bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Experiences of intensive care nurses assessing sedation/agitation in critically ill patients
Authors: Weir Stephanie , O’Neill Anna 
Published: June 2008

AbstractBackground:  Patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) will more often than not require sedative and analgesic drugs to enable them to tolerate the invasive procedures and therapies caused as a result of their underlying condition and/or necessary medical interventions.Aim:  This article reports a study exploring the perceptions and experiences of intensive care nurses using a sedation/agitation scoring (SAS) tool to assess and manage sedation and agitation amongst critically ill patients. The principle aims and objectives of this study were as follows:

to explore nurse’s everyday experiences using a sedation scoring tool;
to explore and understand nurse’s attitudes and beliefs of the various components of assessing and managing sedation among critically ill patients.

Method:  Using a descriptive qualitative approach, semistructured interviews were carried out with a purposive sample of eight ICU nurses within a district general hospital ICU. The interviews focused on nurse’s own experiences and perceptions of using a sedation scoring tool in clinical practice. Burnard’s 14‐stage thematic content analysis framework was employed to assist in the data analysis process.Results:  Three key themes emerged that may have implications not only for clinical practice but for further research into the use of the SAS tool.

Benefits to patient care as a direct result of using a sedation scoring tool.
The concerns of nursing staff.
The implications of using such a tool in clinical practice.

Conclusion:  This paper reinforces the potential benefits to patients as a direct result of implementing the SAS scoring tool and clinical guidelines. Furthermore, it highlights the reluctance of a number of staff to adhere to such guidelines and discusses the concerns regarding less experienced nurses administering sedative agents. Attention was also drawn to the educational requirements of nursing and medical staff when using the SAS scoring tool.
Commentary: Jackson JC et al. (2007). Post‐traumatic stress disorder and post‐traumatic stress symptoms following critical illness in medical intensive care unit patients: assessing the magnitude of the problem
Authors: Rattray Janice 
Published: June 2008

AbstractPost‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a potentially serious psychiatric disorder that has traditionally been associated with traumatic stressors such as participation in combat, violent assault and survival of natural disasters. Recently, investigators have reported that the experience of critical illness can also lead to PTSD, although details of the association between critical illness and PTSD remain unclear. We conducted keyword searches of MEDLINE and Psych Info and investigations of secondary references for all articles pertaining to PTSD in medical intensive care unit (ICU) survivors. From 78 screened papers, 16 studies (representing 15 cohorts) and approximately 920 medical ICU patients met the inclusion criteria. A total of 10 investigations used brief PTSD screening tools exclusively as opposed to more comprehensive diagnostic methods. Reported PTSD prevalence rates varied from 5% to 63%, with the three highest prevalence estimates occurring in studies with fewer than 30 patients. Loss to follow‐up rates ranged from 10% to 70%, with average loss to follow‐up rates exceeding 30%. Exact PTSD prevalence rates cannot be determined because of methodological limitations such as selection bias, loss to follow‐up and the wide use of screening (as opposed to diagnostic) instruments. In general, the high prevalence rates reported in the literature are likely to be overestimates because of the limitations of the investigations conducted to date. Although PTSD may be a serious problem in some survivors of critical illness, data on the whole population are inconclusive. Because the magnitude of the problem posed by PTSD in survivors of critical illness is unknown, there remains a pressing need for larger and more methodologically rigorous investigations of PTSD in ICU survivors. Abstract reprinted from the Critical Care, volume 11, Jackson JC et al., ‘Post‐traumatic stress disorder and post‐traumatic stress symptoms following critical illness in medical intensive care unit patients: assessing the magnitude of the problem.’, page R27. © 2007, reproduced with permission from BioMed Central Ltd.
MORPHOLOGICAL AND GENETIC VARIATION IN THE POPULATIONS OF SARGASSUM HEMIPHYLLUM (PHAEOPHYCEAE) IN THE NORTHWESTERN PACIFIC1
Authors: Cheang Chi Chiu , Chu Ka Hou , Ang, Jr. Put O. 
Published: June 2008

Difficulty in species identification of Sargassum (Sargassaceae, Fucales) is partly attributed to the high polymorphism among its individuals and populations. This study aimed at assessing morphological and genetic variations in two varieties, var. hemiphyllum J. Agardh and var. chinense J. Agardh, of Sargassum hemiphyllum (Turner) C. Agardh, a widely distributed species in the northwestern Pacific. We investigated 26 measurable, five numerical, and 33 categorical morphological parameters associated with different branching levels of specimens from each of six localities within its distribution range using cluster analysis (CA) and principal coordinate analysis (PCoA). Leaf size of the primary and secondary branching levels and the vesicle size of the secondary branches of the specimens examined were determined to be the most important morphological parameters that were significantly different among populations. Change in leaf and vesicle length of individuals among the six populations followed a latitudinal gradient, with smaller leaves and vesicles associated with northern populations and larger ones in the southern populations. The possible influence of the gradual change in sea surface temperatures (SSTs) along this gradient in the northwestern Pacific on leaf and vesicle morphologies of this species was suggested. PCR‐RFLP analysis of the RUBISCO spacer in the chloroplast genome revealed two distinct and highly homogenous clades, a China clade and a Japan‐Korea clade, which corresponded to var. chinense and var. hemiphyllum, respectively. The formation of refugia along the “Paleo‐coast” in the East China Sea during glacial periods is suggested to have led to the vicariance of ancestral populations of S. hemiphyllum and thus to have promoted genetic differentiation. The massive freshwater outflow of the Yellow and Yangtze rivers may continue to act as a barrier, prolonging the allopatric distribution of the two varieties.
INVOLVEMENT OF INDOLE‐3‐ACETIC ACID PRODUCED BY THE GROWTH‐PROMOTING BACTERIUM AZOSPIRILLUM SPP. IN PROMOTING GROWTH OF CHLORELLA VULGARIS1
Authors: De‐Bashan Luz E. , Antoun Hani , Bashan Yoav 
Published: June 2008

Involvement of indole‐3‐acetic acid (IAA), produced by the microalgae‐growth‐promoting bacteria Azospirillum brasilens and A. lipoferum, in promoting growth of the microalga Chlorella vulgaris Beij. was studied. Four wildtype strains of Azospirillum and their IAA‐deficient mutants were co‐immobilized with C. vulgaris in alginate beads. Cultures were grown in synthetic growth medium supplemented with tryptophan. Growth promotion of microalgae and production of exogenous IAA by Azospirillum spp. were monitored. All wildtype Azospirillum spp. produced significant but varying amounts of IAA, while their mutant forms produced significantly less. The results demonstrated a significant growth promotion in Chlorella cultures when immobilized with the four wildtype strains of Azospirillum, while very low or no enhanced growth was induced by the four IAA‐deficient mutants, compared to when C. vulgaris is immobilized alone. A complementation experiment, where an IAA‐attenuated mutant (A. brasilense SpM7918) was supplemented with IAA produced by its parental wildtype strain (A. brasilense Sp6), restored growth promotion in the microalgae‐mutant culture.
AN ECOLOGICAL REVIEW OFCLADOPHORA GLOMERATA(CHLOROPHYTA) IN THE LAURENTIAN GREAT LAKES1
Authors: Higgins Scott N. , Malkin Sairah Y. , Todd Howell E. , Guildford Stephanie J. , Campbell Linda , Hiriart‐Baer Veronique , Hecky Robert E. 
Published: June 2008

Cladophora glomerata(L.) Kütz. is, potentially, the most widely distributed macroalga throughout the world’s freshwater ecosystems.C. glomeratahas been described throughout North America, Europe, the Atlantic Islands, the Caribbean Islands, Asia, Africa, Australia and New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands.Cladophorablooms were a common feature of the lower North American Great Lakes (Erie, Michigan, Ontario) from the 1950s through the early 1980s and were largely eradicated through the implementation of a multibillion‐dollar phosphorus (P) abatement program. The return of widespread blooms in these lakes since the mid‐1990s, however, was not associated with increases in P loading. Instead, current evidence indicates that the resurgence in blooms was directly related to ecosystem level changes in substratum availability, water clarity, and P recycling associated with the establishment of dense colonies of invasive dreissenid mussels. These results support the hypothesis that dreissenid mussel invasions may induce dramatic shifts in energy and nutrient flow from pelagic zones to the benthic zone.
The Effects of Neuropeptide S on Ethanol Drinking and Other Related Behaviors in Alcohol‐Preferring and ‐Nonpreferring Rats
Authors: Badia‐Elder Nancy E. , Henderson Angela N. , Bertholomey Megan L. , Dodge Neil C. , Stewart Robert B. 
Published: June 2008

Background.  Neuropeptide S (NPS) is a 20‐amino‐acid peptide, identified in the brain and periphery, that is reported to regulate arousal, anxiety, and feeding behavior. Studies were conducted to determine whether this peptide would alter ethanol intake, sucrose intake, anxiety, and general motor activity in alcohol‐preferring (P) and ‐nonpreferring (NP) rats.Methods.  Experiment 1: P and NP rats were given 8 weeks of continuous access to ethanol (15% w/v) and water. All rats were implanted with a cannula aimed at either the left or right lateral ventricle and 1 week later were infused with NPS (0.075, 0.3, 1.2 nmol) or artificial cerebrospinal fluid (aCSF) and tested for ethanol, food, and water intake. Experiment 2: The same doses of NPS were administered to a group of P rats and intake of 2.5% (w/v) sucrose was measured. Experiment 3: Infusions of NPS (1.2 nmol) or aCSF were administered to P rats prior to a 5‐minute test on an elevated plus maze. Experiment 4: Ethanol naive P and NP rats were infused with NPS (0.075, 0.15, 0.3, 0.6, and 1.2 nmol) or aCSF prior to a 20‐minute test in activity monitors.Results.  NPS reduced ethanol intake in P, but not in NP rats. It did not influence sucrose solution intake in P rats. However, an increase in food intake was seen in both rat lines following lower doses of the peptide. NPS did neither alter anxiety‐like behavior in the elevated plus maze test nor was there an effect on general motor activity; however, there was an increase in the amount of time spent in the center of the activity monitors following infusions of 0.6 nmol of NPS in P, but not in NP rats, indicating anxioltyic actions of the peptide.Conclusions.  These data suggest a role for NPS in the modulation of ethanol drinking and possibly anxiety‐like behavior in rats selectively bred for high alcohol drinking.
Correspondence Between Secular Changes in Alcohol Dependence and Age of Drinking Onset Among Women in the United States
Authors: Grucza Richard A. , Norberg Karen , Bucholz Kathleen K. , Bierut Laura J. 
Published: June 2008

Background:  Several lines of evidence suggest that the lifetime prevalence of alcohol dependence among women has increased in recent decades, but has not risen significantly for men. Early age at onset of drinking (AOD) is strongly correlated with risk for alcohol dependence and there is evidence that mean AOD has also decreased, particularly for women. The present report sought to confirm the trends in AOD and to determine the extent to which they might account for secular trends in alcohol dependence.Methods:  Repeated cross‐sectional analyses of data from 2 large, national epidemiological surveys were conducted to enable estimates of cross‐cohort differences while controlling for age‐related factors. Regression analyses were used to compute risk for alcohol dependence associated with birth cohort membership, before and after inclusion of AOD as a covariate.Results:  Both men and women born between 1944 and 1963 had earlier ages of onset for drinking than did the earliest birth cohort analyzed (1934–43). However, the net decrease in AOD was twice as large for women (3.2 years) than that for men (1.6 years). After adjusting for AOD, differences in lifetime prevalence between different birth cohorts of women were rendered nonsignificant, indicating that AOD accounts for a substantial portion of change in the lifetime prevalence of alcohol dependence.Conclusions:  These results suggest that a decrease in AOD accounts for much of the increase in lifetime alcohol dependence among women. AOD is likely to be an indicator of dynamic, and therefore modifiable risk behaviors impacting risk for alcohol dependence.
The role of donor antibodies in the pathogenesis of transfusion‐related acute lung injury: a systematic review
Authors: Middelburg Rutger A. , Van Stein Daniëlle , Briët Ernest , Van Der Bom Johanna G. 
Published: June 2008

BACKGROUND: The majority of cases of transfusion‐related acute lung injury (TRALI) are thought to be caused by the presence of leukocyte antibodies in the blood of the donor. We performed a systematic search of the literature to quantify the contribution of donor antibodies to the occurrence of TRALI.STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: We conducted a systematic search of the PubMed and EMBASE databases. Retrieved articles were judged by three authors independently. Reference lists of all articles were subsequently screened for relevant references. All articles in English, German, French, and Dutch, published at any time before December 2007, were eligible for inclusion.RESULTS: Of 77 articles on leukocyte antibodies in donors involved in a case of TRALI, 14 articles contained sufficient data. These 14 articles reported leukocyte antibodies in 24 of 51 donors (47%) associated with 24 of 28 TRALI cases (86%). Of 15 articles that reported the prevalence of leukocyte antibodies in the general donor population, 2 articles reported a prevalence of 17 percent in (452) randomly selected donors. The odds ratio for developing TRALI was 15 (95% confidence interval [CI], 5.1‐45) for patients who received a transfusion from a donor who tested positive for the presence of leukocyte antibodies, compared to donors who tested negative. Leukocyte antibodies contributed to 80 percent (95% CI, 51%‐92%) of all TRALI cases.CONCLUSION: Leukocyte antibodies were more prevalent in donors involved in TRALI cases than among randomly selected donors. These findings suggest that donor antibodies contribute to four‐fifths of all TRALI cases.
Depleted Uranium, Public Science, and the Politics of Closure
Authors: Halfon Saul 
Published: June 2008

AbstractThe public controversy over depleted uranium (DU) seems to follow a standard trajectory—scientific closure, via the reduction of scientific uncertainty, led directly to policy closure, as government bureaucracies increasingly downplayed its dangers and denied redress to exposed individuals. Closer inspection, however, reveals a more complex dynamic. A series of expert, public science reports, while articulating a shared narrative of DU safety, actually accentuated great uncertainty concerning DU's biological effects, mirroring new uncertainties raised by ongoing scientific research. Policy closure is thus mirrored in neither the scholarly scientific literature nor in broader political realms, suggesting a close and unique relation between the expert reports and governmental policy making. Public science institutions and the expert reports they produce are crucial political resources for resolving governmental policy making but are decidedly less successful at closing the broader political debate.
Earth Day and Its Precursors: Continuity and Change in the Evolution of Midtwentieth‐Century U.S. Environmental Policy
Authors: Webber David J. 
Published: June 2008

AbstractEarth Day 1970's legacy overshadows two earlier events resulting in popular misconceptions about U.S. environmental politics: that environmental policy began with Earth Day and that Congress and the president were not concerned with the environment until public opinion and interest groups pressured them. These misconceptions increase public opinion ambivalence and frustrate environmental leaders. This paper describes Earth Day 1970, the congressionally established Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission established in 1958, and President Kennedy's Natural Resources Tour of September 1963, arguing the latter two prepared for the convergence of multiple streams of policy change that resulted in the first Earth Day.
Public Perceptions of Benefits from and Worries over Plant‐Made Industrial Products and Plant‐Made Pharmaceuticals: The Influence of Institutional Trust
Authors: Stewart Patrick A. , McLean William P. 
Published: June 2008

AbstractAlthough agricultural biotechnology has been a seminal reference point in risk perception studies, public awareness of their exposure to risk deriving from this new technology has been minimal at best. However, recent events indicate there may be growing public concern as new variations of this technology appear. Understanding what drives perceptions of benefits from the third generation of the agricultural biotechnology and what determines public worries are keys for the future of this technology. To this end, this study analyzes survey data from the midsouth region of the United States to construct four separate regression models of perceived benefits from and worries over plant‐made industrial products and plant‐made pharmaceuticals. Findings suggest that while prior experience with and knowledge about agricultural biotechnology has an impact on perceptions of benefits and worries, trust in farmers plays a highly important role in determining perceptions.
Cluster‐Based Policy Making: Assessing Performance and Sustaining Competitiveness
Authors: Aziz Kamarulzaman Ab. , Norhashim Mariati 
Published: June 2008

AbstractTremendous changes in technology, political and social frameworks, as well as the impacts of globalization, have put pressure on countries to become competitive. One strategy for creating an engine of economic growth is the creation of clusters. These clusters, be they naturally or artificially conceived, hold the promise of becoming the economic weapons of a country. Many studies have been done to understand the factors behind the successes and failures of clusters. One of the reasons behind the inconsistent success of existing cluster policy frameworks in managing cluster performance is the fact that clusters often are at different levels of development, and it will require different strategies to create, enhance, and sustain their competitive advantage. This paper aims to propose and demonstrate a more holistic framework designed to understand key cluster dynamics that drives cluster performance, which then will enable policy makers to work toward ensuring sustainable cluster development.
‘Demographic Modernity’ in Ireland: A Cultural Analysis of Citizenship, Migration, and Fertility
Authors: Lele Veerendra 
Published: June 2008

AbstractIn June 2004 citizens in Ireland voted on a constitutional referendum which proposed “to change the rules about the constitutional entitlement to citizenship by birth.” Te proposed change and subsequent vote in favor of the referendum generated a variety of commentary and scholarship. While factors of political economy and a racialized discourse regarding immigration are central to understanding contemporary change in Ireland, this article examines the changing demographic and related cultural conditions corresponding with the referendum through three interrelated yet analytically distinguishable strands: a) population change, specifically patterns of migration and fertility; b) changing notions of Irish and European modernity and identity; and c) Ireland's historical experience of colonialism and diaspora. ‘Demographic modernity’ in Ireland is a cultural complex that interprets social demographic factors such as (low) fertility, high life expectancy, timing of first births and of marriage, low infant/child mortality, and variable standards of migration and mobility in relation to political and historical discourses about nation and person.
A Modern Questione della Lingua: The Incomplete Standardization of Italian in a Northern Italian Town
Authors: Cavanaugh Jillian R. 
Published: June 2008

AbstractAlthough it seems from most scholarly accounts and everyday experience in Italy that the questione della lingua or language question has been definitively answered‐and that Italian has emerged victorious over local vernaculars—approximately 60% of Italians continue to speak their local languages in addition to Italian. This article explores why these languages, which Italians call ‘dialects,’ continues to matter in Italy from the vantage point of one northern Italian town, Bergamo. It traces debates about language over the last two centuries, locates recurring themes during the standardization of Italian, and argues that this standardization remains incomplete. Repeatedly, socioeconomic shifts have proved more decisive than political action, although the language question has at times been deeply politicized. Indeed, at particular moments—immediately following Unification, the Fascist period, the Economic Miracle of the 1950s and '60s, during the Leftist movement during the 1960s and '70s, and the emergence of the Northern League—language has stood in for larger concerns about the state of the nation and its citizens.
Alarm pheromone emission by pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum, clones under predation by lacewing larvae
Authors: Schwartzberg Ezra G. , Kunert Grit , Röse Ursula S. R. , Gershenzon Jonathan , Weisser Wolfgang W. 
Published: June 2008

AbstractGenetic variation in anti‐predator traits has been shown for a variety of species. Aphid alarm pheromone, (E)‐β‐farnesene, is released by attacked aphids and causes a variety of behavioral defense reactions in the signal receivers. In pea aphids, Acyrthosiphon pisum Harris (Homoptera: Aphididae), (E)‐β‐farnesene mediates the production of winged offspring in the presence of natural enemies. While variation in the propensity for pea aphids to produce winged offspring is well‐documented, little quantitative information is available about clonal differences in (E)‐β‐farnesene emission or the amount of alarm pheromone released in aphid colonies. We tested the wing induction response of four clones when attacked by a predatory lacewing larva, Chrysoperla carnea (Stephens) (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae), and found that three of the four clones increased the proportion of winged offspring under predator attack. We then investigated the emission of aphid alarm pheromone of these clones of pea aphid under attack. Alarm pheromone emission in aphid colonies of initially 25 adults varied from 81.2 to 10 851.0 ng per aphid colony over 24 h. There were no differences between clones in total emission or in emission per consumption event. These results show that there is substantial variability in alarm pheromone emission within clones and that the propensity to produce winged offspring in some clones is not a simple function of the propensity of alarm pheromone production in these clones.