bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Promotion of evidence‐based practice by professional nursing associations: literature review
Authors: Holleman Gerda , Eliens Aart , Van Vliet Marjolein , Van Achterberg Theo 
Published: March 2006

Aim.  This paper reports a literature review examining the activities of professional nursing associations in the promotion of evidence‐based practice.Background.  Professional nursing associations can play a role in the implementation and achievement of evidence‐based practice as such associations aim to develop and further educate nurses professionally, build professional networks representing the interests of nurses and the nursing profession, influence the government and policymakers, and support and protect the basic values of nurses. The exact role of professional nursing associations in the promotion of evidence‐based practice is as yet unclear, along with just how the role of such associations can be expanded and which strategies can be used to promote evidence‐based practice among members.Method.  A literature and Internet search was undertaken using the PUBMED, CINAHL, SCIRUS, INVERT, and the Cochrane databases using the terms evidence‐based practice(s)* or EBP*, which were then combined with Nursing Society*, Nursing Organization*, Nursing Organisation*, Nursing Association* or Nursing Council*. Other sources included a Google search of the Internet, and the sites of various members of the International Council of Nurses. Publications in English, French or German from 1993 to 2004 were used, and the Internet search was conducted on 17 July 2003.Results.  Sixty nursing associations described the dissemination of evidence‐based practice using one or more types of activities (179 activities in total). All of these activities were of a voluntary nature, with a predominant focus (132/179 activities) on intrinsic motivation of nurses. More specifically, most of the activities were aimed at nurses’ competences and attitudes in relation to evidence‐based practice.Conclusion.  Professional nurses’ associations are active in promoting evidence‐based practice among their nurse members, but only those focusing on changing competences and attitude by addressing intrinsic motivation are well used. Other types of activities deserve to be explored, including behaviour‐oriented approaches, approaches using structural, social or financial influence measures and perhaps methods based on ‘involuntary involvement’.
Effectiveness of an HIV/AIDS educational programme for Chinese nurses
Authors: Williams Ann B. , Wang Honghong , Burgess Jane , Wu Chenghui , Gong Yuxiu , Li Yao 
Published: March 2006

Aim. This paper reports a study examining the effect of a multifaceted HIV/AIDS educational intervention on the knowledge, attitudes and willingness of Chinese nurses in caring for patients with human immunodeficiency virus.Background. The expanding HIV/AIDS epidemic challenges nurses to increase their knowledge about this devastating illness to provide effective HIV/AIDS prevention and care to their patients. HIV/AIDS educational interventions, which were developed for North American and European nurses, have not been studied among nurses in other societies.Methods. The study employed a pretest, post‐test experimental design with 208 nurses from seven Chinese provinces. The intervention consisted of a 5‐day workshop comprising didactic lectures interspersed with activities designed to elicit discussion of participants’ values and personal feelings about HIV/AIDS. Bloom's Taxonomy and principles of good HIV/AIDS educational practice guided the educational intervention. Outcome variables were HIV/AIDS knowledge, attitude toward patients with HIV/AIDS (including empathy for and desire to avoid these patients) and willingness to provide nursing care to these patients. The data were collected in 2003.Findings. At baseline, HIV/AIDS knowledge was not high and attitudes and willingness to care were neutral. Knowledge, attitudes toward patients with HIV/AIDS and willingness to provide nursing care to these patients were each improved at the conclusion of the workshop (P < 0·001).Conclusions. As the HIV/AIDS epidemic expands, nurses will be called upon to deliver competent, compassionate and comprehensive care to patients and their significant others. Intensive, interactive HIV/AIDS professional workshops can contribute to the national effort by increasing knowledge and improving attitudes towards and willingness to provide nursing care for patients with HIV/AIDS.
Competence of newly‐graduated nurses – a comparison of the perceptions of qualified nurses and students
Authors: Lofmark Anna , Smide Bibbi , Wikblad Karin 
Published: March 2006

Aim.  This paper reports a study that compares opinions of final year nursing students, rating their own competence, with the opinions of experienced nurses on the competence of newly‐graduated nurses.Background.  The transition of nursing preparation into higher education is regarded as positive, although it has led to differences in opinion about the competence of newly‐graduated nurses and their readiness to enter the nursing profession. There are studies showing that newly‐graduated nurses perceive themselves as holistically focused, professional practitioners, while other nurses are concerned that newly‐graduated nurses do not have necessary skills.Methods.  A convenience sample of 106 nursing students in the final week of their course and 136 nurses who had experience of supervising nursing students completed a questionnaire. The data were collected in 2002.Results.  Own competence, in the form of ability to perform nursing care, was rated by nursing students to be good or strongly developed in most of the investigated areas of nursing care. Experienced nurses also estimated newly‐graduated nurses’ competence to be good or strongly developed, although to a lesser extent. Nurses qualified within the previous 5 years rated newly‐graduated nurses’ competence to be higher in comparison with those with less recent education.Conclusions.  Further studies are needed to broaden our understanding of why some areas of nursing care, such as ethical awareness, were rated very highly, while others, like informing and teaching of co‐workers and planning and prioritizing interventions had the lowest rating.
Autogenic training to reduce anxiety in nursing students: randomized controlled trial
Authors: Kanji Nasim , White Adrian , Ernst Edzard 
Published: March 2006

Aim.  This paper reports a study to determine the effectiveness of autogenic training in reducing anxiety in nursing students.Background.  Nursing is stressful, and nursing students also have the additional pressures and uncertainties shared with all academic students. Autogenic training is a relaxation technique consisting of six mental exercises and is aimed at relieving tension, anger and stress. Meta‐analysis has found large effect sizes for autogenic trainings intervention comparisons, medium effect sizes against control groups, and no effects when compared with other psychological therapies. A controlled trial with 50 nursing students found that the number of certified days off sick was reduced by autogenic training compared with no treatment, and a second trial with only 18 students reported greater improvement in Trait Anxiety, but not State Anxiety, compared with untreated controls.Methods.  A randomized controlled trial with three parallel arms was completed in 1998 with 93 nursing students aged 19–49 years. The setting was a university college in the United Kingdom. The treatment group received eight weekly sessions of autogenic training, the attention control group received eight weekly sessions of laughter therapy, and the time control group received no intervention. The outcome measures were the State‐Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Maslach Burnout Inventory, blood pressure and pulse rate completed at baseline, 2 months (end of treatment), and 5, 8, and 11 months from randomization.Results.  There was a statistically significantly greater reduction of State (P < 0·001) and Trait (P < 0·001) Anxiety in the autogenic training group than in both other groups immediately after treatment. There were no differences between the groups for the Maslach Burnout Inventory. The autogenic training group also showed statistically significantly greater reduction immediately after treatment in systolic (P < 0·01) and diastolic (P < 0·05) blood pressure, and pulse rate (P < 0·002), than the other two groups.Conclusion.  Autogenic training has at least a short‐term effect in alleviating stress in nursing students.
Influence of mowing on the persistence of two endangered large blue butterfly species
Authors: JOHST KARIN , DRECHSLER MARTIN , THOMAS JEREMY , SETTELE JOSEF 
Published: March 2006

Summary

Mowing influences two endangered butterfly species, Maculinea nausithous and Maculinea teleius, directly through egg destruction and larval mortality on the mown plants and indirectly through altering the abundance of their sequential resources in meadows (Sanguisorba plants for oviposition and early larval development and Myrmica ant nests for later larval development and pupation). Although conservation biologists have argued that mowing during the adult stage is detrimental to population persistence, it is not obvious how the timing and frequency of mowing impact on population dynamics.
A simulation model was used to investigate how current ‘traditional’ mowing regimes could be altered to reconcile butterfly conservation with agriculture.
The key mechanism affecting the impact of mowing on population persistence was the interaction between density‐independent and density‐dependent mortalities in different larval stages of each life cycle. Because of this interaction, optimal mowing regimes for butterfly conservation were sensitive to the type of density regulation displayed by each species, and to landscape attributes such as the influence of climate on resource availability and the level of parasitism. Despite this sensitivity, we were able to identify robust mowing regimes appropriate for a wide range of landscape attributes and to derive general management recommendations.
Synthesis and applications. Our results showed that the ‘traditional’ mowing regime (twice per year with the second cut during the flight period) was always detrimental to the two butterfly species at both local (single population) and regional (metapopulation) scales. However, mowing once a year, or every second or third year, before or after the flight period, was appropriate for both species in the considered landscapes. Maculinea teleius could persist only at a regional scale, assuming dispersal among the meadows, whereas M. nausithous could persist at both local and regional scales. Thus it is essential that the recommended mowing regimes are applied across several connected meadows within reach of dispersing butterflies if both butterflies are to be conserved in a region.
Polyphagy complicates conservation biological control that targets generalist predators
Authors: PRASAD R. P. , SNYDER W. E. 
Published: March 2006

SummaryWhile evidence suggests that undisturbed refuges within agricultural fields conserve natural enemies, few studies have examined whether pest control does actually improve following predator conservation. When the targets of conservation are generalists, polyphagy may complicate the impact of the conserved predators on agricultural pests.We examined the use of beetle banks to conserve predatory beetles for the control of pest Diptera. Locally, the community of predatory beetles included several species of small carabid and staphylinid beetles (< 1 cm in length), which eat fly eggs, and one common larger carabid beetle (> 1·5 cm),Pterostichus melanarius, which rarely eats fly eggs but does eat smaller beetles.Predator beetle activity densities, but not rates of fly egg predation, increased in fields including beetle banks. A series of field experiments was conducted to examine whether two types of polyphagy, intraguild predation and feeding on non‐target prey, could be preventing increased egg predation following successful predator conservation.The putative intraguild predatorPterostichus melanariusreduced activity densities of smaller beetles, and thus weakened fly egg predation. The strength of fly suppression increased with increasing densities of small beetles in the absence ofPterostichus melanarius, but not when aphid alternative prey were readily available. In the presence of abundant aphids, egg predation rates did not increase at higher small beetle densities.Synthesis and applications.Overall, our results suggest that both intraguild predation and the presence of alternative prey could limit conservation biological control that targets generalist predators. Thus, higher predator densities will not necessarily lead to improved pest control. Ecologists must consider the impact of predator manipulations at multiple trophic levels when assessing the success or failure of conservation biological control.
Habitat heterogeneity influences connectivity in a spatially structured pest population
Authors: HAMILTON G. S. , MATHER P. B. , WILSON J C. 
Published: March 2006

SummaryPatterns of connectivity influence pest population system dynamics, and it is essential to consider connectivity when planning effective management strategies. Traditional connectivity models often consider populations embedded in a matrix of unsuitable habitat. This approach is unlikely to be applicable to those pest species that can utilize most of the landscape in which they live. There is therefore a need for a simple and flexible tool to assess connectivity in such systems.In this study, we developed a new model in which contiguous resource patches that differ in quality, and landscape elements that impede dispersal, impact on connectivity within a population system. The model was applied to a wild rabbit population system, a well‐studied pest species in Australia. An independent population genetic data set was used to validate the model.There was a highly significant association between pairwise population connectivity and the genetic data (Mantel test,r=−0·502,P= 0·002). As predicted, two populations that showed very low connectivity were strongly isolated genetically. These sites appeared to be substantially isolated because of forests, which acted to impede rabbit dispersal. When these sites were excluded from analysis, connectivity indices again explained the pattern of genetic data (Mantel test,r=−0·46,P= 0·037). This showed that both spatial variation in resource quality and forests influenced connectivity in this system. Sensitivity analyses confirmed that the distribution and extent of forests was important in limiting connectivity to some sites. The model was relatively robust to changes in population parameters.Synthesis and applications. Connectivity among wild rabbit populations in this system was strongly influenced by habitat heterogeneity, rather than factors such as geographical distance or major landscape elements such as rivers, both of which are traditionally considered to influence system dynamics. This may have substantial implications for many pest systems, and suggests that the impact of habitat heterogeneity on connectivity should be considered when planning efficient management strategies.
The determinant role of temporary proglacial drainages on the genetic structure of fishes
Authors: GAGNON M.‐C. , ANGERS B. 
Published: March 2006

AbstractPhylogeographic studies have shed light on Pleistocene glaciations as a key factor in shaping present‐day genetic structure of many organisms. In formerly glaciated regions, the combined action of several factors such as refuges origin, physiological capacities and demographic parameters have contributed importantly to this process but specifically for each species. Therefore, a fine‐scale genetic structure is not expected to be similar for different species, unless it has been modulated by the action of a strong environmental pressure. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of postglacial environment on the genetic structure of fishes. To achieve this objective, three fish species (northern pike, lake whitefish and yellow perch) commonly found in sympatry in Laurentian Shield lakes but displaying different ecological and physiological characteristics were analysed. The comparison of these unrelated species was performed to identify the factors determining the organization of their genetic structure. Populations of all species mostly originated from the Mississippian refuge. Low genetic differentiation was observed among populations but significant structures were detected for the three species. Despite marked differences among species, these structures presented common characteristics: a lack of congruence with drainage and a longitudinal organization. This suggested that the dispersion of species occurred independently, leading to a species‐specific structure. However, the settling of populations appeared to be mediated by a dynamic system of proglacial meltwater streams associated to the glacial Lake Ojibway‐Barlow, providing such similarities among species.
Patterns, sources and ecological implications of clonal diversity in apomictic Ranunculus carpaticola (Ranunculus auricomus complex, Ranunculaceae)
Authors: PAUN O. , GREILHUBER J. , TEMSCH E. M. , HÖRANDL E. 
Published: March 2006

AbstractSources and implications of genetic diversity in agamic complexes are still under debate. Population studies (amplified fragment length polymorphisms, microsatellites) and karyological methods (Feulgen DNA image densitometry and flow cytometry) were employed for characterization of genetic diversity and ploidy levels of 10 populations of Ranunculus carpaticola in central Slovakia. Whereas two diploid populations showed high levels of genetic diversity, as expected for sexual reproduction, eight populations are hexaploid and harbour lower degrees of genotypic variation, but maintain high levels of heterozygosity at many loci, as is typical for apomicts. Polyploid populations consist either of a single AFLP genotype or of one dominant and a few deviating genotypes. genotype/genodive and character incompatibility analyses suggest that genotypic variation within apomictic populations is caused by mutations, but in one population probably also by recombination. This local facultative sexuality may have a great impact on regional genotypic diversity. Two microsatellite loci discriminated genotypes separated by the accumulation of few mutations (‘clone mates’) within each AFLP clone. Genetic diversity is partitioned mainly among apomictic populations and is not geographically structured, which may be due to facultative sexuality and/or multiple colonizations of sites by different clones. Habitat differentiation and a tendency to inhabit artificial meadows is more pronounced in apomictic than in sexual populations. We hypothesize that maintenance of genetic diversity and superior colonizing abilities of apomicts in temporally and spatially heterogeneous environments are important for their distributional success.
Mitochondrial evidence for distinct phylogeographic units in the endangered Malagasy poison frogMantella bernhardi
Authors: VIEITES DAVID R. , CHIARI YLENIA , VENCES MIGUEL , ANDREONE FRANCO , RABEMANANJARA FALITIANA , BORA PARFAIT , NIETO‐ROMÁN SANDRA , MEYER AXEL 
Published: March 2006

AbstractMantella bernhardiis an endemic species of Malagasy poison frog threatened by loss and fragmentation of its natural habitat and collection for the pet trade. It is classified as threatened according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) categories and included in Appendix II of the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES). A recent survey has increased the known distributional range of the species from one to eight populations across southeastern Madagascar, but little is known about its biology and genetic diversity. Here we estimate inter‐ and intrapopulation mitochondrial genetic variation of four populations. Populations from the northern and southern parts of the distributional range showed a high degree of divergence (maximum of 11.35% in cytochromeb) and were recovered as reciprocally monophyletic groups. Nine haplotypes were detected in the northern and 12 in the southern populations. The population from Ranomafana National Park showed the lowest number of haplotypes and nucleotide diversity, and shared its most common haplotype with the second northern population from Tolongoina. All the other detected haplotypes were unique to each of the four populations. This suggests the existence of important barriers to gene flow, pre‐dating human colonization of Madagascar at about 2000 years ago, in distinct contrast to otherMantellaspecies that show a high degree of haplotype sharing throughout their range. The continued habitat fragmentation within the distribution range ofM. bernhardiprevents any connection between its populations. Our data indicate the existence of at least two different management units for conservation in this species, corresponding to the North and South of its distribution range, and highlight the existence of strong regional endemism in southeastern Madagascar.
Genetic diversity, population structure, effective population size and demographic history of the Finnish wolf population
Authors: ASPI J. , ROININEN E. , RUOKONEN M. , KOJOLA I. , VILÀ C. 
Published: March 2006

AbstractThe Finnish wolf population (Canis lupus) was sampled during three different periods (1996–1998, 1999–2001 and 2002–2004), and 118 individuals were genotyped with 10 microsatellite markers. Large genetic variation was found in the population despite a recent demographic bottleneck. No spatial population subdivision was found even though a significant negative relationship between genetic relatedness and geographic distance suggested isolation by distance. Very few individuals did not belong to the local wolf population as determined by assignment analyses, suggesting a low level of immigration in the population. We used the temporal approach and several statistical methods to estimate the variance effective size of the population. All methods gave similar estimates of effective population size, approximately 40 wolves. These estimates were slightly larger than the estimated census size of breeding individuals. A Bayesian model based on Markov chain Monte Carlo simulations indicated strong evidence for a long‐term population decline. These results suggest that the contemporary wolf population size is roughly 8% of its historical size, and that the population decline dates back to late 19th century or early 20th century. Despite an increase of over 50% in the census size of the population during the whole study period, there was only weak evidence that the effective population size during the last period was higher than during the first. This may be caused by increased inbreeding, diminished dispersal within the population, and decreased immigration to the population during the last study period.