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Selected AbstractsAdolescent emergency department presentations with alcohol- or other drug-related problems in Perth, Western AustraliaADDICTION, Issue 7 2001Gary K. Hulse Aims. To identify the morbidity, type of substance used and the pattern of presentation by adolescents with problems related to alcohol or other drug (AOD) use. Design. A 4-week retrospective review of hospital records. Setting. Four metropolitan hospitals in Perth, Australia. Participants. There were 1064 presentations by people aged 12-19 years of which 160 (15%) were related to AOD use. The median age of the AOD cases was 17 (interquartile range 16-19) of whom 97 (61%) were male and 19 (12%) were Indigenous Australians. Findings. Alcohol was the most frequent precursor to presentation (66, 41%) followed by heroin (24, 15%) and prescription/over-the-counter drugs (24, 15%). Injury was the most common diagnosis at presentation (50, 31%), followed by overdose/drug use (47, 29%). A diagnosis of injury was significantly more likely following the use of alcohol than other categories of substances (,2 = 42.07, df = 3, p < 0.001). Deliberate self-harm (DSH) occurred in more female than male cases (,2 = 7.4, df = 1, p < 0.01). Presentations were more frequent over the weekend (102, 64%) than on weekdays, and the length of stay was significantly shorter for weekend cases (Mann-Whitney U 2132, p < 0.05). Conclusions. Given the small window of opportunity to provide AOD treatment to youth following hospital presentation, a number of suggestions are made. From a harm-minimization perspective the focus of interventions should be on alcohol use by male youth and DSH associated with prescription/over-the-counter drug use by female adolescents. In addition, Indigenous youth are over-represented in hospital presentations, but there is currently a lack of evaluated interventions designed for them. [source] Species concepts: the basis for controversy and reconciliationFISH AND FISHERIES, Issue 3 2002Michael T Ghiselin Abstract Some of the disputes about species concepts can be resolved through clarification of the conceptual issues. Others are intractable because incompatible preferences are being optimized. According to the current biological consensus species (taxa) are populations rendered cohesive by sex. The philosophical consensus has it that the species and other categories are (abstract) classes, whereas particular species and other taxa are (concrete) individuals (in the ontological sense). Natural kinds are classes that have the properties they do because of laws of nature. Individuals such as species and clades owe their properties to history, not laws of nature; they are not kinds at all and calling them natural kinds is, therefore, grossly misleading. Having the species of taxonomy be equivalent to the species of evolutionary theory facilitates the integration of history and laws of nature within biology. Efforts to define the species category on the basis of similarity create misleading impressions about the laws and mechanisms of speciation processes. A diversity of incompatible species concepts (pluralism) is undesirable because the various kinds of units that are called ,species' differ with respect to the underlying laws of nature that make them natural kinds. [source] The Interlocking of Gender with Nationality, Race, Ethnicity and Class: the Narratives of Women in Hotel WorkGENDER, WORK & ORGANISATION, Issue 4 2003Amel Adib Whilst gender in the workplace is has been extensively researched, investigation into how gender interacts with other factors such as ethnicity and class has been less explicitly considered. This article explores the interlocking of gender with other categories such as class, ethnicity, race and nationality in the context of hotel work. It draws on the narratives of women describing their experiences of working in hotels. Findings from this empirically based examination suggest that gendered and other representations at work are not constructed as a process of adding difference on to difference, where categories are considered as separate and fixed. Instead, what emerges is a negotiation of the many categories shaping identities at work, which exist simultaneously and shift according to context. [source] Multilevel analysis of effects of individual characteristics and household factors on self-rated health among older adults in rural VietnamGERIATRICS & GERONTOLOGY INTERNATIONAL, Issue 2 2010Hoang Van Minh Aim: This paper aims to describe self-rated health (SRH) status among older adults in a rural community of Vietnam, and examine individual and household-level factors associated with good health rating among the study populations. Methods: The study was carried out in the Bavi district, a rural community located 60 km west of Hanoi, the capital, within the Epidemiological Field Laboratory of Bavi (FilaBavi) in Vietnam in 2006. All people aged 50 years and over who lived within the district were surveyed. Face-to-face household interviews were conducted by trained surveyors using standard World Health Organization/INDEPTH network questionnaire,summary version. A logistic multilevel modeling approach was applied to analyze the association between SRH and both individual and household-level factors. Results: The proportion of people aged 50 years and older in FilaBavi reported having good/very good health and poor/very poor health was 15.1% and 24.8%, respectively. SRH status was reported to be better among: (i) men; (ii) younger people; (iii) people with higher education; (iv) people who were currently in marital a partnership; (v) those from wealthier households; and (vi) those who were living in riverside/island or highland areas compared to those of other categories of the same variable. Conclusion: The findings reveal that there exist problems of inequality in health among older adults in the study setting by sex, age, education, wealth status and place of residence. We also found a considerable contribution of the household-level factors to SRH of the study populations.. [source] Functional effects of mutations identified in patients with Multiminicore diseaseIUBMB LIFE, Issue 1 2007Francesco Zorzato Abstract Multiminicore disease is a recessive congenital myopathy characterized by the presence of small cores or areas lacking oxidative enzymes, in skeletal muscle fibres. From a clinical point of view, the condition is widely heterogeneous and at least four phenotypes have been identified; genetic analysis has revealed that most patients with the classical form of multiminicore characterized by rigidity of the spine, early onset and respiratory impairment harbour recessive mutations in the SEPN1 gene, whereas the majority of patients belonging to the other categories, including patients with ophthalmoplegia or patients with a phenotype similar to central core disease, carry recessive mutations in the RYR1. In the present review we discuss the most recent findings on the functional effect of mutations in SEPN1 and RYR1 and discuss how they may adversely affect muscle function and lead to the clinical phenotype. IUBMB Life, 59: 14-20, 2007 [source] Do personality characteristics and beliefs predict intra-group bullying between prisoners?AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR, Issue 4 2010Polly Turner Abstract This study assesses how beliefs about aggression and personality can predict engagement in intra-group bullying among prisoners. A sample of 213 adult male prisoners completed the DIPC-SCALED (bullying behavior), the EXPAGG (beliefs toward aggression), and the IPIP (a five-factor measure of personality). It was predicted that bullies would hold greater instrumental beliefs supporting the use of aggression than the other categories, with perpetrators reporting lower scores on agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience, and higher scores on neuroticism (i.e. low scores on emotional stability) than the remaining sample. Bullies and bully-victims endorsed greater instrumental aggressive beliefs than the victim category. Only one perpetrator group, bullies were predicted by reduced levels of agreeableness and increased levels of neuroticism, whereas bully/victims were predicted by decreased levels of neuroticism. Limitations of this study and directions for future research are discussed. Aggr. Behav. 36:261,270, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Characteristics of male and female prisoners involved in bullying behaviorAGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR, Issue 3 2007Jane L. Ireland This study explores bullying behavior in a larger and more representative sample than previous prison-based research. It has two core aims, first to explore the nature of bullying in relation to indirect and direct aggression and, second, to explore the predictors of bully-category membership with particular reference to behavioral characteristics. Participants were adult men (n=728) and women (n=525) prisoners. All completed a behavioral measure of behavior indicative of bullying (Direct and Indirect Prisoner behavior Checklist, DIPC) that also explored prison-based behavior such as negative acts towards staff or prison rules, positive acts and drug-related behavior. Indirect aggression was, as predicted, reported more frequently than direct aggression, although this only held for perpetration. Bully-victims, as predicted, showed more negative behavior. Pure bullies and pure victims also showed more negative behavior than the other categories. The findings are discussed in relation to the environment in which bullying behavior is being assessed and with attention to the possible motivations underlying both bullying and negative behavior. Directions for future research are suggested. Aggr. Behav. 33:1,10, 2007. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Association between measures of aggression and bullying among juvenile and young offendersAGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR, Issue 1 2004Jane L. Ireland Abstract This study addresses the relationship between aggression and behaviors indicative of bullying in a sample of incarcerated male juvenile and young offenders. The study also addresses whether or not offenders who bully others and/or are bullied themselves can be identified by the type of aggression that they report. Ninety-five juvenile and 196 young offenders completed a self-report behavioral checklist (DIPC: Direct and Indirect Prisoner Behavior Checklist) that addressed their experience of and involvement in behaviors indicative of bullying. They also completed the Aggression Questionnaire (AQ), a measure of physical and verbal aggression, anger and hostility. Four categories of offenders were identified from the DIPC - pure bullies, pure victims, those who were both bullies and victims (bully/victims), and those not-involved in bullying behavior. As predicted, behaviors measured on the DIPC that were indicative of ,bullying others' correlated positively with scores on the AQ. There was no indication, however, that physical AQ and physical bullying on the DIPC were the same constructs. There was a closer association between verbal AQ scores and verbal bullying on the DIPC. Bullies and bully/victims reported higher levels of physical and verbal aggression, and bully/victims reported higher levels of hostility and anger, than the other categories. It is concluded that although there are similarities between the AQ and the DIPC, there is no evidence that they are measuring the same type of aggression, although different groups involved in bullying can be partly distinguished by their scores on the AQ. Aggr. Behav. 30:29,42, 2004. © 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Species concepts and species reality: salvaging a Linnaean rankJOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY, Issue 2 2003M. S. Y. Lee Abstract The validity of the species category (rank) as a distinct level of biological organization has been questioned. Phenetic, cohesion and monophyletic species concepts do not delimit species-level taxa that are qualitatively distinct from lower or higher taxa: all organisms throughout the tree of life exhibit varying degrees of similarity, cohesion, and monophyly. In contrast, interbreeding concepts delimit species-level taxa characterized by a phenomenon (regular gene flow) not found in higher taxa, making the species category a distinct level of biological organization. Only interbreeding concepts delimit species-level taxa that are all comparable according to a biologically meaningful criterion and qualitatively distinct from entities assigned to other taxonomic categories. Consistent application of interbreeding concepts can result in counterintuitive taxonomies , e.g. many wide polytypic species in plants and narrow cryptic species in animals. However, far from being problematic, such differences are biologically illuminating , reflecting differing barriers to gene flow in different clades. Empirical problems with interbreeding concepts exist, but many of these also apply to other species concepts, whereas others are not as severe as some have argued. A monistic view of species using interbreeding concepts will encounter strong historical inertia, but can save the species category from redundancy with other categories, and thus justify continued recognition of the species category. [source] Temporal analysis of a very large topically categorized Web query logJOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, Issue 2 2007Steven M. Beitzel The authors review a log of billions of Web queries that constituted the total query traffic for a 6-month period of a general-purpose commercial Web search service. Previously, query logs were studied from a single, cumulative view. In contrast, this study builds on the authors' previous work, which showed changes in popularity and uniqueness of topically categorized queries across the hours in a day. To further their analysis, they examine query traffic on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis by matching it against lists of queries that have been topically precategorized by human editors. These lists represent 13% of the query traffic. They show that query traffic from particular topical categories differs both from the query stream as a whole and from other categories. Additionally, they show that certain categories of queries trend differently over varying periods. The authors key contribution is twofold: They outline a method for studying both the static and topical properties of a very large query log over varying periods, and they identify and examine topical trends that may provide valuable insight for improving both retrieval effectiveness and efficiency. [source] Development of an Index of Biotic Integrity for a Southeastern Coastal Plain Watershed, USA,JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN WATER RESOURCES ASSOCIATION, Issue 2 2007Charles C. Morris Abstract:, This study evaluated biological integrity expectations of fish assemblages in wadeable streams for the Alabama portion of the Choctawhatchee River watershed using a multimetric approach. Thirty-four randomly selected stream sites were sampled in late spring 2001 to calibrate an index of biotic integrity (IBI). Validation data were collected during the spring 2001, and summer and fall of 2003 from disturbed and least-impacted targeted sites (n = 20). Thirty-five candidate metrics were evaluated for their responsiveness to environmental degradation. Twelve metrics were selected to evaluate wadeable streams and four replacement metrics were selected for headwater streams. Scores that ranged from 58 to 60 were considered to be representative of excellent biotic integrity (none found in this study), scores of 48-52 as good integrity (31% of the sites in this study), 40-44 as fair (43%), 28-34 as poor (21%), and 12-22 as very poor (5%). Of the four stream condition categories (urban, cattle, row crop, and least impacted), the IBI scores for urban and cattle sites differed significantly from least-impacted sites. Row crop sites, although not significantly different from least-impacted, tended to have greater variability than the other categories. Lower IBI scores at both urban and cattle sites suggest that the IBI accurately reflects stream impairment in the Choctawhatchee River drainage. [source] The tick Ixodes ricinus: distribution and climate preferences in the western PalaearcticMEDICAL AND VETERINARY ENTOMOLOGY, Issue 2 2006A. ESTRADA-PEÑA Abstract In this study, multivariate spatial clustering on monthly normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) maps is used to classify ecological regions over the western Palaearctic. This classification is then used to delineate the distribution and climate preferences of populations (clades) of the tick Ixodes ricinus L. (Acari: Ixodidae) from a geographically extensive dataset of tick records and a gridded 2.5-km resolution climate dataset. Using monthly layers of the NDVI, regions of similar ecological attributes were defined and nine populations with significant differences in critical climate parameters (P < 0.005) were detected. Grouping of tick records according to other categories, such as political divisions, a 4°× 4° grid overlying the study area, or the CORINE) and USGS) vegetation classification schemes did not provided significantly separated populations (P= 0.094,0.304). Factor analysis and hierarchical tree clustering provided an ecological overview of these tick clades: two Mediterranean and one Scandinavian (western) clades are clearly separated from a node that includes clades of different parts of central Europe and the British Isles, with contrasting affinities between the different clades. The capture records of these ecologically separated clades produce a clear bias when bioclimate envelope modelling is applied to the mapping of habitat suitability for the tick in the western Palaearctic. The best-performing methods (Cohen's kappa = 0.834,0.912) use partial models developed with data from each ecoregion, which are then overlapped over the region of study. It is concluded that the use of ecologically derived ecoregions is an objective step in assessing the presence of ecologically different clades, and provides a guide in the development of data partitioning for habitat suitability modelling. [source] Impact of different sized catheters on pressure-flow studies in women with lower urinary tract symptomsNEUROUROLOGY AND URODYNAMICS, Issue 2 2005Elisabetta Costantini Abstract Aims This study assessed the impact of two catheters on urinary flow in women undergoing a pressure/flow (P/F) study for lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). Materials and Methods Women who agreed to undergo urodynamic testing were assigned prospectively to a 7 or 9 Fr catheter in P/F study according to a balanced randomized block design. Exclusion criteria: urinary tract infection, bladder stone or tumor, neuropathy, complete urinary retention, inability to void with catheter in place, free flowmetry volume below 150 ml, and urine volume varying by more than 20% on both free and P/F studies. We compared free flowmetry and P/F flowmetry with a 9 Fr catheter in 126/239 patients (Group A) and with a 7 Fr catheter in 113/239 (Group B). We determined the differences in the P/F results in terms of pre-voided bladder volume, clinical and urodynamic categories, and age groups in the two groups. We compared the diagnosis of obstruction based on Qmax during the P/F study and on Qmax in free uroflowmetry. Results In Groups A and B, the Qmax rate was significantly less (P,<,0.001) in P/F studies. Catheter size did not impact significantly. In patients with cystocele, post-void residue or obstruction flow was reduced more than in the other categories. Qmax diminished with age, by about 15% in women aged 50,60 and by 21% in women over 70 years old. Conclusions Qmax in P/F studies is always reduced independently of catheter size, volume of urine, age, and clinical or urodynamic category. This may have clinical implications when interpreting P/F results and in accurately diagnosing obstruction. © 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Safety of medications prescribed before and during early pregnancy in a cohort of 81,975 mothers from the UK General Practice Research Database,PHARMACOEPIDEMIOLOGY AND DRUG SAFETY, Issue 8 2006Janet R. Hardy PhD Abstract Purpose To demonstrate a linkage methodology for mother and baby automated medical records, and describe frequency, type, and pregnancy risk level of medications prescribed during pregnancy in a GPRD cohort, 1991,1999. Methods We linked records using a two-stage algorithm and selected pairs with ,7 months prenatal records and ,2 records in baby's first year of life. Periods of interest were: 90 days prior to a woman's earliest identified pregnancy record (Period I), and this record plus 70 days (Period II, approximate early pregnancy). Medications were classified using the British National Formulary and US Food and Drug Administration Pregnancy Risk Categories. Results We achieved over 80% record linkage and defined a cohort of 81,975. Sixty-five per,cent of mothers had ,1 prescription during both periods combined. Most frequent medications in Period I were anti-bacterial, contraceptive, topical steroid, and bronchodilator. In Period II, they were folic acid, anti-bacterial, antacid, and gynecological anti-infective. In Period I, 4% were FDA category A (considered safest), 34% B, and 49% C and D combined. By Period II, prescription of category A medications increased (folic acid, iron) while other categories declined. Category X medications, with potential teratogenic risk that outweighs maternal benefit, were prescribed to 5714 (7%) women in Period I, and 501 (0.6%) women in Period II (46% progesterone). Conclusions One in every 164 women received a category X prescription in early pregnancy. The visit when pregnancy is first medically recognized represents an opportunity to review prescribed medications in light of contraindication and/or fetal risk. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Congenital myopathies , a comprehensive update of recent advancementsACTA NEUROLOGICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 5 2009M. C. Sharma The congenital myopathies are relatively newly discovered compared with other categories of muscle diseases. Current research continues to clarify and classify the congenital myopathies. These pose a diagnostic problem and cannot be diagnosed by routine hematoxylin and eosin stain. A lot of special techniques are required to diagnose them correctly and it's various subtypes. The disease specific structural changes seen in the muscle are detected by enzyme histochemistry, immunohistochemistry and electron microscopy. Through this review we provide an up-to-date analysis of congenital myopathies including clinical and pathologic aspects. [source] Use of the Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment Program in Oregon Nursing Facilities: Beyond Resuscitation StatusJOURNAL OF AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY, Issue 9 2004Susan E. Hickman PhD Objectives: Program was designed to communicate resident/surrogate treatment preferences in the form of medical orders. To assess statewide nursing facility use of the Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) and to identify the patterns of orders documented on residents' POLST forms. Design: Telephone survey; on-site POLST form review. Setting: Oregon nursing facilities. Participants: One hundred forty-six nursing facilities in the telephone survey; 356 nursing facility residents aged 65 and older at seven nursing facilities in the POLST form review. Measurements: A telephone survey; onsite POLST form reviews. Results: In the telephone survey, 71% of facilities reported using the POLST program for at least half of their residents. In the POLST form review, do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders were present on 88% of POLST forms. On forms indicating DNR, 77% reflected preferences for more than the lowest level of treatment in at least one other category. On POLST forms indicating orders to resuscitate, 47% reflected preferences for less than the highest level of treatment in at least one other category. The oldest old (,85, n=167) were more likely than the young old (65,74, n=48) to have orders to limit resuscitation, medical treatment, and artificial nutrition and hydration. Conclusion: The POLST program is widely used in Oregon nursing facilities. A majority of individuals with DNR orders requested some other form of life-extending treatment, and advanced age was associated with orders to limit treatments. [source] The grandmaternal niche: Critical caretaking among Martu AboriginesAMERICAN JOURNAL OF HUMAN BIOLOGY, Issue 4 2009Brooke A. Scelza This paper expands upon the existing literature on the evolutionary importance of grandmothers by examining how direct care by grandmothers differs from care provided by other helpers within a population of Martu Aborigines. Behavioral observations were collected on ten babies who ranged from 3 months to 3 years of age. The results show that Martu grandmothers were in contact with their grandchildren more than any person other than the mother, and they were also more likely than any other category of caregiver to perform high-demand tasks, such as bathing or feeding. These results suggest that Martu grandmothers are specializing in the type of care they provide and posits that high-quality allocare is an important pathway to increased health and survival of grandchildren. Am. J. Hum. Biol., 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Comovement After Joining an Index: Spillovers of Nonfundamental EffectsREAL ESTATE ECONOMICS, Issue 1 2007Brent W. Ambrose This study considers the case of two overlapping categories in the context of recent category models. Specifically, we examine whether investor sentiment and market frictions specific to one category can affect the returns on assets belonging to the other category. With recent additions of several real estate investment trusts (REITs) into general stock market indices as a natural experiment, we find support for spillovers of such nonfundamental effects, as evidenced by the increased return correlation between REITs that remain outside the index and the index stocks. Further analysis reveals that market frictions play a greater role than investor sentiment. [source] | |||||||||||||