bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Regression and persistence: remodelling in a tissue engineered axial vascular assembly
Authors: Polykandriotis E. , Euler S. , Arkudas A. , Pryymachuk G. , Beier J. P. , Greil P. , Dragu A. , Lametschwandtner A. , Kneser U. , Horch R. E. 
Published: June 2009

AbstractIn later stages of vasculoangiogenesis a vascular network is going through a metamorphosis for optimal perfusion and economy of energy. In this study we make a quantitative approach to phenomena of remodelling in a bioartificial neovascular network and suggest variance of calibre as a parameter of neovascular maturation. For this study, 18 male Lewis rats were subjected to the AV loop operation in combination with a hard porous biogenic matrix and an isolation chamber. The animals were allocated into three groups for different explantation intervals set to 2, 4 and 8 weeks, respectively. Collective attributes like vascular density, percent fractional area and variance of calibre were evaluated for a predefined region of interest (ROI). Late morphogenesis was evaluated by means of scanning electron microscopy. After the fourth week the absolute number of vessels within the ROI decreased (P < 0.03) whereas, on the contrary, the fractional area of all segments increased (P < 0.02). The variance in calibre was significantly increased in the 8‐week group (P < 0.05). Lymphatic growth after week 4, early pericyte migration as well as intussusceptive angiogenesis were identified immunohistologically. Phenomena of remodelling were evaluated quantitatively in a neovascular network and variance could be proposed as a parameter of net vascular maturation.
Synergistic effects of telmisartan and simvastatin on endothelial progenitor cells
Authors: Steinmetz Martin , Brouwers Caroline , Nickenig Georg , Wassmann Sven 
Published: June 2009

AbstractCirculating endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) contribute to endothelial replenishment. Telmisartan is an angiotensin‐receptor blocker with PPARγ‐agonistic properties. PPARγ‐agonists and HMG‐CoA reductase inhibitors have been shown to enhance EPC number and function. We focused on the effects of telmisartan alone or in combination with simvastatin on EPC. EPC were isolated from healthy human volunteers, cultured and stimulated with telmisartan, simvastatin, or the combination of telmisartan and simvastatin. Telmisartan significantly increased the number of acLDL/lectin double‐positive early EPC, the number of colony forming units (EC‐CFU) as well as EPC migratory capacity, inhibited TNFα‐induced EPC apoptosis and reduced glucose‐induced oxidative stress. The telmisartan effect was dose‐dependent and could be inhibited by GW9662, indicating a PPARγ‐dependent mechanism. The combination of telmisartan and simvastatin led to a significant additive increase in EPC count and function. In wild‐type mice, systemic treatment with either telmisartan or simvastatin elevated the number of sca‐1/flk‐1‐positive EPC in bone marrow and peripheral blood, spleen‐derived acLDL/lectin double‐positive EPC, EPC migration and EC‐CFU. Consistent with the in vitro findings, the combination of telmisartan and simvastatin resulted in a further enhancement of EPC counts. Re‐endothelialization after carotid injury was significantly enhanced by telmisartan, simvastatin and the combination. Telmisartan increases EPC number and function mediated by a PPARγ‐dependent mechanism. This effect is further enhanced by combination with simvastatin, suggesting a synergistic activation of potentially diverse intracellular pathways.
Scale as a lurking factor: incorporating scale‐dependence in experimental ecology
Authors: Sandel Brody , Smith Adam B. 
Published: June 2009

Ecologists have recognized for decades the importance of spatial scale in ecological processes and patterns, as well as the complications scale poses for understanding ecological mechanisms. Here we highlight the opportunity attention to scale offers experimental ecology. Despite many advantages to considering scale, a review of the literature indicates that multi‐scale experimental studies are rare. Although much work has focused on scale as a primary factor (e.g. island size), we draw attention to scale as a ‘lurking’ variable: one which influences the relationship between two or more variables that are not usually understood to be scale‐dependent.We highlight three basic observations from which scale‐dependence arises: abundance increases with area, environmental conditions vary across space, and the effect of an organism on its environment is spatially limited. From these arise first‐order scale‐dependence, which relates an ecological variable of interest to a measure of scale. Combining first‐order relationships together, we can produce second‐order scale‐dependencies, which occur when the relationship between two or more variables is mediated by scale. It is these relationships that are of particular interest, as they have the potential to confound experimental results.Most ecological experiments have incorporated scale either implicitly or not at all. We suggest that an explicit consideration of scale could help resolve some long‐standing debates when scale is turned from a lurking variable into a working variable. Finally, we review and evaluate four different experimental sampling designs and corresponding statistical analyses that can be used to address the effects of scale in ecological experiments.
The effect of rapid diagnostic testing for influenza on the reduction of antibiotic use in paediatric emergency department
Authors: Özkaya E , Cambaz N , Çoşkun Y , Mete F , Geyik M , Samancı N 
Published: June 2009

AbstractAim:  To determine the influence of rapid diagnosis of influenza on antibiotic prescribing to children presenting with influenza‐like illness in the emergency department in a inner city hospital in İstanbul, Turkey.Methods:  Patients aged 3 to 14 years presenting to an urban children’s teaching hospital emergency department were screened for fever and cough, coryza, myalgias and/or malaise. After obtaining informed consent, patients were allocated into two groups. Group 1: patients were prescribed antibiotics after only physical examination; or Group 2: patients were prescribed antibiotics after rapid influenza testing. Nasopharyngeal swabs obtained from all patients were immediately tested in a single‐blind manner with Influenza A/B Rapid Test® for influenza A and B.Results:  A total of 97 patients were enrolled, and 33 (34%) of these tested positive for influenza. Although frequency of positive results for influenza between the groups was similar (36% vs 32%, respectively), patients in Group 2 were less likely to be prescribed antibiotics when compared to those in Group 1 (32% vs 100%, respectively, p < 0.0001).Conclusion:  Rapid diagnosis of influenza in the paediatric emergency department may allow a significant reduction in the over‐prescription of antibiotics.
Strategy for increasing detection rates of drug and alcohol abuse in paediatric emergency departments
Authors: Kozer E , Bar‐Hamburger R , Rosenfeld N , Dalal I , Landu O , Fainmesser P , Ben‐Yehuda Y , Berkovitch M 
Published: June 2009

AbstractAim:  To determine whether implementation of criteria for performing a toxicology screen and increasing staff awareness improve detection of substance abuse among adolescents presenting to the emergency department.Methods:  Patients 12 to 18 years of age presenting to one of three emergency departments in Israel were included in a prospective cohort study. In the ‘study’ hospital, a set of criteria for urine toxicology screen and measurements of ethanol serum level were implemented. No specific interventions were implemented in the two other hospitals. The main outcome measure was the rate of substance abuse detection.Results:  The number of adolescents seen in the participating centres was 3200 at the study hospital, and 3493 and 2792 at the two other hospitals. High blood ethanol concentrations were found in 49 patients at the study hospital compared with 30 and 19 patients at the two other hospitals (p < 0.001).Illicit drugs were detected in 13, 4 and 1 patients, respectively (p = 0.002).Conclusions:  Introducing structured guidelines for ordering toxicological screening increases the detection of alcohol and drug of abuse among adolescents presenting to paediatric emergency departments.
Ants accelerate succession from mountain grassland towards spruce forest
Authors: Vlasáková Blanka , Raabová Jana , Kyncl Tomáš , Dostál Petr , Kovářová Marcela , Kovář Pavel , Herben Tomáš 
Published: June 2009

AbstractQuestion: What is the role of mound‐building ants (Lasius flavus) in successional changes of a grassland ecosystem towards a spruce forest?Location: Slovenské Rudohorie Mountains, Slovakia; ca. 950 m a.s.l. near the Obrubovanec point (1020 m a.s.l.; 48°41′N, 19°39′E).Methods: Both chronosequence data along a successional gradient and temporal data from long‐term permanent plots were collected on ants, spruce establishment, and vegetation structure, together with additional data on spruce growth.Results: There are more spruce seedlings on ant mounds (4.72 m−2) than in the surrounding vegetation (0.81 m−2). Spruce seedlings grow faster on these mounds compared to surrounding areas. The first colonization wave of seedlings was rapid and probably occurred when grazing prevailed over mowing. Ant colony presence, mound volume, and plant species composition change along the successional gradient. Mounds become bigger when partly shaded but shrink in closed forest, when ant colonies disappear. Shade‐tolerant acidophylic species replace grassland plants both on the mounds and in surrounding areas.Conclusions: The massive occurrence of Lasius flavus anthills contributes to a runaway feedback process that accelerates succession towards forest. The effect of ants as ecosystem engineers is scale‐dependent: although they stabilize the system at the scale of an individual mound, they may destabilize the whole grassland system over a longer time scale if combined with changes in mowing regime.
Insights into succession processes using temporally repeated habitat models: results from a long‐term study in a post‐mining landscape
Authors: Baasch Annett , Tischew Sabine , Bruelheide Helge 
Published: June 2009

AbstractQuestions: The early phases of primary succession are governed by chance events and dispersal‐related processes in an environment that is largely free of competition. Thus, the predictability of vegetation patterns using environmental site factors can be expected to be low and spatial autocorrelation to be high. We asked whether the match between vegetation and environment becomes better in the course of succession, and whether vegetation types shift their realized niche with time.Location: Lignite mining region in Central Germany, the post‐mining landscape “Goitzsche” (Saxony‐Anhalt).Methods: Vegetation types were mapped in a 10‐m grid (total area 4.8 ha), starting in 1995, at 3‐year intervals until 2007. We used a temporal comparison of habitat models. We applied: GLS regression to partition the variation in coverage of vegetation types into environmental (soil pH) and spatial components; logistic regression to model the presence/absence of vegetation types along a soil acidity gradient; and autologistic regression allowing for soil acidity and neighbourhood effects.Results: For most vegetation types, the proportion of variation explained by space was high but declined during succession. The outcome of autologistic models suggests that soil acidity often plays a minor role compared to neighbourhood effects in the earlier phase of succession than 12 years later. For four vegetation types, the pH range in which the type was expected to be dominant clearly became smaller with time. These trends support the view that the role of processes related to chance and dispersal decrease with time, while those related to environmental filtering mediated by biotic interactions increase.Conclusions: We conclude that temporal comparisons of spatially explicit habitat models provide insights into changing biotic community processes and their effects on habitat specificity of species or their communities. Thus, this approach may be particularly important for analysis of ecological systems that are not in equilibrium with their environmental drivers.
Screening of edentulous patients in a dental school population using the prosthodontic diagnostic index
Authors: Ntala Polyxeni Chr. , Niarchou Artemis P. , Polyzois Gregory L. , Frangou Maria J. 
Published: June 2009

doi:10.1111/j.1741‐2358.2009.00317.x

Screening of edentulous patients in a dental school population using the prosthodontic diagnostic index Purpose:  The aim of this study was to classify a number of completely or partially edentulous patients who attended undergraduate clinics at the Dental School of Athens using the prosthodontic diagnostic index (PDI) to identify the complexity of the cases treated by the students.Background:  There is a scarcity of studies, concerning prosthodontic patients and screening them according to a classification system such as the PDI.Material and methods:  The survey was conducted on 181 patients who attended the clinics for treatment. The PDI categorised the patients into four classes (Class I–IV) according to the severity of certain diagnostic findings.Results:  From the 110 completely edentulous patients, 27 patients were in Class I, 21 in Class II, 15 in Class III and 47 in Class IV. From the 71 partially edentulous patients, two were in Class I, 17 in Class II, 29 in Class III and 23 in Class IV.Conclusion:  Our results showed that the majority of patients were categorised in Class III (partially edentulous) and IV (completely edentulous). This indicates the need to introduce a proper screening tool, such as the PDIs, during the initial examination, to achieve a successful treatment.
An overview of osteoporosis for the practising prosthodontist
Authors: Singh Saumyendra V. , Tripathi Arvind 
Published: June 2009

doi:10.1111/j.1741‐2358.2009.00324.x

An overview of osteoporosis for the practising prosthodontist Osteoporosis is an insidious and common bone disorder of the modern age, as a result of the rapidly increasing number of older people in the total population. It has long been concluded that this disease has definite deleterious effects on the stomatognathic system and is therefore of major concern to a Prosthodontist. If features on a dental radiograph, which are the most commonly required radiographs, can be detected regularly and consistently, it would place a prosthodontist in a position to refer the patient for timely management and also modify his treatment plan, greatly improving the prognosis. Available literature was therefore reviewed for pathophysiology, dental radiographic screening measures, implications and management of osteoporosis from the perspective of a prosthodontist.
The immediate effect of physical activity on standing balance in healthy and balance‐impaired older people
Authors: Egerton Thorlene , Brauer Sandra G , Cresswell Andrew G 
Published: June 2009

Objective:  To determine if standing balance was affected by moderate levels of physical activity in healthy young, healthy older and balance‐impaired older adults. Methods:  Thirty‐one healthy young, 33 healthy older and 22 balance‐impaired older adults took part. Centre of pressure (COP) motion was measured before and immediately after participants undertook 14 minutes of self‐paced, moderate intensity physical activity. Results:  All groups responded in a similar manner. Following the physical activity circuit, mediolateral COP displacement and standard deviation of mediolateral COP position increased by 5% and 17%, respectively. Anteroposterior COP displacement and COP standard deviation, and total COP displacement, did not change. All changes were small compared with the magnitude of the group differences. Conclusions:  A small increase in fall risk may exist immediately following physical activity and older people may need to exercise caution following moderate intensity bouts of physical activity to prevent falling.
Osteoporosis risk in a home care setting
Authors: Smith Joanna , Inderjeeth Charles , Lewin Gill 
Published: June 2009

Aim:  To investigate the osteoporosis risk profile of older home care clients and the prevalence of fracture and treatment within this group.Methods:  A total of 1500 home care clients were randomly selected and mailed a survey. Overall, 874 (58%) of those surveyed completed and returned the survey.Results:  A third (37%, n = 318) reported at least one fracture and 871(99.7%) reported at least one risk factor for osteoporosis. Despite this only 28% reported a diagnosis of osteoporosis, which was more likely if they had sustained a fracture. Bone mineral density tests were reported by 37.4% of respondents and 51.9% of those who had fractured. Only 34.5% who had fractured had been referred for an osteoporosis assessment following their fracture.Conclusions:  The home care clients surveyed have many of the risk factors associated with osteoporosis and fracture. A large number reported that they had already sustained fractures that can be attributed to osteoporosis. Despite this, a minority have been assessed or treated for osteoporosis.
Descriptive, exploratory study of the role of nursing assistants in Australian residential aged care facilities: The example of pain management
Authors: Holloway Kristi , McConigley Ruth 
Published: June 2009

Aim:  This study explored the experiences of nursing assistants (NAs) who work with older people in residential aged care facilities (RACFs), to ascertain their role in Australian RACFs. Experiences with pain management were used as an example to explore their work role.Methods:  A descriptive, exploratory qualitative approach was used to examine NAs' experiences. Participants included six NAs from three RACFs in regional Western Australia. In‐depth interviews focused on the NAs' experiences of providing care to older people in RACFs and in particular their experiences providing pain management for residents.Results:  The role of NAs often extends beyond their scope of practice. NAs describe making clinical decisions, initiating clinical care and advocating for residents.Conclusions:  NAs represent a majority of the staff in Australian RACFs and they have a significant role in clinical care. There is a need to ensure that NAs are adequately prepared and supported in their role.
Longitudinal study of the Home Falls and Accidents Screening Tool in identifying older people at increased risk of falls
Authors: Mackenzie Lynette , Byles Julie , D'Este Catherine 
Published: June 2009

Aim:  To evaluate the predictive validity and responsiveness of the Home Falls and Accidents Screening Tool (HOME FAST).Methods:  A prospective study of 727 community dwelling Veterans and war widows aged 70 years and over. The outcome was 6‐month recall of any fall at 3‐year follow‐up. Baseline measurements were taken of common falls risk factors, and home hazards (using the HOME FAST). Changes in the prevalence of HOME FAST items were calculated and a logistic regression model was computed to determine predictors of falls at follow‐up.Results:  Prevalence of 14 HOME FAST items was significantly reduced from baseline to follow‐up (P ≤ 0.05). Falls were significantly related to the baseline HOME FAST score (odds ratio (OR) 1.016, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.004–1.098, P = 0.006), and a reduction in home hazards at follow‐up (OR 0.984, 95% CI 0.973–0.996, P = 0.02).Conclusion:  The HOME FAST can predict falls in older people and is responsive to change.
Intergenerational support and subjective health of older people in rural China: A gender‐based longitudinal study
Authors: Li Shuzhuo , Song Lu , Feldman Marcus W 
Published: June 2009

Aim:  To examine gender differences in the effect of intergenerational exchanges on subjective health of Chinese rural elderly.Methods:  Using the data from three waves of the survey ‘Well‐being of Elderly in Anhui Province, China’ conducted in 2001, 2003 and 2006, respectively, this study uses random effect logit models for men and women separately.Results:  While an increase in instrumental support from children to older people is associated with deterioration in the subjective health of older men, financial support from older people to children is associated with improvement in the formers' subjective health. Although an increase in instrumental support from older people to children, and mutual emotional support is associated with improved subjective health of older women, financial support from children to older women has a negative effect on the latter's subjective health.Conclusions:  Reciprocal intergenerational transfers contribute to improvement in subjective health of older people, while increased support through demand‐based transfers appears to result in deterioration of their health.
Inspection time predicts individual differences in everyday functioning among elderly adults: Testing discriminant validity
Authors: Gregory Tess , Callaghan Adelaide , Nettelbeck Ted , Wilson Carlene 
Published: June 2009

Aim:  Inspection time (IT) is a processing speed measure, recently investigated as a biomarker of ageing. This study examined whether earlier IT predicts subsequent problems in everyday functioning in community‐dwelling elderly people.Methods:  Participants completed IT at baseline, 6 months and 18 months. At 42 months, two groups of 15 elderly people matched for education and age (74–88 years) and selected for slower or faster baseline IT, completed a fourth estimate of IT and a practical assessment of everyday functioning (Timed Instrumental Activities of Daily Living – Adelaide).Results:  At 42 months, the group with slower baseline IT had significantly poorer performance (slower completion, higher errors) on more than half of the everyday functioning tasks.Conclusion:  Slower IT predicts difficulties up to 4 years later in everyday functioning of elderly adults, providing discriminant validation for IT as a biomarker for future changes.
Supporting stress management for women undergoing the early stages of fertility treatment: A cluster‐randomized controlled trial*
Authors: MORI Akiko 
Published: June 2009

AbstractAim:  The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of a support program for the stress management of women undergoing fertility treatment to reduce stress related to infertility and treatment.Methods:  We randomly assigned seven institutions into an experimental group (four institutions, n = 96) and a control group (three institutions, n = 44) using cluster randomization. The women in the experimental group were asked to continue stress management homework for 3 months. A nurse provided feedback on the homework every month. Those in the control group were given only the booklet. The primary outcomes were the risk ratios of “depression” and “anxiety” according to the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. The secondary outcomes were “health status” from the Medical Outcomes Study Short‐Form 36‐item Health Survey (SF‐36) v2 and “satisfaction” from the Visual Analogue Scale. We excluded 15 women who became pregnant and performed an intention‐to‐treat analysis of 125 women.Results:  There were no differences in the incidence of depression and anxiety between the experimental and control groups. There were significant interaction effects between the program and time in the scores of the two subscales of SF‐36 and the summary. There was no difference in satisfaction. The use of ovulation‐enhancing agents showed that the scores of “role functioning physical” and “physical component summary” in the non‐use subgroup were higher at 2 and 3 months in the experimental group, compared to the control group.Conclusions:  Positive effects of the support program were observed on two subscales of the SF‐36 in the subgroup that did not use ovulation‐enhancing agents.