bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A clinical procedure to predict the value of temporary occlusion therapy in keratoconjunctivitis sicca
Authors: Farrell J. , Patel S. , Grierson D. G. , Sturrock R. D. 
Published: March 2003

AbstractPurpose: To evaluate the effects of dissolvable collagen punctal plugs on the symptoms, tear stability and volume in aqueous deficient dry eyes.Methods: Sixty‐two aqueous deficient dry eye patients of mixed aetiology underwent lacrimal punctal occlusion with dissolvable collagen plugs. The subjects were randomly allocated to one of two treatment groups: group I (n = 36) had their lower puncta occluded and group II (n = 26) had both their upper and lower puncta occluded. The effectiveness of this treatment was clinically assessed by (1) scoring subject symptoms and (2) measuring the tear parameters of tear thinning time (TTT) and tear meniscus height (TMH) as indicators of tear stability and volume, respectively. Following baseline measurements, patients were reviewed at time intervals of 5 and 12 days post‐occlusion. A group of age‐ and gender‐matched normals (n = 45) was recruited for comparison (group III).Results: Tear volume and stability were significantly higher in group III compared with I and II at baseline. In the treated groups on both days 5 and 12: (1) symptom score reduced significantly from a median value of 7 to 3 (p = <0.001); (2) tear stability increased significantly from a median value of 3 to 5 s by day 5 (p ≤ 0.001); reduced between days 5 and 12 (p < 0.05) and remained below the stability in group III at all times; (c) tear volume increased significantly by day 5 in both treatment groups from a median value of 0.13 to 0.20 mm (p≤0.001), remained stable by day 12 in group II but reduced in group I (p < 0.05); (d) the increase in tear volume was negatively correlated with pre‐treatment tear volume; (e) symptom score correlated with both baseline tear volume and stability.Conclusion: Collagen plugs improved tear status in the aqueous deficient dry eyes. Occluding both upper and lower puncta with temporary collagen plugs offers no practical beneficial gain compared with occluding just the lower punctum.
Practice development: purpose, methodology, facilitation and evaluation
Authors: Manley Kim , McCormack Brendan 
Published: March 2003

Summary

Different approaches to practice development are associated with different assumptions, and these need to be made explicit if ­practice development is to be transparent, rigorous and systematic in its intentions and approaches
A practice development methodology underpinned by critical social science is advocated because it focuses on achieving sustain­able change through practitioner enlightenment, empowerment and emancipation and an associated culture, rather than focusing only on technical practice development
Implications of different worldviews about practice development for facilitation and outcome evaluation are highlighted
Emancipatory practice development underpinned by critical social science is argued as synonymous to emancipatory action research
The Role of Lutein in Disease Prevention
Authors: Johnson Elizabeth J. 
Published: March 2003

AbstractLutein is a non‐provitamin‐A carotenoid found in dark green, leafy vegetables. Lutein, being fat‐soluble, follows the same intestinal absorption path as dietary fat and is affected by the same factors that influence fat absorption. Unlike β‐carotene, another major carotenoid in diet and tissue, the bioavailability of lutein appears to be less influenced by food processing. Lutein has been strongly implicated as being protective against age‐related macular degeneration (AMD) and cataracts. In the eye, lutein may act as a blue‐light filter, protecting the underlying tissues from phototoxic damage. The mechanism by which lutein is involved in the prevention of eye diseases and other diseases, such as breast cancer and cardiovascular heart disease (CHD), may also be related to its role as an antioxidant.
The Role of Nutrition Therapy in the Management of Diabetes Mellitus
Authors: Sheard Nancy F. , Clark Nathaniel G. 
Published: March 2003

AbstractDiabetes mellitus is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States, with a total annual economic cost estimated at $98 billion. Diabetes is caused by either a lack of insulin secretion or by insulin resistance. The resultant metabolic disturbance leads to hyperglycemia and dyslipidemia in the short term, as well as long‐term complications such as retinopathy, neuropathy, and nephropathy. In addition, individuals with diabetes are 2 to 4 times more likely to develop coronary artery disease or to suffer a stroke. Findings from the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT) and the United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS) clearly indicate that the maintenance of near‐normal blood glucose concentration dramatically reduces the chronic complications associated with this disorder. In addition, reducing elevated blood lipid levels has been shown to lower the incidence of acute coronary events in other at‐risk populations. Finally, obesity, yet another diet‐related disorder, is strongly associated with the development of Type 2 diabetes. Thus, nutrition therapy plays an important role in both the development and the management of diabetes. Appropriate modification and monitoring of food intake can assist with weight management as well as with the control of both blood glucose and lipid levels. Although insulin and/or oral medications are frequently required to treat diabetes, nutrition therapy remains an important tool in the management of this disease and should always be considered the cornerstone of therapy.
Kinetics of decompressional reactions in eclogitic rocks – formation of plagioclase coronas around kyanite
Authors: Nakamura D. 
Published: March 2003

AbstractThis paper describes a kinetic study on reaction textures in eclogitic rocks from the Sulu region, eastern China. Some of the eclogitic rocks display a decompressional reaction texture, whereby kyanite grains are surrounded by plagioclase coronas and are never in contact with quartz. The change in mineral parageneses with progress of the reaction was predicted by constructing chemical potential diagrams in a model system. The chemical potential diagrams indicated that the chemical potential of 2Na2O + CaO (2µNa2O + µCaO) in intergranular regions between kyanite and quartz should decrease with decreasing pressure, whereas 2µNa2O + µCaOin intergranular regions between garnet and omphacite should increase with decreasing pressure. Thus, upon decompression, an inequality in chemical potential arises in the rock. To reduce this inequality, garnet and omphacite react to produce amphibole and plagioclase and release Na2O and CaO. Then, the released Na2O and CaO components diffuse into the regions between kyanite and quartz grains and react to produce plagioclase between them. This model also indicates that the chemical potential of SiO2should decrease around kyanite grains during the progress of the decompressional reaction, and Si‐undersaturated conditions should have formed around kyanite grains in spite of the presence of quartz in these eclogitic rocks. Thus, spinel or corundum that are not stable in the system with excess quartz can form as a metastable phase, as observed in eclogitic rocks from the study areas. Phase diagrams in the system with excess quartz should be carefully applied for analysis of such reaction textures.
Exhumation of the Schistes Lustrés complex: in situ laser probe 40Ar/39Ar constraints and implications for the Western Alps
Authors: Agard P. , Monié P. , Jolivet L. , Goffé B. 
Published: March 2003

AbstractThe Schistes Lustrés (SL) suture zone occupies a key position in the Alpine chain between the high‐pressure (HP) Brianconnais domain and the ultrahigh‐pressure (UHP) Dora Maira massif, and reached subduction depths ranging from c. 40–65 km (Cottian Alps). In order to constrain the timing of HP metamorphism and subsequent exhumation, several phengite generations were differentiated, on the basis of habit, texture, paragenesis and chemistry, as belonging to the first or second exhumation episode, respectively, D2 or D3, or to earlier stages of the tectono‐metamorphic evolution. Ten carefully selected samples showing D2, D3 (D2 + D3), or earlier (mostly peak temperature) phengite population(s) were subjected to laser probe 40Ar/39Ar analysis. The data support the results of the petrostructural study with two distinct age groups (crystallization ages) for D2 and D3 phengite, at 51–45 and 38–35 Ma, respectively. The data also reveal a coherent age cluster, at 62–55 Ma, for peak temperature phengite associated with chloritoid which were preserved in low strain domains. The age of the D3 event in the SL complex appears very similar to ages recently obtained for greenschist facies deformation on the border of most internal crystalline massifs. Exhumation rates of the order of 1–2 mm yr−1 are obtained for the SL complex, which are compatible with velocities documented for accretionary wedge settings. Similarly, cooling velocities are only moderate (c.5 °C Myr−1), which is at variance with recent estimates in the nearby UHP massifs.
Large‐scale melt‐depletion in granulite terranes: an example from the Archean Ashuanipi Subprovince of Quebec
Authors: Guernina S. , Sawyer E. W. 
Published: March 2003

AbstractThis study uses field, petrographic and geochemical methods to estimate how much granitic melt was formed and extracted from a granulite facies terrane, and to determine what the grain‐ and outcrop‐scale melt‐flow paths were during the melt segregation process. The Ashuanipi subprovince, located in the north‐eastern Superior Province of Quebec, is a large (90 000 km2) metasedimentary terrane, in which > 85% of the metasediments are of metagreywacke composition, that was metamorphosed at mid‐crustal conditions (820–900 °C and 6–7 kbar) in a late Archean dextral, transpressive orogen. Decrease in modal biotite and quartz as orthopyroxene and plagioclase contents increase, together with preserved former melt textures indicate that anatexis was by the biotite dehydration reaction: biotite + quartz + plagioclase = melt + orthopyroxene + oxides. Using melt/orthopyroxene ratios for this reaction derived from experimental studies, the modal orthopyroxene contents indicate that the metagreywacke rocks underwent an average of 31 vol% partial melting.The metagreywackes are enriched in MgO, CaO and FeOt and depleted in SiO2, K2O, Rb, Cs, and U, have lower Rb/Sr, higher Rb/Cs and Th/U ratios and positive Eu anomalies compared to their likely protolith. These compositions are modelled by the extraction of between 20 and 40 wt %, granitic melt from typical Archean low‐grade metagreywackes. A simple mass balance indicates that about 640 000 km3 of granitic melt was extracted from the depleted granulites.The distribution of relict melt at thin section‐ and outcrop‐scales indicates that in layers without leucosomes melt extraction occurred by a pervasive grain boundary (porous) flow from the site of melting, across the layers and into bedding planes between adjacent layers. In other rocks pervasive grain boundary flow of melt occurred along the layers for a few, to tens of centimetres followed by channelled flow of melt in a network of short interconnected and structurally controlled conduits, visible as the net‐like array of leucosomes in some outcrops. The leucosomes contain very little residual material (< 5% biotite + orthopyroxene) indicating that the melt fraction was well separated from the residuum left in situ as melt‐depleted granulite. Only 1–3 vol percentage melt remained in the melt‐depleted granulites, hence, the extraction of melt generated by biotite dehydration melting in these granulites, was virtually complete under conditions of natural melting and strain rates in a contractional orogen.
ACID‐BASE IN RENAL FAILURE: A Review of the Effects of Correction of Acidosis on Nutrition in Dialysis Patients
Authors: Brady John P. , Hasbargen James A. 
Published: March 2003

ABSTRACTMetabolic acidosis is a condition that is commonly encountered in both chronic renal failure (CRF) and in end‐stage renal disease (ESRD). Known complications and surmised consequences associated with the acidosis of renal disease include bone lesions, depression of myocardial contractility, and growth retardation. Conversely the correction of acidosis in children with renal tubular acidosis improves growth velocity. This is also the case in children with CRF. The conclusion drawn from this study was that the correction of metabolic acidosis improved serum albumin concentrations in patients on hemodialysis and that this correction also induced a decrease in the nPCR.
Effect of Hemodialysis Membranes on β2‐Microglobulin Amyloidosis
Authors: Jaradat Majd I. , Moe Sharon M. 
Published: March 2003

ABSTRACTEarly after the identification of β2‐microglobulin amyloidosis (Aβ2M) as the cause of carpal tunnel syndrome, it was thought that hemodialysis was a major cause in the development of the disease. It was subsequently shown that hemodialysis was not necessary for the development of dialysis‐related amyloidosis; however, it was believed that the different dialysis membranes did modulate the progression of the disease. Current data demonstrate that hemodialysis fails to prevent or reverse the disease, but there is substantial evidence that high‐flux, high‐efficiency dialyzers slow its progression. Many factors related to hemodialysis have been evaluated in relation to Aβ2M, including the effect of the bioincompatibility of the membrane, the capacity of the different membranes to remove β2M, and the effect of reuse on β2M levels. Moreover, there have been intensive efforts to evaluate, explore, and improve the different mechanisms in β2M removal, with adsorption as a promising prospect. With the available evidence, it seems that the removal of β2M by the membrane plays the most important role in modulating the disease outcome and rate of progression, although a large, long‐term, multicentered and randomized study is still lacking to prove this relationship. However, it is possible that with the continuing advances in optimizing the β2M removal efficiency of the different membranes, the frequency and severity of the disease can be substantially decreased.
Comparative Analysis of the Role of Prostate Specific Antigen Parameters in Clinical Practice
Authors: Lynn Naing N. K. , Collins Gerald N. , Alexandrou Kyriakos , Brown Stephen C. W. , Brooman Peter J. C. , O'reilly Patrick H 
Published: March 2003

ABSTRACTIntroduction: Serum prostate specific antigen at the cutoff levels of 4 ng/ml has low specificity for prostate cancer. We evaluated various PSA parameters (i.e., total PSA density [tPSAD], free PSA density [fPSAD], the ratio of free to total PSA [f/t ratio], and age‐specific PSA) in terms of cancer diagnosis and reducing the number of negative results for prostatic biopsies.Materials and Methods: A series of 305 patients was studied. Serum tPSA and fPSA levels were measured. Prostate volume was measured with transrectal ultrasound, and sextant biopsies were performed. The f/t ratio, tPSAD, and fPSAD were calculated. Sensitivity and specificity were calculated for age‐specific PSA. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was used to analyze the diagnostic performance of these PSA parameters. A subpopulation of patients with serum PSA levels between 4 and 10 ng/ml also was analyzed with a specific view to reducing negative results of biopsies. The Mann‐Whitney U test was used to analyze the difference in these parameters between patients with benign and malignant histologies.Results: There was significant difference in these PSA parameters between patients with benign and malignant histologies (p < 0.05). tPSAD had the largest area under the curve for total population as well as for patients with tPSA levels between 4 and 10 ng/ml. Although the f/t ratio had a larger area under the curve than did tPSA assay in patients with PSA levels between 4 and 10 ng/ml, the difference was not statistically significant. Using a tPSAD of 0.12 ng/ml/ml as the cutoff level of negative results of prostate biopsies could be reduced by 37% in patients with PSA levels between 4 and 10 ng/ml. Although the f/t ratio could reduce negative results of biopsies by 33.8% at the cutoff value of 0.26, 15.6% of cancers would be missed. Age‐specific PSA could reduce 31% of negative prostatic biopsies, but 28% of cancers would be missed. Using combined tPSAD and the f/t ratio did not improve reductions of negative biopsy results.Conclusion: tPSA density has the highest sensitivity and specificity in differentiating benign from malignant prostates. By using tPSA density, negative results of prostate biopsies can be reduced by 37%, while missing only a small number of cancers.
Termite‐ and Mulch‐Mediated Rehabilitation of Vegetation on Crusted Soil in West Africa
Authors: Mando A. , Brussaard L. , Stroosnijder L. 
Published: March 2003

AbstractThe rehabilitation of vegetation on structurally crusted soils by triggering termite activity through mulch was studied on three soil types in northern Burkina Faso, West Africa. A split‐plot design was used in a fenced environment for the experiment. Insecticide (Dieldrin) was used at a rate of 500 g a.i. (active ingredient)/ha to create nontermite and termite plots. Three mulch types consisting of straw (Pennisetum pedicellatum), woody material (Pterocarpus lucens), and a composite mulch (straw and woody material) applied at a rate of 3, 6, and 4 tons/ha, respectively, were used to trigger termite activity. The grasses and woody species on the plots were surveyed. Nontermite plots responded weakly to mulch treatments, but even in the first year vegetation established on termite + mulch plots. Termite activity resulted in the increase of plant cover, plant species number, phytomass production, and rainfall use efficiency. Infiltrated water use efficiency and plant diversity were not statistically different among treatments during the first 2 years but were in the third. Woody species established only on termite plots. The three types of mulch plots showed greater vegetation development than bare plots, which remained bare throughout the experiment. Analysis of the termite and mulch interaction indicated that mulch plots without termites did not perform better than bare plots, especially in the case of woody plant regeneration. Vegetation rehabilitation was best with composite and straw mulches with termites, followed by woody mulch with termites; it was worst on bare plots.
Effects of Established Perennial Grasses on Introduction of Native Forbs in California
Authors: Brown Cynthia S. , Bugg Robert L. 
Published: March 2003

AbstractPrairie restoration is not complete without the establishment of both grasses and forbs. However, if desirable forbs and grasses are seeded simultaneously, control of broadleaf weeds is problematic. If possible, a two‐step process of introducing forbs after establishing grasses would allow use of broadleaf‐specific herbicides at the critical early stages of grass growth. We conducted experiments to investigate methods for introducing forbs into previously restored native perennial grasslands on rural roadsides in the Sacramento Valley of California. In one experiment, we studied the effects of background vegetation (established perennial grasses or tilled ground) on seven native forb species planted from seed. In a second experiment, we evaluated the effects of background vegetation (existing perennial grasses or tilled ground) and container size (36 ml or 105 ml) with excavation technique (excavation by core removal [core] or by creating an impression [dibble]) on the growth of transplants of the native perennial forbs Asclepias fascicularis and Sisyrinchium bellum. The presence of established perennial grasses reduced the growth of seeded forbs, but did not affect transplants, indicating the vulnerability of seedling forbs to interference. When compared to control plots that had been tilled in the autumn, weed canopy cover was significantly lower in the presence of perennial grasses if seeded with forbs, but not in the presence of perennial grasses alone. Both transplanted species grew better in the large container/core treatment than the small container/dibble treatment; however, existing grasses eliminated these positive effects. Asclepias fascicularis performed better when grown in large containers than in small containers, but its growth was not affected by excavation method; S. bellum performed better when planted with the core method than the dibble method of excavation, but container size made no difference. We attribute differences in the responses of the species to interactions between phenological differences and expansive clay soils that naturally de‐compact upon drying.
Influence of Nutrient Availability on the Interaction Between Spotted Knapweed and Bluebunch Wheatgrass
Authors: Herron Gretchen J. , Sheley Roger L. , Maxwell Bruce D. , Jacobsen Jeffrey S. 
Published: March 2003

Abstract Centaurea maculosa (Lam.) (spotted knapweed) reduces wildlife and livestock habitat biodiversity and increases erosion. Nutrient availability to plants may be used to accelerate succession away from spotted knapweed. Early‐successional plant communities often have high nutrient availability, whereas late‐successional communities are often found on lower nutrient soils. We hypothesized that removal of nutrients would change the competitive advantage from spotted knapweed to Pseudoroegneria spicatum (bluebunch wheatgrass) (late seral). In two addition series matrices, background densities of Secale cereale (annual rye) and Elymus elimoides (bottlebrush squirreltail) (3,000 seeds/m2) were used to remove nutrients from the soil. In another set of addition series matrices, nitrogen (33 kg/ha) or phosphorus (33 kg/ha) were added to the soil. Nutrient analysis of soil and vegetation indicated that annual rye and bottlebrush squirreltail reduced nutrient availability in soils. In another matrix, neither a background density nor nutrients were added. Data were fit into Watkinson's curvilinear model to determine the competitive relationship between bluebunch wheatgrass and spotted knapweed. This allowed comparison of the equivalence ratios (C) generated from each addition series. The C parameters are the per‐plant equivalent of bluebunch wheatgrass or spotted knapweed and can be interpreted as the ratio of intra‐to‐interspecific competition. The C parameters are also the equivalence ratio of the number of spotted knapweed it takes to have equivalent effect on bluebunch wheatgrass or the number of bluebunch wheatgrass having the equivalent effect on spotted knapweed. Without nutrient manipulation, spotted knapweed was more competitive than bluebunch wheatgrass. The C for bluebunch wheatgrass was 0.17, indicating that 0.17 knapweed plants were competitively equivalent to one wheatgrass. Annual rye changed the competitive balance in favor of bluebunch wheatgrass (C = 9.9). Addition of nitrogen, phosphorus, or the mid‐seral species did not change the competitive relationship between the two species. This preliminary study suggests that succession from spotted knapweed to late‐seral bluebunch wheatgrass community may be accelerated by altering resource availability.