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Selected AbstractsClinical outcomes of diabetic foot management with CirculatPHYTOTHERAPY RESEARCH, Issue 10 2008J. A. Olalde Abstract Major and minor lower-extremity amputation is a common complication among diabetics. Various sources indicate diabetic foot ulcer prevalence at between 2.2% and 15% in diabetics. This study evaluates the efficacy and tolerance of a standardized plant extract combination, Circulat, developed for the prevention and treatment of severe manifestations of type 2 diabetes, such as necrotic damage of the foot. Thus, a retrospective cohort study was carried out in 174 patients treated with Circulat with diabetic foot grades D1,D3, according to The University of Texas Wound Classification System, in 50 medical centers, from 2004 to 2007. Circulat obtained 50.57% complete cure of diabetic foot, significant improvement in 37.9% and prevented amputation in 88.5% of the study's total population. The treatment was well tolerated. Four patients (2.3%) had slight gastrointestinal unrest which did not warrant suspension of treatment. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The changing prevalence of diagnosed diabetes and its associated vascular complications in a large region of the UK*DIABETIC MEDICINE, Issue 6 2010C. L. Morgan Diabet. Med. 27, 673,678 (2010) Abstract Aims, To characterize the prevalence of diabetes in a large health district in 2004 and compare it with a previous estimate made in 1996. Methods, The study population comprised the resident population of Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan. Routine record linkage was used to identify patients from various sources of hospital and mortality data. Patients with diabetes were identified according to biochemistry test results, coding on routine data or attendance at a diabetes-related clinic. Diabetes-related complications were ascribed according to coding on routine data. Results, It was possible to identify 17 088 people with diabetes alive on 1 January 2005. Of these patients, 9064 (53.0%) were male and 8024 (47.0%) were female. Mean age (± sd) was 59.6 ± 18.9 years for males and 61.2 ± 20.4 years for females. The crude prevalence of diabetes in 2005 was 3.9% (3.4% adjusted) compared with 2.5% in 1996 (2.3% adjusted). With the exception of females aged , 75 years, the prevalence of diabetes increased in all age- and sex-specific subgroups. Within the 2005 cohort, over two-thirds has no recorded complications compared with approximately one half of the 1996 cohort. The prevalence of individual complications decreased, with the exception of renal complications. Conclusions, The prevalence of identified diabetes appears to have increased substantially over a relatively short period of 9 years to 2004. The increase in prevalence was 46%, with an increase in numbers of patients with diabetes of 53%. A number of factors are likely to have contributed to this, including an increase in case ascertainment. [source] Quantifying sediment storage in a high alpine valley (Turtmanntal, Switzerland)EARTH SURFACE PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS, Issue 13 2009Jan-Christoph Otto Abstract The determination of sediment storage is a critical parameter in sediment budget analyses. But, in many sediment budget studies the quantification of magnitude and time-scale of sediment storage is still the weakest part and often relies on crude estimations only, especially in large drainage basins (>100,km2). We present a new approach to storage quantification in a meso-scale alpine catchment of the Swiss Alps (Turtmann Valley, 110,km2). The quantification of depositional volumes was performed by combining geophysical surveys and geographic information system (GIS) modelling techniques. Mean thickness values of each landform type calculated from these data was used to estimate the sediment volume in the hanging valleys and the trough slopes. Sediment volume of the remaining subsystems was determined by modelling an assumed parabolic bedrock surface using digital elevation model (DEM) data. A total sediment volume of 781·3×106,1005·7×106,m3 is deposited in the Turtmann Valley. Over 60% of this volume is stored in the 13 hanging valleys. Moraine landforms contain over 60% of the deposits in the hanging valleys followed by sediment stored on slopes (20%) and rock glaciers (15%). For the first time, a detailed quantification of different storage types was achieved in a catchment of this size. Sediment volumes have been used to calculate mean denudation rates for the different processes ranging from 0·1 to 2·6,mm/a based on a time span of 10,ka. As the quantification approach includes a number of assumptions and various sources of error the values given represent the order of magnitude of sediment storage that has to be expected in a catchment of this size. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Knowledge, trust and recourse: imperfect substitutes as sources of assurance in emerging economiesECONOMIC AFFAIRS, Issue 1 2001Bruce L. Benson Uncertainty prevents voluntary interactions, but institutions of trust and/or recourse can substitute for knowledge by making promises relatively credible. Trust and various sources of recourse are imperfect substitutes, however, as demonstrated by consideration of the trade-offs between trust based on repeated dealings, recourse to informal private sanctions such as reputation threats, ostracism sanctions and third-party dispute resolution through formal commercial organizations operating under customary law, and the state's coercive legal system. The problems of knowledge and interest imply that, though not perfect, private sources of trust and recourse are superior in emerging markets to state-provided recourse. [source] Simultaneous Quantitative Determination of Cadmium, Lead, and Copper on Carbon-Ink Screen-Printed Electrodes by Differential Pulse Anodic Stripping Voltammetry and Partial Least Squares RegressionELECTROANALYSIS, Issue 23 2008Michael Cauchi Abstract Water is a vital commodity for every living entity on the planet. However, water resources are threatened by various sources of contamination from pesticides, hydrocarbons and heavy metals. This has resulted in the development of concepts and technologies to create a basis for provision of safe and high quality drinking water. This paper focuses on the simultaneous quantitative determination of three common contaminants, the heavy metals cadmium, lead and copper. Multivariate calibration was applied to voltammograms acquired on in-house printed carbon-ink screen-printed electrodes by the highly sensitive electrochemical method of differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry (DPASV). The statistically inspired modification of partial least squares (SIMPLS) algorithm was employed to effect the multivariate calibration. The application of data pretreatment techniques involving range-scaling, mean-centering, weighting of variables and the effects of peak realignment are also investigated. It was found that peak realignment in conjunction with weighting and SIMPLS led to the better overall root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) value. This work represents significant progress in the development of multivariate calibration tools in conjunction with analytical techniques for water quality determination. It is the first time that multivariate calibration has been performed on DPASV voltammograms acquired on carbon-ink screen-printed electrodes. [source] Anabolic steroid users' attitudes towards physiciansADDICTION, Issue 9 2004Harrison G. Pope ABSTRACT Aims To assess anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS) users' trust in the knowledge and advice of physicians. Design Interviews of AAS users and non-users. Setting Research offices. Participants Eighty weight-lifters (43 AAS users, 37 non-users) recruited by advertisement in Massachusetts and Florida, USA. Measurements Personal interviews and questionnaire responses, including subjects' ratings of physicians' knowledge regarding various health- and drug-related topics. AAS users also rated their level of trust in various sources of information about AAS. Findings Both groups of subjects gave physicians high ratings on knowledge about general health, cigarette smoking, alcohol, and conventional illicit drugs, but gave physicians markedly and significantly lower ratings on knowledge about AAS. When rating sources of information on AAS, users scored physicians as no more reliable than their friends, Internet sites, or the person(s) who sold them the steroids. Forty percent of users trusted information on AAS from their drug dealers at least as much as information from any physician that they had seen, and 56% had never revealed their AAS use to any physician. Conclusion AAS users show little trust in physicians' knowledge about AAS, and often do not disclose their AAS use to physicians. These attitudes compromise physicians' ability to educate or treat AAS users. Physicians can respond to these problems by learning more about AAS and by maintaining a high index of suspicion when evaluating athletic male patients. [source] Human brain carboxypeptidase B, which cleaves ,-amyloid peptides in vitro, is expressed in the endoplasmic reticulum of neuronsEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE, Issue 9 2001Akira Matsumoto Abstract Intracellular localization of novel human brain carboxypeptidase B (HBCPB) was investigated in human hippocampus, using immunohistochemistry by confocal laser microscopy and biochemical purification of the homogenate by density gradient ultracentrifugation. The former revealed that the majority of HBCPB was expressed in the endoplasmic reticulum, in which the HBCPB-specific C14-module immunoreactivity was colocalized with GRP78 immunoreactivity, a stress 70 heat shock protein specifically expressed in the endoplasmic reticulum. The latter showed that anti-C14-module immunoreactivity and prepro-HBCPB immunoreactivity were both enriched in the microsome fraction, especially in that of the endoplasmic reticulum-density fraction of normal human hippocampal homogenates from various sources. However, HBCPB prepared from human hippocampus showed exopeptidase activity for synthetic ,-amyloid 1,42 peptide, in which A, X-42 C-terminus immunoreactivity was decreased in a fashion dose-dependent of the amount of the protease added. These findings indicate that HBCPB, which is expressed in the endoplasmic reticulum of a group of neuronal perikarya, may play an important physiological role in degradation of ,-amyloid 1,42, which is specifically generated in the endoplasmic reticulum of human and rodent neurons and is also regarded as the most pathogenic and aggregatable species among all ,-amyloid peptides. [source] Variability in the origin of carbon substrates for bacterial communities in mangrove sedimentsFEMS MICROBIOLOGY ECOLOGY, Issue 2 2004Steven Bouillon Abstract Organic carbon in mangrove sediments originates from both local sources (mangroves, microphytobenthos) and tidal inputs (e.g. phytoplankton, seagrass-derived material). The relative inputs of these sources may vary strongly, both within and between different mangrove sites. We combined elemental (TOC/TN) and bulk ,13C analysis on sediment cores from various mangrove sites with ,13C data of bacteria-specific phospholipid fatty acids (PLFA) in order to identify the dominant carbon substrates used by in situ bacterial communities. ,13C values of each of these markers showed a range of 10% or more across the different sites and sampling depths, but generally followed the ,13C trend observed in bulk organic carbon. Several sediment cores show a strong vertical gradient in PLFA ,13C, suggesting a selectivity for algal-derived carbon in the surface layers. Our data demonstrate that the origin of bacterial carbon substrates varies widely across different mangrove sites, and imply that data on mineralization of organic matter cannot be directly incorporated in ecosystem carbon budgets without an estimation of the contribution of various sources. [source] Palaeoecology and depositional environments of the Tendaguru Beds (Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous, Tanzania)FOSSIL RECORD-MITTEILUNGEN AUS DEM MUSEUM FUER NATURKUNDE, Issue 1 2002Martin Aberhan Abstract The Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous Tendaguru Beds (Tanzania, East Africa) have been well known for nearly a century for their diverse dinosaur assemblages. Here, we present sedimentological and palaeontological data collected by the German-Tanzanian Tendaguru Expedition 2000 in an attempt to reconstruct the palaeo-ecosystems of the Tendaguru Beds at their type locality. Our reconstructions are based on sedimentological data and on a palaeoecological analysis of macroinvertebrates, microvertebrates, plant fossils and microfossils (ostracods, foraminifera, charophytes, palynomorphs). In addition, we included data from previous expeditions, particularly those on the dinosaur assemblages. The environmental model of the Tendaguru Beds presented herein comprises three broad palaeoenvironmental units in a marginal marine setting: (1) Lagoon-like, shallow marine environments above fair weather wave base and with evidence of tides and storms. These formed behind barriers such as ooid bar and siliciclastic sand bar complexes and were generally subject to minor salinity fluctuations. (2) Extended tidal flats and low-relief coastal plains. These include low-energy, brackish coastal lakes and ponds as well as pools and small fluvial channels of coastal plains in which the large dinosaurs were buried. Since these environments apparently were, at best, poorly vegetated, the main feeding grounds of giant sauropods must have been elsewhere. Presumably, tidal flats and coastal plains were visited by dinosaurs primarily during periods of drought. (3) Vegetated hinterland. Vegetation of this environment can only be inferred indirectly from plant material transported into the other depositional environments. Vegetation was dominated by a diverse conifer flora, which apparently formed part of the food source of large herbivorous sauropods. Evidence from various sources suggests a subtropical to tropical palaeoclimate, characterised by seasonal rainfall alternating with a pronounced dry season during the Late Jurassic. In Early Cretaceous times, sedimentological and palaeontological proxies suggest a climatic shift towards more humid conditions. Die Tendaguru-Schichten von Tansania in Ostafrika (Oberjura bis Unterkreide) sind als Lagerstätte oberjurassischer Dinosaurier seit nahezu einem Jahrhundert weltweit bekannt. Anhand von sedimentologischen und paläontologischen Daten, die während der Deutsch-Tansanischen Tendaguru Expedition 2000 im Typus-Gebiet der Tendaguru-Schichten gewonnen wurden, werden Paläo-Ökosysteme rekonstruiert. Grundlage der Rekonstruktionen sind die Auswertung sedimentologischer Daten sowie die paläo-ökologische Analyse von Makroinvertebraten, Mikrovertebraten, pflanzlichen Fossilien und Mikrofossilien (Ostrakoden, Foraminiferen, Charophyten, Palynomorphen). Darüber hinaus werden Informationen über Dinosaurier berücksichtigt, die bei früheren Expeditionen gewonnen wurden. Das hier vorgestellte Ablagerungsmodell der Tendaguru-Schichten umfaßt drei Teilbereiche eines randlich marinen Sedimentationsraumes, die wie folgt gekennzeichnet werden können: (1) Lagunen-artige, marine Flachwasserbereiche, die oberhalb der Schönwetter-Wellenbasis lagen und unter deutlichem Einfluß von Gezeiten und Stürmen standen. Sie waren vom offenen Meer durch Barrieren, wie Ooidbarren und siliziklastischen Sandbarrenkomplexen, getrennt und wiesen einen leicht schwankenden Salzgehalt auf. (2) Ausgedehnte Wattgebiete und flache Küstenebenen. Dort befanden sich niedrig-energetische, brackische Strandseen und Teiche sowie Tümpel und kleinere Flußrinnen, in denen die großen Dinosaurier eingebettet wurden. Da diese Lebensräume bestenfalls dürftig bewachsen waren, müssen die Nahrungsquellen und der eigentliche Lebensraum der riesigen Sauropoden anderswo gelegen haben. Vermutlich wurden die Wattgebiete und Flachküsten von Dinosauriern vorrangig in den Trockenzeiten aufgesucht. (3 ) Bewachsenes Hinterland. Die Vegetation dieses Lebensraumes kann nur indirekt aus Pflanzenresten erschlossen werden, die in die anderen Ablagerungsraume transportiert wurden. Die Vegetation wurde von einer diversen Koniferenflora dominiert, die zumindest teilweise die Nahrungsgrundlage der großen, herbivoren Sauropoden bildete. Sedimentologische und paläontologische Indikatoren sprechen für ein subtropisches bis tropisches Klima wahrend der späten Jurazeit mit einem jahreszeitlichen Wechsel von Regenfällen und ausgeprägten Trockenzeiten. In der frühen Kreidezeit deutet sich ein Wechsel zu starker humiden Bedingungen an. [source] Comparing and evaluating process-based ecosystem model predictions of carbon and water fluxes in major European forest biomesGLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY, Issue 12 2005Pablo Morales Abstract Process-based models can be classified into: (a) terrestrial biogeochemical models (TBMs), which simulate fluxes of carbon, water and nitrogen coupled within terrestrial ecosystems, and (b) dynamic global vegetation models (DGVMs), which further couple these processes interactively with changes in slow ecosystem processes depending on resource competition, establishment, growth and mortality of different vegetation types. In this study, four models , RHESSys, GOTILWA+, LPJ-GUESS and ORCHIDEE , representing both modelling approaches were compared and evaluated against benchmarks provided by eddy-covariance measurements of carbon and water fluxes at 15 forest sites within the EUROFLUX project. Overall, model-measurement agreement varied greatly among sites. Both modelling approaches have somewhat different strengths, but there was no model among those tested that universally performed well on the two variables evaluated. Small biases and errors suggest that ORCHIDEE and GOTILWA+ performed better in simulating carbon fluxes while LPJ-GUESS and RHESSys did a better job in simulating water fluxes. In general, the models can be considered as useful tools for studies of climate change impacts on carbon and water cycling in forests. However, the various sources of variation among models simulations and between models simulations and observed data described in this study place some constraints on the results and to some extent reduce their reliability. For example, at most sites in the Mediterranean region all models generally performed poorly most likely because of problems in the representation of water stress effects on both carbon uptake by photosynthesis and carbon release by heterotrophic respiration (Rh). The use of flux data as a means of assessing key processes in models of this type is an important approach to improving model performance. Our results show that the models have value but that further model development is necessary with regard to the representation of the some of the key ecosystem processes. [source] Geochemical Tracers to Evaluate Hydrogeologic Controls on River SalinizationGROUND WATER, Issue 3 2008Stephanie J. Moore The salinization of rivers, as indicated by salinity increases in the downstream direction, is characteristic of arid and semiarid regions throughout the world. Historically, salinity increases have been attributed to various mechanisms, including (1) evaporation and concentration during reservoir storage, irrigation, and subsequent reuse; (2) displacement of shallow saline ground water during irrigation; (3) erosion and dissolution of natural deposits; and/or (4) inflow of deep saline and/or geothermal ground water (ground water with elevated water temperature). In this study, investigation of salinity issues focused on identification of relative salinity contributions from anthropogenic and natural sources in the Lower Rio Grande in the New Mexico-Texas border region. Based on the conceptual model of the system, the various sources of water and, therefore, salinity to the Lower Rio Grande were identified, and a sampling plan was designed to characterize these sources. Analysis results for boron (,11B), sulfur (,34S), oxygen (,18O), hydrogen (,2H), and strontium (87Sr/86Sr) isotopes, as well as basic chemical data, confirmed the hypothesis that the dominant salinity contributions are from deep ground water inflow to the Rio Grande. The stable isotopic ratios identified the deep ground water inflow as distinctive, with characteristic isotopic signatures. These analyses indicate that it is not possible to reproduce the observed salinization by evapotranspiration and agricultural processes alone. This investigation further confirms that proper application of multiple isotopic and geochemical tracers can be used to identify and constrain multiple sources of solutes in complex river systems. [source] Establishment of a stroke unit in a district hospital: review of experienceINTERNAL MEDICINE JOURNAL, Issue 2 2007A. Chiu Abstract Background: The experience and outcomes of co-locating acute stroke and stroke rehabilitation care in a district hospital were reviewed. Method: Information for patients admitted to Blacktown and Mt Druitt Hospitals before and after setting up an acute stroke unit (SU) (12 months data for each period), including mortality and length of stay (LOS) at the hospital were obtained from various sources, including the diagnosis-related group and subacute and non-acute casemix databases. Results: There was a significant reduction of mortality (18 vs 10%; P = 0.01) and reduced total LOS (46 vs 39 days; P = 0.01) with similar functional outcomes in the post-SU period. Fifty per cent of patients were unable to access the acute SU. Patients admitted into the SU had lower mortality (5 vs 14%; P = 0.01) and were also discharged from hospital earlier (35 vs 54 days; P = 0.01) than patients admitted into general wards during the post-SU period. Thirty-four per cent of patients received rehabilitation within the rehabilitation facility in the post-SU period compared with 19% in the pre-SU period. Conclusion: The Blacktown experience showed the feasibility of establishing a co-located SU within rehabilitation facility with good outcomes as illustrated by the significant reduction in the stroke mortality, a reduction in the total LOS and an increase in the number of patients receiving rehabilitation post-stroke. [source] Human gastrointestinal nematode infections: are new control methods required?INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL PATHOLOGY, Issue 5 2006Gillian Stepek Summary Gastrointestinal (GI) nematode infections affect 50% of the human population worldwide, and cause great morbidity as well as hundreds of thousands of deaths. Despite modern medical practices, the proportion of the population infected with GI nematodes is not falling. This is due to a number of factors, the most important being the lack of good healthcare, sanitation and health education in many developing countries. A relatively new problem is the development of resistance to the small number of drugs available to treat GI nematode infections. Here we review the most important parasitic GI nematodes and the methods available to control them. In addition, we discuss the current status of new anthelmintic treatments, particularly the plant cysteine proteinases from various sources of latex-bearing plants and fruits. [source] Inhibition kinetic and mechanism of polyphenol oxidase from various sources by diethyldithiocarbamic acidINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, Issue 7 2008Serap Do Summary Inhibition kinetics and mechanism of polyphenol oxidases (PPO) partially purified from various sources such as Thymbra spicata L. var. spicata and Ocimum basilicum L., and of mushroom PPO bought from Sigma by diethyldithiocarbamic acid have been described using catechol, 4-methylcatechol and pyrogallol as substrates. The inhibition type was competitive for O. basilicum L. PPO using catechol and 4-methylcatechol as substrates, for mushroom PPO using catechol, 4-methylcatechol and pyrogallol as substrates, and for T. spicata L. var. spicata PPO using 4-methylcatechol as a substrate; uncompetitive inhibition for T. spicata L. var. spicata PPO using pyrogallol as a substrate; and non-competitive inhibition for O. basilicum L. and T. spicata L. var. spicata PPO using pyrogallol and catechol as substrates, respectively. The inhibition effect of diethyldithiocarbamic acid on enzymatic browning varied greatly from one phenol to another and from one enzyme to another. Hence, no general rule can easily be established with regard to the type of inhibition observed. [source] Photosynthetic pathways, spatial distribution, isotopic ecology, and implications for pre-Hispanic human diets in central-western ArgentinaINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OSTEOARCHAEOLOGY, Issue 2 2009C. Llano Abstract In a number of areas around the world researchers have begun to use the isotopic values of subsistence resources as a means of determining diets of human populations. The objective of the present study is to classify the plant species present at distinct altitudes in southern Mendoza Province, Argentina, considering photosynthetic pathways in order to determine their ,13C isotopic signature. This will help to understand the relationships between diets and the isotopic values observed in archaeological human remains. Data compiled from various sources are used to establish the photosynthetic pathways and mean ,13C values. The results indicate that C3 species are dominant at high-altitude settings, and that the few identified C4 species were found primarily at lower altitudes. These results are intended to serve as a foundation for future isotopic studies designed to address relationships among species at different trophic levels. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Pulsed Signal Therapy® for the treatment of musculoskeletal conditions: a millennium paradigmINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RHEUMATIC DISEASES, Issue 3 2004Richard MARKOLL Abstract Reports and reviews from various sources, including the World Health Organization and United Nations Population Division, confirm the general increasing trend in the ageing population groups worldwide. There are over 150 types of musculoskeletal conditions, with rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, low back pain and limb trauma, accounting for the greatest impact on the population at large. Osteoarthritis (OA) is predicted to become the fourth leading cause of disability by the year 2020. The most common medication prescribed for OA is non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). These have long been associated with numerous adverse effects, are costly and short-term in their ,therapeutic' effect. Pulsed Signal Therapy® (PSTÔ) is an innovative treatment modality for musculoskeletal conditions. It has been commercially available since 1992, is currently employed in at least 800 clinics and/or medical institutes, and to-date, no adverse effects have been reported. Furthermore, it is non-invasive, non-pharmacological, painless, with long-term follow-up, and sustained efficacy. When connective tissue is injured and physiological signalling is disturbed or absent, PSTÔ, as the external, biophysical signal (stimulus) of physiological energy parameters and waveform, passively induces ,fluid flow' in the injured area, creating ,streaming potentials', that induce biophysical-biochemical coupling, subsequent signal transduction, to activate repair and regenerative processes. In doing so, it restores the innate, physiological signalling to enable these regenerative and repair processes to continue naturally. [source] Mumbai's Mysterious Middle ClassINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF URBAN AND REGIONAL RESEARCH, Issue 4 2006JAN NIJMAN Mumbai forms the décor to an interesting set of relationships among economic liberalization, globalization, class restructuring and an unprecedented housing construction boom. The much talked about new Indian middle class is primarily an urban phenomenon and seems nowhere more salient than in India's commercial capital and largest city. This article seeks to undo some of the mysteries that surround the new middle class: how it can be empirically defined, whether and how it is growing, how class restructuring in Mumbai conforms (or not) to Western arguments about social polarization, and how any such class restructuring can best be explained. The empirical analysis employs existing data from various sources on income and consumption in Mumbai (and India at large) and reports on selected findings from a recent survey by the author on housing, class and upward mobility among households in newly constructed homes in Greater Mumbai. Data on the distribution of household incomes show that the upper-middle income classes have grown relative to the total, that the lower-middle income classes have shrunk, and that the ranks of the poor have expanded slightly. Survey data among new home buyers in Mumbai suggest little upward mobility. Discourse about the ,new middle class' tends to focus on consumption rather than income and additional findings indicate that much of the growth in consumption is credit-based. [source] Towards a decision support system for health promotion in nursingJOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING, Issue 2 2003Kate Caelli PhD RN RM Aims. This study was designed to investigate what type of models, techniques and data are necessary to support the development of a decision support system for health promotion practice in nursing. Specifically, the research explored how interview data can be interpreted in terms of Concept Networks and Bayesian Networks, both of which provide formal methods for describing the dependencies between factors or variables in the context of decision-making in health promotion. Background. In nursing, the lack of generally accepted examples or guidelines by which to implement or evaluate health promotion practice is a challenge. Major gaps have been identified between health promotion rhetoric and practice and there is a need for health promotion to be presented in ways that make its attitudes and practices more easily understood. New tools, paradigms and techniques to encourage the practice of health promotion would appear to be beneficial. Concept Networks and Bayesian Networks are techniques that may assist the research team to understand and explicate health promotion more specifically and formally than has been the case, so that it may more readily be integrated into nursing practice. Methods. As the ultimate goal of the study was to investigate ways to use the techniques described above, it was necessary to first generate data as text. Textual descriptions of health promotion in nursing were derived from in-depth qualitative interviews with nurses nominated by their peers as expert health promoting practitioners. Findings. The nurses in this study gave only general and somewhat vague outlines of the concepts and ideas that guided their practice. These data were compared with descriptions from various sources that describe health promotion practices in nursing, then examples of a Conceptual Network and a representative Bayesian Network were derived from the data. Conclusions. The study highlighted the difficulty in describing health promotion practice, even among nurses recognized for their expertise in health promotion. Nevertheless, it indicated the data collection and analysis methods necessary to explicate the cognitive processes of health promotion and highlighted the benefits of using formal conceptualization techniques to improve health promotion practice. [source] Comparison of Salmonella enterica serotype Infantis isolates from a veterinary teaching hospitalJOURNAL OF APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 6 2007M. Dunowska Abstract Aims:, To compare Salmonella enterica serotype Infantis isolates obtained from patients or the environment of a veterinary teaching hospital over a period of 9 years following a nosocomial outbreak to determine whether isolates were epidemiologically related or represented unrelated introductions into the hospital environment. Methods and Results:, Fifty-six S. Infantis isolates were compared based on their phenotypic (antimicrobial drug [AMD] susceptibility pattern) and genotypic (pulsed-field gel electrophoresis [PFGE] pattern and presence of integrons) characteristics. Epidemiologically unrelated S. Infantis isolates clustered separately from all but two of the hospital isolates, and several isolates from different years and various sources were indistinguishable from each other in cluster analysis of two-enzyme PFGE results. A high percentage of isolates (80·3%) were resistant to at least one AMD, with 67·8% showing resistance to >5 AMD. The majority (74·1%) of isolates tested contained type 1 integrons. Conclusion:, Results strongly suggest that there was nosocomial transmission of S. Infantis during the initial outbreak, and that contamination arising from this outbreak persisted across years despite rigorous hygiene and biosecurity precautions and may have led to subsequent nosocomial infections. Significance and Impact of the Study:, Evidence of persistence and transmission of Salmonella clones across years, even in the face of rigorous preventive measures, has important implications for other facilities that have experienced outbreaks of Salmonella infections. [source] Discrimination of Staphylococcus aureus biotypes by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis of DNA macro-restriction fragmentsJOURNAL OF APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 2 2003J.A. Hennekinne Abstract Aims: To examine whether pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) of DNA macro-restriction fragments could provide better discrimination among the different biotypes previously described within the species Staphylococcus aureus than the traditional biochemical approach. Methods and Results: Seventy three Staph. aureus strains from various sources (human, animal or food origin) and belonging to eight biotypes, including the poultry-like biotype, tentatively designated as an ,abattoir' biotype, were genotyped by PFGE after SmaI digestion of DNA. The PFGE patterns were compared using the average linkage matching method (UPGMA) with the Dice coefficient. A total of 61 PFGE patterns were observed, showing between 31 and 100% similarity. In most cases, strains with the same biotype were grouped specifically into one, two or three separate sub-clusters. Strains from the ,abattoir' biotype were clustered in one separate sub-cluster. Conclusions: The PFGE typing is useful to distinguish the traditional biotypes of Staph. aureus and has a more discriminatory power than the biochemical typing. Significance and Impact of the Study: The PFGE typing confirms the ,abattoir' biotype as a separate group on a genetic level and is well suited to investigate modes of staphylococcal contamination of food. [source] Accuracy, precision and quality control in age determination, including a review of the use and abuse of age validation methodsJOURNAL OF FISH BIOLOGY, Issue 2 2001S. E. Campana Many calcified structures produce periodic growth increments useful for age determination at the annual or daily scale. However, age determination is invariably accompanied by various sources of error, some of which can have a serious effect on age-structured calculations. This review highlights the best available methods for insuring ageing accuracy and quantifying ageing precision, whether in support of large-scale production ageing or a small-scale research project. Included in this review is a critical overview of methods used to initiate and pursue an accurate and controlled ageing program, including (but not limited to) validation of an ageing method. The distinction between validation of absolute age and increment periodicity is emphasized, as is the importance of determining the age of first increment formation. Based on an analysis of 372 papers reporting age validation since 1983, considerable progress has been made in age validation efforts in recent years. Nevertheless, several of the age validation methods which have been used routinely are of dubious value, particularly marginal increment analysis. The two major measures of precision, average percent error and coefficient of variation, are shown to be functionally equivalent, and a conversion factor relating the two is presented. Through use of quality control monitoring, ageing errors are readily detected and quantified; reference collections are the key to both quality control and reduction of costs. Although some level of random ageing error is unavoidable, such error can often be corrected after the fact using statistical (,digital sharpening)' methods. [source] FOOD SAFETY KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDE OF CONSUMERS OF VARIOUS FOOD SERVICE ESTABLISHMENTSJOURNAL OF FOOD SAFETY, Issue 3 2009R. GURUDASANI ABSTRACT In the present study, food safety knowledge and attitude of 300 consumers from nine different categories of food service establishments (FSEs) were assessed. Results revealed that most consumers (60%) eating at various FSEs were young, in the age group of 18,35 years. Some of the consumers could identify the carriers for foodborne diseases such as cholera, food poisoning and jaundice, but most of them did not know about the carriers of typhoid, gastroenteritis and amebiosis. Most of the consumers received information on food safety from family and friends. A positive association was seen between education of consumers and frequency of receiving information from various sources such as magazines, TV/radio, posters/hoardings, newspapers, school/colleges, health workers and family/friends. Most consumers had a positive attitude toward food hygiene, and they believed in punishing street food vendors who violated the food safety norms. Most consumers believed that government intervention would help in improving the quality of street foods. A lot of better-educated food handlers believed that adherence to norms on the personal hygiene of the food handler should be made compulsory, and that training of persons in street food service is essential to ensure quality of food and food safety. In conclusion, various sources of information should be used to increase consumer awareness on food safety. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS In the present study, situational analysis was conducted to obtain data on food safety knowledge and attitude of consumers. Results indicated that although some of the consumers could identify the carriers for foodborne diseases, such as cholera, food poisoning and jaundice, most of them did not know about the carriers of typhoid, gastroenteritis and amebiosis. Thus, efforts should be made to educate consumers about the relation between food and diseases and the importance of making proper food choices for consumption. Most consumers had a positive attitude toward food safety and believed government intervention would help in improving the quality of street foods. Such data can form the basis for seeking the attention of government to undertake measures to improve the quality of foods served at various food outlets. Also, it was found that very few consumers received information on food safety from various sources like magazines, TV/radio, posters, newspapers, health workers, nongovernment organizations, etc. This calls for attention of food safety educators to use a variety of audio-visual aids to spread the messages on food safety. Such area-specific data on consumers' knowledge on food safety can assist in developing food safety education programs. [source] Classification and Antihypertensive Activity of Angiotensin I-Converting Enzyme Inhibitory Peptides Derived from Food ProteinsJOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE, Issue 4 2000H Iroyukifujita ABSTRACT: Angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE)-inhibitory peptides from the thermolysin digest of chicken muscle and the peptic digest of ovalbumin were isolated. However, some of them failed to show antihypertensive activity in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). To clarify this discrepancy, ACE-inhibitory peptides from various sources were preincubated with ACE before measurement of ACE-inhibitory activity and classified into 3 groups: (1) inhibitor type, IC50 values of peptides that are not affected after preincubation with ACE; (2) substrate type, peptides that are hydrolyzed by ACE to give peptides with weaker activity; and (3) prodrug-type inhibitor, these peptides are converted to true inhibitors by ACE or gastrointestinal proteases. Peptides belonging to the 1st and the 3rd groups exert antihypertensive activities even after oral administration in SHR. [source] An evaluation of mathematical models for predicting skin permeabilityJOURNAL OF PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES, Issue 1 2008Guoping Lian Abstract A number of mathematical models have been proposed for predicting skin permeability, mostly empirical and very few are deterministic. Early empirical models use simple lipophilicity parameters. The recent trend is to use more complicated molecular structure descriptors. There has been much debate on which models best predict skin permeability. This article evaluates various mathematical models using a comprehensive experimental dataset of skin permeability for 124 chemical compounds compiled from various sources. Of the seven models compared, the deterministic model of Mitragotri gives the best prediction. The simple quantitative structure permeability relationships (QSPR) model of Potts and Guy gives the second best prediction. The two models have many features in common. Both assume the lipid matrix as the pathway of transdermal permeation. Both use octanol,water partition coefficient and molecular size. Even the mathematical formulae are similar. All other empirical QSPR models that use more complicated molecular structure descriptors fail to provide satisfactory prediction. The molecular structure descriptors in the more complicated QSPR models are empirically related to skin permeation. The mechanism on how these descriptors affect transdermal permeation is not clear. Mathematically it is an ill-defined approach to use many colinearly related parameters rather than fewer independent parameters in multi-linear regression. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. and the American Pharmacists Association J Pharm Sci 97:584,598, 2008 [source] Development of a quality evaluation method for Fructus schisandrae by pressurized capillary electrochromatographyJOURNAL OF SEPARATION SCIENCE, JSS, Issue 3 2007Jiajing Wang Abstract A pressurized CEC (pCEC) method with postcolumn detection cell had been developed for quantifying the lignans from Fructus schisandrae extracts. The effects of different experimental conditions, such as the ACN content of the mobile phase, the concentration and pH of the buffer, the applied voltage, and the supplementary pressure were studied. Five lignans (schisandrin, gomisin A, schisantherin C, deoxyschizandrin, schisandrin B) were baseline separated using a mobile phase of ACN-phosphate buffer (pH 5.4; 5 mM) (40 : 60 v/v) under ,4 kV applied voltage. The method showed the satisfactory retention time and peak area repeatability. The calibration curves were linear in the range 50.0,1000.0 ,g/mL for schisandrin, 20.0,500.0 ,g/mL for gomisin A, 10.0,200.0 ,g/mL for schisantherin C, 20.0,500.0 ,g/mL for deoxyschizandrin, and 20.0,500.0 ,g/mL for schisandrin B. The correlation coefficients were between 0.9978 and 0.9989. With this pCEC system, fingerprints of F. schisandrae were preliminarily established to distinguish two members S. chinensis (Turcz.) Baill. and S. sphenanthera Rehd. Et Wils. of F. schisandrae by characteristic peaks, and evaluate the quality of various sources of raw materials by determining the contents of the five lignans. [source] An Agency Theory Investigation of Supply Risk M anagementJOURNAL OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2003George A. Zsidisin SUMMARY Managing supply risk is an essential element of the overall supply management task. As the complexity of risk management has increased, responsiveness seems dominated by varying the level of inventory and using multiple supply sources as means of creating buffers. This research uses the framework of agency theory in managing supplier behaviors as a means to reduce supply risk and the impact of detrimental events. Empirical results indicate that purchasing organizations address various sources of supply risk by implementing management techniques that reduce the likelihood that detrimental events will occur. Firm size, purchases as a percentage of sales, and industry characteristics were also found to influence the manner in which supplier behaviors are managed. [source] Retaining knowledge for document management: Category-tree integration by exploiting category relationships and hierarchical structuresJOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, Issue 7 2010Christopher C. Yang The category-tree document-classification structure is widely used by enterprises and information providers to organize, archive, and access documents for effective knowledge management. However, category trees from various sources use different hierarchical structures, which usually make mappings between categories in different category trees difficult. In this work, we propose a category-tree integration technique. We develop a method to learn the relationships between any two categories and develop operations such as mapping, splitting, and insertion for this integration. According to the parent-child relationship of the integrating categories, the developed decision rules use integration operations to integrate categories from the source category tree with those from the master category tree. A unified category tree can accumulate knowledge from multiple resources without forfeiting the knowledge in individual category trees. Experiments have been conducted to measure the performance of the integration operations and the accuracy of the integrated category trees. The proposed category-tree integration technique achieves greater than 80% integration accuracy, and the insert operation is the most frequently utilized, followed by map and split. The insert operation achieves 77% of F1 while the map and split operations achieves 86% and 29% of F1, respectively. [source] Commissioned analysis of surgical performance using routine data: lessons from the Bristol inquiryJOURNAL OF THE ROYAL STATISTICAL SOCIETY: SERIES A (STATISTICS IN SOCIETY), Issue 2 2002David J. Spiegelhalter The public inquiry into paediatric cardiac surgery at the Bristol Royal Infirmary commissioned the authors to design and conduct analyses of routine data sources to compare surgical outcomes between centres. Such analyses are necessarily complex in this context but were further hampered by the inherent inconsistencies and mediocre quality of the various sources of data. Three levels of analysis of increasing sophistication were carried out. The reasonable consistency of the results arising from different sources of data, together with a number of sensitivity analyses, led us to conclude that there had been excess mortality in Bristol in open heart operations on children under 1 year of age. We consider criticisms of our analysis and discuss the role of statisticians in this inquiry and their contribution to the final report of the inquiry. The potential statistical role in future programmes for monitoring clinical performance is highlighted. [source] Assessing experiences and responses of crime victims,JOURNAL OF TRAUMATIC STRESS, Issue 2 2003Eve B. Carlson Abstract This paper reviews strategies and methods for assessing crime victims with an emphasis on assessments for clinical purposes. In terms of outcomes, this paper primarily focuses on assessing posttraumatic symptoms of PTSD, dissociation, and traumatic grief as these are all quite disabling and may be mediators of other responses. Additional topics reviewed include reasons to assess experiences and responses of crime victims, issues to bear in mind when conducting assessments for different purposes, considerations for use of various sources of information about a client, characteristics of measures and of clinents to take into account when selecting measures, recommended domains of experiences and symptoms to assess, and suggestions about the process of administering measures and conducting therapeutic assessments. [source] 96-Channel receive-only head coil for 3 Tesla: Design optimization and evaluationMAGNETIC RESONANCE IN MEDICINE, Issue 3 2009Graham C. Wiggins Abstract The benefits and challenges of highly parallel array coils for head imaging were investigated through the development of a 3T receive-only phased-array head coil with 96 receive elements constructed on a close-fitting helmet-shaped former. We evaluated several designs for the coil elements and matching circuitry, with particular attention to sources of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) loss, including various sources of coil loading and coupling between the array elements. The SNR and noise amplification (g -factor) in accelerated imaging were quantitatively evaluated in phantom and human imaging and compared to a 32-channel array built on an identical helmet-shaped former and to a larger commercial 12-channel head coil. The 96-channel coil provided substantial SNR gains in the distal cortex compared to the 12- and 32-channel coils. The central SNR for the 96-channel coil was similar to the 32-channel coil for optimum SNR combination and 20% lower for root-sum-of-squares combination. There was a significant reduction in the maximum g -factor for 96 channels compared to 32; for example, the 96-channel maximum g -factor was 65% of the 32-channel value for acceleration rate 4. The performance of the array is demonstrated in highly accelerated brain images. Magn Reson Med, 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||