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Long-term Recovery (long-term + recovery)
Selected AbstractsHelping South Asia Cope Better with Natural Disasters: The Role of Social ProtectionDEVELOPMENT POLICY REVIEW, Issue 6 2007Rasmus Heltberg Social protection (income) support to households in the wake of major natural disasters is assuming a growing role for the World Bank, and major cash transfers in Turkey, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Pakistan are reviewed in this article. Such support is usually best provided directly as cash to affected households; it complements other relief and reconstruction efforts, is demanded by client countries and has a positive impact on short-term food security and long-term recovery. It could be geared for greater impact and more efficient delivery in future by the use of a best-practice toolkit and a right-on-time technical assistance facility, and its integration in emergency preparedness and capacity-building for implementing agencies. [source] Twelve-Step affiliation and 3-year substance use outcomes among adolescents: social support and religious service attendance as potential mediatorsADDICTION, Issue 6 2009Felicia W. Chi ABSTRACT Aims Twelve-Step affiliation among adolescents is little understood. We examined 12-Step affiliation and its association with substance use outcomes 3 years post-treatment intake among adolescents seeking chemical dependency (CD) treatment in a private, managed-care health plan. We also examined the effects of social support and religious service attendance on the relationship. Design We analyzed data for 357 adolescents, aged 13,18, who entered treatment at four Kaiser Permanente Northern California CD programs between March 2000 and May 2002 and completed both baseline and 3-year follow-up interviews. Measures Measures at follow-up included alcohol and drug use, 12-Step affiliation, social support and frequency of religious service attendance. Findings At 3 years, 68 adolescents (19%) reported attending any 12-Step meetings, and 49 (14%) reported involvement in at least one of seven 12-Step activities, in the previous 6 months. Multivariate logistic regression analyses indicated that after controlling individual and treatment factors, 12-Step attendance at 1 year was marginally significant, while 12-Step attendance at 3 years was associated with both alcohol and drug abstinence at 3 years [odds ratio (OR) 2.58, P < 0.05 and OR 2.53, P < 0.05, respectively]. Similarly, 12-Step activity involvement was associated significantly with 30-day alcohol and drug abstinence. There are possible mediating effects of social support and religious service attendance on the relationship between post-treatment 12-Step affiliation and 3-year outcomes. Conclusions The findings suggest the importance of 12-Step affiliation in maintaining long-term recovery, and help to understand the mechanism through which it works among adolescents. [source] Regional cerebral blood flow after recovery from anorexia or bulimia nervosaINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EATING DISORDERS, Issue 6 2007Guido K. Frank MD Abstract Objective: Abnormalities of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) have been found in individuals who are ill with anorexia (AN) or bulimia nervosa (BN). Little is known about whether rCBF normalizes after recovery from AN and BN. Method: Eighteen control women (CW), 10 recovered restricting type AN, 8 recovered AN with a binging history, and 9 recovered BN participants without a history of AN were studied using positron emission tomography and [15O]water in order to assess rCBF. Results: Partial volume corrected rCBF values in cortical and subcortical brain regions were similar between groups. Neither current body mass index nor age correlated with rCBF values. Conclusion: The results from this study indicate that rCBF normalizes with long-term recovery. Thus, altered rCBF is unlikely to confound functional imaging studies in AN or BN after recovery. © 2007 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 2007. [source] Plant community properties predict vegetation resilience to herbivore disturbance in the ArcticJOURNAL OF ECOLOGY, Issue 5 2010James D. M. Speed Summary 1.,Understanding the impact of disturbance on vegetation and the resilience of plant communities to disturbance is imperative to ecological theory and environmental management. In this study predictors of community resilience to a simulated natural disturbance are investigated. Responses to disturbance are examined at the community, plant functional type and species level. 2.,Field experiments were set up in seven tundra plant communities, simulating disturbance based on the impact of grubbing by an increasing herbivore population of pink-footed geese (Anser brachyrhynchus). The short-term resilience of communities was assessed by comparing community dissimilarity between control plots and plots subject to three disturbance intensities based on the foraging impact of these geese. Potential for long-term recovery was evaluated across different disturbance patch sizes. 3.,Resilience to disturbance varied between communities; those with higher moss cover and higher soil moisture, such as wetlands and mires, were most resilient to disturbance. 4.,The wetter communities demonstrated greater long-term recovery potential following disturbance. In wetland communities, vegetative recovery of vascular plants and moss was greater in smaller disturbed patches and at the edges of patches. 5.,The response of vegetation to disturbance varied with intensity of disturbance, plant community and plant species. The use of functional type classifications only partially explained the variation in species responses to disturbance across communities, thus their use in predicting community changes was limited. 6.,Synthesis. The impact of disturbance is shown to be plant-community specific and related to the initial abiotic and biotic properties of the community. By showing that resilience is partly predictable, the identification of disturbance-susceptible communities is possible, which is of relevance for ecosystem management. [source] Role of neuroimaging in promoting long-term recovery from ischemic strokeJOURNAL OF MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING, Issue 4 2010Rüdiger J. Seitz MD Abstract Human ischemic stroke is an acute disorder followed by a recovery period which may be of varying duration and mechanism. Imaging has created a means to explore the stroke process in vivo, particularly its underlying pathophysiology and recovery mechanisms. Evidence from multicenter studies has shown that, in the acute phase, arterial recanalization and reperfusion of ischemic brain tissue are the most important determinants of recovery. This is followed by functional and structural changes in the perilesional tissue and in large-scale bihemispheric networks that continue with different dynamics for weeks to months. Proof-of-principle studies have revealed that the behavioral gains induced by rehabilitation are paralleled by changes in functional representations. This is supported by data from neuroimaging and electrophysiological studies early after stroke which have shown that dedicated training can induce changes in cerebral functional representations. Accordingly, there is clear evidence that neuroimaging has a significant potential for monitoring the hemodynamic, functional, and structural factors determining recovery from stroke. New imaging methods may provide relevant biomarkers for treatment decisions and therapeutic monitoring. By combining neuroimaging with electrophysiological measures, opportunities exist to develop neuroscience-based strategies in rehabilitation. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2010;32:756,772. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Qualitative assessment of patient experiences following sacrectomy,JOURNAL OF SURGICAL ONCOLOGY, Issue 6 2010K.M. Davidge MD Abstract Background and Objectives The primary objective was to investigate patient experiences following sacral resection as a component of curative surgery for advanced rectal cancers, soft tissue and bone sarcomas. Methods Qualitative methods were used to examine the experiences, decision-making, quality of life, and supportive care needs of patients undergoing sacrectomy. Patients were identified from two prospective databases between 1999 and 2007. A semi-structured interview guide was generated and piloted. Patient interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using standard qualitative research methodology. Grounded theory guided the generation of the interview guide and analysis. Results Twelve patients were interviewed (6 female, 32,82 years of age). The mean interview time was 34,min. Five themes were identified, including: (1) the life-changing impact of surgery on both patients' and their family's lives, (2) patient satisfaction with immediate care in hospital, (3) significant chronic pain related to sacrectomy, (4) patients' need for additional information regarding long-term recovery, and (5) patients' gratitude to be alive. Conclusions Sacrectomy is a life-changing event for patients and their families. Patients undergoing sacrectomy need further information regarding the long-term consequences of this procedure. This need should be addressed in both preoperative multi-disciplinary consultations and at follow-up visits. J. Surg. Oncol. 2010; 101:447,450. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Response of Native and Exotic Grasses to Increased Soil Nitrogen and Recovery in a Postfire EnvironmentRESTORATION ECOLOGY, Issue 4 2006Molly E. Hunter Abstract Native plant recovery following wildfires is of great concern to managers because of the potential for increased water run-off and soil erosion associated with severely burned areas. Although postfire seeding with exotic grasses or cultivars of native grasses (seeded grasses) may mitigate the potential for increased run-off and erosion, such treatments may also be detrimental to long-term recovery of other native plant species. The degree to which seeded grasses dominate a site and reduce native plant diversity may be a function of the availability of resources such as nitrogen and light and differing abilities of native and seeded grasses to utilize available resources. We tested the hypothesis that seeded grasses have higher growth rates than native grasses when nitrogen and light availability is high in a greenhouse experiment. To determine how differing resource utilization strategies may affect distribution of native and seeded grasses across a burned landscape, we conducted botanical surveys after a wildfire in northern New Mexico, U.S.A., one and four years after the fire. In the greenhouse study we found seeded grasses to produce significantly more biomass than native grasses when nitrogen and light availability was high. Seeded grasses increased in cover from 1,4 years after the fire only in areas where total soil nitrogen was higher. Increased cover of seeded grasses did not affect recovery of native grasses, but it did lead to reduced native species richness at small scales. The potential negative long-term consequences of seeding with exotic grasses should be considered in postfire rehabilitation treatments. [source] Endangered, apparently: the role of apparent competition in endangered species conservationANIMAL CONSERVATION, Issue 4 2010N. J. DeCesare Abstract Conservation biologists have reported growing evidence of food-web interactions as causes of species endangerment. Apparent competition is an indirect interaction among prey species mediated by a shared predator, and has been increasingly linked to declines of prey species across taxa. We review theoretical and empirical studies of apparent competition, with specific attention to the mechanisms of asymmetry among apparently competing prey species. Asymmetry is theoretically driven by niche overlap, species fitness traits, spatial heterogeneity and generalist predator behavior. In real-world systems, human-induced changes to ecosystems such as habitat alteration and introduced species may be ultimate sources of species endangerment. However, apparent competition is shown to be a proximate mechanism when resultant changes introduce or subsidize abundant primary prey for predator populations. Demonstration of apparent competition is difficult due to the indirect relationships between prey and predator species and the potential for concurrent exploitative competition or other community effects. However, general conclusions are drawn concerning the characteristics of prey and predator species likely to exhibit asymmetric apparent competition, and the options for recovering endangered species. While short-term management may be required to avoid imminent extinction in systems demonstrating apparent competition, we propose adaptive conservation efforts directed at long-term recovery. [source] A protocol for stocking hatchery reared freshwater pearl mussel Margaritifera margaritiferaAQUATIC CONSERVATION: MARINE AND FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEMS, Issue 6 2010J. D. Bolland Abstract 1.Freshwater pearl mussel (Margaritifera margaritifera L.) populations are under serious threat of extinction throughout their geographical range and only a few remnant populations are recruiting to adulthood. Consequently, M. margaritifera is classified as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List. 2.Several institutions across many countries have set up Ark sites at hatcheries to culture and rear young M. margaritifera from population remnants, with the intention of stocking these juveniles into rivers. The release location must fulfill the habitat requirements for the full life-cycle of the species, so they can contribute to the next generation and thus the long-term recovery of the species. However, little research or advice exists about how to decide if river environments are suitable for stocking. 3.A protocol is presented for determining whether a M. margaritifera population will benefit from stocking hatchery reared juveniles and how to identify suitable areas. Stocking locations are considered from catchment scale to microscale using water quality (reach), macrohabitat (site) and microhabitat, including physicochemical properties of the substratum (spots). 4.A case study of the River Esk in north-east England, is incorporated to exemplify the myriad of considerations surrounding attempts to conserve M. margaritifera, and describes how implementation of the protocol can structure and assist stocking programmes. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | |||||||||||||