bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Outcomes in couples undergoing ICSI: comparison between fresh and frozen–thawed surgically retrieved spermatozoa
Authors: ULUG ULUN , BENER FARUK , KARAGENC LEVENT , CIRAY NADIR , BAHCECI MUSTAFA 
Published: November 2005

SummaryWe retrospectively evaluated the impact of cryopreservation on spermatozoa obtained from patients with azoospermia and used for intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). Frozen–thawed epididymal spermatozoa (FTEPS) was used in 34 couples, whereas frozen–thawed testicular spermatozoa (FTTS) was used in 50 couples for ICSI during assisted conception, and these results were compared with results using fresh spermatozoa for ICSI in the same individuals. The fertilization rate (FR) was significantly lower for FTTS (65.8%) but not for FTEPS (73.1%) compared with the FR using fresh spermatozoa (72.3% and 73.2% respectively). In contrast, neither the implantation nor the pregnancy rate was altered when FTEPS or FTTS was used. In conclusion, our results indicate that surgically retrieved spermatozoa can be efficiently used for ICSI after freezing and thawing without compromising the outcome.
Epidemiologic risk factors for chronic prostatitis
Authors: KU JA HYEON , KIM SOO WOONG , PAICK JAE‐SEUNG 
Published: November 2005

SummaryChronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome is a multifactorial problem, which affects men of all ages and in all demographics. Recent studies have shown that the prevalence of prostatitis is approximately 2–10% among unselected men in North America, Europe and Asia. This data clearly indicates that chronic prostatitis constitutes an important problem in international health care. Nevertheless, the aetiology and pathogenesis of chronic prostatitis have yet to be clearly delineated, despite the numerous efforts which have been made, with regard to both basic and clinical research. In fact, factors other than leucocytes and bacteria have been shown to contribute to the symptoms typically associated with prostatitis. Studies of the epidemiology and determinants of prostatitis risk factors may also provide clues to the general aetiology of prostatitis. Other epidemiological data appears to indicate that certain as‐yet‐unknown factors might be associated with an increased tendency towards the development of chronic prostatitis. However, findings from most studies are considered to represent only preliminary data, because of the small sample sizes or lack of generalizability inherent to most of the studies. The identification and characterization of these relevant risk factors might accelerate or augment the development of preventive, diagnostic, and therapeutic strategies for the treatment of these syndromes.
An update of EU legislation (Directives and Regulations) on food‐related issues (Safety, Hygiene, Packaging, Technology, GMOs, Additives, Radiation, Labelling): presentation and comments
Authors: Arvanitoyannis Ioannis S. , Choreftaki Stefania , Tserkezou Persefoni 
Published: November 2005

SummaryThis review aims at providing an update of the current European Union (EU) Regulations and Directives on food‐related issues. Initially, a brief presentation of EU legislation in terms of structure (horizontal, vertical) was attempted. EU Regulations and Directives were classified into the following categories: food safety (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points, pesticides, radioactive, hormones, contaminants, freezing – ionisation, food additives, flavourings, packaging), genetically modified organisms, food quality, labelling, food products of plant or animal origin, imports from third countries. Apart from a synoptical presentation of all laws related to the above‐mentioned topics, proper tables were compiled where the main points of each law are cited in conjunction with its effect on previous laws (repeal, modification, amendments, replacement). In such a way the reader can rapidly acquire a first approach to the topic of his interest.
Exploration of the decision‐making process for inpatient hospice admissions
Authors: Eagle Lisanne M. , De Vries Kay 
Published: November 2005

Aim.  This paper discusses some of the findings of a qualitative study which described the decision‐making processes that occurred during multidisciplinary meetings when prioritizing hospice inpatient admissions.Background.  Healthcare rationing and resource allocation have been identified as important but under‐represented issues in the British nursing literature generally, and specifically within the field of palliative care. Little evidence currently exists about the rationing decisions made at a clinical level in hospices or palliative care units.Method.  Adopting an ethnographic approach, data were collected at three hospice sites from three meetings at each site by observation, tape recording and transcribing of the meeting dialogue and examination of the available documentation from admissions meetings. The data were collected in 2002.Results.  Factors identified as potentially influential in these decisions included patient diagnosis, symptoms, current location and the stated reason for admission. The person who had assessed the patient's need for admission and whether or not a patient was personally known to a clinician present at the meeting also appeared important. The process seemed complex and incorporated different decision‐making methods. Analysis of the group interactions suggested that these meetings were predominantly medically‐led.Conclusion.  Palliative care nurses need to examine their beliefs and practices in relation to how hospice inpatient care is prioritized, and develop sound evidence‐based arguments in order to strengthen their role and influence in these important decisions for the benefit of patients. Further research is needed to achieve a greater understanding of these types of decision‐making processes.
The Newcastle Satisfaction with Nursing Scales: a valid measure of maternal satisfaction with inpatient postpartum nursing care
Authors: Peterson Wendy E. , Charles Cathy , DiCenso Alba , Sword Wendy 
Published: November 2005

Aim.  To test the validity of The Newcastle Satisfaction with Nursing Scales as measures of patient satisfaction with nursing care in an inpatient postpartum unit.Background.  The Newcastle Satisfaction with Nursing Scales (Experience of Nursing Care Scale and Satisfaction with Nursing Care Scale) were developed to measure the satisfaction of medical‐surgical inpatients with nursing care.Methods.  The Newcastle Satisfaction with Nursing Scales were administered by interviewers to 189 postpartum women prior to hospital discharge. We tested the construct validity of the scales by making five a priori predictions: mothers who were more satisfied would be more likely to have one nurse caring for them and to recommend the postpartum unit to a friend. We also predicted that the Experience of Nursing Care and Satisfaction with Nursing Care Scales would be positively correlated with each other, with a global question about satisfaction with nursing care, and with a global question about satisfaction with overall postpartum stay.Results.  Four of the five a priori predictions were supported by the data. The mean Newcastle Satisfaction with Nursing Scale scores of mothers who would recommend the unit to a friend were higher (more satisfied) than those who would not (P < 0·001). The Experience of Nursing Care Scale and Satisfaction with Nursing Care Scale were positively and significantly correlated with each other (r = 0·9, P < 0·001). There was a positive and significant correlation between the scales and global ratings of nursing care (Experience Scale r = 0·79, P < 0·001; Satisfaction Scale r = 0·82, P < 0·001) and overall postpartum stay (Experience Scale r = 0·64, P < 0·001; Satisfaction Scale r = 0·68, P < 0·001).Conclusion:  The Newcastle Satisfaction with Nursing Scales are valid measures of maternal satisfaction with inpatient postpartum nursing care.
Development of the Expectations of Filial Piety Scale – Spanish version
Authors: Kao Hsueh‐Fen S. , Travis Shirley S. 
Published: November 2005

Aims.  This paper reports the development of the Expectations of Filial Piety Scale for use with Hispanic/Latino parents regarding their expectations of care and support from their adult children.Background.  Filial piety, a term used to describe a set of family values in relation to parental care and respect, has strong cultural underpinnings. To date, there have been no measures of this construct for use with Hispanic/Latino populations.Methods.  A convenience sample of 318 Hispanic/Latino adults in North Carolina and Texas in the United States of America completed a brief biographical survey and field‐tested a new Spanish version of the Expectations of Filial Piety Scale in 2003.Results.  Principal component factor analysis with orthogonal rotation (varimax method) was used to extract four factors, which accounted for 60% of the variance in scale scores. These factors were: I, respect for parents (23·6%); II, honouring parents (12·5%); III, supporting parents (11·9%); and IV, family unity (11·7%). Overall scale reliability was 0·82, with individual factor reliability coefficients ranging from 0·66 to 0·84.Conclusions.  Increasingly, large numbers of Hispanic/Latino elders will look to their families for support as they reach advanced ages. Culturally relevant translations of family caregiving constructs, such as filial piety, will be essential nursing tools for clinical practice and in developing contemporary family caregiver research agendas.
Community psychiatric nurses and the care co‐ordinator role: squeezed to provide ‘limited nursing’
Authors: Simpson Alan 
Published: November 2005

Aim.  This paper reports a study illuminating the factors that either facilitate or constrain the ability of community psychiatric nurses, in their role as care co‐ordinators, to meet service users’ and carers’ needs.Background.  The Care Programme Approach is the key policy underpinning community‐focused mental health services in England, but has been unevenly implemented and is associated with increased inpatient bed use. The care co‐ordinator role is central to the Care Programme Approach and is most often held by community psychiatric nurses, but there has been little research into how this role is performed or how it affects the work of community psychiatric nurses and their ability to meet the needs of service users.Methods.  A multiple case study of seven sectorised community mental health teams was employed over 2 years using predominantly qualitative methods including participant observation, semi‐structured interviews and document review. The data were collected in one National Health Service trust in south England between 1999 and 2001.Findings.  Additional duties and responsibilities specifically associated with the care co‐ordinator role and multidisciplinary working, combined with heavy workloads, produced ‘limited nursing’, whereby community psychiatric nurses were unable to provide evidence‐based psychosocial interventions that are recognized to reduce relapse amongst people with severe mental illness.Conclusions.  The role of the Care Programme Approach care co‐ordinator was not designed to support the provision of psychosocial interventions. Consequently, community psychiatric nurses in the co‐ordinator role are faced with competing demands and are unable to provide the range of structured, evidence‐based interventions required. This may partially account for the increased inpatient bed use associated with the Care Programme Approach.
Expanding the role of the stroke nurse: a pragmatic clinical trial
Authors: Burton Christopher , Gibbon Bernard 
Published: November 2005

Aims.  This paper reports a study evaluating whether expanding a specialist nursing role to provide outreach education and support to stroke patients and carers after discharge from hospital is effective in promoting recovery.Background.  Building therapeutic relationships with patients and carers is a key component of the nursing role in stroke rehabilitation, although this is limited by the constraints of service organization.Methods.  A pragmatic randomized controlled trial was undertaken. Patients with a diagnosis of stroke were randomized to receive continued support from a stroke nurse (n = 87) or usual care and follow‐up (n = 89) after discharge from hospital. Patients were recruited from two hospitals in the north‐west of England from November 1999 to April 2001. Patient dependence (Barthel Index), general health (Nottingham Health Profile), activities of living (Frenchay Activity of Living Index), depression (Beck Depression Inventory) and carer strain (Carer Strain Index) were assessed at 3 and 12 months after stroke.Results.  The continued intervention of a stroke nurse after discharge was associated with improved patient perceptions of general health at 12 months (median difference 42·6, P = 0·012), and in particular reduced negative emotional reaction (P = 0·037) and perceived social isolation (P = 0·002). In addition, the intervention reduced carer strain at 3 months (P = 0·045), and reduced deterioration in physical dependence from 3 to 12 months (P = 0·049).Conclusion.  The provision of continued intervention from a stroke nurse after discharge from hospital, focusing on education and support, has tangible benefits for patients and carers.
Small‐group hypertension health education programme: a process and outcome evaluation
Authors: Leung Cynthia M. , Ho Georgina K.H. , Foong Mary , Ho C. F. , Lee Peter K.K. , Mak Lucy S.P. 
Published: November 2005

Aim.  This paper reports a study to explore the expectations, attainments and opinions of the participants, the objectives and experiences of nurse facilitators, and the changes in nurse–client relationship after a small‐group hypertension health education programme.Background.  Effective control of blood pressure among hypertensive patients is essential in the reduction of cerebrovascular‐related morbidity and mortality. A ‘small‐group hypertension education programme’ has been implemented in all general outpatient clinics in Hong Kong since 2000. In order to identify what aspects of the programme were beneficial and how it benefited clients, a process evaluation study was conducted.Methods.  Following implementation of a small‐group hypertension health education programme, two focus groups were run to collect data from eight nurse facilitators, and individual semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 16 programme participants. The data were collected in 2001.Findings.  The findings indicate that both clients and nurses gained a great deal from and enjoyed the process of this health education programme, and their relationships were improved after the programme. About half of the clients reported having adopted health‐enhancing behaviour. The study also revealed discrepancies between the nurses and clients in their perceptions of the objectives of the programme. This indicates that there is a need to clarify the objectives with clients to minimize disappointments from unrealistic expectations.Conclusion.  There is a need for the nurse facilitators to clarify the goal of the programme as an education group rather than as a support group. Also, needs assessment is suggested before group member recruitment in order to make the group more homogeneous.
Modelling behavioural and fitness consequences of disturbance for geese along their spring flyway
Authors: KLAASSEN MARCEL , BAUER SILKE , MADSEN JESPER , TOMBRE INGUNN 
Published: November 2005

Summary

For migratory birds the implications of environmental change may be difficult to predict because they use multiple sites during their annual cycle. Moreover, the migrants’ use of these sites may be interdependent. Along the flyway of the Svalbard pink‐footed goose Anser brachyrhynchus population, Norwegian farmers use organized scaring to minimize goose use of their grasslands in spring. We assessed the consequences of this practice for regional site use of pink‐footed geese along their spring migration route.
We used dynamic programming to find the sequence of migratory decisions that maximizes the fitness of female geese during spring migration, assuming scaring impinges on both food‐intake rates and predation risk. The parameterization of the model was based on data gathered from individually marked pink‐footed geese between 1991 and 2003.
The effect of scaring in terms of fitness and site use was most noticeable regarding food‐intake rate. Scaring resulted in a redistribution of geese along the flyway. Furthermore, the outcomes of the modelling exercises were highly dependent on whether or not the geese were omniscient or naive: at moderate scaring levels naive geese were predicted to succumb.
On a qualitative basis there was good correspondence between the predictions from the model and the empirical evidence gathered to date.
Synthesis and applications. Besides highlighting the importance of learning and changing behaviour in an adaptive fashion, our modelling exercise indicated the potential vulnerability of the geese to abrupt environmental change. In addition, the exercise emphasized the interdependence of site use along the migratory flyway. The model supports the necessity for an integrated flyway management approach. In Norway, discussion is ongoing about the future management of the spring conflict between farming interests and geese. Farmers in north and mid‐Norway have announced that they will expand the scaring campaign if a long‐term solution, including a compensation scheme, is not forthcoming. If scaring on such a large scale is implemented abruptly, it may have severe consequences for the population: management of both the scaring intensity and its geographical extent is urgently required.
Efficiency of model‐based Bayesian methods for detecting hybrid individuals under different hybridization scenarios and with different numbers of loci
Authors: VÄHÄ JUHA‐PEKKA , PRIMMER CRAIG R. 
Published: November 2005

AbstractAccurate detection of offspring resulting from hybridization between individuals of distinct populations has a range of applications in conservation and population genetics. We assessed the hybrid identification efficiency of two methods (implemented in the structure and newhybrids programs) which are tailored to identifying hybrid individuals but use different approaches. Simulated first‐ and second‐generation hybrids were used to assess the performance of these two methods in detecting recent hybridization under scenarios with different levels of genetic divergence and varying numbers of loci. Despite the different approaches of the methods, the hybrid detection efficiency was generally similar and neither of the two methods outperformed the other in all scenarios assessed. Interestingly, hybrid detection efficiency was only minimally affected by whether reference population allele frequency information was included or not. In terms of genotyping effort, efficient detection of F1 hybrid individuals requires the use of 12 or 24 loci with pairwise FST between hybridizing parental populations of 0.21 or 0.12, respectively. While achievable, these locus numbers are nevertheless higher than the number of loci currently commonly applied in population genetic studies. The method of structure seemed to be less sensitive to the proportion of hybrids included in the sample, while newhybrids seemed to perform slightly better when individuals from both backcross and F1 hybrid classes were present in the sample. However, separating backcrosses from purebred parental individuals requires a considerable genotyping effort (at least 48 loci), even when divergence between parental populations is high.
Blockade of CTLA‐4 Promotes Airway Inflammation in Naive Mice Exposed to Aerosolized Allergen but Fails to Prevent Inhalation Tolerance
Authors: Alenmyr L. , Matheu V. , Uller L. , Greiff L. , Malm‐Erjefält M. , Ljunggren H.‐G. , Persson C. G. A. , Korsgren M. 
Published: November 2005

AbstractIn subjects not developing allergy, inhalation of nonpathogenic protein antigens causes no harm and is associated with tolerance induction. Repeated exposure to aerosolized ovalbumin (OVA) likewise does not evoke airway inflammation and induces inhalation tolerance in experimental animals. The present study explored the role of the inhibitory T‐cell receptor CTLA‐4, in preventing inflammation and in establishing inhalation tolerance in response to a protein antigen. Naive BALB/c mice were injected intraperitoneally with anti‐CTLA‐4 monoclonal antibody or control immunoglobulin G (IgG) and exposed daily to aerosolized saline or OVA over 10 or 20 consecutive days. OVA‐specific IgE levels and the inflammatory response in airway tissues were assessed 2 days after last exposure. The OVA‐specific IgE response was also evaluated in mice subjected to a subsequent immunogenic OVA challenge 18 days after last aerosol exposure. Additional mice were made tolerant by 10 days of OVA aerosol exposure and were then subjected to an immunogenic OVA challenge combined with CTLA‐4 blockade or control IgG treatment. Repeated inhalation of aerosolized OVA alone did not cause a pulmonary inflammatory response. In contrast, 10 days of OVA exposure combined with blockade of CTLA‐4 led to development of eosinophilic lung infiltrates, BAL fluid eosinophilia, goblet cell hyperplasia and increased OVA‐specific IgE. By 20 days of OVA exposure and blockade of CTLA‐4, the inflammatory response remained. Mice exposed to aerosolized OVA for 10 days exhibited greatly reduced OVA‐specific IgE responses to subsequent immunogenic OVA challenge. Blockade of CTLA‐4 during the period of OVA aerosol exposure did not prevent this suppression of the OVA‐specific IgE response. Neither did blockade of CTLA‐4 during immunogenic OVA challenge alter the allergen‐specific IgE response. Our results indicate that in vivo blockade of CTLA‐4 modulates the initial immune response to a protein antigen allowing the development of allergen‐induced airway inflammation in naive mice. However, this initial exaggerated immune response is followed by the induction of inhalation tolerance, demonstrating that CTLA‐4 signalling is not decisive in this process. Our findings also show that once inhalation tolerance is established it may not be disrupted by blockade of CTLA‐4.
The evolution of host preference in allopatric vs. parapatric populations of Timema cristinae walking-sticks
Authors: Nosil P. , Sandoval C. P. , Crespi B. J. 
Published: November 2005

Abstract
Divergent habitat preferences can contribute to speciation, as has been observed for host-plant preferences in phytophagous insects. Geographic variation in host preference can provide insight into the causes of preference evolution. For example, selection against maladaptive host-switching occurs only when multiple hosts are available in the local environment and can result in greater divergence in regions with multiple vs. a single host. Conversely, costs of finding a suitable host can select for preference even in populations using a single host. Some populations of Timema cristinae occur in regions with only one host-plant species present (in allopatry, surrounded by unsuitable hosts) whereas others occur in regions with two host-plant species adjacent to one another (in parapatry). Here, we use host choice and reciprocal-rearing experiments to document genetic divergence in host preference among 33 populations of T. cristinae. Populations feeding on Ceanothus exhibited a stronger preference for Ceanothus than did populations feeding on Adenostoma. Both allopatric and parapatric pairs of populations using the different hosts exhibited divergent host preferences, but the degree of divergence tended to be greater between allopatric pairs. Thus, gene flow between parapatric populations apparently constrains divergence. Host preferences led to levels of premating isolation between populations using alternate hosts that were comparable in magnitude to previously documented premating isolation caused by natural and sexual selection against migrants between hosts. Our findings demonstrate how gene flow and different forms of selection interact to determine the magnitude of reproductive isolation observed in nature.