bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Quality of life reporting by parent–child dyads in Japan, as grouped by depressive status
Authors: Kobayashi Kyoko , Kamibeppu Kiyoko 
Published: May 2011

AbstractWhen children are unable to assess their own health‐related quality of life (HRQOL), their parents can provide useful proxy information; however, minimal agreement between the two groups on this issue has been reported in some situations. In order to clarify the degree of accordance between the self‐reports of children and the proxy reports of their parents on the former's HRQOL, 679 parent–child dyads, as grouped by their depressive status, were assessed by the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL). It was found that the self‐reporting of the children differed significantly between those who were healthy and those who had depressive symptoms, whereas the proxy‐reporting of the parents did not vary with their child's mental condition. However, the latter's reports did reveal notable dissimilarities between the healthy parents and those with depressive symptoms. The results indicated that the parents' perception of their child's HRQOL differed with their child's own perception and that the parents' perceptions were affected by their mental condition. Medical providers should assess both the child's and the parents' evaluations of the child's HRQOL, as the views of the parents could determine the use of health services and the making of decisions in clinical settings.
Workplace injury and nurses: Insights from focus groups with Australian return‐to‐work coordinators
Authors: Southgate Erica , James Carole , Kable Ashley , Bohatko‐Naismith Joanna , Rivett Darren , Guest Maya 
Published: May 2011

AbstractFew studies have examined the return‐to‐work process for nurses who are injured at work. The purpose of this study was to identify the factors that facilitate or impede the successful return to work of nurses who have sustained a workplace injury from the perspective of return‐to‐work coordinators. A qualitative, descriptive study was conducted and 25 return‐to‐work coordinators from 14 different organizations participated in focus group discussions. The participants were recruited from healthcare settings in metropolitan and rural areas of New South Wales, Australia. These included aged‐care, residential, and community disability support services, public and private hospitals, and the community health sector. Workforce shortages, individual life circumstances and nurses' work, and nurses' qualifications, specialization, experience, and job tenure were identified as the factors that influence the timely, safe, and sustainable return to work of injured nurses. This study provides insight into how workforce shortages have driven innovative practice in accommodating a nurse's life circumstances when developing the return‐to‐work plan. Barriers to nurses' return to work included a lack of qualifications, specialization, and the casualization of the workforce.
Effect of evidence‐based education on Iranian nursing students' knowledge and attitude
Authors: Jalali‐Nia Seyedeh Fatemeh , Salsali Mahvash , Dehghan‐Nayeri Nahid , Ebadi Abbas 
Published: May 2011

AbstractTo adopt an evidence‐based approach to education there is a need for research‐based evidence to support its effectiveness. This study investigated the impact of evidence‐based education on the knowledge and attitude of nursing students. In this quasi‐experimental study, all nursing students (n = 41) studying the courses of musculoskeletal and gastrointestinal systems were chosen and assigned randomly to intervention and control groups. The groups were taught through an evidence‐based or traditional approach. Students' knowledge and attitude were then evaluated. Data were gathered by three knowledge and two attitude questionnaires with multiple choice and Likert scales and then analyzed. It was shown that there was a significant difference between the average scores for attitude of the groups, but there was no statistically significant difference between the average scores of knowledge. The results suggest the evidence‐based approach might be used as a complementary approach to nursing education. It was not only as effective as the usual method but also led to the acquisition of particular skills by students. The results can be used to formulate programs to design and implement evidence‐based nursing education.
Isolation and lack of access in multiple chemical sensitivity: A qualitative study
Authors: Gibson Pamela Reed , Sledd Lauren G. , McEnroe William H. , Vos Abby P. 
Published: May 2011

AbstractThis paper describes a qualitative interview study of 26 persons with multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS), also referred to as chemical intolerance. We used a phenomenological perspective and planned to focus on the impact of MCS on relationships, but found that difficulty with accessing safe spaces at times prevented relationships by limiting access to personal interactions. Thus, persons with MCS either lost or were unable to cultivate new relationships as a result of lack of spatial access. Others' lack of understanding and refusal to make accommodations at times denied spatial access to those with MCS. In this way, relationships (relationality) and spatial access (spatiality) interacted with one another to keep persons isolated. In this paper, we describe informants' detailed experience of living with chemical intolerance in a culture where chemical exposures are commonplace.
Unusual presentation of intraparenchymal renal artery aneurysm mimicking cystic renal cell carcinoma: A case report
Authors: Osako Yoichi , Tatarano Shuichi , Nishiyama Kenryu , Yamada Yasutoshi , Yamagata Takaaki , Uchida Yosuke , Nakagawa Masayuki 
Published: May 2011

AbstractWe describe a case of intraparenchymal renal artery aneurysm in a 58‐year‐old normotensive man with a history of distal ureterectomy. Imaging studies of the pre‐existing right renal mass had been interpreted as being consistent with a simple renal cyst. Three years after ureterectomy, a small parietal nodule with contrast enhancement developed within the cyst. Partial nephrectomy was carried out based on a preoperative diagnosis of cystic kidney cancer. Surprisingly, pathological diagnosis was an aneurysm with a revascularized thrombus. Even though the present case represents an extremely rare clinical manifestation of intraparenchymal renal artery aneurysm, clinicians should be aware that imaging studies cannot distinguish all instances of renal vascular disease.
Previous transanal full‐thickness excision increases the morbidity of radical resection for rectal cancer
Authors: Piessen G. , Cabral C. , Benoist S. , Penna C. , Nordlinger B. 
Published: May 2011

AbstractAim  The aim of the study was to determine the impact of primary full‐thickness transanal excision (TAE) on the morbidity rate following radical rectal resection for cancer.Method  Fourteen consecutive patients underwent radical resection for lower third rectal cancer following full‐thickness TAE without closure of the defect. They were compared with 25 matched patients from a prospective database of 275 rectal resections who had undergone radical resection without previous TAE for lower third rectal cancer (control group). The confounding factors were: age, sex, body mass index (BMI), classification according to the American Society of Anaesthesiologists, administration of neoadjuvant radiotherapy before rectal resection, tumour stage and type of surgical procedure.Results  There were no deaths. Overall morbidity was 64.3% in the TAE group and 32% in the control group (P = 0.112). Surgical complications were significantly more frequent in the former (57.1%vs 20%; P = 0.048). The frequency of specific surgical site complications, including anastomotic complications and pelvic abscess formation requiring surgical drainage, was significantly higher in the TAE group than in the control group (42.8%vs 8%; P = 0.032). In univariate analysis, the only factors associated with specific surgical site complications were BMI > 27 and TAE before rectal resection.Conclusion  This case‐matched study suggests that previous full‐thickness TAE increases the risk of surgical complications after radical resection for lower third rectal cancer, including anastomotic dehiscence and pelvic sepsis.
Climate‐driven simulation of global crop sowing dates
Authors: Waha K. , van Bussel L. G. J. , Müller C. , Bondeau A. 
Published: May 2011

ABSTRACTAim  To simulate the sowing dates of 11 major annual crops at the global scale at high spatial resolution, based on climatic conditions and crop‐specific temperature requirements.Location  Global.Methods  Sowing dates under rainfed conditions are simulated deterministically based on a set of rules depending on crop‐ and climate‐specific characteristics. We assume that farmers base their timing of sowing on experiences with past precipitation and temperature conditions, with the intra‐annual variability being especially important. The start of the growing period is assumed to be dependent either on the onset of the wet season or on the exceeding of a crop‐specific temperature threshold for emergence. To validate our methodology, a global data set of observed monthly growing periods (MIRCA2000) is used.Results  We show simulated sowing dates for 11 major field crops world‐wide and give rules for determining their sowing dates in a specific climatic region. For all simulated crops, except for rapeseed and cassava, in at least 50% of the grid cells and on at least 60% of the cultivated area, the difference between simulated and observed sowing dates is less than 1 month. Deviations of more than 5 months occur in regions characterized by multiple‐cropping systems, in tropical regions which, despite seasonality, have favourable conditions throughout the year, and in countries with large climatic gradients.Main conclusions  Sowing dates under rainfed conditions for various annual crops can be satisfactorily estimated from climatic conditions for large parts of the earth. Our methodology is globally applicable, and therefore suitable for simulating sowing dates as input for crop growth models applied at the global scale and taking climate change into account.
School‐based ICT policy plans in primary education: Elements, typologies and underlying processes
Authors: Vanderlinde Ruben , Dexter Sara , van Braak Johan 
Published: May 2011

AbstractSchools are more and more encouraged to write a school‐based information and communication technology (ICT) policy plan. In such a plan, a school describes its expectations, goals, content and actions related to the future role of ICT in teaching and learning. Although this is encouraged by researchers and policy makers, the literature on ICT policy plans and ICT policy planning is rather general and underdeveloped. In this study, the content of school‐based ICT policy plans and underlying policy processes is explored. Data were gathered in 31 primary schools in Flanders: the schools' ICT policy plan was submitted to a content analysis, and a semi‐structured interview was administered to the school leader or the ICT coordinator. Using a framework of ICT leadership practices to guide the analysis (setting direction, developing people and making the organization work), we identified three types of ICT policy plans: (1) an ICT policy plan as a vision blueprint, (2) a technical inventory and (3) a comprehensive ICT policy plan. Although the last type takes into account all ICT leadership practices, we found a variety of different approaches in the processes used to create and execute such plans, such as the support of ICT training activities, data‐driven decision‐making processes and monitoring activities.
ECONOMIC REMOTENESS AND WAGE DISPARITIES IN ROMANIA
Authors: LÓPEZ‐RODRÍGUEZ JESÚS , FAIÑA ANDRES , COSMIN‐GABRIEL BOLEA 
Published: May 2011

ABSTRACTThis paper looks at the link between wage disparities and market access for the Romanian regions. First, we derive an econometric specification which relates the income levels of a particular location with a weighted sum of the volume of economic activities of the surrounding locations (market access). Then, empirically, we estimate this econometric specification for a sample of 42 Romanian regions in the year 2006. The results show that market access is statistically significant and quantitatively important in explaining cross‐county variation in Romanian wages. Moreover, our results are robust to the inclusion of control variables thought to be important in explaining Romanian wages as it is the case with human capital and innovation levels. After controlling for these variables, market access remains still positive and statistically significant although its influence on wages decreases around 25 per cent. Finally some policy conclusions are also drawn.
Multidimensional Re‐creation of Vulnerabilities and Potential for Resilience in International Migration
Authors: Julca Alex 
Published: May 2011

AbstractInternational labour migration is a multidimensional process and primarily a family mechanism intended to reduce vulnerabilities associated with underlying inequalities. However, for immigrants, the break‐up of physical contact with family members is an enduring feature of vulnerability in their communication with origins (often in developing countries). On the whole, family relationships are transformed: the absence of physical contact is traded‐off with remittances sent home to family members. Remittances create potential for resilience by increasing human development of children, while reducing extreme poverty at the local level. Remittance flows are also an important source of foreign exchange for countries of origin. However, labour markets’ polarization, backlash, and economic downturns at destinations (often in developed countries), and governments’ moral hazard, currency revaluation, and production inertia at origins recreate vulnerabilities and disrupt the potential build‐up of resilience. In fact, the re‐creation of vulnerabilities largely outweighs the generation of resilience threads. The paper develops a typology that highlights the dynamic interaction between vulnerabilities and resilience, revealing the multiple aspects of people and remittances flows, the potential for mainstreaming migration policies into economic development, and the scale of the policy task to reduce vulnerabilities associated to international labour migration.
Economic or Environmental Migration? The Push Factors in Niger
Authors: Afifi Tamer 
Published: May 2011

AbstractThis paper identifies the main environmental problems in Niger and detects their impact on migration at the national and international level. It mainly focuses on droughts, soil degradation, the shrinking of Lake Chad, the Niger River problems, deforestation, and sand intrusion, as important push factors that might influence the migration decision of the people of Niger. The paper addresses the question of whether their decision to migrate is influenced by purely economic or environmental problems and concludes that the economic factor represents the mechanism through which the environmental damage influences migration, introducing hereby the term “environmentally induced economic migration”.
Drought Triggered Temporary Migration in an East Indian Village
Authors: Jülich Sebastian 
Published: May 2011

AbstractThis case study in the village of Khaliakani examines the impact of drought disasters on the rural population in the Indian state Orissa and analyses the importance of temporary migration as a coping and adaptation strategy. Social, economic, and spatial patterns of the forced migration caused by the last drought disaster in 2003 are being investigated at the household level in order to explore the links between vulnerability and temporary migration for labour. The drivers leading to environmental forced migration, the requirements necessary to migrate, and the resulting outcomes for the migrants are explored and comprised in a conceptual model of environmental forced migration for labour.
A Decision Framework for Environmentally Induced Migration
Authors: Renaud Fabrice G. , Dun Olivia , Warner Koko , Bogardi Janos 
Published: May 2011

AbstractGlobal environmental change, including climate change, is increasingly affecting ecosystems and the communities who rely on them. Reflecting on the manner in which the environment changes can help provide insights into the different mechanisms by which humans respond and adapt to deal with the environmental stress they face. When it comes to migrating as a response strategy to environmental stress, the pace of change in the environment will have a significant influence on the mode of displacement and migration‐related decisions. Determining the exact extent that environmental stresses play in forcing people to move is complex for at least two reasons. First, deciphering which of several push and pull factors influence a decision to move is difficult as multiple factors (e.g., social, political and economic factors) often act simultaneously. Second, environmental degradation processes are often a consequence of the degradation of social, economic and political conditions and vice versa. Reflecting on the concept of social‐ecological systems and the notion of ecosystem services is useful for understanding this complexity and can help in determining the extent to which ecosystem degradation plays a role in forcing people to migrate. An attempt is made to address the gap in conceptualising environmental change and migration by sketching a decision framework for categorising people moving due to environmental stressors. The approach examines the circumstances leading to a decision to move, including the state of the environment and coping capacities / adaptive abilities of those individuals or communities affected. This conceptualisation is not a final scheme but rather, a point of departure for debate and discussion. It is hoped that, following in‐depth discussions and improvements of such a framework, it will become a useful tool for operational agencies that have to provide support to people who are displaced or migrate because of environmental stresses.
Autophagy deregulation in neurodegenerative diseases – recent advances and future perspectives
Authors: Cheung Zelda H. , Ip Nancy Y. 
Published: May 2011

J. Neurochem. (2011) 118, 315–316.AbstractAutophagy is an evolutionarily conserved homeostatic process for the turnover of cellular contents, organelles and misfolded proteins through the lysosomal machinery. Recently, the involvement of autophagy in the pathophysiology of neurodegenerative diseases has attracted considerable interest because autophagy deregulation has been linked to some of these neurodegenerative disorders. This interest is further heightened by the demonstration that various autophagic pathways, including macroautophagy and chaperone‐mediated autophagy, are implicated in the turnover of proteins that are prone to aggregation in cellular or animal disease models. These observations have stimulated new awareness in the pivotal role of the autophagic pathways in neurodegenerative disease pathophysiology, and have sparked extensive research aimed at deciphering the mechanisms by which autophagy is altered in these disorders. Here, we summarize the latest advances in our understanding of the role of autophagy deregulation in Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s disease.
Cytotoxicity and Endothelial Cell Adhesion of Lyophilized and Irradiated Bovine Pericardium Modified With Silk Fibroin and Chitosan
Authors: Rodas Andrea C.D. , Polak Roberta , Hara Priscila H. , Lee Emily I. , Pitombo Ronaldo N.M. , Higa Olga Z. 
Published: May 2011

AbstractGrafts of biological tissues have been used since the 1960s as an alternative to the mechanical heart prostheses. Nowadays, the most consolidated treatment to bovine pericardial (BP) bioprostheses is the crosslinking with glutaraldehyde (GA), although GA may induce calcification in vivo. In previous work, our group demonstrated that electron beam irradiation applied to lyophilized BP in the absence of oxygen promoted crosslinks among collagen fibers of BP tissue. In this work, the incorporation of silk fibroin (SF) and chitosan (CHIT) in the BP not treated with GA was studied. The samples were irradiated and then analyzed for their cytotoxicity and the ability of adhesion and growth of endothelial cells. Initially, all samples showed cytotoxicity. However, after a few washing cycles, the cytotoxicity due to acetic acid and ethanol residues was removed from the biomaterial making it suitable for the biofunctional test. The samples modified with SF/CHIT and electron beam irradiated favored the adhesion and growth of endothelial cells throughout the tissue.
Influence of Heat Treatment and Oxygen Doping on the Mechanical Properties and Biocompatibility of Titanium‐Niobium Binary Alloys
Authors: da Silva Luciano Monteiro , Claro Ana Paula Rosifini Alves , Donato Tatiani Ayako Goto , Arana‐Chavez Victor E. , Moraes João Carlos Silos , Buzalaf Marília Afonso Rabelo , Grandini Carlos Roberto 
Published: May 2011

AbstractThe most commonly used titanium (Ti)‐based alloy for biological applications is Ti‐6Al‐4V, but some studies associate the vanadium (V) with the cytotoxic effects and adverse reactions in tissues, while aluminum (Al) has been associated with neurological disorders. Ti‐Nb alloys belong to a new class of Ti‐based alloys with no presence of Al and V and with elasticity modulus values that are very attractive for use as a biomaterial. It is well known that the presence of interstitial elements (such as oxygen, for example) changes the mechanical properties of alloys significantly, particularly the elastic properties, the same way that heat treatments can change the microstructure of these alloys. This article presents the effect of heat treatment and oxygen doping in some mechanical properties and the biocompatibility of three alloys of the Ti‐Nb system, characterized by density measurements, X‐ray diffraction, optical microscopy, Vickers microhardness, in vitro cytotoxicity, and mechanical spectroscopy.
Reliability of capillary hemoglobin screening under routine conditions
Authors: Ziemann Malte , Lizardo Bettina , Geusendam Geert , Schlenke Peter 
Published: May 2011

BACKGROUND: Capillary hemoglobin (Hb) measurement before admission for whole blood donation is performed in many blood donation services, in spite of several studies reporting many donors with low Hb values being missed by capillary Hb screening.STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Predonation capillary and venous Hb levels of 9209 first‐time donors presenting for whole blood donation were compared. Hb testing was conducted by photometric determination of finger‐stick samples with a photometric method (Donor Checker, HemoCue) and using a hematology analyzer for venous samples.RESULTS: Both capillary and venous Hb measurements were available for 8910 donors (96.8%). The arithmetic mean deviation of the capillary Hb from the venous sample was +1.5 ± 6.8 g/L, and the mean deviation was 5.4 ± 4.5 g/L. In 7865 donors (88%), capillary and venous Hb values differed less than 10 g/L from each other, but in 86 donors (1.0%) the difference was at least 20 g/L, and in 10 donors (0.1%), even 30 g/L or more. In 93.3% of females and 98.7% of males, the categorization as having sufficient or too low Hb for blood donation was concordant between capillary and venous measurements. A total of 34.4% of donors with too low results of capillary Hb screening had sufficient venous Hb levels. Only one donor (0.01%) passed the capillary Hb screening despite venous Hb values below 110 g/L.CONCLUSION: The currently available methods for capillary Hb screening allow reliable determination of predonation Hb values under routine conditions. Additional venous Hb measurements in donors with too low capillary Hb values might reduce the rate of deferred donors by approximately one‐third.