bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Occupational therapy entry‐level education in Australia: Which path(s) to take?
Authors: Farnworth Louise , Rodger Sylvia , Curtin Michael , Brown Ted , Hunt Susan Gilbert 
Published: May 2010

Background/aim:  There has been an increase in the number of occupational therapy educational programmes offered in Australia over recent years. Although universities offer bachelor, masters and graduate‐entry masters programmes, there is a push to consider phasing out occupational therapy bachelor degrees. The aim of this study was to identify advantages and disadvantages associated with current and future credentials needed for entry into the profession. Methods:  This article reviews current literature and other issues concerning entry‐level occupational therapy education Results:  The underlying issues are complex and require great consideration as a profession. Conclusion:  As a profession we need to take charge of our destiny
before governments, universities and other stakeholders/professions determine the basic level of entry for our profession.
Epidemiology, impact and preventive care of chronic kidney disease in Taiwan
Authors: HWANG SHANG‐JYH , TSAI JER‐CHIA , CHEN HUNG‐CHUN 
Published: May 2010

ABSTRACTChronic kidney disease (CKD) has emerged as a global public health burden. Taiwan has the highest incidence and prevalence rates of end‐stage renal disease (ESRD) in the world. In this review, the following key issues of CKD in Taiwan are addressed: epidemiological data, underlying diseases patterns, risk factors, public health concerns and a preventive project. Prevalence of CKD are reported to be 6.9% for CKD stage 3–5, 9.83% for clinically recognized CKD and 11.9% for CKD stage 1–5. However, overall awareness of CKD is low, 9.7% for CKD stage 1–3 and 3.5% for stage 1–5. Diabetes mellitus (43.2%), chronic glomerulonephritis (25.1%), hypertension (8.3%) and chronic interstitial nephritis (2.8%) are four major underlying renal diseases of ESRD. Older age, diabetes, hypertension, smoking, obesity, regular use of herbal medicine, family members (both relatives and spouses), chronic lead exposure and hepatitis C are associated with higher risk for CKD. Impact of CKD increases risk of all‐cause mortality and cardiovascular diseases, especially in those with overt proteinuria and advanced CKD stages. These impacts lead to increased medical costs. The nationwide CKD Preventive Project with multidisciplinary care program has proved its effectiveness in decreasing dialysis incidence, mortality and medical costs. It is crucially significant from Taiwan experience on CKD survey and preliminary outcome of the preventive project. Provision of a more comprehensive public health strategy and better care plan for CKD should be achieved by future international collaborative efforts and research.
Epidemiology of culture isolates from peritoneal dialysis peritonitis patients in southern India using an automated blood culture system to culture peritoneal dialysate
Authors: GUPTA SOHAM , MURALIDHARAN SETHUMADHAVAN , GOKULNATH  , SRINIVASA HIRESAVE 
Published: May 2010

AbstractAim:  Continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) is a major form of therapy for chronic end stage renal disease patients, which may lead to CAPD‐associated peritonitis. The spectrum of organisms associated with CAPD peritonitis varies geographically. Not much data is available regarding this from southern India. The aim of this study was to characterize the spectrum of organisms associated with CAPD peritonitis in this region and observe the utility of automated blood culture systems to culture peritoneal dialysate.Methods:  Ninety episodes of peritonitis were cultured over a span of 3 years using an automated blood culture system.Results:  The yield of culture positivity was 50%. The most predominant organism was found to be coagulase‐negative Staphylococcus spp. (21.1%) followed by Enterobacteriaceae (12.2%). Other organisms isolated were non‐fermenting Gram‐negative bacilli (4.4%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (3.3%), α‐haemolytic Streptococci (3.3%), Candida spp. (2.2%), Staphylococcus aureus (1.1%), β‐haemolytic Streptococci (1.1%) and Micrococci (1.1%). A high degree of resistance to third generation cephalosporins (66.7%) was noted amongst the Gram‐negative bacilli. Also, all the Gram‐negative bacilli isolated from patients who had prior empirical antibiotic therapy of ceftazidime before arrival at the centre, were resistant to third generation cephalosporins.Conclusion:  A varied spectrum of organisms isolated from peritoneal dialysate compared to the global scenario was observed. Also, a high degree of third generation cephalosporin resistance was noted amongst the Gram‐negative bacilli. Thus, it is suggested that the empirical therapy should be dependent on the local epidemiology.
Influence of support by elderly persons on Japanese mothers' child care‐related stress
Authors: Kusano Emiko , Ono Miho , Hayakawa Kazuo 
Published: May 2010

AbstractThis study examined the influence of child‐care support by elderly persons on mothers' child care‐related stress in Japan. A cross‐sectional study was conducted from February to April 2007 by using an anonymous questionnaire. This study focused on the “child‐care salon” (hereafter referred to as “salon”) as a type of parenting support activity by elderly persons in the community. For the analysis, 119 salon participants and a control group of 107 mothers who had not participated in a salon were recruited. As a result of a multiple regression analysis, participation or non‐participation in the salon had no influence on the ‘threat of loss of personal identity’ stress, which was similar to a sense of social isolation because of child care. However, as a result of investigating the influence of the participation frequency on stress score for participants alone, mothers with less participation had a higher stress score than mothers with greater participation. That suggested the importance of intervention for a decrease of social isolation in mothers, especially in the initial stage of salon participation.
Antiretroviral therapy adherence among patients living with HIV/AIDS in Thailand
Authors: Li Li , Lee Sung‐Jae , Wen Yi , Lin Chunqing , Wan Dai , Jiraphongsa Chuleeporn 
Published: May 2010

AbstractThe importance of antiretroviral therapy adherence for patients living with HIV/AIDS has been well documented. Despite this critical need, many do not follow prescribed regimens. To examine the barriers that lead to non‐adherence, we used cross‐sectional survey data from a randomized controlled intervention trial in northern and north‐eastern Thailand. Of the 507 patients that were enrolled in the trial, we analyzed 386 patients on antiretroviral therapy in order to examine the barriers to adherence. In addition to demographic characteristics, depressive symptoms, physical health, access to care, social support, and internalized shame, HIV disclosure and family communication were examined. The correlation analysis revealed that adherence is significantly associated with internalized shame, access to care, depressive symptoms, and family communication. Based on the multiple logistic regression analysis, depressive symptoms, access to care, HIV disclosure, and family communication were significant predictors of adherence. Having depressive symptoms remains a significant barrier to adherence, while access to care, HIV disclosure, and family communication play important positive roles. Our findings underscore the critical importance of addressing these various challenges that can influence adherence to antiretroviral therapy.
Leucocytoclastic and renal vasculitis in a patient with autoimmune pancreatitis: new associations
Authors: Garg M. , Mackay S. , Hill P. A. , Katsoulis J. , McLaughlin S. , Desmond P. V. , Chen R. Y. M. 
Published: May 2010

AbstractAutoimmune pancreatitis (AIP) is an uncommon condition which comprises diffuse or discrete pancreatic enlargement and irregular pancreatic duct strictures of autoimmune origin leading to pain or obstructive jaundice associated with extra‐pancreatic manifestations. It is characterized by an elevated IgG, especially IgG4, level. We illustrate the first described case of a patient with AIP in association with leucocytoclastic and renal vasculitis.
Attention regulates the plasticity of multisensory timing
Authors: Heron James , Roach Neil W. , Whitaker David , Hanson James V. M. 
Published: May 2010

AbstractEvidence suggests than human time perception is likely to reflect an ensemble of recent temporal experience. For example, prolonged exposure to consistent temporal patterns can adaptively realign the perception of event order, both within and between sensory modalities (e.g. Fujisaki et al., 2004 Nat. Neurosci., 7, 773–778). In addition, the observation that ‘a watched pot never boils’ serves to illustrate the fact that dynamic shifts in our attentional state can also produce marked distortions in our temporal estimates. In the current study we provide evidence for a hitherto unknown link between adaptation, temporal perception and our attentional state. We show that our ability to use recent sensory history as a perceptual baseline for ongoing temporal judgments is subject to striking top‐down modulation via shifts in the observer’s selective attention. Specifically, attending to the temporal structure of asynchronous auditory and visual adapting stimuli generates a substantial increase in the temporal recalibration induced by these stimuli. We propose a conceptual framework accounting for our findings whereby attention modulates the perceived salience of temporal patterns. This heightened salience allows the formation of audiovisual perceptual ‘objects’, defined solely by their temporal structure. Repeated exposure to these objects induces high‐level pattern adaptation effects, akin to those found in visual and auditory domains (e.g. Leopold & Bondar (2005) Fitting the Mind to the World: Adaptation and Aftereffects in High‐Level Vision. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 189–211; Schweinberger et al. (2008) Curr. Biol., 18, 684–688).
The brain weights body‐based cues higher than vision when estimating walked distances
Authors: Campos Jennifer L. , Byrne Patrick , Sun Hong‐Jin 
Published: May 2010

AbstractOptic flow is the stream of retinal information generated when an observer’s body, head or eyes move relative to their environment, and it plays a defining role in many influential theories of active perception. Traditionally, studies of optic flow have used artificially generated flow in the absence of the body‐based cues typically coincident with self‐motion (e.g. proprioceptive, efference copy, and vestibular). While optic flow alone can be used to judge the direction, speed and magnitude of self‐motion, little is known about the precise extent to which it is used during natural locomotor behaviours such as walking. In this study, walked distances were estimated in an open outdoor environment. This study employed two novel complementary techniques to dissociate the contributions of optic flow from body‐based cues when estimating distance travelled in a flat, open, outdoor environment void of distinct proximal visual landmarks. First, lenses were used to magnify or minify the visual environment. Second, two walked distances were presented in succession and were either the same or different in magnitude; vision was either present or absent in each. A computational model was developed based on the results of both experiments. Highly convergent cue‐weighting values were observed, indicating that the brain consistently weighted body‐based cues about twice as high as optic flow, the combination of the two cues being additive. The current experiments represent some of the first to isolate and quantify the contributions of optic flow during natural human locomotor behaviour.
Tactile remapping beyond space
Authors: Azañón Elena , Camacho Karla , Soto‐Faraco Salvador 
Published: May 2010

AbstractReacting to a touch on the skin often requires the remapping of the initial somatotopicaly‐based representation of the stimulus into an external frame of reference that incorporates information about current body posture. A growing number of studies support the view that tactile encoding in external coordinates occurs automatically. However, it remains unclear whether or not spatial task demands are required to trigger this remapping process, casting some doubt on the automaticity hypothesis. We designed three experiments in which space was progressively removed, and tactile remapping across different body postures was gauged through the modulation of visual performance. We used speeded two‐alternative forced‐choice colour judgements (i.e., a nonspatial selection feature) about visual targets presented laterally following a spatially noninformative (congruent or incongruent) tactile cue on one hand. In experiment 1, using footpedal responses, visual performance was modulated according to the external location of the tactile cue, regardless of hand posture (either crossed or uncrossed). In experiment 2, using verbal responses, external cueing was also observed (albeit in an attenuated fashion) despite the removal of space from response set. In experiment 3 we removed spatial uncertainty about cue and target locations by presenting tactile cues and visual targets from fixed positions, yet spatial congruency still exerted some modulation on visual performance, again independent of hand posture. These results demonstrate that engaging in spatial tasks is not a prerequisite for triggering tactile remapping, and are thus in agreement with previous accounts suggesting that touch is automatically remapped.
PUTTING THE CIVIL SOCIETY SECTOR ON THE ECONOMIC MAP OF THE WORLD
Authors: Salamon Lester M. 
Published: May 2010

ABSTRACT**:  The past twenty‐five years have witnessed a spectacular expansion of philanthropy, volunteering, and civil society organizations throughout the world. Indeed, we seem to be in the midst of a ‘global associational revolution,’ a worldwide upsurge of organized private voluntary activity. Despite the promise that this development holds, however, the nonprofit or civil society sector remains the invisible subcontinent on the social landscape of most countries, poorly understood by policymakers and the public at large, often encumbered by legal limitations, and inadequately utilized as a mechanism for addressing public problems. One reason for this is the lack of basic information on its scope, structure, financing, and contributions in most parts of the world. This lack of information is due in part to the fact that significant components of the nonprofit sector fall within the non‐observed, or informal, economy, and in part to the way even the observed parts of this sector have historically been treated in the prevailing System of National Accounts (SNA). This paper provides an overview of a series of steps that have been taken over the past 20 years by researchers at the Johns Hopkins University in cooperation with colleagues around the world and, more recently, with officials in the United Nations Statistics Division and the International Labour Organization to remedy this situation, culminating in the issuance and initial implementation of a new United Nations Handbook on Nonprofit Institutions in the System of National Accounts and the forthcoming publication of a new International Labour Organization Manual on the Measurement of Volunteer Work. Taken together, these efforts point the way toward putting the civil society sector on the economic map of the world for the first time in a systematically comparative way.
Outcome expectations and use of smokeless tobacco (snus): A cross‐sectional study among young Norwegian snus users
Authors: WIIUM NORA , AARØ LEIF E. 
Published: May 2010

Wiium, N. & Aarø, L.E. (2011). Outcome expectations and use of smokeless tobacco (snus): A cross‐sectional study among young Norwegian snus users. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 52, 64–70.In this study, measures of outcome expectancies related to use of snus (wet snuff) were used to predict reported frequency of snus use. Data stem from a nation‐wide survey in Norway among 16‐ to 20‐year‐olds. Only users of snus were included in the statistical analyses (n = 589). The main outcome measure, frequency of snus use, was measured as a categorical variable – occasional, weekly and daily use. Four dimensions of outcome expectancies (mood regulation, smoking control, weight control and negative health outcomes) were measured and confirmed in a confirmatory factor analysis. Informants tended to believe that snus use is harmful to health, but still they supported the idea of snus as a way to control own cigarette smoking. In a SEM model, two of the four dimensions of outcome expectancies turned out to be particularly significant predictors of frequency of snus use – mood regulation and smoking control. No significant interactions with gender were found. Males scored higher than females on “mood regulation”, and “smoking control”, while females scored higher than males on “negative health outcomes”. If more smokers were convinced that snus use is a less harmful alternative, more of them might start using snus, not only because there is some association between health outcome expectancies and snus use, but also because snus use by many is perceived as a remedy to stop smoking and as a way to gain some of the mood regulation benefits which are usually associated with smoking.
Mass Media and Rural Out‐Migration in the Context of Social Change: Evidence from Nepal
Authors: Piotrowski Martin 
Published: May 2010

AbstractThis work examines the influence of mass media on rural out‐migration using historical and contemporary data from a setting experiencing massive social and economic development in the last half‐century. Data come from the Chitwan Valley Family Study, an ongoing study of an agrarian region in rural Nepal. Media are hypothesized to affect migration by inducing attitudinal and behavioural changes similar to those of other determinants of migration. As their influence differs from other determinants in important ways, media represent a unique form of influence that should be taken into account. I find that movie and television exposure are significant determinants of out‐migration in historical contexts, although television exposure was important in more contemporary contexts. Differences in these effects probably indicate the timing of the spread of each type of media and changing preferences among media consumers.
Has the US Bond Market Lost its Edge to the Eurobond Market?*
Authors: PERISTIANI STAVROS , SANTOS JOÃO A. C. 
Published: May 2010

ABSTRACTThe growth of the European financial markets, together with the new, stricter regulations on the US financial markets, has spurred a debate over the competitiveness of the US financial markets. In this paper, we contribute to this debate by investigating the relative competitiveness of the US bond market over the last 10 years. In the early 1990s, the gross spread in the US bond market were significantly lower than in the Eurobond market. While this spread continued to decline in the US bond market, it declined at an even faster rate in the Eurobond market, to the point of eliminating the wide cost differential that existed between the two markets in the early 1990s. These findings are robust and suggest that the relative costs of bond underwriting declined in the Eurobond market. We also find that US firms are increasingly opting to issue their bonds in the Eurobond market, and that this relocation is partly driven by the decline in the relative gross spreads in the Eurobond market. This finding adds support to our conclusion that the cost of bond underwriting declined faster in the Eurobond market, reinforcing the view that the US bond market is facing a greater challenge from the Eurobond market.
Hypoxic preconditioning suppresses group III secreted phospholipase A2‐induced apoptosis via JAK2‐STAT3 activation in cortical neurons
Authors: Wang Guansong , Zhou Deshan , Wang Changzheng , Gao Yuqi , Zhou Qiquan , Qian Guisheng , DeCoster Mark A. 
Published: May 2010

J. Neurochem. (2010) 114, 1039–1048.AbstractOur previous studies show that group III secreted phospholipases A2 (sPLA2s III) induces extensive neuronal apoptosis in brain cortical cultures. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying sPLA2 III‐induced neuronal injury/death are still unknown. Also it is not clear whether hypoxic pre‐conditioning (HPC) is able to protect neurons from the sPLA2 III insult. In this report, we demonstrate that sPLA2 III significantly decreased production of Bcl‐xl and the ratio of Bcl‐xl/Bax, and increased expression of Bax, cleaved caspase 3, and cleaved α‐Fodrin in primary neuronal culture. HPC prevented the sPLA2 III‐induced decreases in production of Bcl‐xl and the ratio of Bcl‐xl/Bax, and increases in expression of Bax, cleaved caspase 3, and α‐Fodrin. However, the HPC‐produced neuronal protection was eliminated or attenuated by AG490, rapamycin, and STAT3 shRNA. Our results suggest that sPLA2 III‐induced neuronal apoptosis is likely because of its alterations in expression and activity of Bcl‐xl, Bax, caspase 3, and its target gene fodrin; and that HPC‐produced neuroprotection against the sPLA2 III toxicity is mediated via JAK‐STAT signal pathways that regulate the expression of Bcl‐xl, Bax, and cleaved caspase 3 in cultured cortical neurons.
Physiological roles of ion channels in adult neural stem cells and their progeny
Authors: Yasuda Takahiro , Adams David J. 
Published: May 2010

J. Neurochem. (2010) 114, 946–959.AbstractElucidation of the machinery of adult neurogenesis is indispensable for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases by therapeutic drugs and/or by neural stem cell (NSC) transplantation. It is well known that membrane ion channels play a critical role in cell function, including proliferation, apoptosis and migration in a wide range of cells. In NSC research, interdisciplinary collaboration between cell biologists and membrane physiologists has been pursued principally to monitor ion channel and synaptic currents as a hallmark of neuronal differentiation and maturation of NSC progeny. Nevertheless, less attention had been paid to a functional role of ion channels in NSCs or their immature progeny. Recently, however, evidence regarding their functional relevance has started to accumulate. In focusing on the early stages of the neurogenic process during which NSCs give rise to neuroblasts, this review highlights the latent ability of ion channels to act as functional regulators of adult neurogenesis.