bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Biodiversity changes in a shallow lake ecosystem: a multi‐proxy palaeolimnological analysis
Authors: Sayer C. , Roberts N. , Sadler J. , David C. , Wade P. M. 
Published: September 2009

SummaryBiodiversity is a key measure of environmental quality in lake ecosystems. Lake biodiversity can be assessed using modern survey data, but typically these data only provide a ‘snap‐shot’ measure and in most cases it is not possible to reconstruct temporal trends in biodiversity, so that human impacts can be detected. Palaeoecological techniques offer an alternative means of identifying changes in biodiversity over the period of historical records and far beyond, but there are problems associated with this approach. This is because only a select set of organisms leave a trace in the sediment record such that it is not usually possible to make reliable assessments of diversity changes within an entire taxonomic order (e.g. the algae). Moreover these organisms are typically from the lower levels of the trophic hierarchy (i.e. plants and insects).The problems of identifying changes in biodiversity from the palaeolimnological record are addressed with reference to Groby Pool, a shallow, eutrophic, medieval lake in the English Midlands, which has been subjected to eutrophication over the last 150 years. 210Pb and 137Cs‐dated sediment cores have been used to estimate short‐term alterations in the composition and diversity of three groups of indicators, representing different levels in the trophic cascade, namely diatoms, aquatic pollen and chironomids. By exploring relationships, both between these indicators and with archival macrophyte records, an assessment is made of eutrophication‐related changes in overall habitat diversity at the ecosystem level. These data suggest that the lake has undergone considerable nutrient enrichment, resulting in the loss of a diverse, mesotrophic macrophyte flora from at least the turn of the century onwards and its replacement by a few highly competitive species tolerant of high nutrient concentrations. Reductions in macrophyte diversity seem to be reflected palaeoecologically by a decline in the diversity of fossil chironomid assemblages, related to the breakdown of particular host‐plant relationships amongst the phytophagic species. However, diatom assemblages generally exhibit the opposite trend, which may be related to increases in macrophyte cover and increasing opportunities for the colonization of diverse epiphyte communities. The different fossil indicators have different limitations and merits, and for this reason a ‘multi‐proxy’ approach is essential if meaningful inferences are to be made of changes in lake biodiversity using palaeoecological data.
Genetic evaluation of marine biogeographical barriers: perspectives from two widespread Indo‐Pacific snappers (Lutjanus kasmira and Lutjanus fulvus)
Authors: Gaither Michelle R. , Toonen Robert J. , Robertson D. Ross , Planes Serge , Bowen Brian W. 
Published: September 2009

AbstractAim  In the Indo‐Pacific, the mass of islands of the Indonesian archipelago constitute a major biogeographical barrier (the Indo‐Pacific Barrier, IPB) separating the Pacific and Indian oceans. Evidence for other, more localized barriers include high rates of endemism at the Marquesas and other isolated peripheral islands in the Pacific. Here we use mitochondrial‐sequence comparisons to evaluate the efficacy of biogeographical barriers on populations of the snappers Lutjanus kasmira and Lutjanus fulvus across their natural ranges.Location  Pacific and Indian oceans.Methods  Mitochondrial cytochrome b sequence data were obtained from 370 individuals of L. kasmira and 203 individuals of L. fulvus collected from across each species’ range. Allele frequency data for two nuclear introns were collected from L. kasmira. Phylogenetic and population‐level analyses were used to determine patterns of population structure in these species and to identify barriers to dispersal.Results  Lutjanus kasmira lacks genetic structure across the IPB and throughout 12,000 km of its central Indo‐Pacific range. In contrast, L. fulvus demonstrates high levels of population structure at all geographical scales. In both species, highly significant population structure results primarily from the phylogenetic distinctiveness of their Marquesas Islands populations (L. kasmira, d = 0.50–0.53%; L. fulvus, d = 0.87–1.50%). Coalescence analyses of the L. kasmira data indicate that populations at opposite ends of its range (western Indian Ocean and the Marquesas) are the oldest. Coalescence analyses for L. fulvus are less robust but also indicate colonization from the Indian to the Pacific Ocean.Main conclusions  The IPB does not act as a biogeographical barrier to L. kasmira, and, in L. fulvus, its effects are no stronger than isolating mechanisms elsewhere. Both species demonstrate a strong genetic break at the Marquesas. Population divergence and high endemism in that archipelago may be a product of geographical isolation enhanced by oceanographic currents that limit gene flow to and from those islands, and adaptation to unusual ecological conditions. Lutjanus kasmira shows evidence of Pleistocene population expansion throughout the Indo‐central Pacific that originated in the western Indian Ocean rather than the Marquesas, further demonstrating a strong barrier at the latter location.
Choice vs. voice? PPI policies and the re‐positioning of the state in England and Wales
Authors: Hughes David , Mullen Caroline , Vincent‐Jones Peter 
Published: September 2009

AbstractContext and Thesis Changing patient and public involvement (PPI) policies in England and Wales are analysed against the background of wider National Health Service (NHS) reforms and regulatory frameworks. We argue that the growing divergence of health policies is accompanied by a re‐positioning of the state vis‐à‐vis PPI, characterized by different mixes of centralized and decentralized regulatory instruments.Method Analysis of legislation and official documents, and interviews with policy makers.Findings In England, continued hierarchical control is combined with the delegation of responsibilities for the oversight and organization of PPI to external institutions such as theCare Quality Commissionand local involvement networks, in support of the government’s policy agenda of increasing marketization. In Wales, which has rejected market reforms and economic regulation, decentralization is occurring through the use of mixed regulatory approaches and networks suited to the small‐country governance model, and seeks to benefit from the close proximity of central and local actors by creating new forms of engagement while maintaining central steering of service planning. Whereas English PPI policies have emerged in tandem with a pluralistic supply‐side market and combine new institutional arrangements for patient ‘choice’ with other forms of involvement, the Welsh policies focus on ‘voice’ within a largely publicly‐delivered service.Discussion While the English reforms draw on theories of economic regulation and the experience of independent regulation in the utilities sector, the Welsh model of local service integration has been more influenced by reforms in local government. Such transfers of governance instruments from other public service sectors to the NHS may be problematic.
Involving the public through participatory visual research methods
Authors: Lorenz Laura S. , Kolb Bettina 
Published: September 2009

AbstractObjectives  To show how providing cameras to patients and community residents can be effective at involving the public in generating understanding of consumer, community, and health system problems and strengths.Background  Health‐care institutions and systems may seek to include consumer perspectives on health and health care yet be challenged to involve the most vulnerable sectors, be they persons with disabilities or persons with low socio‐economic status living in societies where a top‐down approach to policy is the norm.Methods  Drawing on study examples using photo‐elicitation and photovoice in Morocco and the United States, the authors explore issues of planning, data analysis, ethical concerns and action related to using participatory visual methods in different cultural and political contexts.Results  Visual data generated by consumers can be surprising and can identify health system problems and strengths omitted from data gathered using other means. Statistical data may convince policy makers of the need to address a problem. Participant visual data may in turn encourage policy maker attention and action.Conclusion  Health system decision making may be improved by having a broader range of data available. Participant‐generated visual data may support data gathered using traditional methods, or provide a reality check when compared with data generated by organizations, researchers and policy makers. The two study examples model innovative ways to surface health and health‐care issues as they relate to consumers’ real lives and engage vulnerable groups in systems change, even in contexts where expressing opinions might be seen as a risky thing to do.
User involvement in the construction of a mental health charter: an exercise in communicative rationality?
Authors: Hodge Suzanne M. 
Published: September 2009

AbstractBackground  This paper uses Jürgen Habermas’s Theory of Communicative Action as a lens through which to examine the development of a local mental health charter.Objective  To assess whether the Charter represents the product of a communicatively rational process.Research design and setting  The paper is based on an analysis of the text of the Charter, and on documentation relating to its development, including notes of discussion groups used to identify its themes.Findings  An analysis of the notes of the discussion groups against the text of the Charter shows that the Charter’s themes are based broadly on the views generated in the discussion groups. However, they also draw on norms derived from wider discourses not reflected in the discussion groups, and exclude other specific local issues. The strength of feeling expressed in the discussion groups is also toned down in the language of the Charter.Discussion  The development of the Charter was based on a participatory process that can be said to have contained elements of both communicative and strategic rationality. The strategic rationality involved in translating service users’ views into language that would be acceptable to those working in the system can be seen as necessary for the Charter to succeed in bringing about change. In drawing also on communicatively generated norms from the wider public sphere the Charter can be seen as reflecting a form of generalized communicative rationality.Conclusion  The Charter represents a ‘sluice’ by which communicative rationality is drawn into the mental health system.
Deliberation before determination: the definition and evaluation of good decision making
Authors: Elwyn Glyn , Miron‐Shatz Talya 
Published: September 2009

AbstractObjectives In this article, we examine definitions of suggested approaches to measure the concept of good decisions, highlight the ways in which they converge, and explain why we have concerns about their emphasis onpost‐hocestimations and post‐decisional outcomes, their prescriptive concept of knowledge, and their lack of distinction between the process of deliberation, and the act of decision determination.Background There has been a steady trend to involve patients in decision making tasks in clinical practice, part of a shift away from paternalism towards the concept of informed choice. An increased understanding of the uncertainties that exist in medicine, arising from a weak evidence base and, in addition, the stochastic nature of outcomes at the individual level, have contributed to shifting the responsibility for decision making from physicians to patients. This led to increasing use of decision support and communication methods, with the ultimate aim of improving decision making by patients. Interest has therefore developed in attempting to define good decision making and in the development of measurement approaches.Method We pose and reflect whether decisions can be judged good or not, and, if so, how this goodness might be evaluated.Results We hypothesize that decisions cannot be measured by reference to their outcomes and offer an alternative means of assessment, which emphasizes the deliberation process rather than the decision’s end results. We propose decision making comprises a pre‐decisional process and an act of decision determination and consider how this model of decision making serves to develop a new approach to evaluating what constitutes a good decision making process. We proceed to offer an alternative, which parses decisions into the pre‐decisional deliberation process, the act of determination and post‐decisional outcomes.Discussion Evaluating the deliberation process, we propose, should comprise of a subjective sufficiency of knowledge, as well as emotional processing and affective forecasting of the alternatives. This should form the basis for a good act of determination.
Current management of allergic rhinitis in children
Authors: Georgalas Christos , Terreehorst Ingrid , Fokkens Wytske 
Published: September 2009

Georgalas C, Terreehorst I, Fokkens W. Current management of allergic rhinitis in children. Pediatr Allergy Immunol 2010: 21: e119–e126. © 2009 John Wiley & Sons A/SOver the last 20 years, there has been significant progress in our understanding of the pathophysiology of allergic rhinitis, including the discovery of new inflammatory mediators, the link between asthma and allergic rhinitis (‘one airway–one disease’ concept) and the introduction of novel therapeutic modalities. These new insights have been documented in the Allergic Rhinitis and its Impact on Asthma guidelines and have led to the creation of evidence‐based management algorithms. We now understand the importance of a common strategy for treating allergic inflammation of the upper and lower airway as a way of improving outcome, reducing hospital admissions, providing better quality of life and perhaps, altering the natural course of the ‘allergic march’. A therapeutic ladder is suggested: Whereas for mild intermittent allergic rhinitis, allergen avoidance should be the first line of treatment with subsequent addition of a second generation topical or oral antihistamine, nasal saline or cromoglycate, in cases of moderate to severe allergic rhinitis, a nasal steroid is the treatment of choice. If a patient with moderate/severe persistent allergic rhinitis fails to improve after 4 wk of adequate treatment, patient compliance or the diagnosis must be re‐assessed. In such cases, when the diagnosis is in doubt, a careful clinical examination including nasal endoscopy is mandatory to assess for other potential causes of nasal obstruction. In children who suffer from concomitant allergic rhinitis and asthma, a management algorithm that addresses concurrently asthma and allergic rhinitis is vital, both from a theoretical and from a practical point of view: Parents overwhelmingly prefer a single strategy for the treatment of their child’s upper and lower airway symptoms; however, the overall quality of life in children with severe asthma can be significantly improved if rhinitis is adequately addressed.
Assessment of the upper limb in acute stroke: The validity of hierarchal scoring for the Motor Assessment Scale
Authors: Pickering Rebekah L. , Hubbard Isobel J. , Baker Kerry G. , Parsons Mark W. 
Published: September 2009

Background/aim:  Stroke is the greatest contributor to disability in Australian adults and much of this disability results from a stroke‐affected upper limb. This study aimed to determine the validity of hierarchal scoring for the upper limb subscale of the Motor Assessment Scale (UL‐MAS) in acute stroke using Rasch analysis.Method:  This study applied Rasch analysis to 40 UL‐MAS assessment results across 25 subjects to determine the validity of the hierarchy of the three upper limb subsets: upper arm function (six), hand movements (seven) and advanced hand activities (eight). Rasch analysis examines the relationship between ‘item difficulty’ and ‘person ability’ and produces an output which represents the difficulty of each item in relation to each other.Results:  As hypothesised, the hierarchy was upheld within subset 6. In subset 7, the hierarchy was not upheld. Results indicated that item 3 was the least difficult, followed by items 1, 4, 2, 5 and 6 in order of increasing difficulty. In subset 8 the hierarchy was not upheld. Results indicated that item 1 was the least difficult, followed by item 6, then 2 and 5 of equal value and then 3 and 4 of equal value.Conclusions:  The hierarchal scoring is not supported for subsets 7 and 8 and future research is required to explore the validity of alternate scoring methods. At present, the authors recommend that the UL‐MAS should be scored non‐hierarchally, meaning that every item within the subsets should be scored regardless of its place within the hierarchy (UL‐MAS‐NH).
It’s about time: the temporal dynamics of phenotypic selection in the wild
Authors: Siepielski Adam M. , DiBattista Joseph D. , Carlson Stephanie M. 
Published: September 2009

AbstractSelection is a central process in nature. Although our understanding of the strength and form of selection has increased, a general understanding of the temporal dynamics of selection in nature is lacking. Here, we assembled a database of temporal replicates of selection from studies of wild populations to synthesize what we do (and do not) know about the temporal dynamics of selection. Our database contains 5519 estimates of selection from 89 studies, including estimates of both direct and indirect selection as well as linear and nonlinear selection. Morphological traits and studies focused on vertebrates were well‐represented, with other traits and taxonomic groups less well‐represented. Overall, three major features characterize the temporal dynamics of selection. First, the strength of selection often varies considerably from year to year, although random sampling error of selection coefficients may impose bias in estimates of the magnitude of such variation. Second, changes in the direction of selection are frequent. Third, changes in the form of selection are likely common, but harder to quantify. Although few studies have identified causal mechanisms underlying temporal variation in the strength, direction and form of selection, variation in environmental conditions driven by climatic fluctuations appear to be common and important.
Daytime profile of the intraocular pressure and tear production in normal dog
Authors: Giannetto Claudia , Piccione Giuseppe , Giudice Elisabetta 
Published: September 2009

AbstractObjective To evaluate the circadian rhythms of intraocular pressure (IOP) and tear production in dog exposed to a natural photoperiod.Animals studied We used 12 clinically healthy Beagles dog housed under natural photoperiod at indoor temperature and humidity.Procedure Intraocular pressure and Schirmer tear test (STT) I were measured every 4 h over a 48‐h period in both eyes in each animal. Statistical analysis of the data was performed by one‐way repeated‐measuresanova, Student’st‐test, and single cosinor method.Results On each day, there was a highly significant effect of time on both parameters. A statistically significant difference of STT I values was observed comparing left and right eyes (P < 0.0001). Robust daily rhythms were observed for both parameters, IOP values showed diurnal acrophase (left eye: 09:33 ± 00:50 h; right eye: 09:25 ± 00:22 h), while STT I values showed nocturnal acrophase (left eye: 20:27 ± 00:46 h; right eye: 20:00 ± 00:05 h).Conclusion This study has demonstrated circadian rhythms in both IOP and STT I.
Iris abscesses with and without intralenticular fungal invasion in the horse
Authors: Brooks Dennis E. , Taylor David P. , Plummer Caryn E. , Quinn Rick , Kallberg Maria E. , Sheppard Barbara , Barrie Kathleen P. , Blackwood Sarah E. , Nunnery Catherine M. , Ben‐Shlomo Gil , Clark Carol J. , Woodworth Avery A. 
Published: September 2009

AbstractObjective To describe clinical and histologic findings in horses with iris abscesses.Design Retrospective medical records study.Animals studied Medical records of horses that had iris abscesses at the University of Florida Veterinary Medical Center, Peterson & Smith Equine Hospital, and Veterinary Eye Specialists of London, Ontario, from 2005 to 2008 were reviewed.Procedure Data collected from the medical records included signalment, clinical and histologic descriptions of ocular lesions, therapy, complications, and visual outcomes.Results The medical records of two Quarterhorses, one pony, one warmblood, one Westphalian, and one Arab horse with unilateral iris abscesses were identified. Mild‐to‐severe clinical signs of iridocyclitis were present in all six eyes with iris abscesses. The eyes of two horses with iris abscesses were also associated with deep stromal abscesses and responded to medical therapy alone in one case, and medical therapy and corneal transplantation in the other. Iris abscesses in two horses were also associated with intralenticular invasion due to aCladosporiumand aFusarium‐type fungus respectively, and resulted in enucleations. Two horses with iris abscesses and no apparent lens involvement resolved with medical therapy in one case and surgical removal of the iris abscess and medical therapy in the other.Conclusions This is the first clinical report of iris abscesses in the horse, and the first histologic report of fungal invasion of the horse lens.
Bilateral typical complete colobomas in a donkey: Retinographic and fluorangiographic description
Authors: Martín‐Suárez Eva María , Galán Alba , Gallardo Galero José María , Molleda Jose María 
Published: September 2009

AbstractAn 18‐year‐old male donkey was referred with a history of blindness. On ocular examination a complete bilateral typical colobomatous defect involving iris, ciliary body, lens, choroid, retina and optic nerve was observed. An optic pit was presented at the temporal side of the right optic head. Ophthalmoscopic and fluorangiographic characteristics are described.
α‐Luminol prevents decreases in glutamate, glutathione, and glutamine synthetase in the retinas of glaucomatous DBA/2J mice
Authors: Gionfriddo Juliet R. , Freeman Kate S. , Groth Allyson , Scofield Virginia L. , Alyahya Khaleel , Madl James E. 
Published: September 2009

AbstractObjective  To test the hypothesis that in DBA/2J mice, oxidative stress decreases glutamine synthetase (GS) levels resulting in a loss of neuronal glutamate and that the antioxidant α‐luminol (GVT®) decreases this stress and glutamate loss in some types of glaucoma.Animals  DBA/2J mice were separated into two groups, of which one was not treated, and the other treated with GVT in the drinking water. At 7 months of age, retinas were examined from five untreated DBA/2J mice, seven GVT‐treated mice, and five C57BL/6 mice (negative controls).Methods  Serial 0.5 μm plastic sections were immunogold stained for glutamate, GS, and total glutathione, followed by image analysis for staining patterns and density.Results  Focal decreases in glutamate immunostaining were common in the inner nuclear layer (INL) of DBA/2J retinas, but not in C57BL/6 or GVT‐treated DBA/2J retinas. Decreases in glutathione and GS immunostaining were found in DBA/2J retinal regions where neuronal glutamate immunostaining was reduced. Retinas from GVT‐treated DBA/2J had no significant decreases in INL levels of glutamate, glutathione, or GS.Conclusions  Retinas of dogs with primary glaucoma are reported to have focal depletion of neuronal glutamate. In DBA/2J mice, similar changes occur prior to the development of clinical disease. In these focal glutamate‐depleted regions, levels of glutathione and GS are also reduced, consistent with the hypothesis that oxidative stress contributes to retinal changes in glaucoma. The ability of GVT, an antioxidant, to inhibit retinal abnormalities in DBA/2J mice provides further support for this hypothesis.