bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The biodiversity of Diptera in Old World rain forest surveys: a comparative faunistic analysis
Authors: Kitching R. L. , Bickel D. , Creagh A. C. , Hurley K. , Symonds C. 
Published: June 2004

AbstractAim  Identify the taxonomic patterns and the relative importance of particular families of Diptera sampled in comparative biodiversity surveys carried out at seven rain forest locations. We test and quantify the contention that different trapping methods routinely target different families. We identify the south–north (and upland/lowland) patterns and generate a set of hypotheses concerning mechanisms underlying these patterns.Location  Australia and Papua New Guinea.Methods  A total of 28,647 Diptera collected using canopy knockdown, yellow pan (water) traps and Malaise traps have been sorted to 56 families following these surveys. Comparative analyses across sites from Lamington National Park in south‐east Queensland, Australia to the Kau Wildlife area in Madang Province, Papua New Guinea, of the dipteran assemblages, and separately, of the 14 families which collectively made up 95.8% of the sample, are presented.Results  Ordination by multi‐dimensional scaling and analyses of variances showed that the three methods complemented each other in terms of target families and, together, sampled a large proportion of the expected fauna of these sites. Ordinations on a method‐by‐method basis permitted the identification of groups of sites and analyses of variance indicated which taxa differed significantly across these groups.Main conclusions  Recurrent patterns and associated hypotheses about their generation emerge from the data. These mirror floristic differences and reflect the biogeographic history of the sites since the Miocene. Clear linkages between the lowland faunas of Papua New Guinea and northern Australia are evident and are reflected in the abundances of the Dolichopodidae, Empididae, Muscidae and Tipulidae (other groupings underlined the essential difference of the New Guinean fauna which had characteristic proportions of Cecidomyiidae, Chironomidae, Dolichopodidae, Phoridae and Psychodidae). A subtropical grouping of families was evident comprising, inter alia, Chloropidae, Mycetophilidae, Drosophilidae and Phoridae which was frequently linked with the higher elevation tropical fauna at Robson's Creek, Atherton Tablelands. The long isolated, high elevation, rain‐forested massif at Eungella, central Queensland often emerged as a unique entity in the analyses, characterized by the high numbers of and proportions of Chironomidae, Psychodidae, Tipulidae and Empididae. This study supports the case for the wider use of Diptera in biodiversity analyses, complementing extensive earlier analyses which have used, predominantly, large coleopteran assemblages. The results indicate the potential power of family‐level analyses at large geographical scales and contribute to the ongoing debate on ‘taxonomic sufficiency’.
Systematic review of published multi‐practice audits from British general practice
Authors: Holden John D. 
Published: June 2004

Abstract
Background  Audit has been a major part of attempts to improve patient care in Britain, with substantial resources devoted to it since the 1990 National Health Service reforms. Systematic reviews have considered audit to be of variable, but often moderate, effectiveness. However, these have included few studies from British primary care, and as quality improvement activities may be context specific, it is hard to judge how effective audit has been here.
Results  A search for audits published in peer‐reviewed journals revealed 48 two‐stage projects carried out in British general practice, of which 27 principally concerned chronic disease management and nine prescribing. Most audits showed some improvements in performance, and those using controls showed 27/56 (48%) parameters had changed significantly (P < 0.05).
Conclusions  This review adds further evidence that audit can often be moderately effective. However, it is frequently used as one of a complex set of interventions making precise evaluation difficult. Those responsible for clinical governance will need to choose carefully the subjects they audit in order to use their limited resources to maximum effect. These projects are illustrative examples but once again do not identify any ‘magic bullets’ that would be highly likely to improve professional performance.
A practical approach to a multi‐level analysis with a sparse binary outcome within a large surgical trial
Authors: Fountain Jayne , Gallagher James , Brown Julia 
Published: June 2004

AbstractObjectives  To assess the potential source of variation that surgeon may add to patient outcome in a clinical trial of surgical procedures.Methods  Two large (n = 1380) parallel multicentre randomized surgical trials were undertaken to compare laparoscopically assisted hysterectomy with conventional methods of abdominal and vaginal hysterectomy; involving 43 surgeons. The primary end point of the trial was the occurrence of at least one major complication. Patients were nested within surgeons giving the data set a hierarchical structure. A total of 10% of patients had at least one major complication, that is, a sparse binary outcome variable. A linear mixed logistic regression model (with logit link function) was used to model the probability of a major complication, with surgeon fitted as a random effect. Models were fitted using the method of maximum likelihood in SAS®.Results  There were many convergence problems. These were resolved using a variety of approaches including; treating all effects as fixed for the initial model building; modelling the variance of a parameter on a logarithmic scale and centring of continuous covariates. The initial model building process indicated no significant ‘type of operation’ across surgeon interaction effect in either trial, the ‘type of operation’ term was highly significant in the abdominal trial, and the ‘surgeon’ term was not significant in either trial.Conclusions  The analysis did not find a surgeon effect but it is difficult to conclude that there was not a difference between surgeons. The statistical test may have lacked sufficient power, the variance estimates were small with large standard errors, indicating that the precision of the variance estimates may be questionable.
Critique of (im)pure reason: evidence‐based medicine and common sense
Authors: Michelson James 
Published: June 2004

AbstractWhile the goal of evidence‐based medicine (EBM) is certainly laudable, it is completely based on the proposition that ‘truth’ can be gleaned exclusively from statistical studies. In many instances, the complexity of human physiology and pathophysiology makes this a reasonable, if not necessary, assumption. However, there are two additional large classes of medical ‘events’ that are not well served by this paradigm: those that are based on physically required causality, and those that are so obvious (to the casual observer) that no self‐respecting study will ever be undertaken (let alone published). Frequently, cause‐and‐effect relationships are so evident that they fall into both categories, and are best dealt with by the judicious use of common sense. Unfortunately, the use of common sense is not encouraged in the EBM literature, as it is felt to be diametrically opposed to the very notion of EBM. As is more fully discussed in the manuscript, this active disregard for common sense leaves us at a great disadvantage in the practical practice of medicine.
Do physiotherapists’ attitudes towards evidence‐based practice change as a result of an evidence‐based educational programme?
Authors: Stevenson Kay , Lewis Martyn , Hay Elaine 
Published: June 2004

Abstract
Rationale  The concept of evidence‐based practice (EBP) encourages health care professionals to provide the most effective health care, and to be accountable for the interventions they provide. Little work has been undertaken to examine how practically allied health professionals’ encompass EBP and how they perceptive and understand the concept of EBP. The use of opinion leaders to disseminate new evidence into practice, and thereby encourage the behaviour of health care professionals has been proposed.
Aims  The aims of this study were to investigate physiotherapists’ attitudes towards EBP and to examine change in their attitudes following an education package,  which utilized local opinion leaders.
Method  Thirty musculoskeletal physiotherapists from a Community Trust in North Staffordshire were cluster randomized by location of work to two groups. The intervention group received an evidence‐based programme on aspects of EBP including literature searching and critical appraisal. The attention control group received a standard in‐service training package on the management of common knee pathologies. The physiotherapists’ attitudes towards EBP were measured at baseline (before randomization) and at 3 and 6 months follow‐up.
Results  Physiotherapists reported that they primarily relied on ‘courses’ and ‘in‐service training’ for informing their clinical practice. Most agreed that clinical practice should be based on the best available evidence and that they would change their clinical practice if evidence suggested they should do so. However, many of the physiotherapists reported difficulty in reading journals and could not identify opinion leaders in key areas. In terms of clinical practice, literature, journals and research were ascribed low priority throughout. Differences in attitudes between the intervention and control groups were observed in relation to management support for EBP at  3  and  6 months  follow‐up.
Conclusions  In this study, physiotherapists appeared to be in favour of the idea of EBP, yet they remained reluctant to change their practice. Opinion leaders were not easily identifiable by physiotherapists, suggesting that this method alone may not be an effective method of changing attitudes in clinical practice. The process of changing attitudes in the clinical environment is a complex issue worthy of further research.
Nursing based evidence: moving beyond evidence‐based practice in mental health nursing
Authors: Geanellos Rene 
Published: June 2004

AbstractVarious authors suggest mental health nursing is dominated by knowledge borrowed from psychiatry, pharmacology and the behavioural sciences. These disciplines favour knowledge developed using quantitative methodologies so they and evidence‐based practice (EBP) and evidence‐based nursing (EBN), increasingly called for in mental health nursing, fit seamlessly together. Nevertheless, as these movements dismiss qualitative approaches to knowledge (evidence) development, I argue against the move toward EBP/EBN in mental health nursing. This is because the specialty's primary interests – human experiences of illness/health care and human relationships, often do not lend themselves to being quantitatively researched. Using nursing examples, I demonstrate how qualitative research, wholly unacceptable in relation to EBP/EBN quality of evidence scales, is indispensable to mental health nursing. The need for evidence arising from qualitative research in no way precludes the need for quantitatively derived evidence. Indeed, the specialty's twofold interest – the work of nurses with clients and the explication of phenomena which inform practice, require diverse knowledge and thus, diverse research approaches. This twofold interest defines the area of mental health nursing practice, and knowledge informing it is referred to as nursing based evidence (NBE). Because it values multiple approaches to knowledge development, NBE provides a way to articulate the specialty's distinct contribution to the health care of people experiencing mental illness and advances mental health nursing.
A prospective study of the practical issues of local involvement in national audit of COPD
Authors: Roberts C. M. , Lowe D. , Barnes S. , Pearson M. G. 
Published: June 2004

Abstract
Rationale, aims and objectives  Variation in quality of local services is of great concern to the government and public. National audit is an important means of providing data of comparative performance but is hampered at local level by poor methodology including audit design, standard setting and data collection tools. A pilot audit of the hospital care of patients ad‐mitted with acute chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) was performed in preparation for a national audit programme and was designed and supported by experts. It was hoped to overcome these barriers. We report a prospective evaluation of the practical issues involved in local participation of hospital audit of COPD care within a national framework.
Methods  Hospitals were recruited to the study by random selection and voluntary participation. A clinical audit study was completed over an 8‐week period immediately followed by a survey of clinicians and audit staff to identify positive and negative issues of participation and the process  required  to  achieve  a successful outcome.
Results  Forty‐one hospitals were invited to participate, 26 (63%) accepted, and four others volunteered to meet the target of 30 enrolled centres. Reasons cited for non‐participation were of inadequate resources amongst either clinicians or audit departments or prior engagement in other national or local audit schemes. Following completion of the audit most (81%) participating units reported it was a useful exercise and were willing to be involved in future audits. Negative aspects of involvement included the lack of dedicated time and manpower for audit, poor information technology and inadequate systems for identifying patient diagnoses either at admission or at discharge and incomplete case note entries. Methodological issues such as study design and data collection tools were not cited as important barriers to participation.
Conclusion  There is local willingness to be involved in national audit of hospital care of COPD and central provision of expert design of methods and tools may reduce some audit barriers. Nevertheless, priority must be given to improving resources identified to support audit and in improving methods and systems for data capture. These issues appear to be important in most units and represent a potentially serious barrier to achieving widespread local involvement in a national audit programme of COPD care and may also apply to other national audits designed to provide comparative assessment of National Health Service services.
Anucleate and titan cell phenotypes caused by insertional inactivation of the structural maintenance of chromosomes (smc) gene in the archaeon Methanococcus voltae
Authors: Long Steven W. , Faguy David M. 
Published: June 2004

SummarySMC (structural maintenance of chromosomes) proteins are highly conserved and present in eukaryotes, bacteria and archaea. They function in chromosome condensation and segregation and in DNA repair. Using an insertion vector containing the pac gene for resistance to puromycin, we have created an insertion in the smc gene of Methanococcus voltae. We used epifluorescence microscopy to examine the cell and nucleoid morphology, DNA content and metabolic activity. This insertion causes gross defects in chromosome segregation and cell morphology. Approximately 20% of mutant cells contain little or no DNA, and a subset of cells (≈ 2%) IS abnormally large (three to four times their normal diameter) titan cells. We believe that these titan cells indicate cell division arrest at a cell cycle checkpoint. The results confirm that SMC in archaea is an important player in chromosome dynamics (as it is in bacteria and eukaryotes).
Gene conversion: a mechanism for generation of heterogeneity in the tprK gene of Treponema pallidum during infection
Authors: Centurion‐Lara Arturo , LaFond Rebecca E. , Hevner Karin , Godornes Charmie , Molini Barbara J. , Van Voorhis Wesley C. , Lukehart Sheila A. 
Published: June 2004

SummaryThe tprK gene sequence of Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum (T. pallidum) is heterogeneous within and among isolates. Heterogeneity in the tprK open reading frame is localized in seven discrete variable (V) regions, and variability results from apparent base changes, insertions or deletions. The TprK V regions are the focus of anti‐TprK antibodies arising during infection. To test our hypothesis that V region sequences change during infection and passage, we developed a clonal isolate from the Chicago strain of T. pallidum and confirmed V region diversification during passage of this isolate. We describe the sequence anatomy of the seven V regions of tprK and the identification of putative donor sites for new V region sequences, and we propose a model for generation of new V regions by segmental gene conversion. These findings suggest that antigenic variation of TprK occurs in T. pallidum and may be important in immune evasion and persistence.
The Mycoplasma fermentans prophage φMFV1: genome organization, mobility and variable expression of an encoded surface protein
Authors: Röske K. , Calcutt M. J. , Wise K. S. 
Published: June 2004

SummaryThe ≈ 16 kb genome of the Mycoplasma fermentansφMFV1 prophage is described, and its mobility, replication and effect on the mycoplasma surface phenotype are demonstrated. In various M. fermentans strains, φMFV1 was either absent or integrated at diverse (and sometimes multiple) chromosomal sites, each marked by a conserved TTTTTA target sequence that is duplicated upon integration. Precise excision, replication of an extrachromosomal form and loss of φMFV1 from the mycoplasmal genome were documented in a series of clonal derivatives of M. fermentans propagated in culture. Of 18 open reading frames (ORFs) encoded by φMFV1, most can be ascribed functions related to phage biology, whereas one encodes a unique coiled‐coil membrane surface protein, Mem, that was confirmed to be expressed in propagating populations of M. fermentans. With the exception of Mem and other minor ORFs, the striking similarity between the deduced proteomes of φMFV1 and the recently described φMAV1 of arthritogenic strains of Mycoplasma arthritidis, along with the prominent gene synteny between these elements, provides the taxonomic basis for a new family of prophage. Their coding features are consistent with long‐term residence in mycoplasma genomes and the divergence of species within a phylogenetic clade of mycoplasmas. The unique Mem protein expressed from φMFV1 and the unique hypothetical surface lipoproteins encoded by φMAV1 and φMFV1 also suggest that prophage‐associated genes may provide specific, selectable phenotypic traits during co‐evolution of mycoplasma species with their respective mammalian hosts. Retention of these labile prophage elements in organisms with such drastically reduced genome sizes implies a significant role in adaptation and survival.
Visualization of DNA double‐strand break repair in live bacteria reveals dynamic recruitment of Bacillus subtilis RecF, RecO and RecN proteins to distinct sites on the nucleoids
Authors: Kidane Dawit , Sanchez Humberto , Alonso Juan C. , Graumann Peter L. 
Published: June 2004

SummaryWe have found that SMC‐like RecN protein, RecF and RecO proteins that are involved in DNA recombination play an important role in DNA double‐strand break (DSB) repair in Bacillus subtilis. Upon induction of DNA DSBs, RecN, RecO and RecF localized as a discrete focus on the nucleoids in a majority of cells, whereas two or three foci were rarely observed. RecN, RecO and RecF co‐localized to the induced foci, with RecN localizing first, while RecO localized later, followed by RecF. Thus, three repair proteins were differentially recruited to distinct sites on the nucleoids, potentially constituting active DSB repair centres (RCs). RecF did not form regular foci in the absence of RecN and failed to form any foci in recO cells, demonstrating a central role for RecN and RecO in initializing the formation of RCs. RecN/O/F foci were detected in recA, recG or recU mutant cells, indicating that the proteins act upstream of proteins involved in synapsis or post‐synapsis. In the absence of exogenous DNA damage, RCs were rare, but they accumulated in recA and recU cells, suggesting that DSBs occur frequently in the absence of RecA or RecU. The results suggest a model in which RecN that forms multimers in solution and high‐molecular‐weight complexes in cells containing DSBs initiates the formation of RCs that mediate DSB repair with the homologous sister chromosome, which presents a novel concept for DSB repair in prokaryotes.
A bispecific antibody against human IgE and human FcγRII that inhibits antigen‐induced histamine release by human mast cells and basophils
Authors: Tam S. W. , Demissie S. , Thomas D. , Daëron M. 
Published: June 2004

Background:  FcγRIIB are low‐affinity immunoglobulin (Ig)G receptors that we previously demonstrated to negatively regulate IgE‐induced mast cell activation when coaggregated with FcɛRI. Here, we engineered and characterized a bispecific reagent capable of coaggregating FcγRIIB with FcɛRI on human mast cells and basophils.Methods:  A bispecific antibody was constructed by chemically crosslinking one Fab’ fragment against human IgE and one Fab’ fragment against human FcγRII. This molecule was used to coaggregate FcɛRI with FcγRII on human mast cells and basophils sensitized with human IgE antibodies, and the effect of coaggregation was examined on mediator release upon challenge with specific antigen.Results:  When used under these conditions, this bispecific antibody not only failed to trigger the release of histamine by IgE‐sensitized cells, but it also prevented specific antigen from triggering histamine release. Comparable inhibitions were observed with mast cells and basophils derived in vitro from cord blood cells and with peripheral blood basophils.Conclusions:  The bispecific antibody described here is the prototype of similar molecules that could be used in new therapeutic approaches of allergic diseases based on the coaggregation of activating receptors, such as FcɛRI, with inhibitory receptors, such as FcγRIIB, that are constitutively expressed by mast cells and basophils.