bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide exchanges in an age‐sequence of temperate pine forests
Authors: PEICHL MATTHIAS , ARAIN M. ALTAF , ULLAH SAMI , MOORE TIM R. 
Published: September 2009

AbstractWe investigated soil carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O) exchanges in an age‐sequence (4, 17, 32, 67 years old) of eastern white pine (Pinus strobus L.) forests in southern Ontario, Canada, for the period of mid‐April to mid‐December in 2006 and 2007. For both CH4 and N2O, we observed uptake and emission ranging from −160 to 245 μg CH4 m−2 h−1 and −52 to 21 μg N2O m−2 h−1, respectively (negative values indicate uptake). Mean fluxes from mid‐April to mid‐December across the 4, 17, 32, 67 years old stands were similar for CO2 fluxes (259, 246, 220, and 250 mg CO2 m−2 h−1, respectively), without pattern for N2O fluxes (−3.7, 1.5, −2.2, and −7.6 μg N2O m−2 h−1, respectively), whereas the uptake rates of CH4 increased with stand age (6.4, −7.9, −10.8, and −23.3 μg CH4 m−2 h−1, respectively). For the same period, the combined contribution of CH4 and N2O exchanges to the global warming potential (GWP) calculated from net ecosystem exchange of CO2 and aggregated soil exchanges of CH4 and N2O was on average 4%, <1%, <1%, and 2% for the 4, 17, 32, 67 years old stand, respectively. Soil CO2 fluxes correlated positively with soil temperature but had no relationship with soil moisture. We found no control of soil temperature or soil moisture on CH4 and N2O fluxes, but CH4 emission was observed following summer rainfall events. LFH layer removal reduced CO2 emissions by 43%, increased CH4 uptake during dry and warm soil conditions by more than twofold, but did not affect N2O flux. We suggest that significant alternating sink and source potentials for both CH4 and N2O may occur in N‐ and soil water‐limited forest ecosystems, which constitute a large portion of forest cover in temperate areas.
Negotiation of parental care when the stakes are high: experimental handicapping of one partner during incubation leads to short‐term generosity
Authors: Wiebe Karen L. 
Published: September 2009

Summary 1. Most game theoretical models of biparental care predict that a reduction in care by one partner should not be fully compensated by increased work of its mate but this may not be true for incubating birds because a reduction in care could cause the entire brood to fail. 2. I performed the first handicapping experiment of both males and females during incubation, by placing small lead weights on the tails of male and female northern flickers Colaptes auratus, a woodpecker in which males do most of the incubation. 3. Females responded to the acute stressor (handling and handicapping) by tending to abandon more readily than males and staying away from the nest longer in the first incubation bout. Among pairs that persisted, both males and females compensated fully for a handicapped partner, keeping the eggs covered nearly 100% of the time. 4. Partners did not retaliate by forcing their handicapped mate to sit on the eggs with a long incubation bout length subsequent to having a long bout length themselves. Instead, during the 24 h immediately after handicapping, males behaved generously by relieving handicapped females early. 5. Such generosity was probably not energetically sustainable as these male partners took on less incubation in the 72 h following handicapping compared to female partners of handicapped males. Males and females are probably generous in the short‐term because of the high cost of nest failure during incubation but maintaining increased work loads in the longer term is probably limited by body condition and abandonment thresholds consistent with game theory models.
Hope as a psychological resilience factor in mothers and fathers of children with intellectual disabilities
Authors: Lloyd T. J. , Hastings R. 
Published: September 2009

AbstractBackground  Positive psychology is an area gaining credence within the field of intellectual disability (ID). Hope is one facet of positive psychology that is relatively unstudied in parents of children with ID. In the present study, we explore hope and its relationships with parental well‐being in parents of school‐aged children with ID.Method  A total of 138 mothers and 58 fathers of children with ID took part in a questionnaire‐based study. Parents reported on their feelings of hope and positive affect, other dimensions of psychological well‐being (anxiety, depression and stress), and on their child's behaviour. For this study, hope was measured as a goal driven behaviour comprising two components: agency (the perception that one can reach his/her goals) and pathways (the perception that one can find alternative routes to reach these goals should the need arise).Results  For mothers, regression analyses revealed that lower levels of hope (agency and pathways) and more child behaviour problems predicted maternal depression. Positive affect was predicted by less problematic child behaviour and by higher levels of hope agency. For fathers, anxiety and depression were predicted by low hope agency and positive affect was predicted by high hope agency. Hope pathways was not a significant predictor of paternal well‐being. Hope agency and pathways interacted in the prediction of maternal depression such that mothers reporting high levels of both hope dimensions reported the lowest levels of depressive symptoms.Conclusions  Hope is a construct that merits further investigation within families research, and is potentially a factor that could be utilised in intervention to help increase familial well‐being.
The effect of an intervention aimed at reducing errors when administering medication through enteral feeding tubes in an institution for individuals with intellectual disability
Authors: Idzinga J. C. , De Jong A. L. , Van Den Bemt P. M. L. A. 
Published: September 2009

AbstractBackground  Previous studies, both in hospitals and in institutions for clients with an intellectual disability (ID), have shown that medication errors at the administration stage are frequent, especially when medication has to be administered through an enteral feeding tube. In hospitals a specially designed intervention programme has proven to be effective in reducing these feeding tube‐related medication errors, but the effect of such a programme within an institution for clients with an ID is unknown. Therefore, a study was designed to measure the influence of such an intervention programme on the number of medication administration errors in clients with an ID who also have enteral feeding tubes.Methods  A before‐after study design with disguised observation to document administration errors was used. The study was conducted from February to June 2008 within an institution for individuals with an ID in the Western part of The Netherlands. Included were clients with enteral feeding tubes. The intervention consisted of advice on medication administration through enteral feeding tubes by the pharmacist, a training programme and introduction of a ‘medication through tube’ box containing proper materials for crushing and suspending tablets. The outcome measure was the frequency of medication administration errors, comparing the pre‐intervention period with the post‐intervention period.Results  A total of 245 medication administrations in six clients (by 23 nurse attendants) have been observed in the pre‐intervention measurement period and 229 medication administrations in five clients (by 20 nurse attendants) have been observed in the post‐intervention period. Before the intervention, 158 (64.5%) medication administration errors were observed, and after the intervention, this decreased to 69 (30.1%). Of all potential confounders and effect modifiers, only ‘medication dispensed in automated dispensing system (“robot”) packaging’ contributed to the multivariate model; effect modification was shown for this determinant. Multilevel analysis using this multivariate model resulted in an odds ratio of 0.33 (95% confidence interval 0.13–0.71) for the error percentage in the post‐intervention period compared with the pre‐intervention period.Conclusions  The intervention was found to be effective in an institution for clients with an ID. However, additional efforts are needed to reduce the proportion of administration errors which is still high after the intervention.
Immune Responses in Patients with Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma Treated with Dendritic Cells Pulsed with Tumor Lysate
Authors: Soleimani A. , Berntsen A. , Svane I. M. , Pedersen A. E. 
Published: September 2009

AbstractPatients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) have a limited life expectancy but still a subset of these patients develop immune and clinical responses after immunotherapy including dendritic cell (DC) vaccination. In a recently published phase I/II trials, fourteen HLA‐A2 negative patients with progressive mRCC were vaccinated with autologous DC pulsed with allogeneic tumour lysate. Low‐dose IL‐2 administered subcutaneously was given concomitantly. In this study, we analysed lysate specific proliferation of PBMCs from these patients together with the TH1/TH2 balance of the responding T cells. Also, serum concentrations of IL‐10, IL‐12, IL‐15, IL‐17 and IL‐18 from these patients and additional thirteen HLA‐A2 positive mRCC patients treated with autologous DC pulsed with survivin and telomerase peptides were analysed during vaccination to identify systemic immune responses and potential response biomarkers. In HLA‐A2 negative mRCC patients a spontaneous predominance of TH1 secreting tumour lysate specific T cells was observed prior to vaccination in patients attaining stable disease (SD) during treatment whereas patients with continued progressive disease (PD) had a mixed TH1/TH2 response. The TH1/TH2 balance was unchanged during vaccination also when tumour lysate specific T cell responses increased. An increase in IL‐12, IL‐17 and IL‐18 serum concentrations was observed during vaccination but no difference between patients with SD and PD was observed. IL‐10 or IL‐15 was not measurable in serum.
Effects of secular variation in seawater Mg/Ca ratio (calcite–aragonite seas) on CaCO3 sediment production by the calcareous algae Halimeda, Penicillus and Udotea– evidence from recent experiments and the geological record
Authors: Ries Justin Baker 
Published: September 2009

AbstractIndependent lines of geological evidence suggest that fluctuations in the Mg/Ca ratio of seawater between 1.0 and 5.2 have caused the oceans to alternate between favouring the precipitation of the aragonite and high‐Mg calcite polymorphs of calcium carbonate (mMg/Ca > 2; aragonite seas) and the low‐Mg calcite polymorph (mMg/Ca < 2; calcite seas) throughout Phanerozoic time. The rise of aragonite‐secreting bryopsidalean algae as major producers of carbonate sediments in middle Palaeogene time, a role that they maintained through to the present, has been attributed to a transition from calcite‐to‐aragonite seas in early Cenozoic time. Recent experiments on the modern, carbonate‐sediment‐producing bryopsidales Halimeda, Penicillus and Udotea reveal that their rates of calcification, linear extension and primary production decline when reared in experimental calcite seawaters (mMg/Ca < 2). These normally aragonite‐secreting algae also began producing at least one‐quarter of their CaCO3 as calcite under calcite sea conditions, indicating that their biomineralogical control can be partially overridden by ambient seawater chemistry. The observation that primary production and linear extension declined along with calcification in the mineralogically unfavourable seawater suggests that photosynthesis within these algae is enhanced by calcification via liberation of CO2 and/or H+. Thus, the reduced fitness of these algae associated with their low rates of calcification in calcite seas may have been exacerbated by concomitant reductions in tissue mass and algal height.
Dexmedetomidine blunts acute hyperdynamic responses to electroconvulsive therapy without altering seizure duration
Authors: BEGEC Z. , TOPRAK H. I. , DEMIRBILEK S. , ERDIL F. , ONAL D. , ERSOY M. O. 
Published: September 2009

Background: This study was designed to evaluate the effect of dexmedetomidine on the acute hyperdynamic response, duration of seizure activity and recovery times in patients undergoing electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).Methods: Fourteen patients underwent a total of 84 ECT sessions as a crossover design. Patients were randomly allocated to receive either dexmedetomidine (1 μg/kg IV over a period of 10 min) or saline (control). Anaesthesia was induced with propofol 1 mg/kg, and then succinylcholine 0.5 mg/kg IV was administered. Arterial blood pressure and heart rate (HR) were recorded during the study period.Results: HR in the dexmedetomidine group was lower than that in the control group at 5 and 10 min after the start of study drug infusion, and at 1, 3 and 10 min after the seizure ended (P<0.05). Peak HR was lower in the dexmedetomidine group compared with that in the control group (P<0.05). The mean arterial pressure (MAP) values in the dexmedetomidine group were lower at 0, 1, 3 and 10 min after the seizure ended compared with the control group (P<0.05). Both motor and electroencephalography (EEG) seizure duration in the control group (35.65 ± 14.89 and 49.07 ± 9.94 s, respectively) were similar to that in the dexmedetomidine group (33.30 ± 12.01 and 45.15 ± 17.79 s, respectively) (P>0.05). Time to spontaneous breathing, eye opening and obeying commands were not different between the groups.Conclusion: A dexmedetomidine dose of 1 μg/kg IV administered over 10 min before the induction of anaesthesia with propofol may be useful in preventing the acute hyperdynamic responses to ECT without altering the duration of seizure activity and recovery time.
Reduced blood pressure lability during emergence from anaesthesia in rats: a pilot study using clonidine
Authors: CIVIDJIAN A. , RENTERO N. , QUINTIN L. 
Published: September 2009

Background: In the post‐operative setting, pressure lability is increased in hypertensive patients. α‐2 agonists were shown qualitatively to reduce this lability qualitatively. Here, upon immobilization combined with emergence from anesthesia in rats and clonidine administration, pressure lability was quantitatively assessed and related to baroreflex sensitivity.Methods: After local anesthesia of all incisions and surgical wounds and myorelaxation with metocurine, rats had halothane withdrawn for 60 min. Rats received (a) saline (n=8), (b) clonidine 30 μg/kg i.v (n=8) simultaneous to halothane discontinuation and (c) halothane readministration (n=8) 20 min after halothane discontinuation. Pressure lability was quantitatively assessed using occurrence/amplitude of peaks in systolic blood pressure (SBP) and cardiac baroreflex slope.Results: Clonidine was associated with partial blunting of hypertension, reduced standard deviation of SBP, reduced number and amplitude of peaks in systolic pressure. Clonidine was also associated with increased slope of the cardiac baroreflex upon early intervals of emergence, but not at later intervals.Conclusion: Clonidine reduces pressure lability upon immobilization stress combined to emergence from anesthesia, via parasympathetic activation and possibly sympathetic inhibition during early emergence as opposed to sympathetic inhibition during late emergence.
Bronchoscopic suctioning may cause lung collapse: a lung model and clinical evaluation
Authors: LINDGREN S. , ODENSTEDT H. , ERLANDSSON K. , GRIVANS C. , LUNDIN S. , STENQVIST O. 
Published: September 2009

Objective: To assess lung volume changes during and after bronchoscopic suctioning during volume or pressure‐controlled ventilation (VCV or PCV).Design: Bench test and patient study.Participants: Ventilator‐treated acute lung injury (ALI) patients.Setting: University research laboratory and general adult intensive care unit of a university hospital.Interventions: Bronchoscopic suctioning with a 12 or 16 Fr bronchoscope during VCV or PCV.Measurements and results: Suction flow at vacuum levels of −20 to −80 kPa was measured with a Timeter™ instrument. In a water‐filled lung model, airway pressure, functional residual capacity (FRC) and tidal volume were measured during bronchoscopic suctioning. In 13 ICU patients, a 16 Fr bronchoscope was inserted into the left or the right main bronchus during VCV or PCV and suctioning was performed. Ventilation was monitored with electric impedance tomography (EIT) and FRC with a modified N2 washout/in technique. Airway pressure was measured via a pressure line in the endotracheal tube. Suction flow through the 16 Fr bronchoscope was 5 l/min at a vacuum level of −20 kPa and 17 l/min at −80 kPa. Derecruitment was pronounced during suctioning and FRC decreased with −479±472 ml, P<0.001.Conclusions: Suction flow through the bronchoscope at the vacuum levels commonly used is well above minute ventilation in most ALI patients. The ventilator was unable to deliver enough volume in either VCV or PCV to maintain FRC and tracheal pressure decreased below atmospheric pressure.
Burst suppression during propofol anaesthesia recorded from scalp and subthalamic electrodes: report of three cases
Authors: SONKAJÄRVI E. , PUUMALA P. , EROLA T. , BAER G. A. , KARVONEN E. , SUOMINEN K. , JÄNTTI V. 
Published: September 2009

Background:Measurement of slow EEG activity and burst suppression are the main tasks in monitoring the effects of anaesthestics with EEG, which is often done with commercial univariate indexes such as BIS. The aim of this study was to describe the characteristics of burst suppression EEG during propofol anaesthesia using scalp electrodes and depth electrodes in the subthalamic nucleus. Specifically, we describe the electrical fields of the three EEG patterns we have previously described: the sharp wave, the burst and the spindle.Methods:We recorded the EEG of three Parkinson patients during propofol anaesthesia from the scalp electrodes and the depth electrode implanted in the subthalamic nucleus for treating parkinsonism.Results:(1) The slow waves of bursts recorded from all surface electrodes on scalp or neck with depth electrode reference are positive and have the highest amplitude in frontal electrodes, suggesting synchronous generation in the whole cerebral cortex. (2) The sharp wave and spindles have the highest amplitude at vertex. They are opposite in polarity in vertex and depth electrodes when referred to the neck electrode, suggesting generation in the sensorimotor cortex.Conclusions:Recording simultaneously EEG from the depth and scalp electrodes shows that bursts and their slow wave oscillations are synchronous in the whole cortex while spindles and sharp waves are produced by the sensorimotor cortex. The amplitude of slow waves recorded with surface electrodes is equal to the difference of the wave at two electrodes and therefore only a small part of that generated by the cortex.
Epidural puncture can be confirmed by the Queckenstedt‐test procedure in patients with cervical spinal canal stenosis
Authors: YOKOYAMA T. , USHIDA T. , YAMASAKI F. , INOUE S. , SLUKA K. A. 
Published: September 2009

Background: The loss‐of‐resistance test is the most popular method for identifying the epidural space, but it cannot confirm epidural puncture. Therefore, we developed a new method to confirm epidural puncture by assessing indirect changes in epidural pressure using the Queckenstedt‐test procedure, which increases subarachnoid pressure by compressing the internal jugular veins. Because this new method depends on the dynamics of cerebrospinal fluid, blockade of cerebrospinal fluid flow, as with severe spinal stenosis, is predicted to reduce changes in epidural pressure. Thus, in this study, we examined the effect of spinal stenosis on the Queckenstedt‐test procedure.Methods: Epidural puncture using the loss‐of‐resistance test was utilized to insert an electrode in patients undergoing cervical spine surgery. Epidural pressure was monitored during bilateral compression of the internal jugular veins to confirm epidural puncture. The insertion of the electrode into the epidural space was confirmed by observation of muscle twitch evoked by electric stimulation.Results: In 60 patients, epidural puncture was performed with the loss‐of‐resistance test; a second trial was required in 13 patients. Increased epidural pressure was observed in 57/73 trials. When increased epidural pressure was observed, epidural puncture was always successful. The sensitivity and specificity of this method was 92.0% and 100%, respectively. The positive and negative predictive values were 100% and 66.7%, respectively.Conclusion: An increase in epidural pressure during bilateral compression of the internal jugular veins could offer a reliable method for confirming epidural puncture in combination with the loss‐of‐resistance test, even if patients have potential spinal canal narrowing.
Anaesthesia and post‐operative morbidity after elective groin hernia repair: a nation‐wide study
Authors: BAY‐NIELSEN M. , KEHLET H. 
Published: September 2009

Background: Randomised studies suggest regional anaesthesia to have the highest morbidity and local infiltration anaesthesia to have the lowest morbidity after groin hernia repair. However, implications and results of this evidence for general practice are not known.Methods: Prospective nation‐wide data collection in a cohort of n=29,033 elective groin hernia repairs, registered in the Danish Hernia Database in three periods, namely July 1998–June 1999, July 2000–June 2001 and July 2002–June 2003. Retrospective analysis of complications in discharge abstracts, identified from re‐admission within 30 days post‐operatively, prolonged length of stay (>2 days post‐operatively) or death.Results: Complications after groin hernia repair were more frequent in patients 65+ years (4.5%), compared with younger patients (2.7%) (P<0.001). In patients 65+ years, medical complications were more frequent after regional anaesthesia (1.17%), compared with general anaesthesia (0.59%) (P=0.003) and urological complications were more frequent after regional anaesthesia (0.87%), compared with local infiltration anaesthesia (0.09%) (P=0.006). Seventeen prostatectomies occurred after post‐operative urinary retention, but with no case after local anaesthesia. Mortality within 30 days after elective groin hernia repair was 0.12%. Regional anaesthesia was disproportionately more often used in patients dying within 1 week post‐operatively.Conclusion: Choice of the anaesthetic technique should be adjusted to available procedure‐specific scientific evidence and the use of regional anaesthesia in elderly patients undergoing groin hernia repair is not supported by existing evidence.