bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Comparative effectiveness of water infusion vs air insufflation in colonoscopy: a meta‐analysis
Authors: Jun W. U. , Bing H. U. 
Published: August 2012

AbstractAim  Colonoscopy with air insufflation is known to result in abdominal pain and discomfort. We aimed to determine the effectiveness of water infusion during colonoscopy through a meta‐analysis.Method  Original papers and abstracts published up to October 2011 were searched in MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library Database and important meeting abstracts. Clinical appraisal and data extraction were conducted by two reviewers independently. Statistical analysis was performed by meta‐analysis using a fixed effects model or a random effects model.Results  Seven studies involving 872 patients were included. Meta‐analysis showed that the water infusion group had fewer patients requiring abdominal compression or position change [risk ratio (RR) 0.73, 95% CI 0.59, 0.91], a lower mean pain score (RR −1.10, 95% CI −1.26, −0.95), lower maximum pain score (RR −2.34, 95% CI −2.92, −1.76) and fewer patients requiring on‐demand sedation (RR 0.45, 95% CI 0.31, 0.66) than the air insufflation group during colonoscopy. There were no significant differences in caecal intubation rate, caecal intubation time, total procedure time and adenoma detection rate.Conclusion  Water infusion significantly decreases patient discomfort and abdominal pain during colonoscopy without affecting operation time and intubation success rate.
Early and late symptomatic anastomotic leakage following low anterior resection of the rectum for cancer: are they different entities?
Authors: Floodeen H. , Hallböök O. , Rutegård J. , Sjödahl R. , Matthiessen P. 
Published: August 2012

AbstractAim  The aim of the study was to compare patients with symptomatic anastomotic leakage following low anterior resection of the rectum (LAR) for cancer diagnosed during the initial hospital stay with those in whom leakage was diagnosed after hospital discharge.Method  Forty‐five patients undergoing LAR (n = 234) entered into a randomized multicentre trial (NCT 00636948), who developed symptomatic anastomotic leakage, were identified. A comparison was made between patients diagnosed during the initial hospital stay on median postoperative day 8 (early leakage, EL; n = 27) and patients diagnosed after hospital discharge at median postoperative day 22 (late leakage, LL; n = 18). Patient characteristics, operative details, postoperative course and anatomical localization of the leakage were analysed.Results  Leakage from the circular stapler line of an end‐to‐end anastomosis was more common in EL, while leakage from the stapler line of the efferent limb of the J‐pouch or side‐to‐end anastomosis tended to be more frequent in LL (P = 0.057). Intra‐operative blood loss (P = 0.006) and operation time (P = 0.071) were increased in EL compared with LL. On postoperative day 5, EL performed worse than LL with regard to temperature (P = 0.021), oral intake (P = 0.006) and recovery of bowel activity (P = 0.054). Anastomotic leakage was diagnosed most often by a rectal contrast study in EL and by CT scan in LL. The median initial hospital stay was 28 days for EL and 10 days for LL (P < 0.001).Conclusion  The present study has demonstrated that symptomatic anastomotic leakage can present before and after hospital discharge and raises the question of whether early and late leakage after LAR may be different entities.
CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF REGIONAL POPULATION DECLINE FOR PRIMARY SCHOOLS
Authors: HAARTSEN TIALDA , VAN WISSEN LEO 
Published: August 2012

ABSTRACTDuring the past few years, the Dutch education system has been confronted with a sharp decline in the number of pupils. Especially in rural villages, inhabitants fear for the closure of their local primary school, which is perceived as a very negative development for local village life. This paper shows that the relatively sharp decline of the number of pupils in the next decade can be explained by a wavelike pattern in the past and projected number of pupils, resulting from the baby bust of the 1960s and 1970s. The relative decrease in pupils will almost be as strong in future depopulating (Anticipeer) regions as in present day declining (Topkrimp) regions. However, municipalities in the Topkrimp regions have many smaller primary schools which implies that they will have to deal with school mergers and closures in the near future. The paper concludes that long term effects of school closures on local society are not as devastating as often perceived.
Atrial fibrillation is associated with severe sleep‐disordered breathing in patients with ischaemic stroke and transient ischaemic attack
Authors: Shibazaki K. , Kimura K. , Uemura J. , Sakai K. , Fujii S. , Sakamoto Y. , Aoki J. 
Published: August 2012

Background and purposeSleep‐disordered breathing (SDB) is a risk factor for cerebrovascular disease. We investigated the frequency of SDB in Japanese patients with acute ischaemic stroke and transient ischaemic attack (TIA), as well as factors associated with SDB severity.MethodsBetween April 2010 and March 2011, we prospectively enrolled patients with ischaemic stroke and TIA within 24 h of onset to participate in a sleep study within 7 days of admission. We defined SDB as a respiratory disturbance index (RDI) (number of apnoeas or hypopnoeas per hour) of ≥5. Patients were assigned to groups based on RDI values of ≥30 (severe) and <30 (absent or not severe). The frequency of SDB and factors associated with severity were investigated using multivariate regression analysis.ResultsWe enrolled 150 patients amongst whom 126 (84%) had SDB. The frequencies of SDB were 21 (75%) patients with TIA, 105 (86%) with ischaemic stroke, 8/10 (80%) with large artery atherosclerosis, 14/14 (100%) with small vessel occlusion, 37/41 (90%) with cardioembolism and 46/57 (81%) with other causes of stroke/undetermined. Severe SDB was evident in 44 (29%) patients. The frequency of males (75% vs. 56%, P = 0.027), atrial fibrillation (AF) (39% vs. 23%, P = 0.045), higher body mass index (23.8 ± 3.8 vs. 22.3 ± 3.8, P = 0.043) and a larger neck circumference (37.8 ± 4.3 vs. 35.8 ± 4.2, P = 0.012) was significantly higher in the group with severe SDB. Multivariate regression analysis found that AF (OR 2.4; 95% CI 1.079–5.836, P = 0.0359) was independently associated with severe SDB.ConclusionMost Japanese patients with acute ischaemic stroke and TIA had SDB, and AF was associated with SDB.
Vigorimeter grip strength in CIDP: a responsive tool that rapidly measures the effect of IVIG – the ICE study
Authors: Vanhoutte E. K. , Latov N. , Deng C. , Hanna K. , Hughes R. A. C. , Bril V. , Dalakas M. C. , Donofrio P. , van Doorn P. A. , Hartung H.‐P. , Merkies I. S. J. 
Published: August 2012

Background and purposeIn a recent trial in patients with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP), the ICE study, grip strength measurement captured significantly more improvement in patients receiving immune globulin (IGIV‐C) intravenously than in those receiving placebo.MethodsWe conducted a systematic analysis to determine the sensitivity of grip strength as an indicator of meaningful clinical changes in CIDP.ResultsA randomized double‐blind trial was undertaken in 117 CIDP patients who received IGIV‐C or placebo every 3 weeks for up to 24 weeks. Grip strength and inflammatory neuropathy cause and treatment (INCAT) disability scores were assessed at each visit, and the responsiveness of each scale was compared. A minimum clinically important difference cut‐off value for grip strength (>8 kPa) and INCAT score (>1 point) was applied to assess the proportion of responders to IGIV‐C versus placebo. This analysis showed that grip strength demonstrated significant improvement earlier (as early as day 16) than the INCAT disability scale in patients receiving IGIV‐C compared with placebo. A significantly higher proportion of improvers were seen in the IGIV‐C group (37.5%–50.9%) than in the placebo group (21.1%–25.9%) for grip strength at day 16, week 3, week 6 and the end of the first period. Also, grip strength showed within the first 6 weeks in the placebo group significantly more patients with a clinically meaningful deterioration (>8 kPa), compared with the INCAT (>1‐point deterioration) findings.ConclusionsGrip strength can be considered a sensitive tool for assessing clinically relevant changes in patients with CIDP. Its use in daily practice is suggested.
Effect of cholesterol removal on the granulation behaviour of low‐cholesterol ghee
Authors: Meghwal Karuna , Sharma Vivek , Lal Darshan , Arora Sumit 
Published: August 2012

Grain formation is one of the critical attributes affecting consumer acceptability of ghee. It was observed that both control ghee and low‐cholesterol ghee had grains of 0.236 ± 0.006 and 0.250 ± 0.002 mm size after incubation at 29 °C for 24 h, respectively. The maximum grain yield was 63 ± 2.60% and 68 ± 1.15% at 26 °C in control and low‐cholesterol ghee, respectively. Ghee grains in both the cases were stable over a temperature range of 25° to 36 °C. Time taken by both the samples for onset of nucleation was 50 min. The study revealed that cholesterol removal did not affect the crystallisation behaviour.
Effect of lactose on cross‐linking of milk proteins during heat treatments
Authors: Al‐Saadi Jasim M S , Easa Azhar Mat , Deeth Hilton C 
Published: August 2012

The major types of nondisulphide cross‐linking which cause milk protein aggregation were investigated in milk, with and without lactose, heated at 95 °C for up to 8 h. Compared with the milk containing no lactose, the milk containing lactose showed a smaller increase in pH, a larger increase in pH 4.6 soluble nitrogen, much smaller increase in lysinoalanine (LAL) and a much higher percentage of cross‐linked proteins. It was concluded that cross‐linking in milk products containing lactose occurs mainly via Maillard reaction products, and in milk products with no lactose, it occurs mainly via isopeptide linkages such as in LAL.
Calretinin interacts with huntingtin and reduces mutant huntingtin‐caused cytotoxicity
Authors: Dong Gaofeng , Gross Kylie , Qiao Fangfang , Ferguson Justine , Callegari Eduardo A. , Rezvani Khosrow , Zhang Dong , Gloeckner Christian J. , Ueffing Marius , Wang Hongmin 
Published: August 2012

AbstractHuntington's disease (HD) is a devastating neurodegenerative disorder caused by an expansion of CAG trinucleotide repeats encoding for polyglutamine (polyQ) in the huntingtin (Htt) gene. Despite considerable effort, the mechanisms underlying the toxicity of the mutated Htt protein remains largely uncertain. To identify novel therapeutic targets, we recently employed the approach of tandem affinity purification and discovered that calretinin (Cr), a member of the EF‐hand family of calcium‐binding proteins, is preferentially associated with mHtt, although it also interacts with wild‐type Htt. These observations were supported by coimmunoprecipitation and by colocalization of Cr with mHtt in neuronal cultures. Over‐ expression of Cr reduced mHtt‐caused cytotoxicity in both non‐neuronal and neuronal cell models of HD, whereas knockdown of Cr expression in the cells enhanced mHtt‐caused neuronal cell death. In addition, over‐expression of Cr was also associated with reduction of intracellular free calcium and activation of Akt. These results suggest that Cr may be a potential therapeutic target for treatment of HD.
Swedish nurses’ perception of nursing research and its implementation in clinical practice: a focus group study
Authors: Bohman Doris M. , Ericsson Terese , Borglin Gunilla 
Published: August 2012

Background:  Nowadays, nursing research is seen as an integral part of professional nursing although implementing knowledge derived from nursing research into the practice setting is still problematic. Current research, conducted mainly with a descriptive quantitative design, highlights the struggle experienced by Registered Nurses (RNs) to use and implement research findings in clinical practice. Therefore, the aim of this naturalistic inquiry was to explore nurses’ perception of nursing research and its implementation in a clinical context.Method and sample:  A qualitative approach was chosen, and four focus group discussions were conducted. The groups comprised a total of 16 RNs (three men and 13 women) working in a secondary care setting. The transcribed texts were analysed, inspired by Burnard’s description of content analysis.Findings:  The texts were interpreted as representing three predominant themes: scholastic, individual and contextual influences highlighted as influential components impacting on the RNs’ views on research and its implementation as well as on their readiness to accept and support it. However, the most influential aspect permeating our themes was their educational background – the type of qualification they held. In general, the RNs with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing viewed research and the implementation of knowledge in practice more favourably than those RNs with a diploma.Conclusion:  Our findings, although based on a small qualitative study, are congruent with others, indicating that further research is warranted concerning the impact of education on RNs’ views of nursing research and its implementation. Hence, it might well be that the RNs’ educational point of departure needs to be stressed more than what so far have been anticipated. In the meanwhile, it is possible that a number of strategies could be tested to promote a more favourable view in these issues and where the nursing education has the possibility to influence this endeavour.
Sensitive detection of the c‐KITc.1430G>T mutation by mutant‐specific polymerase chain reaction in feline mast cell tumours
Authors: Takanosu M. , Sato M. , Kagawa Y. 
Published: August 2012

AbstractHere, we describe the establishment of mutant‐specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for detection of a c‐KIT c.1430G>T mutation in feline mast cell tumours. Several mutations in feline c‐KIT have been identified, with the c.1430G>T mutation accounting for a significant portion of feline mast cell tumour mutations. The c.1430G>T mutation in c‐KIT exon 9 was detected in 15.7% (11 of 70) of samples by mutant‐specific PCR but in only 7.1% (5 of 70) by PCR–restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) in the genomic DNA isolated from 70 formalin‐fixed paraffin‐embedded sections or cells collected by fine needle aspiration. Mutant‐specific PCR showed remarkably higher detection rate than did PCR–RFLP. DNA sequence analysis did not always yield identical results to those of mutant‐specific PCR, suggesting heterogeneity of tumour cells. Mutant‐specific PCR is a valid and efficient screening tool for detection of the c‐KIT c.1430G>T point mutation in feline mast cell tumours compared with PCR–RFLP and sequencing analysis.
Quantifying Loss of Acoustic Communication Space for Right Whales in and around a U.S. National Marine Sanctuary
Authors: Hatch Leila T. , Clark Christopher W. , Van Parijs Sofie M. , Frankel Adam S. , Ponirakis Dimitri W. 
Published: August 2012

AbstractThe effects of chronic exposure to increasing levels of human‐induced underwater noise on marine animal populations reliant on sound for communication are poorly understood. We sought to further develop methods of quantifying the effects of communication masking associated with human‐induced sound on contact‐calling North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) in an ecologically relevant area (∼10,000 km2) and time period (peak feeding time). We used an array of temporary, bottom‐mounted, autonomous acoustic recorders in the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary to monitor ambient noise levels, measure levels of sound associated with vessels, and detect and locate calling whales. We related wind speed, as recorded by regional oceanographic buoys, to ambient noise levels. We used vessel‐tracking data from the Automatic Identification System to quantify acoustic signatures of large commercial vessels. On the basis of these integrated sound fields, median signal excess (the difference between the signal‐to‐noise ratio and the assumed recognition differential) for contact‐calling right whales was negative (−1 dB) under current ambient noise levels and was further reduced (−2 dB) by the addition of noise from ships. Compared with potential communication space available under historically lower noise conditions, calling right whales may have lost, on average, 63–67% of their communication space. One or more of the 89 calling whales in the study area was exposed to noise levels ≥120 dB re 1 μPa by ships for 20% of the month, and a maximum of 11 whales were exposed to noise at or above this level during a single 10‐min period. These results highlight the limitations of exposure‐threshold (i.e., dose‐response) metrics for assessing chronic anthropogenic noise effects on communication opportunities. Our methods can be used to integrate chronic and wide‐ranging noise effects in emerging ocean‐planning forums that seek to improve management of cumulative effects of noise on marine species and their habitats.Cuantificación de la Pérdida de Espacio de Comunicación Acústica para Ballenas Francas Dentro y Alrededor de un Santuario Marino Nacional en E. U. A.
Decision‐Making Triggers in Adaptive Management
Authors: Nie Martin A. , Schultz Courtney A. 
Published: August 2012

AbstractWe analyzed whether decision‐making triggers increase accountability of adaptive‐management plans. Triggers are prenegotiated commitments in an adaptive‐management plan that specify what actions are to be taken and when on the basis of information obtained from monitoring. Triggers improve certainty that particular actions will be taken by agencies in the future. We conducted an in‐depth, qualitative review of the political and legal contexts of adaptive management and its application by U.S. federal agencies. Agencies must satisfy the judiciary that adaptive‐management plans meet substantive legal standards and comply with the U.S. National Environmental Policy Act. We examined 3 cases in which triggers were used in adaptive‐management plans: salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) in the Columbia River, oil and gas development by the Bureau of Land Management, and a habitat conservation plan under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. In all the cases, key aspects of adaptive management, including controls and preidentified feedback loops, were not incorporated in the plans. Monitoring and triggered mitigation actions were limited in their enforceability, which was contingent on several factors, including which laws applied in each case and the degree of specificity in how triggers were written into plans. Other controversial aspects of these plans revolved around who designed, conducted, interpreted, and funded monitoring programs. Additional contentious issues were the level of precaution associated with trigger mechanisms and the definition of ecological baselines used as points of comparison. Despite these challenges, triggers can be used to increase accountability, by predefining points at which an adaptive management plan will be revisited and reevaluated, and thus improve the application of adaptive management in its complicated political and legal context.Detonadores de la Toma de Decisiones en el Manejo Adaptativo
Qualitative Interviews with Adolescents about “Friends‐with‐Benefits” Relationships
Authors: Erlandsson Kerstin , Jinghede Nordvall Cecilia , Öhman Anna , Häggström‐Nordin Elisabet 
Published: August 2012

AbstractObjectiveTo describe the thoughts, reflections, and experiences of friends‐with‐benefits relationships among a group of Swedish adolescents.Design and SampleA qualitative study with an explorative and descriptive design. Eight adolescents, aged 16–18, were interviewed.MeasuresIndividual in‐depth interviews were undertaken. Data were analyzed using latent content analysis.ResultsThe informants involved themselves in Friends‐with‐benefits (FWB) relationships to find physical and psychological intimacy without any expectations or demands. FWB relationships were perceived to have more advantages when the partner was a close friend with whom an informant felt comfortable. There was ambivalence about the legitimacy of romantic feelings in an FWB relationship, although it was quite common. Sexual concurrency was common and often accepted. Sexual risk‐taking behavior involving the use of alcohol and a lack of contraception was considered common in FWB relationships. Informants requested more education and support as regards their sexual behavior.ConclusionsFWB relationships were often initiated to find physical and psychological intimacy with no expectations or demands. Advantages such as sexual concurrency and no demands were central. A deeper understanding of how adolescents think and reason about sexuality and relationships can make a difference when working to improve young people's sexual and reproductive health.
African American Adolescent Males Living With Obesity
Authors: Ashcraft Pamela F. 
Published: August 2012

AbstractObjectivesThe objective was to explore, through the concepts of self‐perception and meaning, the lived experience of obesity in African American males between the ages of 13–17 years.Design and SampleHermeneutic phenomenological design was used to guide the study. Thirteen inner‐city African American males were enrolled. All participants had a documented body mass index of >95th percentile and were actively receiving treatment at a medical obesity clinic.MeasuresQualitative data were collected using in‐depth semi‐structured interviews.ResultsSelf‐perception and meaning are interrelated and important factors in understanding obesity uniquely from the adolescents view. If individuals do not understand that they are obese then they are unable to assign meaning to obesity within their life. Four main themes were discovered. The main themes were as follows: (1) It Don't Mean Nuthin'; (2) It's Just Me, Who I Am; (3) Something Bad Might Happen; and (4) I'm Confused and I Feel Bad.ConclusionsPatterns emerged that will allow health care workers to engage adolescents on a personal level, thereby increasing the potential for treatment outcomes consistent with weight management clinic goals. To realize successful outcomes for these adolescents, health care providers must incorporate the adolescents' understanding, knowledge, and values related to obesity in treatment planning.