bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The methodological quality of systematic reviews published in high‐impact nursing journals: a review of the literature
Authors: Pölkki Tarja , Kanste Outi , Kääriäinen Maria , Elo Satu , Kyngäs Helvi 
Published: March 2013

Aims and objectivesTo analyse systematic review articles published in the top 10 nursing journals to determine the quality of the methods employed within them.BackgroundSystematic review is defined as a scientific research method that synthesises high‐quality scientific knowledge on a given topic. The number of such reviews in nursing science has increased dramatically during recent years, but their methodological quality has not previously been assessed.DesignA review of the literature using a narrative approach.MethodsRanked impact factor scores for nursing journals were obtained from the Journal Citation Report database of the Institute of Scientific Information (ISI Web of Knowledge). All issues from the years 2009 and 2010 of the top 10 ranked journals were included. CINAHL and MEDLINE databases were searched to locate studies using the search terms ‘systematic review’ and ‘systematic literature review’. A total of 39 eligible studies were identified. Their methodological quality was evaluated through the specific criteria of quality assessment, description of synthesis and strengths and weaknesses reported in the included studies.ResultsMost of the eligible systematic reviews included several different designs or types of quantitative study. The majority included a quality assessment, and a total of 17 different criteria were identified. The method of synthesis was mentioned in about half of the reviews, the most common being narrative synthesis. The weaknesses of reviews were discussed, while strengths were rarely highlighted.ConclusionThe methodological quality of the systematic reviews examined varied considerably, although they were all published in nursing journals with a high‐impact factor.Relevance to clinical practiceDespite the fact that systematic reviews are considered the most robust source of research evidence, they vary in methodological quality. This point is important to consider in clinical practice when applying the results to patient care.
How Profit Shifting May Increase the Tax Burden of Multinationals: A Simple Model with Discrete Investment Choices
Authors: STÖWHASE SVEN 
Published: March 2013

AbstractThis paper models a Stackelberg tax setting game between two revenue‐maximizing countries which compete for the location of a single production plant owned by a multinational firm. We introduce the possibility of profit‐shifting activities by the multinational firm and investigate how a change in the costs of profit shifting affects equilibrium tax rates, revenue, and the tax burden of the multinational firm. We show that in most cases, tax rates of the two countries will be higher under profit shifting than without. If the costs for profit shifting are not too low, the strategic adjustment of profit tax rates will typically harm the multinational firm.
The Superiority of Environmental Federalism in the Presence of Lobbying and Prior Tax Distortions
Authors: LAI YU‐BONG 
Published: March 2013

AbstractIt is generally believed that environmental federalism tends to generate greater pollution emissions than centralized policymaking. This paper demonstrates that the opposite can occur in the presence of lobbying. Although the decentralized regime gives rise to a tax‐interaction effect, which induces policymakers to set lax environmental policies, it may also reduce the political pressure on enlarging allowed emissions. If the latter outweighs the former, then the decentralized regime will generate less pollution than the centralized regime. Moreover, we also show that the decentralized regime can be more efficient than the centralized regime, which provides an alternative theoretical support for the superiority of environmental federalism.
A note on non‐parametric testing for Gaussian innovations in AR–ARCH models
Authors: Neumeyer Natalie , Selk Leonie 
Published: March 2013

In this paper, we consider autoregressive models with conditional autoregressive variance, including the case of homoscedastic AR models and the case of ARCH models. Our aim is to test the hypothesis of normality for the innovations in a completely non‐parametric way, that is, without imposing parametric assumptions on the conditional mean and volatility functions. To this end, the Cramér–von Mises test based on the empirical distribution function of non‐parametrically estimated residuals is shown to be asymptotically distribution‐free. We demonstrate its good performance for finite sample sizes in a small simulation study.AMS 2010 Classification: Primary 62 M10, Secondary 62 G10
Influence of Experimentally Induced Taste Disorder on Ingestive Behavior: A Pilot Study
Authors: Hattori Yoshinori , Tanaka Yasue 
Published: March 2013

AbstractThis study was aimed to gain insights on how impaired taste sensation alters ingestive behavior. Gymnema sylvestre extract was applied to the tongue surface to create an experimentally induced taste disorder (EITD). The ingestive behavior and the rheological properties of the food bolus just before the first swallowing were compared between with and without EITD in six healthy volunteers who ingested a chocolate chip cookie. Although EITD made the bolus significantly less hard, less adhesive and more cohesive (Wilcoxon's rank‐sum test; P < 0.001), and make the jaw gape of the chewing cycles just before the first swallowing smaller (P < 0.05) in all participants, its effect on the number of chewing cycles until swallowing was heterogeneous. The results suggest that EITD may alter ingestive behavior not through a reduction of the perceived tastes but through a reduction in the palatability and/or the intensity of the unpalatability of a food.Practical ApplicationsThe results of the current study suggested that a reduction in the palatability and/or the intensity of the unpalatability of a food, i.e., the uncomfortable emotions elicited by the alteration of perceived taste of a food, may have significant effects on the ingestive behaviors of persons with experimentally induced taste disorder. The results further suggested the importance of enhancing palatability and reducing unpalatability of the food by activating the residual gustatory and/or olfactory functions to improve the affected ingestive behavior of the patients who suffer from taste disorders.
Facilitation displaces hotspots of diversity and allows communities to persist in heavily stressed and disturbed environments
Authors: Le Bagousse‐Pinguet Yoann , Xiao Sa , Brooker Rob W. , Gross Nicolas , Liancourt Pierre , Straile Dietmar , Michalet Richard 
Published: March 2013

AbstractQuestionWhat are the interacting effects of stress and disturbance on both competition and facilitation, and ultimately their impact on diversity and species ranges?LocationSimulated data.MethodWe extended the spatially explicit model of Xiao et al. (Oikos, 118, 2009, 1343) to consider how stress and disturbance – operating alone or together – affect species distributions through varying biotic interactions.ResultsIn the absence of facilitation, species ranges only occurred within the limits of a triangular zone, which can be considered equivalent to Grime's C‐S‐R triangle. Competitive species were distributed in low stress and disturbance conditions. Stress‐ and disturbance‐tolerant species occurred in more stressed and disturbed environments. Species richness followed a hump‐shaped relationship with a hotspot of diversity occurring close to the centre of the C‐S‐R triangle. In contrast, facilitation was able to dampen the negative impacts of stress and disturbance acting either solely or simultaneously, but this influence was not simply the sum of the effects of the processes operating independently on the two environmental gradients. Facilitation extended species distributions along both the stress and disturbance gradients and displaced the hotspot of diversity into the centre of the response surface.ConclusionsFacilitation was able to promote the occurrence and persistence of communities in highly stressed and disturbed conditions, i.e. allowing a stable community to exist beyond the limits of the C‐S‐R triangle. We also showed that facilitation can be an important mechanism driving the displacement of hotspots of diversity from benign toward intermediate stressed and disturbed environments.
Rainfall variability has minimal effects on grassland recovery from repeated grazing
Authors: Koerner Sally E. , Collins Scott L. , Blair John M. , Knapp Alan K. , Smith Melinda D. 
Published: March 2013

AbstractQuestionMesic grasslands experience a complex disturbance regime including frequent fire, grazing by large ungulates and strong inter‐annual climate variability. As a result of climate change, growing season precipitation regimes are predicted to become more variable, with larger event sizes and longer dry periods resulting in more temporally dynamic soil moisture regimes. Increased climate variability is likely to interact with other disturbances, such as grazing, in grassland ecosystems. We investigated the individual and combined effects of increased rainfall variability and grazing on plant community composition, structure and function in an annually burned, native tallgrass prairie. Our overarching question was: are grazing impacts modified under a more variable precipitation regime?LocationKonza Prairie, Kansas,USA.MethodsPlots were established within a long‐term rainfall manipulation experiment in which larger, but less frequent, rain events were imposed during the growing season without altering the total rain amount. We then simulated intense grazing pressure during one growing season by repeatedly clipping all graminoids to 5 cm and monitored recovery over 3 yr.ResultsNeither grazing nor rainfall treatments affected species richness; however, grazing decreased total and grass above‐ground net primary production (ANPP) and increased forbANPPrelative to ungrazed plots. Grass stem density recovered from intense grazing under ambient rainfall but did not fully recover, even after 2 yr in the altered rainfall treatment.ConclusionsWe found that increased rainfall variability had little effect on tallgrass prairie structure and function, while grazing had large effects. Grazing and increased rainfall variability interacted to suppress grass stem density and delayed recovery relative to controls. Although stem density was reduced, individual stem size increased, resulting in no net change inANPP. This suggests thatANPPin grazed and ungrazed North American tallgrass prairie may be relatively resilient under more temporally variable precipitation regimes.
Short‐Term Functional and Urodynamic Outcome of W‐ileal Orthotopic Neobladder with Serosa‐Lined Tunneled Uretero‐Ileal Anastomosis
Authors: BARAPATRE Yogesh R. , AGARWAL Mayank M. , MAVUDURU Ravimohan , SHARMA Suresh K. , KUMAR Santosh , SINGH Shrawan K. , MANDAL Arup K. 
Published: March 2013

ObjectivesFunctional and urodynamic (UDS) outcomes of W‐configured ileal orthotopic neobladder (ONB) with extramural serosa‐lined tunnel uretero‐ileal anastomosis are presentedMethodsConsecutive 17 patients undergoing ONB during December 2009 to March 2011 were enrolled. Of these 15 men (bladder cancer 14, tuberculosis 1) with mean age 52.7 ± 11.3 years completed the follow‐up. Pouch‐related quality of life (PQOL) was assessed using a published questionnaire. Uroflowmetry, cystometry/cystography and urethral‐pressure profilometry were done at two follow‐up visits at least 3 months apart. Mean follow up 10 ± 5 months. Mean length of harvested ileum 48 ± 6 cm.ResultsOverall PQOL were similar at both evaluations (55 ± 11 and 54 ± 15, respectively). During first and second follow‐up, maximum flow‐rate, voided‐volume and post‐void residual urine were 11 ± 4 mL/sec, 246 ± 99 mL and 68 ± 74.9 mL and 10.4 ± 4.6 mL/sec, 234 ± 138 mL and 86 ± 146 mL, respectively. Mean neobladder capacity, compliance, maximum urethral closure‐pressure (MUCP) and functional urethral length were 484 ± 244 mL, 50.5 ± 49.1 mL/cmH2O, 42 ±20 cmH2O and 22 ± 12 mm, and 468 ± 250 mL, 46.4 ± 47.5 mL/cmH2O, 52 ± 27cmH2O and 23 ± 12 mm, respectively. Patients with smaller pouch (r = 0.828; P = 0.0001), longer urethral length (r = −0.392; P = 0.023) and lesser incontinence (r = 0.429; P = 0.011) had significantly better PQOL. With continued supervised pelvic‐floor rehabilitation, a trend in improvement in hesitancy (P = 0.058), MUCP (P = 0.05) and bothersome incontinence (P = NS) was observed. None of the patients had any obstruction or reflux of the upper tracts.ConclusionThe index ONB has reasonable storage and voiding characteristics but with a rider of nocturnal urinary incontinence.
Proteolysis of BB0323 results in two polypeptides that impact physiologic and infectious phenotypes in Borrelia burgdorferi
Authors: Kariu Toru , Yang Xiuli , Marks Carolyn B. , Zhang Xinyue , Pal Utpal 
Published: March 2013

SummaryBorrelia burgdorferi gene product BB0323 is required for cell fission and pathogen persistence in vivo. Here, we show that BB0323, which is conserved among globally prevalent infectious strains, supports normal spirochaete growth and morphology even at early phases of cell division. We demonstrate that native BB0323 undergoes proteolytic processing at the C‐terminus, at a site after the first 202 N‐terminal amino acids. We further identified a periplasmic BB0323 binding protein in B. burgdorferi, annotated as BB0104, having serine protease activity responsible for the primary cleavage of BB0323 to produce discrete N‐ and C‐terminal polypeptides. These two BB0323 polypeptides interact with each other, and either individually or as a complex, are associated with multiple functions in spirochaete biology and infectivity. While N‐terminal BB0323 is adequate to support cell fission, the C‐terminal LysM domain is dispensable for this process, despite its ability to bind B. burgdorferi peptidoglycan. However, the LysM domain or the precisely processed BB0323 product is essential for mammalian infection. As BB0323 is a membrane protein crucial for B. burgdorferi survival in vivo, exploring its function may suggest novel ways to interrupt infection while enhancing our understanding of the intricate spirochaete fission process.
Value of myocardial perfusion imaging in renal transplant evaluation
Authors: Chew Chong Ghee , Unger Steve , Shakib Sepehr 
Published: March 2013

AbstractAimMyocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) with SPECT (single photon emission computerized tomography) is commonly used for preoperative renal transplant assessment. We performed an audit to evaluate the prognostic value of MPI in this cohort.MethodBetween 1999 and 2009, 838 transplants were performed in South Australia. A total of 387 patients had 393 preoperative MPI in three hospitals. Using a statewide electronic clinical information system (OACIS) cardiac events, MPI results (positive: any reversible defect; negative: fixed defects and normal), clinical follow up and comorbidities (diabetes and hypertension) were determined. End‐point events were ‘soft’: admission with angina, percutaneous intervention or bypass; or ‘hard’: myocardial infarction or cardiac death. The end‐point event rates were determined using Kaplan–Meier curves. Multivariate analyses were performed for age (60 years), gender, diabetes and hypertension. For negative MPI the event rates in dipyridamole stress were compared with tachycardic stress.ResultsSoft events: There was a statistically significant lower event rate for MPI negative versus positive, 3.9% versus 20.8% (hazard ratio 4.4 confidence interval: 2.1–9.6, P < 0.001) at 5 years of follow up – no effect from age, gender, diabetes and hypertension. Hard events: There was a lower event rate for MPI negative versus positive (also unaffected by age, gender, hypertension and diabetes) but the result was not statistically significant, P = 0.153. For negative MPI the soft and hard event rates were similar for dipyridamole and tachycardic stress.ConclusionMPI is a good modality of prognosticating cardiac events in renal failure patients being considered for transplantation. The value of a negative MPI is similar for dipyridamole and tachycardic stress.
Direct Medical Costs and Medication Compliance among Fibromyalgia Patients: Duloxetine Initiators vs. Pregabalin Initiators
Authors: Sun Peter , Peng Xiaomei , Sun Steve , Novick Diego , Faries Douglas E. , Andrews Jeffrey S. , Wohlreich Madelaine M. , Wu Andrew 
Published: March 2013

AbstractObjectivesTo assess and compare direct medical costs and medication compliance between patients with fibromyalgia who initiated duloxetine and patients with fibromyalgia who initiated pregabalin in 2008.MethodsA retrospective cohort study design was used based on a large US national commercial claims database (2006 to 2009). Patients with fibromyalgia aged 18 to 64 who initiated duloxetine or pregabalin in 2008 and who had continuous health insurance 1 year preceding and 1 year following the initiation were selected into duloxetine cohort or pregabalin cohort based on their initiated agent. Medication compliance was measured by total supply days, medication possession ratio (MPR), and proportion of patients with MPR ≥ 0.8. Direct medical costs were measured by annual costs per patient and compared between the cohorts in the year following the initiation. Propensity score stratification and bootstrapping methods were used to adjust for distribution bias, as well as cross‐cohort differences in demographic, clinical and economic characteristics, and medication history prior to the initiation.ResultsBoth the duloxetine (n = 3,033) and pregabalin (n = 4,838) cohorts had a mean initiation age around 49 years, 89% were women. During the postindex year, compared to the pregabalin cohort, the duloxetine cohort had higher totally annual supply days (273.5 vs. 176.6, P < 0.05), higher MPR (0.7 vs. 0.5, P < 0.05), and more patients with MPR ≥ 0.8 (45.1% vs. 29.4%, P < 0.05). Further, relative to pregabalin cohort, duloxetine cohort had lower inpatient costs ($2,994.9 vs. $4,949.6, P < 0.05), lower outpatient costs ($8,259.6 vs. $10,312.2, P < 0.05), similar medication costs ($5,214.6 vs. $5,290.8, P > 0.05), and lower total medical costs ($16,469.1 vs. $20,552.6, P < 0.05) in the postinitiation year.ConclusionsIn a real‐world setting, patients with fibromyalgia who initiated duloxetine in 2008 had better medication compliance and consumed less inpatient, outpatient, and total medical costs than those who initiated pregabalin.
Narrative and attachment in the process of recovery from substance misuse
Authors: Waters Kathryn , Holttum Sue , Perrin Ines 
Published: March 2013

ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to illustrate the individual accounts of a small group of substance misusers who had found psychological therapy helpful in their recovery from substance misuse. The study also aimed to highlight the roles that the psychologists played within these narratives.DesignNarrative analysis, a qualitative design, was used to capture the unique recovery narratives of substance users who had received psychological therapy.MethodsSeven participants (three males and four females, age range 40–54 years, six White British, one White European) were recruited via clinical psychologists from an addictions psychology department and participated in 60–90 min interviews.ResultsAnalysis of the recovery narratives resulted in an overarching theme; role of the psychologists as a secure attachment figure leading to the development of surrogate internal working models, and the following subthemes which developed and maintained the attachments: closeness and proximity leading to positive expectations about the relationship, safe haven leading to increasing capacities for affect regulation, secure base leading to the experience of being able to mentalize regarding ones mental states and associated actions, and separation distress leading to internalizing the psychologists.ConclusionsThe study analysed the personal accounts of seven substance misusers regarding their use of psychological therapy in their recovery. The relationship between the therapists and the clients developed as a result of the psychologists serving as secure attachment figures, and providing closeness and proximity, a safe haven and a secure base to the clients. Clients' separation distress also led to the internalizing of the psychologists. Future studies are needed to tease out which substance user clients would most be suited to the above approach. Measures of newer more adaptive internal working models could then be applied to relationships outside of therapy to see in what way the newer, more flexible, and transferable IWMs were truly internalized and influential in the recovering minds of substance misusers.Practitioner points
Clinical Psychologists can play a vital role in the recovery of substance misusers who are ready to work through their psychological recovery.
Forming a positive therapeutic relationship is dependent on the psychologists fulfilling the role of positive attachment figures for the clients.
Mapping QTLs for salt tolerance with additive, epistatic and QTL × treatment interaction effects at seedling stage in wheat
Authors: Xu Y. , Li S. , Li L. , Zhang X. , Xu H. , An D. 
Published: March 2013

AbstractQuantitative trait loci (QTLs) for salt tolerance with additive, epistatic and QTL × treatment interaction effects at seedling stage in wheat were identified. A set of 131 recombinant inbred lines derived from cross Chuan 35050 × Shannong 483 were evaluated under salt stress and normal conditions. Wide variation was found for all studied traits. A total of 18 additive and 16 epistatic QTLs were detected, among which five and 11 were with significant QTL × treatment effects. Ten QTL clusters were identified, and each may represent a single gene or closely linked genes. The locus controlling shoot K+/Na+ concentration ratio and shoot Na+ concentration on chromosome 5A may be identical to Nax2. The interval Xgwm6‐Xgwm538 on chromosome 4B for total dry weight was also identified in a previous study, both near the marker Xgwm6. The marker Xgwm6 may be useful for marker‐assisted selection. Six pairs of homoeologous QTLs were detected, showing synteny among the A, B and D genomes. These results facilitate understanding the mechanisms and the genetic basis of salt tolerance in wheat.
Ethylene limits abscisic acid‐ or soil drying‐induced stomatal closure in aged wheat leaves
Authors: CHEN LIN , DODD IAN C. , DAVIES WILLIAM J. , WILKINSON SALLY 
Published: March 2013

AbstractThe mechanism of age‐induced decreased stomatal sensitivity to abscisic acid (ABA) and soil drying has been explored here. Older, fully expanded leaves partly lost their ability to close stomata in response to foliar ABA sprays, and soil drying which stimulated endogenous ABA production, while young fully expanded leaves closed their stomata more fully. However, ABA‐ or soil drying‐induced stomatal closure of older leaves was partly restored by pretreating plants with 1‐methylcyclopropene (1‐MCP), which can antagonize ethylene receptors, or by inoculating soil around the roots with the rhizobacterium Variovorax paradoxus 5C‐2, which contains 1‐aminocyclopropane‐1‐carboxylic acid (ACC)‐deaminase. ACC (the immediate biosynthetic precursor of ethylene) sprays revealed higher sensitivity of stomata to ethylene in older leaves than younger leaves, despite no differences in endogenous ACC concentrations or ethylene emission. Taken together, these results indicate that the relative insensitivity of stomatal closure to ABA and soil drying in older leaves is likely due to altered stomatal sensitivity to ethylene, rather than ethylene production. To our knowledge, this is the first study to mechanistically explain diminished stomatal responses to soil moisture deficit in older leaves, and the associated reduction in leaf water‐use efficiency.