bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Competencies in the context of entry‐level registered nurse practice: a collaborative project in Canada
Authors: Black J. , Allen D. , Redfern L. , Muzio L. , Rushowick B. , Balaski B. , Martens P. , Crawford M. , Conlin‐Saindon K. , Chapman L. , Gautreau G. , Brennan M. , Gosbee B. , Kelly C. , Round B. 
Published: May 2008

Aim:  To present the process used by professional staff from 10 Canadian jurisdictional regulatory bodies to develop entry‐level competencies for registered nurse practice.Background:  Canada is composed of provinces and territories, commonly referred to as jurisdictions with the governmental legal authority to administer the affairs of the area. Each jurisdiction establishes regulatory bodies with the mandate to protect the public.The Executive Directors of the jurisdictional regulatory bodies initiated this collaborative project to develop entry‐level competencies for registered nurses. The purpose of the project was to enhance the consistency of entry‐level registered nurse competencies, thereby supporting reciprocity of registration and workforce mobility, within Canada. This was the first time that Canadian nursing regulatory bodies have collaborated in a jurisdictional‐driven project of this magnitude for registered nurses exclusively. This initiative has demonstrated how nursing regulatory bodies, working together, can achieve a common goal.Process:  The project participants worked from 2004 to 2006, developing and refining the competencies. Multiple methods were used to accomplish the task, including monthly teleconferences, frequent E‐mail communications, small group work and face‐to‐face meetings. At various stages in the project, consultation with registered nurses within several participating jurisdictions occurred, depending on where each jurisdiction was in their jurisdictional competency review. This project spanned a 2‐year period and resulted in a comprehensive document that captured the views of the participants and enhanced the resulting document.Conclusion:  The result is a document stating the core competencies for entry‐level registered nurses in the 10 participating jurisdictions and includes several components that establish the context in which entry‐level competencies are developed and applied. The 119 competency statements are organized in a standard‐based framework of five categories: professional responsibility and accountability; knowledge‐based practice; ethical practice; service to the public; and self‐regulation. The project team plans to follow up on implementation as each jurisdiction decides how to use the competencies within their particular jurisdiction.
THE UNIVERSALITY OF JEWISH ETHICS: A Rejoinder to Secularist Critics
Authors: Novak David 
Published: May 2008

ABSTRACTJewish ethics like Judaism itself has often been charged with being “particularistic,” and in modernity it has been unfavorably compared with the universality of secular ethics. This charge has become acute philosophically when the comparison is made with the ethics of Kant. However, at this level, much of the ethical rejection of Jewish particularism, especially its being beholden to a God who is above the universe to whom this God prescribes moral norms and judges according to them, is also a rejection of Christian (or any other monotheistic) ethics, no matter how otherwise universal. Yet this essay argues that Jewish ethics that prescribes norms for all humans, and that is knowable by all humans, actually constitutes a wider moral universe than does Kantian ethics, because it can include non‐rational human objects and even non‐human objects altogether. This essay also argues that a totally egalitarian moral universe, encompassing all human relations, becomes an infinite, totalizing universe, which can easily become the ideological justification (ratio essendi) of a totalitarian regime.
IS FORGETTING REPREHENSIBLE? Holocaust Remembrance and the Task of Oblivion
Authors: Krondorfer Björn 
Published: May 2008

ABSTRACT“Forgetting” plays an important role in the lives of individuals and communities. Although a few Holocaust scholars have begun to take forgetting more seriously in relation to the task of remembering—in popular parlance as well as in academic discourse on the Holocaust—forgetting is usually perceived as a negative force. In the decades following 1945, the terms remembering and forgetting have often been used antithetically, with the communities of victims insisting on the duty to remember and a society of perpetrators desiring to forget. Thus, the discourse on Holocaust memory has become entrenched on this issue. This essay counters the swift rejection of forgetting and its labeling as a reprehensible act. It calls attention to two issues: first, it offers a critical argument for different forms of forgetting; second, it concludes with suggestions of how deliberate performative practices of forgetting might benefit communities affected by a genocidal past. Is it possible to conceive of forgetting not as the ugly twin of remembering but as its necessary companion?
PERTURBATIONS OF THE SOUL AND PAINS OF THE BODY: Augustine on Evil Suffered and Done in War
Authors: Carnahan Kevin 
Published: May 2008

ABSTRACTMany contemporary scholars debate whether war should be conceived as a relative evil or a morally neutral act. The works of Augustine may offer new ways of thinking through the categories of this debate. In an early period, Augustine develops the distinction between evil done and evil suffered. Augustine's early treatments of war locate the saint as detached sage doing only good, and immune from evil suffered. In a middle period, he develops a richer picture of the evil suffered on the occasion of the loss of historical goods but fails to develop the implications of this picture as concerns war. Finally, without abandoning emphasis on the avoidance of doing evil, Augustine comes to highlight how evil suffered in war prevents us from speaking simply of good wars. Augustine's ability to hold together senses of evil and their moral significance provides a useful avenue for new thought on this issue.
BODY POLITICS AND THE POLITICS OF BODIES: Racism and Hauerwasian Theopolitics
Authors: Woodard‐Lehman Derek Alan 
Published: May 2008

ABSTRACTToday dominative power operates apart from, and exterior to, those state governmentalities that the “body politics” of Stanley Hauerwas disavows as “constantinian” entanglements such as military service, governmental office, and conspicuous expressions of civil religion. This is especially true with respect to those biopolitical modalities David Theo Goldberg names as “racelessness,” by which material inequalities are racially correlated, thereby allowing whiteness to mediate life and ration death. If, as Hauerwas contends, radical ecclesiology is indeed a theopolitical alternative to the nation–state's politics of violence, then it must prove itself resistant to such racialized violence. However, inasmuch as the (largely) uncontested fact of ecclesial segregation recapitulates these broader stratifications and exclusions, the church functions as a passive civil religion and itself participates in the politics of “nonviolent violence.” Thus, Hauerwas must do something that he has been reluctant to do. He must talk about race and racism more directly, specifying how his ecclesiological theopolitics resists such forms of violence; more importantly, he must demonstrate how actual ecclesial congregations instantiate such resistance. In short, to be truly nonviolent, Hauerwas's body politics must become a politics of bodies.
“WHY BE MORAL?” The Cheng Brothers' Neo‐Confucian Answer
Authors: Huang Yong 
Published: May 2008

ABSTRACTIn this article, I present a neo‐Confucian answer, by Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi, to the question, “Why should I be moral?” I argue that this answer is better than some representative answers in the Western philosophical tradition. According to the Chengs, one should be moral because it is a joy to perform moral actions. Sometimes one finds it a pain, instead of a joy, to perform moral actions only because one lacks the necessary genuine moral knowledge—knowledge that is accessible to every common person as long as one makes the effort to learn. One should make the effort to learn such knowledge—to seek joy in performing moral actions—because to be moral is a distinguishing mark of being human. This neo‐Confucian answer seems to be egoistic, as its conception of motivation for morality is based on self‐interest: to seek one's own joy. However, since it emphasizes that one's true self‐interest is to seek joy in things uniquely human, which is to be moral, self‐interest and morality become identical; the more a person seeks one's self‐interest, the more moral the person is, and vice versa.
Determination of the antioxidative capacity of an antioxidant complex and idebenone: an in vitro rapid and sensitive method
Authors: Zhai Hongbo , Cordoba‐Diaz Manuel , Wa Chrystal , Hui Xiaoying , Maibach Howard I 
Published: May 2008

SummaryBackground/aims  The goal of this study was to determine the ability of two putative antioxidant solutions to suppress the formation of superoxide anion radicals created by optical excitation of a photosensitizer and measured by highly sensitive luminometric detection.Methods/results  Solutions containing 3% antioxidant complex and 1% idebenone were tested.* The antioxidant complex is an aqueous combination of botanical extracts rich in ferulic acid, caffeic acid, and other polyphenols. Idebenone is a lower molecular weight analog of coenzyme Q10 (a potent antioxidant). Each was dissolved in lipid soluble reagents (solutions) and run through a Photochem® (photochemiluminometer system) device. Their antioxidant capacity was expressed as nmol equivalents of synthetic vitamin E. Nine aliquots of each compound were measured. The mean antioxidant capacities for the 3% antioxidant complex and 1% idebenone were 525 ± 23 and 213 ± 14 nmol, respectively, with a statistically significant difference between the two compounds (P < 0.001).Conclusion  The 3% antioxidant solution possesses a significant antioxidative capacity, which was 2.5 times greater than the known antioxidant idebenone in a 1% solution as shown by the quenching of superoxide anion radicals measured by photochemiluminescence. This method provides rapid, accurate, and sensitive measurement of the antioxidant properties of lipid‐soluble compounds.
The ability of onion extract gel to improve the cosmetic appearance of postsurgical scars
Authors: Draelos Zoe Diana 
Published: May 2008

SummarySuperior wound healing with excellent cosmesis is critical in superficial dermal wounds created when cosmetically unacceptable lesions are removed from the body. Dermatologists frequently remove seborrheic keratoses, nevi, and angiomas from the body with a superficial shave excision. The excision is designed to minimize dermal scarring while removing the unsightly skin growth. This study was undertaken to evaluate the ability of an onion extract gel to improve the appearance of scars following excision. Sixty subjects with symmetrical seborrheic keratoses at least 8 mm in diameter on the right and left upper chest were enrolled. The lesions were removed with a scalpel shave, following local anesthesia with 2% lidocaine plus epinephrine. The surgical sites were allowed to heal for 2 to 3 weeks, at which time the subjects returned to the research center for randomization to either the onion gel treatment group or the no‐treatment group. Forty‐seven subjects in the active treatment group were further randomized as to the site of study product application. Thirteen control subjects applied nothing to either side. Subjects returned to the study center at weeks 2, 4, 6, and 10 for photography, subject evaluations, and investigator assessments. The study showed that the onion extract gel significantly improved scar softness, redness, texture, and global appearance at the excision site at study weeks 4, 6, and 10 as assessed by the blinded investigator.
Immune protective effect of a moisturizer with DNA repair ingredients
Authors: Lucas Cheré R , Ke Malcolm S , Matsui Mary S , Maes Daniel , Cooper Kevin D , Stevens Seth R , Baron Elma D 
Published: May 2008

SummaryUltraviolet (UV) light damages DNA and impairs immune surveillance. The faulty repair of DNA after UV exposure is associated with immune suppression and facilitates photodamage that leads to photoaged skin and the growth of skin cancer. Sunscreens have been developed to filter UV light from entering the skin, but are not beneficial once DNA damage has occurred. Enhancing DNA repair after UV radiation may provide added advantage and prevent UV immunosuppression. This study was performed to determine whether a product with DNA repair ingredients prevents UV‐induced suppression of contact hypersensitivity responses in vivo. Solar simulated radiation was delivered on skin with and without topical treatment with a moisturizer containing DNA repair enzymes (Advanced Night Repair Concentrate). Subjects were then sensitized to the hapten dinitrochlorobenzene, and the level of resultant contact hypersensitivity response was elicited 2 weeks later. Contact hypersensitivity response measured by skin fold thickness was significantly suppressed in untreated UV‐irradiated subjects but not in subjects treated with DNA repair moisturizer after solar simulated radiation. Our results indicate that DNA repair ingredients significantly prevent UV‐induced immune suppression.
Potential Savings from an Evidence‐Based Consumer‐Oriented Public Education Campaign on Prescription Drugs
Authors: Donohue Julie M. , Fischer Michael A. , Huskamp Haiden A. , Weissman Joel S. 
Published: May 2008

Objective. To estimate potential savings associated with the Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs program, a national educational program that provides consumers with price and effectiveness information on prescription drugs.Data Sources. National data on 2006 prescription sales and retail prices paid for angiotensin‐converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs), β‐blockers, calcium channel blockers, and 3‐hydroxy‐3‐methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG‐coA) reductase inhibitors (statins).Study Design. We converted national data on aggregate unit sales of drugs in the four classes to defined daily doses (DDD) and estimated a range of potential savings from generic and therapeutic substitution.Principal Findings. We estimated that $2.76 billion, or 7.83 percent of sales, could be saved if use of the drugs recommended by the educational program was increased. The recommended drugs' prices were 15–65 percent lower per DDD than their therapeutic alternatives. The majority (57.4 percent) of potential savings would be achieved through therapeutic substitution.Conclusions. Substantial savings can be achieved through greater use of comparatively effective and lower cost drugs recommended by a national consumer education program. However, barriers to dissemination of consumer‐oriented drug information must be addressed before savings can be realized.
Comparison of Web‐Based versus Paper‐and‐Pencil Self‐Administered Questionnaire: Effects on Health Indicators in Dutch Adolescents
Authors: Van De Looij‐Jansen Petra M. , De Wilde Erik Jan 
Published: May 2008

Objective. The aim of this study is to investigate differences in responses related to (mental) health and behavior between two methods of data collection: web‐based (web) and paper‐and‐pencil (p&p).Study Design. Within each participating school all third‐grade classes (mainly 14–15‐year‐old pupils) were randomly assigned to either the Internet condition (n=271) or the paper‐and‐pencil condition (n=261).Principal Findings. Significant but small differences were found for the strengths and difficulties subscales “emotional symptoms” (p&p>web) and “prosocial behavior” (p&p>web), and carrying a weapon (web>p&p). Perceived level of privacy and confidentiality did not differ between the two modes.Conclusions. The findings suggest that in a controlled school setting, web‐based administration of health indicators yields almost the same results as paper‐and‐pencil administration. To generalize these findings, we recommend repeated studies in other populations and settings.
Selection Bias and Utilization of the Dual Eligibles in Medicare and Medicaid HMOs
Authors: Zhang Hui , Kane Robert L. , Dowd Bryan , Feldman Roger 
Published: May 2008

Objective. To examine the existence of selection bias in the first 3 years of the Minnesota Senior Health Options (MSHO) demonstration and to estimate the MSHO effects on medical services utilization after adjusting for selection bias.Data Sources. Monthly dual eligibility data and MSHO encounter data of March 1997–December 2000 and Medicaid encounter data of January 1995–December 2000 from the Minnesota Department of Human Services; Medicare fee‐for‐service claims data of January 1995–December 2000 from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.Study Design. Quasi‐experimental design comparing utilization between MSHO and control groups; multiple econometric and statistical models were estimated with time‐invariant and time‐varying covariates.Principal Findings. Favorable MSHO selection was found in the nursing home (NH) and community populations, but selection bias did not substantially affect the findings. Enrollment in MSHO for more than 1 year reduced inpatient hospital admissions and days, emergency room and physician visits for NH residents, and lowered physician visits for community residents.Conclusions. There was favorable selection in the first 3 years of the MSHO program. Enrollment in MSHO reduced several types of utilization for the NH group and physician visits for community enrollees.
Investigation into A antigen expression on O2 heterozygous group O–labeled red blood cell units
Authors: Yazer Mark H. , Hult Annika K. , Hellberg Åsa , Hosseini‐Maaf Bahram , Palcic Monica M. , Olsson Martin L. 
Published: May 2008

BACKGROUND: There are two principal types of group O alleles; deletional alleles feature 261delG leading to nonfunctional truncated protein. Nondeletional alleles have the consensus guanosine at residue 261. The major nondeletional allele, O2, encodes full‐length protein with Gly268Arg. While reports vary, O2 has been proposed to encode weakly functional A‐glycosyltransferase (GTA). The main objective of this study was to evaluate if GTA activity is detectable in O2 donors.STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Donor samples from Pittsburgh and Lund were ABO typed by automated methods. DNA was extracted from 779 group O donors whose red blood cells (RBCs) were available for transfusion. ABO genotyping identified those with O2 alleles. The following tests were performed on randomly selected O2 samples (number): adsorption‐elution with anti‐A (3), flow cytometry (15), plasma enzyme activity (4), and attempts to convert group O RBCs to A (2) with O2 plasma and titration of plasma anti‐A/‐A1 (3).RESULTS: Forty O2‐heterozygous donors were identified (5.1%). Adsorption‐elution and sensitive flow cytometry did not reveal A antigens on O2 RBCs. Plasma enzyme analysis failed to show GTA activity above baseline; O2 plasma was unable to add measurable A antigens to O RBCs. Titers of anti‐A/‐A1 appeared reduced in O2 plasma but did not cause ABO typing discrepancies. No immediate hemolysis or adverse reactions were reported following transfusion of O2 RBCs to six evaluable group O recipients.CONCLUSIONS: Other than lower plasma anti‐A titers, GTA activity was not found in these O2 samples. Neither automated blood grouping discrepancies nor clinical problems related to transfusing these O2 units were observed.
Platelet products prepared by different methods of sedimentation undergo platelet activation differently during storage
Authors: Skripchenko Andrey , Kurtz James , Moroff Gary , Wagner Stephen J. 
Published: May 2008

BACKGROUND: The activation marker CD40 ligand (CD40L) has recently been demonstrated to be released from the cytoplasm of platelets (PLTs) during storage. CD40L may be associated with some adverse transfusion reactions including febrile responses and transfusion‐related acute lung injury. CD62P has been traditionally measured to assess PLT activation. This study compares the surface levels of CD40L and CD62P and accumulation of the soluble forms of these activation markers in the plasma of stored PLTs, prepared by PLT‐rich plasma (PRP) or buffy coat (BC) methods and with two apheresis instruments.STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Individual PLT concentrates (PCs) were prepared in 100 percent plasma from a pool of two ABO‐identical whole‐blood units. Apheresis PLTs (APs) were prepared in 100 percent plasma using one of two commercially available cell separators (Amicus, Baxter Healthcare; and Trima, Gambro BCT). Surface expression of CD40L and CD62P was measured by flow cytometry, and secretion of soluble CD40L (sCD40L) and soluble CD62 (sCD62) was measured by enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay during 7 days of PLT storage.RESULTS: Secretion of sCD40L was greater in Amicus APs than in Trima APs during the first 3 days of storage. It was also greater in the PRP‐PC preparations than in BC‐PC preparations through the first day of storage. Surface expression of CD40L was low in all PLT preparations. Secretion of sCD62P was greater in Amicus APs than in Trima APs during the entire storage period and greater in PRP‐PC than in BC during the first 5 days of storage. The percentage of CD62P‐positive PLTs was greater in Amicus units than Trima units and greater in PRP‐PC than BC‐PC preparations during the first 5 and 3 days of storage, respectively.CONCLUSION: The kinetics of the secretion of CD40L are influenced by the method used to prepare PLTs for storage. The patterns for CD40L membrane association and secretion are different than those observed for CD62P during storage.
Antibody identification using both automated solid‐phase red cell adherence assay and a tube polyethylene glycol antiglobulin method
Authors: Yamada Chisa , Serrano‐Rahman Leana , Vasovic Ljiljana V. , Mohandas Kala , Uehlinger Joan 
Published: May 2008

BACKGROUND: Because antibody identification is labor‐intensive, facilities with high volume and/or marginal technical support could benefit from partial automation.STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: After a validation study of automated solid‐phase red cell (RBC) adherence assay (SPRCA; Galileo, Immucor) compared to tube polyethylene glycol antiglobulin antibody identification method (t‐PEG), we evaluated Galileo followed by select RBC panels by t‐PEG. Of 298 consecutive samples in which antibody identifications were performed in a 2‐month period, 160 samples were examined by both Galileo and t‐PEG.RESULTS: There were concordant results between Galileo and t‐PEG in 120 of 160 (75%) samples including cases with identical alloantibody identification (n = 99), panagglutinin (n = 9), and negative results (n = 12). Of the samples in which alloantibodies were identified, 99 of 108 (91.7%) were identical. In 9 samples with discrepant antibody identifications, 2 samples showed alloantibody specificity by Galileo (possible anti‐K and anti‐Jkb) but were negative by t‐PEG. These antibodies were identifiable by t‐PEG in subsequent samples. One sample showed anti‐E by Galileo, while t‐PEG revealed anti‐Fya and ‐E. Five samples showed alloantibody specificity by t‐PEG and nonspecific reactivity or panagglutinin by Galileo. These included samples with anti‐C (n = 2), anti‐E (n = 2), and anti‐Fya (n = 1). One sample showed anti‐E by t‐PEG but was negative by Galileo. Galileo found a panagglutinin in 23 samples and nonspecific reactivity in 22 samples, whereas t‐PEG found a panagglutinin in 12 samples but no nonspecific reactivity.CONCLUSIONS: Automated Galileo solid‐phase red cell adherence assay can be a useful adjunct for antibody identification, although it detects more nonspecific reactivity than does t‐PEG.