bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Geographic evidence for source–sink dynamics in deep‐sea neogastropods of the eastern North Atlantic: an approach using nested analysis
Authors: Brault Solange , Stuart Carol T. , Wagstaff Martine C. , Rex Michael A. 
Published: November 2012

AbstractAimWe conduct a nested analysis of bathymetric distributions in neogastropods to test the hypothesis that bathyal and abyssal populations represent a source–sink system. Abyssal assemblages are predicted to be significantly nested subsets of bathyal assemblages, and to be characterized by low density, which drives extinction, and a high incidence of species with larval dispersal for continued immigration to maintain diversity.LocationBathyal and abyssal regions of the eastern North Atlantic Ocean.MethodsWe used published indices of beta diversity to distinguish the components of species dissimilarity among sites that are caused by turnover and nestedness. We used BINMATNEST and its most conservative null model to test specifically for nestedness along a depth gradient.ResultsBoth turnover and nestedness affect beta diversity, but dissimilarity due to turnover predominates at depths of less than 3000 m, and dissimilarity due to nestedness at depths greater than 3000 m. Nestedness increases significantly down‐slope at depths greater than 1000 m. The rank order of nestedness is significantly predicted by macrofaunal density and by the proportion of neogastropod species with dispersing larvae.Main conclusionsBathymetric patterns of beta diversity in the deep‐sea benthos have been interpreted largely as a consequence of species turnover. Our results indicate that beta diversity in neogastropods is composed of two separate processes, turnover and nestedness, and that their relative importance changes with depth. Dissimilarity among sites due to nestedness, coupled with information on standing stock and life history, suggests that at least part of the abyssal neogastropod assemblage is maintained by source–sink dynamics.
Peri‐operative intravenous administration of magnesium sulphate and postoperative pain: a meta‐analysis
Authors: Albrecht E. , Kirkham K. R. , Liu S. S. , Brull R. 
Published: November 2012

SummaryIntravenous magnesium has been reported to improve postoperative pain; however, the evidence is inconsistent. The objective of this quantitative systematic review is to evaluate whether or not the peri‐operative administration of intravenous magnesium can reduce postoperative pain. Twenty‐five trials comparing magnesium with placebo were identified. Independent of the mode of administration (bolus or continuous infusion), peri‐operative magnesium reduced cumulative intravenous morphine consumption by 24.4% (mean difference: 7.6 mg, 95% CI −9.5 to −5.8 mg; p < 0.00001) at 24 h postoperatively. Numeric pain scores at rest and on movement at 24 h postoperatively were reduced by 4.2 (95% CI −6.3 to −2.1; p < 0.0001) and 9.2 (95% CI −16.1 to −2.3; p = 0.009) out of 100, respectively. We conclude that peri‐operative intravenous magnesium reduces opioid consumption, and to a lesser extent, pain scores, in the first 24 h postoperatively, without any reported serious adverse effects.
Broadening the translational immunology landscape
Authors: Peakman M 
Published: November 2012

SummaryIt is just over 5 years sinceClinical and Experimental Immunology came under the direction of a new team of Editors and made a concerted effort to refresh its approach to promoting clinical and applied immunology through its pages. There were two major objectives: to foster papers in a field which, at the time, we loosely termed ‘translational immunology’; and to create a forum for the presentation and discussion of immunology that is relevant to clinicians operating in this space. So, how are we doing with these endeavours? This brief paper aims to summarize some of the key learning points and successes and highlight areas in which translational gaps remain.
Human and climate influences on frequent fire in a high‐elevation tropical forest
Authors: Yocom Larissa L. , Fulé Peter Z. 
Published: November 2012

SummarySurface fire has increasingly been regarded as a critical threat to tropical forests, but much of the research documenting degradation of tropical forests by fire comes from the low‐elevation humid tropics. Fire in high‐elevation tropical forests has received less research attention, but these forests are of high conservation value because they support unique ecosystems, which are often isolated due to their restriction to widely separated peaks.We investigated the frequency and ecological impact of fire on a high‐elevation tropical forest ofPinus hartwegiiinPico deOrizabaNationalPark in centralMexico. This forest was previously thought to have been degraded by excessive human‐caused fires. We assessed human‐caused changes to the fire regime as well as the impact of climate on fire occurrence, both previously undocumented in this region.We found no increase in fire frequency or evidence of degradation of the forest. We found that the forest was uneven‐aged and contained many large and old trees (maximum age 483 years). In the twentieth century, the forest experienced a frequent surface fire regime, with fires scarring trees in 90 of 100 years. However, most fires were small and asynchronous among sites. Inter‐annual climatic variability was not an influential driver of fire, andElNiño–SouthernOscillation was not significantly related to the occurrence of widespread fire.Synthesis and applications. Our results show that this high‐elevation tropical forest has not been degraded but has existed with frequent fires for at least a century. A trend in the 21st century towards less‐frequent fire could be cause for concern, as a decrease in fire frequency could lead to an increase in tree density and a loss of resilience in the face of climate change and other future disturbance. We recommend that managers take into account historical fire regimes in their local areas: frequent surface fires in the case ofPico deOrizaba. It is important to recognize that although fire can be detrimental in many low‐elevation tropical forests, it is an integral part of this high‐elevation tropical forest ecosystem, and other high‐elevation forests may show similar patterns.
Markers of systemic inflammation in delayed pressure urticaria
Authors: Kasperska‐Zajac Alicja , Jasinska Tatiana , Grzanka Alicja , Kowalik‐Sztylc Agata 
Published: November 2012

AbstractBackground  We have previously reported, increased plasma IL‐6 concentration in chronic urticaria. In addition, it has been suggested that IL‐6 and C‐reactive protein (CRP) may be useful markers of the disease activity.Aim  The aim of this study was to evaluate whether a systemic inflammation is present in delayed pressure urticaria (DPU).Methods  Plasma IL‐6 and serum CRP concentrations, biomarkers of acute phase response, were measured in DPU, and the healthy subjects matched by age, gender, and BMI using ELISA method.Results  DPU patients showed significantly higher plasma IL‐6 and serum CRP concentrations than the healthy subjects.Conclusions  Similarly to the known locally increased IL‐6 activity in DPU lesions, the elevated circulating levels of IL‐6 and CRP have been currently found in DPU. This indicates that the disease induces a systemic inflammatory process, termed the acute phase response.
Efficacy and safety of a WallFlex enteral stent for malignant gastric obstruction
Authors: Kanno Yoshihide , Ito Kei , Fujita Naotaka , Noda Yutaka , Kobayashi Go , Horaguchi Jun , Koshita Shinsuke , Ogawa Takahisa , Masu Kaori , Hirasawa Dai , Sugawara Toshiki , Koike Yoshiki , Hashimoto Shinichi , Ishii Syoutarou 
Published: November 2012

AimThe aim of the present study was to investigate the efficacy and safety of a newly available enteral WallFlex stent for malignant gastric outlet obstruction (GOO).MethodsTwenty‐one consecutive patients with symptomatic (unable to take solids) malignant GOO treated by a WallFlex stent from April 2010 to February 2012 were included and analyzed retrospectively. Main outcome measurements were technical success, early complications, clinical response (elimination of the need for nasogastric tube drainage), clinical success (improvement of oral intake to a GOO score of 2 or 3), and duration of sustaining a GOO score of 2 or 3 after clinical success (median duration until reworsening of GOO score to <2 by the Kaplan–Meier method). A four‐point GOO scoring system (0–3) was used for estimation of oral intake.ResultsTechnical success rate was 100%. Bleeding and perforation after stent placement and stent dislocation/migration in the follow‐up period did not occur in any patients, whereas one patient (5%) developed moderate post‐procedural pancreatitis. Clinical response and clinical success was achieved in all patients and in 81% (17/21), respectively. In 17 patients whose GOO score had improved to 2 or 3 after stent placement, eight (47%) developed reworsening of the GOO score to <2 with a median time of 148 days (95% confidence interval [CI], 0–328; Kaplan–Meier method). Median survival time after the initial intervention was 61 days (95% CI, 40–82).ConclusionPlacement of an enteral WallFlex stent in patients with malignant GOO is safe and effective.
Healthcare context and nursing workforce in a main city of Angola
Authors: Costa Mendes I.A. , Marchi‐Alves L.M. , Mazzo A. , Nogueira M.S. , Trevizan M.A. , de Godoy S. , Bistafa Pereira M.J. , Leonardo de Oliveira Gaioli C.C. , Arena Ventura C.A. 
Published: November 2012

BackgroundAngola is one of the largest African countries with continuing levels of insecurity, considerable weakness in terms of respect for human rights, destroyed infrastructure and low transparency and social accountability levels. The health system displays gaps and nursing represents the main contingent among human resources in health.AimThis research aims to understand the healthcare context in Angola from the perspective of Brazilian nurses who were involved in helping their Angolan colleagues. This general view of health services is followed by a description of nursing workforce particularities at a tertiary health service in the province of Luanda.MethodsData were extracted from the database of the Global Network of World Health Organization Collaborating Centres for Nursing and Midwifery Development, constructed based on technical visits to Angola in 2009. Information related to health service characteristics was used, focusing on nursing human resource activities at two tertiary, one secondary and one primary health institutions located in the province of Luanda. The study data were analysed through descriptive statistics.FindingsAmong the problems the nursing workforce faces, the lack of human, material and financial resources stands out, as well as insufficient professional qualification, excessive work journeys, low remunerations, non‐valuation of professionals, leading to unsatisfactory work environments and discouraged human resources.ConclusionsNursing in Angola is conquering its professional space. Therefore, regulatory policies are fundamental, defining the rights and obligations of all categories involved, with a view to determining nurses' function in the health team, including respect for and acknowledgement of their role in the community.
The effect of obesity on polycystic ovary syndrome: a systematic review and meta‐analysis
Authors: Lim S. S. , Norman R. J. , Davies M. J. , Moran L. J. 
Published: November 2012

SummaryWhile many women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) are overweight, obese or centrally obese, the effect of excess weight on the outcomes of PCOS is inconsistent. The review aimed to assess the effects of overweight, obesity and central obesity on the reproductive, metabolic and psychological features of PCOS. MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) and PSYCINFO were searched for studies reporting outcomes according to body mass index categories or body fat distribution. Data were presented as mean difference or risk ratio (95% confidence interval). This review included 30 eligible studies. Overweight or obese women with PCOS had decreased sex hormone‐binding globulin (SHBG), increased total testosterone, free androgen index, hirsutism, fasting glucose, fasting insulin, homeostatic model assessment‐insulin resistance index and worsened lipid profile. Obesity significantly worsened all metabolic and reproductive outcomes measured except for hirsutism when compared to normal weight women with PCOS. Overweight women had no differences in total testosterone, hirsutism, total‐cholesterol and low‐density lipoprotein‐cholesterol compared to normal weight women and no differences in SHBG and total testosterone compared to obese women. Central obesity was associated with higher fasting insulin levels. These results suggest that prevention and treatment of obesity is important for the management of PCOS.
Characterizing the EPODE logic model: unravelling the past and informing the future
Authors: Van Koperen T. M. , Jebb S. A. , Summerbell C. D. , Visscher T. L. S. , Romon M. , Borys J. M. , Seidell J. C. 
Published: November 2012

SummaryEPODE (‘Ensemble Prévenons l'Obésité De Enfants’ or ‘Together let's Prevent Childhood Obesity’) is a large‐scale, centrally coordinated, capacity‐building approach for communities to implement effective and sustainable strategies to prevent childhood obesity. Since 2004, EPODE has been implemented in over 500 communities in six countries. Although based on emergent practice and scientific knowledge, EPODE, as many community programs, lacks a logic model depicting key elements of the approach. The objective of this study is to gain insight in the dynamics and key elements of EPODE and to represent these in a schematic logic model. EPODE's process manuals and documents were collected and interviews were held with professionals involved in the planning and delivery of EPODE. Retrieved data were coded, themed and placed in a four‐level logic model. With input from international experts, this model was scaled down to a concise logic model covering four critical components: political commitment, public and private partnerships, social marketing and evaluation. The EPODE logic model presented here can be used as a reference for future and follow‐up research; to support future implementation of EPODE in communities; as a tool in the engagement of stakeholders; and to guide the construction of a locally tailored evaluation plan.
ARE LONG‐TERM INFLATION EXPECTATIONS WELL‐ANCHORED? EVIDENCE FROM THE EURO AREA AND THE UNITED STATES
Authors: Tsenova Tsvetomira 
Published: November 2012

ABSTRACTThis paper analyses the stability of long‐term inflation expectations and uncertainty, based on their sensitivity to innovations to observed inflation, short‐ and medium‐term forecast news. News is defined in a subjective sense and derived from revisions to shorter‐term fixed‐target forecasts. The assessment tests for presence of non‐linear effects, including regime changes during disinflation in the USA in the 1990s and the recent financial crisis. Stability is also investigated in terms of level evolution, based on a structural non‐linear and non‐Gaussian learning model to uncover the presence of a common trend underlying the long‐term dynamics of inflation, individual expectations, and uncertainty.
Functional foods and the biomedicalisation of everyday life: a case of germinated brown rice
Authors: Kim Hyomin 
Published: November 2012

AbstractGerminated brown rice (GBR) is a functional food, whose benefits for chronic diseases have been demonstrated by scientific research on a single constituent of GBR, gamma aminobutyric acid. This article examines the processes through which the emphasis on biomedical rationality made during the production and consumption of functional foods is embedded in the complicated social contexts of the post‐1990s. In the case of GBR, the Korean government, food scientists, mass media and consumers have added cultural accounts to the biomedical understanding of foods. In particular, consumers have transformed their households and online communities into a place for surveillance medicine. Functional foods are embedded in multiple actors’ perspectives on what healthy foods mean and how and where the risks of chronic diseases should be managed.
Which Method Predicts Recidivism Best?: A Comparison of Statistical, Machine Learning and Data Mining Predictive Models
Authors: Tollenaar N. , van der Heijden P. G. M. 
Published: November 2012

SummaryUsing criminal population conviction histories of recent offenders, prediction mod els are developed that predict three types of criminal recidivism: general recidivism, violent recidivism and sexual recidivism. The research question is whether prediction techniques from modern statistics, data mining and machine learning provide an improvement in predictive performance over classical statistical methods, namely logistic regression and linear discrim inant analysis. These models are compared on a large selection of performance measures. Results indicate that classical methods do equally well as or better than their modern counterparts. The predictive performance of the various techniques differs only slightly for general and violent recidivism, whereas differences are larger for sexual recidivism. For the general and violent recidivism data we present the results of logistic regression and for sexual recidivism of linear discriminant analysis.
Ratings and Rankings: Voodoo or Science?
Authors: Paruolo Paolo , Saisana Michaela , Saltelli Andrea 
Published: November 2012

SummaryComposite indicators aggregate a set of variables by using weights which are understood to reflect the variables’ importance in the index. We propose to measure the importance of a given variable within existing composite indicators via Karl Pearson’s ‘correlation ratio’; we call this measure the ‘main effect’. Because socio-economic variables are heteroscedastic and correlated, relative nominal weights are hardly ever found to match relative main effects; we propose to summarize their discrepancy with a divergence measure. We discuss to what extent the mapping from nominal weights to main effects can be inverted. This analysis is applied to six composite indicators, including the human development index and two popular league tables of university performance. It is found that in many cases the declared importance of single indicators and their main effect are very different, and that the data correlation structure often prevents developers from obtaining the stated importance, even when modifying the nominal weights in the set of non-negative numbers with unit sum.
Social Stratification and Out-of-School Learning
Authors: Andersson Christian , Johansson Per 
Published: November 2012

SummaryTo study the effects of out-of-school learning we use data on children who stayed in boarding houses while attending public elementary schools in Sweden in the 1940s. The out-of-school environment at the boarding houses could be considered as being more conducive to learning than the home environment: the pupils at the boarding houses had daily scheduled time for doing their homework with the assistance of a junior school teacher and, in addition, they had access to a small library. The placement at boarding houses was based on the distance from their place of residence to the nearest school and thus had no direct connection to the pupils’ skills, which simplifies the empirical analysis based on register data. We find that the more conducive learning environment equalized skills at school leaving age, and the effect was greater for children with poor initial ability.
Giant eucalypts – globally unique fire‐adapted rain‐forest trees?
Authors: Tng D. Y. P. , Williamson G. J. , Jordan G. J. , Bowman D. M. J. S. 
Published: November 2012

SummaryTree species exceeding 70 m in height are rare globally. Giant gymnosperms are concentrated near the Pacific coast of theUSA, while the tallest angiosperms are eucalypts (Eucalyptusspp.) in southern and eastern Australia. Giant eucalypts co‐occur with rain‐forest trees in eastern Australia, creating unique vegetation communities comprising fire‐dependent trees above fire‐intolerant rain‐forest. However, giant eucalypts can also tower over shrubby understoreys (e.g. in Western Australia). The local abundance of giant eucalypts is controlled by interactions between fire activity and landscape setting. Giant eucalypts have features that increase flammability (e.g. oil‐rich foliage and open crowns) relative to other rain‐forest trees but it is debatable if these features are adaptations. Probable drivers of eucalypt gigantism are intense intra‐specific competition following severe fires, and inter‐specific competition among adult trees. However, we suggest that this was made possible by a general capacity of eucalypts for ‘hyper‐emergence’. We argue that, because giant eucalypts occur in rain‐forest climates and share traits with rain‐forest pioneers, they should be regarded as long‐lived rain‐forest pioneers, albeit with a particular dependence on fire for regeneration. These unique ecosystems are of high conservation value, following substantial clearing and logging over 150 yr.ContentsSummary1001I.Introduction1001II.Giant eucalypts in a global context1002III.Giant eucalypts – taxonomy and distribution1004IV.Growth of giant eucalypts1006V.Fire and regeneration of giant eucalypts1008VI.Are giant eucalypts different from other rain‐forest trees?1009VII.Conclusions1010Acknowledgements1011References1011
Postnatal outcome in neonates with severe Rhesus c compared to Rhesus D hemolytic disease
Authors: Rath Mirjam E.A. , Smits‐Wintjens Vivianne E.H.J. , Lindenburg Irene T.M. , Folman Claudia C. , Brand Anneke , van Kamp Inge L. , Oepkes Dick , Walther Frans J. , Lopriore Enrico 
Published: November 2012

BackgroundNeonates with Rhesus c (Rh c) hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn (HDFN) are often managed in the same way as neonates with Rhesus D (Rh D) HDFN, although evidence to support this policy is limited. The objective of this study was to evaluate neonatal outcome in severe Rh c HDFN compared to Rh D HDFN.Study Design and MethodsA retrospective study of (near‐)term neonates with severe Rh c (n = 22) and Rh D HDFN (n = 103; without additional antibodies) admitted to the Leiden University Medical Center between January 2000 and October 2011 was conducted. The need for intrauterine transfusions (IUTs), phototherapy, exchange transfusions (ETs), and top‐up transfusions up to 3 months of age were recorded and compared between both groups.ResultsAlthough there was a trend for a slightly more severe antenatal course for Rh D HDFN reflected by an earlier need for and higher number of IUTs (median [interquartile range], 2 [1.5‐4] vs. 2 [1‐2] in Rh c HDFN; p = 0.070), no significant differences were found for the postnatal course between Rh c and Rh D group in days of phototherapy (mean, Days 4.8 and 4.6, respectively; p = 0.569), need for ET (50% vs. 44%, respectively; p = 0.589), and top‐up transfusions (62% vs. 78%, respectively; p = 0.128).ConclusionPostnatal outcome in neonates with severe Rh c HDFN is similar compared to neonates with severe Rh D hemolytic disease in terms of days of phototherapy, need for ET, and need for top‐up transfusions. These results justify a similar postnatal management of neonates with Rh D and Rh c HDFN.