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Selected AbstractsEffectiveness of primary conservative management for infants with obstetric brachial plexus palsyINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EVIDENCE BASED HEALTHCARE, Issue 2 2005Andrea Bialocerkowski PhD MAppSc(Phty) GradDipPublicHealth Executive summary Background, Obstetric brachial plexus palsy, a complication of childbirth, occurs in 1,3 per 1000 live births internationally. Traction and/or compression of the brachial plexus is thought to be the primary mechanism of injury and this may occur in utero, during the descent through the birth canal or during delivery. This results in a spectrum of injuries that vary in severity, extent of damage and functional use of the affected upper limb. Most infants receive treatment, such as conservative management (physiotherapy, occupational therapy) or surgery; however, there is controversy regarding the most appropriate form of management. To date, no synthesised evidence is available regarding the effectiveness of primary conservative management for obstetric brachial plexus palsy. Objectives, The objective of this review was to systematically assess the literature and present the best available evidence that investigated the effectiveness of primary conservative management for infants with obstetric brachial plexus palsy. Search strategy, A systematic literature search was performed using 14 databases: TRIP, MEDLINE, CINAHL, AMED, Web of Science, Proquest 5000, Evidence Based Medicine Reviews, Expanded Academic ASAP, Meditext, Science Direct, Physiotherapy Evidence Database, Proquest Digital Dissertations, Open Archives Initiative Search Engine, Australian Digital Thesis Program. Those studies that were reported in English and published over the last decade (July 1992 to June 2003) were included in this review. Selection criteria, Quantitative studies that investigated the effectiveness of primary conservative management for infants with obstetric brachial plexus palsy were eligible for inclusion in this review. This excluded studies that solely investigated the effect of primary surgery for these infants, management of secondary deformities and the investigation of the effects of pharmacological agents, such as botulinum toxin. Data collection and analysis, Two independent reviewers assessed the eligibility of each study for inclusion into the review, the study design used and its methodological quality. Where any disagreement occurred, consensus was reached by discussion. Studies were assessed for clinical homogeneity by considering populations, interventions and outcomes. Where heterogeneity was present, synthesis was undertaken in a narrative format. Results, Eight studies were included in the review. Most were ranked low on the Hierarchy of Evidence (no randomised controlled trials were found), and had only fair methodological quality. Conservative management was variable and could consist of active or passive exercise, splints or traction. All studies lacked a clear description of what constituted conservative management, which would not allow the treatment to be replicated in the clinical setting. A variety of outcome instruments were used, none of which had evidence of validity, reliability or sensitivity to detect change. Furthermore, less severely affected infants were selected to receive conservative management. Therefore, it is difficult to draw conclusions regarding the effectiveness of conservative management for infants with obstetric brachial plexus palsy. Conclusions, There is scant, inconclusive evidence regarding the effectiveness of primary conservative intervention for infants with obstetric brachial plexus palsy. Further research should be directed to develop outcome instruments with sound psychometric properties for infants with obstetric brachial plexus palsy and their families. These outcome instruments should then be used in well-designed comparative studies. [source] On mental events, disciplinary boundaries, and reductionism: A reply to PlaudJOURNAL OF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 9 2001Stephen S. Ilardi Plaud's (2001) radical behavioral manifesto suggests that a psychological science based exclusively upon the study of environment-behavior functional contingencies would yield a discipline unencumbered by mentalism, vaguely delineated disciplinary boundaries, or inappropriate reductionism. In reply, we note that: (a) mental events,e.g., thoughts and feelings,are increasingly accessible to objective investigation, and provide an observable proximal causal mechanism for the environmental selection of behavior; (b) the call for pristine disciplinary boundaries is anachronistic, inasmuch as progress in the natural sciences has engendered disciplinary boundaries that are increasingly porous; (c) cognitive neuroscience facilitates a comprehensive understanding of complex human behavior by mapping out the relationship between such behavior and underlying brain events, thereby engaging in an appropriate form of reductionism (constitutive reductionism) that has become a hallmark of the natural sciences; and (d) ironically, it is radical behaviorism, in its disavowal of the informational level of complexity instantiated in brain events, that engages in inappropriate eliminative reductionism (i.e., reducing neural information to "nothing but" its underlying bring states). © 2001 Jo n Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Clin Psychol 57: 1103,1107, 2001. [source] Preparation and properties of magnetic nano- and microsized particles for biological and environmental separationsJOURNAL OF SEPARATION SCIENCE, JSS, Issue 11 2007Daniel Horák Abstract The paper presents a critical overview on magnetic nanoparticles and microspheres used as separation media in different fields of chemistry, biochemistry, biology, and environment protection. The preparation of most widely used magnetic iron oxides in appropriate form, their coating or encapsulation in polymer microspheres, and functionalization is discussed in the first part. In the second part, new developments in the main application areas of magnetic composite particles for separation and catalytical purposes are briefly described. They cover separations and isolations of toxic inorganic and organic ions, proteins, and other biopolymers, cells, and microorganisms. Only selected number of relevant papers could be included due to the restricted extent of the review. [source] Steroid-triggered death by autophagyBIOESSAYS, Issue 8 2001Carl S. Thummel Programmed cell death is a critical part of normal development, removing obsolete tissues or cells and sculpting body parts to assume their appropriate form and function. Most programmed cell death occurs by apoptosis of individual cells or autophagy of groups of cells. Although these pathways have distinct morphological characteristics, they also have a number of features in common, suggesting some overlap in their regulation. A recent paper by Lee and Baehrecke provides further support for this proposal.(1) These authors present, for the first time, a genetic analysis of autophagy, using the steroid-triggered metamorphosis of Drosophila as a model system. They demonstrate a remarkable degree of overlap between the control of apoptosis and autophagy as well as a key role for the steroid-inducible gene E93 in directing the autophagic death response. This paper also shows that E93 can direct cell death independently from the known death-inducer genes, defining a novel death pathway in Drosophila. BioEssays 23:677,682, 2001. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. [source] The Failure of Popular Justice in Uganda: Local Councils and Women's Property RightsDEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE, Issue 1 2001Lynn Khadiagala Advocates of alternative dispute resolution argue that informal, community-based institutions are better placed to provide inexpensive, expedient and culturally appropriate forms of justice. In 1988, the Ugandan government extended judicial capacity to local councils (LCs) on similar grounds. Drawing on attempts by women in southwestern Uganda to use the LCs to adjudicate property disputes, this article investigates why popular justice has failed to protect the customary property rights of women. The gap between theory and practice arises out of misconceptions of community. The tendency to ascribe a morality and autonomy to local spaces obscures the ability of elites to use informal institutions for purposes of social control. In the light of women's attempts to escape the ,rule of persons' and to seek out arbiters whom they associate with the ,rule of law', it can be argued that the utility of the state to ordinary Ugandans should be reconsidered. [source] New Regulatory Approaches in ,Greening' EU PoliciesEUROPEAN LAW JOURNAL, Issue 1 2002Andrea Lenschow European environmental policy has been long characterised by traditional regulatory policy approaches. In recent years, however, the EU has begun experimenting with new forms of governance. In particular, the task of environmental policy integration (EPI) into sectoral policies has invited more flexible and participatory regulatory forms, emphasising at the same time the role of procedural guidance. This article traces the history of the EPI principle and links its effectiveness to specific governance characteristics. It argues that effective EPI is dependent on a combination of political leadership and public participation. While both terms appear in the EU's vocabulary on sustainable development and new governance, the EU is only slowly finding the appropriate forms to put them into practice. Coming from a tradition of governance by political élites, EU policy-makers are still relying too naďvely on the mobilisation capabilities of societal groups and on the power of ,good ideas'. [source] The Evaluation of Scholarly Activity in Computer-Assisted Language LearningMODERN LANGUAGE JOURNAL, Issue 2009BRYAN SMITH The current study provides guidance for both junior computer-assisted language learning (CALL) researchers as they decide on the most appropriate forms and placement of scholarly activity and also for decision makers attempting to evaluate the scholarly activity of these CALL researchers in their quest for promotion and tenure. In this study, data from 35 online surveys from established CALL researchers were examined to determine their expert opinions on the quality of CALL-specific and general applied linguistics journals. These scholars were also asked to list the criteria they used to rank these journals and comment on the types of scholarly activity most beneficial to junior CALL scholars. Results suggest that the single most important element in the scholarly dossier of a CALL researcher is a series of refereed scholarly articles in highly ranked, peer-reviewed journals. A clear qualitative hierarchy of both CALL-specific and general applied linguistics journals emerged from the data. The data also show that scholars agree that the "best" journals for CALL research are those that reflect the highest quality of relevant articles and those that make a significant contribution to the field. Markedly less important to these CALL experts in determining journal quality are those more "objective" measures of quality such as acceptance rate, impact factor, and circulation. [source] The allergen profile of ash (Fraxinus excelsior) pollen: cross-reactivity with allergens from various plant speciesCLINICAL & EXPERIMENTAL ALLERGY, Issue 6 2002V. Niederberger Summary Background Ash, a wind-pollinated tree belonging to the family Oleaceae, is distributed world-wide and has been suggested as a potent allergen source in spring time. Objective The aim of this study was to determine the profile of allergen components in ash pollen in order to refine diagnosis and therapy for patients with sensitivity to ash pollen Methods The IgE reactivity profile of 40 ash pollen-allergic patients was determined by immunoblotting. Antibodies raised to purified pollen allergens from tree and grass pollens were used to identify cross-reactive structures in ash pollen extract. IgE immunoblot inhibition studies were performed with recombinant and natural pollen allergens to characterize ash pollen allergens and to determine the degree of cross-reactivity between pollen allergens from ash, olive, birch, grasses and weeds. Results The allergen profile of ash pollen comprises Fra e 1, a major allergen related to the major olive allergen, Ole e 1, and to group 11 grass pollen allergens, the panallergen profilin, a two EF-hand calcium-binding protein, a pectinesterase-like molecule and an allergen sharing epitopes with group 4 grass pollen allergens. Thus, the relevant allergens of ash are primarily allergens that share epitopes with pollen allergens from other tree, grass and weed species. Conclusions Allergic symptoms to ash pollen can be the consequence of sensitization to cross-reactive allergens from other sources. The fact that ash pollen-allergic patients can be discriminated on the basis of their specific IgE reactivity profile to highly or moderately cross-reactive allergens has implications for the selection of appropriate forms of treatment. [source] | |||||||||||||