bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Increasing incidence of anal sphincter tears among primiparas in Sweden: A population‐based register study
Authors: EKÉUS CECILIA , NILSSON EMMA , GOTTVALL KARIN 
Published: April 2008

AbstractBackground. The aim of this study was to examine the incidence and risk factors for anal sphincter tears (ASTs) at delivery. Methods. A national population‐based study was conducted with data from the Medical Birth Register including all primiparas with singleton pregnancy, who gave birth vaginally in Sweden from 1994 to 2004 (n = 365,886). Women with a third and fourth degree AST were compared with those who gave birth during the same period without incurring such tears. Results. The incidence of third degree AST increased by >60%, from 3.4% in 1994 to 5.2% in 2004 in spontaneous births, and from 8.7 to 14.8% in instrumental deliveries during the study period. The proportion of fourth degree AST increased from 0.3 to 0.55% in spontaneous births and from 0.8 to 1.4% in instrumental‐assisted deliveries during the same period. Compared with non‐instrumental delivery, vacuum extraction (VE) deliveries were related to an increased risk of AST. An infant birth weight of >4,000 g was also associated with an increased risk for both third and fourth degree AST. In addition, women born in Africa and Asia had significantly higher risk for both third and fourth degree AST compared to women born in Sweden. Conclusion. The incidence of third and fourth degree AST increased in both spontaneous births and instrumental deliveries. Instrumental delivery and an infant birth weight >4,000 g are the main risk factors for AST. Women from Africa and Asia have pronounced risks.
Phonological awareness, reading accuracy and spelling ability of children with inconsistent phonological disorder
Authors: Holm Alison , Farrier Faith , Dodd Barbara 
Published: April 2008

Background:Although children with speech disorder are at increased risk of literacy impairments, many learn to read and spell without difficulty. They are also a heterogeneous population in terms of the number and type of speech errors and their identified speech processing deficits. One problem lies in determining which preschool children with speech disorder will have difficulties acquiring literacy skills.Aims:Two studies are presented that investigate the relationship between speech disorders and literacy. The first examined the phonological awareness abilities of children with different types of speech difficulties. The second study investigated the literacy skills of children with a history of inconsistent speech disorder.Methods & Procedures:Experiment 1 measured the syllable segmentation, rhyme awareness and alliteration awareness of 61 preschool children: 46 with speech disorder (14 with delayed development, 17 who made consistent non‐developmental errors, and 15 who made inconsistent errors) and 15 typically developing controls. Experiment 2 assessed the reading accuracy, spelling and phonological awareness abilities of nine 7‐year‐old children with a history of inconsistent phonological errors.Outcomes & Results:The first study indicated unexpected patterns of performance. While the Delayed group performed less well than controls on all tasks, the Consistent group showed poor performance on rhyme and alliteration but appropriate performance on syllable segmentation. The Inconsistent group performed most poorly on syllable segmentation but no differently from controls on the other two tasks. The second study indicated that children with a history of inconsistent phonological disorder performed no differently from controls on measures of phonological awareness and reading, but less well on measures of spelling ability.Conclusions:The results support classification of speech disorders and show a differentiation of phonological awareness skills across groups. Children with consistent atypical speech errors have poor phonological awareness and are most at risk for literacy difficulties. Those with inconsistent phonological disorder are at increased risk of spelling difficulties. The findings indicate that phonological awareness and spelling skill are distinct processing systems and highlight the role of phonological assembly skills (i.e. storing and/or retrieving phonological output plans) in spelling output. The interactive processes between reading and spelling are discussed.
Investigating factors related to the effects of time‐out on stuttering in adults
Authors: Franklin Diane E. , Taylor Catherine L. , Hennessey Neville W. , Beilby Janet M. 
Published: April 2008

Background: Response‐contingent time‐out has been shown to be an effective technique for enhancing fluency in people who stutter. However, the factors that determine individual responsiveness to time‐out are not well understood.Aims: The study investigated the effectiveness of using response‐contingent time‐out to reduce stuttering frequency in adults who stutter. In addition, it investigated the predictive value of participants' stutter severity, age, previous treatment history, and type of stutter on the responsiveness to time‐out conditioning.Methods & Procedures: Sixty people who stutter participated in the study. Half were exposed to time‐out following each moment of stuttering over a 40‐min period, the remaining participants acted as controls.Outcomes & Results: Results showed that individuals who stutter are highly responsive to time‐out, and that the participants with a more severe stutter responded better than those with a mild stutter. To a lesser degree, previous treatment and speech rate also influenced treatment success. Age and type of stutter did not, although the proportion of repetition types of stutters increased over the experiment conditions, with prolongations and blocks decreasing, for the treatment group.Conclusions: This simple operant conditioning treatment method is effective in reducing stuttering. Individuals respond to time‐out regardless of their age, type of stutter, stuttering severity or treatment history, thus it is a treatment methodology potentially suitable for all clients. This study investigated initial responsiveness to time‐out; therefore, further research is necessary to determine the durability of fluency over time.
Case study using ultrasound to treat //
Authors: Modha Geetanjalee , Bernhardt B. May , Church Robyn , Bacsfalvi Penelope 
Published: April 2008

Background: Ultrasound has shown promise as visual feedback in remediation of //.Aims: To compare treatment for // with and without ultrasound.Methods & Procedures: A Canadian English‐speaking adolescent participated in a case study with a no treatment baseline, alternating treatment blocks with and without ultrasound and a final no treatment period.Outcomes & Results: Formant values and trained listener ratings of speech samples indicated improvement in // production, particularly after the introduction of ultrasound.Conclusions: Ultrasound appeared to facilitate the acquisition of // for the participant. Large‐scale studies are needed to evaluate ultrasound further.
Analysis of goalkeepers’ defence in the World Cup in Korea and Japan in 2002
Authors: Sainz De Baranda Pilar , Ortega Enrique , Palao José M. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to examine the characteristics of goalkeepers’ defence interventions in parallel with the type of opponent attack, the area of the last pass of attack, the shooting zone most often used, the body part most often used for the last pass or for shooting, and the technical and physical actions most often used for carrying out defensive technical skills. The sample consisted of 34 goalkeepers from the national teams that participated in 54 matches of the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan. The matches were analysed by systematic observation. A reliability kappa index of 0.95 was established between observers. The variables studied were: type of opponent attack, area of last pass of attack, field zone from which shot was taken, body part with which last part of attack or shot was made, zone of goalkeeper intervention, defensive technical and physical actions of goalkeeper intervention. Results related to opposing team's attacks showed that teams most often used positional attacks and the last pass came from the far zones. The foot was the body part most often used to finish the attack. Upon analysing the shots taken, we found that in relation to shooting angle, the central zones are the ones that are most utilized, and in relation to shooting distance, similar percentages were found in the zone outside the penalty area and the zone situated between the penalty area line and the goal area line. Results related to goalkeepers’ defence showed that the penalty area was the zone most often used, and the defensive actions most frequently used were the save, followed by foot control, and then the clear out. Our data provide reference values to adapt the training of goalkeepers to the characteristics of the competition.
The use of imagery across competitive levels and time of season: a cross‐sectional study among synchronized skaters in Finland
Authors: Arvinen‐Barrow Monna , Weigand Daniel A. , Hemmings Brian , Walley Malcolm 
Published: April 2008

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to gain an insight into the use of imagery by Finnish synchronized skaters. A total of 269 skaters (senior=85, junior=98, novice=86) simultaneously completed the original and a translated version of the Sport Imagery Questionnaire (SIQ; Hall, Mack, Paivio, & Hausenblas, 1998) twice, first at the beginning of the pre‐season (July–August 2002) and then during the competitive season (January 2003). Multivariate analyses of variance revealed (all P<0.05) that senior skaters used more cognitive specific (CS), motivational general‐arousal (MG‐A), and motivational general‐mastery (MG‐M) imagery than junior skaters; differences in CS, cognitive general (CG), MG‐A, and MG‐M imagery were found between senior and novice skaters; between junior and novice skaters, differences were found in CG and MG‐A imagery. Time of season analyses revealed skaters used more CG, MS, and MG‐M imagery during the competitive season than at the beginning of the pre‐season. No significant interaction effect between competitive level and time of season was observed. The results are discussed in relation to the applied model of imagery (Martin, Moritz, & Hall, 1999). To make competitive level transitions less demanding, the results suggest that a psychological skills training programme should be introduced for novice synchronized skaters.
Competitive experience and performance status: an investigation into multidimensional anxiety and coping
Authors: Hanton Sheldon , Neil Richard , Mellalieu Stephen D. , Fletcher David 
Published: April 2008

AbstractIn this study, we examined the influence of competitive experience (high vs. low) and performance status (current‐elite vs. past‐elite) upon athletes’ (N=217) multidimensional trait anxiety, self‐confidence, and coping responses. Significant interaction effects showed that the current‐elite group, with high experience, had the highest levels of self‐confidence and most facilitative interpretation of worry symptoms. Independent variable analysis revealed that the high‐experience group reported lower somatic anxiety levels than their low‐experience counterparts, and viewed the use of problem‐ and avoidance‐focused coping strategies as more and less effective respectively. Current‐elite performers reported lower worry intensity and more facilitative interpretations of somatic anxiety than the past‐elite performers, as well as the use of more effective problem‐focused and positive emotion‐focused coping. The findings highlight competitive experience and performance status as important variables in the study of multidimensional anxiety and coping.
Determination of body composition based on hydrostatic weighing without head submersion for Japanese young adults
Authors: Demura Shinichi , Yamaji Shunsuke , Yamada Takayoshi , Minami Masaki 
Published: April 2008

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to examine the accuracy and reliability of whole‐body volume, body density, and percent body fat calculated from body volume without the head (V NH), as assessed by hydrostatic weighing without head submersion and predicted head volume (pV H) based on head parameters, as compared with standard hydrostatic weighing. Participants comprised 29 males and 27 females aged 17–26 years. Head volume was predicted from anthropometric head parameters using a prediction equation. Underwater weights with/without head submersion were measured five times. The reliability of underwater weighing without head submersion was very good (intraclass correlation coefficient: males=0.998, females=0.998) as was that for traditional head submersion. The relationship between the sum of V NH and pV H and the whole‐body volume measured by hydrostatic weighing was very high (males=0.998, females=0.999), and their values were very similar with an error range of 300–400 ml. Although percent body fat assessed from the sum of V NH and pV H showed a slight scatter of 2–3% from the identity line of percent body fat assessed by hydrostatic weighing, the relationships for both sexes were very strong (males=0.918, females=0.957). The errors (2 standard deviations) as determined by Bland‐Altman plots between the two methods were −3.2 to 2.6% in males and −2.3 to 2.8% in females. There was no significant bias in percent body fat estimated by the two methods (hydrostatic weighing with/without head submersion), and the sum of V NH and pV H could validly estimate body composition, regardless of physical size. It is suggested that hydrostatic weighing without head submersion is a valid and convenient alternative technique.
Positive selection drives a correlation between non-synonymous/synonymous divergence and functional divergence
Authors: Tennessen Jacob A. 
Published: April 2008

Abstract
Motivation: Functional divergence among proteins is often assumed to be strongly influenced by natural selection, as inferred from the ratio of non-synonymous nucleotide divergence (dN) to synonymous nucleotide divergence (dS). That is, the more a mutation changes protein function, the more likely it is to be either selected against or selectively favored, and because the dN/dS ratio is a measure of natural selection, this ratio can be used to predict the degree of functional divergence (dF). However, these hypotheses have rarely been experimentally tested.
Results: I present a novel method to address this issue, and demonstrate that divergence in bacteria-killing activity among animal antimicrobial peptides is positively correlated with the log of the dN/dS ratio. The primary cause of this pattern appears to be that positively selected substitutions change protein function more than neutral substitutions do. Thus, the dN/dS ratio is an accurate estimator of adaptive functional divergence.
Contact: tennessj@science.oregonstate.edu
Supplementary information: Supplementary data, including GenBank Accession numbers, are available at Bioinformatics online.
Telomere length and the risk of lung cancer
Authors: Jang Jin Sung , Choi Yi Young , Lee Won Kee , Choi Jin Eun , Cha Sung Ick , Kim Yeon Jae , Kim Chang Ho , Kam Sin , Jung Tae Hoon , Park Jae Yong 
Published: April 2008

Telomeres play a key role in the maintenance of chromosome integrity and stability. There is growing evidence that short telomeres induce chromosome instability and thereby promote the development of cancer. We investigated the association of telomere length and the risk of lung cancer. Relative telomere length in peripheral blood lymphocytes was measured by quantitative polymerase chain reaction in 243 lung cancer patients and 243 healthy controls that were frequency‐matched for age, sex and smoking status. Telomere length was significantly shorter in lung cancer patients than in controls (mean ± standard deviation: 1.59 ± 0.75versus2.16 ± 1.10,P < 0.0001). When the subjects were categorized into quartiles based on telomere length, the risk of lung cancer was found to increase as telomere length shortened (Ptrend< 0.0001). In addition, when the median of telomere length was used as the cutoff between long and short telomeres, individuals with short telomeres were at a significantly higher risk of lung cancer than those with long telomeres (adjusted odds ratio = 3.15, 95% confidence interval = 2.12–4.67,P < 0.0001). When the cases were categorized by tumor histology, the effect of short telomere length on the risk of lung cancer was more pronounced in patients with small cell carcinoma than in those with squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma (P = 0.001, test for homogeneity). These findings suggest that shortening of the telomeres may be a risk factor for lung cancer, and therefore, the presence of shortened telomeres may be used as a marker for susceptibility to lung cancer. (Cancer Sci2008; 99: 1385–1389)
OBSERVATIONS ON EAST AFRICAN BIRDS OF PREY
Authors: Brown L. H. 
Published: April 2008

SummaryEast Africa is a country very rich in birds of prey, both resident and migrant, partly because a majority of migrant Eurasian birds of prey enter Africa through Suez in winter. Diurnal birds of prey are both more numerous and more varied than nocturnal, especially among migrant species.The size range of birds of prey, both diurnal and nocturnal, in East Africa is nearly equivalent to that occurring in the whole world. The predator‐prey relationship is thus exceedingly complex in East Africa.Diurnal birds of prey hunt by sight and nocturnal by the use of sight and hearing. Diurnal birds of prey can thus make use of both live and dead prey, but owls are only able to capture living prey and do not feed upon carrion.Almost all animals in East Africa, from elephants to small insects, are either eaten as carrion or preyed upon as live prey by some species of raptor. Most live animals in the size range from small insects to animals 5 kg in weight are preyed upon by a diurnal or a nocturnal bird of prey at some stage of the twenty‐four hours. Carrion is not consumed by birds of prey at night.Comparison of the raptor avi‐fauna of forests with that in savannah indicates that in forests raptors are much less likely to eat carrion than in open country, but that the size range of raptors preying upon live animals is much the same in forests and in open country. Nocturnal birds of prey are less successful in a forest environment than are diurnal species.The possible effect of individual species (Aquila wahlbergi and Polemaetus bellicosus) and of a combination of many species on the possible population of animals in home ranges of known size is discussed. It is concluded that there is no evidence that either an individual species or a combination of several could effectively limit the populations of certain prey species.Concentrations of several breeding pairs of large raptors in apparent association with one another are mentioned. The interrelations of such species, and the effects of possible competition between members of such associations, are discussed. It is concluded that real competition is likely to be slight and that such groups of nesting raptors must be due to a form of inter‐specific gregariousness.
ANIMAL HUSBANDRY RESEARCH AND WILDLIFE IN EAST AFRICA
Authors: Ledger H. P. 
Published: April 2008

SummaryIt is only in recent years that there has been an appreciation that the problems of wildlife and domestic animal husbandry are complementary and form an integral part of the overall problem of land use.To investigate the meat production potential of East African ruminants a standard form of body and carcase dissection analysis has been devised and is described in detail.It is hoped that a better knowledge of the physiological adaption to their environment of some of the wild species may help to indicate methods of improving animal husbandry in the dry tropics. The data obtained during the course of these investigations will also provide information as to the meat production potential of the individual species.The lines of thought engendered by these investigations are discussed.
SOME PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS ON THE FOOD OF ELEPHANT IN THE TSAVO ROYAL NATIONAL PARK (EAST) OF KENYA
Authors: Bax P. Napier , Sheldrick D. L. W. 
Published: April 2008

SummaryThe background to this study is discussed. In the last five years elephant have caused a change in vegetation from dense bush to open country over large regions near the permanent water supplies in the Tsavo Royal National Park (East) of Kenya. Much destruction has also been caused, or aggravated, by fire. (See Map 1).In the 1961 drought, rhinoceros appeared to have suffered from competition with elephant for food, to the point of starvation, but there did not seem to be serious competition in normal dry seasons, such as 1962. In the drought the destruction of trees and bushes by elephant occurred to a far greater extent than during the dry season of 1962.The records of plants eaten apply specifically only to the areas where the data were collected (see Map 2), but probably in a more general manner to the Park as a whole. These plants, with their observed relative importance, are listed in Appendix I. It is emphasised that this study is as yet only in a preliminary stage, and should continue for several years, before final conclusions can be drawn.Elephant were found to eat a few plants in bulk at a particular time, such as grasses, creepers and herbs, along with smaller quantities of other materiai such as bark and leaves. Grasses were always of varying importance. Bark and leaves formed a larger proportion of the food in the dry season than in the rains, but were always eaten to some degree. The plant species of which the feeds were composed varied seasonally and annually. Certain apparently suitable plants were not eaten.Many food plants were analysed, and a few of these results are briefly mentioned. It appears possible that the eating of bark is a search for calcium, as the barks consumed are very rich in this mineral. Feeding behaviour is briefly described.