bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Discharge planning scale: Community physicians' perspective
Authors: Graumlich James F. , Grimmer‐Somers Karen , Aldag Jean C. 
Published: December 2008

AbstractBACKGROUND:Adverse events occur when patients transition from hospital to outpatient care. For quality improvement and research purposes, clinicians need appropriate, reliable, and valid survey instruments to measure and improve discharge processes.OBJECTIVE:The objective of this study was to validate the Modified Physician‐PREPARED scale to measure qualities of hospital discharge from the outpatient physician perspective. Descriptions include item development and psychometric properties.METHODS:The design was a postal survey of outpatient physicians/practitioners who followed 403 patients who were discharged from hospital to home. We mailed questionnaires 10 days after discharge. Questionnaire items assessed perceptions of quality and outcome of discharge planning and communication. Analysis yielded the Modified Physician‐PREPARED scale value: the sum of scores from 8 items. Internal consistency and construct validity were assessed.RESULTS:Survey response rate was 76%. Mean Modified Physician‐PREPARED scale value was 16.6 ± 4.0 with range 8 to 24. High scores reflected high perceptions of discharge quality. Analysis identified 2 principal components: timeliness of communication, and adequacy of discharge plan/transmission. The scale had acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha 0.86) and construct validity. When considering the discharge planning and communication for a specific patient, outpatient primary care physicians reported higher scores when they were involved in the discharge planning (P < 0.001) and when they were aware of community support services (P = 0.002).CONCLUSIONS:The Modified Physician‐PREPARED scale measured outpatient physician perceptions of quality of hospital discharge to home. Clinicians and researchers may find the scale useful to evaluate discharge processes. Journal of Hospital Medicine 2008;3(6):455–464. © 2008 Society of Hospital Medicine.
High glucose changes extracellular adenosine triphosphate levels in rat retinal cultures
Authors: Costa G. , Pereira T. , Neto A.M. , Cristóvão A.J. , Ambrósio A.F. , Santos P.F. 
Published: December 2008

AbstractDiabetic retinopathy (DR) is the leading cause of blindness in adults. In diabetes, there is activation of microglial cells and a concomitant release of inflammatory mediators. However, it remains unclear how diabetes triggers an inflammatory response in the retina. Activation of P2 purinergic receptors by adenosine triphosphate (ATP) may contribute to the inflammatory response in the retina, insofar as it has been shown to be associated with microglial activation and cytokine release. In this work, we evaluated how high glucose, used as a model of hyperglycemia, considered the main factor in the development of DR, affects the extracellular levels of ATP in retinal cell cultures. We found that basal extracellular ATP levels were not affected by high glucose or mannitol, but the extracellular elevation of ATP, after a depolarizing stimulus, was significantly higher in retinal cells cultured in high glucose compared with control or mannitol‐treated cells. The increase in the extracellular ATP was prevented by application of botulinum neurotoxin A or by removal of extracellular calcium. In addition, degradation of exogenously added ATP was significantly lower in high‐glucose‐treated cells. It was also observed that, in retinal cells cultured under high‐glucose conditions, the changes in the intracellular calcium concentrations were greater than those in control or mannitol‐treated cells. In conclusion, in this work we have shown that high glucose alters the purinergic signaling system in the retina, by increasing the exocytotic release of ATP and decreasing its extracellular degradation. The resulting high levels of extracellular ATP may lead to inflammation involved in the pathogenesis of DR. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Effects of delayed treatment with combined GDNF and continuous electrical stimulation on spiral ganglion cell survival in deafened guinea pigs
Authors: Scheper Verena , Paasche Gerrit , Miller Josef M. , Warnecke Athanasia , Berkingali Nurdanat , Lenarz Thomas , Stöver Timo 
Published: December 2008

AbstractElectrical stimulation (ES) of spiral ganglion cells (SGC) via a cochlear implant is the standard treatment for profound sensor neural hearing loss. However, loss of hair cells as the morphological correlate of sensor neural hearing loss leads to deafferentation and death of SGC. Although immediate treatment with ES or glial cell line–derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) can prevent degeneration of SGC, only few studies address the effectiveness of delayed treatment. We hypothesize that both interventions have a synergistic effect and that even delayed treatment would protect SGC. Therefore, an electrode connected to a pump was implanted into the left cochlea of guinea pigs 3 weeks after deafening. The contralateral untreated cochleae served as deafened intraindividual controls. Four groups were set up. Control animals received intracochlear infusion of artificial perilymph (AP/−). The experimental groups consisted of animals treated with AP in addition to continuous ES (AP/ES) or treated with GDNF alone (GDNF/−) or GDNF combined with continuous ES (GDNF/ES). Acoustically and electrically evoked auditory brain stem responses were recorded. All animals were killed 48 days after deafening; their cochleae were histologically evaluated. Survival of SGC increased significantly in the GDNF/− and AP/ES group compared with the AP/− group. A highly significant increase in SGC density was observed in the GDNF/ES group compared with the control group. Additionally, animals in the GDNF/ES group showed reduced EABR thresholds. Thus, delayed treatment with GDNF and ES can protect SGC from degeneration and may improve the benefits of cochlear implants. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Unconstrained shoulder joint position sense does not change with body orientation
Authors: Chapman Jason , Suprak David N. , Karduna Andrew R. 
Published: December 2008

AbstractOur knowledge of the role of muscle activation on proprioception is incomplete. Previous work has either focused on comparing active and passive motions or manipulated both muscle activation and joint angles simultaneously. We conducted an experiment at the shoulder in which subjects' trunks were tilted backwards to decouple joint angle from joint torque. Twenty three healthy subjects underwent testing in an unconstrained joint position sense task. Kinematics were measured with a magnetic tracking device. The joint position sense task consisted of subjects moving their arms to a predetermined orientation in space with the help of visual feedback from the magnetic tracking device presented to the subjects through a head‐mounted display. Subjects were then asked to reproduce the presented joint position in the absence of visual feedback. The protocol was performed under two tilts: upright and trunk tilted back 45°. This allowed for a comparison of joint position sense at different joint angles (at the same resistive torque) and at different resistive torques (at the same joint angles). When comparing these two tilts, we found that matching based on elevation angle demonstrated no significant difference, while matching based on torques did find differences. These results implicate elevation angle at the shoulder as playing a more important role in modulating joint position sense than joint torque. © 2008 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 27: 885–890, 2009
Solutions out of context: Examining the transfer of business concepts to nonprofit organizations
Authors: Beck Tammy E. , Lengnick‐Hall Cynthia A. , Lengnick‐Hall Mark L. 
Published: December 2008

AbstractSmall nonprofit organizations face a dilemma when applying management theories and techniques developed for large, private businesses. Research evidence suggests both benefits and problems associated with application of these techniques. To avoid potential problems, nonprofit managers commonly limit the selection and transfer of business techniques to those that solve specific problems or appear consistent with nonprofit orientations. One consequence is that business solutions often create unintended negative outcomes that are due to contextual differences between the two types of organizations. One possible solution to this dilemma is adoption of bundles, or configurations, of practices that introduce important contextual checks and balances along with the specific tools and techniques. We explore this option through a critical, participatory ethnographic analysis of a small nonprofit service organization.
Best practices in board governance: Evidence from South Carolina
Authors: Zimmermann Jo An M. , Stevens Bonnie W. 
Published: December 2008

AbstractIn June 2003, a large‐scale survey was conducted among South Carolina nonprofit agencies to gather information on a range of board governance issues. Some of the survey questions dealt with how each agency's board contributes to the organization. More than 80 percent of the responding agencies were registered as 501(c)(3), with the largest number of respondents in the human services category. Statistical analysis reveals where actual roles differ from “best practices” as prescribed in the literature. Discussion then focuses on how these trends in governance affect management and operations. In particular, we look at best practice regarding the separation of board and staff duties.
New solitary wave solutions for the bad Boussinesq and good Boussinesq equations
Authors: Jafari H. , Borhanifar A. , Karimi S.A. 
Published: December 2008

AbstractIn this article, the sine–cosine, the standard tanh and the extended tanh methods has been used to obtain solutions of the bad Boussinesq and good Boussinesq equations. New solitions and periodic solutions are formally derived. The change of parameters, that will drastically change characteristics of the equation, is examined. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 2009
Trends and changes in the clinical use of lamotrigine
Authors: Reimers Arne 
Published: December 2008

AbstractPurposeTo investigate long‐term trends and changes in the pattern of use of lamotrigine (LTG).MethodsRetrospective survey of a large, routine therapeutic drug monitoring database.ResultsTwelve thousand one hundred and seven samples from 4123 subjects were analysed from October 1999 to May 2007. Within this period, the mean daily dose rose from 183 to 253 mg, whereas the median dose remained unchanged at 200 mg. Females became the majority of LTG users, and they had a higher proportion of psychiatric diagnoses than male patients. The mean patient age increased from 34 to 41 years. The proportion of samples from psychiatric patients became larger than that of neurologic patients. A total of 130 different diagnoses were stated, most of them psychiatric off‐label. The mean serum concentration was 3.8 mg/L and it remained quite stable during the whole observation period. Neurologic patients had a higher mean serum concentration than psychiatric patients. 30% of the neurologic and 41% of the psychiatric patients had serum concentrations below the reference range. Sixty‐eight per cent of the patients used additional drugs. Females used a higher number of additional medications than males. The 10 most frequent co‐medications consisted of seven psychotropic drugs, two anticonvulsants, and thyroxine.ConclusionsSignificant changes in the pattern of use of LTG have taken place during the observation period and some significant trends could be identified. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Investigation on morphology and mechanical properties of polyamide 6/maleated ethylene‐propylene‐diene rubber/organoclay composites
Authors: Zhang Lingyan , Wan Chaoying , Zhang Yong 
Published: December 2008

AbstractMaleated ethylene‐propylene‐diene rubber (EPDM‐g‐MA) toughened polyamide 6 (PA6)/organoclay (OMMT) nanocomposites were prepared by melt blending. The role of OMMT in the morphology of the ternary composites and the relationship between the morphology and mechanical properties were investigated by varying the blending sequence. The PA6/EPDM‐g‐MA/OMMT (80/20/4) composites prepared by four different blending sequences presented distinct morphology and mechanical properties. The addition of OMMT could obviously decrease viscosity of the matrix and weaken the interfacial interactions between PA6 and EPDM‐g‐MA when blending EPDM‐g‐MA with a premixed PA6/OMMT nacocomposite, resulting in the increase of rubber particle size. The final mechanical properties are not only determined by the location of OMMT, but also by the interfacial adhesion between PA6 and EPDM‐g‐MA. Having maximum percentage of OMMT platelets in the PA6 matrix and keeping good interfacial adhesion between PA6 and EPDM‐g‐MA are beneficial to impact strength. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2009. © 2008 Society of Plastics Engineers
Effects of clay and POSS nanoparticles on the quiescent and shear‐induced crystallization behavior of high molecular weight poly(ethylene terephthalate)
Authors: Lee S.J. , Hahm W.G. , Kikutani T. , Kim B.C. 
Published: December 2008

AbstractThe effects of organoclay and polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS) nanoparticles on the crystallization behavior of high molecular weight poly(ethylene terephthalate) (HMWPET; inherent viscosity of 1.05) were investigated in terms of nanoparticle content and shear rate. Both nanoparticles played a role of nucleating agent for PET and increased the cold crystallization temperature by about 24°C. The half‐time of crystallization was also decreased with increasing the nanoparticle content. Clay proved to be more effective than POSS; a notable nucleating effect was observed at 0.3 wt% for clay and 2 wt% for POSS. Introducing 1 wt% of clay gave the highest crystallization rate among all PET nanocomposite samples examined. Isothermal crystallization of the nanocomposites under dynamic shear exhibited similar crystallization behavior. As in the DSC measurement, clay appeared to be more effective to promote the crystallization of PET under shear. The nucleating effects were more noticeable at higher shear rate. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2009. © 2008 Society of Plastics Engineers
Visual perception and measurements of texture and gloss of injection‐molded plastics
Authors: Ignell Sofie , Kleist Ulf , Rigdahl Mikael 
Published: December 2008

AbstractThe effect of an imposed texture on the gloss of injection‐molded polymeric surfaces was evaluated as well as the way in which these properties are visually perceived. Specimens having small differences in surface topography were produced using two mold cavities with slight differences in texture and three different polymers. The texture and gloss were characterized using laser profilometry, gloss measurements, and by means of psychometric evaluations. The measured surface topography parameters and gloss were determined mainly by the texture of the mold surface and the gloss also by the processing conditions. Variations in surface topography due to differences in the rheological properties of the polymer melts were, in most cases, too small to be reflected in the measurements. The visual assessments of the texture and the gloss of specimens from the same cavity were in fair agreement with the measurements, although the observers could discern differences between some specimens not revealed by the measurements. When the specimens molded in the two cavities differing significantly both in gloss and texture were compared, the agreement between the measured topography parameters and the perceived roughness was poorer. It is suggested that higher gloss of a textured surface enhances the perception of a higher roughness. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2009. © 2008 Society of Plastics Engineers
Design of optimal extrusion die for a range of different materials
Authors: Lebaal Nadhir , Schmidt Fabrice , Puissant Stephan , Schläfli Daniel 
Published: December 2008

AbstractTHE coat‐hanger melt distributor is a device commonly used in the wire coating process. Its task is to distribute the melt around the conductor uniformly. It is quite common that materials and flow rates differ from what had been specified during the design procedure. This may lead to bad performance with materials of very different rheological properties from the design material. In this article, we present an optimal design approach to avoid this loss of performances. This approach involves coupling a three‐dimensional finite element simulation software with an optimization strategy based on a response surface method. The objective is to determine a coat‐hanger melt distributor geometry that ensures a homogeneous exit velocity distribution that will best accommodate for a different range of materials. A coat‐hanger melt distributor with a manifold of constant width is designed, and a set of flow distribution measurements is established for two different materials. The results of numerical simulation are then validated by comparison with experimental measurements. The effect of material change is also investigated. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2009. © 2008 Society of Plastics Engineers
Monitoring trends and accuracy of self‐efficacy beliefs during interventions: Advantages and potential applications to school‐based settings
Authors: Cleary Timothy J. 
Published: December 2008

AbstractSelf‐efficacy measures are context‐specific assessment tools designed to evaluate students' perceptions of capability to attain specific outcomes on particular tasks. These measures are important because they possess several desirable features typical of progress‐monitoring tools (i.e., context specific, free of reactive effects, strong psychometric properties), have been shown to be strong predictors of motivated and self‐regulatory behaviors, and possess many advantages relative to more global self‐report scales of motivation. In this article, a general framework for using these scales as a supplemental assessment tool to behavioral or skill‐based assessments will be presented and discussed. The key focus of this article involves illustrating how practitioners can evaluate and interpret the trends in students' self‐efficacy judgments as well as the accuracy of these judgments during the implementation and evaluation of academic interventions. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Whose socialisation? Exploring the social interaction between migrants and communities‐of‐place in rural areas
Authors: Vergunst Petra J. B. 
Published: December 2008

AbstractMigration implies that migrants meet with the communities‐of‐place they have moved to. Such social interaction is frequently troubled by differences in institutions for social conduct. This paper defines such institutions as habitualised practices. Drawing on Berger and Luckmann's (1967) ideas on institutions and socialisation, the analysis focuses on what happens to such institutions when migrants meet with people belonging to the community‐of‐place to which they have moved. The empirical base consists of a comparison between two studies carried out by the author: one of everyday life social interaction between in‐migrants and communities‐of‐place in Dutch rural neighbourhoods, the other of the work ethic of migrant and domestic workers in Scottish agriculture. Interaction between migrants and people belonging to the communities‐of‐place to which they have moved can produce different relationships between their respective institutions. People belonging to the communities‐of‐place in the Dutch study do not hold rigidly to some elements of their institutions while they hold on more rigidly to others. The Scottish study showed that farmer‐employers even prefer the work ethic of migrants, and at the same time there has been some evidence that the work ethic of domestic workers evolves in the direction of that of migrants. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Smart encryption channels for securing virtual machine‐based networked applications
Authors: Itani Wassim , Kayssi Ayman , Chehab Ali 
Published: December 2008

AbstractWe present PARAGON, a novel security protocol for efficiently securing the network communications of web‐deployed enterprise applications. PARAGON relies on an application tag set, which is a collection of metadata entries that specify the backend servers with which the client application is expected to communicate during its lifetime. The application tag set controls the quality of the security mechanisms established on each backend server connection, and allows the security protocol to utilize the trust relationship present between the deployed application and its source server to create a set of public‐key security associations between the source server and the enterprise backend servers on behalf of the client. PARAGON is a multi‐phase security protocol that matures with time. Incrementally, PARAGON approaches a fully symmetric‐key encryption system. The performance advantage becomes evident when the client application communicates with a relatively large set of remote servers. Examples of such clients include web browsers, email clients, file torrent clients, stock exchange applications, etc. A prototype implementing PARAGON's specifications and showing its performance advantages is shown for SUN's J2SE 1.6/J2EE 1.5 platforms. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Effect of neuropeptide Y Y2 receptor deletion on emotional stress‐induced neuronal activation in mice
Authors: Nguyen Ngoc Khoi , Sartori Simone B. , Herzog Herbert , Tasan Ramon , Sperk Günther , Singewald Nicolas 
Published: December 2008

AbstractIn different behavioral paradigms including the elevated plus maze (EPM), it was observed previously that deletion of the neuropeptide Y Y2 receptor subtype results in potent suppression of anxiety‐related and stress‐related behaviors. To identify neurobiological correlates underlying this behavioral reactivtiy, expression of c‐Fos, an established early marker of neuronal activation, was examined in Y2 receptor knockout (Y2−/−) vs. wildtype (WT) mice. Mice were placed on the open arm (OA) or closed arm (CA) of the EPM for 10 min and the effect on regional c‐Fos expression in the brain was investigated. The number of c‐Fos positive neurons was significantly increased in both WT and Y2−/−lines after OA and CA exposure in 51 of 54 regions quantified. These regions included various cortical, limbic, thalamic, hypothalamic, and hindbrain regions. Genotype influenced c‐Fos responses to arm exposures in 6 of the 51 activated regions: the cingulate cortex, barrel field of the primary somatosensory cortex, nucleus accumbens, dorsal lateral septum, amygdala and lateral periaqueductal gray. These differences in neuronal activity responses to the novel environments were more pronounced after OA than after CA exposure. Mice lacking Y2 receptors exhibited reduced neuronal activation when compared to WT animals in response to the emotional stressors. Reduced neuronal excitability in the identified brain areas relevant to the processing of motivated, explorative as well as anxiety‐related behaviors is suggested to contribute to the reduced anxiety‐related behavior observed in Y2−/−mice. Synapse 63:236–246, 2009. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.