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Selected AbstractsAdaptive versus non-adaptive phenotypic plasticity and the potential for contemporary adaptation in new environmentsFUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY, Issue 3 2007C. K. GHALAMBOR Summary 1The role of phenotypic plasticity in evolution has historically been a contentious issue because of debate over whether plasticity shields genotypes from selection or generates novel opportunities for selection to act. Because plasticity encompasses diverse adaptive and non-adaptive responses to environmental variation, no single conceptual framework adequately predicts the diverse roles of plasticity in evolutionary change. 2Different types of phenotypic plasticity can uniquely contribute to adaptive evolution when populations are faced with new or altered environments. Adaptive plasticity should promote establishment and persistence in a new environment, but depending on how close the plastic response is to the new favoured phenotypic optimum dictates whether directional selection will cause adaptive divergence between populations. Further, non-adaptive plasticity in response to stressful environments can result in a mean phenotypic response being further away from the favoured optimum or alternatively increase the variance around the mean due to the expression of cryptic genetic variation. The expression of cryptic genetic variation can facilitate adaptive evolution if by chance it results in a fitter phenotype. 3We conclude that adaptive plasticity that places populations close enough to a new phenotypic optimum for directional selection to act is the only plasticity that predictably enhances fitness and is most likely to facilitate adaptive evolution on ecological time-scales in new environments. However, this type of plasticity is likely to be the product of past selection on variation that may have been initially non-adaptive. 4We end with suggestions on how future empirical studies can be designed to better test the importance of different kinds of plasticity to adaptive evolution. [source] Quantitative liver function tests in donors and recipients of living donor liver transplantationLIVER TRANSPLANTATION, Issue 4 2006Christoph Jochum The unique ability of the liver to regenerate quickly after resection makes living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) possible. This technique uses the unique ability of the liver to regenerate to full size after partial resection. However, the quality and course of this regeneration process in humans are still widely unexplored. In the present study we investigated the quantitative liver function tests galactose elimination capacity (GEC), indocyanine green half-life (ICG), and lidocaine half-life as markers for the quality of the liver regeneration in the first 3 months after LDLT. In this study, 22 consecutive living liver donors and their corresponding recipients were analyzed at baseline and at 10 and 90 days after LDLT. Six recipients lost their grafts during the study period. We compared donors and recipients at the different time points. After LDLT, GEC decreased (,42.6%) and ICG increased (+50.6%) significantly in donors. ICG and GEC remained significantly altered over 3 months in donors with an improvement between days 10 and 90 (GEC, +59.3%; ICG, ,9.1%). ICG and GEC improved significantly in recipients between days 10 and 90 (ICG, ,63.7%; GEC, +16.3%). The lidocaine half-life showed no significant changes. The donors had better test results and recovered faster than the recipients. In conclusion, after LDLT the parameters for liver capacity and flow remain altered in donors and recipients despite rapid volume growth. Liver Transpl 12:544,549, 2006. © 2006 AASLD. [source] Psychometric properties of the Pediatric Motor Activity Log used for children with cerebral palsyDEVELOPMENTAL MEDICINE & CHILD NEUROLOGY, Issue 3 2009MARGARET WALLEN MA BAPPSC(OT) The Pediatric Motor Activity Log (PMAL) is a parent-report measure of the use, by children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy (CP), of their affected upper limb in everyday activities. The aim of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of both scales of the PMAL (,How Often' and ,How Well' scales) using Rasch measurement modelling. Sixty-one parents of children with hemiplegic CP completed the PMAL and 31 completed it again 3 weeks later. The mean age of children was 4 years 6 months (SD 1y 9mo); 35 males, 26 females. Children were at Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) levels I (83%) and II (17%), and Manual Ability Classification System levels I (35%), II (52%), and III (14%). The original scales were found to have disordered rating scale structure. Further Rasch modelling with collapsed rating scale structures resulted in both scales conforming to the expectations of the Rasch model, yielding strong evidence for construct validity and reliability. One item from the How Often scale failed to conform to Rasch expectations and was deleted in subsequent analyses. Test,retest reliability of both scales was high (the intraclass correlation coefficient for the How Often scale was 0.94, and for the How Well scale 0.93). The revised scales possess good psychometric properties, specifically a logical item hierarchy, evidence of unidimensionality, adequate rating scale structure, and good test,retest reliability. We conclude that the revised PMAL has the capacity to yield valid and reliable scores except for children at the extremes of upper limb ability. [source] Reliability and validity of the Japanese version of the Dysexecutive Questionnaire (DEX) in Alzheimer's disease: validation of a behavioral rating scale to assess dysexecutive symptoms in Japanese patients with Alzheimer's diseaseINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GERIATRIC PSYCHIATRY, Issue 10 2007Yoshihiro Shinagawa Abstract Background Both executive cognitive dysfunction and behavioral problems contribute to dysexecutive symptoms in daily life. The aim of the present study was to develop a behavior rating scale for assessing dysexecutive symptoms in Japanese patients with AD. Method The Dysexecutive Questionnaire (DEX), devised by Burgess et al. (1998), was used to evaluate 122 Japanese patients with AD. The factor structure, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and construct validity of the Japanese version of the DEX were then examined. Results The Japanese version of the DEX demonstrated a good internal reliability and a good test,retest reliability. Factor analysis revealed three factors that were named ,apathy', ,hyperactivity' and ,planning and monitoring process of the purposive action'. The ,apathy' factor of the DEX was significantly correlated with the ,apathy' score of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI), while ,planning and monitoring process' factor of the DEX was significantly correlated with the total score of the Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB) and the ,hyperactivity' factor of the DEX was significantly correlated with the ,aggression', ,euphoria' and ,disinhibition' scores of the NPI. Conclusions The Japanese DEX is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing executive dysfunction conveniently in real life situations of AD patients. While two factors, ,apathy' and ,hyperactivity', were associated with emotional and behavioral changes, the ,planning and monitoring process' was associated with the cognitive executive function in the patients with AD. These findings suggest that both a neuropsychiatric syndrome and cognitive function contribute to the dysexecutive symptoms experienced by AD patients in daily life. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The psychometric properties of the Miller Behavioural Style Scale with adult daughters of women with early breast cancer: a literature review and empirical studyJOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING, Issue 2 2000Charlotte E. Rees BSc PhD The psychometric properties of the Miller Behavioural Style Scale with adult daughters of women with early breast cancer: a literature review and empirical study Several researchers have suggested that the information-seeking behaviours of patients need to be taken into consideration when assessing their information needs. This study reviews published evidence of the psychometric properties of the Miller Behavioural Style Scale, a tool commonly used to identify the information-seeking behaviours of individuals under threat, and examines its reliability and validity with adult daughters of women with early breast cancer. Ninety-seven adult daughters completed the MBSS and a 30-item, self-administered questionnaire, a tool designed to explore the information needs of adult daughters of women with breast cancer. The internal consistency of the monitoring and blunting sub-scales of the MBSS was ,=0·65 and 0·41 respectively. The blunting sub-scale fell substantially below acceptable limits and was discarded from subsequent analyses. The monitoring sub-scale possessed good test,retest reliability (n=17) with a 5-week time interval (r=0·71, P < 0·005), as measured using a Pearson's correlation coefficient. Furthermore, the majority (73·4%) of monitoring items possessed moderate or substantial test,retest reliability, as indicated by kappa coefficients. Finally, the monitoring sub-scale possessed good construct validity, both discriminant and convergent validity, as measured by the univariate associations between monitoring behaviour and selected items from the information questionnaire and a demographic questionnaire. In conclusion, adequate support exists for the psychometric properties of the monitoring sub-scale of the MBSS and its use with adult daughters of women with early breast cancer in future research. These findings have a number of implications for nursing research and these are discussed in this paper. [source] Assessment of anger coping skills in individuals with intellectual disabilitiesJOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY RESEARCH, Issue 5 2005P. Willner Abstract Recent controlled studies have supported the effectiveness of anger management training for people with intellectual disabilities (IDs). This report describes an evaluation instrument designed to assess their usage of specific anger coping skills. The Profile of Anger Coping Skills (PACS) is designed for completion by a staff member or carer. Three situations are first elicited in which a client frequently displays anger. The respondent then rates each situation for the extent to which the client deploys each of eight behavioural and cognitive coping skills. In a preliminary reliability study, 20 users of a day service for people with IDs were rated independently by two staff members, with one of them completing the assessment on two separate occasions: the PACS showed good test,retest reliability and lower, but still acceptable, interrater reliability. The PACS was subsequently used, in a different day service, as part of the assessment pack administered before and after a 12-week anger management group, with a parallel assessment of an untreated control group. The treated group showed substantial decreases in measures of anger, which were maintained at 6-month follow-up. Increases in PACS-rated anger coping skills were also seen in all participants in the anger management group, but not in the control group. There were differences in the extent to which different coping skills were acquired by the treated group, and there were also individual differences in the profile of specific skills acquired. It is concluded that the PACS is a reliable instrument for assessing anger coping skills, particularly when used repeatedly with the same informant. It provides information that is useful for both individual care planning and the design of future anger management programmes. [source] Measuring nurse attitudes towards deliberate self-harm: the Self-Harm Antipathy Scale (SHAS)JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRIC & MENTAL HEALTH NURSING, Issue 5 2007P. PATTERSON phd ba (hons) rmn rgn cert ed Most mental health nurses engage at some point with clients who harm themselves and these nurses often experience strong negative emotional reactions. Prolonged engagement with relapsing clients can lead to antipathy, and ,malignant alienation'. The study reported here has the aim of developing a brief, robust instrument for assessing nurse attitudes in this area. The Self-Harm Antipathy Scale, developed here on a sample of 153 healthcare professionals, has 30 attitudinal items with six factors. It has acceptable face validity, good internal consistency and some evidence of good test,retest reliability. It discriminates effectively between criterion groups. Overall this is evidence for the complexity of nurses' responses to this client group but such complex attitudes can still be assessed using a relatively brief structured instrument. [source] On the evolution of young radio-loud AGNMONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 2 2000I. A. G. Snellen This paper describes an investigation of the early evolution of extragalactic radio sources using samples of faint and bright gigahertz peaked spectrum (GPS) and compact steep spectrum (CSS) radio galaxies. Correlations found between their peak frequency, peak flux density and angular size provide strong evidence that synchrotron self-absorption is the cause of the spectral turnovers, and indicate that young radio sources evolve in a self-similar way. In addition, the data seem to suggest that the sources are in equipartition while they evolve. If GPS sources evolve to large size radio sources, their redshift dependent birth-functions should be the same. Therefore, since the lifetimes of radio sources are thought to be short compared to the Hubble time, the observed difference in redshift distribution between GPS and large size sources must be due to a difference in slope of their luminosity functions. We argue that this slope is strongly affected by the luminosity evolution of the individual sources. A scenario for the luminosity evolution is proposed in which GPS sources increase in luminosity and large-scale radio sources decrease in luminosity with time. This evolution scenario is expected for a ram-pressure confined radio source in a surrounding medium with a King profile density. In the inner parts of the King profile, the density of the medium is constant and the radio source builds up its luminosity, but after it grows large enough the density of the surrounding medium declines and the luminosity of the radio source decreases. A comparison of the local luminosity function (LLF) of GPS galaxies with that of extended sources is a good test for this evolution scenario. Unfortunately, only a handful of GPS sources are known at low redshift, and an LLF can only be derived, assuming that their cosmological number density evolution is similar to that of steep spectrum sources. The LLF derived in this way is shown to be in good agreement with the proposed evolution scenario. However, the uncertainties are large, and larger, homogeneously selected samples of GPS sources are needed. [source] Urodynamic standardization in a large-scale, multicenter clinical trial examining the effects of daily tadalafil in men with lower urinary tract symptoms with or without benign prostatic obstruction,NEUROUROLOGY AND URODYNAMICS, Issue 5 2010Stephen R. Kraus Abstract Aims To present the methodology, standardization techniques, and results from post hoc test,retest reproducibility analyses for a large, placebo-controlled, multicenter trial, employing urodynamic studies (UDS) to assess the impact of daily tadalafil on men with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) with or without benign prostatic obstruction (BPO). Methods UDS implemented International Continence Society (ICS) Good Urodynamic Practice guidelines and standardized urodynamic and LUTS terminology. Further standardization procedures included: equipment calibration; a detailed procedure manual and centralized training; and implementation of a central reader. Measures included: monitoring of invalid studies, comparison of actual versus expected standard deviation (SD) for primary outcome (detrusor pressure at maximum urinary flow rate [pdetQmax]), and test,retest reproducibility of the placebo arm at baseline and endpoint. Results Two hundred men with moderate to severe LUTS (baseline IPSS ,13) at 20 sites were randomized to receive either tadalafil 20,mg or placebo. All men underwent non-invasive uroflow and pressure-flow studies. Numbers of invalid studies at baseline and endpoint were 9.3% and 0.6%, respectively. Variability of pdetQmax was lower than anticipated based on actual versus expected SD of 15 and 30, respectively. Correlation coefficients were very good for pressure-flow parameters including pdetQmax (r,=,.83). Conclusions Multicenter clinical trials using urodynamic outcomes require additional standardized procedures to limit inter-site variability. By implementing centralized training with a detailed procedure manual and use of a central reader, we were able to limit common difficulties arising in multicenter clinical trials, as well as demonstrate good test,retest reproducibility of pressure flow measures. Neurourol. Urodynam. 29:741,747, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Japanese version of Cutaneous Body Image Scale: Translation and validationTHE JOURNAL OF DERMATOLOGY, Issue 9 2009Yuko HIGAKI Abstract Cutaneous body image, defined as the individual's mental perception of the appearance of their skin, hair and nails, is an important psychodermatological element in skin diseases. To measure individuals' cutaneous body image, a practical and accurate instrument is necessary. In this study, we translated the Cutaneous Body Image Scale (CBIS), a 7-item instrument originally created by Gupta et al. in 2004, into Japanese using a forward- and back-translation method and evaluated the reliability and validity of the instrument by psychometric tests. A total of 298 healthy adults (64 men and 234 women, aged 28.9 ± 9.9 years) and 165 dermatology patients (56.7% eczema/dermatitis, 9.8% acne, 7.5% alopecia, 6.9% psoriasis, 19.1% skin tumor/fleck/other) (30 men and 135 women, aged 37.9 ± 15.2 years) responded to the Japanese version of the CBIS. The internal-consistency reliability of the instrument was high (Cronbach's ,, healthy adults 0.88, patients 0.84). The CBIS measure demonstrates good test,retest reliability (healthy adults , = 0.92, P < 0.0001; patients , = 0.79, P < 0.001). Compared to the healthy adults (4.11 ± 1.80), the CBIS scores among dermatology patients (3.18 ± 1.69, P = 0.000) were significantly low. The CBIS scores showed moderate correlation with the "emotions" and "global" scores of Skindex-16 in healthy adults (, = ,0.397 and ,0.373, respectively) and in patients (, = ,0.431 and ,0.38, respectively). A stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that an emotional aspect of skin-condition related quality of life was the best predictor of cutaneous body image in both healthy adults and patients (, = ,0.31 and ,0.41, respectively) followed by "body dissatisfaction" (, = ,0.17, and ,0.23, respectively). Adjusted R2 was 0.246 in healthy adults and 0.264 in patients. These were consistent with the results from the original the CBIS. These results suggest that the Japanese version of the CBIS is a reliable and valid instrument to measure the cutaneous body image of Japanese adults and also dermatology patients. [source] Development and validation of a questionnaire for the assessment of bowel and lower urinary tract symptoms in womenBJOG : AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OBSTETRICS & GYNAECOLOGY, Issue 4 2002L. Hiller Objective To develop a simple but sensitive instrument to evaluate and document symptoms of both bowel and urinary dysfunction in women. Design A 22-item questionnaire covering a range of bowel and urinary symptoms was developed and underwent rigorous psychometric testing. Setting The gynaecology departments of three hospitals, a urogynaecology clinic, a functional bowel clinic and a general practice. Population Six hundred and thirty women, comprising four groups: 1. women awaiting hysterectomy (n= 379), 2. women following hysterectomy (n= 45), 3. women referred with functional bowel and/or urinary symptoms (n= 65), 4. asymptomatic controls (n= 141). Main outcome measures The content, construct and criterion validity, internal consistency, reliability and responsiveness of the questionnaire were measured. Results Peer and patient reports and missing data patterns supported face and content validity. Factor analysis showed a clinically relevant four-factor structure with low content replication able to distinguish between patient groups, indicating good internal structure. Comparison with clinical, anorectal physiological, videoproctographic, transit time and urodynamic test results provide provisional indication of criterion validity. Key domain question analysis and Cronbach's alphas showed internal consistency. Kappa values demonstrated good test,retest reliability and key question correlation over time proved responsiveness. Conclusions Our findings support the suitability, clinical validity, reliability and responsiveness of a simple questionnaire, which is sensitive to the constraints of clinical practice. The authors recommend its use in health care evaluation research assessing the effects of pelvic surgery and as a useful tool in comparing treatment efficacy. [source] | ||||||||||