bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Effects of acupressure therapy for patients having prolonged mechanical ventilation support
Authors: Tsay Shiow‐Luan , Wang Juei‐Chin , Lin Kuan‐Chia , Chung Ue‐Lin 
Published: September 2005

Aims.  This paper reports an investigation of the effects of acupressure therapy on dyspnoea, anxiety and physiological indicators of heart rate and respiratory rate in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease having mechanical ventilation support.Background.  Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease who are using mechanical ventilation often experience dyspnoea and anxiety, which affects successful ventilator use.Methods.  The study had an experimental blocking design, using sex, age and length of ventilator use as a blocking factor. Qualified patients in two intermediate respiratory intensive care units were randomly assigned to an acupressure group and a comparison group. A total of 52 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in northern Taiwan participated. Those in the experimental group received daily acupressure therapy and massage treatment for 10 days. Patients in the comparison group received massage treatment and handholding. The primary outcome measures were the visual analogue scales for dyspnoea and anxiety, and physiological indicators of heart rate and respiratory rate. Data were collected every day from baseline (day 1), during the treatment (days 2–10) and follow‐up (days 11–17). Data were analysed using generalized estimation equations. The study was carried out in 2003.Results.  Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease who were using prolonged mechanical ventilatory support experienced high levels of dyspnoea and anxiety. Dyspnoea (P = 0·009), anxiety (P = 0·011) and physiological indicators (P < 0·0001) in the acupressure group improved statistically significantly over time when compared with those of the comparison group.Conclusions.  This results support the suggestion that acupressure therapy could decrease sympathetic stimulation and improve perceived symptoms of dyspnoea and anxiety in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease who are using prolonged mechanical ventilation.
Pain in Alzheimer's disease: nursing assistants’ and patients’ evaluations
Authors: Scherder Erik , Van Manen Femke 
Published: September 2005

Aim.  This paper reports on a study examining the level of agreement between the pain perceptions of nursing assistants, older people without dementia and patients with Alzheimer's dementia. It was hypothesized that nursing assistants would overestimate the pain experience of patients with Alzheimer's dementia.Background.  There is now increasing evidence that, in contrast to other subtypes of dementia, patients with Alzheimer's disease might experience a decrease in pain. It is unfortunate that these latest insights into the complex relationship between subtypes of dementia and pain are not always included in education programmes for nursing assistants.Method.  Twenty patients with Alzheimer's disease and 17 older people with arthrosis and/or osteoporosis but no dementia and their personal nursing assistants participated in the study. Pain experience was assessed using the Coloured Analogue Scale for the assessment of Pain Intensity and Pain Affect, the Faces Pain Scale, and the Checklist of Non‐verbal Pain Indicators. The data were collected in 2002–2003.Results.  Before and after walking, the absolute difference in pain evaluation between nursing assistants and older people without dementia was statistically significantly less than the difference in pain evaluation between nursing assistants and patients with Alzheimer's disease on the Coloured Analogue Scale for Pain Intensity (P = 0·007 and P = 0·04, respectively) and on the Coloured Analogue Scale for Pain Affect (P = 0·009 and P = 0·01, respectively).Conclusion.  Nursing assistants may overestimate the extent of suffering from pain of patients with Alzheimer's disease. They might be very well able to estimate this pain, provided they were educated about new insights into the influence of the various subtypes of dementia on pain.
Dietary habits of patients with coronary atherosclerosis: case–control study
Authors: Loke Alice Yuen , Chan Kit Nga 
Published: September 2005

Aim.  The aim of this study was to identify the dietary‐related risk factors for coronary atherosclerosis among Hong Kong Chinese people.Background.  Prevalence and mortality figures for coronary atherosclerosis are increasing in Chinese communities, including those in Hong Kong. Changes in dietary patterns might explain the increased risk of coronary artery disease among the Hong Kong Chinese.Method.  A total of 145 consecutive patients scheduled to have coronary angiogram in a regional hospital in Hong Kong completed a self‐reported questionnaire on their dietary intake for 1 week. A case–control design was used, and the data were collected from December 2000 to February 2001.Results.  Consumption of more than 1120 g of fish [28 tael (Chinese weight unit, 1 tael equals approximately 42 g)] per week (OR = 0·07) and soybean (OR = 0·17) had a beneficial effect in preventing coronary atherosclerosis. In addition, an increased waist–hip ratio (OR = 4·81) and consumption of more than 28 teaspoons of fat per week (OR = 42·36) were identified by logistic regression as independent risk factors for coronary atherosclerosis. Moreover, people who smoked (OR = 1·72), had a lower educational level (OR = 0·51) or higher family income (OR = 1·92) were more vulnerable to coronary atherosclerosis. Patients confirmed as having coronary atherosclerosis were more likely than those with normal coronary vessels to rank deep fry, stir fry, and pan fry as their preferred cooking methods over steaming or boiling.Conclusion.  The results provide nurses with information on which to develop appropriate health education programmes for patients and the general public in Hong Kong to promote cardiovascular health. Efforts should be directed particularly to promoting boiling and steaming as major cooking methods, rather than frying or deep frying, as protective actions against coronary atherosclerosis.
Breastfeeding as health‐promoting behaviour for Hispanic women: literature review
Authors: Schlickau Jane M. , Wilson Margaret E. 
Published: September 2005

Aim.  This paper reports a literature review to synthesize the evidence that breastfeeding is a health‐promoting behaviour for Hispanic women and to demonstrate the usefulness of the Health Promotion Model in understanding and increasing breastfeeding behaviours in Hispanic women.Background.  While breastfeeding has been shown to promote the health of both mother and infant, it has not been widely viewed from the perspective of the Health Promotion Model.Methods.  The CINAHL and MEDLINE databases were searched using the terms ‘Hispanic’ or ‘Latina’, ‘breastfeeding’ and concepts specific to the Health Promotion Model (interpersonal relationships, social support, acculturation, self‐efficacy, barriers, benefits, and commitment). Only papers in the English language from 1990 to 2003 (except for classic papers) that used research techniques were reviewed. Only those addressing breastfeeding intention, initiation or duration were included. The reference lists of each paper were examined for additional empirical papers that linked any of the determinants of the Health Promotion Model to breastfeeding among Hispanic women. Papers were organized using the ten determinants as headings: prior related behaviour, personal factors, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, perceived self‐efficacy, activity‐related affect, interpersonal influences, situational influences, immediate competing demands, and commitment to a plan of action. The review was conducted in 2003.Findings.  The literature verifies that each of the 10 determinants of health‐promoting behaviour also promotes breastfeeding for Hispanic women, particularly through the constructs of acculturation, interpersonal support, self‐efficacy and immediate competing demands. Breastfeeding is not consistently defined in all studies, nor are Hispanic population groups uniformly classified according to country of origin. Specific interventions to promote breastfeeding have been implemented for women of Latin American origin, but randomized designs to measure outcomes have not been consistently employed with Hispanic women in the United States of America. Further intervention research is needed to confirm breastfeeding as a health‐promoting behaviour and to inform breastfeeding education for this group.
Shared Care, elder and family member skills used to manage burden
Authors: Sebern Margaret 
Published: September 2005

Aim. The aim of this paper is to further develop the construct of Shared Care by comparing and contrasting it to related research, and to show how the construct can be used to guide research and practice.Background. While researchers have identified negative outcomes for family caregivers caused by providing care, less is known about positive aspects of family care for both members of a family dyad. Understanding family care relationships is important to nurses because family participation in the care of chronically ill elders is necessary to achieve optimal outcomes from nursing interventions. A previous naturalistic inquiry identified a new construct, Shared Care, which was used to describe a family care interaction that contributed to positive care outcomes.Methods. A literature review was carried out using the databases Medline, CINAHL, and Psych‐info and the keywords home care, care receiver, disability, family, communication, decision‐making and reciprocity. The results of the review were integrated to suggest how Shared Care could be used to study care difficulties and guide interventions.Results. The literature confirmed the importance of dyad relationships in family care. Shared Care extended previous conceptualizations of family care by capturing three critical components: communication, decision‐making, and reciprocity. Shared Care provides a structure to expand the conceptualization of family care to include both members of a care dyad and account for positive and negative aspects of care.Conclusions. The extended view provided by the construct of Shared Care offers practitioners and scholars tools to use in the context of our ageing population to improve the effectiveness of family care relationships.
Student–teacher connection: a place of possibility
Authors: Gillespie Mary 
Published: September 2005

Aim.  This paper expands the understanding of student–teacher connection and offers direction for educators in supporting connection as a place of possibility.Background.  The evolution of a humanistic paradigm in nursing education is evident in research exploring student–teacher relationships. Connection is described within humanistic student–teacher relationships, reported as part of experiences of students, educators and clinicians within emancipatory curricula, and emerged as a central metaphor in a metasynthesis of caring in nursing education. Additionally, student–teacher connection in clinical nursing education has been reported as creating positive outcomes for students’ learning experiences and professional socialization.Discussion.  In this paper, student–teacher connection is envisioned as having a value beyond these tangible outcomes – a value that arises from the essence of connection itself. The qualities inherent in the essence of connection – knowing, trust, respect and mutuality – create a transformative space in which students are affirmed, gain insight into their potential, and grow toward fulfilling personal and professional capacities: student–teacher connection emerges as a place of possibility. The possibilities that exist for students and teachers in a connected relationship are exemplified as connection is proposed as a cornerstone in supporting students at risk of failing a clinical nursing course.Conclusion.  Acknowledging student–teacher connection as a place of possibility highlights the importance of student–teacher relationship to students’ learning and raises implications for preparation and evaluation of educators, and educational practice within the international nursing arena. Of note is the need for the preparation of educators to include a focus of developing relational competence as well as evaluation processes that consider the teacher‐in‐relationship. Regardless of the educational setting, educators are challenged to consider their beliefs and actions and the influence these exert on relationships with students. Further research exploring specific possibilities within connection is required.
Anthropogenic forcing on the spatial dynamics of an agricultural weed: the case of the common sunflower
Authors: HUMSTON ROBERT , MORTENSEN DAVID A. , BJØRNSTAD OTTAR N. 
Published: September 2005

Summary

Establishment and spread are central in weed invasion. In this study we quantified the impact of harvest and weed management practices on these processes in row‐crop agriculture. Quantifying the dynamics of patch expansion can direct management aimed at containment of weed populations.
We assessed annual patterns of common sunflower Helianthus annuus seedling recruitment to determine the influence of management on seed dispersal and patch expansion. Weed seed banks were sowed at three initial densities and exposed to either high or low intensity weed management. Fields were maintained in a maize–soybean crop rotation, with cultivation and harvest orientated in a single direction. We analysed spatial pattern in annual seedling recruitment using geostatistics and an integro‐difference model to determine treatment effects on spatial dynamics.
The two spatial analyses allowed us to separate and quantify the contributions of natural and anthropogenic dispersal to seedling emergence and patch expansion. Expansion was predominantly isotropic, and estimated rates of isotropic spread (i.e. diffusion) were consistent between analysis methods.
We also confirmed that directional management practices can effect significant anisotropy on dispersal and expansion. Crop rotation had the greatest impact on expansion; anisotropy in patch expansion was more pronounced in maize compared with soybean. However, the scale of weed seed dispersal by machine (combine harvester) was greater following harvest of soybean. Simulation of patch dynamics indicated that harvest can increase expansion rate nearly fourfold.
Synthesis and applications. Patches of H. annuus originating from intermediate and high seed bank densities had the potential to spread rapidly from the source population. Patches with a low initial seed bank experienced extinction when subjected to high levels of chemical weed management. The combined approach of spatial modelling and geostatistics was particularly effective for quantifying admixed modes of dispersal from sequential data of population distribution. Independence of the two methods provided a system for cross‐validating model assumptions and estimated parameters. The scales of spatial dynamics we assessed were well suited to these methods. The results of the analysis underscore the importance of managing populations in order to keep local populations at low densities. Helianthus annuus is difficult to manage and once intermediate or high local densities are reached, the rate of spread is accelerated, distributing this weed widely across fields. A targeted site‐specific approach to maintaining populations at low levels would reduce the necessity for more costly field‐wide management.
Inter‐specific variation in avian responses to human disturbance
Authors: BLUMSTEIN DANIEL T. , FERNÁNDEZ‐JURICIC ESTEBAN , ZOLLNER PATRICK A. , GARITY SUSAN C. 
Published: September 2005

SummaryIncreasing urbanization and recreational activities around and within biodiversity hotspots require an understanding of how to reduce the impacts of human disturbance on more than a single species; however, we lack a general framework to study multiple species. One approach is to expand on knowledge about the theory of anti‐predator behaviour to understand and predict how different species might respond to humans.We reviewed the literature and found that only 21% of studies that used a behavioural approach to study human disturbance focused on multiple species. These studies identified a number of potential predictive variables.We developed a simulation model that investigates interspecific variation in different parameters of disturbance with variation in human visitation. We found that fitness‐related responses, such as the quantity of food consumed by a species, are relatively sensitive to the distance at which animals detect humans, the frequency of disturbance by humans and the interaction of these factors, but are less sensitive to other characteristics.We examined avian alert distance (the distance animals first orientated to an approaching threat, a proxy for detection distance) across 150 species, controlling for phylogenetic effects. We found that larger species had greater alert distances than smaller species, which could increase local spatial and temporal limitations on suitable habitat with increasing human visitation.Synthesis and applications. Our results suggest that body size could be a potential predictor of responses to human disturbance across species, and could be used by managers to make conservation decisions regarding levels of human visitation to a protected site. We suggest that three things are essential to develop predictive models of how different species will respond to human disturbance. First, multiple indicators of disturbance should be studied to select those with lower intraspecific variation for a given study system. Secondly, the species‐specific nature of responses should be identified. Thirdly, life history, natural history and other correlates with these species‐specific responses must be assessed.
The effects of landscape complexity on arable weed species diversity in organic and conventional farming
Authors: ROSCHEWITZ INDRA , GABRIEL DOREEN , TSCHARNTKE TEJA , THIES CARSTEN 
Published: September 2005

Summary

There is growing concern about declining species diversity in agro‐ecosystems caused by agricultural intensification at the field and landscape scales. Species diversity of arable weeds is classically related to local abiotic factors and resource conditions. It is believed to be enhanced by organic farming but the surrounding landscape may also be important.
This study assessed the ruderal vegetation, seed bank and seed rain in 24 winter wheat fields to examine the relative importance of organic vs. conventional farming and landscape complexity for weed species diversity. Diversity was partitioned into its additive components: alpha, beta and gamma diversity. Percentage arable land in a circular landscape sector of 1‐km radius around each study site was used as an indicator of landscape complexity.
Weed species diversity in the vegetation, seed rain and seed bank was higher in organic than in conventional fields. Increasing landscape complexity enhanced species diversity more strongly in the vegetation of conventional than organic fields, to the extent that diversity was similar in both farming systems when the landscape was complex. Species diversity of the seed bank was increased by landscape complexity irrespective of farming system.
Overall diversity was largely determined by the high heterogeneity between and within the fields (beta diversity). Only in very few cases could higher weed species diversity in complex landscapes and/or organic farming be related to species dependence on landscape or farming system.
Synthesis and applications. Local weed species diversity was influenced by both landscape complexity and farming system. Species diversity under organic farming systems was clearly higher in simple landscapes. Conventional vegetation reached similar diversity levels when the surrounding landscape was complex through the presence of refugia for weed populations. Consequently, agri‐environment schemes designed to preserve and enhance biodiversity should not only consider the management of single fields but also of the surrounding landscape.
Plant communities can predict the distribution of solitarious desert locust Schistocerca gregaria
Authors: VAN DER WERF WOPKE , WOLDEWAHID GEBREMEDHIN , VAN HUIS ARNOLD , BUTROUS MUNIR , SYKORA KARLE 
Published: September 2005

Summary

The desert locust is a migratory pest whose population development in remote areas must be monitored to prevent outbreaks, upsurges and plagues. Monitoring would be very much facilitated if the area of search could be restricted to sites of likely population increase.
The spatial distribution of solitarious desert locusts on the Red Sea coastal plain of Sudan was determined over 3 years from November to March. Additional observations were made on habitat factors, such as plant community, soil texture, soil moisture and land use.
Locust densities varied according to the amount and distribution of rainfall and longevity of the annual green vegetation, with virtually no locusts being observed in the driest season.
Samples on a grid of 120 sites within a 120‐km stretch of coastal plain showed that locusts were prevalent only in the millet–Heliotropium plant community, which is found at sites with a fine sandy soil texture and comparatively high and long‐lasting soil moisture in wadi deltas. These sites constitute less than 5% of the area of this part of the plain.
An accessory study showed association between desert locust distribution and millet cropping in an area where no Heliotropium was found. Other samples confirmed the association between solitarious desert locust and millet agriculture.
Synthesis and applications. The results indicate that surveys for early detection and control of desert locust on the Red Sea coast of Sudan can focus on millet cropping areas. The results suggest that the efficiency of monitoring migratory pest outbreaks in remote areas could be enhanced by using associations between plant communities and herbivorous insects to predict risk areas and target survey efforts.