

Methods
Between August 2007 and August 2012, 69 patients underwent surgery for penile prosthesis protrusion (45 patients) or severe distal corporal fibrosis (24 patients). The mean age at the time of surgery was 56 years (range 38–69). All patients underwent distal shaft reconstruction using our technique, involving the creation of two neocorpora (“double windsocks”).

Main Outcome Measures
Functional outcome and patient satisfaction were evaluated with item numbers 1 and 7 of the Erectile Dysfunction Inventory of Treatment Satisfaction (EDITS) questionnaire. Furthermore, clinical data concerning the early postoperative outcome were analyzed retrospectively.

Results
Mean follow-up time was 22.5 months (range 6–48). Based on answers to EDITS questionnaire item 1, 42 patients (60.9%) were very satisfied and 19 patients (27.5%) were somewhat satisfied with the outcome of the procedure. Furthermore, answers to the self-confidence domain question (EDITS item 7) revealed that 63 patients (91.3%) felt that the treatment had a positive effect with respect to their ability to engage in sexual activity.
No patient exhibited device extrusion, postoperative infection, or skin dehiscence, and glans sensation as well as orgasmic ability were also preserved in all cases. Neuropraxia was reported in five cases (3.4%) immediately after the operation. The recovery of orgasmic ability was delayed in 17 (24.6%) patients. All patients were able to perform sexual intercourse postoperatively.

Conclusion
The “double-windsocks” technique is an effective option for difficult cases of distal penile shaft reconstruction and reinforcement.
Time perception in narcolepsy in comparison to patients with Parkinson's disease and healthy controls—an exploratory study
Authors: Poryazova Rositsa , Mensen Armand , Bislimi Fatime , Huegli Gordana , Baumann Christian R. , Khatami Ramin 
Published: July 2013

SummaryThe striatum and the prefrontal cortex play an important role in cognitive time processing, and time perception depends on sustained attention. Narcolepsy patients are unable to maintain sustained attention, due probably to deficient hypocretin signalling. Impaired time perception has been found in Parkinson's disease (PD) and attributed to a dysfunctional dopaminergic striatal pacemaker. We aimed to assess time perception in patients with narcolepsy and PD and to compare the outcome to healthy control participants. Seventeen narcolepsy patients, 12 PD patients and 15 healthy controls performed a short time production task, where they had to produce an interval of 1, 2 or 5 s. The accuracy of time production differed significantly according to task target duration, and there was a trend towards a group difference with narcolepsy patients tending to overproduce all target durations. Absolute variability was significantly different between groups, with narcolepsy patients showing higher absolute variability in comparison to controls and PD patients. The analysis of the temporal course of time estimation showed more pronounced overproduction of each target duration at the end of each trial in narcolepsy patients, whereas performance was more or less stable in controls and PD patients. Overproduction and higher variability of all time durations in narcolepsy indicate impaired short interval timing in the seconds range, while the scalar property of timing was preserved. The time–course of accuracy and variability of time production within sessions indicate an attention‐related mechanism of impaired interval timing.
Does Rent‐sharing Profit Female and Male Workers? Evidence from Israeli Matched Employer–Employee Data
Authors: Navon Guy , Tojerow Ilan 
Published: July 2013

AbstractThis paper analyses the impact of workplace characteristics on individual wages based on a unique cross‐section matched employer–employee data set for the Israeli private manufacturing sector in 1995. Specifically, we examine the effects of the interaction between profit‐sharing and wages on the gender wage gap. The empirical findings show that individual compensation is significantly and positively correlated with firms’ profits‐per‐employee, even when controlling for all of the following: group effects in the residuals, individual and firms’ characteristics, industry wage differentials and endogeneity of profits. Wage–profit elasticity is found to be 11 per cent and it does not significantly differ between genders. With respect to the overall gender wage gap (on average women earn 28 per cent less than men), the results show that within firms there is no gender discrimination and that 12 per cent of this gap can be explained by the wage–profits profile and by the fact that women are more likely to be employed in less profitable firms than men.
Elementary School ELLs' Reading Skill Profiles Using Cognitive Diagnosis Modeling: Roles of Length of Residence and Home Language Environment
Authors: Jang Eunice Eunhee , Dunlop Maggie , Wagner Maryam , Kim Youn‐Hee , Gu Zhimei 
Published: July 2013

The study examined differences in reading achievement and mastery skill development among Grade‐6 students with different language background profiles, using cognitive diagnosis modeling applied to large‐scale provincial reading test performance data. Our analyses revealed that students residing in various home language environments show different reading achievement growth patterns. Earlier gaps in their reading achievement disappear the longer they reside in the target language community. Additionally, students who come from home environments where they use English and another language equally demonstrate higher skill mastery achievement levels, indicating that immigrant students' diverse home language environments do not adversely affect their reading achievement in the longer term. The study results support the evidence that multilingual home language environments are not a cause of low achievement; however, the achievement patterns of Canadian‐born English language learners (ELLs) do differ from their immigrant counterparts, revealing that time alone is not a sufficient condition of reading skill achievement. ELLs' outperformance of monolinguals after 5 years of residence is a result of ongoing instructional support and a rich linguistic environment. The study results hold important policy implications: The evaluation of ELLs' academic achievement and school effectiveness for accountability purposes should be based on longitudinal data that track their developmental growths.
Burkholderia BcpA mediates biofilm formation independently of interbacterial contact‐dependent growth inhibition
Authors: Garcia Erin C. , Anderson Melissa S. , Hagar Jon A. , Cotter Peggy A. 
Published: July 2013

SummaryContact‐dependent growth inhibition (CDI) is a phenomenon in which Gram‐negative bacteria use the toxic C‐terminus of a large surface‐exposed exoprotein to inhibit the growth of susceptible bacteria upon cell–cell contact. Little is known about when and where bacteria express the genes encoding CDI system proteins and how these systems contribute to the survival of bacteria in their natural niche. Here we establish that, in addition to mediating interbacterial competition, the Burkholderia thailandensis CDI system exoprotein BcpA is required for biofilm development. We also provide evidence that the catalytic activity of BcpA and extracellular DNA are required for the characteristic biofilm pillars to form. We show using a bcpA–gfp fusion that within the biofilm, expression of the CDI system‐encoding genes is below the limit of detection for the majority of bacteria and only a subset of cells express the genes strongly at any given time. Analysis of a strain constitutively expressing the genes indicates that native expression is critical for biofilm architecture. Although CDI systems have so far only been demonstrated to be involved in interbacterial competition, constitutive production of the system's immunity protein in the entire bacterial population did not alter biofilm formation, indicating a CDI‐independent role for BcpA in this process. We propose, therefore, that bacteria may use CDI proteins in cooperative behaviours, like building biofilm communities, and in competitive behaviours that prevent non‐self bacteria from entering the community.
Belief Revision II: Ranking Theory
Authors: Huber Franz 
Published: July 2013

AbstractBelief revision theory studies how an ideal doxastic agent should revise her beliefs when she receives new information. In part I, I have first presented the AGM theory of belief revision. Then I have focused on the problem of iterated belief revisions. In part II, I will first present ranking theory (Spohn 1988). Then I will show how it solves the problem of iterated belief revisions. I will conclude by sketching two areas of future research.
Cloning and characterisation of a putative pollen‐specific polygalacturonase gene (CpPG1) differentially regulated during pollen development in zucchini (Cucurbita pepo L.)
Authors: Carvajal F. , Garrido D. , Jamilena M. , Rosales R. 
Published: July 2013

AbstractStudies in zucchini (Cucurbita pepo L. spp. pepo) pollen have been limited to the viability and morphology of the mature pollen grain. The enzyme polygalacturonase (PG) is involved in pollen development and pollination in many species. In this work, we study anther and pollen development of C. pepo and present the cloning and characterisation of a putative PG CpPG1 (Accession no. HQ232488) from pollen cDNA in C. pepo. The predicted protein for CpPG1 has 416 amino acids, with a high homology to other pollen PGs, such as P22 from Oenothera organensis (76%) and PGA3 from Arabidopsis thaliana (73%). CpPG1 belongs to clade C, which comprises PGs expressed in pollen, and presents a 34 amino acid signal peptide for secretion towards the cell wall. DNA‐blot analysis revealed that there are at least another two genes that code for PGs in C. pepo. The spatial and temporal accumulation of CpPG1 was studied by semi‐quantitative‐ and qRT‐PCR. In addition, mRNA was detected only in anthers, pollen and the rudimentary anthers of bisexual flowers (only present in some zucchini cultivars under certain environmental conditions that trigger anther development in the third whorl of female flowers). However, no expression was detected in cotyledons, stem or fruit. Furthermore, CpPG1 mRNA was accumulated throughout anther development, with the highest expression found in mature pollen. Similarly, exo‐PG activity increased from immature anther stages to mature anthers and mature pollen. Overall, these data support the pollen specificity of this gene and suggest an involvement of CpPG1 in pollen development in C. pepo.
Intelligible Realism about Consciousness: A Response to Nagel's Paradox
Authors: Eilan Naomi 
Published: July 2013

AbstractIs the location of consciousness in the objectively represented world intelligible? The paper examines the grounds for Nagel's negative answer, which can be presented as a response to the following paradox. (1) We are realists about consciousness. (2) Realism about a domain of reference requires commitment to the possibility of an objective, perspective‐free conception of it. (3) The phenomenal character of an experience can only be captured by means of perspectival concepts. According to Nagel, we can have either realism about consciousness or the link between realism and objectivity. He opts for the former, where this leads to the postulation of an essentially perspectivally reality inhabited by consciousness. I argue, contra Nagel, that questions about the intelligibility of locating consciousness in the objectively representable world should be asked relative the kinds of objectivity provided for by our spatial thought. Not only does this formally dissolve the paradox, as such thought allows for essential reliance on perspectival concepts; but it also shows how we do in fact make sense of the objective location of consciousness, in virtue of the link between spatial thought and something Strawson calls our ‘commonsense realism’ about physical objects, which ascribes ‘phenomenally‐laden’ properties to such objects.
Effect of cutting frequency on above‐ and belowground biomass production of Rumex alpinus, R. crispus, R. obtusifolius and the Rumex hybrid (R. patienta × R. tianschanicus) in the seeding year
Authors: Hujerová R , Pavlů V , Hejcman M , Pavlů L , Gaisler J 
Published: July 2013

SummaryRumex species are important weeds in grasslands and on arable land. The Rumex hybrid (R. patienta × R. tianschanicus; cv. OK‐2, Uteusha) has been planted as a forage and energy crop since 2001 in the Czech Republic, but its ecological requirements and its potential to become a new weedy species have never been investigated. In 2010 and 2011, we performed a pot experiment to investigate the effect of none, one and two cuts per year on biomass production of Rumex OK‐2 and common broad‐leaved Rumex species (Rumex obtusifolius, R. crispus and R. alpinus). The higher cutting frequency can reduce the belowground biomass, but no effect on the aboveground biomass was detected. Flowering in the seeding year was recorded in only 50% of R. obtusifolius plants. Non‐flowering R. obtusifolius plants produced significantly more belowground biomass than flowering plants under no cutting or one cut treatments. The growth response of Rumex OK‐2 to different cutting treatments was very similar to R. crispus. These similarities indicate the weed potential of the hybrid to become a troublesome weedy species, similar to R. crispus.
Impact of Thermal Storage Option for CHP Systems on the Optimal Prime Mover Size and the Need for Additional Heat Production
Authors: Smith Amanda D. , Mago Pedro J. 
Published: July 2013

Combined heat and power (CHP) or cogeneration systems provide both electricity and useful heat to a building. CHP systems can result in lower operational cost, primary energy consumption (PEC), and carbon dioxide emissions when compared to the standard alternative of purchasing electricity from the grid and supplying heat from a boiler. However, the potential for these benefits is closely linked to the relationship between the ratio of power to heat supplied by the CHP system and the ratio of power to heat demanded by the building. Therefore, the benefits of the CHP system also vary with the size of the prime mover.
In the model presented in this paper, the CHP system is base-loaded, providing a constant power-to-heat ratio. The power-to-heat ratio demanded by the building depends on the location and the needs of the building, which vary throughout the day and throughout the year. At times when the CHP system does not provide the electricity needed by the building, electricity is purchased from the grid, and when the CHP system does not provide the heat needed by the building, heat is generated with a supplemental boiler. Thermal storage is an option to address the building’s load variation by storing excess heat when the building needs less heat than the heat produced by the CHP system, which can then be used later when the building needs more heat than the heat produced by the CHP system.
The potential for a CHP system with thermal storage to reduce cost, PEC, and emissions is investigated, and compared with both a CHP system without thermal storage and with the standard reference case. This proposed model is evaluated for three different commercial building types in three different U.S. climate zones. The size of the power generation unit (PGU) is varied and the effect of the correspondingly smaller or larger base load on the cost, PEC, and emissions savings is analyzed. The most beneficial PGU size for a CHP system with the thermal storage option is compared with the most beneficial PGU size without the thermal storage option. The need for a supplemental boiler to provide additional heat is also examined in each case with the thermal storage option.