bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Family members’ perceived meaning of visiting nursing home residents in Taiwan
Authors: Tsai Hsiu‐Hsin , Tsai Yun‐Fang 
Published: June 2011

tsai h.‐h. & tsai y.‐f. (2012) Family members’ perceived meaning of visiting nursing home residents in Taiwan. Journal of Advanced Nursing 68(2), 302–311.AbstractAim.  The purpose of this article is to report the findings of a study to explore perceived family meaning of visiting older nursing home residents in Taiwan.Background.  Family involvement in the care of institutionalized elders benefits residents, family and staff. Families have traditionally been involved through in‐person visits. One factor influencing family visits is motivation, which is a vague concept, creating a need to better understand the meaning families ascribe to visiting nursing home residents. Understanding this meaning is necessary to develop intervention programmes that facilitate the quality of families’ nursing‐home visits. However, little is known about the meaning of family visits to nursing home residents in Asian countries.Methods.  Data were collected April 2009–2010 in audiotaped, individual, in‐depth interviews with 15 family members of residents at four nursing homes in Taiwan. These family members included five women and 10 men, predominantly residents’ children and spouses.Results.  The meaning of family visits to nursing home residents was captured by five major themes: hoping for recovery, honouring filial/karmic responsibility, insuring care quality, maintaining family relationships and making up for guilt.Conclusions.  The findings of this study can be considered by nurses and policy makers when designing interventions and allocating resources to improve the quality of family visits with nursing home residents. These interventions can be tailored to family members’ perceived meanings for visiting, e.g. those hoping for residents’ recovery may benefit from health‐promotion programmes, and those honouring filial/karmic responsibility might be helped by education on different ways to show filial respect.
Identification of isolate‐specific resistance QTLs to phytophthora root rot using an intraspecific recombinant inbred line population of pepper (Capsicum annuum)
Authors: Truong H. T. H. , Kim K. T. , Kim D. W. , Kim S. , Chae Y. , Park J. H. , Oh D. G. , Cho M. C. 
Published: June 2011

Quantitative trait loci (QTL) for resistance to phytophthora root rot caused by Phytophthora capsici were investigated using two Korean P. capsici isolates and 126 F8 recombinant inbred lines derived from a cross of Capsicum annuum line YCM334 (resistant parent) and local cv. Tean (susceptible parent). The experimental design was a split plot with two replications. Highly significant effects of pathogen isolate, plant genotype, and genotype × isolate were detected. QTL mapping was performed using a genetic linkage map covering 1486·6 cM of the pepper genome, and consisted of 249 markers including 136 AFLPs (Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphisms), 112 SSRs (Simple Sequence Repeats) and one CAPS (Cleaved Amplified Polymorphic Sequence). Fifteen QTLs were detected on chromosomes 5 (P5), 10 (P10), 11 (P11), Pb and Pc using two data processing methods: percentage of wilted plants (PWP) and relative area under the disease progress curves (RAUDPC). The phenotypic variation explained by each QTL (R2) ranged from 6·0% to 48·2%. Seven QTLs were common to resistance for the two isolates on chromosome 5 (P5); six were isolate‐specific for isolate 09‐051 on chromosomes 10 (P10) and Pc, and two for isolate 07‐127 on chromosomes 11 (P11) and Pb. The QTLs in common with the major effect on the resistance for two isolates explained 20·0–48·2% of phenotypic variation. The isolate‐specific QTLs explained 6·0–17·4% of phenotypic variation. The result confirms a gene‐for‐gene relationship between C. annuum and P. capsici for root rot resistance.
N‐Methyl‐d‐aspartate receptor modulators block hyperalgesia induced by acute low‐dose morphine
Authors: Gupta LK , Gupta R , Tripathi CD 
Published: June 2011

Summary1. Following opioid‐induced antinociception in mice, hyperalgesic responses may be observed. The present study was designed to evaluate the effect of different N‐methyl‐d‐aspartate (NMDA) receptor modulators (magnesium, dextromethorphan, d‐serine) on the development of morphine‐induced hyperalgesia in mice. The tail‐flick test was used to assess the effects of morphine alone and in combination with the NMDA receptor modulators.2. Administration of a single low dose (2 mg/kg) of morphine to mice produced antinociception that was followed by hyperalgesia.3. Administration of magnesium sulphate (5 mg/kg) and d‐serine (10 mg/kg) alone produced a transient antinociceptive response, whereas dextromethorphan (10 mg/kg) alone produced a prolonged antinociceptive response that had a relatively delayed onset after 4 h.4. When coadministered with morphine, the NMDA receptor blockers magnesium (2 mg/kg) and dextromethorphan (2 and 5 mg/kg) and the NMDA receptor agonist d‐serine (2, 5 and 10 mg/kg), maintained the duration of the antinociceptive response to morphine and inhibited the development of the hyperalgesic response. Coadministration of dextromethorphan (10 mg/kg) with morphine produced antinociception at 30–120 min and at 4–24 h.5. The results of the present study suggest that coadministration of low‐dose NMDA receptor antagonists, as well as the NMDA receptor agonist d‐serine, with morphine can inhibit morphine‐induced hyperalgesia.
Resistance of Helicobacter pylori to quinolones and clarithromycin assessed by genetic testing in Japan
Authors: Yamade Mihoko , Sugimoto Mitsushige , Uotani Takahiro , Nishino Masafumi , Kodaira Chise , Furuta Takahisa 
Published: June 2011

AbstractBackground and Aim:  As bacterial resistance to clarithromycin limits the efficacy of clarithromycin‐based regimens for Helicobacter pylori infection, attention has turned to quinolone‐based rescue therapies. Resistance of H. pylori to both clarithromycin and quinolone can be predicted by genetic testing. Here, we used this approach to evaluate the prevalence of clarithromycin‐ and quinolone‐resistant strains of H. pylori in Japan.Methods:  DNA was extracted from gastric tissue samples obtained from 153 patients infected with H. pylori (103 naive for eradication therapy and 50 with previous eradication failure following triple proton pump inhibitor/amoxicillin/clarithromycin therapy). Mutations in H. pylori 23S rRNA and gyrA genes associated with resistance to clarithromycin and quinolones, respectively, were determined.Results:  Of 153 patients, 85 (55.6%) were infected with clarithromycin‐resistant strains. The prevalence of clarithromycin‐resistant strains in patients with previous eradication failure (90.0%, 45/50) was significantly higher than that (38.8%, 40/103) of those naive for eradication therapy (P < 0.001). Fifty‐nine patients (38.6%) were infected with strains resistant to quinolones. The incidence of quinolone‐resistant strains also appeared higher in patients with eradication failure (48.0%, 24/50) than in those who had not undergone therapy (34.0%, 35/103); however, the difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.112). The incidence of quinolone‐resistance in clarithromycin‐resistant strains (44/85, 51.8%) was significantly higher than that in clarithromycin‐sensitive strains (15/68, 22.1%) (P < 0.001).Conclusions:  A high incidence of quinolone‐resistance was found in clarithromycin‐resistant strains of H. pylori, particularly in patients with previous eradication failure. Our results suggest that testing for susceptibility of H. pylori to quinolones is useful for determining the optimal rescue eradication regimen.
The influence of atmospheric deposition of pollutants on cross–domain causal relationships for three tropical freshwater lakes in India
Authors: Pandey Jitendra 
Published: June 2011

AbstractThis long‐term study on three freshwater lakes in India was designed to investigate the following: (i) atmospheric deposition of major nutrient elements; (ii) microbial biomass (Cmic) and activity at the land–water interface and their relation to lake ecosystem functioning, as influenced by catchment inputs; and (iii) the modifying influence of atmospheric deposition on trans‐surface causal relationships. These study results illustrated significant differences (P < 0.001) in the atmospheric deposition of nitrate (), ammonia (), phosphate (), sulfate (), calcium (Ca2+), and magnesium (Mg2+), with consistently rising inputs over time. The interface of Lake Baghdara, characterized by woodland catchment, was found to be rich in phenolics and supported low Cmic and activity. Alkaline phosphatase in humus declined by 13.60–25.30% over time, although the Cmic, SIR, and FDAase at the land–water interface increased significantly in response to atmospheric nutrient deposition. Although it increased primary productivity, nutrient deposition exhibited a significant (P < 0.001) modifying influence on the Cmic and lake productivity relationships, with a time lag of 3 years. A substantial increase in dissolved organic carbon (DOC), especially in Lake Baghdara, indicated that the modifying influence of atmospheric deposition on microbial biomass and activity at the land–water interface could significantly alter the carbon capture and storage in surface waters and consequently future carbon balance and climate change processes. This study demonstrated that, if present trends of atmospheric deposition of pollutant elements continue, they can modify the microbial processes at the land–water interface and productivity of lakes and will alter the cross–domain causal relationships of freshwater tropical lakes over the long term.
Soil chemical properties, rather than landscape context, influence woodland fungal communities along an urban‐rural gradient
Authors: NEWBOUND MARK , BENNETT LAUREN T. , TIBBITS JOSQUIN , KASEL SABINE 
Published: June 2011

AbstractWith the expansion of cities around the world there is a growing interest in the factors that influence biodiversity and ecosystem processes in urban areas. Fungi are exceptionally diverse and play key roles in ecosystem function, yet despite predictions of negative impacts due to urbanization, fungi have been generally overlooked in urban ecological studies. We surveyed fungi in 16 remnant river red gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis: Myrtaceae) woodlands along a gradient of 4–35 km from the city of Melbourne (south‐east Australia). Using both sporocarp surveys and terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T‐RFLP; primer pair ITS1‐F‐ITS4), we examined relationships between fungal community composition, landscape context (i.e. urbanization) and soil physicochemical properties. Community compositions from sporocarp data were significantly correlated with those from T‐RFLP data, largely because of correlations with ectomycorrhizal sporocarps (Spearman rank correlation coefficients ρ 0.31–0.42) rather than saprotrophic fungi (ρ 0.18–0.21). Principal components analysis of soil properties and non‐metric multidimensional scaling ordinations of fungal community composition showed no clear separation of sites according to urbanization, and there were no significant correlations between fungal community composition and urbanization. However, fungal community composition was significantly correlated with soil chemical properties (ρ 0.41–0.55). These data suggest that site‐scale soil properties, and associated effects of past and current land management activities, were more important in determining fungal community composition than the landscape‐level influences of urbanization.
Organism diversity between women with and without bacterial vaginosis as determined by polymerase chain reaction denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and 16S rRNA gene sequence
Authors: Diao Yutao , Fang Xueqiang , Xia Qing , Chen Shouqiang , Li Hao , Yang Yanfang , Wang Yan , Li Huiqing , Cui Jia , Sun Xiaomeng , Zhao Zhongtang 
Published: June 2011

AbstractAims:  The aim of this study was to characterize the different structures of microbial communities between 20 healthy women and 17 bacterial vaginosis (BV)‐positive women of reproductive age using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE).Material and Methods:  Vaginal samples from 17 BV‐positive and 20 BV‐negative women were subjected to DNA extraction, and amplified with eubacterial 16S rRNA gene‐specific primers via polymerase chain reaction. The polymerase chain reaction products were separated using DGGE. Bands were excised, re‐amplified, purified and sequenced. DNA sequences were compared with GenBank database. Phylip software packages were used to calculate sequencing data and form a phylogenetic tree to identify the genetic relations for microbiota inhabited in vaginal ecosystems of BV‐positive women.Results:  In total, 28 kinds of organisms were detected that comprised BV(+) vagina microbial community, varying from three to nine kinds with an average of 5.71 kinds per woman. Only seven species were detected in BV(−) women, ranging between one and five species with an average of 2.40 species per woman, which was significantly lower than that detected in BV(+) women (t = 7.39, P < 0.001). A strain of Uncultured Lactobacillus sp. clone EHFS1_S05c (29/37; 78.38%) was most commonly presented in both BV‐negative and BV‐positive women, but the mean proportion of this Lactobacillus sp. strain to the whole microbial population colonized in the vaginal tract of BV(−) women was sharply higher than that calculated from BV(+) women (t = 2.92, P < 0.01).Conclusions:  The findings indicate further diversity in the category of vaginal microorganisms associated with BV. The presence of Gardnerella vaginalis is not necessary as a sign for gynecologists to determine whether or not a woman is affected by BV.
Comparison of risk factors for major obstetric complications between Western countries and Japan: A case–cohort study
Authors: Shiozaki Arihiro , Matsuda Yoshio , Hayashi Kunihiko , Satoh Shoji , Saito Shigeru 
Published: June 2011

AbstractAim:  The aim of this study was to demonstrate the differences in risk factors for obstetrical complications between Japan and Western countries.Material and Methods:  Using the Perinatal Database of the Japan Society for Obstetrics and Gynecology, we studied singleton deliveries after 22 weeks of gestation (n = 242 715) at 125 centers of the perinatal network in Japan from 2001 through 2005 as a base cohort. In total, 3749 births (1.5% of the base cohort) were randomly selected as a subcohort. We compared the rate of risk factors in the cases with ten obstetrical complications with that in the subcohort (case–cohort study).Results:  Almost all of the evaluated risk factors were common between Western countries and Japan. Older age at pregnancy was a common risk factor for pregnancy‐induced hypertension, placental abruption, placenta previa, and placenta accreta/increta/percreta. On the other hand, younger age at pregnancy was a common risk factor for eclampsia and preterm delivery. Smoking during pregnancy was a common risk factor for pregnancy‐induced hypertension, preterm premature rupture of the membranes, preterm delivery, cervical insufficiency, chorioamnionitis, and placental abruption. In vitro fertilization and embryo transfer was a common risk factor for cervical insufficiency, placenta previa, and placenta accreta/increta/percreta.Conclusion:  This case–cohort study in Japan clarified the common risk factors between Western countries and Japan as well as the risk factors indigenous to Japanese women. To identify the risk factors for a disease in a specific country, we should use data derived from its population.
Screening for Type 2 diabetes. Lessons from the ADDITION‐Europe study
Authors: van den Donk M. , Sandbaek A. , Borch‐Johnsen K. , Lauritzen T. , Simmons R. K. , Wareham N. J. , Griffin S. J. , Davies M. J. , Khunti K. , Rutten G. E. H. M. 
Published: June 2011

Diabet. Med. 28, 1416–1424 (2011)AbstractAims  To describe and compare attendance rates and the proportions of people identified with Type 2 diabetes mellitus in people with previously unknown diabetes who participated in screening programmes undertaken in general practice in the UK, Denmark and the Netherlands as part of the ADDITION‐Europe study.Methods  In Cambridge, routine computer data searches were conducted to identify individuals aged 40–69 years at high risk of Type 2 diabetes using the Cambridge Diabetes Risk Score. In Denmark, the Danish Diabetes Risk Score was mailed to individuals aged 40–69 years, or completed by patients visiting their general practitice. In the Netherlands, the Hoorn Symptom Risk Questionnaire was mailed to individuals aged 50–69 years. In these three centres, high‐risk individuals were invited to attend subsequent steps in the screening programme, including random blood glucose, HbA1c, fasting blood glucose and/or oral glucose tolerance test. In Leicester, eligible people aged 40–69 years were invited directly for an oral glucose tolerance test. In all centres, Type 2 diabetes was defined according to World Health Organization 1999 diagnostic criteria.Results  Attendance rates ranged from 20.2% (oral glucose tolerance test in Leicester without pre‐stratification) to 95.1% (random blood glucose in opportunistic screening in Denmark in high‐risk people). The percentage of people with newly detected Type 2 diabetes from the target population ranged from 0.33% (Leicester) to 1.09% (the Netherlands).Conclusions  Screening for Type 2 diabetes was acceptable and feasible, but relatively few participants were diagnosed in all participating centres. Different strategies may be required to increase initial attendance and ensure completion of screening programmes.
To What Extent Did the Financial Crisis Intensify the Pressure to Reform the Welfare State?
Authors: Vis Barbara , van Kersbergen Kees , Hylands Tom 
Published: June 2011

AbstractIf ever there was momentum to roll back the welfare state, it is the (aftermath) of the financial crisis of 2008–09. All theoretical perspectives within comparative welfare state research predict radical reform in this circumstance, but does it also happen? Our data indicate that – at least so far – it does not. Focusing on a selection of advanced welfare states (the UK, the USA, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden), we find that these countries face similar problems and that their initial response to these problems is also similar. The latter is surprising because, theoretically, we would expect varying responses across welfare state regime types. Rather than retrenchment, we observe a first phase of emergency capital injections in the banking sector and a second of Keynesian demand management and labour market protection, including the (temporary) expansion of social programmes. Continuing public support for the welfare state was a main precondition for this lack of immediate radical retrenchment. However, the contours of a third phase have become apparent now that budgetary constraints are forcing political actors to make tough choices and introduce austerity policies. As a result, the question of who pays what, when, and how will likely give rise to increasingly sharp distributional conflicts.
Crisis and Welfare State Change in the Netherlands
Authors: Yerkes Mara , van der Veen Romke 
Published: June 2011

AbstractThe current economic crisis is assumed to create new pressures for the welfare state. In this article we investigate to what extent the crisis leads to changes in Dutch welfare state policies and institutions. Usually these changes are operationalized in terms of retrenchment (cost reduction) or restructuring (institutions). We focus, however, on developments in social rights in the hope of gaining better insight into the content and extent of policy change. This perspective combines attention for costs and institutional structure with attention for the content and substance of social rights. We start by analyzing the development of social rights in the Dutch welfare state as a reaction to the economic crisis of the 1970s and 1980s. Consequently, we will analyze current perceptions of social risks and social rights as well as how we think these perceptions will be affected by the pressures brought on by the economic crisis of 2008–09. Using an institutional perspective, we examine the consequences of the current economic crisis for perceptions of social citizenship and entitlement to social risk protection within the welfare state.
Separate and Unequal: The Consumption of Public Education in Post‐Katrina New Orleans
Authors: AKERS JOSHUA M. 
Published: June 2011

AbstractBefore the floodwaters of Hurricane Katrina had receded, New Orleans was inundated by a wave of neoliberal prescriptions, foundation money and celebrity educators eager to dismantle the city's public education system. The opening of public education to the market has left the residents of New Orleans with an education system that is increasingly separate and unequal. At the center of this radical neoliberal experiment is a 40‐year effort by local proponents of ‘school choice’ for a voucher program. This research examines the links between the system of forces — economic, social, political and (in the case of Katrina) natural — and the transformation of daily life within the city and metropolitan area through policy and media discourse. This article argues that prior efforts to undermine public education at the state and municipal level were key to the velocity and scope of the subsequent changes in New Orleans. Efforts to organize against these changes have focused on the role of think‐tanks and foundations at the national scale. This focus severely limits the power of local organizations to challenge those driving these changes within their communities.RésuméL'inondation causée par l'ouragan Katrina ne s'était pas résorbée que la Nouvelle‐Orléans croulait sous une vague de propositions néolibérales, de fonds caritatifs et d'éducateurs médiatiques impatients de démanteler l'enseignement public de la ville. À la suite de l'ouverture du marché, les habitants se sont retrouvés avec un système éducatif toujours plus séparé et inégal. Cette expérience néolibérale extrême est le fruit d'une entreprise menée sur quarante ans par des partisans locaux du ‘libre‐choix scolaire’ en faveur d'un régime de chèques‐études. Sont examinés ici les rapports entre le système des forces en présence —économiques, sociales, politiques et (dans le cas de Katrina) naturelles — et la transformation de la vie quotidienne, dans la ville et la zone métropolitaine, à travers l'action publique et le discours des médias. Les attaques précédentes contre l'éducation publique au niveau de l'État et de la municipalité ont franchement favorisé la rapidité et l'ampleur des changements qu'a connus ensuite la Nouvelle‐Orléans. Les tentatives d'organisation contre cette évolution se sont concentrées sur l'importance des groupes de réflexion et des fondations caritatives au niveau national. Cet intérêt restreint sérieusement le potentiel nécessaire aux associations ou organismes locaux pour contrer ceux qui mènent ces transformations au sein de leurs communautés.