bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Health self‐advocacy training for persons with intellectual disabilities
Authors: Feldman M. A. , Owen F. , Andrews A. , Hamelin J. , Barber R. , Griffiths D. 
Published: October 2012

AbstractBackgroundPeople with intellectual disabilities (ID) have unequal access to health care. While systemic efforts are addressing health inequalities, there remains a need to demonstrate that persons with ID can increase their health self‐advocacy skills.MethodA randomised control design with up to 6‐month follow‐up was used to evaluate the 3Rs (Rights, Respect and Responsibility) health self‐advocacy training program for persons with ID (n = 31). Training involved teaching participants to recognise and redress health rights violations in the context of respect and responsibility. Training materials included PowerPoint slides and interactive video scenarios illustrating health rights, respect and responsibility problem and non‐problems. Two‐hour training sessions were conducted twice a week in a group format where participants played a game and answered questions.ResultsThe health rights training group made significantly more correct responses on post training and follow‐up tests than the control group. Training effects generalised to untrained scenarios and in situ health interviews.ConclusionsThe results of this study suggest that persons with ID can learn complex skills related to health self‐advocacy. More research is needed to improve in situ generalisation.
The voting rights of adults with intellectual disabilities: reflections on the arguments, and situation in Kenya and England and Wales
Authors: Redley M. , Maina E. , Keeling A. , Pattni P. 
Published: October 2012

AbstractArticle 29 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities guarantees equality of political rights, including the right to vote and stand for election. The affirmation of these rights, first guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, raises an important question given the long‐standing association between political rights and beliefs concerning the abilities of citizens to reason and act independently: how and to what degree can people identified as having intellectual disabilities participate in a defining act of the democratic process? Focused specifically on the right to vote, this paper addresses the question by (1) introducing the debates that have surrounded the voting rights of this population; and (2) reporting on recent attempts in Kenya, and in England and Wales, to promote voting by people with intellectual disabilities. It concludes by considering the effectiveness of the different approaches these countries have adopted.
Service development for intellectual disability mental health: a human rights approach
Authors: Evans E. , Howlett S. , Kremser T. , Simpson J. , Kayess R. , Trollor J. 
Published: October 2012

AbstractBackgroundPeople with intellectual disability (ID) experience higher rates of major mental disorders than their non‐ID peers, but in many countries have difficulty accessing appropriate mental health services. The aim of this paper is to review the current state of mental health services for people with ID using Australia as a case example, and critically appraise whether such services currently meet the standards set by the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.MethodsThe literature regarding the current state of mental health services for people with ID was reviewed, with a particular focus on Australia.ResultsThe review highlighted a number of issues to be addressed to meet the mental health needs of people with ID to ensure that their human rights are upheld like those of all other citizens. Many of the barriers to service provision encountered in Australia are likely also to be relevant to other nations, including the culture of division between disability and mental health services, the inadequate training of both disability and mental health workers in ID mental health, and the lack of relevant epidemiological data. None of these barriers are insurmountable.ConclusionsRecommendations are made for adopting a human rights‐based approach towards the development and provision of mental health services for people with ID. These include improved policy with measurable outcomes, improved service access via clear referral pathways and the sharing of resources across disability and mental health services, and improved service delivery through training and education initiatives for both the mental health and disability workforce.
Effects of eutrophication and temperature on Cyclotella rhomboideo‐ellipticaSkuja, endemic diatom to China
Authors: Li Yan‐ling , Gong Zhi‐jun , Shen Ji 
Published: October 2012

SummaryAn endemic diatom, Cyclotella rhomboideo‐elliptica Skuja, from the Yunnan Plateau, has been disappearing gradually from some lakes of the plateau. This study investigated the diatom's distribution in 30 lakes and documents long‐term population changes in the paleolimnological record of a deep lake, Lake Fuxian. Living cells of C. rhomboideo‐elliptica were found in five Yunnan Plateau lakes in 1957, but cells were restricted to Lake Fuxian in 2005. Its absolute abundance fluctuated from low to high to low. Our study suggests that nutrient concentrations correlate with C. rhomboideo‐elliptica's s abundance and survival. We infer that the disappearance of C. rhomboideo‐elliptica in some lakes may be due to increased nutrient concentrations and the species may be indicators of low nutrients. During the study, we also found that decreased in the diatoms average long axis length after the early 1990s. This morphological change was likely due to higher nutrient concentrations or to the increase in temperature, or a combination of the two.
Wordlikeness and word learning in children with hearing loss
Authors: Stiles Derek J. , McGregor Karla K. , Bentler Ruth A. 
Published: October 2012

AbstractBackgroundThe more a novel word conforms to the phonotactics of the language, the more wordlike it is and the easier it is to learn. It is unknown to what extent children with hearing loss (CHL) take advantage of phonotactic cues to support word learning.AimsThis study investigated whether CHL had similar sensitivities to wordlikeness during a word‐learning task as children with normal hearing (CNH).Methods & ProceduresSixteen CHL and 24 CNH participated in a novel word‐learning task. Novel words varied by English wordlikeness. Recall was tested using a forced‐choice identification task wherein foils for each trial related semantically, lexically or not at all. Receptive vocabulary and working memory were also assessed.Outcomes & ResultsAll children were able to identify high wordlike novel words more accurately than low wordlike novel words. The number of errors on identification of words that were moderate in wordlikeness was inversely correlated to vocabulary size (not working memory) and CHL had smaller vocabularies than CNH. When in error, CHL were more likely than CNH to select a semantically related foil.Conclusions & ImplicationsAlthough they are sensitive to extremes in wordlikeness, compared with their peers with normal hearing, CHL present with subtle differences in word learning. Clinical implications for exploiting wordlikeness in service of word learning assessment and intervention are presented.
Class matters: 12‐month‐olds’ word–object associations privilege content over function words
Authors: MacKenzie Heather , Curtin Suzanne , Graham Susan A. 
Published: October 2012

AbstractA fundamental step in learning words is the development of an association between a sound pattern and an element in the environment. Here we explore the nature of this associative ability in 12‐month‐olds, examining whether it is constrained to privilege particular word forms over others. Forty‐eight infants were presented with sets of novel English content‐like word–object pairings (e.g. fep) or novel English function‐like word–object (e.g. iv) pairings until they habituated. Results indicated that infants associated novel content‐like words, but not the novel function‐like words, with novel objects. These results demonstrate that the mechanism with which basic word–object associations are formed is remarkably sophisticated by the onset of productive language. That is, mere associative pairings are not sufficient to form mappings. Rather the system requires well‐formed noun‐like words to co‐occur with objects in order for the linkages to arise.
Visual size perception and haptic calibration during development
Authors: Gori Monica , Giuliana Luana , Sandini Giulio , Burr David 
Published: October 2012

AbstractIt is still unclear how the visual system perceives accurately the size of objects at different distances. One suggestion, dating back to Berkeley’s famous essay, is that vision is calibrated by touch. If so, we may expect different mechanisms involved for near, reachable distances and far, unreachable distances. To study how the haptic system calibrates vision we measured size constancy in children (from 6 to 16 years of age) and adults, at various distances. At all ages, accuracy of the visual size perception changes with distance, and is almost veridical inside the haptic workspace, in agreement with the idea that the haptic system acts to calibrate visual size perception. Outside this space, systematic errors occurred, which varied with age. Adults tended to overestimate visual size of distant objects (over‐compensation for distance), while children younger than 14 underestimated their size (under‐compensation). At 16 years of age there seemed to be a transition point, with veridical perception of distant objects. When young subjects were allowed to touch the object inside the haptic workspace, the visual biases disappeared, while older subjects showed multisensory integration. All results are consistent with the idea that the haptic system can be used to calibrate visual size perception during development, more effectively within than outside the haptic workspace, and that the calibration mechanisms are different in children than in adults.
Body composition, inflammation and thermogenesis in pathways to obesity and the metabolic syndrome: an overview
Authors: Dulloo A. G. , Montani J.‐P. 
Published: October 2012

SummaryAccording to the World Health Organization, overweight and obesity are defined as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk to health. What constitutes ‘abnormal’ fat accumulation in this definition is not specified, but this most likely represents a consensus term that encapsulates the importance of adipose tissue dysfunctions, rather than solely excess fat per se, in the pathogenesis of disease entities of the metabolic syndrome, particularly type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Over the past decades, such abnormalities in fat accumulation have been linked to a pattern of fat distribution characterized by disproportionate fat deposition in the abdomen; to limits in the capacity of adipose tissue to expand resulting in the burden of fat storage being shifted to ‘lean’ tissues/organs as ectopic fat; and to the secretion (by both intrinsic and infiltrated cells within the adipose tissue mass) of a plethora of cytokines and other factors which via their autocrine, paracrine and/or endocrine actions underscore a state of chronic low‐grade inflammation. These links have formed the basis of a multitude of adipocentric concepts that have stimulated basic and clinical research aimed at explaining differential susceptibilities to cardiometabolic diseases according to diet and lifestyle, birth weight and post‐natal growth patterns, menopausal transition and the ageing process, race and ethnicity – often within the framework of hypotheses constructed around thrifty genotypes or thrifty phenotypes, and around overlapping molecular pathways implicated in metabolic inflammation, thermogenesis and body composition regulation. It is against this background of rapidly advancing research in metabolic health – fuelled as much by the search for early markers of cardiometabolic risks as by the search for ‘druggable’ molecular targets for treating obesity and its comorbidities – that fundamental concepts, controversies and novel research avenues relevant to the theme of ‘Body composition, Inflammation and Thermogenesis in Pathways to Obesity and the Metabolic Syndrome’ are addressed in this overview and the 10 review articles in this supplement reporting the proceedings of the 6th Fribourg Obesity Research Conference (FORC‐2011).
Ethnic variability in adiposity, thrifty phenotypes and cardiometabolic risk: addressing the full range of ethnicity, including those of mixed ethnicity
Authors: Wells J. C. K. 
Published: October 2012

SummaryEthnic groups vary in cardiometabolic risk, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Several components of body composition variability (fat/lean ratio, fat distribution, lean mass composition and metabolism, and adipose tissue biology) are increasingly linked with cardiometabolic risk and vary substantially across ethnic groups. Constituents of lean mass are proposed to contribute to ‘metabolic capacity’, a generic trait favouring the maintenance of homeostasis. Adiposity is proposed to contribute to ‘metabolic load’, which at higher levels challenges metabolic homeostasis, elevating cardiometabolic risk. Ethnic differences in body composition, representing different load‐capacity ratios, may therefore contribute to ethnic variability in cardiometabolic risk. Ecological and evolutionary factors potentially contributing to ethnic variability in body composition are explored. In contemporary populations, clinicians encounter an increasing range of ethnicity, along with many individuals of mixed‐ethnic ancestry. Increasing understanding of the contribution of body composition to cardiometabolic risk may reduce the need to treat ethnic groups as qualitatively different. A conceptual model is proposed, treating insulin sensitivity and stroke risk as composite functions of body composition variables. Operationalizing this model may potentially improve the ability to assess cardiovascular risk across the full ethnicity spectrum, and to predict cardiometabolic consequences of excess weight gain.
Revisiting the diacylglycerol‐induced insulin resistance hypothesis
Authors: Amati F. 
Published: October 2012

SummaryObesity is associated with skeletal muscle insulin resistance, which is a crucial step in the development of type 2 diabetes. Among the mechanisms by which obesity may lead to insulin resistance, lipotoxicity is one of the hypotheses being explored; others include inflammation or the oxidative stress hypotheses. This review focuses on the role of diacylglycerols (DAG), a family of lipid metabolites implicated in the pathogenesis of lipotoxicity and insulin resistance. While recent studies report contradictory results in humans with regard to the importance of DAG‐induced insulin resistance in skeletal muscle, other current literature highlight a potential role for DAG as signalling molecules. This review will discuss possible hypotheses explaining these contradictory results and the need to explore further the role of DAG in human metabolism.
Unionization Structures in International Oligopoly
Authors: Pagel Beatrice , Wey Christian 
Published: October 2012

Abstract. We examine how competition in international markets affects a union's choice of wage regime, which can be either uniform or discriminatory. Firms are heterogeneous with regard to international competition. When unions choose their wage regimes sequentially, a discriminatory outcome becomes more likely when international competition increases. However, for intermediate levels a union may stick with a uniform wage regime even if the rival union adopts a discriminatory regime. When competition is sufficiently intense, both unions revert to the discriminatory regime. Paradoxically only in those latter instances all parties (consumers, workers, and firms) may be better off (each in aggregate) if all unions adopt a uniform wage regime. We conclude that union incentives to coordinate their wage regimes should then also become largest.
18O enrichment in phosphorus pools extracted from soybean leaves
Authors: Pfahler Verena , Dürr‐Auster Thilo , Tamburini Federica , M. Bernasconi Stefano , Frossard Emmanuel 
Published: October 2012

Summary

The objective of this study was to investigate the isotopic composition of oxygen bound to phosphate (δ18O‐PO4) in different phosphorus (P) pools in plant leaves. As a model plant we used soybean (Glycine max cv Toliman) grown in the presence of ample P in hydroponic cultures.

The leaf blades were extracted with 0.3 M trichloroacetic acid (TCA) and with 10 M nitric acid. These extractions allowed measurement of the TCA‐soluble reactive P (TCA P) that is rapidly cycled within the cell and the total leaf P. The difference between total leaf P and TCA P yielded the structural P which includes organic P compounds not extractable by TCA.

P uptake and its translocation and transformation within the soybean plants lead to an 18O enrichment of TCA P (δ18O‐PO4 between 16.9 and 27.5‰) and structural P (δ18O‐PO4 between 42.6 and 68.0 ‰) compared with 12.4‰ in the phosphate in the nutrient solution.

δ18O values of phosphate extracted from soybean leaves grown under optimal conditions are greater than the δ18O‐PO4 values of the provided P source. Furthermore, the δ18O‐PO4 of TCA P seems to be controlled by the δ18O of leaf water and the activity of inorganic pyrophosphatase or other pyrophosphatases.
The impact of horizontal water velocity on the energy consumption of a full‐scale wastewater treatment plant
Authors: Wambecq T. , Fenu A. , De Gussem K. , Parmentier G. , De Gueldre G. , Van De Steene B. 
Published: October 2012

AbstractThis study quantifies the impact of the oxidation ditch horizontal water velocity on the energy consumption of a full‐scale wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). A WWTP was modelled by means of the ASM2d platform, showing very good correlation with reference operational data. As to reduce the energy requirements of the plant while guarantying the same nutrient removal performance, two approaches were used. A classical aeration control optimization, yielding a 4% energy reduction, was compared with an increase of the oxidation ditch propelling power. The horizontal water velocity in the oxidation ditches was estimated at only 0.15 m/s. By increasing the horizontal water velocity to 0.3 m/s, an 8% energy reduction could be achieved. Moreover, a synergistic effect for classic control optimization and oxidation ditch water velocity optimization resulted in a 14% energy reduction. Energy spent in propelling power counteracts the aeration energy gain derived by an increase in the oxidation ditch horizontal velocity. An optimum in the water velocity was quantified at 0.3 m/s, comparably with its design value.
The Effects of Cyclosporine on Platelet Function and Cyclooxygenase Expression in Normal Dogs
Authors: Thomason J. , Lunsford K. , Stokes J. , Pinchuk L. , Wills R. , Langston C. , Pruett S. , Mackin A. 
Published: October 2012

BackgroundCyclosporine has been shown to alter platelet plasma membranes and have a hypercoagulable effect in humans, leading to thromboembolic complications.Hypothesis/ObjectivesOur hypothesis was that by modulating platelet reactivity, cyclosporine increases the risk of thromboembolic complications. The objective was to determine the effects of cyclosporine on primary hemostasis in normal dogs.AnimalsEight healthy, intact female dogs.MethodsA repeated‐measures design utilized flow cytometry to evaluate platelet expression of platelet reactivity markers (P‐selectin and phosphatidylserine) and COX‐1 and COX‐2 during the administration of 2 cyclosporine dosages (19 mg/kg q12h [immunosuppressive dosage] and 5 mg/kg q24h [atopy dosage]). Urine 11‐dehydro‐thromboxane‐B2 (11‐dTXB2) concentration was normalized to urine creatinine concentration, and platelet function was analyzed by PFA‐100.ResultsAfter a week of the immunosuppressive dosage, all platelet reactivity markers showed a significant decrease in mean fluorescent intensity (MFI). After the atopy dosage, only P‐selectin and COX‐2 MFI demonstrated a change from baseline, decreasing by 29% (P = .013) and 31% (P = .003), respectively. Urinary 11‐dTXB2‐to‐creatinine ratio significantly increased at all time points during the immunosuppressive dosage, but no significant change occurred during administration of the atopy dosage. PFA‐100 closure times using collagen/ADP cartridges increased by 62% (P = .008) with the immunosuppressive dosage and decreased by 45% with the atopy dosage (P = .035). No significant changes in closure times occurred with collagen/epinephrine cartridges.Conclusions and Clinical ImportanceOur study suggests that, similar to what is observed in humans, cyclosporine alters the platelet plasma membrane and increases thromboxane production in dogs, especially at immunosuppressive dosages.
High Temperature‐Induced Repression of the Rice Sucrose Transporter (OsSUT1) and Starch Synthesis‐Related Genes in Sink and Source Organs at Milky Ripening Stage Causes Chalky Grains
Authors: Phan T. T. T. , Ishibashi Y. , Miyazaki M. , Tran H. T. , Okamura K. , Tanaka S. , Nakamura J. , Yuasa T. , Iwaya‐Inoue M. 
Published: October 2012

AbstractHigh temperatures during rice grain ripening reduced yield and grain quality. The proportion of milky white grains was 43.6 % at 30 °C but only 6.5 % at 25 °C. Grain filling was initially faster at 30 °C and finished earlier, and the final dry matter content was less, than at 25 °C. High temperature strongly suppressed the expression of the sucrose transporter gene OsSUT1 and starch synthesis‐related genes SuSy2, AGPS2b, BEIIb and Granule‐bound starch synthase in grains during early grain filling; the transcription levels of OsSUT1 at 14 days after flowering (DAF) were about 60 % lower in grains, flag leaf blade, flag leaf sheath and first leaf sheath. These facts are possibly involved in the earlier termination of grain filling at 21 DAF, following the rapid rise of grain dry weight from 0 to 7 DAF, due to possible reduction in assimilate supply via OsSUT1 under the high temperature. When panicles were partly clipped, the resultant increase in assimilate supply to the remaining grains significantly upregulated the expression of OsSUT1 and the starch synthesis‐related genes at 14 DAF, which consequently accelerated starch accumulation in the grains and ultimately increased the grain weight of remaining grains at 30 °C. These results indicate that high temperature during grain filling reduces grain yield and quality by changing the expression of OsSUT1 and starch synthase‐related genes, resulting in earlier ripening due to hastened or premature assimilate supply to grains.