bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The profile of absconding psychiatric inpatients in Australia
Authors: Muir‐Cochrane Eimear , Mosel Krista , Gerace Adam , Esterman Adrian , Bowers Len 
Published: February 2011

Aims and objectives.  The purpose of this study was to examine absconding behaviour (a patient leaving the hospital without permission) in acute and rehabilitation wards of one Australian psychiatric institution to describe the characteristics of the absconding patient and these events.Background.  Absconding is a significant issue in psychiatric inpatient settings, with risks that include patient harm, aggression and violence. In spite of this, limited research has been conducted in Australia on patients who abscond while receiving psychiatric care.Design.  The study was a retrospective descriptive analysis.Method.  Absconding events from three acute and seven rehabilitation wards over a 12‐month period were studied.Results.  The rate of absconding events by detained patients was 20·82%. Gender was not significantly associated with absconding, although 61·19% of those who absconded were men diagnosed with schizophrenic disorders. Over half of acute care patients who absconded left during their first 21‐day detention order. More than half of absconding events were by patients that absconded more than once. There was limited support for the efficacy of locking ward doors. Age and diagnosis emerged as particularly important factors to consider.Discussion.  The study revealed that men are not more likely to abscond than women, that locking ward doors does not deter the determined absconders and that once a person has absconded, they are more likely to do so again. Younger patients and those with a schizophrenic disorder may be particularly likely to abscond. There also appears to be a link between continuing detention orders and an absconding event.Conclusions.  Findings provide new data about the profile of absconding patients in Australia. Exploration of the reasons why patients abscond and why many do so repeatedly warrants further investigation.Relevance to clinical practice.  Risk management approaches taking into account factors associated with absconding could be trialled to reduce the incidence of absconding in psychiatric inpatient settings.
A cross‐sectional study on nurses’ oral care practice for mechanically ventilated patients in Malaysia
Authors: Soh Kim Lam , Soh Kim Geok , Japar Salimah , Raman Rosna A , Davidson Patricia M 
Published: February 2011

Aims and objectives.  This study sought to determine the strategies, methods and frequency of oral care provided for mechanically ventilated patients in Malaysian intensive care units. The study also described nurses’ attitudes to providing oral care and their knowledge of the mode of transmission of ventilator‐associated pneumonia.Background.  Oral care is an important nursing intervention in the intensive care unit to reduce dental plaque. Dental plaque provides a repository for respiratory pathogens contributing to ventilator‐associated pneumonia in the critically ill.Design.  Cross‐sectional study.Methods.  This study used both survey and observational methods. The observational study was conducted by a nurse, trained in the study protocol. The observation period a selected shift over three weeks in 2007.Findings.  Intensive care unit nurses (n = 284) participated in the survey. Respondents had a positive attitude towards providing oral care. On a 10‐point Likert scale, aspiration of contaminated secretions from the oropharynx was identified by nurses as the highest risk factor for ventilator‐associated pneumonia (mean response 6·8, SD 2·0). The majority of nurses used cotton and forceps for oral care. Toothbrushes were not used in any of the study sites.Conclusions.  Although nurses had a positive attitude to oral hygiene, this study found no intensive care units incorporated a soft toothbrush in oral care protocols which is recommended in best practice guidelines. A review of strategies to implement evidence‐based practice in the intensive care unit is warranted.Relevance to clinical practice.  This study has identified a failure to adhere with evidence‐based practice. Implementing and evaluating protocols for oral hygiene in the intensive care unit has the potential to improve patient outcomes.
Antibiotic‐induced ribosomal assembly defects result from changes in the synthesis of ribosomal proteins
Authors: Siibak Triinu , Peil Lauri , Dönhöfer Alexandra , Tats Age , Remm Maido , Wilson Daniel N. , Tenson Tanel , Remme Jaanus 
Published: February 2011

SummaryInhibitors of protein synthesis cause defects in the assembly of ribosomal subunits. In response to treatment with the antibiotics erythromycin or chloramphenicol, precursors of both large and small ribosomal subunits accumulate. We have used a pulse‐labelling approach to demonstrate that the accumulating subribosomal particles maturate into functional 70S ribosomes. The protein content of the precursor particles is heterogeneous and does not correspond with known assembly intermediates. Mass spectrometry indicates that production of ribosomal proteins in the presence of the antibiotics correlates with the amounts of the individual ribosomal proteins within the precursor particles. Thus, treatment of cells with chloramphenicol or erythromycin leads to an unbalanced synthesis of ribosomal proteins, providing the explanation for formation of assembly‐defective particles. The operons for ribosomal proteins show a characteristic pattern of antibiotic inhibition where synthesis of the first proteins is inhibited weakly but gradually increases for the subsequent proteins in the operon. This phenomenon most likely reflects translational coupling and allows us to identify other putative coupled non‐ribosomal operons in the Escherichia coli chromosome.
Calcineurin is required for Leishmania major stress response pathways and for virulence in the mammalian host
Authors: Naderer Thomas , Dandash Orwa , McConville Malcolm J. 
Published: February 2011

Summary Leishmania parasites must adapt to elevated temperatures and other environmental stresses during infection of their mammalian hosts. How these environmental cues are sensed is poorly understood. In this study we show that calcium uptake is required for parasite thermotolerance at 34–37°C. To identify potential downstream targets of calcium influx, a Leishmania major mutant lacking the essential regulatory subunit (CnB) of the Ca2+/calmodulin‐dependent serine/threonine‐specific phosphatase, calcineurin, was generated. The Δcnb mutant grew as well as wild‐type parasites at 27°C and differentiated normally to infective metacyclic promastigotes. However, Δcnb parasites lost viability when exposed to increased temperature (34°C) and were hypersensitive to endoplasmic reticulum and membrane stress, induced by tunicamycin and inhibitors of sterol and sphingolipid biosynthesis respectively. Δcnb promastigotes were internalized by macrophages, but their differentiation to the heat adapted amastigote stage was delayed and the resulting parasites failed to proliferate. Strikingly, the Δcnb parasites were completely cleared by susceptible BALB/c mice. Complementation of Δcnb parasites with CnB restored thermotolerance and infectivity in both macrophages and animal models. Our results suggest that Ca2+ influx and calcineurin signalling are required for both early and long‐term adaptive parasite responses to environmental stresses encountered in the mammalian host.
Is most hummocky cross‐stratification formed by large‐scale ripples?
Authors: QUIN JAMIE G. 
Published: February 2011

AbstractAlthough normal isotropic hummocky cross‐stratification is commonly interpreted to be the deposit of large‐scale ripples, there are many reasons why this may not usually be the case. These reasons include: (i) that the stratification produced by large‐scale ripples does not particularly look like isotropic hummocky cross‐stratification; (ii) that it is difficult reconciling the abundance of HCS with the restricted hydraulic stability of large‐scale ripples in silt to fine sand (i.e. the grain sizes in which hummocky cross‐stratification is usually found); (iii) that the distribution of hummocky cross‐stratification within ancient storm beds is not the distribution that would be expected from large‐scale ripples; (iv) that the flows calculated to have formed ancient examples of hummocky cross‐stratification would be expected to generate an upper stage plane bed rather than ripples; and (v) that it is difficult to explain why large‐scale ripples would predominate in the proximal parts of storm beds when modern storm flows commonly exceed the threshold for entrainment. In contrast to the various hypotheses which propose that isotropic hummocky cross‐stratification is generated by ripples, an alternative hypothesis which suggests that it is generated by instabilities, does seem to adequately explain the origin of hummocky cross‐stratification. However, it is difficult to accept this hypothesis given that the origin of the proposed instabilities is unproven. These conclusions highlight the continued uncertainty regarding the process, which generates hummocky cross‐stratification.
Apogean–perigean signals encoded in tidal flats at the fluvio–estuarine transition of Glacier Creek, Turnagain Arm, Alaska; implications for ancient tidal rhythmites
Authors: GREB STEPHEN F. , ARCHER ALLEN W. , DEBOER DARRON G. 
Published: February 2011

AbstractTurnagain Arm is a macrotidal fjord‐style estuary. Glacier Creek is a small, glacially fed stream which enters the estuary tangentially near Girdwood, Alaska. Trenches and daily sedimentation measurements were made in a mudflat along the fluvio–estuarine transition of Glacier Creek during several summers since 2003. Each year, the flats appear to erode during the winter and then accrete vertically in the spring and summer. In each of the years studied, tidal laminae in vertically thickening and thinning laminae bundles were deposited by twice daily tides in neap–spring tidal cycles. In 2004, bundles of thickening and thinning laminae couplets were noted in trenches cut into the flats. Five laminae bundles alternated between thicker and thinner bundles, corresponding to the perigean (high spring) and apogean (low spring) tides. Well‐preserved apogean–perigean cycles have rarely been documented in modern tidal flat sediments. At this location, vertical accretion of tidal rhythmites with well‐developed neap–spring cyclicity is possible because of the near‐complete removal of the flat from the previous year, which creates accommodation space for vertical accretion without significant reworking. Macrotidal conditions, no reworking by infaunal invertebrates, protection from the main tidal channel by a gravel bar and protection from storm waves and fluvial erosion by a recess in the sedge marsh that surrounds the flats all aid in preservation of rhythmites during aggradation. The position of the flats relative to tidal range allows for accumulation of complete spring cycles and incomplete neap cycles. In the summer of 2004, apogee and perigee were closely aligned with the new and full moons, resulting in successive strong perigee and apogee tides which probably aided in the accumulation of successive thick–thin spring cycles encoding the apogean and perigean tidal cycle. The apogean–perigean signal was not observed in subsequent years.
Drowning of a carbonate platform as a precursor stage of the Early Toarcian global anoxic event (Southern Provence sub‐Basin, South‐east France)
Authors: LÉONIDE PHILIPPE , FLOQUET MARC , DURLET CHRISTOPHE , BAUDIN FRANÇOIS , PITTET BERNARD , LÉCUYER CHRISTOPHE 
Published: February 2011

AbstractThe Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event is well‐known as coinciding with a carbonate crisis, coupled with organic matter accumulation and perturbation of the carbon cycle expressed by carbon‐isotope excursions. In this palaeoenvironmental setting, the present research attempts to better constrain the palaeoenvironmental conditions leading to the drowning of a carbonate platform during Late Pliensbachian to Early Toarcian times. This study is based on the integrated sedimentological, diagenetic and geochemical (stable isotopes and Rock‐Eval pyrolysis) analysis of several stratigraphic successions located in the Southern Provence sub‐Basin (South‐east France). Eodiagenetic ferroan calcite cements below two hardground surfaces at the Pliensbachian–Toarcian transition record episodic eutrophication events. Such events were precursor stages of a global palaeoenvironmental perturbation (i.e. a global carbon cycle perturbation) that led to the demise of the carbonate platform and occurred prior to the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event. Subsequently, the acme of the palaeoenvironmental deterioration that coincided with the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event is recorded by a pronounced negative carbon‐isotope excursion (−3‰) followed by a positive one (2·87‰), organic matter preservation and inferred high temperature of surface sea water (ca 25°C) as given by oxygen‐isotope values from chondrichthyan tooth enamel. Sedimentological comparisons, as well as chemostratigraphic and biostratigraphical correlations between the Early Toarcian sedimentary series of the Southern Provence and Eastern Dauphinois sub‐basins, indicate that tectonic tilting occurred earlier in the Southern Provence sub‐Basin; this resulted in the preservation of organic‐rich deposits in the first sub‐basin and depositional hiatus in the second sub‐basin. Thus, local conditions, such as contrasting structural setting, could markedly modify the sedimentary signature of a global climatic event.
Factors associated with patient and health care system delay in diagnosis and treatment for TB in sub‐Saharan African countries with high burdens of TB and HIV
Authors: Finnie Ramona K. C. , Khoza Lunic Base , van den Borne Bart , Mabunda Tiyane , Abotchie Peter , Mullen Patricia D. 
Published: February 2011

SummaryObjective To identify factors causing delayed diagnosis and treatment for tuberculosis in high tuberculosis (TB)/HIV burden African countries.Methods We searched Ovid Medline, CINAHL, PsychInfo, Scopus and Sabinet–South African journals and reference lists, Google, Google Scholar and Google SA for reports in English, ≥1992, of original data from sub‐Saharan countries on patient or system delay in TB diagnosis or treatment with populations ≥15 years old. Two reviewers extracted data independently for each study. We categorized independent variables as predisposing, enabling or reinforcing (PRECEDE model). Meta‐analysis was conducted for factors associated with delay in ≥2 studies.Results Of 20 eligible studies, 12 assessed both sources of delay; 1, system delay; and 7, patient delay only. Most were cross‐sectional surveys (k = 13) with samples of consecutive patients (k = 13) and bivariate analyses (k = 11). Starting and endpoints for patient delay were consistent, but not system delay. Patient characteristics were studied frequently; HIV stigma and enabling factors were studied infrequently, although the last were most often associated with delay. Consulting traditional healers first – usually by rural residents – consistently led to patient delay; OR = 3.45 (1.91–6.21). Travel time for the return visit was consistently associated with system delay OR = 1.87 (1.378–2.531).Conclusions We recommend partnerships with traditional healers and research emphasizing HIV and system factors, standard definitions of delay and qualitative and cohort studies to identify enabling and reinforcing factors related to delay.
Risk factors for non‐communicable diseases among older adults in rural Africa
Authors: Negin Joel , Cumming Robert , de Ramirez Sarah Stewart , Abimbola Seye , Sachs Sonia Ehrlich 
Published: February 2011

SummaryObjective  To expand the evidence base on the prevalence of non‐communicable disease (NCD) risk factors in rural Africa, in particular among older adults aged 50 and older.Methods  Cross‐sectional study in three rural sites in Malawi, Rwanda and Tanzania. One person was interviewed from each of 665 households selected through a stratified random sampling procedure across the three sites. The questionnaire included socio‐demographic characteristics, smoking and alcohol intake as well as a food frequency questionnaire.Results  Smoking rates among older men and women were higher than among adults under 50. While only 2.3% of women under 50 were current smokers, 21.0% of older women smoked (P < 0.0001). Among men, 19.0% of men under 50 smoked versus 36.6% of older men (P = 0.001). Alcohol consumption among older women aged 50 and older (45.0%) was more common (P = 0.005) than among women under 50 (27.6%). Examining a set of five risk factors, more men aged 50 and older (49.5%) had two or more risk factors than men under 50 (25.5%) (P < 0.0001). Similarly, 52.0% of women aged 50 and older had two or more risk factors, versus 24.1% of women under 50 (P < 0.0001).Conclusion  Contrary to what is seen in developed country settings, this study reveals high rates of smoking and alcohol consumption among men and women aged 50 years and older in rural Africa that puts them at risk of NCDs. The health of older adults in rural Africa has been neglected, and these findings highlight the importance of reaching out to older adults with messaging regarding diet, smoking, alcohol use and general health.
Tracking progress towards safe motherhood: meeting the benchmark yet missing the goal? An appeal for better use of health‐system output indicators with evidence from Zambia and Sri Lanka
Authors: Gabrysch Sabine , Zanger Philipp , Seneviratne Harshalal R. , Mbewe Reuben , Campbell Oona M. R. 
Published: February 2011

SummaryObjectives  Indicators of health‐system outputs, such as Emergency Obstetric Care (EmOC) density, have been proposed for monitoring progress towards reducing maternal mortality, but are currently underused. We seek to promote them by demonstrating their use at subnational level, evaluating whether they differentiate between a high‐maternal‐mortality country (Zambia) and a low‐maternal‐mortality country (Sri Lanka) and assessing whether benchmarks are set at the right level.Methods  We compared national and subnational density of health facilities, EmOC facilities and health professionals against current benchmarks for Zambia and Sri Lanka. For Zambia, we also examined geographical accessibility by linking health facility data to population data.Results  Both countries performed similarly in terms of EmOC facility density, implying this indicator, as currently used, fails to discriminate between high‐ and low‐maternal‐mortality settings. In Zambia, the WHO benchmarks for doctors/midwives were met overall, but distribution between provinces was highly unequal. Sri Lanka overshot the suggested benchmarks by three times for midwives and over 30 times for doctors. Geographical access in Zambia – which is much less densely populated than Sri Lanka – was poor, less than half the population lived within 15 km of an EmOC facility.Conclusions  Current health‐system output indicators and benchmarks on EmOC need revision to enhance discriminatory power and should be adapted for different population densities. Subnational disaggregation and assessing geographical access can identify gaps in EmOC provision and should be routinely considered. Increased use of an improved set of output indicators is crucial for guiding international efforts towards reducing maternal mortality.
Species richness and evenness as a function of biomass in arable plant communities
Authors: POGGIO S L , GHERSA C M 
Published: February 2011

Poggio SL & Ghersa CM (2011). Species richness and evenness as a function of biomass in arable plant communities. Weed Research51, 241–249.SummaryWe evaluated the hypothesis that competitive dominants change the species richness and evenness of arable plant communities. Three field experiments including cool‐season crops and unsown short fallows were carried out in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Ground cover, biomass and species richness of crops and weeds were assessed. Evenness was calculated by using species biomass data. Richness and evenness were correlated with total community biomass, and with the biomass of either weeds or the dominant species in the community. Crops, through growth and shading effects, affected the species richness and evenness of arable plant communities. Conversely, the dominant weed in fallows was not as suppressive as crops. Species richness and evenness were constrained by community biomass. Species richness of understory weeds decreased as crops suppressed weed growth. Evenness also decreased as the dominant species became increasingly productive, regardless of their identity (weeds or crops). Our findings provide valuable models to characterise the trajectories that species richness and evenness may follow in different farming scenarios. Community biomass is a major constraint on the maximum diversity of local communities and, consequently, of substantial ecological importance for both biodiversity conservation and weed management purposes.
Inhibitory effects of albuterol and fenoterol on RANTES and IP‐10 expression in bronchial epithelial cells
Authors: Lam Ka‐Pan , Chu Yu‐Te , Lee Min‐Sheng , Chen Huan‐Nan , Wang Wei‐Li , Tok Teck‐Siang , Chin Yow‐Yue , Chen Solomon Chih‐Cheng , Kuo Chang‐Hung , Hung Chih‐Hsing 
Published: February 2011

To cite this article: Lam KP, Chu YT, Lee MS, Chen HN, Wang WL, Tok TS, Chin YY, Chen SC, Kuo CH, and Hung CH. Inhibitory Effects of Albuterol and Fenoterol on RANTES and IP‐10 Expression in Bronchial Epithelial Cells. Pediatric Allergy Immunology 2011; 22: 431–439.AbstractShort‐acting β2‐adrenoreceptor agonist (SABA) is the major asthma reliever as indicated in the GINA guidelines. Regulated on activation, normal T expressed and secreted (RANTES) is a chemokine that attracts eosinophils, mast cells, and basophils toward site of allergic inflammation. Interferon γ‐inducible protein (IP)‐10 is a Th1‐related chemokine that is also important in asthmatic inflammation and also involved in our immune defense against pathogens. Bronchial epithelial cells are first‐line barrier against invasive pathogen and also have immunomodulatory function. However, whether albuterol and fenoterol (two SABAs) have modulatory effects on RANTES and IP‐10 expression in bronchial epithelial cells is unknown. The human bronchial epithelial cell lines, BEAS‐2B cells, were pre‐treated with different concentrations of albuterol, fenoterol or dibutyryl‐cAMP (a cyclic AMP analog) before polyinosinic‐polycytidylic acid (poly I:C) stimulation. In some condition, BEAS‐2B cells were pre‐treated with ICI‐118551, a selective β2‐adrenoreceptor antagonist, 30 min before albuterol or fenoterol treatment. The levels of RANTES and IP‐10 were measured by ELISA. Intracellular signaling was investigated using cAMP assay, mitogen‐activated protein kinase (MAPK) inhibitor, nuclear factor (NF)‐κB inhibitor, and western blot. Albuterol and fenoterol suppressed poly I:C‐induced RANTES and IP‐10 expression of BEAS‐2B cells. ICI‐118551 could partly reverse the suppressive effects of albuterol and fenoterol on RANTES and IP‐10 expression. Albuterol and fenoterol increased intracellular cAMP levels. Dibutyryl‐cAMP conferred the similar effects of albuterol and fenoterol. Western blot revealed that albuterol suppressed p‐ERK, p‐JNK and pp38, and also their associated kinase expression. Albuterol had no effect on pp65 expression. Albuterol and fenoterol could suppress poly I:C‐induced RANTES and IP‐10 expression in human bronchial epithelial cells via at least partly the β2‐adrenoreceptor‐cAMP and the MAPK pathways, implicating that albuterol and fenoterol could exert anti‐inflammatory effect and benefit asthmatic patients by suppressing RANTES and IP‐10 expression. However, these suppressive effects of albuterol and fenoterol may inhibit the defense against viral infection.