bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The lived body and the perioperative period in replacement surgery: older people’s experiences
Authors: Gustafsson Birgitta Åkesdotter , Ponzer Sari , Heikkilä Kristiina , Ekman Sirkka‐Liisa 
Published: September 2007

AbstractTitle.  The lived body and the perioperative period in replacement surgery: older people’s experiences Aim.  This paper is a report of a study to explore older people’s experiences of their lived bodies during the perioperative period for a hip or knee replacement.Background.  Replacement surgery of a major joint for older people suffering from osteoarthritis is an established treatment in developed countries. Scientific knowledge is available on replacement surgery from several perspectives, but not about older people’s experiences of the entire perioperative period of a replacement procedure.Method.  A qualitative longitudinal study was conducted between 2002 and 2004. Audiotaped interviews were carried out with 12 older people, on five different occasions during the perioperative period. The data were analysed using latent qualitative content analysis.Findings.  The perioperative period of a hip or knee replacement can be regarded as a process of transition which includes six critical phases. The transition was supported with the dream of becoming as able‐bodied as previously in life, by having surgery. In addition, our findings revealed that the care recipients lacked knowledge about the surgical intervention as a whole.Conclusion.  The meaning of having joint replacement surgery was to overcome the confinement of living with a painful and unreliable body. Furthermore, care recipients struggled to regain a body in charge and control of their lives, yet from a new starting point. The care recipients were not prepared for the transitional changes through the perioperative period. Further research is needed to develop an appropriate programme for patient care during the perioperative period, in order to facilitate the process of transition.
Assessment of dependency levels of older people in the community and measurement of nursing workload
Authors: Byrne Gobnait , Brady Anne‐Marie , Horan Paul , Macgregor Catriona , Begley Cecily 
Published: September 2007

AbstractTitle.  Assessment of dependency levels of older people in the community and measurement of nursing workload Aim.  This paper is a report of a study to explore the relationship between the dependency levels of older people who are part of the community nurse’s caseload and the volume and nature of nursing input required.Background.  International healthcare policy has consistently emphasized the reorientation of health services from hospital to community care. It is necessary to determine ways to use nursing resources appropriately to meet service needs of an increasing older population.Method.  This quantitative study was conducted in one region of Ireland, which included a city and sparsely populated rural areas. Over a 4‐week period in 2004, a volunteer sample of 44 nurses assessed all older people (1482) on their community caseload using the Community Client Need Classification System. In addition, participants recorded the amount of care time spent with each individual client by all members of the community nursing team.Findings.  The vast majority of clients were seen in their own homes (85%, n = 1259). On the 5‐point Community Client Need Classification System, the majority (39%, n = 571) were assessed at level 2 (low level of need) and 4% (n = 61) at level 5 (high level of need). As client need level increased, the consumption of community nursing time also increased.Conclusion.  The tool was successful in discriminating between care needs levels of older people and may be useful in predicting the type and amount of human resources required by individuals who need community nursing services. Lack of information on demographic variables may limit the transferability of these findings.
Sedentary patients with venous or mixed leg ulcers: determinants of physical activity
Authors: Heinen M.M. , Evers A.W.M. , Van Uden C.J.T. , Van der Vleuten C.J.M. , Van De Kerkhof P.C.M. , Van Achterberg T. 
Published: September 2007

AbstractTitle.  Sedentary patients with venous or mixed leg ulcers: determinants of physical activity Aim. This paper is a report of a study to identify the determinants of physical activity (PA) in patients with venous leg ulcers to develop recommendations for behavioural interventions aimed at enhancing physical activity.Background. Physical activity promotes wound healing and prevents the recurrence of wounds in venous patients with leg ulcers. Many patients with leg ulcers, however, have a sedentary lifestyle.Method. A random sample of 25 patients from two clinics were interviewed in 2003 using a combination of prestructured and open‐ended questions. All these patients were being treated at an outpatient dermatology clinic and had a leg ulcer with venous or mixed aetiology at the time of the interview or in the month prior to the interview.Findings. Only nine of the 25 patients (36%) reported sufficient levels of moderate strenuous physical activity, defined as 30 minutes a day on at least 5 days a week. The results show limited knowledge about the relationship between physical activity and leg ulceration, and low self‐efficacy for increasing physical activity. In addition, multi‐morbidity, pain and social support were identified as main determinants of physical activity.Conclusion. Suggestions for improving physical activity levels include influencing knowledge, beliefs and self‐efficacy. Patient’s individual physical limitations, pain, adequate footwear and social support should be taken into account. Programmes offered by specialized dermatology nurses to stimulate physical activity might fulfil patient needs and help enhance physical activity levels.
A secondary care nursing perspective on medication administration safety
Authors: McBride‐Henry Karen , Foureur Maralyn 
Published: September 2007

AbstractTitle.  A secondary care nursing perspective on medication administration safety Aim.  This paper is a report of a study to explore how nurses in a secondary care environment understand medication administration safety and the factors that contribute to, or undermine, safe practice during this process.Background.  Medication safety is an important issue in which acute care nurses are actively involved on a daily basis. International research highlights that, despite attempts to maintain patient safety during this process, many errors are made.Method.  Data were collected in 2005 using three focus groups of nurses that formed part of a larger study examining organizational safety and medication administration from a nursing perspective. A narrative approach was employed to analyse the transcripts.Findings.  Participants had good understandings of organizational culture in relation to medication safety and recognized the importance of effective multi‐disciplinary teams in maintaining a safe environment for patients. Despite this, they acknowledged that not all systems work well, and offered a variety of ways to improve current medication practices.Conclusion.  These findings highlight the meaningful contribution nurses can make to patient safety and emphasize the importance of including the nursing voice in any quality improvement initiatives. Researchers must seek nurses’ opinions on safe medication practice in order that medication safety can be improved. Local contexts may influence medication safety in ways that only nurses can identify. When addressing the issue of medication safety, it is important to focus nursing research on both the macro and the micro contexts.
Development and evaluation of a childbirth education programme for Malawian women
Authors: Malata Address , Hauck Yvonne , Monterosso Leanne , McCaul Kieran 
Published: September 2007

AbstractTitle.  Development and evaluation of a childbirth education programme for Malawian women Aim.  This paper is a report of a study to develop and evaluate a childbirth educational programme for Malawian women.Background.  Providing parent education is integral to the midwife’s role. Malawian midwives face a challenge in fulfilling this role, with no existing childbirth education programme to facilitate this process.Method.  A mixed method approach was used for this three‐phase study. In Phase 1, childbirth information needs of Malawian women were determined from literature and interviews with midwives. In Phase 2, a structured childbirth education programme was developed. In Phase 3, a quasi‐experimental design using sequential sampling was conducted to evaluate the education programme. Participants were pregnant women who attended antenatal clinics in 2002, with 104 in the control group and 105 in the intervention group. Changes in childbirth knowledge were determined over a 6‐week period.Findings.  The childbirth education programme included information, teaching strategies and a schedule for implementation for content relevant to the antenatal, labour and birth and postnatal time periods. Results revealed no significant difference in knowledge in the control group between pretest and post‐test scores. For the intervention group, however, an overall significant increase in knowledge across all time periods was demonstrated (P < 0·01).Conclusion.  A childbirth education programme, developed for the Malawian context, was associated with important increases in maternal knowledge about antenatal, labour and birth and postnatal topics. The findings have implications for midwives in other developing countries and offer an example of a midwifery‐led initiative to provide formal childbirth education to these vulnerable women.
The influence of climate on the spatial patterning of Neotropical plant families
Authors: Punyasena Surangi W. , Eshel Gidon , McElwain Jennifer C. 
Published: September 2007

AbstractAim  Climate is recognized for the significant role it plays in the global distribution of plant species diversity. We test the extent to which two aspects of climate, namely temperature and precipitation, explain the spatial distribution of high taxonomic groupings (plant families) at a regional spatial resolution (the Neotropics). Our goal is to provide a quantitative and comparative framework for identifying the local effects of climate on the familial composition of tropical forests by identifying the influence of climate on the number of individuals and the number of species within a given family.Location  One hundred and forty‐four 0.1‐ha forest transect sites from the Neotropics (19.8°N–27.0°S and 40.1°W–105.1°W). Data were originally collected by A.H. Gentry.Methods  Spatial variability in the abundance (density) and species richness of 159 tropical plant families across a range of predominately lowland Neotropical landscapes were attributed to eight temperature and precipitation measures using the eigen analysis method of two‐field joint single‐value decomposition.Results  Climate significantly affects the within‐clade diversity of several ecologically important Neotropical plant families. Intrafamily abundance and richness covary with temperature in some families (e.g. Fabaceae) and with precipitation in others (e.g. Bignoniaceae, Arecaceae), with differing climatic preferences observed even among co‐occurring families. In addition, the family‐level composition of Neotropical forests, in both abundance and richness, appears to be influenced more by temperature than by precipitation. Among lowland families, only Asteraceae increased in species richness with decreasing temperature, although several families, including Melastomataceae and Rubiaceae, are more abundant at lower temperatures.Main conclusions  Although plant diversity is known to vary as a function of climate at the species level, we document clear climatic preferences even at the rank of family. Temperature plays a stronger role in governing the familial composition of tropical forests, particularly in the richness of families, than might be expected given its narrow annual and diurnal range in the tropics. Although other environmental or geographic variables that covary with temperature may be more causally linked to diversity differences than temperature itself, the results nonetheless identify the taxonomic components of tropical forest composition that may be most affected by future climatic changes.
Contrasting responses of arable spiders to the landscape matrix at different spatial scales
Authors: Schmidt Martin H. , Thies Carsten , Nentwig Wolfgang , Tscharntke Teja 
Published: September 2007

AbstractAim Animal communities can be influenced by the composition of the surrounding landscape through immigration. Depending on habitat preferences, however, the effect of the landscape matrix can be positive or negative and can vary with scale. We tested this idea with arable spiders and tried to infer dispersal distances from relationships between local density and landscape composition at different spatial scales.Location Thirty‐eight landscapes around the cities of Göttingen and Giessen, Germany.Methods Spiders were captured with pitfall traps in one field of winter wheat in each landscape. Landscape composition around the fields was characterized at 11 scales from 95 m to 3 km radius by land‐use mapping and subsequent GIS analysis. Correlation tests were performed between landscape composition and local densities or species richness.Results In both study regions, local species richness was enhanced by non‐crop habitats on a landscape scale. The overall densities of wolf spiders (Lycosidae), long‐jawed spiders (Tetragnathidae), crab spiders (Thomisidae), and dwarf sheet spiders (Hahniidae) increased significantly in landscapes with high percentages of non‐crop habitats. Out of the 40 species tested, 19 responded positively to the percentage of non‐crop habitats in the surrounding landscape, and five responded negatively. Depending on the species, the spatial scales with the highest explanatory power ranged from 95 m to 3 km radius around the study fields, potentially reflecting dispersal distances.Main conclusions Arable spider species showed contrasting responses to the landscape context with respect both to the direction and to the spatial scale of the relationship. The variation in landscape requirements among species ensures high spider densities in a wide range of situations, which contributes to ecosystem resilience. However, species richness of arable spiders depends on heterogeneous landscapes with high percentages of non‐crop habitats.
Areas of endemism and patterns of diversity for aphids of the Qinghai‐Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayas
Authors: Huang Xiao‐Lei , Lei Fu‐Min , Qiao Ge‐Xia 
Published: September 2007

AbstractAim The study aimed to identify areas of endemism for aphids in the Qinghai‐Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayas (QTPH), and to test congruence between patterns of endemism and patterns of overall species richness identified in a previous study.Location The QTPH.Methods A distribution data base of 326 endemic aphids in the QTPH was compiled. The study area was divided into a grid of 2°× 2° operative geographical units. Parsimony analysis of endemicity (PAE) was used to identify areas of endemism, and the diversity patterns of endemic species were then mapped using GIS.Results We identified 326 endemic species belonging to 138 genera within Adelgidae and 14 subfamilies of Aphididae. Five areas of endemism were found using PAE analysis: the eastern Himalayas, the western Himalayas, north‐western Yunnan, southern Tibet and the eastern QTPH. Maps of patterns of endemism identified four major centres for endemic aphids, namely the western Himalayas, the eastern Himalayas (or Sikkim‐Assam Himalayas), north‐western Hengduan Mountains and the mountains of southern Gansu Province, and three minor centres, southern Tibet, south‐eastern Tibet and the eastern Qinghai Province in the north‐eastern QTPH.Main conclusions Our study identifies major centres of aphid endemism. Furthermore, there is a noticeable congruence between patterns of endemism and patterns of species richness. The patterns of endemism were most likely influenced by the recent uplift of the QTPH.
DNA ploidy‐level variation in native and invasive populations of Lythrum salicaria at a large geographical scale
Authors: Kubátová Barbora , Trávníček Pavel , Bastlová Daša , Čurn Vladislav , Jarolímová Vlasta , Suda Jan 
Published: September 2007

AbstractAim  This study aimed to document precisely the patterns of DNA ploidy variation in the native and secondary ranges of Lythrum salicaria distribution. The hypothesis that species invasiveness had been induced by a switch in ploidy level was addressed.Location  Europe, Middle East, North America.Methods  DNA ploidy levels of 1884 progenies of 578+ plants collected at 124 localities were determined by DAPI flow cytometry.Results  Large cytotype variation (2x, 3x, 4x and 6x) was found across the native area of distribution (64 populations covering 12 European and two Middle Eastern countries). DNA hexaploids were detected for the first time, and rare DNA triploids were reliably confirmed. DNA tetraploids largely prevailed across the native range studied, while DNA diploids and DNA hexaploids were recorded only in Israel and Turkey, respectively. DNA triploid progenies occurred in one population from Hungary (together with DNA tetraploids). Sympatric growth of DNA tetraploids and DNA hexaploids was repeatedly encountered in Turkey. In contrast, cytotype uniformity was a typical feature of the invasive North American plants. Sixty populations, covering 13 states of the USA and provinces of Canada, were characterized by the presence of only DNA tetraploids.Main conclusions  Several L. salicaria cytotypes (2x, 3x, 4x, 6x) occur in the native range of distribution, with much variation concentrated in the Middle Eastern countries, whereas only DNA tetraploids appeared to occur in North America. Our data show that the invasive spread of North American populations was not triggered by differences in ploidy level. Alternative explanations should be sought.
Genetic drift vs. natural selection in a long‐term small isolated population: major histocompatibility complex class II variation in the Gulf of California endemic porpoise (Phocoena sinus)
Authors: MUNGUIA‐VEGA ADRIAN , ESQUER‐GARRIGOS YARELI , ROJAS‐BRACHO LORENZO , VAZQUEZ‐JUAREZ RICARDO , CASTRO‐PRIETO AINES , FLORES‐RAMIREZ SERGIO 
Published: September 2007

AbstractAlthough many studies confirm long‐term small isolated populations (e.g. island endemics) commonly sustain low neutral genetic variation as a result of genetic drift, it is less clear how selection on adaptive or detrimental genes interplay with random forces. We investigated sequence variation at two major histocompatibility complex (Mhc) class II loci on a porpoise endemic to the upper Gulf of California, México (Phocoena sinus, or vaquita). Its unique declining population is estimated around 500 individuals. Single‐strand conformation polymorphism analysis revealed one putative functional allele fixed at the locus DQB (n = 25). At the DRB locus, we found two presumed functional alleles (n = 29), differing by a single nonsynonymous nucleotide substitution that could increase the stability at the dimer interface of αβ‐heterodimers on heterozygous individuals. Identical trans‐specific DQB1 and DRB1 alleles were identified between P. sinus and its closest relative, the Burmeister's porpoise (Phocoena spinipinnis). Comparison with studies on four island endemic mammals suggests fixation of one allele, due to genetic drift, commonly occurs at the DQA or DQB loci (effectively neutral). Similarly, deleterious alleles of small effect are also effectively neutral and can become fixed; a high frequency of anatomical malformations on vaquita gave empirical support to this prediction. In contrast, retention of low but functional polymorphism at the DRB locus was consistent with higher selection intensity. These observations indicated natural selection could maintain (and likely also purge) some crucial alleles even in the face of strong and prolonged genetic drift and inbreeding, suggesting long‐term small populations should display low inbreeding depression. Low levels of Mhc variation warn about a high susceptibility to novel pathogens and diseases in vaquita.
Across the great divide: genetic forensics reveals misidentification of endangered cutthroat trout populations
Authors: METCALF JESSICA L. , PRITCHARD VICTORIA L. , SILVESTRI SARAH M. , JENKINS JAZZMIN B. , WOOD JOHN S. , COWLEY DAVID E. , EVANS R. PAUL , SHIOZAWA DENNIS K. , MARTIN ANDREW P. 
Published: September 2007

AbstractAccurate assessment of species identity is fundamental for conservation biology. Using molecular markers from the mitochondrial and nuclear genomes, we discovered that many putatively native populations of greenback cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii stomias) comprised another subspecies of cutthroat trout, Colorado River cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii pleuriticus). The error can be explained by the introduction of Colorado River cutthroat trout throughout the native range of greenback cutthroat trout in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by fish stocking activities. Our results suggest greenback cutthroat trout within its native range is at a higher risk of extinction than ever before despite conservation activities spanning more than two decades.
Assimilation of NAD+ precursors in Candida glabrata
Authors: Ma Biao , Pan Shih‐Jung , Zupancic Margaret L. , Cormack Brendan P. 
Published: September 2007

SummaryThe yeast pathogen Candida glabrata is a nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) auxotroph and its growth depends on the environmental supply of vitamin precursors of NAD+. C. glabrata salvage pathways defined in this article allow NAD+ to be synthesized from three compounds – nicotinic acid (NA), nicotinamide (NAM) and nicotinamide riboside (NR). NA is salvaged through a functional Preiss–Handler pathway. NAM is first converted to NA by nicotinamidase and then salvaged by the Preiss–Handler pathway. Salvage of NR in C. glabrata occurs via two routes. The first, in which NR is phosphorylated by the NR kinase Nrk1, is independent of the Preiss–Handler pathway. The second is a novel pathway in which NR is degraded by the nucleosidases Pnp1 and Urh1, with a minor role for Meu1, and ultimately converted to NAD+ via the nicotinamidase Pnc1 and the Preiss–Handler pathway. Using C. glabrata mutants whose growth depends exclusively on the external NA or NR supply, we also show that C. glabrata utilizes NR and to a lesser extent NA as NAD+ sources during disseminated infection.
Alterations in local chromatin environment are involved in silencing and activation of subtelomeric var genes in Plasmodium falciparum
Authors: Voss Till S. , Tonkin Christopher J. , Marty Allison J. , Thompson Jennifer K. , Healer Julie , Crabb Brendan S. , Cowman Alan F. 
Published: September 2007

Summary Plasmodium falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1 (PfEMP1), encoded by the var gene family, undergoes antigenic variation and plays an important role in chronic infection and severe malaria. Only a single var gene is transcribed per parasite, and epigenetic control mechanisms are fundamental in this strategy of mutually exclusive transcription. We show that subtelomeric upsB var gene promoters carried on episomes are silenced by default, and that promoter activation is sufficient to silence all other family members. However, they are active by default when placed downstream of a second active var promoter, underscoring the significance of local chromatin environment and nuclear compartmentalization in var promoter regulation. Native chromatin covering the SPE2‐repeat array in upsB promoters is resistant to nuclease digestion, and insertion of these regulatory elements into a heterologous promoter causes local alterations in nucleosomal organization and promoter repression. Our findings suggest a common logic underlying the transcriptional control of all var genes, and have important implications for our understanding of the epigenetic processes involved in the regulation of this major virulence gene family.