bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The role of specialist and general nurses working with people with multiple sclerosis
Authors: While Alison , Forbes Angus , Ullman Roz , Mathes Lucia 
Published: November 2008

Aim.  To describe the perceived role of nurses and other carers of people with multiple sclerosis from the perspective of different stakeholders (people with multiple sclerosis, non‐specialist nurses, specialist nurses and other health care professionals).Background.  Multiple sclerosis is one of the commonest causes of disability in young adults. People with multiple sclerosis require supportive care during the disease trajectory. The role of different health and social care providers has not been reported previously.Design.  Survey.Method.  Questionnaire data collected in 2002 during the first phase of scale development (health professionals n = 459; people with multiple sclerosis n = 65; total response rate 59·4%). The data were reanalysed to compare responses across sample groups.Results.  There was consensus that neurologists and specialist nurses were the most appropriate professionals in the provision of specialist care with specialist nurses also being identified as key providers of emotional support. However, there were also significant differences in nominations reflecting the different perspectives of the stakeholder groups and a self‐report bias. Each stakeholder group frequently emphasised their own perceived contribution to care. The different perspective of people with multiple sclerosis was also noteworthy with their greater emphasis on social care and lay support.Conclusions.  The findings indicate a dissonance in the views of different stakeholders within the care system. The division of labour associated with nursing care requires further exploration. The contrasting paradigms of health care professionals and people with multiple sclerosis regarding models of disability were highlighted.Relevance to clinical practice.  Multiple sclerosis, like other chronic illnesses, requires substantial nursing care. There is a growing number of specialist nurses in the workforce, however, little is known how their role interfaces with other nurses.
Children, health and gender: recognition in nursing research?
Authors: Taylor Julie , Green Lorraine 
Published: November 2008

Aim.  This paper examines the hitherto mostly unrecognised relationship between gender, health and children; its significance for nursing practice and how it has been considered in nursing research.Background.  Holistic nursing practice with children requires adequate assessment and consideration of all potential influences on children’s lives. Socioeconomic disparities have received widespread attention and gender inequalities in adult health have been studied in some depth. The links between gender, health and children, however, have received little consideration. The paper first considers this context in depth; it then applies the context to research in practice.Design.  Systematic review.Methods.  A systematic literature search was undertaken on four mainstream nursing research journals over 38 months up to February 2007. A total of 567 articles met the key word searches. Duplicates, opinion pieces and articles not focusing on children were removed. The remaining 23 nursing studies relevant to child health were examined for their gender sensitivity.Results.  Full consideration of gender issues was found largely to be absent in nursing research on children. Eight studies gave specific consideration to gender relevance, where boys and girls may have responded differently to care. Only six studies specifically addressed gender sensitivity. Allowing children a voice, however, was a strength in these studies, with 18 reflecting children’s views directly.Conclusions.  Major gaps still exist in research and theorisation relating to children, health and gender. These need to be acknowledged and investigated, particularly in relation to how they might impact on nursing care.Relevance to clinical practice.  Nursing practice and research needs to account for all potential health issues, of which gender may often be important.
An exploration of mothers’ and fathers’ views of their identities in chronic‐kidney‐disease management: parents as students?
Authors: Swallow Veronica 
Published: November 2008

Aim.  To explore parents’ views of their identities as they learn to manage their child’s chronic kidney disease.Background.  Parents are expected to participate in management and usually learn necessary skills from the multidisciplinary team. Research highlights the importance of professionals defining parents’ management roles in chronic disease; but little is known about parents’ views on their own identities as the complex and dynamic process of teaching and learning unfolds around their child’s condition. According to positioning theory, identity development is a dynamic and fluid process that occurs during interaction, with each person positioning themselves while simultaneously positioning the other person, yet this concept has not been considered in relation to parents’ contributions to disease management.Design.  A longitudinal, grounded theory study conducted in a UK Children’s Kidney Unit.Method.  This paper focuses on one aspect of a larger study exploring family learning in disease management. Six mothers and two fathers of six children with a recently diagnosed chronic kidney disease participated in a total of 21 semi‐structured interviews during the 18 months after referral to the unit. Interviews included discussion about the parts they played in relation to professionals during the management process. Findings were interpreted within a framework of positioning theory.Results.  Parents participated in teaching/learning/assessment that was both planned (involving allocated clinical lessons and tasks) and spontaneous (in response to current situations), to facilitate their participation. They positioned multidisciplinary team members as teachers as well as professionals, simultaneously positioning themselves as students as well as parents.Conclusion.  Parents’ clinical duties and obligations are not an automatic part of parenting but become part of the broader process of sharing disease management, this can lead to them assuming the additional identity of a ‘student’.Relevance to clinical practice.  Involving parents in ongoing discussions about their positions in management may help promote their active and informed participation.
Patterns of genetic variation in US federal bison herds
Authors: HALBERT NATALIE D. , DERR JAMES N. 
Published: November 2008

AbstractLike many wide‐ranging mammals, American bison (Bison bison) have experienced significant range contraction over the past two centuries and are maintained in artificially isolated populations. A basic understanding of the distribution of genetic variation among populations is necessary to facilitate long‐term germplasm preservation and species conservation. The 11 herds maintained within the US federal system are a critically important source of germplasm for bison conservation, as they include many of the oldest herds in the USA and have served as a primary resource for the establishment of private and public herds worldwide. In this study, we used a panel of 51 nuclear markers to investigate patterns of neutral genetic variation among these herds. Most of these herds have maintained remarkably high levels of variation despite the severe bottleneck suffered in the late 1800s. However, differences were noted in the patterns of variation and levels of differentiation among herds, which were compared with historical records of establishment, supplementation, herd size, and culling practices. Although some lineages have been replicated across multiple herds within the US federal system, other lineages with high levels of genetic variation exist in isolated herds and should be considered targets for the establishment of satellite herds. From this and other studies, it is clear that the genetic variation represented in the US federal system is unevenly distributed among National Park Service and Fish and Wildlife Service herds, and that these resources must be carefully managed to ensure long‐term species conservation.
Variability of anti‐αGal antibodies in human serum and their relation to serum cytotoxicity against pig cells
Authors: Kujundzic Milan , Koren Eugen , Neethling Francisca A. , Mitotic Franko , Koscec Mirna , Kujundzic Tatjana , Martin Mic , Cooper David K.C. 
Published: November 2008

Abstract: One of the major obstacles in pig‐to‐human xenografting is hyperacute rejection (HAR) of pig cells caused by preformed anti‐pig antibodies and complement. In 1991 we suggested that anti‐αGal antibodies play a major role in the HAR of pig cells. Anti‐αGal antibodies recognize terminal α‐galactose‐containing epitopes on glycoproteins and glycolipids. They are present in humans, apes, and Old World monkeys, but not in lower mammals such as pigs. However, pigs, unlike humans, express terminal α‐galactose epitopes on vascular endothelium which represent targets for human anti‐αGal antibodies. Despite increasing recognition that anti‐αGal antibodies are an important factor, many questions related to their precise role in HAR remain to be answered.In this study, we analyzed 75 human AB sera in terms of (i) cytotoxic activity against cultured pig (PK‐15) cells, (ii) anti‐αGal titers, (iii) immunoglobulin‐binding to pig cells, and (iv) immunoglobulin concentrations. The results demonstrated considerable variability in cytotoxicity, anti‐αGal titers, and immunoglobulin binding to pig cells, whereas the serum immunoglobulin concentrations were less variable. Positive correlations were found between cytotoxicity and binding of IgG and IgM to the surface of pig cells. The surface‐bound IgG and IgM also correlated with the serum anti‐αGal IgG and IgM titers. Anti‐αGal IgA, however, did not show any relation with cytotoxicity or cell binding. Concentrations of serum total immunoglobulins correlated with neither I cytotoxic activity nor cell binding.
Risk factors of preterm delivery in HIV‐infected pregnant women receiving zidovudine for the prevention of perinatal HIV
Authors: Traisathit Patrinee , Mary Jean Yves , Le Cœur Sophie , Thantanarat Sudanee , Jungpichanvanich Sivaporn , Pornkitprasarn Witaya , Gomutbutra Vorapin , Matanasarawut Wanmanee , Wannapira Wiroj , Lallemant Marc 
Published: November 2008

AbstractAim:  Several studies have shown that preterm delivery, a primary cause of perinatal mortality and morbidity, is more frequent in HIV‐positive women. This study aimed to determine factors associated with prematurity in HIV‐infected women and identify risks for which specific interventions could be targeted.Methods:  Data were prospectively collected in a clinical trial assessing the efficacy of different zidovudine prophylaxis durations for the prevention of perinatal HIV transmission in Thailand. Characteristics associated with prematurity – delivery before 37 weeks – were assessed using univariate and multivariate logistic regression and were subsequently used to identify subgroups of women at risk.Results:  Among 979 women, independent prematurity risk factors were: viral load <3.5 or >4.5 log copies/mL; hemoglobin >11.5 g/dL; weight gain <0.25 kg/week; and body mass index <20 kg/m2. These factors allowed us to define four subgroups with an expected probability of prematurity increasing from 3% to 30%. The two subgroups with the highest expected probability of prematurity were considered to be ‘at risk’ as opposed to the two lowest (odds ratio = 2.6, 95% confidence interval: 1.7–4.0) and the sensitivity and specificity of the prediction were 51% and 71%, respectively.Conclusion:  In this study, four risk factors of preterm delivery were identified allowing the identification of subgroups at increasing risk of prematurity. Adequate nutrition and the provision of highly active antiretroviral therapy during pregnancy as recommended by the World Health Organization for the prevention of perinatal transmission for immunocompromised women in resource‐constrained countries may reduce the risk of premature delivery.
The assessment of the gestational sac diameter, crown–rump length, progesterone and fetal heart rate measurements at the 10th gestational week to predict the spontaneous abortion risk
Authors: Altay M. Metin , Yaz Hakan , Haberal Ali 
Published: November 2008

AbstractAim:  The assessment of the first trimester ultrasonographic and progesterone measurements to predict spontaneous abortion risk.Methods:  Ninety‐nine women at the 10th week of pregnancy were included in this prospective study. Their ages, progesterone (P) levels, mean gestational sac diameters (MGSD), crown–rump lengths (CRL), MGSD–CRL measurements and fetal heart rates (FHR) were recorded. These variables were compared by abortion status.Results:  Patients were followed up until the 20th weeks, and 8 (8.08%) aborted. We evaluated the variables by receiver operator characteristic curve to predict abortion. Only the areas under the curve for P levels (0.29) and for MGSD–CRL (0.16) were statistically significant. We also made logistic regression analysis to predict abortion. P level and FHR were statistically significant (P < 0.01) when the threshold value was 50%. Negative predictive value of the model was 98.9%, and positive predictive value was 50%. Overall, this model can correctly classify 94.9% of the groups. We determined threshold values for MGSD–CRL (≥10 mm) and P (≥25 ng/mL) to predict abortion, but not for FHR. Interestingly, 14 patients with FHR ≥ 175 beats/min did not abort. For the MGSD–CRL threshold, we can predict that the pregnancy will continue with 95.78% probability, with 67% sensitivity and 89% specificity. For the P threshold, the pregnancy will continue with 97.85% probability, with 80% sensitivity and 80% specificity.Conclusion:  MGSD–CRL and P could predict patients with low abortion risk. However, at the 10th week of pregnancy, FHR ≥ 175 beats/min should be evaluated for this purpose by future studies with larger sample sizes.
Prognostic factor on optimal debulking surgery by maximum effort for stage IIIC epithelial ovarian cancer
Authors: Terauchi Fumitoshi , Nishi Hirotaka , Moritake Tetsuya , Kobayashi Yukari , Nagashima Takeo , Onodera Takamoto , Fujito Atsuya , Nakayama Daiei , Isaka Keiichi 
Published: November 2008

AbstractObjectives:  The aim of this study was to assess the prognostic factor of radical surgery in patients with stage IIIc ovarian cancer.Study design:  Fifty‐two patients were subjected to the study. The complete resection or optimal primary cytoreductive surgery (OPCS) was set as the maximum effort, and the accomplishment rate and prognosis were assessed. In addition, the poor prognosis cases among the OPCS‐accomplished were evaluated with several factors based on univariate and multivariate analyses.Results:  The OPCS accomplishment rate was 84.6%. A worse prognosis was obtained in the more‐than‐4‐weeks‐delayed postoperative chemotherapy group, assessing poor‐outcome cases in the OPCS group. A case that required more than three colon resections was the significant factor for the delay of postoperative chemotherapy.Conclusions:  OPCS should be performed with maximum effort to improve the prognosis of stage IIIc ovarian cancer. We should avoid any delay in starting postoperative chemotherapy. In cases that require more than three colon resections, it seems that ‘perioperative management’ should be reconsidered and that priority should be given to postoperative management so that chemotherapy can be started soon after the operation.
Decreased bone mineral density of femur in patients with cervical cancer
Authors: Lee Seung H. , Ku Chun H. , Lee Kwang B. , Shin Jin W. , Park Chan Y. 
Published: November 2008

AbstractAims:  We compared the bone mineral density (BMD) of spinal bone and the femur between patients with cervical cancer and a control group.Methods:  We retrospectively analyzed the BMD of spinal bone and the femur in 40 patients with cervical cancer and 72 control women. The control women were patients treated with surgery for benign disease.Results:  Age, height, bodyweight and body mass index were not significantly different between the two groups. Total femoral BMD in patients with cervical cancer was significantly lower (P = 0.006) than that of control women.In multiple regression analysis, the bodyweight of patients with cervical cancer was a statistically significant predictor positively correlated with the BMD of the total femur.Conclusion:  The results suggest that patients with cervical cancer have low bone mass, especially in the femur, and an increased risk of developing osteoporosis.
Wage Dispersion and Equilibrium Search Models: Some Evidence from Italy
Authors: Sulis Giovanni 
Published: November 2008

AbstractThis paper provides a structural estimation of an equilibrium search model with on‐the‐job search and heterogeneity in firms' productivities using a sample of Italian male workers. Results indicate that arrival rates of offers for workers are higher when unemployed than when employed and firms exploit their monopsony power when setting wages. As a result, workers earn far less than their marginal product. The model is then used to study regional labour market differentials in Italy. Wide variation in frictional transition parameters across areas helps to explain persistent unemployment and wage differentials.
THE WILD AND CROOKED TREE: BARTH, FISH, AND INTERPRETIVE COMMUNITIES
Authors: SAYE SCOTT C. 
Published: November 2008

God the Spirit by Michael WelkerKarl Barth's Critically Realistic Dialectical Theology: Its Genesis and Development 1909‐1936 by Bruce L. McCormackGod Owes Us Nothing: A Brief Remark on Pascal's Religion and on the Spirit of Jansenism by Leszek KolakowskiThe Gift of Death by Jacques Derrida, trans. David WillsDesiring Theology by Charles E. WinquistPostmodern Theologies. The Challenge of Religious Diversity by Terrence W. Tilley, with others
Paraneoplastic neurological syndromes in patients with carcinoid
Authors: Tschernatsch M. , Dierkes C. , Gerriets T. , Hosch J. , Stolz E. , Kaps M. , Krasenbrink I. , Claus D. , Blaes F. 
Published: November 2008

Background:  Paraneoplastic neurological syndromes (PNS) are mainly associated with small‐cell lung cancer, gynaecological tumours and lymphomas. Few studies report the association of neurological syndromes with a carcinoid, the majority being a serotonin‐related myopathy. We report four patients with a PNS associated with carcinoid.Patients and results:  The clinical syndromes were sensory neuropathy, limbic encephalitis, myelopathy and brain stem encephalitis. Two patients had antineuronal autoantibodies (one anti‐Hu, one anti‐Yo), one patient had antinuclear antibodies, and one patient had no autoantibodies. For two of the carcinoids, expression of HuD in the tumour could be demonstrated.Conclusion:  This study demonstrates that carcinoids can also be associated with classical antineuronal antibody‐associated PNS.
Is early‐onset clinically different from late‐onset frontotemporal dementia?
Authors: Borroni B. , Agosti C. , Bellelli G. , Padovani A. 
Published: November 2008

Background and purpose:  Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is the second most common neurodegenerative dementia in the young age after Alzheimer disease. Recent improvement in diagnostic assessment suggests that it is more common than previously, although with a great heterogeneity in clinical presentation. The different clinical patterns related to age of disease onset in behavioural variant FTD (bvFTD) have been fairly studied. Aim of the study was to evaluate whether age at disease onset modulate the heterogeneity of either cognitive impairment or behavioural disturbances in patients affected by bvFTD.Methods:  One hundred and thirty‐four patients with bvFTD entered the study. Age at onset and demographic characteristics were carefully recorded. Each patient underwent a wide neuropsychological and behavioural standardized assessment, as well as a brain SPECT perfusion imaging study.Results:  Behavioural variant FTD were subdivided into four groups according to the age at onset. The four quartile groups did not differ for demographic characteristics and family history for dementia. Global cognitive impairment as well as analysis of the different cognitive domains and behavioural patterns were comparable.Conclusions:  These findings provide evidence that the clinical heterogeneity of bvFTD is not explained by age at disease onset. Further studies are needed.
Functional transcranial Doppler assessment of cerebral blood flow velocities changes during attention tasks
Authors: Matteis M. , Bivona U. , Catani S. , Pasqualetti P. , Formisano R. , Vernieri F. , Troisi E. , Caltagirone C. , Silvestrini M. 
Published: November 2008

Background and Purpose:  Aim of our study was to evaluate cerebral hemodynamic changes during performance of attention tasks and to correlate them with reaction time (RT) and percentage of right answers.Methods:  Mean flow velocity (MFV) in middle cerebral arteries was monitored in 30 subjects by transcranial Doppler during tonic alertness, phasic alertness, focused and divided attention tasks.Results:  Mean flow velocity increase was significantly higher during divided attention with respect to other tasks (P < .001). MFV increase was higher in the right than in the left side (P < .001). Asymmetry during attention tasks resulted significantly higher than that observed in tonic alertness condition. RT was increased during focused attention tasks (P < .001 vs. both alert tasks), with further increase during divided attention tasks (P < .001 vs. focused attention task). RT was inversely related to MFV increase only during tonic alertness (P = 0.012 for left side; P = 0.008 for right side). During the divided attention tasks, an association was found between MFV increase and correct answers (r = 0.39, P = 0.033).Conclusions:  These data show a relationship between RT, correct answers and changes in blood flow velocity and suggest that this method of cerebral blood flow investigation could be a useful approach during assessment of patients with attention deficit.
Report of the Task Force on pre‐graduate education in Europe of the education committee of the European Federation of Neurological Societies Composition of the task force of the education committee on pre‐graduate education
Authors: Lopes Lima J. M. , Mesec A. , Wilkinson I. M. S. , Wiles C. M. , Gilhus N. E. , Zimprich F. , Alekseenko Y. V. , Grisold W. 
Published: November 2008

Background and purpose:  The demographical evolution and the technological revolution seen in the last decades, in developed countries, have dramatically changed the practice of Neurology. However, the academic curriculum in many medical schools has not been updated accordingly over many of the European Countries. The Education Committee of the European Federation of Neurological Societies (EFNS) implemented in 2000 a Task Force on pre‐graduate education trying to give guidelines to adequate pre‐graduate education to the present status.Methods and discussion:  Based on the results of two questionnaires, the first sent to the delegates of the EFNS and to the delegates of the European Board of Neurology, and the second answered by the Task Force members themselves, this paper describes the Task Force recommendations aimed to improve Neurology Education in the Medical Schools. These recommendations are also discussed with the analyses of the current bibliography available.