bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Management of calyceal diverticular stones with extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy and percutaneous nephrolithotomy: long‐term outcome
Authors: Turna Burak , Raza Asif , Moussa Sami , Smith Gordon , Tolley David A. 
Published: May 2007

In this section this month, we have two papers. The first is from authors from Scotland. They present a review of patients with an extended follow‐up who have undergone extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) or percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) for calyceal diverticular stones over a 15‐year period to assess long‐term outcome, irrespective of treatment. They concluded that PCNL is an effective and durable means of treating calyceal diverticular stones, regardless of stone size or location of the diverticulum. Despite low stone‐free rates with ESWL, most patients are rendered symptom‐free with minimal complications. The second paper is from the USA; the authors discuss the new generation of flexible ureteroscopes, which provide exaggerated active deflection to facilitate intrarenal manipulation. They compared the relative ease of manipulation around a calyceal model. The authors concluded that the Wolf Viper proved superior for manipulation in the hands of experienced endoscopists.OBJECTIVETo review patients with an extended follow‐up after extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) or percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) for calyceal diverticular stones (CDS), over a 15‐year period, assessing the long‐term outcome.PATIENTS AND METHODSIn all, 56 patients were treated for symptomatic CDS disease by ESWL (38) or PCNL (18). The stone‐bearing diverticula were in the upper calyces in 26, middle calyces in 24 and lower calyces in six patients, and in the right kidney in 22 and in the left in 34. The most frequent symptom was ipsilateral flank pain (84%) and 32% of patients presented with associated chronic urinary tract infections. In a retrospective analysis, we assessed stone size, diverticulum location, stone‐free rate, symptom‐free rate, complications and extended follow‐up.RESULTSIn the short‐term in the ESWL group, 21% of patients were stone‐free and 61% were asymptomatic; 8% developed symptoms and 8% developed recurrence or stone‐growth in the long term. There were six minor complications. In the PCNL group, 15 patients (83%) were stone‐free in the short term; two had a recurrence (11%) and two had stone growth (11) in the long term. There were three complications after PCNL.CONCLUSIONSThis series shows that PCNL is an effective and durable means of treating CDS, regardless of stone size or location of the diverticulum. Despite low stone‐free rates with ESWL, most patients were rendered symptom‐free with minimal complications. The long‐term recurrence rates, 8% for ESWL and 11% for PCNL, were comparable.
An α‐amino‐3‐hydroxy‐5‐methyl‐4‐isoxazolepropionate glutamate‐receptor antagonist can inhibit premicturition contractions in rats with bladder outlet obstruction
Authors: Kitta Takeya , Kakizaki Hidehiro , Tanaka Hiroshi , Sano Hiroshi , Furuno Tsuyoshi , Mitsui Takahiko , Moriya Kimihiko , Nonomura Katsuya 
Published: May 2007

OBJECTIVETo explore the possible involvement of α‐amino‐3‐hydroxy‐5‐methyl‐4‐isoxazolepropionate (AMPA) glutamate‐receptors in bladder dysfunction associated with bladder outlet obstruction (BOO), as detrusor overactivity (DO) is common in men with benign prostatic hyperplasia.MATERIALS AND METHODSProposed mechanisms of DO include the myogenic or neurogenic theory, and the autonomous bladder hypothesis. In rats, BOO produces premicturition contractions (PMCs) that are assumed to be a consequence of inappropriate non‐micturition activity during the filling phase. Using pharmacology, we explored the cause of PMCs to provide new insights into DO in humans. BOO was created in female Wistar rats; 6 weeks after obstruction we evaluated them using conscious‐filling cystometry. A specific AMPA receptor antagonist, 1‐(4′‐aminophenyl)‐ 3,5‐dihydro‐7,8‐dimethoxy‐4H‐2,3‐benzodiazepin‐4‐one (CFM‐2) was administered intravenously (i.v.) (0.003–3 mg/kg) or intrathecally (i.t.) (0.01–10 µg).RESULTSThe i.v. administration of CFM‐2 in rats with BOO significantly decreased the threshold pressure and micturition pressure. The most remarkable findings were that i.v. administration of CFM‐2 in rats with BOO significantly and dose‐dependently decreased the amplitude and number of PMCs. The highest dose of CFM‐2 almost completely eliminated PMCs. The i.t. administration of CFM‐2 had no significant effect on PMCs.CONCLUSIONAMPA receptors have never been suggested as a neural mechanism of bladder dysfunction associated with BOO. Although PMCs in rats with BOO have been assumed to be mainly of myogenic origin, PMCs were suppressed by the i.v. administration of CFM‐2. Thus, we think that PMCs have neurogenic components that are linked with AMPA receptors. In the present study, i.v. but not i.t. administration of CFM‐2 suppressed PMCs, suggesting peripheral and/or supraspinal sites of inhibitory action of CFM‐2 on PMCs.
Laparoscopic partial nephrectomy for selected central tumours: omitting the bolster
Authors: Weight Christopher J. , Lane Brian R. , Gill Inderbir S. 
Published: May 2007

Associate EditorAsh TewariEditorial BoardRalph Clayman, USAInderbir Gill, USARoger Kirby, UKMani Menon, USAOBJECTIVETo describe an alternative technique of laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (LPN) for selected central tumours that avoids bolstered renorrhaphy, LPN for such tumours often requires a substantial resection, including collecting‐system entry, and renal reconstruction typically requires oversuturing the tumour defect and bolstered renorrhaphy, increasing the warm ischaemia time.PATIENTS AND METHODSAfter excising the tumour, the tumour bed defect in 23 selected patients was closed with intraparenchymal sutures and biological gelatine matrix‐thrombin sealant, with no bolstered renorrhaphy. Data on outcomes during and after surgery were collected prospectively.RESULTSThe median (range) tumour size was 2.5  (1.7–5) cm, the warm ischaemia time 20  (9–44) min, the estimated blood loss 150  (50–1000) mL, and 80 (45–95)% of the kidney was spared. Complications occurred in four patients (17%), i.e. one each with a postoperative haemorrhage with a lateral tumour, requiring surgical re‐exploration, a urine leak that resolved spontaneously, postoperative anaemia, and atrial fibrillation.CONCLUSIONSIn properly selected patients with a central tumour extending to the collecting system, the LPN defect can be reconstructed safely with a running intraparenchymal haemostatic suture and thrombin sealant, with no bolstered renorrhaphy. The operation is simplified and the warm ischaemia time significantly less. A lateral tumour, wherein the resultant LPN defect faces away from the surgeon, precluding uniform contact of sealant with the entire tumour bed, has the potential for postoperative haemorrhage, and is a contraindication for this technique.
The impact of preoperative serum C‐reactive protein on the prognosis of patients with upper urinary tract urothelial carcinoma treated surgically
Authors: Saito Kazutaka , Kawakami Satoru , Ohtsuka Yukihiro , Fujii Yasuhisa , Masuda Hitoshi , Kumagai Jiro , Kobayashi Tsuyoshi , Kageyama Yukio , Kihara Kazunori 
Published: May 2007

OBJECTIVETo assess the impact of preoperative C‐reactive protein (CRP) levels on the prognosis in patients with upper urinary tract (UUT) urothelial carcinoma (UC) primarily treated surgically, as it is increasingly recognized that a systemic inflammatory response is associated with the prognosis for patients with various malignancies.PATIENTS AND METHODSThe clinical records of 130 patients treated surgically for UUT‐UC were reviewed retrospectively. An elevated CRP was defined as >0.5 mg/dL. Actuarial survival curves were calculated by Kaplan–Meier method, with the difference between curves evaluated using the log‐rank test. A multivariate analysis was used to identify prognostic factors, with Cox’s proportional hazard model.RESULTSThe median (range) follow‐up was 47 (3–190) months. The preoperative serum CRP level was elevated in 24 patients (23%). There were significant associations between CRP level and haemoglobin concentrations, pathological T stage, tumour grade, lymph node involvement and lymphovascular invasion. The 5‐year disease‐specific and recurrence‐free survival rates of 24 patients with elevated CRP were significantly worse than those of the 106 with no CRP elevation (both P < 0.001). On multivariate analysis, preoperative CRP level, pathological T stage and lymph node involvement were significant prognostic factors for disease‐specific and recurrence‐free survival.CONCLUSIONThis study indicated that an elevated preoperative CRP level predicts a poor survival in patients with UUT‐UC.
Intermediate comparison of partial nephrectomy and radiofrequency ablation for clinical T1a renal tumours
Authors: Stern Joshua M. , Svatek Robert , Park Sangtae , Hermann Michael , Lotan Yair , Sagalowsky Arthur I. , Cadeddu Jeffrey A. 
Published: May 2007

OBJECTIVETo compare the intermediate‐term outcomes of patients with clinical T1a renal tumours who were treated with nephron‐sparing surgery by partial nephrectomy (PN), the preferred approach for small (cT1a) renal tumours, or radiofrequency ablation (RFA), recently offered to selected patients as an alternative, less morbid technique.PATIENTS AND METHODSWe identified patients with stage T1a renal masses who had ≥ 2 years of follow‐up; those with bilateral synchronous or metachronous tumours, metastatic disease at presentation, or a family history of renal cell carcinoma were excluded. From July 1996 to January 2004 110 PNs were identified in our database; 37 patients who fulfilled the inclusion criteria had either open (30) or laparoscopic PN (seven) and 40 had either percutaneous (26) or laparoscopic (14) RFA.RESULTSThe mean (range) follow‐up for the RFA and PN groups was 30 (18–42) and 47 (24–93) months, respectively; the respective mean tumour size was 2.41 and 2.43 cm. There was one incomplete ablation and two local recurrences in the RFA group, and two recurrences in the PN group (one local and one in the contralateral kidney). There were no disease‐specific deaths. The overall actuarial disease‐free probability for the PN and RFA groups, respectively, was 95.8% and 93.4% (P = 0.67).CONCLUSIONSThis initial 3‐year actuarial analysis showed that RFA for cT1a renal tumours has comparable oncological outcomes to PN; however, longer term data are still needed.
Falls in the elderly: what can be done?
Authors: Akyol A. D. 
Published: May 2007

Aim:  This article gives information about falls in the elderly.Background:  The evaluation of an older patient who has fallen includes a focused history with an emphasis on medications, risk factors and physical examination. The article also discusses the aetiology and prevention of falls.Conclusion:  Risk factors for falls in the elderly include increasing age, medication use, cognitive impairment and sensory deficits. To reduce the incidence of patient falls, clinicians and researchers have developed a variety of risk assessment tools to aid in the identification of patients at greater risk of falling.
Two approaches to nursing: a study of Iranian nurses
Authors: Emami A. , Nasrabadi A. N. 
Published: May 2007

Background:  Studying nurses’ experience from a sociocultural perspective can contribute to improving knowledge and understanding in this field.Purpose:  To describe and compare three different groups of Iranian nurses’ experiences of their profession.Methods:  The study was conducted in Iran and Sweden. The data were collected from semi‐structured telephone interviews and analysed with latent content analysis. The participants were three groups of registered nurses (RNs) (21 persons). All RNs were born and grew up in Iran. The first group (A) were educated and had worked in Iran but were now working and living in Sweden. The second group (B) were educated and worked in Sweden. The third group (C) were educated and worked in Iran.Findings:  The nurses in Sweden worked with a patient‐orientated approach while nurses in Iran worked with a task‐orientated approach. Nurses in all three groups explained that they suffered from stress, had a heavy workload, were underpaid and understaffed. The findings showed that RNs working with a patient‐orientated approach, experienced work satisfaction to a greater extent than RNs working with a task‐orientated approach, although other aspects also influenced the nurses’ situation considerably.
A profession under threat? An exploratory case study of changes in Norwegian public health nursing
Authors: Clancy Anne 
Published: May 2007

Background:  The first courses for public health nurses in Norway were held in the 1920s−1930s. In 1957, the Act regulating public health nursing was passed. Norwegian public health nurses have a primary role in promoting health and preventing illnesses. Their role has changed with a changing society. This article shows some of the challenges the nurses have faced. It focuses on collaboration, tasks, leadership and authority/status.Aims:  The study’s intentions are exploratory. It looks into how the nurses experience their changing role.Methods:  A single case with an embedded design is the method chosen; the case is ‘Changes in the role of the Norwegian public health nurse during the period 1984–2005’. Document analysis and interviews are sources of evidence.Findings:  The findings show that public health nurses’ visibility seems to be an important issue. There are some divergences between relevant literature on the nurses’ professional status and the views of the nurses in the study. Several other public health professionals have lost tasks and formal positions of authority.Conclusion:  The nurses interviewed still feel that they are a respected and trusted profession despite being less visible. A recent study among parents who frequent local clinics confirms their important role. Can the nurses’ lack of visibility have undesired outcomes? A profession that is unassuming, not visible and that fights silent battles may have problems being heard when it tries to promote issues concerning family health. Further studies are indicated.
The nurse’s role in day surgery: a literature review
Authors: Gilmartin J. , Wright K. 
Published: May 2007

Aim: This paper reports a literature review to synthesize the evidence on day surgery, demonstrating its usefulness for innovative nurses.Background: Day surgery growth has developed rapidly in recent years. Such a rapid growth has triggered a shift in nursing roles and interventions. Nursing roles are taking shape within modern day surgical units but have not been widely reviewed in developing countries.Methods: The RCN library, BNI, CINAHL and Medline databases were searched using the terms ‘day surgery and technological advantages’, ‘financial/economic benefits’, ‘patient experiences/satisfaction’, ‘day surgery/international comparisons’, ‘day surgery and developing countries’. Only papers in the English language from 1990 to 2005 were reviewed, with a predominantly adult focus. The papers examined mainly used research techniques and some opinion papers, policy documents and textbooks were examined for additional information.Findings: The key strengths of day surgery are cost‐effectiveness, increased patient satisfaction and low infection rates. Patients indicated that effective information provision and psychological preparation helped them cope with the experience. The use of music, story telling and distraction reduced pre‐operative anxiety. Contrastingly, the deficits included poor information giving and psychological preparation resulting in high anxiety levels. Many patients encountered variable pain and nausea management and education strategies.Conclusion: This review highlights the importance of adequate preparation and continuous psychological support for patients undergoing day surgery. The challenges faced by practitioners involved with innovation are also emphasized.
Acculturation and socialization: voices of internationally educated nurses in Ontario
Authors: Sochan A. , Singh M.D. 
Published: May 2007

Background:  This paper describes a study that explores the experiences of internationally educated nurses (IENs) in their efforts to gain entry to practice as Registered Nurses (RNs) in the province of Ontario, Canada.Aim:  The aim was to uncover, in part, the issues related to professional nursing credentialling.Methods:  This study was guided by a biographical narrative (qualitative) research methodology. A convenience sample of 12 IEN students volunteered for this study representing the Philippines, Mainland China, Korea, Ukraine and India.Findings:  The findings were that the IENs progress through a three‐phase journey in their quest for licensure in Ontario. These phases include: (1) hope – wanting the Canadian dream of becoming an RN in Ontario; (2) disillusionment – discovering that their home‐country nursing qualifications do not meet Ontario RN entry to practice; and (3) navigating disillusionment – living the redefined Canadian dream by returning to nursing school to upgrade their nursing qualifications.Conclusions:  Professional regulatory nursing bodies and nursing educators, as well as practising nurses, must be aware of the potentially confusing and unpleasant processes IENs go through as they qualify for the privilege of practising nursing in Ontario.
MORAL PSYCHOLOGY AND THE UNITY OF THE VIRTUES
Authors: Wolf Susan 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThe ancient Greeks subscribed to the thesis of the Unity of Virtue, according to which the possession of one virtue is closely related to the possession of all the others. Yet empirical observation seems to contradict this thesis at every turn. What could the Greeks have been thinking of? The paper offers an interpretation and a tentative defence of a qualified version of the thesis. It argues that, as the Greeks recognized, virtue essentially involves knowledge – specifically, evaluative knowledge of what matters. Furthermore, such knowledge is essentially holistic. Perfect and complete possession of one virtue thus requires the knowledge that is needed for the possession of every other virtue. The enterprise of trying to reconcile the normative view embodied in this conception of virtue with empirical observation also serves as a case study for the field of moral psychology in which empirical and normative claims are often deeply and confusingly intertwined.1
LOGIC AND GRAMMAR
Authors: Slater Hartley 
Published: May 2007

AbstractI have written a number of articles recently that have a rather remarkable character. They all point out trivial grammatical facts that, at great cost, have not been respected in twentieth century Logic. A major continuous strand in my previous work, with this same character, I will first summarise, to locate the kind of fact that is involved. But then I shall present an overview of the more recent and more varied points I have made, which demonstrate the far larger extent of basic grammar that has been overlooked or suppressed. I end with some remarks about how this phenomenon can have arisen – principally through logicians not being attentive enough to their own language, and occupying themselves, instead, with often quite imaginary languages.
Analysing the Capitalist State in Post‐Socialism: Towards the Porterian Workfare Postnational Regime
Authors: DRAHOKOUPIL JAN 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThis article starts by dealing with the methodological problems involved in analysing the state in post‐socialism and proposes a solution that is subsequently employed in the analysis. It then describes the transformation of the state in the Czech Republic after the fall of Communism in 1989. It investigates the role of the state in the mutual constitution of the state project and the dynamic of capitalist accumulation. It proposes a periodization of dominant state projects and dominant accumulation strategies with respect to their functional adequacy in relation to socio‐economic reproduction. I argue that, in the late 1990s, the Czech Republic experienced a crisis of a specific post‐socialist state regime, or, as I call it, ‘the Klausian welfare national state’. This regime co‐constituted a specific growth dynamic called Czech capitalism, which, however, failed to reproduce itself. A state form that is emerging from the search for an alternative is described as the ‘Porterian workfare postnational regime’ (PWPR). This development marks a moment of convergence in the Visegrad‐Four region. After a period of distinctive national projects, we are witnessing a relative convergence towards the PWPR.RésuméCet article commence par les problèmes de méthodologie que pose l’analyse de l’Etat postsocialiste, avant de proposer une solution elle‐même appliquée à l’analyse qui suit. Il décrit ensuite la transformation de l’Etat, en République tchèque, après la chute du communisme en 1989. Ce faisant, il examine le rôle de l’Etat dans l’élaboration commune du projet étatique et dans la dynamique d’accumulation capitaliste. Une périodisation des projets étatiques dominants et des principales stratégies d’accumulation est proposée en fonction de leur pertinence fonctionnelle par rapport à la reproduction socioéconomique. Vers la fin des années 1990, la République tchèque a subi une crise spécifique à un régime d’Etat postsocialiste que j’appelle ‘l’Etat national klausien de protection sociale’. Ce système a bâti conjointement une dynamique de croissance particulière, le capitalisme tchèque, qui n’a toutefois pas assuré sa reproduction. De la recherche d’alternatives, émerge une forme d’Etat désignée comme le ‘régime postnational porterien d’allocation conditionnelle’ (PWPR,Porterian Workfare Postnational Regime). Cette évolution marque une convergence dans la région des quatre pays de Visegrad: passée une période de projets nationaux distincts, on assiste à un relatif rapprochement dans le sens du PWPR.
Visually impaired people with learning difficulties: their education from 1900 to 1970 – policy, practice and experience
Authors: French Sally 
Published: May 2007

Accessible summary

This paper looks back at the education of people with learning difficulties from 1900 to 1970 who are blind or have very little sight.
The information was taken from printed documents and from six detailed interviews with people with learning difficulties who are blind or have very little sight.
The paper shows that people with learning difficulties who were blind or had very little sight often had no education at all and that the education they did receive did not usually meet their needs.
People with learning difficulties were sometimes placed in schools for children who were blind or had very little sight where they were bullied and abused.
It is hoped that this paper will add to the growing history of people with learning difficulties which is based on their own experiences.
The information in this paper is taken from a large study on the history of education of people who are blind or have very little sight in Britain.

SummaryBy means of documentary evidence and six in‐depth interviews, this paper traces policy and practice relating to the education of visually impaired children with learning difficulties from 1900 to 1970. It reveals that if visually impaired children with learning difficulties were given an education at all, their needs were not usually met and they were frequently subjected to an oppressive and abusive institutional regime. By giving visually impaired people with learning difficulties the opportunity to voice their experiences, it is hoped that this paper will add to the growing oral history of people with learning difficulties and further their empowerment. The data for this paper was extracted from a study of the history of education of visually impaired children in Britain.