bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Mood and anxiety spectrum as a means to identify clinically relevant subtypes of bipolar I disorder1
Authors: Fagiolini Andrea , Frank Ellen , Rucci Paola , Cassano Giovanni B , Turkin Scott , Kupfer David J 
Published: August 2007

Objectives:  Latent class analysis of demographic and clinical variables can help identify subtypes of patients with bipolar disorder type I (BD I). Classification of patients into clinically relevant and homogeneous subtypes may have implications for further research. We examine the structure of mood and anxiety spectrum features in patients with BD I to identify subtypes with similar profiles.Methods:  Adult patients diagnosed with BD I, who were also participants in the Bipolar Disorder Center for Pennsylvanians (BDCP) Study, were followed for a median time of 448 days. Data from self‐report instruments of BD I patients were used to derive dichotomous indicators of four spectrum conditions. Latent class analysis was applied to these indicators. Demographic and clinical variables were used as external validators of the classes.Results:  A 3‐class solution provided a satisfactory data fit and outlined three classes of subjects. Members of the three groups differed in terms of demographic and clinical variables, such as gender, age of onset, mean Clinical Global Impression (CGI) depressive ratings and overall CGI ratings at entry, weighted mean CGI ratings for the period between the first and last evaluation in the BDCP Study and mean Global Assessment of Functioning scores at entry and during the BDCP Study.Conclusions:  We found substantial clinical heterogeneity among individuals with BD I and found that the levels of lifetime depressive, manic, panic‐agoraphobic, and obsessive‐compulsive spectrum symptoms identify three distinct subtypes characterized by differences in demographic and clinical variables. These results may have implications for research on the neurobiology, genetics, and treatment of BD I.
Benefits of cyclosporine absorption profiling in nephrotic syndrome: Preprandial once‐daily administration of cyclosporine microemulsion improves slow absorption and can standardize the absorption profile
Authors: TAKEDA ASAMI , HORIKE KEIJI , ONODA HIROSHI , OHTSUKA YASUHIRO , YOSHIDA ASTUHIRO , UCHIDA KAZUHARU , MOROZUMI KUNIO 
Published: August 2007

SUMMARY:Aim:  Cyclosporine is known to improve proteinuria in nephrotic syndrome (NS), but is also associated with drug‐related renal impairment. In this case series, therapeutic drug monitoring using the absorption profile was applied to adults with NS to investigate the efficacy and safety of once‐daily administration of cyclosporine microemulsion (CSAME).Methods:  Twenty patients received CSAME starting at 100–175 mg/day (1.4–3.1 mg/kg per day) once daily after breakfast. The area under the concentration–time curve up to 4 h after administration of cyclosporine (AUC0−4 h) was determined in each patient within 1 week after the start of CSAME treatment. Thereafter, the dose of CSAME was adjusted according to the absorption profile.Results:  After 6 months, treatment with CSAME improved efficacy test values compared with those prior to treatment, and the severe nephrotic state was eliminated in all patients. No changes in serum creatinine or blood urea nitrogen levels were observed. The dose of CSAME was adjusted so that AUC0−4 h and the peak level fell within the range of target values, resulting in a significant decrease in the mean dose of cyclosporine (P = 0.0001). Time of peak level was variable among patients, but when CSAME was administered before breakfast, good absorption was achieved in all patients.Conclusion:  By monitoring the absorption profile in patients with NS, a once‐daily administration of CSAME was used to achieve both efficacy and a reduction in total exposure to the drug. Preprandial administration provided a more stable absorption profile of cyclosporine. The authors hope this method will become standard procedure during cyclosporine treatment in these patients.
Humanism in nursing: the emergence of the light
Authors: Nelson Sioban 
Published: August 2007

Humanism in nursing: the emergence of the lightThis paper examines Western nursing practices by focusing on their spiritual aspect. The transformation of the informal and poorly trained nurse into the trained and uniform persona of the modern nurse is the subject of many nursing histories and part of nursing mythology. Using the work of Michel Foucault and Marcel Mauss, the nursing that preceded the 19th century reformers is re‐examined and continuities between current and quite ancient practices of nursing are explored. The development of practices or technologies for care of the sick originated with the establishment of hospitals in the 4th century as part of pious Christian practice. Current practices of care and the discourse of holistic nursing are argued to have grown from these traditional Christian technologies of care. Humanist or holistic nursing represents the enshrinement of the Christian edios – freed of doctrine; the discourse of caring a redrafted Christian discipline of love.
Reshaping ethnography: contemporary postpositivist possibilities
Authors: Bruni Nina 
Published: August 2007

Reshaping ethnography: contemporary postpositivist possibilitiesFollowing Leinginger's introduction of ethnography into the field of nursing research, numerous descriptive and interpretive studies of health care beliefs and practices have been conducted. The resultant data have been translated into recommendations relative to the areas of nursing education, administration and clinical practice in an effort to ensure that the identified cultural needs are recognized and met. In this paper die discourses that inform such work are explored. Its practices and emergent dilemmas are reassessed in die light of an emerging body of work that challenges its foundational assumptions. Linked under die umbrella of ‘postpositivist ethnography’, such work recognizes the research area as a social and political field of which the researcher is an integral part. Hence, as an informed subject, die researcher, like the informants, is seen to be implicated in the generation of data. She, or he, is not charged with occupying die opposing roles of objective researcher and subjective participant, nor with reporting ‘the truth’ as told by informants. This emergent tradition is not without its dilemmas and of particular concern is the issue of authority; that is, whose voice constructs the text? As nursing academics grapple with questions regarding die nature of die knowledge that informs their discipline, it is imperative that they critique potentially fruitful research practices before they appropriate them. Failure to do so may lead diem to unwittingly generate knowledge that is inimical to their particular quest. The lsquo;new edinographyrsquo; discussed in this paper, offers academics and odiers interested in the generation of knowledge, not only a mediodology that invites the possibility of opening up previously hidden areas of practice, but one that actively involves die researcher in challenging her taken‐for‐granted assumptions.
Courting competency: nursing and the politics of performance in practice
Authors: Walker Kim 
Published: August 2007

Courting competency: nursing and the politics of performance in practiceNurses have long anguished over how best to assess performance in clinical practice. The ‘competency’ movement appears to have provided a solution to this problem. In this paper I undertake a ‘radical hermeneutic’ interrogation of the cultural text of clinical practice doubled with a poststructuralist interpretation of the literal text of the Australian competency project. Through this work I attempt to expose some of the deeply embedded assumptions that underwrite the competency movement and amplify the problems posed by an uncritical appropriation of competency based training and assessment in nursing education.
Foucault and modern medicine
Authors: Peerson Anita 
Published: August 2007

Foucault and modern medicineModernity as a concept or ideal, resulting from the age of Enlightenment and the French Revolution gave hope of a better future and new possibilities. To be modern means an ‘enlightened’ individual and society, welcoming change and development. In this paper, I will discuss Foucault's analysis (1973) of problematics in medicine in eighteenth century France. Three themes prominent in the text are: ‘the birth of the clinic’, ‘the clinical gaze’ and the power‐knowledge relationship. Three problematics identified in modern medicine by Foucault and which are particularly relevant to twentieth century medicine are: (i) the extension of the clinical gaze from the individual body to the wider population; (ii) the increasing medical intervention and use of technology in fundamental life processes; and (iii) the relationship between society and medicine. I will argue that Foucault's analysis is fraught with ambiguities. It is useful, however, for establishing an explanation for medicine today and for presenting a particular interpretation of modernity.
Discipline and passion: meaning, masochism and mythology in popular medical romances
Authors: DeVries Susan , Dunlop Margaret , Goopy Suzanne , Moyle Wendy , Sutherland‐Lockhart Diane 
Published: August 2007

Discipline and passion: meaning, masochism and mythology in popular medical romancesThis paper is an interpretive analysis of the discourses within popular romance literature, with a particular focus on the genre that includes constructions of the images of nurses and nursing. An historical contrast is made along with examinations of the uses and meanings encompassed within this body of literature, and its messages for women as nurses as it reflectdcreates societal change. Deviations from the formulaic nature of these works are explored. Discipline and passion are the recurring themes evident throughout in juxtapositions of romance and power differentials in the hospital/medical scene. The soft‐core, sado‐masochistic images evident in many titles are explored in a way that raises questions about sexuality, romance, nursing mythology, and the future of this sub‐genre of the popular romance.
The spirit of nursing and its healing art: a Jungian perspective
Authors: Richmond Jennifer 
Published: August 2007

The spirit of nursing and its healing art: a Jungian perspectiveTimely change is in the air as interest grows in the riches of nursing literature and other creative arts of nursing. Using Jungian and sociological concepts, this article takes a personal look at the literature's contribution to the profession. As the image of contemporary nursing is redefined, the power of the creative is evident, both in its grounding effect on individual practice and its unifying and strengthening potential for a changing profession.
Massage and sexuality in nursing
Authors: van der Riet Pamela 
Published: August 2007

Massage and sexuality in nursingThis paper draws upon data from a students' massage workshop, focuses on the students' discourse as they positioned diem‐selves as masseurs and considers relationships between nursing discourses and genderized self‐hood. For some students, there was a conflation of sex and massage. Massage was more heavily laden with implicit sexual meaning for male students than for female students. The latter were able to negotiate the ambiguities of working with people's bodies in a more comfortable way. This research has implications for teaching students of nursing, particularly in relation to massage, and also nursing practice that involves care for the patient's body.
Life and the laundromat: reflections on dirty linen and everyday private life
Authors: Lawler Jocalyn 
Published: August 2007

Life and the laundromat: reflections on dirty linen and everyday private lifeThis is a paper in which I reflect on, and draw issues from, an unplanned ethnographic experience in a London laundromat. The concept of ‘everyday life’ has a kind of simple, even benign, quality. However, diere are many events in everyday life that are complex and complicating. Everyday life can be mundane – boring even. But it can also confront and trouble us, even when it concerns such apparendy ordinary matters like doing the laundry. This paper is about how the ordinary matters of everyday life can become problematic and how our involvement in them can confront us with dilemmas that are unwanted yet require our attention and judgement as participants in social life.
Changing conceptions of practical skill and skill acquisition in nursing education
Authors: Bjark Ida T. 
Published: August 2007

Changing conceptions of practical skill and skill acquisition in nursing educationThe learning of practical skill in nursing is not a priority of nursing education today. This is a result of a narrow and mechanistic concept of practical skill and its acquisition in nursing education. This paper reviews these conceptions as they have been developed in major textbooks for nurse teachers and in research articles on skill teaching, learning and evaluation over the past 50 years. Nursing research must move out of the laboratory and into the clinical setting in order to incorporate the typical aspects of practical skill learning in nursing. Future challenges in this kind of research are discussed.
An ethic of caring: conceptual and practical issues
Authors: Dyson Lyn 
Published: August 2007

An ethic of caring: conceptual and practical issuesThe purpose of this paper is to explore the concept of an ethic of care. Caring as a concept has long been associated with nursing, but in more recent times there has been a strong move to promote an ethic of care as a fundamental concept of nursing. Literature and a personal perspective are used to explore the concept of an ethic of care. It is a premise of this paper that care should be taken that an ethic of care, as currently described, does not contribute to nurses' powerlessness in ethical decision‐making in the clinical area. Issues that need to be addressed include the inadequate articulation of the concept to inform and guide practice, and also the emotively laden language utilized by some writers. It is concluded that an ethic of care shows promise to advance nursing knowledge and practice and requires increased research and dialogue to clarify the concept.
Pap smear brochures, misogyny and language: a discourse analysis and feminist critique
Authors: Lane Vivien , Lawler Jocalyn 
Published: August 2007

Pap smear brochures, misogyny and language: a discourse analysis and feminist critiqueText from a public health brochure on pap smears was analysed with particular reference to ways in which the language used conveys particular messages about women and their bodies. In the text, 'humans' were found to be excluded as such. Both the pap smear service provider and the women who are the recipients of this service – and at whom such brochures are targeted – are objectified and their characteristics of human existence (i.e. ontological capacities) were restricted. The language of the pamphlet invokes an image for women associated with vaginal (penile penetrative) sex. The discourse also is found to be didactic, biomedical and written in the voice of the service provider. Further, the encounter of pap smear events is contextualized as procedural such that not only is the woman 'done to' in the process of having a cervical smear test but the woman's and provider's experiences of the encounter are silenced. It is concluded that the texts may be viewed as misogynist and that such texts do not take account of the complexity of women's decisions to 'submit to' or comply with cervical cancer screening.
Patients rewarded: a consideration of The English Patient and the representation of nursing
Authors: Welch Mark 
Published: August 2007

Patients rewarded: a consideration of The English Patient and the representation of nursingThis paper explores the representation of nursing in the 1997 Academy Award winning film The English Patient (Director Minghella 1996). It examines the way in which the concerns and dilemmas that have become commonplace in nursing literature are represented through the experiences of the character Hana. In particular, it is concerned with the way in which the essence of what it means to be a nurse, and its loss and reclamation, is epitomized through Hana and her encounters with Count Almasy (the English patient) and the bomb‐disposal expert Kip. Finally, it suggests that there is much to be gained from a close examination of the representation of nursing in popular culture.
Chronic administration of valproic acid inhibits PC3 cell growth by suppressing tumor angiogenesis in vivo
Authors: Gao Dexuan , Xia Qinghua , Lv Jiaju , Zhang Hui 
Published: August 2007

Aim:  Chromatin remodeling agents such as histone deacetylase inhibitors have been shown to modulate gene expression in tumor cells and inhibit tumor growth and angiogenesis. We investigated the mechanisms of chronic valproic acid (VPA) inhibiting PC3 cell growth in the study.Methods:  We established tumor xenografts of the PC3 cell line and investigated the effect of VPA chronic administration on tumor growth. Apoptosis in tumor tissue was measured using the TUNEL Detection Kit. We detected the effect of VPA chronic administration on histone acetylation; p21CIP1/WAF1 gene expression; vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression by reverse‐transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) analysis; immunohistochemistry; and Western Blotting.Result:  In mouse models with established subcutaneous prostate (PC3), VPA treatment induced 70% inhibition of tumor growth without overt toxicity. Our result showed that chronic administration of VPA has an effect on tumor growth arrest and the effect was associated with increased histone acetylation, p21CIP1/WAF1 up‐regulation, and VEGF down‐regulation.Conclusion:  We conclude that chronic VPA results in profound decreases in the proliferation of PC3 cells, not only by increasing histone H3 acetylation and up‐regulating p21CIP1/WAF1 expression, but also by down‐regulating VEGF.
Impact of improvement in specificity of primary screening test on total cost of prostate cancer mass screening
Authors: Kobayashi Takashi , Goto Rei , Fukui Tsuguya , Ogawa Osamu 
Published: August 2007

Objectives:  Improvement in the specificity of primary screening tests, without significant cost elevation of the assay, provides cost savings in prostate cancer screening programs by reducing unnecessary secondary screening procedures. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the economic impact of improvement in the specificity of primary screening tests and to estimate the socially acceptable cost elevation for improved specificity.Methods:  A decision‐analytic model was designed to evaluate the total costs of prostate cancer mass screening according to the changes in the specificity and the cost of the primary screening test. All assumed factors were tested by three‐way sensitivity analyses incorporating cost and specificity.Results:  The base case analysis showed that a 1% improvement in the specificity of the primary screening test provides a $1.19 cost reduction per participant. Sensitivity analyses showed that an acceptable cost elevation for a 1% improvement in the specificity ranged from 0.68 to 2.90 $/% with respect to changes in several factors in the screening program.Conclusions:  The specificity and cost of the primary screening test has a significant economical impact on prostate cancer mass screening. For each screening program, it should be taken into consideration whether the cost of the new test deserves the specificity.
Nortriptyline delays disease onset in models of chronic neurodegeneration
Authors: Wang Hongyan , Guan Yingjun , Wang Xin , Smith Karen , Cormier Kerry , Zhu Shan , Stavrovskaya Irina G. , Huo Chunfeng , Ferrante Robert J. , Kristal Bruce S. , Friedlander Robert M. 
Published: August 2007

AbstractThis study was to characterize the neuroprotective effects of nortriptyline, a tricyclic antidepressant, in mouse models of chronic neurodegeneration [amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Huntington's disease (HD)]. Nortriptyline was originally selected from a library screening of 1040 FDA‐approved drugs by using isolated mitochondria. It emerged as a strong inhibitor of mitochondrial permeability transition (mPT). Our results showed that nortriptyline significantly delayed disease onset and extended the lifespan of ALS mice although its effect on mortality was less than that on onset. We also tested promethazine, another compound which emerged from the same screening, in ALS mice. Promethazine‐treated ALS mice exhibited a significant delay in disease onset but not in mortality. Histochemistry analysis found that nortriptyline treatment indeed protected motor neurons from death and reduced ventral horn atrophy in ALS mice. Furthermore, release of cytochrome c and activation of caspase 3, two molecular phenomena associated with mitochondrial‐pathway‐mediated cell death, were inhibited by nortriptyline. We also demonstrated similar beneficial effects of nortriptyline in HD mice: it extended the presymptomatic portion of the disease but had no effect on mortality. In an established cellular model of HD, nortriptyline inhibited cell death and decreased loss of mitochondrial membrane potential. In summary, this study indicated the potential therapeutic usefulness of nortriptyline in ALS and HD. In addition, our data suggested a role for mPT in chronic neurodegeneration, particularly at the early rather than the advanced disease stages.
Survival, migration and neuronal differentiation of human fetal striatal and cortical neural stem cells grafted in stroke‐damaged rat striatum
Authors: Darsalia Vladimer , Kallur Therése , Kokaia Zaal 
Published: August 2007

AbstractStroke is a neurodegenerative disorder and the leading cause of disability in adult humans. Treatments to support efficient recovery in stroke patients are lacking. Several studies have demonstrated the ability of grafted neural stem cells (NSCs) to partly improve impaired neurological functions in stroke‐subjected animals. Recently, we reported that NSCs from human fetal striatum and cortex exhibit region‐specific differentiation in vitro, but survive, migrate and form neurons to a similar extent after intrastriatal transplantation in newborn rats. Here, we have transplanted the same cells into the stroke‐damaged striatum of adult rats. The two types of NSCs exhibited a similar robust survival (30%) at 1 month after transplantation, and migrated throughout the damaged striatum. Striatal NSCs migrated farther and occupied a larger volume of striatum. In the transplantation core, cells were undifferentiated and expressed nestin and, to a lesser extent, also GFAP, βIII‐tubulin, DCX and calretinin, markers of immature neural lineage. Immunocytochemistry using markers of proliferation (p‐H3 and Ki67) revealed a very low content of proliferating cells (< 1%) in the grafts. Human cells outside the transplantation core differentiated, exhibited mature neuronal morphology and expressed mature neuronal markers such as HuD, calbindin and parvalbumin. Interestingly, striatal NSCs generated a greater number of parvalbumin+ and calbindin+ neurons. Virtually none of the grafted cells differentiated into astrocytes or oligodendrocytes. Based on these data, human fetal striatum‐ and cortex‐derived NSCs could be considered potentially safe and viable for transplantation, with strong neurogenic potential, for further exploration in animal models of stroke.