bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Elisions in the field of caring
Authors: Deary Vincent , Deary Ian J. , McKenna Hugh P. , McCance Tanya V. , Watson Roger , Hoogbruin Amandah Lea 
Published: March 2003

Background.  Contemporary research into caring in nursing was criticized in the pages of this journal by John Paley. He charged that the study of caring has not been advanced by research which, he reckoned, merely generates endless lists of terms to describe caring. He also argued that research in the field was largely flawed by confusion over the difference between things said about caring and the act of caring itself. The present paper.  We have analysed Paley's criticism. Essentially, he is criticizing the whole field of survey research. The scientific process is underpinned by the implicit understanding that any field moves forward cautiously. In the social sciences multiple perspectives enrich understanding of phenomena and often confirm previous perceptions. The lack of any alternative approach from Paley is evident. Examples from psychology, where seemingly endless lists of descriptors have led through rigorous concept and statistical analysis to genuinely useful psychological and clinical data, are expounded. In contrast to Paley's assertions, the study of caring in nursing to date has also produced information which is useful within nurse education and practice. Conclusion.  There is no confusion concerning the things said about and the things done in the name of caring in our minds. We acknowledge that studying the actual phenomena of caring is difficult. However, in the absence of definitive descriptions of caring and precise methods to study it, the search for perfection has not paralysed action. Much has been learned about caring and much remains to be learned.
A descriptive study of registered nurses' experiences with web‐based learning
Authors: Atack Lynda , Rankin James 
Published: March 2003

Aims.  To describe the experiences of registered nurses (RNs) who enrolled in a web‐based course from either their home or the workplace. Rationale.  In order to maintain competency in rapidly changing health care systems, and meet the challenge of overcoming traditional barriers to continuing education, RNs need access to innovative educational delivery methods. As yet, little is known about the web‐based learners' experience, particularly when courses are accessed from the nursing practice setting. Methods.  The article focuses on the results from questionnaires conducted with 57 RNs enrolled in a web‐based, postdiploma course. These findings emanate from a larger study using survey method and focus group interviews. Nurses' experiences were measured using the Online Learner Support Instrument which was developed and tested for use in the study. Results.  Most nurses found the course highly satisfactory. Not all experiences were positive however, and a number of challenges were faced. Access to the course from home was reported as very satisfactory for the majority, while work users encountered a number of serious barriers such as insufficient time and limited computer access. The RNs made significant gains in their learning with e‐mail, Internet, keyboarding and word processing skills during the 16‐week course. Lack of computer skills, erroneous perceptions of course workload and inadequate preparation for web learning were largely responsible for the majority of withdrawals. Conclusion.  Web‐based learning can be an effective mode of delivery for nursing education. Advance preparation by educational institutions, employers and prospective students is essential. Teachers, peers, technology, course design and the learning environment are key variables that influence the learners' experience and success.
Voices from the Gila: health care issues for rural elders in south‐western New Mexico
Authors: Averill Jennifer B. 
Published: March 2003

Background and rationale.  A goal of the Healthy People 2010 initiative is to reduce or eliminate health disparities in vulnerable populations, including populations from rural and minority ethnic backgrounds. Rural communities, including elderly populations, experience lower rates of personal income, educational attainment, health‐insurance coverage, access to emergency and specialty care services, and reported health status than do urban communities. A need exists to address identified research priorities, such as the perceptions of rural elders, their family members, and health care providers. Aims.  The purposes of this study were to explore the health care perceptions, needs, and definitions of health for multicultural rural elders in one county of south‐western New Mexico, and to consider practice implications. Ethical issues and approval.  Informed consent procedures followed the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center Human Research Review Committee guidelines. Research methods.  This critical ethnography incorporated ethnographic interviews, ethnographic participant observation, photography, review of pertinent documents, and analysis of contextual factors. The sample consisted of 22 participants. Results/findings.  Definitions of health varied with socioeconomic status, encompassing avoidance of contact with the health care system, obtaining needed medications, remaining independent, a sense of spiritual belonging, eating wisely, and exercising moderately. Three major concerns emerged from the analysis: the escalating cost of prescription drugs, access‐to‐care issues, and social isolation. Study limitations.  The primary limitation was the small sample size. Although the researcher's position as an outsider to local communities may also have affected the outcome, it provided fresh insight to regional problems. Conclusions.  The study addressed national research priorities for a vulnerable group of rural elders. Nursing implications include the need for expanded knowledge and educational preparation regarding elder issues and community‐level services, inclusion of elders' perspectives in the planning and delivery of health services, and the need for community‐level, interdisciplinary collaboration and advocacy.
Two‐year follow‐up of a randomized controlled trial of a clinical nurse specialist intervention, inpatient, and day patient team care in rheumatoid arthritis
Authors: Tijhuis Gerhardus J. , Zwinderman Aeilko H. , Hazes Johanna M.W. , Breedveld Ferdinand C. , Vlieland P.M. Theodora Vliet 
Published: March 2003

Aim.  To compare the long‐term effectiveness of care delivered by a clinical nurse specialist (CNS) with inpatient team care and day patient team care in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and increasing functional limitations. Background.  The role of CNSs in the management of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is evolving, and their effectiveness in comparison with care provided by a rheumatologist alone has been established. However, long‐term controlled studies showing how the effectiveness of CNSs compares with that of other forms of co‐ordinated care, such as multidisciplinary team care, are lacking. Methods.  Two hundred and ten patients rheumatoid arthritis patients were randomized to care delivered by a CNS in a rheumatology outpatient clinic (12 weeks), inpatient team care (2 weeks) and day patient team care (3 weeks). Clinical assessments recorded on study entry, weeks 12, 26, 52, 78 and 104 comprised the health assessment questionnaire (HAQ) and MacMaster Toronto Arthritis (MACTAR) patient preference interview as primary outcome measures. Grip strength, walk test, RAND‐36, Rheumatoid Arthritis Quality of Life questionnaire and disease activity score (DAS) were applied as secondary outcome measures. Results.
No significant differences in medical treatment, use of services of other health professionals, introduction of adaptive equipment or number of hospitalizations were observed between the three treatment groups during 2 year follow‐up, except that visits to nurse specialists were more frequent and home help was less frequent in the CNS group. A comparison of clinical outcomes among the three groups and a comparison between the nurse specialist and inpatient and day patient care groups together did not show any significant differences. Within all three groups functional status, quality of life and disease activity improved significantly (
P < 0·05). In general, the results obtained after 12 weeks remained stable until 104 weeks after the start of the study. Conclusion.  Care provided by a CNS in an outpatient rheumatology clinic has a similar long‐term clinical outcome to inpatient and day patient team care in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. A CNS intervention appears to be an effective innovation in the care for patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
Models of mental health nurse–general practitioner liaison: promoting continuity of care
Authors: McCann Terence V. , Baker Helen 
Published: March 2003

mccann t.v. & baker h. (2003)Journal of Advanced Nursing 41(5), 471–479

Models of mental health nurse–general practitioner liaison: promoting continuity of care Aim and rationale. Community mental health nurses and general practitioners share a pivotal role in the provision of mental health care in the community. The focus of this study was to identify models of general practitioner collaboration used by these nurses, and analyse the implications of these models for promoting continuity of care. The study was derived from a larger study of how community mental health nurses promote wellness with clients who are experiencing an early episode of psychotic illness. Methods. This qualitative study used interviews and observation to collect data. The study took place in 1999 in regional and rural New South Wales, Australia and involved community mental health nurses. Findings. The findings show that two models of nurse and general practitioner (GP) collaboration emerged from the data: Shared Care and Specialist Liaison. In the Shared Care model, nurses maintain close contact with GPs throughout the episode of acute care. In the Specialist Liaison model, the community mental health team assumes overall responsibility for care and treatment throughout the acute episode of illness. Contact with GPs throughout the episode of care by the community mental health team is, at best, intermittent. Conclusion. The findings suggest that the Shared Care model is more consistent with supporting personal and organizational continuity of care, whereas the Specialist Liaison model is limited to encouraging personal continuity of care but further study is needed.
Large‐scale climatic fluctuation and population dynamics of moose and white‐tailed deer
Authors: POST ERIC , STENSETH NILS CHR. 
Published: March 2003

1.  Mech et al. (1987) documented cumulative, negative effects of previous winters’ snow on rates of population increase in moose (Alces alces) and white‐tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), but noted no effect of predation by wolves (Canis lupus). Those results were contested by Messier (1991), who analysed smoothed versions of the original abundance data and reported no effect of snow accumulation on population dynamics of either species, but strong effects of wolf predation and food competition. 2.  McRoberts, Mech & Peterson (1995) contended that the conclusions reached by Messier (1991) were an artefact of the use of smoothed data. In a subsequent re‐analysis of the smoothed data, Messier (1995) argued that the lack of an effect of snow after one year precluded the potential for a cumulative effect beyond one year. 3.  We re‐analysed original and smoothed data on dynamics of moose and white‐tailed deer densities using the same methods as Mech et al. (1987) and Messier (1991), but we used a measure of global climatic fluctuation, the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index. The NAO is the atmospheric process determining most interannual variation in snowfall and winter temperatures in northern latitudes, and its phases drive decadal trends in wintertime precipitation. 4.  We observed that rates of increase of moose and white‐tailed deer in both the original and smoothed data were influenced by global climatic fluctuation at 2‐ and 3‐year lags, as well as by delayed density‐dependent feedback and wolf predation.
Does development mode organize life‐history traits in the parasitoid Hymenoptera?
Authors: Mayhew Peter J. , Blackburn Tim M. 
Published: March 2003

Summary1. Several authors have proposed that inter‐specific variation in parasitoid life histories can be classified according to a dichotomy of development modes: ectoparasitoids and idiobionts with one suite of traits, and endoparasitoids and koinobionts with an opposing set of traits.2. The factual evidence for such a dichotomy is presently scant. Here, 10 predictions of the dichotomous hypothesis are assessed using life history data from 474 species of parasitoid Hymenoptera.3. A degree of support for the dichotomy is found. As predicted, koinobiosis is associated with endoparasitism, and idiobiosis with ectoparasitism. Endoparasitism and/or koinobiosis are also associated with a shorter adult lifespan, a shorter window for parasitism, smaller eggs, a longer pre‐adult lifespan and, in larval parasitoids, a greater oviposition rate and fecundity than ectoparasitism/idiobiosis.4. However, several predictions are not upheld by the data. No significant relationship is found between development mode and either body size, the degree of host concealment or the stage of host attacked. Some trends are only found amongst larval parasitoids, and others do not hold for both endoparasitism and koinobiosis.5. We conclude that there is at least some merit to the dichotomous hypothesis, though the most extensive depictions go beyond the present data. As a step towards formulating the dichotomy in a more rigid theoretical base, we discuss the selective pressures and constraints that are likely to account for the observed trends.
Determinants of local recruitment in a growing colony of Audouin's gull
Authors: Oro Daniel , Pradel Roger 
Published: March 2003

1. Local recruitment of Audouin's gull (Larus audouinii Payraudeau) was studied between 1988 and 1997 at the Ebro Delta colony (north‐western Mediterranean). Since its establishment in 1981, the colony has dramatically grown to include, in 1997, 65% of the total world population. Several hypotheses were tested, involving the effects of a badger predatory event in 1994, and sex, age and cohort (year of birth) on recruitment. 2. Results supported the prediction that colony size influenced recruitment: the probability for any individual to have previously bred increased throughout the study, together with colony size. At the end of the study, 90% of breeders aged 4 years had already been recruited at age 3, the age of first reproduction by Audouin's gulls. As expected by the dramatic increase of breeding numbers, most local recruitment occurred at very young ages, especially when compared with other Laridae. 3. Neither food availability nor reproductive success affected recruitment. Recruitment was not affected by high nest predation by the badger, although after the event, the proportion of Ebro Delta birds nesting on the nearby Columbretes Islands tripled. 4. Probability of first reproduction depended on age: it was the highest at ages 3 and 4, and then decreased sharply with age to stabilize beyond age 6 to a value depending on the year and cohort but always very low (< 5%). Cohort and sex did not influence local recruitment. 5. Annual resighting rates ranged between 35% and 82%, and were higher for females. This may represent a sex‐dependent suspension of breeding, probably as a trade‐off between early recruitment and future survival.
Differences in trappability of European badgers Meles meles in three populations in England
Authors: Tuyttens F.A.M. , Macdonald D.W. , Delahay R. , Rogers L.M. , Mallinson P.J. , Donnelly C.A. , Newman C. 
Published: March 2003

Summary 1. Many ecological studies on the European badger Meles meles, as well as certain programmes to control bovine tuberculosis, would benefit from a greater understanding of the factors that influence the probability of capturing this animal in cage‐traps. We therefore investigated some of the factors that could explain differences in trappability between three badger populations in England: the high‐density protected populations of Wytham Woods and Woodchester Park, and the low‐density culled population of North Nibley. 2. Trappability (the percentage of all individuals known alive that were actually captured) did not differ between sexes or adult age classes, but significant differences were found between cubs and adults, study areas, seasons and years, and various interactions between these variables. 3. Circumstantial evidence suggests that the culling of badgers in North Nibley may have resulted in a decrease of adult trappability in the following year. 4. Adult badgers at Wytham Woods and Woodchester Park were significantly more likely to be trapped zero times (‘trap‐shy’) or all three times (‘trap‐happy’) in 1996 than predicted by the estimated capture probabilities under the assumption of equal trappability. 5. Wytham Woods differed from the other study areas in that trappability of its badgers was positively related to their body weight and its adult badgers were more likely to be trapped than cubs. These differences could be a consequence of differences in trapping procedures that were followed at Wytham (no prebaiting and fewer traps per badger). 6. Trappability of badgers was not associated with social group size. Although it is difficult to determine precisely the movement and tuberculosis status of badgers based on mark–recapture data, our analyses did not suggest that either variable affected the likelihood of being trapped. 7. Studies that compare demographic, biometric and epidemiological parameters based on data collected from badgers captured at different times or places ought to account for the observed differences in trappability.
Methyl orange antagonizes uridine 5′ triphosphate and not α,β‐methylene‐adenosine 5′ triphosphate‐evoked depolarization of rat superior cervical ganglia
Authors: Connolly G. P. 
Published: March 2003

1 Compared with the effects of adenosine 5′ triphosphate (ATP) on the nervous system, the actions of pyrimidine nucleosides and their 5′‐nucleotides, such as uridine 5′ triphosphate (UTP), have received less attention. In part, this is because there is a need for a selective antagonist for responses mediated by UTP‐activated receptors. The objective of this study was to discover such an antagonist. 2 Superior cervical ganglia isolated from male rats were superfused with a physiological salt solution. Responses to α,β‐methylene‐ATP (α,β‐Me‐ATP), potassium, adenosine and UTP were determined before and in the presence of 1–300 μM methyl orange. 3 Methyl orange at 1–100 μM did not alter resting potential or depolarizing responses to α,β‐Me‐ATP, potassium, or adenosine‐evoked hyperpolarizations, but at 10 and 100 μM methyl orange significantly antagonized UTP‐evoked depolarizations (P < 0.05). 4 Although the antagonistic effects of methyl orange were not dramatic, this is the first report of a putative pyrimidinoceptor antagonist. These observations also support the idea of distinct receptors for UTP and ATP on rat superior cervical ganglia.
The effect of streptozotocin‐induced diabetes on cardiac β‐adrenoceptor subtypes in the rat
Authors: Sellers D. J. , Chess‐Williams R. 
Published: March 2003

1 The present study investigates the effect of short‐term experimental diabetes of 14‐days duration on the β‐adrenoceptor subtypes of the rat heart. 2 β‐adrenoceptor‐mediated functional responses to submaximal doses of isoprenaline were enhanced in Langendorff‐perfused hearts from diabetic rats, manifested as greater changes in tension, heart rate and rates of tension development (+dT/dt) and decline (–dT/dt). 3 Radioligand binding data demonstrated that total cardiac β‐adrenoceptor density and affinity for [3H]‐dihydroalprenolol was unchanged by diabetes, although a decrease in β1‐adrenoceptor density and increase in β2‐adrenoceptor density was observed. 4 In conclusion, hearts from 14‐day streptozotocin‐induced diabetic rats demonstrate a number of alterations within the β‐adrenoceptor system. However, the enhanced β‐adrenoceptor‐mediated responses to isoprenaline were not caused by an overall increase in density of β‐adrenoceptors, but were accompanied by changes in the ratio of the β‐adrenoceptor subtypes.
The effects of adenosine on isolated right atrial preparations from streptozotocin‐diabetic rats
Authors: Usta Co kun , Adan Gülay , Özdem Sadi S. 
Published: March 2003

1 The aim of the present study was to investigate the inhibitory effects of adenosine on the contractile force and chronotropic action of isolated right atrial preparations from streptozotocin (STZ)‐diabetic rats. 2 The rats were anaesthetized with diethyl ether and STZ (65 mg kg−1) was injected intravenously via the tail vein. 3 Adenosine produced concentration‐dependent decreases in the force of contraction and a negative chronotropic action of atria both in control and diabetic groups. The inhibition responses to adenosine were significantly higher in diabetic rat atria than control. 4 Dypiridamole incubation caused a significant potentiation of the inhibitory effect of adenosine on contractile force and chronotropic action of atria in the control group, but not in the diabetic group. In the presence of dipyridamole, the inhibitory effects of adenosine on measured parameters in diabetic rats were not significantly different from those in control rats. 5 These results suggested that atria from 6 weeks STZ‐diabetic rats exhibited a supersensitivity to the negative inotropic and chronotropic effects of adenosine compared with atria from control rats because of an impairment in adenosine uptake mechanism. Altered sensitivity to effects of adenosine might reflect relatively early changes in the course of diabetes.
Water‐energy dynamics, climate, and prediction of woody plant species richness: an interim general model
Authors: O'Brien Eileen 
Published: March 2003

Predictable geographic patterns in the distribution of species richness, especially the latitudinal gradient, are intriguing because they suggest that if we knew what the controlling factors were we could predict species richness where empirical data is lacking (e.g. tropics). Based on analyses of the macro‐scale distribution of woody plant species richness in Southern Africa, one controlling factor appears to be climate‐based water‐energy dynamics. Using the regression models of climate's relationship to species richness in Southern Africa, I was able to describe an Interim General Model (IGM) and to predict first‐order macro‐scale geographic variations in woody plant species richness for the continent of Africa, as well as elsewhere in the world—exemplified using South America, the United States and China.In all cases, the geographic pattern of variation in species richness is in accord with geographic variations in vegetation (visual comparison with vegetation maps) and net primary productivity. What validation was possible (Africa and U.S.A.) suggests that the IGM provides ‘reasonable’ estimates for actual woody plant species richness where species richness is in relative equilibrium with climate. Areas of over‐ or under‐prediction support the contention of earlier workers that edaphic, topographic, historical, and dispersal factors need to be considered in a more complete explanation for spatio‐temporal variations in species richness.In addition to providing a means for systematically estimating woody plant species richness where present‐day empirical data is lacking, the Interim General Model may prove useful for modelling the effects of climate change (past/future) on species richness (and, by association, the vegetation).