bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Biogeochemical time lags may delay responses of streams to ecological restoration
Authors: HAMILTON STEPHEN K. 
Published: September 2011

Summary1. Mounting interest in ecological restoration of streams and rivers, including that motivated by the Water Framework Directive, has stimulated examination of whether management and restoration measures in streams and their catchments have yielded measurable improvements in ecological status (‘health’). Evidence for the efficacy of diffuse‐source pollution reduction (including best management practices on land) has proven elusive.2. Several hydrological and biogeochemical processes delay the responses of streams and rivers to a decrease in nutrient and sediment inputs, potentially for decades. The implications of such time lags in response to restoration may not be well appreciated by restoration ecologists, regulators, sponsors of restoration work or the broader community.3. The groundwater time lag results from the long residence time of ground water. This is particularly important with respect to nitrate, but is increasingly important for phosphorus (P) as well. Isotopic tracers and groundwater age dating suggest that stream water often is more than a decade old, and that several decades are required to flush most soluble contaminants from groundwater reservoirs.4. Sediment movement through river networks can be protracted because of storage and remobilisation processes involving stream beds, impounded reaches and fringing bars and floodplains. In lowland streams and rivers, sediment accretion can be rapid, but its removal is often far slower and can take decades to centuries.5. Phosphorus availability is subject to time lags because P tends to associate with minerals, resulting in a potentially large yet exchangeable P reserve in upland soils and alluvial and stream‐bed sediments. Thus, soils and sediments can remain rich in P for decades after new inputs are reduced, potentially acting as a source of P to surface waters. Phosphorus saturation of soils along groundwater percolation pathways can lead to even longer time lags. Restoration measures that inundate previously dry soils or desiccate previously inundated sediments can induce high rates of P release.6. These hydrological and biogeochemical time lags can obscure the short‐term responses of streams and rivers to restoration measures. In many eutrophic waters, large decreases in nutrient availability would be required to return the ecosystem to a natural nutrient‐limited state, and this could take decades.
The relationship between in‐hospital mortality, readmission into the intensive care nursing unit and/or operating theatre and nurse staffing levels
Authors: Diya Luwis , Van den Heede Koen , Sermeus Walter , Lesaffre Emmanuel 
Published: September 2011

diya l., van den heede k., sermeus w. & lesaffre e. (2011) The relationship between in‐hospital mortality, readmission into the intensive care nursing unit and/or operating theatre and nurse staffing levels. Journal of Advanced Nursing 68(5), 1073–1081.AbstractAim.  The aim of this article was to assess the relationship between (1) in‐hospital mortality and/or (2) unplanned readmission to intensive care units or operating theatre and nurse staffing variables.Background.  Adverse events are used as surrogates for patient safety in nurse staffing and patient safety research. A single adverse event cannot adequately capture the multi‐dimensional attributes of patient safety; hence, there is a need to consider composite measures. Unplanned readmission into the postoperative Intensive Care nursing unit and/or operating Theatre and in‐hospital mortality can be viewed as measures that incorporate the effects of several adverse events.Methods.  We conducted a Bayesian multilevel analysis on a subset of the 2003 Belgian Hospital Discharge and Nursing Minimum Data sets. The sample included 9054 patients who underwent coronary artery bypass surgery or heart valve procedures from 28 Belgian acute hospitals. Two proxies of patient safety were considered, namely postoperative in‐hospital mortality in the first postoperative intensive care unit and unplanned readmission into the intensive care and/or operating theatre (including mortality beyond the first postoperative intensive care unit) after the first‐operative intensive care nursing unit.Results.  There is an association between in‐hospital mortality and/or unplanned readmissions and nurse staffing levels, but the relationship is moderated by volume and severity of illness respectively. In addition, the relationship differs between the two endpoints.Conclusion.  Higher nurse staffing levels on postoperative general nursing cardiac surgery units protected patients from unplanned readmission to intensive care units or operating theatre and in‐hospital mortality.
Habitat isolation shapes the recovery of aquatic insect communities from a pesticide pulse
Authors: Trekels Hendrik , Van de Meutter Frank , Stoks Robby 
Published: September 2011

Summary1. The role of spatial processes in ecotoxicology is largely ignored. Yet, together with species‐specific sensitivities to the pollutant, spatial processes may determine community recovery and the resulting community composition after a pollution event.2. We investigated the isolation‐specific potential for internal recovery by reproduction and external recovery by dispersal after a pesticide pulse in experimental aquatic insect communities along an isolation gradient.3. External recovery was important in the univoltine species and in a multivoltine species that went locally extinct but only when a source population was nearby. Internal recovery occurred in all multivoltine species and was unexpectedly stronger in more isolated communities, probably because of release from a dispersal‐limited key predator.4. As a result, community recovery and resulting changes in composition strongly depended on isolation and species differences in the potential for external recovery through dispersal and internal recovery through reproduction.5. Synthesis and applications. Our results indicate that while the immediate impact of a toxicant on natural communities is shaped by species sensitivities, their recovery is primarily dependent on the degree of isolation. Risk assessment and the protection of communities under toxicant threat may improve greatly from considering the spatial context: isolated communities and communities with poor dispersers should receive extra protection to safeguard their member species. Ideally, land use planning should strive to remediate isolation of natural communities under threat in agricultural landscapes. Where this is not possible, spatial regulation of pesticide application may considerably improve protection of extant diversity.
Weak relationship between risk assessment studies and recorded mortality in wind farms
Authors: Ferrer Miguel , de Lucas Manuela , Janss Guyonne F. E. , Casado Eva , Muñoz Antonio R. , Bechard Marc J. , Calabuig Cecilia P. 
Published: September 2011

Summary1. Wind farms generate little or no pollution. However, one of their main adverse impacts is bird mortality through collisions with turbine rotors.2. Environmental impact assessment (EIA) studies have been based on observations of birds before the construction of wind farms. We analysed data from 53 EIAs in relation to the actual recorded bird mortalities at 20 fully installed wind farms to determine whether this method is accurate in predicting the risk of new wind farm installations.3. Bird data from EIAs were compared with bird collisions per turbine and year at functional post‐constructed wind farms to identify any relationship between pre‐ and post‐construction studies.4. Significant differences in birds recorded flying among the 53 proposed wind farms were found by the EIAs. Similar results were obtained when only griffon vultures Gyps fulvus and other raptors were considered. There were significant differences in indexes, including the relative index of breeding birds close to proposed locations, among the 53 proposed wind farm sites.5. The collision rate of birds with turbines was one of the highest ever recorded for raptors, and the griffon vulture was the most frequently killed species. Bird mortality varied among the 20 constructed wind farms.6. No relationship between variables predicting risk from EIAs and actual recorded mortality was found. A weak relationship was found between griffon vulture and kestrel Falco sp. mortality and the numbers of these two species crossing the area.7. Synthesis and applications. There was no clear relationship between predicted risk and the actual recorded bird mortality at wind farms. Risk assessment studies incorrectly assumed a linear relationship between frequency of observed birds and fatalities. Nevertheless, it is known that bird mortality in wind farms is related to physical characteristics around individual wind turbines. However, EIAs are usually conducted at the scale of the entire wind farm. The correlation between predicted mortality and actual mortality must be improved in future risk assessment studies by changing the scale of these studies to focus on the locations of proposed individual wind turbine sites and working on a species specific level.
Item response theory: How Mokken scaling can be used in clinical practice
Authors: Watson Roger , van der Ark L Andries , Lin Li‐Chan , Fieo Robert , Deary Ian J , Meijer Rob R 
Published: September 2011

Aims.  To demonstrate the principles and application of Mokken scaling.Background.  The history and development of Mokken scaling is described, some examples of applications are given, and some recent development of the method are summarised.Design.  Secondary analysis of data obtained by cross‐sectional survey methods, including self‐report and observation.Methods.  Data from the Edinburgh Feeding Evaluation in Dementia scale and the Townsend Functional Ability Scale were analysed using the Mokken scaling procedure within the ‘R’ statistical package. Specifically, invariant item ordering (the extent to which the order of the items in terms of difficulty was the same for all respondents whatever their total scale score) was studied.Results.  The Edinburgh Feeding Evaluation in Dementia scale and the Townsend Functional Ability Scale showed no violations of invariant item ordering, although only the Townsend Functional Ability Scale showed a medium accuracy.Conclusion.  Mokken scaling is an established method for item response theory analysis with wide application in the social sciences. It provides psychometricians with an additional tool in the development of questionnaires and in the study of individuals and their responses to latent traits. Specifically, with regard to the analyses conducted in this study, the Edinburgh Feeding Evaluation in Dementia scale requires further development and study across different levels of severity of dementia and feeding difficulty.Relevance to clinical practice.  Good scales are required for assessment in clinical practice and the present paper shows how a relatively recently developed method for analysing Mokken scales can contribute to this. The two scales used as examples for analysis are highly clinically relevant.
How doctors practice evidence‐based medicine
Authors: Lu Yun‐Chieh , Li Ying‐Chun 
Published: September 2011

AbstractRationale and aims  Evidence‐based medicine (EBM) has gained worldwide attention. Many studies have used questionnaires to discuss factors obstructing the practice of EBM. However, no large‐scale data analysis has focused on who has practised EBM and when they practised it. This retrospective study aims to fill the research gap by applying nationally representative data to analyse EBM practice after the provision of new evidence regarding the prescription of rosiglitazone which has been shown to increase the risk of myocardial infarction.Methods  We used the National Health Insurance Database in Taiwan to analyse the variations in rosiglitazone prescription among physicians. The study period was from the second quarter of 2007 to the fourth quarter of 2008. A total of 2536 physicians who prescribed rosiglitazone at least once were included in this study. We applied multivariate logistic analyses to predict the probability of physicians ceasing to prescribe rosiglitazone.Results  We observed a significant improvement in EBM practice among specialists and experienced physicians. Endocrinologists were four times more likely to change rosiglitazone prescription habits than other specialists (odds ratio 4.129, 95% confidence interval 2.484–6.863). Doctors with more than 10 years of specialist experience performed better in EBM practice. Moreover, a prominent time lag with more than 6 months between EBM emergence and EBM practice was noticed.Conclusions  Our study suggested that EBM was still not well practised, using rosiglitazone prescription as a study case. Further education and encouragement to strengthen physicians' EBM practice remain urgently needed within the medical community.
Family quality of life of Australian families with a member with an intellectual/developmental disability
Authors: Rillotta F. , Kirby N. , Shearer J. , Nettelbeck T. 
Published: September 2011

AbstractBackground  Family quality of life (FQOL) is a recent concept in intellectual/developmental disability research. Outcomes for the family are important to the provision of services because families, rather than institutions, are increasingly considered the primary support unit. This article presents Australian findings using the international Family Quality of Life Survey: Main Caregivers of People with Intellectual or Developmental Disabilities (FQOLS‐2006).Method  Forty‐two South Australian main caregivers of people with an intellectual/developmental disability were interviewed using the FQOLS‐2006. The FQOL domains assessed were Health of the Family, Financial Well‐being, Family Relationships, Support from Other People, Support from Disability‐Related Services, Influence of Values, Careers, Leisure and Recreation, and Community Interaction. Domains were measured in terms of Importance, Opportunities, Attainment, Initiative, Stability and Satisfaction. The FQOLS‐2006 asked about the family's practical and emotional Support from Other People together, whereas the current study separated the constructs of practical and emotional support. Questions pertaining to FQOL in the past were also added, in order to gain a broader picture of present FQOL.Results  Results indicated that families considered all the FQOL domains to be important. However, Health, Family Relationships and Financial Well‐being were regarded as slightly more important than Practical and Emotional Support from Others. The attainment of Family Relationships, Health, Values, and Leisure and Recreation were rated as quite a bit, but Practical Support from Other People was only rated as a little. Families were generally satisfied with all FQOL domains, but they were satisfied with their Family Relationships and they were neither satisfied or dissatisfied with their Financial Well‐being. Results also indicated that there was a need to distinguish between the provision of practical and emotional support from others, because the attainment of emotional support was rated at a slightly higher level than practical support.Conclusions  The FQOLS‐2006 provided a comprehensive measure of FQOL, which, with some additional modifications, could be used to better inform service provisions and ultimately enhance the quality of life of people with intellectual/developmental disabilities and their families.
‘Painting a path to wellness’: correlations between participating in a creative activity group and improved measured mental health outcome
Authors: CADDY L. , CRAWFORD F. , PAGE A. C. 
Published: September 2011

Accessible summary
Despite the long‐standing popularity of creative activity groups with mental health patients, there has been a lack of measurement evidencing a positive relationship between participation in such groups and improved mental health.
This study used de‐identified hospital records covering the period 2004–2009 to chart measured mental health outcomes for 403 patients attending a creative activity group in an acute inpatient psychiatric setting.
Four different clinical assessment tools were used to measure changes in mental health from admission to discharge for participants of the creative activity group.
Research findings establish that participation in creative activity positively correlates with improved mental health.
In the context of this research project, the term ‘creative activity’ includes participation in art, craft or expressive art‐based activity.
AbstractResponding to a call for quantitative outcome evidence about the therapeutic relationship between creative activity and mental health, this study examined the mental health outcomes of inpatients participating in art‐ and craft‐based creative therapies at a private psychiatric hospital over a 5‐year period. The creative activity group sample (n= 403) improved from admission to discharge across four different psychometric measures with moderate to strong mean effect sizes. Reductions from pre‐ to post‐treatment in both self‐reported and clinician‐rated symptoms are clearly demonstrated for the creative activity group participant sample. Research findings establish that participation in creative activity has potential benefits for people experiencing mental health problems.
Kin selection in Columbian ground squirrels: direct and indirect fitness benefits
Authors: DOBSON F. STEPHEN , VIBLANC VINCENT A. , ARNAUD COLINE M. , MURIE JAN O. 
Published: September 2011

AbstractEmpirical and theoretical studies have supported kin selection by demonstrating nepotism or modelling its conditions and consequences. As an alternative, we previously found that female Columbian ground squirrels had greater direct fitness when more close kin were present. Extending those results, we used population matrix methods to calculate minimum estimates of individual fitness, estimated direct and indirect components of fitness, estimated inclusive fitness by adding the direct fitness (stripped of estimated influences of the social environment) and indirect fitness components together, and finally looked for inclusive fitness benefits of associations with close kin who seem to be ‘genial neighbours’. We examined the estimated fitness of a sample of 35 females for which complete lifetimes were known for themselves, their mothers and their littermate sisters. Six of these females had no cosurviving adult close kin, and their direct fitness was significantly lower than 29 females with such kin (λ = 0.66 vs. λ = 1.23). The net fitness benefit of the presence of close kin was thus 0.57. The estimated indirect component of fitness through benefits to the direct fitness of close kin was 0.43. Thus, estimated inclusive fitness for females with cosurviving close kin (λ = 1.09) was significantly greater than that for females without surviving close kin (viz., λ = 0.66). The presence of closely related and philopatric female kin appeared to result in considerable fitness benefits for female ground squirrels, perhaps through the behavioural mechanisms of lowered aggression and other forms of behavioural cooperation.
A combined genetic‐morphometric analysis unravels the complex biogeographical history of Polyommatus icarus and Polyommatus celina Common Blue butterflies
Authors: DINCĂ VLAD , DAPPORTO LEONARDO , VILA ROGER 
Published: September 2011

AbstractWidespread species have the potential to reveal large‐scale biogeographical patterns, as well as responses to environmental changes possibly unique to habitat generalists. This study presents a continental‐scale phylogeographical analysis of Polyommatus icarus, one of the most common Palaearctic butterflies, and the morphologically and ecologically similar Polyommatus celina, a recently discovered cryptic species. By combining data from mitochondrial [cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI)] and nuclear [internal transcribed spacer (ITS2)] molecular markers with geometric morphometrics, we document a complex phylogeographical history for the two species. Despite morphological similarities, the genetic divergence between these two species is high (more than 5% at COI) and they are not sister species. For the first time, we show that P. celina occurs not only in North Africa but also in Europe, where it inhabits several west Mediterranean islands, as well as large parts of Iberia, where it occurs in parapatry with P. icarus. The two species appear to completely exclude each other on islands, but we provide morphological and molecular evidence that introgression occurred in the Iberian Peninsula. We discovered strongly diverged lineages that seem to represent relict populations produced by past range expansions and contractions: Crete and Iberian isolates for P. icarus, Balearics–Sardinia and Sicily–Lipari for P. celina. This study shows that a combined genetic‐morphometric approach can shed light on cryptic diversity while providing the necessary resolution to reconstruct a fine‐scale phylogeographical history of species at both spatial and temporal levels.
The evolution of social philopatry and dispersal in female mammals
Authors: CLUTTON‐BROCK T. H. , LUKAS D. 
Published: September 2011

AbstractIn most social mammals, some females disperse from their natal group while others remain and breed there throughout their lives but, in a few, females typically disperse after adolescence and few individuals remain and breed in their natal group. These contrasts in philopatry and dispersal have an important consequence on the kinship structure of groups which, in turn, affects forms of social relationships between females. As yet, there is still widespread disagreement over the reasons for the evolution of habitual female dispersal, partly as a result of contrasting definitions of dispersal. This paper reviews variation in the frequency with which females leave their natal group or range (social dispersal) and argues that both the avoidance of local competition for resources and breeding opportunities and the need to find unrelated partners play an important role in contrasts between and within species.
Causes and consequences of living in closed societies: lessons from a long‐term socio‐genetic study on Bechstein’s bats
Authors: KERTH G. , VAN SCHAIK J. 
Published: September 2011

AbstractUnderstanding the ecological, behavioural and genetic factors influencing animal social systems is crucial to investigating the evolution of sociality. Despite the recent advances in population genetic methods and the analysis of social interactions, long‐term studies exploring the causes and consequences of social systems in wild mammals are rare. Here, we provide a synthesis of 15 years of data on the Bechstein’s bat (Myotis bechsteinii), a species that raises its young in closed societies of 10–45 females living together for their entire lives and where immigration is virtually absent. We discuss the potential causes and consequences of living in closed societies, based on the available data on Bechstein’s bat and other species with similar social systems. Using a combination of observational and genetic data on the bats together with genetic data on an ecto‐parasite, we suggest that closed societies in Bechstein’s bats are likely caused by a combination of benefits from cooperation with familiar colony members and parasite pressure. Consequences of this peculiar social system include increased sensitivity to demographic fluctuations and limits to dispersal during colony foundation, which have broad implications for conservation. We also hope to illustrate by synthesizing the results of this long‐term study the diversity of tools that can be applied to hypothesize about the factors influencing a species’ social system. We are convinced that with the expansion of the number of social mammals for which comparably detailed socio‐genetic long‐term data are available, future comparative studies will provide deeper insights into the evolution of closed societies.