bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A home‐based intervention using augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) techniques in rural Kenya: what are the caregivers' experiences?
Authors: Gona J. K. , Newton C. R. , Hartley S. , Bunning K. 
Published: March 2013

AbstractBackgroundCaring for a child with complex communication needs associated with a developmental condition frequently adds stress to the caregiver. Furthermore, professional assistance is scarce in low‐income rural settings. For such children speech is frequently unachievable. Augmentative and alternative communication provides options for supplementing or replacing speech with other techniques. The current study aimed to examine the experiences of caregivers in Kenya before and after a home‐based intervention using augmentative and alternative communication techniques with children with complex communication needs.MethodsCaregivers were interviewed pre‐ and post‐intervention. The interviews were digitally recorded, transcribed and translated into English. Content analysis was applied through the stages of text familiarization and topic organization. Emergent themes and their sub‐themes were identified and labelled. Connections between themes were established and interpretations made. The procedure was completed by a second researcher independently. Conflicting ideas were jointly discussed until consensus was achieved.ResultsFour themes emerged from the data: communication process; struggle; normality; and supernatural power. Before intervention, the caregivers acknowledged their expertise in communications with the child, while also revealing their sense of isolation, burden and pain. Normality was present as a source of comparison and also an aspirational goal. Post‐intervention more positive language was used to describe the child. There was an ‘opening up’ of communication that recognized the child's strengths and some social support systems were re‐established. The power of the supernatural was recognized before and after intervention.ConclusionCaring of a child with complex communication needs presents many challenges. A home‐based intervention using augmentative and alternative communication techniques appears to have been a catalyst for some positive transformations in the caregivers' experiences, although it is not possible to attribute this change to any one aspect. The potentials of the home‐based intervention would benefit from further investigation on a larger scale.
The prevalence of PFS and prevalence and characteristics of reported food allergy; a survey of UK adults aged 18–75 incorporating a validated PFS diagnostic questionnaire
Authors: Skypala I. J. , Bull S. , Deegan K. , Gruffydd‐Jones K. , Holmes S. , Small I. , Emery P. W. , Durham S. R. 
Published: March 2013

SummaryBackgroundPollen‐food syndrome (PFS), a food allergy affecting pollen‐sensitized individuals, is likely to be the most prevalent food allergy in adults, estimated to affect 50–90% of people allergic to birch tree pollen.ObjectiveA validated PFS diagnostic questionnaire (PFSDQ2) was used to determine the prevalence of PFS and also to characterize those who report reactions to foods.MethodsFive UK General practices each sent the PFSDQ2 by post to 2000 patients aged 18–75 years randomly selected from their practice database. The validated questionnaire was accompanied by an additional set of questions to ascertain the demographic of the population, the foods involved and the age of onset.ResultsThere were 3590 subjects who returned completed questionnaires, with an average return rate from each practice of 36% (range 22–47%). Of these, 73 were diagnosed with PFS according to the questionnaire (PFS+ve) giving a population prevalence of 2%. A further 482 subjects reported reactions to foods but did not fulfil the diagnostic criteria for PFS. The greatest prevalence of PFS was in the Croydon (SE England) urban practice (4.1%) and the lowest in the Aberdeen (Scotland) urban practice (0.8%) (P < 0.001).The most frequently reported trigger foods were apples, hazelnuts and kiwifruit and the majority of those with PFS first experienced symptoms below the age of 20 years. PFS+ve subjects were also more likely to be female and have a higher socio‐economic status than those who did not report reactions to foods.ConclusionsThe UK prevalence of PFS was 2%, although this varied according to the location of the practice population. The majority of PFS+ve subjects first reported symptoms in their teens. The reported age of onset has important implications for the diagnosis of primary and cross‐reactive peanut and tree nut allergies in teenagers and young adults. The continuing rise in aeroallergen sensitization is likely to result in an increased frequency of PFS presenting in both primary and secondary care.
Standardizing skin biopsy sampling to assess rejection in vascularized composite allotransplantation
Authors: Hautz Theresa , Zelger Bettina G. , Weißenbacher Annemarie , Zelger Bernhard , Brandacher Gerald , Landin Luis , Morelon Emmanuel , Kanitakis Jean , Jablecki Jerzy , Lee W.P. Andrew , Pratschke Johann , Schneeberger Stefan 
Published: March 2013

AbstractOver 70 hands and 20 faces have been transplanted during the past 13 yr, which have shown good to excellent functional and esthetic outcomes. However, (skin) rejection episodes complicate the post‐operative courses of hand and face transplant recipients and are still a major obstacle to overcome after reconstructive allotransplantation. This article summarizes all relevant information on the skin component and rejection of a vascularized composite allograft. As more and more centers plan to implement a vascularized composite allotransplantation (VCA) program, we further develop guidelines and recommendations on collection and processing of skin biopsies from hand and face allograft recipients. This will help to standardize post‐operative monitoring, avoid pitfalls for those new in the field and facilitate comparison of data on VCA between centers.
Origin matters: alien consumers inflict greater damage on prey populations than do native consumers
Authors: Paolucci Esteban M. , MacIsaac Hugh J. , Ricciardi Anthony 
Published: March 2013

AbstractAimIntroduced alien species are frequently implicated in ecosystem disruption and biodiversity loss, but some ecologists have recently argued that efforts to manage ecosystems should be refocused on known problematic species without regard to whether such species are native or alien. This argument rests on the premise that native and alien species in general do not differ in their impacts. Although there are numerous cases that suggest alien predators and herbivores can sometimes cause severe declines or even local extinctions of native species, very few studies have compared the impacts of native and alien consumers on native populations.LocationWorld‐wide.MethodsWe have conducted a meta‐analysis on a global dataset to compare the effects of native and alien predators and herbivores on native populations occupying a broad range of terrestrial and aquatic environments.ResultsThe distribution of positive, negative and neutral effects on native prey abundance differed significantly by consumer origin, with alien consumers associated with more negative and fewer positive effects than expected, opposite the finding for native consumers. The effect size of alien consumers was 2.4 times greater than that of native consumers and did not differ between predators and herbivores. The impact of alien consumers did not differ significantly in aquatic (lakes, rivers, oceans) versus terrestrial (continental, island) habitats. Similarly, there was no significant interaction between consumer origin and location, as consumers had similar effects in insular (freshwater, island) and open (continental, marine) systems – contrary to the notion that alien species impacts are mainly problematic for island biota.Main conclusionsWe hypothesize that the ecological naïveté of native biota facilitates their enhanced suppression by alien predators and herbivores relative to native enemies. Our results counter the assertion that the biogeographical origin of species has no bearing on their ecological impact.
Pathogenic polypores in Argentina
Authors: Rajchenberg M. , Robledo G. 
Published: March 2013

SummaryWe surveyed the polypore species associated with living hosts in Argentina. We reviewed the literature on polypores found in Argentina and, in addition with the study of unpublished herbarium material, present a list of 87 species decaying living trees in native forests and introduced plantations. The rot type, host(s), distribution and remarks are presented for each species. Among 87 species found, 71 produce a white rot and 16 a brown rot in wood; 61 species were exclusively found on native hosts and 7 on exotic, cultivated hosts, while 18 were found on both types of substrates; one species, Amylosporus campbellii, was exclusively found associated with grasses. For most cases, there are no pathological studies based on rot measurement and culture isolation to determine incidence and severity of the decay.
Mitigating amphibian chytridiomycosis with bioaugmentation: characteristics of effective probiotics and strategies for their selection and use
Authors: Bletz Molly C. , Loudon Andrew H. , Becker Matthew H. , Bell Sara C. , Woodhams Douglas C. , Minbiole Kevin P. C. , Harris Reid N. 
Published: March 2013

AbstractProbiotic therapy through bioaugmentation is a feasible disease mitigation strategy based on growing evidence that microbes contribute to host defences of plants and animals. Amphibians are currently threatened by the rapid global spread of the pathogen, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), which causes the disease chytridiomycosis. Bioaugmentation of locally occurring protective bacteria on amphibians has mitigated this disease effectively in laboratory trials and one recent field trial. Areas still naïve to Bd provide an opportunity for conservationists to proactively implement probiotic strategies to prevent further amphibian declines. In areas where Bd is endemic, bioaugmentation can facilitate repatriation of susceptible amphibians currently maintained in assurance colonies. Here, we synthesise the current research in amphibian microbial ecology and bioaugmentation to identify characteristics of effective probiotics in relation to their interactions with Bd, their host, other resident microbes and the environment. To target at‐risk species and amphibian communities, we develop sampling strategies and filtering protocols that result in probiotics that inhibit Bd under ecologically relevant conditions and persist on susceptible amphibians. This filtering tool can be used proactively to guide amphibian disease mitigation and can be extended to other taxa threatened by emerging infectious diseases.
Changes in expression of growth‐associated protein‐43 in trigeminal ganglion neurons and of the jaw opening reflex following inferior alveolar nerve transection in rats
Authors: Teramoto Kohei , Tsuboi Yoshiyuki , Shinoda Masamichi , Hitomi Suzuro , Abe Kimiko , Kaji Kaori , Tamagawa Takaaki , Suzuki Azumi , Noma Noboru , Kobayashi Masayuki , Komiyama Osamu , Urata Kentaro , Iwata Koichi 
Published: March 2013

The aim of the present study was to clarify an involvement of growth‐associated protein‐43 (GAP‐43) in the regeneration of primary afferent trigeminal ganglion (TG) neurons following inferior alveolar nerve transection (IANX). A larger number of GAP‐43 immunoreactive (GAP‐43 IR) TG neurons was observed in rats 3 d after IANX compared with sham rats. Growth‐associated protein‐43 IR TG neurons were also detected for 30 d after IANX, and the number of GAP‐43 IR TG neurons was significantly higher in the IANX model until day 30. The relative number of large (>600 μm2) GAP‐43 IR TG neurons was significantly lower, whereas the relative number of small (<400 μm2) GAP‐43 IR TG neurons was significantly higher than that at day 0 until 30 d after IANX. To evaluate the functional recovery of damaged IAN, the jaw opening reflex (JOR), elicited by the electrical stimulation of the IAN, was measured before and after IANX. Jaw opening reflex occurrence was gradually increased and the relative threshold of electrical stimulation eliciting JOR was gradually decreased over the 30‐d duration of the study. On day 30 after IANX, the JOR occurrence and relative JOR threshold were similar to those in sham rats. The present findings suggest that changes in the expression of GAP‐43 in TG neurons after IANX are involved in regeneration and functional recovery of the transected IAN.
Effects of retention site on breakdown of organic matter in a mountain stream
Authors: Flores Lorea , Díez Jose Ramón , Larrañaga Aitor , Pascoal Cláudia , Elosegi Arturo 
Published: March 2013

Summary

Organic matter inputs to streams can be retained in contrasting sites, from small leaf packs on top of cobbles to thick organic deposits trapped by wood jams. Differences in environmental conditions and in stability among sites can affect the biological communities, the quality of organic matter and its use by consumers.

We measured the accumulation and composition of coarse organic matter and the breakdown of alder leaves on the surface of the streambed, inside gravel bars and in thick litter deposits trapped by log jams. We also monitored fungal sporulation rates and macroinvertebrate diversity and density in these retention sites.

The amount of organic matter in these locations differed significantly among sites and ranged from 118 g m−2 in gravel to 11 562 g m−2 in jams. The biomass of shredders also differed significantly among retention sites, being highest in jams (1440 mg m−2) and lowest in gravel (86 mg m−2).

Breakdown of alder leaves in fine‐mesh bags did not differ among retention sites. In coarse‐mesh bags, leaf breakdown rate was significantly lower in gravel bars than in surface sites or jams. Despite large differences in amount and quality of organic matter between surface sites and jams, alder leaves broke down at the same rate.

Density of invertebrates in bags and fungal sporulation rates tended to be highest in surface sites and lowest in gravel bars. The contribution of microbes to breakdown was 67% in gravel, 52% in surface and only 28% in jams. Overall, the differences among sites in leaf breakdown were correlated with invertebrate density.

Our results showed large differences in the amount and quality of organic matter accumulated, in biological communities and in the use of organic matter among retention sites of a single stream reach. This spatial variability should be taken into account in studies of ecosystem functioning related to organic matter.
Short‐term clinical outcomes in delirious older patients: A study at general medical wards in a university hospital in Thailand
Authors: Praditsuwan Rungnirand , Sirisuwat Achara , Assanasen Jintana , Eiamjinnasuwat Waricha , Pakdeewongse Sorapop , Limmathuroskul Duangsawang , Srinonprasert Varalak 
Published: March 2013

AimDelirium, a common disorder in hospitalized older patients, frequently results in unfavorable consequences. Previous studies in different settings have provided conflicting results regarding clinical outcomes and mortality. We aimed to study three clinical outcomes – length of stay (LOS), in‐hospital mortality and 3‐month mortality – among delirious Thai older patients.MethodsA prospective observational study was carried out in a university hospital in Thailand. All patients aged older than 70 years admitted to general medical wards were included. Delirium assessments were undertaken within the first 24 h of admission and serially until discharge. Subsequent assessments were carried out at 3 months after discharge. Delirium was diagnosed based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders fourth edition criteria. Factors associated with mortality were determined by using logistic regression models.ResultsLOS was significantly longer in the delirium group (10 and 8 days, P = 0.001). Furthermore, the delirium group had higher in‐hospital and 3‐month mortality (P < 0.001). Factors significantly associated with in‐hospital mortality in multivariate analysis were age more than 80 years (AOR 2.74, 95% CI 1.05–7.15), malignancy (AOR 3.11, 95% CI 1.16–8.33), severe illness (AOR 3.75, 95% CI 1.38–10.20) and delirium (AOR 7.34, 95% CI 1.51–35.69). Delirium remained a strong predictor for 3‐month mortality in multivariate analysis with AOR of 3.33 (95% CI 1.45–7.62)ConclusionsDelirium was associated with prolonged hospital‐stay and was the strongest predictor for mortality among older hospitalized patients. It requires serious attention from physicians, healthcare administrators and policy makers to implement an appropriate management plan for this high‐burden issue. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2013; 13: 972–977.
Medication adherence: Is it a hidden drug‐related problem in hidden elderly?
Authors: Lee Vivian WY , Pang Kathy KW , Hui Ka Chun , Kwok Jennifer CK , Leung Siu Ling , Yu Doris Sau Fung , Lee Diana Tze Fan 
Published: March 2013

AimThe present study aimed to identify the health needs of the hidden elderly in Hong Kong, and to investigate the impacts of pharmacist and nursing interventions on medication management and well‐being in hidden elderly.MethodsParticipants were recruited by social workers if they were aged 65 years or older; did not have normal social life and network; did not have family support; and were not linked to the existing network of community support. Pharmacists identified drug‐related problems. The health needs of participants were assessed by observations and interviews. Outcome measurements were scores of Morisky 8‐item Medication Adherence Scale and EuroQoL (Quality of Life) 5‐D Questionnaire.ResultsA total of 93 participants were recruited and 86 participants completed the study. The mean age was 81.46 ± 5.70 years, the mean number of chronic disease was 3.29 ± 1.45 and the mean number of chronic medications was 6.36 ± 2.96. The most commonly observed chronic diseases were hypertension, cardiac problems, diabetes, hyperlipidemia and arthritis. Drug non‐adherence and storage problems were found in 61.63% and 69.77% of participants. The mean total EuroQoL score increased by 1.05 (P ≤ 0.001). The mean Morisky score decreased by 0.61, signifying improvement of medication adherence (P < 0.001). Female sex (P = 0.045), polypharmacy with more than nine concurrent medications (P = 0.013), arthritis (P = 0.006) and drug storage problems (P = 0.002) were identified as factors associated with poor medication adherence.ConclusionsThe majority of hidden elderly suffered from multiple chronic diseases, and the prevalence of drug‐related problems was high. Pharmacist and nursing interventions improved drug‐related problems, drug compliance and quality of life in hidden elderly. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2013; 13: 978–985.
Assessments of the extent to which health‐care providers involve patients in decision making: a systematic review of studies using the OPTION instrument
Authors: Couët Nicolas , Desroches Sophie , Robitaille Hubert , Vaillancourt Hugues , Leblanc Annie , Turcotte Stéphane , Elwyn Glyn , Légaré France 
Published: March 2013

AbstractBackgroundWe have no clear overview of the extent to which health‐care providers involve patients in the decision‐making process during consultations. The Observing Patient Involvement in Decision Making instrument (OPTION) was designed to assess this.ObjectiveTo systematically review studies that used the OPTION instrument to observe the extent to which health‐care providers involve patients in decision making across a range of clinical contexts, including different health professions and lengths of consultation.Search strategyWe conducted online literature searches in multiple databases (2001–12) and gathered further data through networking.Inclusion criteria(i) OPTION scores as reported outcomes and (ii) health‐care providers and patients as study participants. For analysis, we only included studies using the revised scale.Data extractionExtracted data included: (i) study and participant characteristics and (ii) OPTION outcomes (scores, statistical associations and reported psychometric results). We also assessed the quality of OPTION outcomes reporting.Main resultsWe found 33 eligible studies, 29 of which used the revised scale. Overall, we found low levels of patient‐involving behaviours: in cases where no intervention was used to implement shared decision making (SDM), the mean OPTION score was 23 ± 14 (0–100 scale). When assessed, the variables most consistently associated with higher OPTION scores were interventions to implement SDM (n = 8/9) and duration of consultations (n = 8/15).ConclusionsWhatever the clinical context, few health‐care providers consistently attempt to facilitate patient involvement, and even fewer adjust care to patient preferences. However, both SDM interventions and longer consultations could improve this.
A case of leukemia cutis presenting as histiocytoid Sweet’s syndrome
Authors: Zhenying Zhang , Xiaoming Liu , Yongjun Piao , Shixin Han 
Published: March 2013

AbstractBackground  Leukemia cutis (LC) represents a skin infiltration by leukemic cells. Clinically, it can mimic a wide variety of dermatoses.Methods  We report a case of LC presenting with a Sweet’s syndrome‐like eruption and a histiocytoid Sweet’s syndrome histologic manifestation.Results  This case may represent distinct and important cutaneous and histopathologic manifestations of LC.Conclusions  We believe that peripheral blood or bone marrow cytologic analysis is necessary in cases of LC to rule out the possibility of histiocytoid Sweet’s syndrome. Additional study is needed to further elucidate the relationship between LC and histiocytoid Sweet’s syndrome.