bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Correlates of smoking among adolescents with asthma
Authors: Guo Su‐Er , Ratner Pamela A , Johnson Joy L , Okoli Chizimuzo TC , Hossain Shahadut 
Published: February 2010

Aims and objective.  This study examined the correlates of smoking among asthmatic adolescents to gain a better understanding of who is at particular risk.Background.  Smoking is especially harmful to individuals with asthma. However, smoking is surprisingly prevalent among asthmatic individuals, with prevalence rates similar to or higher than those of the general adult or adolescent populations. Despite this notable finding, there has been little research about factors (i.e. biophysical, psychosocial and behavioural) influencing asthmatic adolescents’ tobacco use patterns.Design.  A Canadian provincial cross‐sectional survey.Method.  The study about adolescents’ tobacco use and health status was conducted in secondary schools in 2004, 608 asthmatic adolescents participated. Demographic factors, biophysical (body mass index and physical health), psychosocial factors (parents’ and peers’ smoking, environmental tobacco smoke exposure and depression) and behavioural factors (marijuana use, alcohol use and exercise frequency) were explored. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify risk factors associated with tobacco use.Results and conclusions.  Of the 608 asthmatic adolescents, 17·4% currently smoked and 12·0% formerly smoked. Girls, compared with boys, were more likely to smoke (OR: 3·34, 95% CI: 1·62–6·96) after adjusting for differences in the other demographic, biophysical, psychosocial and behavioural factors. Asthmatic girls who had relatively higher body mass index, were in the higher school grades, used marijuana or alcohol, had minor to severe depressive symptoms, had environmental tobacco smoke exposure in their homes and had friends who smoked or were currently more likely to smoke. The former smokers had similar risk factors including higher body mass index, environmental tobacco smoke exposure at home, friends who smoked and marijuana use.Relevance to clinical practice.  Despite their health condition, asthmatic adolescents continue currently or formerly to smoke. Gender appropriate prevention and cessation interventions for asthmatic adolescents may need to address important psychosocial and environmental factors that increase the risk of these adolescents initiating and maintaining tobacco use.
Implementing and standardising the use of peripheral vascular access devices
Authors: Easterlow Dean , Hoddinott Phill , Harrison Stephanie 
Published: February 2010

Aims and objectives.  To assess the impact of a change initiative relating to the use of peripheral intravenous cannulae on healthcare‐acquired infections in an acute hospital trust in London, UK.Background.  The prevalence of healthcare‐acquired infections has increased in the UK in recent years. Causal factors include poor practice and declining standards of cleanliness and hygiene in healthcare settings.Design.  Implementation of a change management initiative.Methods.  A baseline audit was conducted to identify areas for change. Based on the audit findings, a change initiative was implemented which included the introduction of a new, non‐ported needle‐safe cannula, together with changes in practices relating to peripheral intravenous cannulae care.Results.  In the eight months postintroduction of the new cannulae, decreases of 53% and 35% were reported in the number of methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus and healthcare‐acquired infection cases, respectively, compared with the same period prior to implementation. Audits results also demonstrated considerable improvements in practices relating to cannula care following implementation of the change initiative.Conclusions.  A change in culture, the adoption of a non‐ported cannula and improvements in practices relating to peripheral intravenous cannulae care led to significant reductions in healthcare‐acquired infections during the period of the study.Relevance to clinical practice.  The adoption of appropriate cannulae and administration sets to minimise infection risk can help to reduce the incidence of methicillin‐resistant S. aureus and healthcare‐acquired infection cases resulting from peripheral venous cannulation. Training and support to encourage the adoption of best practice, in conjunction with regular follow‐up audits, can lead to a reduction in infection rates and general improvements in the quality of peripheral line care. The findings of this study provide similar institutions with evidence to guide decision‐making on cannula care.
Patient symptoms after colonic surgery in the era of enhanced recovery – a long‐term follow‐up
Authors: Wennström Berith , Stomberg Margareta Warrén , Modin Marina , Skullman Stefan 
Published: February 2010

Aims.  The main purpose of this study was to analyse, prospectively, patient symptoms during the first four weeks following elective colon surgery. A secondary aim was to find areas to improve inpatient information and postoperative care.Background.  Fast‐track recovery following colon surgery has been proven beneficial to patients in the early postoperative phase. Less is known about the continuous recovery at home.Design.  A prospective follow‐up survey.Methods.  Consecutive patients (n = 32) planned for elective colon surgery were evaluated. Both open and laparoscopic operations were included. All followed a fast‐track protocol in hospital. Patient symptoms were recorded by validated quality of life questionnaires (EORTC QLQ‐C 30, EORTC QLQ‐CR 38 and Brief Pain Inventory). An interview was conducted five weeks and one year after surgery.Results.  The hospital stay was six days, and 10% of patients were readmitted. The fast‐track concept worked well. The main problems after discharge were fatigue, nausea and bowel disturbances. Pain was not a significant issue. Most symptoms had disappeared after four weeks.Conclusions.  The first period at home is troublesome, and better information about common symptoms is needed. A direct telephone line has been set up to answer questions and to lower patient anxiety.Relevance to clinical practice.  Clinical guidelines for patient’s discharge planning can be performed based on the results from this study. Further improvement regarding the epidural anaesthesia is needed to reduce minor side effects.
Health care needs of patients during early recovery after total knee‐replacement surgery
Authors: Su Hsiu‐Hui , Tsai Yun‐Fang , Chen Wen‐Jen , Chen Min‐Chi 
Published: February 2010

Aim.  The aim of this study was to understand the health care needs and related factors for patients with knee osteoarthritis during the early recovery period after total knee‐replacement surgery.Background.  Knee‐replacement surgery effectively relieves pain and improves mobility for patients with knee osteoarthritis. With shorter hospital stays, postoperative knee‐replacement patients need guidance from medical personnel about self‐care, but little is known about these patients’ health care needs.Design.  This descriptive, correlational study used a longitudinal design.Method.  A convenience sample of 85 patients undergoing total knee‐replacement surgery in northern Taiwan was interviewed before and 1–2 weeks after hospital discharge. Data were collected on participants’ demographic characteristics, disease characteristics, symptom distress and health care needs.Results.  Participants’ health care needs diminished significantly after hospital discharge. Before hospital discharge, the most important need was medical personnel to help relieve postoperative pain, and health care needs were predicted by symptom distress and age. After hospital discharge, the most important need was medical personnel to help understand the conditions requiring a return visit to hospital, and health care needs were predicted by symptom distress, health care needs before discharge, age and gender.Conclusions.  The results of this study provide a comprehensive understanding of health care needs before and after discharge, as well as predictive factors for patients undergoing total knee‐replacement surgery.Relevance to clinical practice.  Given today’s shorter hospital stays, clinicians need to prioritise health care needs indicated by predictive variables. This strategy would help optimise assessment and care management by focusing on patients’ greater health care needs and by tailoring care information and skills to patients’ individual needs.
Salt‐Induced Regulation of Some Key Antioxidant Enzymes and Physio‐Biochemical Phenomena in Five Diverse Cultivars of Turnip (Brassica rapa L.)
Authors: Noreen Z. , Ashraf M. , Akram N. A. 
Published: February 2010

AbstractA greenhouse experiment was carried out to examine the differential morpho‐physiological responses of five cultivars of turnip (Brassica rapa L.) to salt stress. Five diverse cultivars of turnip (shaljum desi surakh, shaljum purple top, shaljum golden bal, neela shaljum, and peela shaljum) were subjected for 6 weeks to varying levels of NaCl, i.e. 0, 80 and 160 mm in Hoagland’s nutrient solution in sand culture. Imposition of varying levels of salt substantially decreased shoot and root fresh and dry weights, chlorophyll contents, leaf osmotic potential, relative water contents, different gas exchange attributes, total phenolics, malondialdehyde, activities of superoxide dismutase, peroxidase catalase, and leaf and root K+ levels while enhanced the proline contents, membrane permeability, level of H2O2, leaf and root Na+ and Cl− and leaf Ca2+ in all turnip cultivars under study. Of all cultivars, peela shaljum and neela shaljum were consistently higher in their growth than the other turnip cultivars at all salt concentrations of the growth medium. Photosynthetic capacity (A) and stomatal conductance (gs) were higher in high biomass‐producing cultivars, i.e. peela shaljum and neela shaljum, which provide to be potential selection criteria of salt tolerance in turnip. However, the regulation of antioxidant system was cultivar‐specific under saline conditions.
Spatial distribution of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), vine mealybugs and mealybug parasitoids in vineyards
Authors: Mgocheki N. , Addison P. 
Published: February 2010

AbstractThe mutualistic association between some ant species and honeydew‐producing Hemiptera has been shown to influence the distribution patterns and abundance of these hemipterans and their natural enemies. We studied the spatial distribution patterns of three ant species, mealybugs and mealybug parasitoids for two consecutive growing seasons on three wine grape farms in the Western Cape, South Africa. During the study period, no ant or mealybug controls were applied. Ant and mealybug monitoring was conducted on a total of 21 ha using a presence/absence sampling system, while parasitoids were collected from infested mealybug females. Spatial analysis by distance indices was used to analyse spatial distribution of insects and ArcView™ was used to map the gap, patch and local association indices where significant association and disassociation occurred. Significant associations were found between some ants and parasitoids, while significant disassociations between the ants Crematogaster peringueyi and Linepithema humile; and also between Crematogaster peringueyi and Anoplolepis steingroeveri were found. Interspecific competition between ant species could play a role in the distribution of parasitoids and mealybugs. Our results stress the importance of monitoring for ants and mealybugs and further highlight the importance of restricted chemical applications against ants during the growing season.
Impact of different meadow mowing techniques on field invertebrates
Authors: Humbert J.‐Y. , Ghazoul J. , Sauter G. J. , Walter T. 
Published: February 2010

AbstractLow‐input meadows are now recognized for their high biodiversity value and form an integral element of many agri‐environmental schemes in Europe. Meadow mowing techniques, however, have become highly mechanized in recent decades and scientific knowledge on the direct impacts of these techniques on field fauna is based on very few and often poorly replicated studies. Yet these studies, despite their limitations, suggest that such impacts can be considerable. With a view to providing a more comprehensive experimental assessment, we evaluated the direct impacts of four different mowing techniques (hand motor mower with cutter bar, rotary mower cut at 9 cm and rotary mower cut at 6 cm with and without a conditioner) on wax invertebrate models and real caterpillars. The size of the organisms, their microhabitat, the tractor wheel effect and the cutting height were also investigated as factors that could potentially affect mowing‐caused mortality. Rotary mowers were found to be more damaging than motor bar mowers on caterpillars (37% vs. 20%), but only on one type of invertebrate wax‐model. Conditioners more than doubled damage to all wax‐models in the vegetation (in average from 11% to 30%) and increased caterpillar mortality from 38% to 69%. Larger organisms were more vulnerable than smaller organisms and ground organisms were strongly impacted by tractor wheels. While conditioner should not be used in meadows where conservation of the inhabiting fauna is of concern, we also recognize that there is no damage‐free mowing technique. We therefore advocate the importance of leaving uncut areas as a refuge for invertebrates.
Action on anaphylaxis action plans
Authors: Kemp Andrew Stewart 
Published: February 2010

AbstractThe provision of a written anaphylaxis action plan is considered to be an essential component of the management of food‐allergic children prescribed self‐injectable adrenaline. Literature review indicates that the evidence that such plans are of benefit is incomplete; however, commonsense would suggest that this is the case. Controlled trials are unlikely to be performed. The Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy has recently released three anaphylaxis action plans that meet the differing needs of those children prescribed self‐injectable adrenaline, those who do not warrant self‐injectable adrenaline provision and those with insect allergy.
M‐type channels selectively control bursting in rat dopaminergic neurons
Authors: Drion Guillaume , Bonjean Maxime , Waroux Olivier , Scuvée‐Moreau Jacqueline , Liégeois Jean‐François , Sejnowski Terrence J. , Sepulchre Rodolphe , Seutin Vincent 
Published: February 2010

AbstractMidbrain dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra, pars compacta and ventral tegmental area are critically important in many physiological functions. These neurons exhibit firing patterns that include tonic slow pacemaking, irregular firing and bursting, and the amount of dopamine that is present in the synaptic cleft is much increased during bursting. The mechanisms responsible for the switch between these spiking patterns remain unclear. Using both in‐vivo recordings combined with microiontophoretic or intraperitoneal drug applications and in‐vitro experiments, we have found that M‐type channels, which are present in midbrain dopaminergic cells, modulate the firing during bursting without affecting the background low‐frequency pacemaker firing. Thus, a selective blocker of these channels, 10,10‐bis(4‐pyridinylmethyl)‐9(10H)‐anthracenone dihydrochloride, specifically potentiated burst firing. Computer modeling of the dopamine neuron confirmed the possibility of a differential influence of M‐type channels on excitability during various firing patterns. Therefore, these channels may provide a novel target for the treatment of dopamine‐related diseases, including Parkinson’s disease and drug addiction. Moreover, our results demonstrate that the influence of M‐type channels on the excitability of these slow pacemaker neurons is conditional upon their firing pattern.
SUBSAMPLING THE JOHANSEN TEST WITH STABLE INNOVATIONS
Authors: Chen Pu , Hsiao Chih‐Ying 
Published: February 2010

SummaryBy taking into account the thick‐tail property of the errors, cointegration analysis in vector error‐correction models with infinite‐variance stable errors is a natural generalization of cointegration analysis in error‐correction models with normally distributed errors. We study the Johansen test for cointegrated systems under symmetric stable innovations with discrete spectral measures. The results show that the distributions of the Johansen test statistics under these innovations involve nuisance parameters. To overcome the problem of nuisance parameters, we implement a nonparametric subsampling procedure. We document some subsampling simulation results and demonstrate in an empirical example how the test can be used in practice.
NONPARAMETRIC ESTIMATION OF CONDITIONAL CUMULATIVE HAZARDS FOR MISSING POPULATION MARKS
Authors: Bandyopadhyay Dipankar , Pumar Amalia Jácome 
Published: February 2010

SummaryA new function for the competing risks model, the conditional cumulative hazard function, is introduced, from which the conditional distribution of failure times of individuals failing due to cause j can be studied. The standard Nelson–Aalen estimator is not appropriate in this setting, as population membership (mark) information may be missing for some individuals owing to random right‐censoring. We propose the use of imputed population marks for the censored individuals through fractional risk sets. Some asymptotic properties, including uniform strong consistency, are established. We study the practical performance of this estimator through simulation studies and apply it to a real data set for illustration.
A STEPWISE CONFIDENCE INTERVAL PROCEDURE BASED ON AN ASYMMETRIC LOSS FUNCTION WITH APPLICATIONS TO TOXICOLOGICAL EVALUATION
Authors: Tao Jian , Tang Man‐Lai , Shi Ning‐Zhong 
Published: February 2010

SummaryThe purpose of toxicological studies is a safety assessment of compounds (e.g. pesticides, pharmaceuticals, industrial chemicals and food additives) at various dose levels. Because a mistaken declaration that a really non‐equivalent dose is equivalent could have dangerous consequences, it is important to adopt reliable statistical methods that can properly control the family‐wise error rate. We propose a new stepwise confidence interval procedure for toxicological evaluation based on an asymmetric loss function. The new procedure is shown to be reliable in the sense that the corresponding family‐wise error rate is well controlled at or below the pre‐specified nominal level. Our simulation results show that the new procedure is to be preferred over the classical confidence interval procedure and the stepwise procedure based on Welch's approximation in terms of practical equivalence/safety. The implementation and significance of the new procedure are illustrated with two real data sets: one from a reproductive toxicological study on Nitrofurazone in Swiss CD‐1 mice, and the other from a toxicological study on Aconiazide.
Hepatitis C virus coinfection and the risk of cardiovascular disease among HIV‐infected patients
Authors: Bedimo R , Westfall A O , Mugavero M , Drechsler H , Khanna N , Saag M 
Published: February 2010

BackgroundAmong HIV‐infected patients, hepatitis C virus (HCV) coinfection is associated with lower cholesterol levels, but it remains unclear how it affects cardiovascular outcomes.MethodsWe performed logistic regression to evaluate acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and cerebrovascular disease (CVD) events by HCV status among HIV‐infected US veterans in the highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) era (1996–2004). We then performed survival analyses to evaluate incident AMI and CVD, exploring antiretroviral therapy (ART) as a time‐dependent variable.ResultsA total of 19 424 HIV‐infected patients [31.6% of whom were HCV‐coinfected (HIV/HCV)] contributed 76 376 patient‐years of follow‐up. HCV coinfection was associated with lower rates of hypercholesterolaemia (18.0% in HIV/HCV vs. 30.7% in HIV‐only patients; P<0.001), but higher rates of hypertension (43.8%vs. 35.6%; P<0.0001), type 2 diabetes mellitus (16.2%vs. 11.1%; P<0.0001) and smoking (36.7%vs. 24.7%; P=0.009). Rates of AMI and CVD were significantly higher among HIV/HCV than HIV‐only patients: 4.19 vs. 3.36 events/1000 patient‐years, respectively (P<0.001), for AMI; and 12.47 vs. 11.12 events/1000 patient‐years, respectively (P<0.001), for CVD. When analyses were controlled for diabetes mellitus, hypertension, age and duration of ART, hazard ratios (HRs) among those with HIV/HCV (vs. HIV only) were 1.25 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.98–1.61; P=0.072] for AMI and 1.20 (CI 1.04–1.38; P=0.013) for CVD. Hypertension (HR 2.05; P<0.001), greater age (HR 1.79; P<0.001) and longer duration (cumulative years) of antiretroviral use (HR 1.12; P=0.0411) were also associated with increased risk of AMI in the adjusted model.ConclusionsIn the HAART era, HCV coinfection was associated with a significantly increased risk of CVD and a trend towards an increased risk of AMI among HIV‐infected patients.
Magnetic resonance imaging of the skin
Authors: Stefanowska J , Zakowiecki D , Cal K 
Published: February 2010

AbstractA thorough examination of the skin is essential to screen various diseases accurately, evaluate the effectiveness of topically applied drugs and assess the results of dermatological surgeries such as skin grafts. The assessment of skin properties is also crucial in the cosmetics industry, where it is important to evaluate the effects skin care products have on these properties. The simplest and most widely used method of skin evaluation, the ‘naked eye’ assessment, enables researchers to assess only the skin surface and involves a large amount of inter‐observer variability. Thanks to a great progress that has been made in physics, electronics and computer engineering in recent years, sophisticated imaging methods are increasingly available in day‐to‐day studies. The aim of this review was to present one of these techniques, namely the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and to discuss its possible use in skin examination and analysis. We present basic principles of MRI, as well as several interesting applications in the field of dermatology, and discuss the advantages and limitations of this method.