bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Different modes of hypervariability in (GATA)n simple sequence repeat loci
Authors: Rohwedel J. , Weichenhan D. , Meier C. , Traut W. 
Published: December 2007

AbstractOnly a few prominent simple sequence repeat (SSR) loci of the type (GATA)n are found in the genome of the mealmoth Ephestia kuehniella Zeller. Therefore this moth was chosen as a model organism for the genetic and molecular analysis of hypervariability of SSR loci. We characterized alleles of (GATA)n loci in different Ephestia strains by cloning and genomic restriction mapping. Some variants appeared to be mere variable number of tandem repeat (VNTR) alleles, others showed considerable changes in the sequence neighbourhood of the GATA repeats. These may be produced by major rearrangements or by transposition of the (GATA)n block together with flanking sequences into a different sequence environment.
Excretory/secretory chymotrypsin from Lucilia cuprina: purification, enzymatic specificity and amino acid sequence deduced from mRNA
Authors: Casu R. E. , Pearson R. D. , Jarmey J. M. , Cadogan L. C. , Riding G. A. , Tellam R. L. 
Published: December 2007

AbstractTwo chymotrypsin‐like proteases were purified from the secretory and excretory material of first‐instar larvae of Lucilia cuprina. The hydrolysis of N‐succinyl‐L‐phenylalanine‐nitroanilide was used to monitor the purification of these proteases which was achieved by affinity chromatography on soybean trypsin inhibitor‐Sepharose followed by anion exchange and hydrophobic interaction chromatographies. The enzymatic specificity of the most abundant protease {Lucilia chymotrypsin b; LCTb) was further defined by determining the amino acid sequence of peptides released from insulin B chain after incubation with LCTb. Peptide amino acid sequences obtained from LCTb were used to design degenerate oligonucleotide primers which, in conjunction with the polymerase chain reaction, enabled cDNA coding for LCTb to be cloned and sequenced. The deduced amino acid sequence of LCTb showed many of the structural features of serine proteases as well as significant amino acid sequence homology with chymotrypsins from a diverse range of species. It is probable that LCTb plays an important role in establishing the myiasis‐causing larvae of L. cuprina on host skin as well as providing nutrients for the rapidly growing larvae.
Detection of Buchnera, the primary prokaryotic endosymbiont of aphids, using the polymerase chain reaction
Authors: Rouhbakhsh D. , Moran N. A. , Baumann L. , Voegtlin D. J. , Baumann P. 
Published: December 2007

AbstractMembers of the genus Buchnera constitute a distinct prokaryotic lineage containing the primary endosym‐bionts of aphids (Homoptera: Aphidoidea). Using synthetic oligonucleotides in conjunction with the polymerase chain reaction, we propose three approaches for the identification of members of this genus. The first is based on unique sequences within rrs (gene coding for 16S ribosomal RNA). The second is based on a different and unique organization of the ribosomal RNA operons of Buchnera and the close proximity of aroEupstream of rr/(gene coding for 23S rRNA). The third is based on the linkage relationship of argS which is upstream of rrs. Validation of these three approaches requires their more extensive application.
Ribosomal spacer length variability in the large raspberry aphid, Amphorophora idaei (Aphidinae: Macrosiphini)
Authors: Birch A. N. E. , Fenton B. , Malloch G. , Jones A. T. , Phillips M. S. , Harrower B. E. , Woodford J. A. T. , Catley M. A. 
Published: December 2007

AbstractThe large raspberry aphid, Amphorophora idaei, has several biotypes described by their abilities to overcome plant resistance genes. Bioassays of field populations showed a strong shift towards A, resistance‐breaking biotypes since the 1960s. RFLP analysis of the rDNA cistron was used to study variation found within and between standard clones of three A. idaei biotypes and twenty‐nine field populations collected over 3 years. Probing genomic DNA with the ribosomal DNA probe pBG 35 produced consistent differences in RFLPs between standard clones of biotypes. However, analysis of field populations gave more complex RFLP patterns that were not biotype‐specific, unlike characteristic intergenic spacer (IGS) patterns reported for Schizaphis graminum biotypes. All but one sample collected from separate fields showed considerable genetic diversity within populations, attributed to alate migrations of parthenogenetic females in summer and males in autumn.
Molecular analysis of the endosymbionts of tsetse flies: 16S rDNA locus and over‐expression of a chaperonin
Authors: Aksoy S. 
Published: December 2007

AbstractBased on 16S rDNA sequence comparison, intracellular mycetome‐associated endosymbionts (P‐endosymbionts) of tsetse flies (Diptera: Glossinidae) form a distinct lineage within the γ‐3 subdivision of proteobacteria, related to the free‐living bacterium Escherichia coli, midgut S‐endosymbionts of various insects including tsetse flies, and to the P‐endosymbiont lineage of aphids, Buchnera aphidicola. Gene organization and expression of several loci in intracellular microorganisms have revealed differences from free‐living bacteria. This study analyses two of these characteristics in tsetse endosymbionts; the copy number and gene organization of rDNA operons and the nature of the abundant protein(s) synthesized by these microorganisms. Results indicate that Glossina morsitans morsitans S‐endosymbionts have multiple (seven) rDNA operons coding for 16S (rrs) followed by 23S (rrl) gene sequences, whereas tsetse P‐endosymbionts have a single, similarly organized rDNA operon. In tsetse mycetocytes in vitro, P‐endosymbionts synthesize a predominant protein of 60 kDa in size (p60) which by Western blot analysis shows immunological cross‐reactivity with the abundant 63 kDa (p63) protein of B. aphidicola. p63 (also referred to as symbionin) has been characterized as a molecular chaperone, structurally and functionally similar to the groEL protein of E. coli. Under in vitro conditions, tsetse S‐endosymbionts synthesize high levels of a similarly‐sized protein that cross‐reacts with p63 chaperonin. Antisera against the tsetse p60 protein also recognizes p63 protein of B. aphidicola, suggesting that the abundant tsetse endosymbiont protein is a chaperonin.
Primary sequence, copy number, and distribution of mariner transposons in the honey bee
Authors: Ebert P. R. , Hileman J. P. , Nguyen H. T. 
Published: December 2007

AbstractA single honey bee mariner transposon (TnM1a) was sequenced, revealing a transpositionally non‐autonomous element of 937 bp delimited by 30 bp perfect inverted terminal repeats. The element is flanked by the TA duplication typical of mariner elements in general. There are approximately 435 copies of TnM1a homologous elements per haploid genome. These elements appear, by Southern blot analysis, to be dispersed throughout the genome. Thirteen individual genomic clones with an average size of 15 kb, were found to contain only a single element each, which also suggests that the elements are not tightly clustered. Finally, mariner elements are neither inactivated by methylation nor sequestered into a methylated fraction of the genome.
U1 snRNA variants coexist in Bombyx mori cells
Authors: Gao Jian‐Ping , Herrera R. J. 
Published: December 2007

AbstractEvidence for at least four U1 snRNA variants were obtained from a U1 cDNA library using U1 snRNA from Bombyx mori BmN cells in culture. Sequence analysis of thirty cDNA clones showed that: (1) the nucleotide changes are in the hairpin structures I, II and III; (2) the majority of the base changes in stem structures between a posterior silk gland (PSG) U1 RNA and the BmN U1 clones, as well as among the BmN U1 clones, are compensatory; (3) although the base differences between PSG U1 and BmN U1 clones, and among the BmN U1 clones, are not the same, they are located in similar positions in moderately conserved sites, frequently at the bases of loops; (4) when comparing the PSG U1 with the BmN U1 clones, twelve out of nineteen stem differences generate stronger pairing resulting in a more stable hairpin II in the BmN U1 clones; and (5) the Sm and 70K proteins binding site sequences are highly conserved among these U1 clones. Although a comparison of sequence changes associated with U1 isoforms from different species indicate that there are no common base changes with the B. mori U1 clones reported here, similarities in the multitude and location of base differences in hairpins I, II and III are observed in mouse and/or Xenopus. It is possible that U1 variants like the ones reported here play a role in alternative pre‐mRNA splicing by way of different RNA‐protein factor interactions.
A model of clinical supervision for nurses undertaking short placements in mental health care settings
Authors: RITTER SUSAN , NORMAN IAN J , RENTOUL LYNETTE , BODLEY DENISE 
Published: December 2007

Summary

This paper presents a model of supervision developed from the experience of supervising undergraduate general nursing students undertaking clinical experience in psychiatric wards.
Supervision structures and methods are presented and the theoretical underpinnings of the supervision model are discussed.
Our experience of using the model over the past 5 years suggests that it has the potential to allow students to gain a good understanding of individual patients within a short time span and to engage with them as active collaborators in care.
The supervision model can also assist students to develop the knowledge and insights needed to gain the respect of senior colleagues, and the confidence to challenge the professional conservatism that often characterizes psychiatric wards.
Striving to prevent falls in an acute care setting — action to enhance quality
Authors: MITCHELL ANN , JONES NEVILLE 
Published: December 2007

Summary

Although most falls do not result in serious physical injury, they can contribute to a loss of confidence and mobility which can culminate in a significant reduction in quality of life. Furthermore, the potential to fall is often increased when an individual is institutionalized because of frailty or confusion.
The purpose of the study was, therefore, to establish whether a structured intervention would assist in preventing falls in an acute setting.
This pre‐test/post‐test study was carried out over a 12‐month period. Interventions included risk assessment, an alert system, reinforcing preventive actions, staff education and ongoing audits and feedback. Initial analysis of the data and comparison of fall rates indicated a significant reduction in the rate of falls between the pre‐ and post‐intervention phases, although subsequent statistical analysis did not identify any significant relationships.
It must be noted that no controls existed for extraneous variables, although patient profiles varied minimally during the period of the study.
Outcomes include: a reduction in fall numbers and rates, enhanced staff morale with ownership of the programme, provision of a learning experience for staff (on which to build), and the fostering of a professional approach to improving the quality of patient care.
Nurses achieve quality with pre‐assessment clinics
Authors: CLINCH CHRISTINE A. 
Published: December 2007

Summary

Nurses in a group of Wolverhampton Hospitals carried out a local research study to identify not only the level of patient satisfaction with pre‐assessment clinics (PAC), but also what care nurses delivered in these clinics.
Data were collected using both ethnographic and survey methods.
Patients found the PAC visit valuable: it reduced stress and provided much needed information about the coming surgery.
The skills nurses used and the tasks carried out were consistent throughout the Trust, and reflected the provision of a high standard of care.
Clinical supervision
Authors: GOORAPAH DAVID 
Published: December 2007

Summary

The introduction of clinical supervision to a wider sphere of nursing is being considered from a professional and organizational point of view.
Positive views are being expressed about adopting this concept, although there are indications to suggest that there are also strong reservations.
This paper examines the potential for its success amidst the scepticism that exists.
One important question raised is whether clinical supervision will replace or run alongside other support systems.
Anticipating and experiencing post‐operative pain: the patients' perspective
Authors: CARR ELOISE C.J. , THOMAS V.J. 
Published: December 2007

Summary

This study uses a qualitative approach to explore patients' expectations and experiences of pain, factors contributing to the effective/ineffective management of their pain and strategies patients reported as helpful when experiencing pain. Ten patients on a mixed surgical ward at a District General Hospital in the south of England participated in the study.
Pain scores, using a visual analogue scale, were obtained for ‘expected’ pain pre‐operatively and ‘worst pain experienced’. A taped in‐depth interview exploring patients' experience of pain after surgery took place on the fifth post‐operative day.
Details of analgesia were also collected for the 5 days following surgery.
Patients expected pain after surgery but the intensity of the pain they experienced was often significantly greater than anticipated.
Lack of information, inadequate pain assessment and ineffective pain control contributed to this finding.
It is suggested that new pain technology, such as epidural and patient‐controlled analgesia, may not change the prevalence and incidence of pain unless the systems these technologies are placed within also change.
The emotional work of caring, with a focus on gynaecological nursing
Authors: MCQUEEN ANNE 
Published: December 2007

Summary

In this paper the author briefly reviews the concept of caring
Emphasis is given to the emotional component and its management in caring relationships. This is illustrated with reference to a study of gynaecological nursing.
Analysis of nurses' perceptions and experiences revealed situations particularly relevant to empathy and emotional work in caring for gynaecological patients.
Empathy: a literature review and concept analysis
Authors: WHITE SUZANNE J. 
Published: December 2007

Summary

Empathy appears to be an important concept in the interpersonal repertoire of the nurse. There are a number of definitions and models of empathy available in the literature.
These definitions and models are explored and analysed using Walker & Avant's (1983) approach to concept analysis. A model case of the concept is described and the relevant defining attributes identified. A borderline case and an example of ‘not the case’ are also examined.
This concept analysis may assist practitioners to develop the behavioural skills of empathy and to recognize and coach it in their students and colleagues.
‘Effective’ Australian gerontology nurses: a repertory grid analysis
Authors: RETSAS ANDREW , WILSON JANICE 
Published: December 2007

Summary

Repertory grids were completed by gerontological nurses (N= 60) to elicit the personal constructs they used to characterize gerontological nurses, effective gerontological nurses and the extent to which participants believed themselves to be effective as nurses working in this specialist field.
Analysis of pooled repertory grids indicated that the personal construct ‘caring, compassionate, empathetic’ was rated most highly as characteristic of gerontological nurses in general and of effective gerontological nurses.
Cluster analysis of individual repertory grids showed no significant difference between self‐perceptions of participants as effective gerontological nurses and the ideal gerontological nurses they would like to become.
Other findings of this research indicate that a variety of aspects of gerontological nursing need improvement if negative perceptions of this area of nursing practice are to be altered.
The nature of expert psychiatric nurse practice: a grounded theory study
Authors: CUTCLIFFE JOHN R. 
Published: December 2007

Summary

This study examines what psychiatric nurses regard as the nature of expert psychiatric nurse practice.
The study focuses on the beliefs and principles of psychiatric nurses currently working within a psychiatric unit.
Using grounded theory methodology, data were coded and analysed, producing an integrated framework of expert psychiatric nurse practice comprised of four core variables: ‘attitudes/philosophy’, ‘knowledge’, ‘skills’ and ‘roles’.
It is suggested that the nature of expert psychiatric practice is an evolutionary concept and that as this practice develops the integrated theory presented will need to develop in parallel.
Evidence‐based practice in primary care: past, present and future
Authors: Benech Irene , RGN Allson E. Wilson , Dowell Anthony C. 
Published: December 2007

AbstractAs in other health care specialities, evidence‐based practice is beginning to have an impact on the philosophy and workings of primary care. Some practising clinicians, however, may wish to question its relevance to their everyday work, and whether general practitioners and other members of the primary health care team can realistically adopt a new approach to clinical decision making, at a time of such high workload and competing priorities.Major changes have taken place during the last 20 years as a result of the National Health Service (NHS) reforms, the development of general practice and primary care research, and other health service innovations such as the introduction of new technologies, which have had an important impact on primary care. Issues such as the availability and use of different research methods, the role of experts, and the development of guidelines, audit and evaluation of care, are becoming subject to renewed scrutiny.Within this context, this article explores the potential of an evidence‐based approach in the primary care setting, and discusses possible strategies for change to assist the dissemination of research into practice and the implementation of evidence‐based health care.
The burden of waiting for hip and knee replacements in Ontario*
Authors: Williams J. Ivan , Llewellyn‐Thomas Hilary , Arshinoff Rena , BScPT Nancy Young , Naylor C. David 
Published: December 2007

AbstractThe objectives of this study were to assess the impact of major joint replacements in reducing pain and disability and to describe the burden of pain and disability that could be avoided by ordering the queues with respect to severity of disease. A secondary goal was to compare the uses of a general health status measure, the Short Form Health Survey (SF‐36), and a disease‐specific measure, the Western Ontario McMaster Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC), for accomplishing the objectives.The results are based on interviews with 209 patients before and after they had surgery. Only 15.9% of the patients had surgery within 3 months' waiting time, 19.2% waited 4–6 months, 30.7% waited 7–9 months, and the remaining 34.1 % waited a year or more. The waiting times were unrelated to the seventy of pain or disability reported in the initial interview.Following surgery, there were large reductions in the WOMAC scores for pain, stiffness and difficulty in functioning. The SF‐36 showed substantial improvements in relief from pain and in physical functioning, and reductions in role limitation due to physical problems, but not for scores related to mental health. The WOMAC scores were more responsive to the benefits of surgery than the SF‐36 scores.Queuing systems keyed on burden of symptoms could reduce the burden of pain and disability suffered by patients awaiting surgery. The improvements from hip and knee replacements suggest that equitable access for these procedures should be a priority in Ontario.
Including practice data to improve evidence‐based guidelines. Example of guidelines on the management of thyroid nodules
Authors: MPH Lionel H. Pazart MD , PhD Jacques Massol MD , PhD Yves Matillon MD 
Published: December 2007

AbstractAlthough clinical guidelines are based on the best evidence available, their proliferation has often failed to change actual practice. One of the many explanations suggested is that there is a gap between the expectations of the targeted professionals and the recommendations in the guidelines. In this study, we attempted to take into account the state of current practice and the physicians' priorities. Using the example of guidelines on the management of thyroid nodules, three different surveys have been conducted: (1) an analysis of physicians' expectations and practice through a postal questionnaire to define appropriate questions; (2) a survey of the professionals' expert opinions, and (3) a prospective study of the use of these guidelines in the management of 253 patients. The results of these surveys have modified the development of the guidelines, and helped us to adapt the content of the guidelines to match physicians' practices more closely.
The ends of outcomes assessment
Authors: PhD Richard Gunderman MD 
Published: December 2007

AbstractOutcomes assessment holds great promise to improve the quality and efficiency of health care. By subjecting practices to rigorous and systematic analysis, we should be in a position to make judgments about what does and does not work in clinical practice. However, the outcomes of outcomes assessment themselves should be approached with the same critical eye. Among the many sorts of criteria by which to evaluate outcomes assessment are several key parameters: foremost among them are cognitive outcomes, ethical outcomes, and economic outcomes. Only when these outcomes are thoroughly explored and taken into account will the fullest potential of outcomes assessment be realized.
Acute phase proteins in patients with chronic periapical granuloma before and after surgical treatment
Authors: Márion IIdikó , Kiss Csongor , Balla György , Szabó Terézia , Karmazsin Laszló 
Published: December 2007

Márton I, Kiss C, Balla G, Szabó T, Karmazsin L. Acute phase proteins in patients with chronic periapical granuloma before and after surgical treatment.Alpha‐ 1‐antitrypsin, alpha‐2‐macroglobulin, C‐reactive protein, haptoglobin and complement C3 component concentrations and oxidase activity of ceruloplasmin were studied in sera of 36 patients with chronic periapical granuloma before and after surgical treatment. Mean serum concentrations of the investigated proteins were slightly elevated at diagnosis, with the exception of haptoglobin. Alpha‐1‐antitrypsin and ceruloplasmin levels decreased significantly 7 days after apicectomy, the 4 other proteins were unchanged at this sampling. Each investigated protein decreased significantly 3 months after apicectomy. This is the first longitudinal study of “acute‐phase proteins” in chronic periapical granuloma.