bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The differential effects of recombinant brain natriuretic peptide, nitroglycerine and dihydralazine on systemic oxygen delivery and gastric mucosal microvascular oxygenation in dogs*
Authors: Schwarte L. A. , Schwartges I. , Scheeren T. W. L. , Schober P. , Picker O. 
Published: February 2012

SummaryBrain natriuretic peptide has vasodilatory properties and may thus increase splanchnic perfusion and oxygenation. We compared the effects of recombinant brain natriuretic peptide on gastric mucosal microvascular haemoglobin oxygenation (reflectance spectrophotometry) and systemic variables with those of equi‐hypotensive doses of two other vasodilators (nitroglycerine and dihydralazine). Chronically instrumented, healthy dogs were randomly allocated to receive on different days, one of the three drugs (nitroglycerine and dihydralazine doses titrated to reduce mean arterial pressure by ∼20%). Brain natriuretic peptide significantly increased gastric mucosal microvascular haemoglobin oxygenation selectively, i.e. without concomitant haemodynamic effects. In contrast, the other vasodilators either did not increase gastric mucosal microvascular haemoglobin oxygenation at all (nitroglycerine), or did so only with marked increases in other systemic haemodynamic variables (dihydralazine). Our data suggest a potential role of recombinant brain natriuretic peptide selectively for increasing microvascular mucosal oxygenation. Studies are required to extend these findings to the clinical setting.
The impact of focused transthoracic echocardiography in the pre‐operative clinic
Authors: Canty D. J. , Royse C. F. , Kilpatrick D. , Bowman L. , Royse A. G. 
Published: February 2012

SummaryPatients with suspected or symptomatic cardiac disease, associated with increased peri‐operative risk, are often seen by anaesthetists in the pre‐assessment clinic. The use of transthoracic echocardiography in this setting has not been reported. This prospective observational study investigated the effect of echocardiography on the anaesthetic management plan in 100 patients who were older than 65 years or had suspected cardiac disease. Echocardiography was performed by an anaesthetist, and was validated by a cardiologist. Overall, the anaesthetic plan was changed in 54 patients. Haemodynamically significant cardiac disease was revealed in 31 patients, resulting in a step‐up of treatment in 20 patients, including: cardiology referral (four patients); altered surgical (two) and anaesthetic (four) technique; use of invasive monitoring (13); planned use of vasopressor infusion (10); and postoperative high dependency care (five). Reassuring negative findings in 69 patients led to a step‐down in treatment in 34 patients: altered anaesthetic technique (six); procedure not cancelled (10); cardiology referral not made (10); use of invasive monitoring not required (seven); and high dependency care not booked (11). We conclude that focused transthoracic echocardiography in the pre‐operative clinic is feasible and frequently alters management in patients with suspected cardiac disease.
Using the experiences of people with familial hypercholesterolaemia to help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease: a qualitative systematic review
Authors: Muir Lauretta A. , George Peter M. , Whitehead Lisa 
Published: February 2012

muir l.a., george p.m. & whitehead l. (2012) Using the experiences of people with familial hypercholesterolaemia to help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease: a qualitative systematic review. Journal of Advanced Nursing68(9), 1920–1932.AbstractAims.  This paper presents the results of a systematic review of qualitative studies identifying the experiences and perceptions of people living with familial hypercholesterolaemia.Background.  Familial hypercholesterolaemia is a genetic condition that causes cardiovascular disease and early death. It can be easily diagnosed and treated. Diagnostic rates sit around 20% of the at‐risk population in western countries. Screening the relatives of diagnosed people is the best way of identifying those at risk so that, if necessary, treatment can be offered. Presentation for screening can depend on diagnosed people informing relatives of their increased risk and advising them to volunteer for testing. We conducted this review to identify if this approach to screening contributes to low diagnostic and treatment rates.Data sources.  Searches were made of 11 electronic databases and grey literature from 1990–February 2011.Review method.  A systematic review of studies that met the review aim was undertaken. Relevant data were extracted and a narrative synthesis conducted.Results.  Poor health literacy, family and other social dynamics can both impede the ability and reduce the likelihood of diagnosed people approaching and adequately explaining the risk of familial hypercholesterolaemia to relatives. Relatives may misunderstand the significance of their messages or not see them as personally relevant.Conclusion.  To ensure contact takes place and relatives are able to make informed decisions around being tested, expert clinicians must evaluate the health literacy and social contexts of diagnosed people before assigning them responsibility for contacting family and actively provide support and follow up.
Mixed methods evaluation of an interdisciplinary sexuality education programme for staff working with people who have an acquired physical disability
Authors: Higgins Agnes , Sharek Danika , Nolan Maeve , Sheerin Barbara , Flanagan Paul , Slaicuinaite Sniguole , Mc Donnell Sinead , Walsh Heather 
Published: February 2012

higgins a., sharek d., nolan m., sheerin b., flanagan p., slaicuinaite s., mc donnell s. & walsh h. (2012) Mixed methods evaluation of an interdisciplinary sexuality education programme for staff working with people who have an acquired physical disability. Journal of Advanced Nursing68(11), 2559–2569.AbstractAim.  To report a study evaluating the effectiveness of a 1‐day interdisciplinary sexuality education programme for staff working with people with acquired physical disability.Background.  Changes associated with an acquired physical disability can diminish a person’s self‐esteem, sense of attractiveness, relationships, and sexual functioning. Research suggests that people are dissatisfied with the quality of information and support around sexuality during their rehabilitation.Design.  A mixed methods design was used, involving pretest and posttest questionnaires and interviews.Methods. Questionnaire data were analysed using descriptive statistics and paired samples t‐tests to evaluate the effects of the programme on knowledge, skills, and comfort. Interview data were analyzed thematically, with particular emphasis on participants’ opinions about the application of the course within practice. Participants were working in the area of acquired disability and rehabilitation, and were drawn from a number of disciplines. Data were collected between 2008–2009.Results.  Comparison of the pre‐ and postmeasures, based on paired samples t‐tests, showed that the programme statistically significantly increased participants’ knowledge, skills, and comfort. Participants felt positive and enthusiastic about the programme and reported numerous incidents where they were more willing to raise issues for discussion and create a supportive listening space for patients to talk about their concerns around sexuality.Conclusion.  Providing healthcare practitioners with a 1‐day programme leads to positive changes in knowledge, skills, and comfort towards sexuality. Sexuality education may be an ideal topic for bringing practitioners together within an interdisciplinary education context.
Development and testing of a cancer appetite and symptom questionnaire
Authors: Halliday V. , Porock D. , Arthur A. , Manderson C. , Wilcock A. 
Published: February 2012

How to cite this article:Halliday V., Porock D., Arthur A., Manderson C. & Wilcock A. (2012) Development and testing of a cancer appetite and symptom questionnaire.J Hum Nutr Diet.25, 217–224AbstractBackground: Poor appetite and weight loss are common in patients with cancer, contributing to an increase in morbidity and mortality. Early identification of those at greatest risk is problematic. The Council on Nutrition Appetite Questionnaire (CNAQ) is short and easy to use, although it is not specific to cancer populations. The present study aimed to build on the CNAQ to develop a cancer appetite and symptom questionnaire (CASQ) for predicting weight loss in patients with cancer.Methods: The content validity of the CNAQ was assessed by an expert panel (n = 41) using the content validity index (CVI). The resulting CASQ was tested for reliability among patients receiving radiotherapy (n = 34). Predictive validity of the CASQ was determined in patients with lung or upper gastrointestinal cancer (n = 185), comparing CASQ scores (possible range 0–48) recorded at baseline with percentage weight change after 12 weeks.Results: In all but one CNAQ item, the CVI was above the minimum level of agreement (>0.70). Comments from expert panel members led to minor modifications and the introduction of new items resulting in the 12‐item CASQ. The intraclass correlation coefficient of the CASQ was 0.80 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.68–0.92] and the difference between total scores at two time points was −0.20 (95% CI = −1.21 to 0.80). The optimum cut‐off point of the instrument to predict >10% weight loss was 29/30 (area under curve = 0.75; sensitivity 71%, specificity 66%, positive predictive value 19%, negative predictive value 95%) [Correction added on 30 April 2012, after first online publication: in the preceding sentence, <10% was corrected to >10%].Conclusions: The CASQ can predict weight loss among patients with lung and upper gastrointestinal cancer. Acknowledgment of the low positive predictive value is needed if the instrument is to be used within clinical practice.
Relationship between Incidence of Brown Eye Spot of Coffee Cherries and the Chemical Composition of Coffee Beans
Authors: De Lima Luciana Maria , Pozza Edson Ampélio , Da Silva Santos Florisvalda 
Published: February 2012

AbstractTo study the chemical composition of coffee beans from coffee cherries infected by brown eye spot, two experiments were conducted with coffee cherries from Catuaí Amarelo and Acaiá Cerrado farms, in the full physiological maturity stage. The coffee cherries were harvested manually, and 20 litres of cherries without visible symptoms of brown eye spot (healthy coffee cherries) and 20 l of cherries with visible symptoms of the disease (diseased coffee cherries) were individually separated. After separation, the cherries were mixed in five different proportions to form the treatments: 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100% of diseased coffee cherries to 100, 75, 50, 25 and 0% of healthy coffee cherries. The experimental design was performed in randomized blocks, with each 8 l of coffee cherries being considered an experimental unit. After drying (humidity 12%), the chemical characteristics were analysed. Polyphenols, potassium leachate and electrical conductivity had a linear increase with the rising of the proportion of diseased coffee cherries. Total sugars, soluble solids and pH decreased linearly with the rising of the proportion of diseased coffee cherries.
Hemispheric asymmetry in non‐linear interdependence of EEG in post‐traumatic stress disorder
Authors: Kim Jinho , Chae Jeong‐Ho , Ko Hee‐kyoung , Latchoumane Charles‐Francois Vincent , Banerjee Aveek , Mandell Donald J. , Hoven Christina W. , Jeong Jaeseung 
Published: February 2012

Aim:  While volumetric and metabolic imaging on post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) patients has been intensively performed, few studies using electroencephalograms (EEG) have been done as yet. The aim of the present study was to investigate abnormalities in functional connectivity of cortical networks in PTSD.Methods:  Non‐linear interdependence (NI), a measure of bidirectional, non‐linear information transmission between two time series, was used. Resting EEG were recorded for 18 PTSD patients and 18 sex‐matched healthy subjects on 16 channels with their eyes closed.Results:  The NI patterns in PTSD patients were hemisphere asymmetric: an increase in NI in the fronto‐parieto‐temporal regions of the left hemisphere (F7, F3, T3, C3, T5 and P3) and a decrease in the fronto‐parieto‐occipital regions of the right hemisphere (F4, C4, P4 and O2). The non‐linearity of NI in EEG, estimated from the surrogate data method, exhibited an increase in the PTSD patients as compared with that of healthy subjects, particularly in the left hemispheric cortex.Conclusion:  Abnormal functional connectivity in PTSD can be assessed using NI, a measure of multi‐channel EEG.
Views on suicide among middle‐aged and elderly populations in Japan: Their association with demographic variables and feeling shame in seeking help
Authors: Kageyama Takayuki 
Published: February 2012

Aims:  The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between inappropriate views on suicide, such as it being a personal choice, inevitable, unpreventable, and permissible, with demographic variables and the feeling of shame in seeking help among the general population.Methods:  A self‐administered questionnaire on mental health and suicide was distributed to all residents aged 40–74 in four areas in Oita Prefecture, Japan, and 4487 responded. The association of seven inappropriate views on suicide with demographic variables was examined by multiple logistic analyses. The association between feeling shame in seeking help with demographic variables and the above views on suicide was similarly analyzed.Results:  Inappropriate views on suicide were associated with gender (i.e. men). Some of these views also correlated with age, never having been married, and living in rural areas or areas with high suicide mortality rates. Multivariate analysis revealed that feeling shame in seeking help when distressed was associated with being aged 70–74, living in rural areas or areas with high suicide mortality rates, the view on suicide as a matter of self‐choice, and a pessimistic view toward life.Conclusion:  These findings suggest that inappropriate views on suicide adversely affect coping strategies and mental health. Suicide prevention programs aimed at improving mental health literacy in a community should take into consideration the characteristics of elderly male residents.
Indications and practice for tube feeding in Japanese geriatricians: Implications of multidisciplinary team approach
Authors: Ogita Mihoko , Utsunomiya Hiroko , Akishita Masahiro , Arai Hidenori 
Published: February 2012

Aim:  The aim of this study was to examine how geriatricians decide the indication of tube feeding in the elderly with eating difficulty as a result of several disorders, and to determine the factors associated with their decision making and interventions for dysphagia.Methods:  The design was a cross‐sectional study. All board‐certified geriatricians in the Japan Geriatrics Society were recruited to this study in September 2010. We sent questionnaires to 1469 geriatricians. Among them, 629 agreed to participate. The survey consisted of self‐administered questionnaires regarding demographic information, indications of tube feeding and interventions for dysphagia before tube feeding.Results:  We analyzed the remaining 555 questionnaires after excluding incomplete ones. Over 90% of geriatricians answered that “neurological disorder” and “stroke” are indications, whereas 46.8% of them answered that “dementia” is an indication for tube feeding. Geriatricians who organize a multidisciplinary team conference tended to carry out more “interventions for dysphagia before the prescription of tube feeding” compared with the reference group (odds ratio 2.1–8.7) after multivariate adjustment.Conclusions:  The results show that approximately half of the geriatricians prescribe tube feeding when the patient has dementia with loss of appetite or apraxia for eating. There is no consensus among Japanese geriatricians about the indication of tube feeding for demented people. We suggest that guidelines for tube feeding in the elderly should be established. Furthermore, a multidisciplinary approach would be desirable for decision making for tube feeding. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2012; ••: ••–••.
When touch matters: An affective tactile intervention for older adults
Authors: Mammarella Nicola , Fairfield Beth , Di Domenico Alberto 
Published: February 2012

Aim:  Our goal was to test the hypothesis that positive tactile experiences can lead to an improvement in cognitive, emotional skills and perceived quality of life in a group of healthy community‐dwelling older adults.Methods:  During a 10‐week period, older adults completed a series of activities that required manipulating either a piece of velvet, a piece of canvas or velcro.Results:  Only older adults who worked with velvet showed an increase in cognitive and emotional skills, and the perceived quality of life.Conclusion:  Our study is one of the first to show that positive tactile experiences might have a beneficial effect on the psychological well‐being of healthy community‐dwelling older adults across different domains. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2012; ••: ••–••.
Modulation of kernel storage proteins in grain sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench)
Authors: Kumar Tejinder , Dweikat Ismail , Sato Shirley , Ge Zhengxiang , Nersesian Natalya , Chen Han , Elthon Tom , Bean Scott , Ioerger Brian P. , Tilley Mike , Clemente Tom 
Published: February 2012

SummarySorghum prolamins, termed kafirins, are categorized into subgroups α, β, and γ. The kafirins are co‐translationally translocated to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) where they are assembled into discrete protein bodies that tend to be poorly digestible with low functionality in food and feed applications. As a means to address the issues surrounding functionality and digestibility in sorghum, we employed a biotechnology approach that is designed to alter protein body structure, with the concomitant synthesis of a co‐protein in the endosperm fraction of the grain. Wherein perturbation of protein body architecture may provide a route to impact digestibility by reducing disulphide bonds about the periphery of the body, while synthesis of a co‐protein, with known functionality attributes, theoretically could impact structure of the protein body through direct association and/or augment end‐use applications of sorghum flour by stabilizing ß‐sheet formation of the kafirins in sorghum dough preparations. This in turn may improve viscoelasticity of sorghum dough. To this end, we report here on the molecular and phenotypic characterizations of transgenic sorghum events that are down‐regulated in γ‐ and the 29‐kDa α‐kafirins and the expression of a wheat Dy10/Dx 5 hybrid high‐molecular weight glutenin protein. The results demonstrate that down‐regulation of γ‐kafirin alone does not alter protein body formation or impacts protein digestibility of cooked flour samples. However, reduction in accumulation of a predicted 29‐kDa α‐kafirin alters the morphology of protein body and enhances protein digestibility in both raw and cooked samples.
The Contradictory Logic of Global Ecosystem Services Markets
Authors: McAfee Kathleen 
Published: February 2012

ABSTRACT Commodification and transnational trading of ecosystem services is the most ambitious iteration yet of the strategy of ‘selling nature to save it’. The World Bank and UN agencies contend that global carbon markets can slow climate change while generating resources for development. Consonant with ‘inclusionary’ versions of neoliberal development policy, advocates assert that international payment for ecosystem services (PES) projects, financed by carbon‐offset sales and biodiversity banking, can benefit the poor. However, the World Bank also warns that a focus on poverty reduction can undermine efficiency in conservation spending. The experience of ten years of PES illustrates how, in practice, market‐efficiency criteria clash directly with poverty‐reduction priorities. Nevertheless, the premises of market‐based PES are being extrapolated as a model for global REDD programmes financed by carbon‐offset trading. This article argues that the contradiction between development and conservation observed in PES is inevitable in projects framed by the asocial logic of neoclassical economics. Application in international conservation policy of the market model, in which profit incentives depend upon differential opportunity costs, will entail a net upward redistribution of wealth from poorer to wealthier classes and from rural regions to distant centres of capital accumulation, mainly in the global North.
Post‐neoliberalism in Latin America: Rebuilding and Reclaiming the State after Crisis
Authors: Grugel Jean , Riggirozzi Pía 
Published: February 2012

ABSTRACT The idea that states should take on an enhanced role in the pursuit of development is once again becoming increasingly pronounced in the global South. In Latin America, the ‘return of the state’ is associated with neostructuralism or post‐neoliberalism and the rise of the New Left. Post‐neoliberal projects of governance seek to retain elements of the previous export‐led growth model whilst introducing new mechanisms for social inclusion and welfare. In addition to being a project of growth based on exports and expanded social spending, post‐neoliberalism has a distinctive political character. This article explores the pillars of the new governance project, emphasizing the citizenship claims associated with it, along with some of the tensions that arise from export‐dependent growth, budget limitations, a weak tax base and the difficulties of managing enhanced social expectations. In making their argument, the authors draw on the examples of Bolivia, Ecuador and Argentina.
Market Masquerades: Uncovering the Politics of Community‐level Payments for Environmental Services in Cambodia
Authors: Milne Sarah , Adams Bill 
Published: February 2012

ABSTRACT A growing number of Payments for Environmental Services (PES) schemes are being implemented at the community level in developing countries, especially in the context of climate change mitigation efforts to Reduce Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD). In parallel, there is vigorous commentary about the implications of market‐based or neoliberal conservation strategies, and their potential effects on communities that depend on natural resources. This article explores the political dimensions of community‐level PES in Cambodia, where contracts for ‘avoided deforestation’ and ‘biodiversity conservation’ were implemented in five communities. The research examines three aspects of the community‐level PES model that are inherently political: the engagement of communities as single homogeneous entities, capable of entering PES contracts; the simplification of land‐use practices and resource rights; and the assumption that contracts are voluntary or reflect ‘community choice’. These elements of PES work both discursively and practically to silence certain voices and claims, while privileging others. Therefore, the problematic nature of community‐level PES is not that it is a market per se, but that it is a powerful intervention masquerading as a market. This process of ‘market masquerades’ emerges as a key element in the politics of neoliberal conservation in practice.