bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Promoting an egalitarian approach to research with vulnerable populations of women
Authors: Mkandawire‐Valhmu Lucy , Rice Elizabeth , Bathum Mary Elizabeth 
Published: June 2009

AbstractTitle.  Promoting an egalitarian approach to research with vulnerable populations of women Aim.  This paper is a presentation of issues that arise when conducting research with women from vulnerable populations.Background.  Conducting research with ethnic minority populations has accentuated the challenges inherent in research, particularly when the populations participating are considered ‘vulnerable’ due to additional variables such as low levels of income.Data sources.  The paper is based on the experiences of three authors using feminist methods in separate but similar research trajectories that include (a) low‐income women in the Southern African country of Malawi, (b) women diagnosed with schizophrenia in the United States of America, and (c) rural, indigenous Aymara women of the highlands of Peru. The data forming the basis of this paper were collected over 3‐ to 6‐month periods between 2005 and 2006.Discussion.  We examine the impact of the researcher’s power on the research process. Our research provides examples that illuminate the limitations of informed consent in research with vulnerable populations of women. We offer critical questions about and recommendations for nursing and other health care researchers, both in the third world and the western world, regarding appropriate research methods with vulnerable populations: methods that acknowledge the oppressive realities of the participants, methods that deliberately avoid further marginalization of participants, and methods that have the potential to improve the life situations of the women who participate in our research.Conclusion.  These examples show the need for new methods to ensure that participants in research understand their role and the benefits they may expect to receive from research.
Fatigue in children with long‐term conditions: an evolutionary concept analysis
Authors: McCabe Margaret 
Published: June 2009

AbstractTitle.  Fatigue in children with long‐term conditions: an evolutionary concept analysis. Aim.  This paper is a report of a concept analysis of fatigue in children with long‐term conditions.Background.  There is little research focused on the experience of fatigue in children. Previous work has focused primarily on children living with cancer. It is necessary to clarify and refine the concept, and add to the knowledge base that supports ongoing theoretical work in order to improve the clinical care of children with long‐term conditions who experience fatigue.Method.  English language literature published from 1989 to 2007 was searched using the CINAHL, Medline and PsychINFO data bases. Sixty‐two papers and two book chapters were used in this concept analysis. Rodgers’ method of evolutionary concept analysis was used. This inductive method helps us to view the concept in a sociocultural and temporal context.Findings.  The number of publications focusing on fatigue in children is increasing. The analysis yielded two surrogate terms, five attributes, three antecedents and seven consequences. Based on this analysis, fatigue in children with long‐term conditions appears to be a subjective experience of tiredness or exhaustion that is multidimensional and includes physical, mental, and emotional aspects.Conclusions.  Evidence suggesting children with long‐term conditions experience fatigue is increasing, but conceptual gaps remain. This analysis has yielded a view of fatigue in children that illustrates healthcare professionals’ limited yet growing awareness of the symptom. Ongoing study as a means to refine our understanding of the concept could potentially lead to important contributions to clinical care of children with long‐term conditions.
Objective structured clinical evaluation of clinical competence: an integrative review
Authors: Walsh Mireille , Bailey Patricia Hill , Koren Irene 
Published: June 2009

AbstractTitle.  Objective structured clinical evaluation of clinical competence: an integrativereview. Aim.  This paper presents an integrative literature review conducted to describe the utility of the objective structured clinical evaluation (OSCE) as a strategy of measuring one form of clinical competence in nursing.Background.  The emergence of the OSCE, one form of evaluation of clinical competence used in medicine, is gaining more scrutiny and consideration in nursing education.Data sources.  The review was conducted through an initial search of computerized databases CINAHL, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Academic Search Premier and MEDLINE for the period from 1960 to 2008.Methods.  An integrative review was performed and 41 papers met the inclusion criteria.Results.  The complexities of evaluating clinical competence can be addressed through use of an OSCE process. Concerns related to the conceptual limitations and the lack of psychometric properties of the tools available for measurement in nursing education have been identified.Conclusion.  Major gaps exist in the nursing literature regarding the examination of the psychometric properties of the OSCE, the suitability of the design of the OSCE structure and tools for nursing to measure clinical competency, and the associated costs in the application of this evaluative method. Research conducted on the psychometric properties of the OSCE tool used and correlations to other evaluative methods currently used to evaluate nursing clinical competence would inform educational practices.
Population dynamics in a cyclic environment: consequences of cyclic food abundance on tawny owl reproduction and survival
Authors: Karell Patrik , Ahola Kari , Karstinen Teuvo , Zolei Aniko , Brommer Jon E. 
Published: June 2009

Summary1.Understanding which factors regulate population dynamics may help us to understand how a population would respond to environmental change, and why some populations are declining.2.In southern Finland, vole abundance shows a three‐phased cycle of low, increase and decrease phases, but these have been fading out in recent years. During five such cycles (1981–1995), all tawny owlsStrix alucowere censused in a 250‐km2study area, and their reproduction and survival were monitored.3.Males and females showed similar dynamics, but experienced breeders recruited more offspring and had higher survival than first breeders. Offspring recruitment, but not survival of breeding individuals varied in accordance with vole abundance.4.The population’s numerical response to prey abundance was primarily due to first‐breeding individuals entering the population in the increase phase when immigration was the highest. First‐breeding birds were younger, but experienced breeders were older in more favourable vole years.5.A stage‐specific matrix population model integrating survival and fecundity showed that, despite obvious variation in fecundity between vole cycle phases, this variation had limited importance for overall tawny owl population dynamics, but that the survival of experienced breeders during the low phase is most important for population growth.6.Model and data agreed that the vole cycle drives the dynamics of this avian predator by limiting the recruitment of new breeders during the low phase. Population dynamics hence differ not only from the classic example of the species in a more temperate region in the UK where the number of territories is stable across years, but also from the dynamics of other avian vole predators in Fennoscandia where the recurring crash in vole abundance drastically lowers adult survival thereby creating vacancies.
Size‐dependent predation risk in tree‐feeding insects with different colouration strategies: a field experiment
Authors: Remmel Triinu , Tammaru Toomas 
Published: June 2009

Summary 1. Body size is positively correlated with fecundity in various animals, but the factors that counterbalance the resulting selection pressure towards large size are difficult to establish. Positively size‐dependent predation risk has been proposed as a selective factor potentially capable of balancing the fecundity advantage of large size. 2. To construct optimality models of insect body size, realistic estimates of size‐dependent predation rates are necessary. Moreover, prey traits such as colouration should be considered, as they may substantially alter the relationship between body size and mortality risk. 3. To quantify mortality patterns, we conducted field experiments in which we exposed cryptic and conspicuous artificial larvae of different sizes to bird predators, and recorded the incidence of bird attacks. 4. The average daily mortality rate was estimated to vary between 4% and 10%. In both cryptic and conspicuous larvae, predation risk increased with prey size, but the increase tended to be steeper in the conspicuous group. No main effect of colour type was found. All the quantitative relationships were reasonably consistent across replicates. 5. Our results suggest that the size dependence of mortality risk in insect prey is primarily determined by the probability of being detected by a predator rather than by a size‐dependent warning effect associated with conspicuous colouration. Our results therefore imply that warningly coloured insects do not necessarily benefit more than the cryptic species from large body size, as has been previously suggested.
Introduced plague lessens the effects of an herbivorous rodent on grassland vegetation
Authors: Hartley Laurel M. , Detling James K. , Savage Lisa T. 
Published: June 2009

Summary 1. Plague, introduced from Eurasia around 1900, today affects many animal species in the western part of North America, including black‐tailed prairie dogs Cynomys ludovicianus, widespread colonial herbivores of the Central Plains. Most studies of introduced diseases describe how they affect susceptible individuals or populations. We examined the indirect community and ecosystem‐level effects of plague to address the hypothesis that frequent plague epizootics have a mediating effect on the important role of prairie dogs in shaping grassland plant communities. 2. We used 25 years of spatially explicit monitoring data on the Pawnee National Grassland (Colorado, USA) to estimate frequency of plague epizootics in prairie dog colonies. We also examined plant community characteristics of young (3–8 years), old (∼20 years) and plague‐extirpated (7–12 years when extirpated) colonies intermittently to determine how colony age and status (active or inactive) influence the effects of prairie dogs on plant communities. 3. Approximately 98% of colonies experienced a plague epizootic within 15 years of continuous activity, nearly half remained inactive for at least 5 years following an epizootic, and less than half attained their pre‐plague area within 10 years of an epizootic. 4. Prairie dogs lowered plant canopy height, reduced plant biomass and altered plant community composition. These effects were most pronounced for older colonies. Plague‐extirpated colonies were not significantly different from their associated off‐colony sites for most variables measured. 5.
Synthesis and applications. Our work shows that introduced diseases can indirectly affect community‐ and ecosystem‐level processes through their modification of host species dynamics. Frequent epizootics that lessen the effects of prairie dogs on vegetation probably affect colony‐associated species and grassland food webs. Over 100 animal species are associated with prairie dog colonies because prairie dogs are an important food source and their colonies provide habitat. Prairie dogs are considered competitors with livestock for forage and are exterminated on private lands at considerable expense to ranchers. Extermination may be unwarranted and cost‐ineffective where plague exists because of the high frequency of plague epizootics.
Contribution of ploidy‐level variation and adaptive trait diversity to the environmental distribution of taxa in the ‘fine‐leaved fescue’ lineage (genus Festuca subg. Festuca)
Authors: Sampoux Jean‐Paul , Huyghe Christian 
Published: June 2009

AbstractAim We assessed the relative contribution of ploidy‐level variation and adaptive trait diversity to the diversity of taxon realized niches in a plant lineage with several ploidy levels.Location A large number of sites covering a wide range of environmental conditions in France.Methods Our material comprised a collection of populations from several taxa of the ‘fine‐leaved fescue’ lineage, namely section Aulaxyper (Festuca rubra s.l.) and subsection Festuca (Festuca ovina s.l.) of the subgenus Festuca. This collection was assessed for several traits related to vegetative growth, investment in seed production, morphology and phenology. Environmental parameters that best differentiate taxon‐realized niches were identified by multivariate ordination and logistic regression. Canonical correlation analyses were performed to relate plant traits and ploidy‐level variation to these environmental parameters. Taxon differentiation was assessed along the first canonical directions of the plant descriptor (plant‐trait and ploidy‐level) space.Results The climatic summer water balance, soil texture and land use were identified as the main environmental parameters differentiating taxon realized niches. Canonical correlation analyses revealed associations between plant traits and these environmental parameters, independent of ploidy‐level variation. More specifically, the production of long and abundant rhizomes appeared to be an efficient adaptation to poor climatic summer water balance. In contrast, the ploidy level was rather weakly associated with environmental parameters. The marked prevalence of high ploidy levels in the collection suggests that they could have a competitive advantage in the range of environmental conditions investigated.Main conclusions Adaptive trait diversity appears to contribute more than ploidy‐level variation to the present diversity of realized niches for fine‐leaved fescue taxa, although plant‐trait variations were associated to some extent with ploidy‐level variation. However, cytotypes with high ploidy levels could have been efficient colonizers and competitors, favouring the expansion of the lineage and leading to their present prevalence. Furthermore, adaptive trait diversification may have been an efficient factor in niche diversification for the present cytotypes with high ploidy levels.
New distribution limits of seagrass beds in West Africa
Authors: Cunha Alexandra H. , Araújo António 
Published: June 2009

AbstractThe southern limit of the distribution of seagrass species along the west coast of Africa is not yet clearly defined. In March 2008 an expedition was organized in Senegal to search for seagrass beds from Dakar (14°45′15″ N, 17°30′31″ W) southwards to Tabakouta–Delta du Saloum (13°46′59″ N, 16°28′42″ W). Cymodocea nodosa and Halodule wrightii were observed in sandy areas of some protected bays of Dakar, around Sarène (14°16′18″ N, 16°54′17″ W), Joal Fadiouth (14°09′08″ N, 16°50′03″ W) and the Bamboung–Sourou area (13°50′08″ N, 16°33′09″ W), and they probably occur all along the coast of Senegal and beyond, perhaps much further south as well.
Two configurations for accessing classroom computers: differential impact on students' critical reflections and their empowerment
Authors: Solhaug T. 
Published: June 2009

AbstractThe context of this article is the new technological environment and the struggle to use meaningful teaching practices in Norwegian schools. Students' critical reflections in two different technological learning environments in six upper secondary schools are compared. Three of these schools offer Internet‐connected computers in special computer rooms outside ordinary classrooms, while the three other schools offer laptops to every student in class with a wireless connection to the Internet. The study relies on a quasi‐experimental design. Data come from 719 student responses to a survey questionnaire and are analysed using multivariate regression. The findings are that critical reflection is enhanced in classrooms with laptops, controlling for students' motivation, self‐efficacy, gender, grades and cultural background. On this basis, computers could have a significant potential for enhancing reflection and nourishing classroom discourse, knowledge development, and student empowerment. Motivation and self‐efficacy have the strongest impact, while cultural capital has a minor effect on critical thinking. Students' grades seem to have no predictive power with respect to critical reflection. The results are discussed in relation to theories of Bildung, empowerment and democracy. Various implications for teaching are discussed.
Population genetics of Manihot esculenta ssp. flabellifolia gives insight into past distribution of xeric vegetation in a postulated forest refugium area in northern Amazonia
Authors: DUPUTIÉ ANNE , DELÊTRE MARC , DE GRANVILLE JEAN‐JACQUES , MCKEY DOYLE 
Published: June 2009

AbstractThe Guianas have often been proposed as a forest refugium; however, this view has received little testing. Studies of population genetics of forest taxa suggest that the central part of French Guiana remained forested, while the southern part (currently forested) may have harboured more open vegetation. Insights into the population structure of species restricted to non‐forested habitats can help test this hypothesis. Using six microsatellite loci, we investigated the population genetics of French Guianan accessions of Manihot esculenta ssp. flabellifolia, a taxon restricted to coastal savannas and to rocky outcrops in the densely forested inland. Coastal populations were highly differentiated from one another, and our data suggest a recent colonization of these savannas by M. esculenta ssp. flabellifolia in a west‐to‐east process. Coastal populations were strongly differentiated from inselberg populations, consistent with an ancient separation of these two groups, with no or low subsequent gene flow. This supports the hypothesis that the central part of the region may have remained forested since the Last Glacial Maximum, impeding the establishment of Manihot. Contrary to coastal populations, inselberg Manihot populations were strikingly homogeneous at a broad spatial scale. This suggests they were connected until recently, either by a large continuous savanna area or by smaller, temporary disturbed areas shifting in space.
Upward mobility and alternative lifestyles: a report from the 10th biennial meeting on Bacterial Locomotion and Signal Transduction
Authors: Scharf Birgit E. , Aldridge Phillip D. , Kirby John R. , Crane Brian R. 
Published: June 2009

SummaryThis past January, in Cuernavaca Mexico, a conglomerate of scientists met to discuss the contemporary view of Bacterial Locomotion and Signal Transduction (BLAST). The BLAST meetings represent a field that has its roots in chemotaxis and the flagellum‐based motility but now encompass all types of cellular movement and signalling. The topics varied from the interactions between molecules to the interactions between species. We heard about 3D reconstructions of transmembrane chemoreceptors within cells, new biophysical methods for understanding cellular engines, intricate phosphorelays, elaborate gene networks, new messenger molecules and emerging behaviours within complex populations of cells. At BLAST X we gained an appreciation for the lifestyle choices bacteria make, how they get to where they are going and the molecular mechanisms that underlie their decisions. Herein we review the highlights of the meeting.
The yeast Shu complex couples error‐free post‐replication repair to homologous recombination
Authors: Ball Lindsay G. , Zhang Ke , Cobb Jennifer A. , Boone Charles , Xiao Wei 
Published: June 2009

SummaryDNA post‐replication repair (PRR) functions to bypass replication‐blocking lesions and prevent damage‐induced cell death. PRR employs two different mechanisms to bypass damaged DNA. While translesion synthesis has been well characterized, little is known about the molecular events involved in error‐free bypass, although it has been assumed that homologous recombination (HR) is required for such a mode of lesion bypass. We undertook a genome‐wide synthetic genetic array screen for novel genes involved in error‐free PRR and observed evidence of genetic interactions between error‐free PRR and HR. Furthermore, this screen identified and assigned four genes, CSM2, PSY3, SHU1 and SHU2, whose products form a stable Shu complex, to the error‐free PRR pathway. Previous studies have indicated that the Shu complex is required for efficient HR and that inactivation of any of these genes is able to suppress the severe phenotypes of top3 and sgs1. We confirmed and further extended some of the reported observations and demonstrated that error‐free PRR mutations are also epistatic to sgs1. Based on the above analyses, we propose a model in which error‐free PRR utilizes the Shu complex to recruit HR to facilitate template switching, followed by double‐Holliday junction resolution by Sgs1‐Top3. This mechanism appears to be conserved throughout eukaryotes.
Novel role of Wag31 in protection of mycobacteria under oxidative stress
Authors: Mukherjee Partha , Sureka Kamakshi , Datta Pratik , Hossain Tofajjen , Barik Subhasis , Das Kali P. , Kundu Manikuntala , Basu Joyoti 
Published: June 2009

SummaryWag31 of Mycobacterium tuberculosis belongs to the DivIVA family of proteins known to regulate cell morphology in Gram‐positive bacteria. Here we demonstrate an unrecognized, novel role of Wag31 in oxidatively stressed mycobacteria. We report the cleavage of penicillin‐binding protein 3 (PBP3) by the intramembrane metalloprotease Rv2869c (MSMEG_2579) in oxidatively stressed cells. Amino acids 102A and 103A of PBP3 are required for Rv2869c‐mediated cleavage. Wag31MTB, by virtue of its interaction with PBP3 through amino acid residues 46NSD48, protects it from oxidative stress‐induced cleavage. PBP3 undergoes cleavage in Mycobacterium smegmatis (strain PM2) harbouring wag31(Δ46NSD48) instead of the wild type, with concomitant reduction in ability to withstand oxidative stress. Overexpression of Wag31(Δ46NSD48) attenuates the survival of M. tuberculosis in macrophages with concomitant cleavage of PBP3, and renders the organism more susceptible towards hydrogen peroxide as well as drugs which generate reactive oxygen species, namely isoniazid and ofloxacin. We propose that targeting Wag31 could enhance the activity of mycobactericidal drugs which are known to generate reactive oxygen species.