bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Individually adjusted meals for older people with protein‐energy malnutrition: a single‐case study
Authors: Christensson Lennart , Ek Anna‐Christina , Unosson Mitra 
Published: March 2003

• The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of a 3‐month intervention programme consisting of meals based on individual nutritional requirements in residents assessed as protein‐energy malnourished on admission to a municipal care Institution.• Using a single‐case design, 11 malnourished residents were given individual care aimed at fulfilling their personal requirements for energy intake during a period of 12 weeks. The residents were selected from a sample of 261 newly admitted older adults of whom 87 were assessed to be malnourished on admission. Nutritional status, including anthropometric and biochemical variables and functional capacities were assessed before, during, and after the intervention. Energy intake was recorded every day. Body weight, and serum concentration of albumin and transthyretin were measured every other week.• During a 3‐month period, the mean value of energy intake reached the calculated energy requirement in 10 residents. Eight residents increased in weight, triceps skin‐fold thickness, and transthyretin concentration. Nine residents increased in arm muscle circumference, and 10 showed increased serum albumin concentration and functional capacity.• We conclude that nursing care based on individual nutritional requirements, resources, and desires improves nutritional status and functional capacity in a group of malnourished residents.
Spiritual needs as defined by Swedish nursing staff
Authors: STRANG SUSAN , STRANG PETER , TERNESTEDT BRITT‐MARIE 
Published: March 2003

• A study was undertaken to describe how Swedish nursing staff at six different units characterize spiritual needs in a broad context, including both religious and existential issues. Another aim was to study whether there are any special groups of patients for whom these needs are considered to be of utmost importance.• A questionnaire comprising two open‐ended questions (the focus of the study) and six background questions was mailed to 191 nurses. Data were obtained from 141 nurses who worked on the oncology, palliative, neurological, neurosurgery and psychiatric units or in nursing homes.• Data from the open‐ended questions were analysed using content analysis and classified into three categories: (i) (general) spiritual issues, (ii) religious issues, and (iii) existential issues. Sub‐categories of the latter were (a) meaning, (b) freedom, (c) isolation and (d) death, i.e. the four central issues in existentialism as previously defined by existential philosophers.• A majority of the nurses only had limited theoretical knowledge about definitions. Nevertheless, their suggestions for improved spiritual and existential support contained essential elements that could be allocated to the three main categories. They had some difficulty distinguishing between spiritual and psychosocial care. According to the nurses, special groups of interest for spiritual and existential support were severely ill, dying persons and immigrants who actively practised their religion.• We conclude that there is a willingness to pay attention to spiritual and existential needs, but nurses still have difficulty defining what such care should include. The study revealed that nursing staff needed, and also made inquiries about, more education in order to deepen their knowledge.
Mothers' experience of social support following the death of a child
Authors: LAAKSO HILKKA , PAUNONEN‐ILMONEN MARITA 
Published: March 2003

• This study aimed at analysing the grief and coping of mothers whose child had died under the age of 7 years. The paper describes the social support received as experienced by mothers.• Data were collected using a survey (n=91) and interviews (n=50) with mothers who had lost their child at least 1 year previously. The questionnaire contained questions concerning background characteristics, the Hogan Grief Reaction Checklist and open‐ended questions. Survey data were analysed using a two‐way analysis of variance, Wilcoxon test, cross‐tabulation and content analysis. Interview data were analysed using inductive content analysis.• Findings showed that the spouse, children, grandparents, next of kin, friends and colleagues were the main sources of support.• Support consisted of emotional support, informational and instrumental support, and consolation and caring. Informational support consisted of advice and guidance from the mother's own mother or fellow sufferers. Instrumental support consisted of assistance with practical issues. Negative support manifested itself in unwarranted interference by relatives in the family's affairs or breaking up of friendships.• Mothers expected professional practitioners to provide honest information about the dying child's illness and practical arrangements after the child's death, and to keep up hope as long as the child was alive.• The care facility was also expected to maintain contact with the family after the child's death.
Communities of practice: an opportunity for interagency working
Authors: LATHLEAN JUDITH , LE MAY ANDRÉE 
Published: March 2003

• A particular approach to collaborative interagency working is that of mutliprofessional `communities of practice'.• Four such groups are described in the context of two action research projects, one relating to primary care and the other to outpatient services for dermatology and ENT.• The facilitating features, and the challenges and the potential of working in this way, are discussed, both from the point of view of understanding how knowledge is used and valued in such groups and as a useful mechanism for the development of services that span different professional perspectives and involve consumer interests.
A comprehensive definition of infant colic: parents' and nurses' perspectives
Authors: HELSETH SØLVI , BEGNUM SUSANNE 
Published: March 2003

• Colic is a term that is often used for crying in infancy. There is no unified definition, the aetiology is disputed and there is no effective method of treatment. Therefore, the crying infant constitutes a problem for parents and for nurses in child health clinics.• The purpose of the study was to develop a clinically acceptable framework for describing colic.• The design is exploratory, and data were collected through qualitative in‐depth interviews with nurses and parents of crying babies.• The infants identified by parents and nurses had periods of crying or fussing for more than 3 hours a day, the crying occurring on more than 3 days in any 1 week and lasting for more than 3 weeks. Three categories of crying emerged (intense crying, non‐specific fussing and crying, feeding‐related crying) that presumably differ in aetiology. An overall definition of colic is proposed that incorporates these categories.• The proposed definition may function as a diagnostic tool for nurses when they encounter problems of infant crying. The definition provides nurses with clinical criteria that can guide data collection. More specific assessment and categorization of infant crying will be helpful for nurses in addressing problems of colic.
Telephone nurses' experience of problems with telephone advice in Sweden
Authors: Wahlberg Anna Carin , Cedersund Elisabet , Wredling Regina 
Published: March 2003

Summary• By telephoning a healthcare call centre, individuals in Sweden can consult a nurse to discuss medical problems and health care accessibility, and to receive professional information on how to find their way about the health care system.• The aim of the study was to identify problems, difficulties and disadvantages that telephone nurses with varying degrees of experience had met during their professional careers.• The Delphi technique was used with three sets of questionnaires.• Twenty‐five nurses with varying experience of working with telephone advice from six 24‐hours call centres participated in the study. The response rate was 100%.• An open‐ended question generated 154 statements. Comments were categorized into 24 different problem categories.• Ten problem categories were mainly related to the nurse perspective, i.e. the problems experienced were associated with the qualities of the nurse, eight principally to the patient perspective, i.e. problems associated with caller characteristics and six mostly to the organizational perspective, i.e. problems linked to the organization of the national health service.• ‘Lack of health care resources’ was rated as the biggest problem, ‘second‐hand consultations’ as the second and ‘always making a decision’ as the third biggest problem.• Decision‐making seems to be the core of telephone advice nursing and problems related to the nurses, patients and organization seem to influence the telephone nurses' working situation.• Training should focus on active listening and handling social conflicts.
Plant foraging and dynamic competition between branches ofPinus sylvestrisin contrasting light environments
Authors: Stoll Peter , Schmid Bernhard 
Published: March 2003

1 The morphological plasticity of sun and shade branches ofPinus sylvestrisgrowing at the edge of a ‘tree‐patch’ created in 1989, when surrounding trees were removed, was compared with that of branches of trees growing in the centre of the patch.2In 1992, we selected 10‐year‐old branches. Yearly growth increments (long‐shoots) and emerging buds were individually marked, architectural parameters measured, the branch topology mapped, and the number of male and female cones counted. In 1993, the survival of growth increments and buds was recorded and the branches were harvested to determine dry mass of growth increments and needles.3The size of growth increments produced after 1989, i.e. their length, total dry mass and needle dry mass, decreased in the order sun branches of edge trees > branches of centre trees > shade branches of edge trees. Thus, the growth increments produced on the shade branches of trees that also had branches in the sun were consistently smaller than the growth increments on the branches of centre trees growing completely in the shade.4The number of new growth increments produced after 1989 was highest in sun branches and lowest in shade branches of edge trees. Survival of growth increments and buds was higher in edge than in centre trees; no difference was found between sun and shade branches of edge trees.5In shade branches of edge trees, branching angles between first‐ and second‐order growth increments were highest and increased from older to younger growth increments. This was interpreted as ‘bending’ towards the edge of the patch.6Production of female cones was almost totally restricted to edge trees and higher in sun than in shade branches.7One prediction of an optimal foraging strategy, i.e. the production of more growth increments and buds in higher light, was supported by the data, whereas the other prediction, i.e. decreased length of growth increments, could only be supported when it was expressed per unit dry mass. Thus, the hypothesis of an adaptive foraging strategy in plants was rejected in favour of a ‘passive’ growth null hypothesis.8The results suggest that both growth increments within branches and branches within trees are physiologically integrated and their ‘foraging behaviour’ can only partly be understood in terms of their local environment. We interpreted the observed differences between shade branches of edge and centre trees as correlative growth inhibition.
Reconstruction of long‐term successional dynamics of temperate woodland in Białowieża Forest, Poland
Authors: Mitchell Fraser J. G. , Cole Edwina 
Published: March 2003

1 Białowieża Forest contains the most extensive stands of old‐growth temperate woodland in Europe. It therefore has the potential to provide a model for near‐natural woodland, which is a conservation aim for many sites in western Europe. 2 Pollen analyses from two small hollow sites in the northern part of Białowieża Forest National Park are reported here. The records cover the last 1200–1500 years. The pollen data of the principal tree taxa were converted into vegetation data using previously published pollen:vegetation correction factors. 3 These data were used to reconstruct long‐term vegetation dynamics in the Tilio–Carpinetum and Pino–Quercetum communities that dominate the forest. Changes in forest composition have occurred as a result of both autogenic and allogenic processes. High grazing intensities in recent centuries have been particularly significant, although the forest is often considered to be undisturbed. 4 The larger hollow (site I) initially sampled across Peucedano–Pinetum, Carici elongatae–Alnetum and Tilio–Carpinetum communities. Since 1750, the Peucedano–Pinetum community has dominated, but with an increased Picea component. This has recently been replaced by the Pino–Quercetum community following the reduction of grazing pressure. These recent changes are largely consistent with published successional models for Białowieża Forest. 5 Site II recorded a relatively stable balance between the Tilio–Carpinetum and Pino–Quercetum communities until 750 years ago. The Tilio–Carpinetum community then expanded. The continued dominance of Quercus in this community is inconsistent with previous models. 6 The long time perspective available with pollen data permits the exploration of forest dynamics beyond the temporal range of existing models for Białowieża Forest. Comparison of recent and older records revealed that anthropogenic impact on forest composition has been greatest in recent centuries. 7 This investigation highlights the significant role of history in determining forest stand structure and composition.
Experimental demography of the old‐field perennialSolidago altissima: the dynamics of the shoot population
Authors: Meyer Andrea. H. , Schmid Bernhard 
Published: March 2003

1Control strategies are needed for the clonal speciesSolidago altissima, which is an aggressive invader in Europe that propagates vegetatively by persistent rhizomes that produce annual shoots.2The shoot dynamics of a population ofS. altissimathat had invaded an old‐field site in 1984 were studied from 1987 to 1992. Shoots from 120 genets of the same cohort were followed in relation to their parent genets. We assessed the effect of yearly mowing, yearly cutting of rhizomes and repeated removal of close neighbour plants on growth, survival, probability of reproduction and flux of these shoots.3In unmown plots, both shoot survival until the end of the growing season and the proportion of shoots producing seeds decreased (59% to 36% and 67% to 32%, respectively, from 1988 to 1992). The proportion of rhizomes producing shoots, however, rose (fromc. 50% to more than 90%) so that annual shoot density increased almost fivefold by the end of the study, when it had almost reached equilibrium.4In contrast, shoot density in mown plots remained roughly constant from 1988 to 1992, after an increase from 1987 to 1988. Shoots were much smaller and a smaller proportion of them reproduced than in unmown plots.5Rhizome cutting (reduced clonal integration) produced a small but consistent decrease in height and in the percentage of sexually reproducing shoots.6The removal of close neighbour plants increased shoot density, and a higher percentage of these shoots survived and reproduced.7Experimental demographic studies thus show that (i) continued regular mowing reduces the production of both seeds and shoots, and so would prevent further spread of an invadingS. altissimapopulation; (ii) clonal integration may contribute to the species’ success as an invader because disconnected rhizomes produce smaller shoots with a lower chance of sexual reproduction; and (iii) competition decreases shoot density, mainly as a consequence of reduced shoot survival, and can therefore controlS. altissimagrowth.
Mast seeding in Abies balsamea, Acer saccharum and Betula alleghaniensis in an old growth, cold temperate forest of north‐eastern North America
Authors: Houle Gilles 
Published: March 2003

1 Several hypotheses have been put forward to explain the phenomenon of masting or mast seeding, i.e. the supra‐annual, periodic production of a large number of seeds in long‐lived plants. Some of these hypotheses deal with the proximate causes of masting (e.g. the climate hypothesis) but others are concerned mostly with ultimate, evolutionary explanations (e.g. the pollination efficiency hypothesis). 2 The seed production of three tree species, Abies balsamea, Acer saccharum and Betula alleghaniensis, was followed over a 7‐year period in an old‐growth, cold temperate forest of north‐eastern North America. The main objectives were to determine the extent of interannual variations in seed production, to investigate the relationship between viable and potential seed crop and crop efficiency, and to explore the effects of climate on seed production. 3 Potential and viable seed production varied significantly among years for all three species. However, the timing of dispersal remained the same regardless of the level of seed production. 4 Seed rain was spatially less heterogeneous in years of high seed production, suggesting that most trees were reproducing in such years. 5 Over the 7‐year period, there was a significant concordance among species in their viable seed crop and crop efficiency, but not in their potential seed crop. Crop efficiency was positively correlated to potential seed crop for Abies and Betula, but not for Acer. 6 High seed production was related to warm, dry conditions in the spring of the previous year (i.e. at reproductive bud initiation) but to a moist summer in the year of seed maturation. 7 Masting in these three species thus appears to be controlled by several factors, including climate and pollination efficiency.
Annual growth rings, rainfall‐dependent growth and long‐term growth patterns of tropical trees from the Caparo Forest Reserve in Venezuela
Authors: Worbes Martin 
Published: March 2003

1 Tree‐ring analyses and dendrometer measurements were carried out on 37 tree species in a semi‐deciduous forest of the Reserva Forestal de Caparo, Venezuela, where the mean annual rainfall is about 1700 mm and there is a dry season from December to March. The main purposes of the investigation were to show the seasonality of cambial growth, and the connection between precipitation patterns and tree‐ring curves. Long‐term rates of wood increment were also estimated. 2 Cambial markings in consecutive years showed that annual rings were formed by many species. 3 The distinctiveness of growth zones was usually greater in deciduous species than in evergreen species, although not all deciduous species had distinct rings. 4 Dendrometer measurements showed that the annual growth rhythm was related to precipitation patterns. Evergreen species tended to show only a short interruption of wood growth (during the later part of the dry season), whereas deciduous species stopped growth completely at the end of the rainy season. 5 For deciduous species, regression analyses showed close relations between tree‐ring width and the sum of precipitation outside the rainy seasons (i.e. November to April). Evergreen species reacted to the total annual amount of precipitation. 6 Variation in longest available ring chronology (for Terminalia guianensis) showed little correlation with the El Niño–Southern Oscillation effect. 7 On average trees from natural forests showed relatively constant growth over the entire life span. Plantation trees grew fast up to an age of 15–20 years, but annual increments then decreased to values seen in natural forest trees.
Interacting effects of herbivory and fertility on a synthesized plant community
Authors: Fraser Lauchlan H. , Grime J. Philip 
Published: March 2003

1 Outdoor microcosms were used to investigate the effects of invertebrate herbivory on plant community composition, and thereby infer possible effects on the rate of secondary succession, at differing levels of soil fertility. 2 A mixture containing 24 grassland plant species of widely different functional types was established, with 12 microcosms at each of three fertility levels. Four generalist herbivores (Helix aspersa, Cepaea hortensis, Arianta arbustorum and Sitobion avenae) were added to half of the microcosms. Above‐ground biomass of each species was harvested after 2 years. Reproductive variables were also measured for one species, Poa annua. 3 At both moderate and high soil fertility generalist invertebrate herbivores fed selectively on early successional, fast‐growing species, thus increasing the relative abundance of later successional, slow‐growing species. This supports the hypothesis that herbivory increases the rate of secondary succession. Flowering and viable seed production of early successional ephemerals was also reduced by the invertebrate herbivores across a wide range of soil fertility. This would seriously reduce the ability of a species to persist in the community, thereby further hastening the rate of succession.
Nutrient foraging traits in 10 co‐occurring plant species of contrasting life forms
Authors: Einsmann Juliet C. , Jones Robert H. , Pu MoU. , Mitchell AndRobert J. 
Published: March 2003

1 Responses to spatial heterogeneity of soil nutrients were tested in 10 plant species that differ in life form and successional status, but which co‐occur in the South Carolina coastal plain. The morphological responses of the root system were tested by assessing scale (represented by root mass and root length densities), precision (preferential proliferation of roots in nutrient‐rich patches compared with less fertile patches) and discrimination (ability to detect and proliferate within the richest patches when patches vary in nutrient concentration). We also investigated sensitivity (growth benefits gained as spatial heterogeneity of nutrients increases, measured as total biomass). 2 Ten individuals of each species were grown in pots under four treatments that had differing nutrient distribution but the same overall nutrient addition. Plants were harvested when roots reached pot edge. 3 We observed high variation between species in scale, precision and sensitivity. No significant discrimination responses were observed, although greatest root mass density occurred at intermediate fertility levels for all species. 4 We rejected the hypothesis that scale and precision are negatively correlated. Indeed, in herbaceous species alone, scale and precision were positively correlated. 5 Sensitivity was not closely related to precision, indicating that proliferation of roots in fertile patches does not always yield growth benefits in heterogeneous soils. Further, some sensitive species had very low precision, suggesting that a positive growth response in heterogeneous environments may be related to plasticity in physiology or root life span, rather than morphology. 6 Plant life form was not correlated with precision or sensitivity. However, scale of response was greater in herbs than in woody plants, possibly because the two life forms develop root systems at different rates.