bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Deviation and failure of enhanced recovery after surgery following laparoscopic colorectal surgery: early prediction model
Authors: Smart N. J. , White P. , Allison A. S. , Ockrim J. B. , Kennedy R. H. , Francis N. K. 
Published: May 2012

AbstractAim  Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) programmes are well established, but deviation from the postoperative elements may result in delayed discharge. Early identification of such patients may allow remedial action to be taken. The aims of this study were to investigate factors associated with delayed discharge and to produce a predictive scoring system for ERAS failure.Method  A retrospective review was carried out of case notes of patients who underwent elective laparoscopic colorectal resection and ERAS at Yeovil District Hospital between 2002 and 2009. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed and binary logistic regression was used to model a predictive scoring system.Results  In all, 385 patient records were reviewed with a median length of stay of 6 days; 122 (31%) patients stayed longer than 1 week (delayed discharge) and 159 (41%) deviated in up to two postoperative ERAS factors. Patient demographic factors were not predictive of delayed discharge. Deviation from ERAS factors at the end of the first postoperative day, including continued intravenous fluid infusion, lack of functioning epidural, inability to mobilize, vomiting requiring nasogastric tube insertion and re‐insertion of urinary catheter, were strongly associated with delayed discharge. A five‐element predictive scoring system for ERAS failure and delayed discharge was formulated.Conclusion  Enhanced recovery failure and delayed discharge after laparoscopic colorectal surgery can be predicted by the early deviation from postoperative factors of an ERAS programme.
Current measures for distance decay in similarity of species composition are influenced by study extent and grain size
Authors: Steinbauer Manuel Jonas , Dolos Klara , Reineking Björn , Beierkuhnlein Carl 
Published: May 2012

ABSTRACTAim  The relationship between geographic distance and similarity in species composition is regularly used as a measure of species turnover and beta diversity. Distance–decay analyses are applied, cited and compared despite the variable extent, and different grain sizes of records (e.g. plots, islands, states) are regularly used within such analyses. Currently, differences among distance–decay relationships that cover different grain sizes and extents are attributed to ecological processes that are suspected to operate differently over varying extents and grain sizes. We assess whether the implicit assumption that the distance–decay relation is independent of grain size and study extent is valid, or whether sampling design could be the underlying cause for observed differences.Location  An artificial one‐dimensional ‘landscape’.Methods  The distance–decay relationship was quantified in simulated communities. Grain and study extent were varied systematically. In each sampled data set the linear relation of Simpson and Sørensen similarity to geographic distance (on both log‐transformed and original scales) between 100 even‐sized equidistant plots was assessed using linear regression and generalized linear regression with a log‐link function. Regressions were applied either including or removing zero similarities from the data.Results  Both the slope (measuring turnover) and the goodness of fit measure r2 (quantifying the influence of space on species composition) of the distance–decay relationship were strongly influenced by grain and study extent. Approaches that are able to cope with zero similarity values of large distance comparisons were less dependent on grain and extent.Main conclusions  Reported differences between landscapes detected by current distance–decay measures cannot be explicitly traced back to ecological scale‐specific processes. Instead, they can largely be attributed to sampling design and are highly sensitive to grain size and study extent. More appropriate approaches for the study of distance–decay and the understanding of scale‐specific processes are required.
MEASURING PRICE ELASTICITY OF SECTORIAL IMPORTS
Authors: KIM SOYOUNG , LEE BYUNG HEE , PARK SOO KYUNG 
Published: May 2012

AbstractPrevious published studies have estimated the long‐run cointegrating relationship to infer the price elasticity of imports, but a stable long‐run cointegrating relationship might not be detected in the data, especially in the case of sectoral data. This paper develops a method to estimate the price elasticity of imports based on a vector autoregression model, which can be applied when a stable long‐run cointegration relationship does not exist. The methods developed in past studies and our method are applied to Korean sectoral imports data to illustrate the usefulness of our method.
Regional Convergence in Mexico, 1970–2005: A Panel Data Approach
Authors: SAKIKAWA KAOKO 
Published: May 2012

ABSTRACTThis paper empirically analyzes regional disparity in terms of convergence of per capita income across Mexican states for the period 1970–2005. In particular, this study extends the conventional cross‐sectional conditionalβ‐convergence analysis of the existing literatures on Mexico to panel data analysis, and focuses on whether the convergence performance varies between the pre‐ and post‐economic liberalization periods. When unobservable state‐specific effects are controlled by the panel data technique, the estimated coefficients show significant conditionalβ‐convergence, even after economic liberalization, but with a lower speed than before economic liberalization.
Sustainability and dietary change: the implications of Swedish food consumption patterns 1960–2006
Authors: Geeraert Friedel 
Published: May 2012

AbstractThis article focuses on the changing food consumption pattern in Sweden between 1960 and 2006, and the implications of those changes for sustainability. National statistical data on the consumption of different food groups such as meat, milk, dairy products, eggs, fruit, vegetables, cereal, potatoes and sugar were compared. Overall, an increase in the consumption of meat, cheese, cream, fruit and vegetables was observed, while the consumption of milk, butter and potatoes decreased. For the sustainability assessment, three parameters were chosen: land requirement, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and energy use. It was shown that the Swedish diet in 2006 required more resources and produced more GHG emissions than in 1960, mainly due to the increase in the consumption of animal products.
A Two‐Compartment Mixed‐Effects Gamma Regression Model for Quantifying Between‐Unit Variability in Length of Stay among Children Admitted to Intensive Care
Authors: Straney Lahn , Clements Archie , Alexander Jan , Slater Anthony ,   for the ANZICS Paediatric Study Group
Published: May 2012

ObjectiveTo quantify between‐unit variability in mean length of stay (LoS) between intensive care units (ICUs) after adjusting for differences in case mix using a method that does not require arbitrary trimming of data.SettingAn analysis of registry data from pediatric ICUs (PICUs) in Australia and New Zealand.Study DesignThe relationships between patient LoS and associated patient factors were modeled as a log‐linear function of the covariates using two gamma distributions. The predicted distribution is estimated as a weighted average of the two distributions where the relative weighting is conditional on the patient's elective status.Data CollectionData for 12,763 admissions submitted to the Australian and New Zealand Paediatric Intensive Care Registry from the eight dedicated PICUs in Australia and New Zealand in 2007 and 2008.Principal FindingsThe two distributions of the mixture model accurately described the distribution of short‐ and long‐stay patients in ICUs. After adjusting for patient case mix, several sites had a statistically significant effect on patient LoS.ConclusionThe two‐compartment model characterizes ICU LoS for short‐ and long‐stay patients more effectively than a single‐compartment model. There is significant site‐level variation in the LoS among children admitted to ICUs in Australia and New Zealand. Differences in the site‐level variation between short‐ and long‐stay patients indicate differences in discharge practice.
Are First‐Time Mothers Who Plan Home Birth More Likely to Receive Evidence‐Based Care? A Comparative Study of Home and Hospital Care Provided by the Same Midwives
Authors: Miller Suzanne , Skinner Joan 
Published: May 2012

AbstractBackground“Place of birth” studies have consistently shown reduced rates of obstetric intervention in low‐technology birth settings, but the extent to which the place of birth per se has influenced the outcomes remains unclear. The objective of this study was to compare birth outcomes for nulliparous women giving birth at home or in hospital, within the practice of the same midwives.MethodsAn innovative survey was generated following a focus group discussion that compared midwifery practice in different settings. Two groups of matched, low‐risk first‐time mothers, one group who planned to give birth at home and the other in hospital, were compared with respect to birth outcomes and midwifery care, and in relation to evidenced‐based care guidelines for low‐risk women.ResultsSurvey data (response rate: 72%) revealed that women in the planned hospital birth group (n = 116) used more pharmacological pain management techniques, experienced more obstetric interventions, had a greater rate of postpartum hemorrhage, and achieved spontaneous vaginal birth less often than those in the planned home birth group (n = 109). All results were significant (p < 0.05).ConclusionsDespite care by the same midwives, first‐time mothers who chose to give birth at home were not only more likely to give birth with no intervention but were also more likely to receive evidence‐based care. (BIRTH 39:2 June 2012)
Magnitude of the Problem of Drinking Alcohol on College Campuses, Commentary on “Structuring a College Alcohol Prevention Program on the Low Level of Response to Alcohol Model: A Pilot Model”
Authors: Scott Denise M. 
Published: May 2012

BackgroundThe objective of this commentary is to discuss the significance of the study entitled, “Structuring a College Alcohol Prevention Program on the Low Level of Response to Alcohol Model: A Pilot Model” by Schuckit and colleagues (2012) published in this issue of the Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. The work by Schuckit and colleagues emphasizes the importance of personalizing an alcohol prevention program for college students.MethodsThis pilot model is the result of over 30 years of clinical translational research on an individual's level of response to alcohol. The prevention program is efficient, simple, safe, cost‐effective and self‐directed.ResultsThe results indicate the computerized intervention was associated with decreases in drinking overall and students with a low level of response to alcohol showed greater decreases when the prevention program is personalized to focus on how level of response is affected by peer influence, alcohol expectancies, and stress management. It concludes that college students with a low level of response to alcohol will benefit from a prevention program that is personalized to this well documented endophenotype.ConclusionsThe findings provide the foundation for developing future longitudinal studies of the proposed prevention program with a larger sample size on diverse campuses. In addition, as mentioned in the Discussion section, future studies could also evaluate the effectiveness of other easily measured clinical endophenotypes known to be associated with alcohol use such as impulsivity, negative effect, and maximum number of drinks per occasion.
Differential Effects of Moderate Alcohol Consumption on Performance Among Older and Younger Adults
Authors: Sklar Alfredo L. , Gilbertson Rebecca , Boissoneault Jeff , Prather Robert , Nixon Sara Jo 
Published: May 2012

BackgroundStudies exploring differential effects of acute alcohol consumption on younger and older adults are lacking within the field of alcohol research, especially those using moderate doses. Previous studies addressing this question have tended to use complex behavioral tasks too broad to isolate specific neurocognitive processes affected by both alcohol and aging. Compromises in cognitive efficiency (i.e., the ability to respond both quickly and accurately) have previously been identified in both elderly and acutely intoxicated individuals.MethodsThe present study employed a visual–spatial, 2‐choice reaction time (RT) task to evaluate the interactive effects of aging and alcohol on cognitive efficiency. Our primary outcome measure was an efficiency ratio derived from each participant's response accuracy (ACC) and mean RT (%correct/RT). Younger (25 to 35; n = 22) and older (55 to 74; n = 37) participants were randomly assigned to receive either a placebo or moderate alcohol dose intended to produce a peak breath alcohol concentration of 0.04%. Participants performed the task at peak alcohol levels.ResultsA significant interaction between age group and dose assignment was observed, F(3, 55) = 4.86, p = 0.03, for the efficiency ratio. Younger participants who received alcohol performed significantly better than did their older counterparts regardless of alcohol condition and despite no differences in performance between the 2 age groups in the placebo condition. Additional correlation analyses between ACC and RT suggested that moderately intoxicated older adults become more accurate as response times increase. This relationship was not observed in older adults in the placebo condition.ConclusionsThese data suggest that healthy individuals exhibit a differential susceptibility to the effects of alcohol depending on their age. Unfortunately, because of the presumed safety of moderate alcohol doses and a lack of studies investigating the interactive effects of acute alcohol consumption and aging, most individuals are unlikely to be aware of this relationship between alcohol consumption and age.
Effects of Cross‐Fostering on Alcohol Preference and Correlated Responses to Selection in High‐ and Low‐Alcohol‐Preferring Mice
Authors: Barrenha Gustavo D. , Chester Julia A. 
Published: May 2012

BackgroundSelectively bred rodent lines are valuable tools for investigating gene × environment interactions related to risk for alcoholism in humans. Early maternal environment is one particular factor known for critically influencing neural, hormonal, and behavioral outcomes in adulthood. Cross‐fostering is a procedure that may be used to explore the role of genotype‐dependent maternal influences on phenotypic variability in adulthood. The purpose of these experiments was to examine the effects of cross‐fostering on free‐choice alcohol drinking and correlated responses to selection for alcohol preference in mice selectively bred for high (HAP2) and low (LAP2) alcohol preference.MethodsMice were assigned to one of the following treatments: SHAM (pups that were fostered to their original biological mother), IN (pups that were fostered to a different mother of the same line), and CROSS (pups that were fostered to a mother of a different line). Mice were tested in adulthood for (i) free 24‐hour access to alcohol for a period of 28 days; (ii) the expression of the acoustic startle response and fear‐potentiated startle (FPS); and (iii) handling‐induced convulsions (HICs) during acute alcohol withdrawal.ResultsOverall, the expression of the alcohol preference selection phenotype was robust in all groups (HAP2 > LAP2). Cross‐fostering produced a moderate but significant reduction in g/kg alcohol drinking and preference scores in HAP2 mice (CROSS < SHAM) but had no effect in LAP2 mice. Cross‐fostering did not affect the expression of correlated responses to selection: acoustic startle response (HAP2 > LAP2), FPS (HAP2 > LAP2), HICs (LAP2 > HAP2).ConclusionsIt appears that maternal environment can modify the expression of the high‐alcohol‐preference phenotype in HAP2 selectively bred mice. These results suggest a gene × environment interaction with respect to the expression of the high‐alcohol‐preference selection phenotype but not correlated responses to selection.
Autonomous Teams and New Product Development
Authors: Patanakul Peerasit , Chen Jiyao , Lynn Gary S. 
Published: May 2012

An autonomous team is an emerging tool for new product development (NPD). With its high degree of autonomy, independence, leadership, dedication, and collocation, the team has more freedom and stronger capabilities to be innovative and entrepreneurial. Several anecdotal cases suggest that autonomous teams are best when applied to highly uncertain, complex, and innovative projects. However, there is no empirical study to test such a notion. Moreover, autonomous teams are not a panacea, and implementing them can be costly and disruptive to their parent organization. When should this powerful, yet costly tool, be pulled out of the new product professional's toolbox? This paper attempts to answer this question.The objective of this study is to explore under which circumstances an autonomous team is the best choice for NPD. Based on contingency and information‐processing theories, autonomous teams are hypothesized to be more effective to address projects with: (1) high technology novelty and (2) radical innovation. To test these hypotheses, the relative effectiveness of four types of team structures: autonomous, functional, lightweight, and heavyweight are compared. The effectiveness measures include development cost, development speed, and overall product success. Vision clarity, resource availability, and team experience are the controlled variables.The empirical results based on the data from 555 NPD projects generally support the research hypotheses. Relative to other team structures, autonomous teams are more effective in addressing projects with high technology novelty or radical innovation. The results also suggest that heavyweight teams perform better than other teams in developing incremental innovation. These results provide some evidence to support contingency and information‐processing theories at the project level. Given the importance of the development of novel technology and radical innovation in establishing new businesses and other strategic initiatives, the findings of this study may not only have some important implications for NPD practices but may also shed some light on other important topics such as disruptive innovation, strategic innovation, new venture, corporate entrepreneurship, and ambidextrous organization.
Classification of Emergency Departments According to Their Services for Community‐dwelling Seniors
Authors: Borges Da Silva Roxane , McCusker Jane , Roberge Danièle , Ciampi Antonio , Vadeboncoeur Alain , Lévesque Jean‐Frédéric , Belzile Eric 
Published: May 2012

ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE 2012; 19: 552–561 © 2012 by the Society for Academic Emergency MedicineAbstractObjectives:  The goal was to develop a classification of emergency departments (EDs) based on their organization of services for seniors discharged to the community.Methods:  This was a secondary analysis of data collected in a survey of key informants (chief physicians and head nurses) in EDs in Quebec on the organization of services for community‐dwelling seniors discharged to the community. Organizational characteristics were classified a priori in the following three categories: 1) availability of human resources, 2) care processes, and 3) links to community services. A multifactorial analysis (MFA) was used to analyze the variables by category and globally, thus investigating not only the relationships between variables within each category, but also the relationships between different categories. The authors then proceeded to classify EDs using Ward’s method (hierarchical ascendant classification) applied to reduced data dimensions.Results:  The sample consisted of 103 EDs. Analyses were carried out on data from the 68 (66%) of these EDs that supplied complete data. These 68 EDs did not differ in terms of their size or geographical location from the 35 other departments that supplied incomplete or no data. We identified three groups of EDs: most specialized (with regard to internal staff and care processes) and less community‐oriented (n = 12), moderately specialized and less community‐oriented (n = 28), and least specialized and more community‐oriented (n = 28).Conclusions:  This classification of EDs with respect to their organization of services for community‐dwelling seniors may be helpful to those planning services, to decision‐makers, and to researchers. The three groups of EDs identified in this study represent three types of organizations with differing assets and limitations. The generalizability of these groups to other settings and the implications for patient outcomes should be investigated.
Combination of Copeptin and Troponin Assays to Rapidly Rule Out Non‐ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction in the Emergency Department
Authors: Charpentier Sandrine , Maupas‐Schwalm Françoise , Cournot Maxime , Elbaz Meyer , Botella Jean Marie , Lauque Dominique 
Published: May 2012

ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE 2012; 19: 517–524 © 2012 by the Society for Academic Emergency MedicineAbstractObjectives:  The aim of this study was to analyze the diagnostic accuracy and the clinical usefulness of the combination of troponin I (cTnI) and copeptin measured at presentation with an automated assay to rapidly rule out non‐ST elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) in patients with suspected cardiac chest pain presenting to an emergency department (ED).Methods:  This study was an ancillary analysis of a prospective observational study. Copeptin and cTnI levels were sampled at presentation in 641 consecutive patients admitted to the ED for chest pain with onset within the last 12 hours and without ST elevation on a 12‐lead electrocardiogram (ECG). Copeptin was measured with an automated assay and troponin with conventional assay. The performance of a combination of cTnI and copeptin for NSTEMI diagnosis was studied, the clinical utility was assessed by multivariate analysis, and an area under the curve (AUC) calculation was used to determine accuracy.Results:  NSTEMI was diagnosed in 95 patients (15%). The sensitivity and negative predictive value (NPV) of the combination of copeptin and cTnI measures were 90.4% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 88.2% to 92.7%) and 97.6% (95% CI = 96.4% to 98.7%) versus 55.3% (95% CI = 51.5% to 59.2%) and 92.8% (95% CI = 90.8% to 94.8%) with cTnI alone. The AUC of the combination of copeptin and cTnI was 0.89 (95% CI = 0.85% to 0.92%) and was significantly higher than the AUC of cTnI alone (0.77, 95% CI = 0.72% to 0.82%, p < 0.05). The patient classification was slightly improved when copeptin was added to the usual diagnostic tools used for NSTEMI management.Conclusions:  In this study, determination of copeptin, in addition to cTnI, improves early diagnostic accuracy of NSTEMI. However, the sensitivity of this combination even using a conventional troponin assay remains insufficient to safely rule out NSTEMI at the time of presentation.