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Restorative Interventions (restorative + intervention)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	50%

Selected Abstracts

Effects of stream restoration and management on plant communities in lowland streams

FRESHWATER BIOLOGY, Issue 1 2006
TINA CHARLOTTE MOUSTGAARD PEDERSEN
Summary 1. We evaluated restoration success on macrophyte species diversity and composition in lowland streams using communities in 30 naturally meandering stream reaches in the western part of Jutland, Denmark, as reference target communities. Fuzzy set clustering was used to examine the floristic and environmental similarity among reaches, whereas fuzzy set ordination was used to relate floristic patterns to environmental variables. 2. Two major groups of streams were identified based on their floristic composition. One group consisted of reference and restored reaches and the other of the majority of channelised reaches. We found that management exerted a strong influence on the macrophyte communities and that the identified groups were related to differences in management intensity. 3. Our results also indicate that bank morphology and bed level affected macrophyte communities in the streams, particularly the richness and abundance of terrestrial species. The analyses performed suggest that shallow and wide banks allow for a larger migration of species from the stream banks into the streams, thereby enhancing species diversity within the stream channel. 4. The results of this study suggest that macrophyte communities in channelised lowland streams can recover following restorative interventions given that stream management (i.e. weed cutting and dredging) is minimised and that stream banks are reprofiled to improve the lateral connectivity between the stream and its valley. [source]

Bathing Disability in Community-Living Older Persons: Common, Consequential, and Complex

JOURNAL OF AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY, Issue 11 2004
Aanand D. Naik MD
Objectives: To identify the specific bathing subtasks that are affected in community-living-older persons with bathing disability and to determine the self-reported reasons for bathing disability. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: General community of greater New Haven, Connecticut. Participants: A total of 626 community-living persons, aged 73 and older, who completed a comprehensive assessment, including a detailed evaluation of bathing disability. Measurements: Trained research nurses assessed bathing disability (defined as requiring personal assistance or having difficulty washing and drying the whole body), the specific bathing subtasks that were affected, and the main reasons (up to three) for bathing disability. Results: Disability in bathing was present in 195 (31%) participants; of these, 97 required personal assistance (i.e., dependence), and 98 had difficulty bathing. Participants with bathing disability reported a mean±standard deviation of 4.0±2.4 affected subtasks. The prevalence rate of disability for the eight prespecified bathing subtasks ranged from 25% for taking off clothes to 75% for leaving the bathing position. The majority of participants (59%) provided more than one reason for bathing disability. The most common reasons cited by participants for their bathing disability were balance problems (28%), arthritic complaints (26%), and fall or fear of falling (23%). Conclusion: For community-living older persons, disability in bathing is common, involves multiple subtasks, and is attributable to an array of physical and psychological problems. Preventive and restorative interventions for bathing disability will need to account for the inherent complexity of this essential activity of daily living. [source]

Future of cell and gene therapies for Parkinson's disease,

ANNALS OF NEUROLOGY, Issue S2 2008
Ole Isacson MD
The experimental field of restorative neurology continues to advance with implantation of cells or transfer of genes to treat patients with neurological disease. Both strategies have generated a consensus that demonstrates their capacity for structural and molecular brain modification in the adult brain. However, both approaches have yet to successfully address the complexities to make such novel therapeutic modalities work in the clinic. Prior experimental cell transplantation to patients with PD utilized dissected pieces of fetal midbrain tissue, containing mixtures of cells and neuronal types, as donor cells. Stem cell and progenitor cell biology provide new opportunities for selection and development of large batches of specific therapeutic cells. This may allow for cell composition analysis and dosing to optimize the benefit to an individual patient. The biotechnology used for cell and gene therapy for treatment of neurological disease may eventually be as advanced as today's pharmaceutical drug-related design processes. Current gene therapy phase 1 safety trials for PD include the delivery of a growth factor (neurturin via the glial cell line,derived neurotrophic factor receptor) and a transmitter enzyme (glutamic acid decarboxylase and aromatic acid decarboxylase). Many new insights from cell biological and molecular studies provide opportunities to selectively express or suppress factors relevant to neuroprotection and improved function of neurons involved in PD. Future gene and cell therapies are likely to coexist with classic pharmacological therapies because their use can be tailored to individual patients' underlying disease process and need for neuroprotective or restorative interventions. Ann Neurol 2008;64 (suppl):S122,S138 [source]

Childhood, Agency and Youth Justice

CHILDREN & SOCIETY, Issue 4 2009
Roger Smith
This article seeks to reframe debates in the sphere of youth justice in order to move away from narrow and one-sided conceptualisations of young people who offend and appropriate forms of intervention with them. Whilst different positions have been adopted within the field of youth justice, largely around ,justice' or ,welfare' models of practice, the apparent polarisation of this conflict has obscured an underlying consensus, namely that the ,problem' is the child or young offender, and he/she needs either to be helped or coerced into becoming a conforming adult citizen. Largely absent from the field of youth justice have been other theoretical influences such as consideration of the nature of ,agency' and the construction of childhood. These alternative perspectives could offer us some insight into the limitations of historical debates in youth justice policy and practice, as will as pointing the way towards innovative and progressive alternative forms of practice. The strengths and shortcomings of contemporary developments, such as restorative interventions, will be discussed in this context, and the article will conclude that there is scope for developing positive, young person-centred models of youth justice practice if we base these on a proper understanding of childhood and children's agency. [source]