bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Caregiving experiences of families of persons with serious mental health problems in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria
Authors: Jack‐Ide Izibeloko O. , Uys Leana R. , Middleton Lyn E. 
Published: June 2012

ABSTRACTMental health services are provided at Rumuigbo Hospital, a single facility that renders psychiatric services in Rivers State and surrounding states in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Psychiatric services are not provided at primary health‐care clinic or district hospitals, and access to this service can be problematic for many caregivers due to the time and costs involved. Therefore, this study explored the family caregiving experiences of persons with serious mental health problems in terms of the mental health‐care policy and health systems environment. A qualitative study using a purposive sampling technique was conducted among 20 caregivers attending a neuropsychiatric clinic in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. The results show that 78% of caregivers lived outside Port Harcourt and 65% had no regular monthly income. Stigma, poor knowledge in managing symptoms of ill relatives, financial implications, lack of support network, and absence of community outreach clinics were found to affect family caregiving experiences. Policies need to be developed and implemented that provide mental health care through primary health‐care services to ameliorate families' financial burden, enable early diagnosis and treatment, reduce the need to travel, and improve the quality of life of family caregivers.
Insulin in the ventral tegmental area reduces hedonic feeding and suppresses dopamine concentration via increased reuptake
Authors: Mebel Dmitry. M. , Wong Jovi. C. Y. , Dong Yifei. J. , Borgland Stephanie. L. 
Published: June 2012

AbstractMesolimbic dopamine (DA) signaling has been implicated in the incentive, reinforcing and motivational aspects of food intake. Insulin receptors are expressed on dopaminergic neurons of the ventral tegmental area (VTA), and insulin may act in the VTA to suppress feeding. However, the neural mechanisms underlying insulin effects in the VTA are poorly understood. Here, we measured the effects of insulin on evoked DA concentration in the VTA using fast‐scan cyclic voltammetry. Insulin concentration‐dependently reduced evoked somatodendritic DA in the VTA, requiring activation of phosphoinositol 3‐kinase and mTOR signaling. Insulin depression of somatodendritic DA was abolished in the presence of a selective DA transporter (DAT) inhibitor, GBR 12909, as well as in VTA slices of DAT knockout mice, suggesting that insulin upregulated the number or function of DAT to reduce DA concentration. Finally, insulin administered to the VTA depressed sated feeding of sweetened high‐fat food. Taken together, these results indicate that insulin depresses DA concentration in the VTA via increased reuptake of DA through DAT. Insulin‐mediated decrease of DA in the VTA may suppress salience of food once satiety is reached.
Delivery interaction between co‐infused medications: an in vitro modeling study of microinfusion
Authors: Tsao Amy C. , Lovich Mark A. , Parker Michael J. , Zheng Hui , Peterfreund Robert A. 
Published: June 2012

SummaryObjective:  To test the hypothesis that steady‐state drug delivery by continuous infusion is predictably affected by a second drug infusion in the same lumen.Background:  Clinicians commonly administer two drugs by continuous infusion through one central venous catheter lumen (co‐infusion). To limit fluid delivery, low flow rate carriers transport concentrated drug solutions; a method called microinfusion. How microinfusion delivery of one drug is affected by a second drug infusion has not been explored.Methods:  Two water‐soluble dyes, tartrazine and erioglaucine, infused at 3 ml·h−1, modeled drug delivery through a four stopcock linear manifold and catheter lumen. A pump drove a carrier fluid (10 ml·h−1). After tartrazine reached steady‐state delivery, erioglaucine entered downstream or upstream of the tartrazine infusion. Quantitative spectrophotometry measured dye delivery.Results:  Starting erioglaucine’s infusion upstream of tartrazine’s entry caused a transient tartrazine bolus (duration 10 min, peak drug delivery 20% higher than target levels). Starting erioglaucine’s infusion downstream produced a similar amplitude, briefer, bolus. Stopping the erioglaucine infusion caused a transient reduction in tartrazine delivery. Measured delivery profiles were comparable to prediction models.Conclusions:  We confirmed the hypothesis that delivery of one infused drug is transiently affected by starting or stopping a second drug infusion in the same line. The magnitude of the changes can be estimated quantitatively. The clinical impact depends on the drugs being co‐infused and patient sensitivity, but could be clinically important; the findings have safety implications for infused medication delivery to critically ill or anesthetized children. We recommend minimizing infusion system dead volumes, connecting the most essential infusion(s) to the main fluid pathway as close as possible to the patient, and recognizing the potential for unintended alterations in delivery when multiple drugs co‐infuse.
Diversity of cyanobacterial biomarker genes from the stromatolites of Shark Bay, Western Australia
Authors: Garby Tamsyn J. , Walter Malcolm R. , Larkum Anthony W.D. , Neilan Brett A. 
Published: June 2012

SummaryFamilies of closely related chemical compounds, which are relatively resistant to degradation, are often used as biomarkers to help trace the evolutionary history of early groups of organisms and the environments in which they lived. Biomarkers derived from hopanoid variations are particularly useful in determining bacterial community compositions. 2‐Methylhopananoids have been thought to be diagnostic for cyanobacteria, and 2‐methylhopanes in the geological record are taken as evidence for the presence of cyanobacteria‐containing communities at the time of sediment deposition. Recently, however, doubt has been cast on the validity of 2‐methylhopanes as cyanobacterial biomarkers, since non‐cyanobacterial species have been shown to produce significant amounts of 2‐methylhopanoids. This study examines the diversity of hpnP, the hopanoid biosynthesis gene coding for the enzyme that methylates hopanoids at the C2 position. Genomic DNA isolated from stromatolite‐associated pustular and smooth microbial mat samples from Shark Bay, Western Australia, was analysed for bacterial diversity, and used to construct an hpnP clone library. A total of 117 partial hpnP clones were sequenced, representing 12 operational taxonomic units (OTUs). Phylogenetic analysis showed that 11 of these OTUs, representing 115 sequences, cluster within the cyanobacterial clade. We conclude that the dominant types of microorganisms with the detected capability of producing 2‐methylhopanoids within pustular and smooth microbial mats in Shark Bay are cyanobacteria.
A simple method for estimating MSY from catch and resilience
Authors: Martell Steven , Froese Rainer 
Published: June 2012

AbstractThe Law of the Sea requires that fish stocks are maintained at levels that can produce the maximum sustainable yield (MSY). However, for most fish stocks, no estimates of MSY are currently available. Here, we present a new method for estimating MSY from catch data, resilience of the respective species, and simple assumptions about relative stock sizes at the first and final year of the catch data time series. We compare our results with 146 MSY estimates derived from full stock assessments and find excellent agreement. We present principles for fisheries management of data‐poor stocks, based only on information about catches and MSY.
The implications for aquaculture practice of epigenomic programming of components of the endocrine system of teleostean embryos: lessons learned from mammalian studies
Authors: Li Mao , Leatherland John F 
Published: June 2012

AbstractEpigenetics is the study of changes in gene expression patterns that occur without any modification of the underlying nucleotide sequence of the DNA. Modifications of the so‐called epigenome include complex transient or permanent chemical changes of the DNA or histone proteins resulting in the suppression or enhancement of gene expression, together with an array of post‐translational events that modify the translational products. Epigenomic programming (EP) of the genome is an essential component of embryonic development in animals from the totipotent fertilized egg to the pluripotent stem cells, stem cell differentiation and final tissue and organ formation. Many of these EP processes are influenced transiently and some permanently by environmental influences. In eutherian mammals, environmentally related EP of embryos is linked to permanent changes in the phenotype of the progeny, some of which have been associated with adult onset metabolic disorders. Moreover, because some of the epigenetic remodelling occurs in both the soma and germ line, the resultant phenotypic characteristics (some of which are linked to disease states) may be heritable. Although far less is known about the effects of environmentally linked EP on the ontogeny of fishes, the available information suggests that the EP processes are similar amongst all vertebrates, and there are clear parallels between fish and mammals that are discussed in this paper. Our perspective takes the well‐established findings in mammals and uses them to proactively extrapolate to the as yet under‐recognized implications of EP for fish biology and for fish production in intensive aquaculture.
The effect of format on performance: Editing text in print versus digital formats
Authors: Eden Sigal , Eshet‐Alkalai Yoram 
Published: June 2012

AbstractIn light of the present‐day proliferation of digital texts and the increase in situations that require active digital text reading in learning, it is becoming increasingly important to shed light on the comparison between print and digital reading under active reading conditions. In this study, the active reading abilities of 93 university students (83% females) were examined. Participants were asked to read, edit, recognize errors and improve the quality of short papers (600 words each) on the topic of environmental awareness, in both print and in digital formats. Surprisingly, and in contrast to many recent reports about print versus digital reading, no significant differences were found between the performances of participants in the two formats. Similarly, no significant differences were found for all categories of text errors as well as for gender. It was found that the digital readers completed their tasks faster than the print readers but their performance was not lower. Results of this study have important implications for the current debate in higher education concerning the use of digital text for learning and for designing, reviewing and editing academic works.
Commodification of place, consumption of identity: The sociolinguistic construction of a ‘global village’ in rural China1
Authors: Shuang GAO 
Published: June 2012

This paper seeks to contribute to the understanding of place as it relates to globalization and mobility by examining the sociolinguistic construction of a tourism site. A former residential neighborhood, West Street in Yangshuo County, China, was gradually transformed into a so‐called ‘global village’ for domestic tourists partly through appropriating English as one semiotic resource. Positioning this place in the global‐national‐local nexus, this study shows that the promotion of West Street as a ‘global village’ is not only driven by globalization or westernization, but more importantly capitalizes on English as a stylistic resource that indexes the modernist aspirations of the Chinese people. This commodified sense of place is nevertheless negotiated by tourists as they activate and (re‐)work the social meaning of place through their discursive practices. This highlights how place is a social construct, constantly transformed in the process of socio‐historical change, and also mediated by people's conceptualization, imagination and experience.本文从社会语言学角度考察一处旅游景点的建构，旨在增进在全球化和流动时代背景下对‘地域’ (place) 的理解。位于中国阳朔县的西街，通过把英语作为一种符号资源，从一个历史居民街区转变成为所谓的‘地球村’。本研究从全球‐国家‐地方三位连结的框架审视该地域，说明‘地球村’不仅仅是全球化带动下的地方经济发展策略，更重要的是借用了在英语作为一种语言风格资源在中国社会中的作用。然而，这种构建的地域涵义也同时被游客通过不同方式激活和改写。本文提出，地域是社会构建的产物，其涵义随着社会历史的变革，人们对地域的理解，想象和体验，而不断改变。[Chinese]
Lost in transition?
Authors: Brunello Giorgio , Crivellaro Elena , Rocco Lorenzo 
Published: June 2012

AbstractUsing data for Germany and 23 other economies in Eastern and Western Europe, this paper estimates the monetary returns to education acquired under communism more than 10 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall. We show that, in the 2000s, Eastern European workers who completed their education under communism earned in the 2000s similar returns to their education as did workers belonging to the same age cohorts who studied in Western Europe. This might suggest that education under communism is still as valuable as education attained in Western Europe. However, individuals educated under communism are more likely than their Western counterparts to be unemployed, retired or disabled, and therefore to earn lower or zero returns to their education. Moreover, when we allow the returns to pre‐ and post‐secondary education to differ, we find that senior males who have attained only primary or secondary education under communism are penalized in the post‐transition Eastern European labour markets, and that those who have completed post‐secondary education under communism enjoy in these markets higher payoffs to their education than similarly educated Western European individuals who are employed in the West.
Does On‐line Distance Higher Education Pay Off for Adult Learners? The Case of the Open University of Catalonia
Authors: Carnoy Martin , Rabling Brenda Jarillo , Castaño‐Muñoz Jonatan , Montoliu Josep Maria Duart , Sancho‐Vinuesa Teresa 
Published: June 2012

AbstractThe increasing opportunities created for adults by on‐line distance universities raise important issues about the payoff to such education. This study uses a unique set of survey data gathered by the Open University of Catalonia (UOC) in 2009 to estimate the earnings gains of the 2000–2003 cohorts of UOC students in six programmes of study over an average six‐year time frame between entering and one year after leaving their studies. It compares their gains with the earnings gains of comparable full‐time workers in the Spanish labour force by age, education level, and gender. The results show that those who studied in UOC's two‐year second‐cycle degree programmes had positive relative earnings gains but those in three‐year first‐cycle degree programmes did not. The study further discusses why adult learners might nevertheless study toward degrees for which payoffs appear low.
The Gendered Shaping of University Leadership in Australia, South Africa and the United Kingdom
Authors: White Kate , Bagilhole Barbara , Riordan Sarah 
Published: June 2012

AbstractThis article analyses career trajectories into university management in Australia, South Africa and the United Kingdom (UK), skills required to operate effectively and the power of vice‐chancellors (VCs) and their impact on the gendered shaping of university leadership. It is based on qualitative research with 56 male and female senior managers. The research found that the typical career path was modelled on male academic careers. Not surprisingly, in South Africa and the UK the perception of the top university leader was of a man but in Australia, where more women have been VCs, there was no such assumption. Characteristics valued in university leaders in Australia and South Africa were ‘soft’ leadership traits, but in the UK ‘hard’ aggressive and competitive leadership prevailed. VCs are enormously powerful and can shape the gender balance in management teams and thereby potentially broadening leadership styles beyond the predominant transactional model to include transformational leadership.
The Challenges of Attracting Asian Students to Study Higher Education in Hong Kong
Authors: Ng Shun Wing 
Published: June 2012

AbstractThis article reports a commissioned research project on exploring the emerging issues and challenges of attracting Asian students to study in Hong Kong's higher education institutions. Findings reveal the rapidly growing demand for quality transnational education in Asia and the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of exporting Hong Kong's higher education. The challenges include the need to arrive at a consensus on the aims of internationalisation of Hong Kong's higher education, issues related to promotion strategies overseas, as well as problems of social and multi‐cultural inclusion of non‐local students. Drawing on the research findings, the author suggests going beyond the notion of profit‐oriented vision and exploring the real mission of promoting higher education services overseas that contributes to the enhancement of higher education receivers' learning experiences and preparing students to be future leaders in a humane environment.
Inter‐relationships of functional status in cerebral palsy: analyzing gross motor function, manual ability, and communication function classification systems in children
Authors: HIDECKER MARY JO COOLEY , HO NHAN THI , DODGE NANCY , HURVITZ EDWARD A , SLAUGHTER JAIME , WORKINGER MARILYN SEIF , KENT RAY D , ROSENBAUM PETER , LENSKI MADELEINE , MESSAROS BRIDGET M , VANDERBEEK SUZETTE B , DEROOS STEVEN , PANETH NIGEL 
Published: June 2012

Aim  To investigate the relationships among the Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS), Manual Ability Classification System (MACS), and Communication Function Classification System (CFCS) in children with cerebral palsy (CP).Method  Using questionnaires describing each scale, mothers reported GMFCS, MACS, and CFCS levels in 222 children with CP aged from 2 to17 years (94 females, 128 males; mean age 8y, SD 4). Children were referred from pediatric developmental/behavioral, physiatry, and child neurology clinics, in the USA, for a case–control study of the etiology of CP. Pairwise relationships among the three systems were assessed using Spearman’s correlation coefficients (rs), stratifying by age and CP topographical classifications.Results  Correlations among the three functional assessments were strong or moderate. GMFCS levels were highly correlated with MACS levels (rs=0.69) and somewhat less so with CFCS levels (rs=0.47). MACS and CFCS were also moderately correlated (rs=0.54). However, many combinations of functionality were found. Of the 125 possible combinations of the three five‐point systems, 62 were found in these data.Interpretation  Use of all three classification systems provides a more comprehensive picture of the child’s function in daily life than use of any one alone. This resulting functional profile can inform both clinical and research purposes.
Comparative Effectiveness of Standard versus Patient‐Centered Collaborative Care Interventions for Depression among African Americans in Primary Care Settings: The BRIDGE Study
Authors: Cooper Lisa A. , Ghods Dinoso Bri K. , Ford Daniel E. , Roter Debra L. , Primm Annelle B. , Larson Susan M. , Gill James M. , Noronha Gary J. , Shaya Elias K. , Wang Nae‐Yuh 
Published: June 2012

ObjectiveTo compare the effectiveness of standard and patient‐centered, culturally tailored collaborative care (CC) interventions for African American patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) over 12 months of follow‐up.Data Sources/Study SettingTwenty‐seven primary care clinicians and 132 African American patients with MDD in urban community‐based practices in Maryland and Delaware.Study DesignCluster randomized trial with patient‐level, intent‐to‐treat analyses.Data Collection/Extraction MethodsPatients completed screener and baseline, 6‐, 12‐, and 18‐month interviews to assess depression severity, mental health functioning, health service utilization, and patient ratings of care.Principal FindingsPatients in both interventions showed statistically significant improvements over 12 months. Compared with standard, patient‐centered CC patients had similar reductions in depression symptom levels (−2.41 points; 95 percent confidence interval (CI), −7.7, 2.9), improvement in mental health functioning scores (+3.0 points; 95 percent CI, −2.2, 8.3), and odds of rating their clinician as participatory (OR, 1.48, 95 percent CI, 0.53, 4.17). Treatment rates increased among standard (OR = 1.8, 95 percent CI 1.0, 3.2), but not patient‐centered (OR = 1.0, 95 percent CI 0.6, 1.8) CC patients. However, patient‐centered CC patients rated their care manager as more helpful at identifying their concerns (OR, 3.00; 95 percent CI, 1.23, 7.30) and helping them adhere to treatment (OR, 2.60; 95 percent CI, 1.11, 6.08).ConclusionsPatient‐centered and standard CC approaches to depression care showed similar improvements in clinical outcomes for African Americans with depression; standard CC resulted in higher rates of treatment, and patient‐centered CC resulted in better ratings of care.
A High‐Resolution Analysis of Process Improvement: Use of Quantile Regression for Wait Time
Authors: Choi Dongseok , Hoffman Kim A. , Kim Mi‐Ok , McCarty Dennis 
Published: June 2012

ObjectiveApply quantile regression for a high‐resolution analysis of changes in wait time to treatment and assess its applicability to quality improvement data compared with least‐squares regression.Data SourceAddiction treatment programs participating in the Network for the Improvement of Addiction Treatment.MethodsWe used quantile regression to estimate wait time changes at 5, 50, and 95 percent and compared the results with mean trends by least‐squares regression.Principal FindingsQuantile regression analysis found statistically significant changes in the 5 and 95 percent quantiles of wait time that were not identified using least‐squares regression.ConclusionsQuantile regression enabled estimating changes specific to different percentiles of the wait time distribution. It provided a high‐resolution analysis that was more sensitive to changes in quantiles of the wait time distributions.
The Importance of a High‐Performance Work Environment in Hospitals
Authors: Weinberg Dana Beth , Avgar Ariel Chanan , Sugrue Noreen M. , Cooney‐Miner Dianne 
Published: June 2012

ObjectiveTo examine the benefits of a high‐performance work environment (HPWE) for employees, patients, and hospitals.Study SettingForty‐five adult, medical‐surgical units in nine hospitals in upstate New York.Study DesignCross‐sectional study.Data CollectionSurveys were collected from 1,527 unit‐based hospital providers (68.5 percent response rate). Hospitals provided unit turnover and patient data (16,459 discharge records and 2,920 patient surveys).Principal FindingsHPWE, as perceived by multiple occupational groups on a unit, is significantly associated with desirable work processes, retention indicators, and care quality.ConclusionOur findings underscore the potential benefits for providers, patients, and health care organizations of designing work environments that value and support a broad range of employees as having essential contributions to make to the care process and their organizations.