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Consistent Support (consistent + support)
Selected AbstractsA review of the benefits of whole body exercise during and after treatment for breast cancerJOURNAL OF CLINICAL NURSING, Issue 1 2007Marilyn N Kirshbaum PhD RN (NY) RGN DipAdultOnc Aim., A current critical review of the literature was deemed necessary to evaluate the strength of evidence to inform clinical practice. Background., Recently, there has been a noticeable increase in empirical literature surrounding the benefits of exercise for breast cancer patients. Methods., A systematic search strategy was used to identify relevant literature. Twenty-nine articles were retained for critical review, appraised for quality and synthesized. Results., Many early studies had limited internal and external validity. Recent studies were considerably more rigorous and robust. Consistent support for all types of aerobic exercise was most evident in studies of patients during adjuvant cancer treatments (chemotherapy and radiotherapy), compared with post-treatment studies. The evidence which suggested that aerobic exercise limits cancer-related fatigue was particularly strong. For other patient concerns, the empirical support was less robust, however, the potential for beneficial and measurable patient outcomes was indicated for cardiopulmonary function, overall quality of life, global health, strength, sleep, self-esteem and reduced weight gain, depression, anxiety and tiredness. Conclusions., Additional studies with higher methodological quality are required in this clinically relevant area to substantiate current indications particularly for patient subgroups (e.g. older people, those with advanced cancer and the disadvantaged). Relevance to clinical practice., It is important for all healthcare professionals involved in the care of individuals affected by breast cancer to be aware of the evidence surrounding the benefits of exercise and to encourage patients to increase physical activity and improve their overall health and well-being. [source] Individual versus Household Migration Decision Rules: Gender and Marital Status Differences in Intentions to Migrate in South AfricaINTERNATIONAL MIGRATION, Issue 1 2009Bina Gubhaju This research tests the thesis that the neoclassical microeconomic and the new household economic theoretical assumptions on migration decision-making rules are segmented by gender, marital status, and time frame of intention to migrate. Comparative tests of both theories within the same study design are relatively rare. Utilizing data from the Causes of Migration in South Africa national migration survey, we analyse how individually held "own-future" versus alternative "household well-being" migration decision rules effect the intentions to migrate of male and female adults in South Africa. Results from the gender and marital status specific logistic regressions models show consistent support for the different gender-marital status decision rule thesis. Specifically, the "maximizing one's own future" neoclassical microeconomic theory proposition is more applicable for never married men and women, the "maximizing household income" proposition for married men with short-term migration intentions, and the "reduce household risk" proposition for longer time horizon migration intentions of married men and women. Results provide new evidence on the way household strategies and individual goals jointly affect intentions to move or stay. [source] Psychosocial treatments for people with co-occurring severe mental illness and substance misuse: systematic reviewJOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING, Issue 2 2009Michelle Cleary Abstract Title.,Psychosocial treatments for people with co-occurring severe mental illness and substance misuse: systematic review. Aim., This study is a report of a systematic review to assess current evidence for the efficacy of psychosocial interventions for reducing substance use, as well as improving mental state and encouraging treatment retention, among people with dual diagnosis. Background., Substance misuse by people with a severe mental illness is common and of concern because of its many adverse consequences and lack of evidence for effective psychosocial interventions. Data sources., Several electronic databases were searched to identify studies published between January 1990 and February 2008. Additional searches were conducted by means of reference lists and contact with authors. Review methods., Results from studies using meta-analysis, randomized and non-randomized trials assessing any psychosocial intervention for people with a severe mental illness and substance misuse were included. Results., Fifty-four studies were included: one systematic review with meta-analysis, 30 randomized controlled trials and 23 non-experimental studies. Although some inconsistencies were apparent, results showed that motivational interviewing had the most quality evidence for reducing substance use over the short term and, when combined with cognitive behavioural therapy, improvements in mental state were also apparent. Cognitive behavioural therapy alone showed little consistent support. Support was found for long-term integrated residential programmes; however, the evidence is of lesser quality. Contingency management shows promise, but there were few studies assessing this intervention. Conclusion., These results indicate the importance of motivational interviewing in psychiatric settings for the reduction of substance use, at least in the short term. Further quality research should target particular diagnoses and substance use, as some interventions may work better for some subgroups. [source] Are Consumers Disadvantaged or Vulnerable?JOURNAL OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, Issue 1 2010An Examination of Consumer Complaints to the Better Business Bureau Questions have emerged recently about the appropriateness of defining disadvantaged consumers based on their membership in certain demographic categories, such as income, age, education, and race. This study assessed whether these traditional classifications are useful for understanding consumer complaining behavior with the Better Business Bureau. Results of analysis of more than 24,000 consumer complaints filed with a local BBB office during a 13-year period do not provide consistent support for this disadvantaged consumer perspective. Instead, the emerging vulnerable consumer perspective may provide a more promising basis for future research. [source] Gender and personality differences in conceptions of love: An interpersonal theory analysisPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS, Issue 2 2001BEVERLEY FEHR Three studies tested predictions derived from interpersonal theory regarding the relations among gender, personality, and conceptions of love. It was predicted that women would conceptualize love in terms of its nurturant varieties, namely companionate kinds of love, whereas men would conceptualize love in terms of non-nurturant varieties, namely passionate kinds of love. Only the latter prediction received consistent support. Both women and men held a companionate conception of love, with the exception that women assigned higher ratings to friendship love and sisterly love. Regarding personality, it was predicted that high-nurturance traits (e.g., warm-agreeable) would be associated with a companionate conception of love whereas low-nurturance traits (e.g., cold-hearted) would be associated with a passionate conception of love. Results supported predictions. It was concluded that women's and men's conceptions of love are more similar than has been assumed and that the two robust interpersonal dimensions of dominance and nurturance hold considerable promise for integrating the literature on personality and gender differences in love. [source] The Changing Nature of Presidential Policy Making on International AgreementsPRESIDENTIAL STUDIES QUARTERLY, Issue 3 2006GLEN S. KRUTZ Why are executive agreements (EAs), rather than treaties, increasingly used to formalize U.S. relations with other countries? We examine this question from two perspectives. In the first, known as the "evasion" hypothesis, presidents act strategically to evade the Senate when governing circumstances are difficult. This strategic view reflects the conventional wisdom. Second, we consider whether organizational efficiency drives presidential use of EAs. As the number of countries increases, requiring more international agreements, it becomes necessary to rely more on an efficient mechanism to "get things done." We test these rival hypotheses by analyzing EA use as a percentage of all international agreements, as well as a subset of important EAs, from 1949 to 1998. In contrast to the conventional wisdom, we find consistent support for the efficiency hypothesis and only mixed support for the evasion hypothesis. Within these mixed findings, an interesting trend emerges. As expected, presidents act more strategically on the subset of important agreements, but this behavior appears to be driven by the ideological makeup of the Senate rather than partisan cleavages. [source] Not the most basal eukaryotes: challenges and pitfalls affecting the placement of Giardia and TrichomonasTHE JOURNAL OF EUKARYOTIC MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 2 2005GISELLE WALKER Diplomonads (including Giardia) and parabasalids (including Trichomonas) have traditionally been seen as the deepest-branching eukaryotes, on the evidence of apparently simple ultrastructural morphology, and small subunit ribosomal RNA trees. However, this position does not appear to be well supported, especially in the light of the discoveries of apparent mitochondrial remnants in Giardia and Trichomonas. We systematically re-analysed protein data, and show here that their traditional placement may be due to a combination of factors acting on data sets (narrow taxon sampling) and on genes (rate heterogeneity and compositional heterogeneity, mutational saturation). Our data found no consistent support for either Giardia or Trichomonas being basal eukaryotes. [source] Enacting reform-based science materials: The range of teacher enactments in reform classrooms,,JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 3 2005Rebecca M. Schneider To promote large-scale science education reform, developers must create innovations that teachers can use to learn and enact new practices. As part of an urban systemic reform effort, science materials were designed to reflect desired reforms and to support teacher thinking by addressing necessary content, pedagogy, and pedagogical content knowledge for teachers. The goal of this research was to describe teachers' enactments in comparison to reform as instantiated in the materials. Four middle school teachers' initial enactment of an inquiry-based science unit on force and motion were analyzed. Findings indicate two teachers' enactments were consistent with intentions and two teachers' enactments were not. However, enactment ratings for the first two were less reflective of curriculum intent when challenges were greatest, such as when teachers attempted to present challenging science ideas, respond to students' ideas, structure investigations, guide small-group discussions, or make adaptations. Overall, findings suggest that purposefully using materials with detailed lesson descriptions and specific, consistent supports for teacher thinking can help teachers with enactment. However, materials alone are not sufficient; reform efforts must include professional development and efforts to create systemic change in context and policy to support teacher learning and classroom enactment. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 42: 283,312, 2005 [source] | |||||||||||||