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Reviewed Literature (reviewed + literature)
Selected AbstractsCaffeine as a promoter of analgesic-associated nephropathy , where is the evidence?FUNDAMENTAL & CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY, Issue 3 2003Johannes M. Fox Abstract Individual groups of nephrologists , in their responsibility for their patients , initiated a most controversial discussion whether or not caffeine , coformulated to analgesics , might initiate or sustain analgesic overdosing. The original sources (data) of such suspicion have got lost during the debate of the last two decades. Therefore, it seemed to be appropriate to investigate the original data background and the reasons why nephrologists started to suspect caffeine as a stimulant of analgesic overdosing by employing a systematic and exhaustive review of primary nephrological publications. Their selection followed a precise selection plan, including all epidemiological studies on analgesic-associated nephropathy, the original papers of all groups having been involved in those studies, further originals from the mainly involved countries (academically, politically), and any literature thereof cited as a proof. The following results emerged from the investigation: (i) The epidemiological studies warranted no conclusion about a role of caffeine in prompting excessive analgesic use. (ii) The identified groups of nephrologists provided not substantial data to advocate the said suspicion, except for the observation of a preferential choice of phenacetin-containing combinations, especially powder preparations. (iii) Only two cited original data sources revealed drug-seeking behaviour with phenacetin-containing preparations which subsided, after phenacetin was banned from the respective markets. Conclusively, it appears that there is no substantial data to support a pivotal role of caffeine in initiating or sustaining analgesic overdosing. However, there is strong data that phenacetin, by its psychotropic properties, may have caused drug-seeking behaviour and thus led to analgesic overdosing. This conclusion is convincingly supported by thorough pharmacokinetic investigations. Note: All caffeine-related statements within the reviewed literature have been collected in tables (referred to as Table SX) which are provided in full text for check on the following website: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/products/journals/suppmat/FCP/FCP174/FCP174sm.htm [source] Remote weather associated with South Pacific subtropical sea-level high propertiesINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CLIMATOLOGY, Issue 7 2004Richard Grotjahn Abstract The subtropical highs in sea-level pressure (SLP) are little studied and incompletely understood. In recent years, three groups of theories, i.e. tropical divergent circulations, subtropical Rossby wavetrains, and midlatitude frontal cyclone interactions, have been proposed for remote maintenance of these highs. The latter is presented here as a remote forcing of these highs for the first time in the reviewed literature. The focus of the study is upon illuminating associations between these mechanisms and the South Pacific subtropical high in SLP (SP high). Precipitation, outgoing longwave radiation, velocity potential, and divergent winds are used as proxy markers for the remote forcing mechanisms. The tools used include composites, one-point correlations, autocorrelations, cross-correlations, and cross-spectra. Observational evidence, in monthly and daily data, is examined that appears to support each mechanism. Associations seen in monthly data are better understood in daily data at various lags. Convection over Amazonia, coordinated with suppressed convection in the western tropical Pacific, leads to enhanced SLP on the tropical side of the high. Midlatitude weather systems are the strongest influence upon the maximum SLP and the SLP on the higher latitude side of the high. The western side is associated with both middle-and lower-latitude phenomena, such as the South Pacific convergence zone. Various properties of the high have a strong period around 45 days. Associations to the Madden,Julian oscillation and El Niño,southern oscillation are explored and are strong only for the tropical side of the SP high. Copyright © 2004 Royal Meteorological Society [source] Tetracycline and other tetracycline-derivative staining of the teeth and oral cavityINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF DERMATOLOGY, Issue 10 2004Andrés R. Sánchez DDS Tetracyclines (TCN) were introduced in 1948 as broad-spectrum antibiotics that may be used in the treatment of many common infections in children and adults. One of the side-effects of tetracyclines is incorporation into tissues that are calcifying at the time of their administration. They have the ability to chelate calcium ions and to be incorporated into teeth, cartilage and bone, resulting in discoloration of both the primary and permanent dentitions. This permanent discoloration varies from yellow or gray to brown depending on the dose or the type of the drug received in relation to body weight. Minocycline hydrochloride, a semisynthetic derivative of tetracycline often used for the treatment of acne, has been shown to cause pigmentation of a variety of tissues including skin, thyroid, nails, sclera, teeth, conjunctiva and bone. Adult-onset tooth discoloration following long-term ingestion of tetracycline and minocycline has also been reported. The remarkable side-effect of minocycline on the oral cavity is the singular occurrence of "black bones", "black or green roots" and blue-gray to gray hue darkening of the crowns of permanent teeth. The prevalence of tetracycline and minocycline staining is 3,6%. The mechanism of minocycline staining is still unknown. Most of the reviewed literature consisted of case reports; longitudinal clinical trials are necessary to provide more information on the prevalence, severity, etiology and clinical presentation of tetracycline and TCN-derivative staining in the adult population. [source] THE ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF VOLUNTARY ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE OF FIRMS: A CRITICAL REVIEWJOURNAL OF ECONOMIC SURVEYS, Issue 3 2009Esther Blanco Abstract New trends in studies on the governance of natural assets include substantial consideration of the role of voluntary initiatives. A traditional economic view states that there is a trade-off between being green and being competitive. According to that view, no voluntary environmental action is expected to occur. To undertake an in-depth analysis of the scope for voluntary action, this paper reviews empirical literature that analyzes the relationship between manufacturing firms' environmental initiatives or performance and economic results. This review moves beyond the general test of the ,pay to be green' hypothesis, preferring instead to systematize empirical results in more specific research questions. Empirical findings of the reviewed literature generally support that there is no penalty for being green. In addition, the typology of firms, the methods utilized for implementing environmental initiatives, the intensity of abatement efforts and stockholders' valuation of green firms have all been shown to have a sizeable influence on the actual economic results of environmental action or management. Consequently, the findings of this paper challenge the traditional strategic theory that predicts widespread free-riding; it holds major implications for environmental policy-making and environmental business decisions. [source] Syntactic Priming Effects in Comprehension: A Critical ReviewLINGUISTICS & LANGUAGE COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 10 2010Kristen M. Tooley Syntactic priming occurs when processing of a target sentence is facilitated following processing of a prime sentence that has the same syntactic structure (Bock, 1986 Cognitive Psychology, 18. 355,387). Syntactic priming has been widely investigated in production (Bock, 1986 Cognitive Psychology, 18. 355,387; Bock and Griffin, 2000 General. 129(2). 177,192; Cleland and Pickering, 2003. Journal of Memory and Language, 49. 214,230; Cleland and Pickering 2006. Journal of Memory and Language, 54. 185,198; Pickering and Branigan, 1998. Journal of Memory and Language, 39. 633,651; and others), but only relatively recently in comprehension (Arai et al. 2007. Cognitive Psychology, 54(3). 218,250; Ledoux et al., 2007. Psychological Science. 18(2). 135,143; and others). This article reviews the current literature on syntactic priming in comprehension and contrasts these findings to those in production. Critically, syntactic priming effects in comprehension are observed more often when prime and target sentences share a content word, whereas in production, these effects are often observed when there are no shared content words between the primes and targets. Possible explanations for the differing degrees of lexical dependency between syntactic priming effects in production and in comprehension are posed and include differences in task paradigms and stimuli, differences in time course and syntactic processing between the two modalities, and mechanistic differences. Implications from the reviewed literature are then considered in attempts at determining the most likely mechanistic explanation for syntactic priming effects in both comprehension and production. A residual activation account (Pickering and Branigan, 1998. Journal of Memory and Language, 39. 633,651), an implicit learning account (Bock and Griffin, 2000 General. 129(2). 177,192; Chang et al. 2006. Psychological Review, 113(2). 234,272), and a dual mechanism account (Tooley, 2009. Is Syntactic Priming in Sentence Comprehension Really Just Implicit Learning? Paper presented to the 22nd Annual CUNY Conference on Human Sentence Processing, Davis, March 26,28) are outlined. The dual mechanism account may prove more consistent with a wider range of the reviewed research findings. [source] Conservation of the Eurasian beaver Castor fiber: an olfactory perspectiveMAMMAL REVIEW, Issue 4 2010Róisín CAMPBELL-PALMER ABSTRACT 1Chemical communication in mammals includes an array of specific behaviours that are often ignored in terms of their potential relevance to conservation. Often used during territorial or social interactions between animals, chemical communication can also be used as a tool in reintroduction programmes. Reintroductions still exhibit high failure rates and methods to improve success should be investigated. The Eurasian beaver Castor fiber has been widely reintroduced across Europe after its near extinction in the 19th century. 2Using olfactory studies in the beaver, we aim to demonstrate how scent transfers a range of information about the sender which can be used to monitor social and territorial behaviour along with general well-being. Scent manipulation can be used to reduce human,beaver conflicts, and aid reintroduction success through reducing stress and territorial conflicts, and by influencing dispersal and settlement. 3Two species of beavers, the Eurasian beaver and the North American beaver Castor canadensis, occupy freshwater habitats throughout North America and in parts of South America, most of Europe and parts of Asia. Most of the reviewed literature concerns the wild Eurasian beaver, its chemical communication and conservation; however, captive studies and those addressing North American beavers are also included. 4Chemical communication is advanced and has been well documented in this highly territorial species. However, few studies directly link olfaction with conservation practices. 5Olfactory studies in beavers can provide non-invasive methods to monitor translocated animals and indicators of health. We conclude that chemical analysis, olfactory studies and behavioural manipulations involving semiochemicals have important impacts on conservation and can generate practical solutions to conservation problems including aiding animal capture, captive stress reduction, breeding pair formation and release site fidelity. [source] The response of mammals to forest fire and timber harvest in the North American boreal forestMAMMAL REVIEW, Issue 1 2005JASON T. FISHER ABSTRACT 1.,This paper reviews and compares the effects of forest fire and timber harvest on mammalian abundance and diversity, throughout successional time in the boreal forest of North America. 2.,Temporal trends in mammal abundance and diversity are generally similar for both harvested and burned stands, with some differences occurring in the initiation stage (0,10 years post disturbance). 3.,Small mammals and ungulates are most abundant immediately post disturbance, and decrease as stands age. Lynxes and hares utilize mid-successional stands, but are rare in young and old stands. Bats, arboreal sciurids and mustelids increase in abundance with stand age, and are most abundant in old growth. 4.,Substantial gaps in the data exist for carnivores; the response of these species to fire and harvest requires research, as predator,prey interactions can affect mammal community structure in both early and late successional stages. 5.,The lack of explicit treatment of in-stand forest structure post disturbance, in the reviewed literature made comparisons difficult. Where forest structure was considered, the presence of downed woody material, live residual trees and standing dead wood were shown to facilitate convergence of mammal communities to a pre-disturbance state for both disturbance types. 6.,Mammalian assemblages differed considerably between successional stages, emphasizing the importance of maintaining stands of each successional stage on the landscape when implementing forest management strategies. [source] Wernicke's encephalopathy in nonalcoholic patients: Clinical and pathologic features of three cases and literature reviewedNEUROPATHOLOGY, Issue 3 2006Qiu-Ping Gui Three cases of Wernicke's encephalopathy in nonalcoholic patients diagnosed by postmortem examination were reported to improve the recognition of this disease. All three cases were male, ages ranged from 33 to 73 years old. All the cases had a clinical history of malnutrition but no history of chronic alcoholism. Routine autopsy and neuropathologic investigations examining the histological changes of the brain were performed. Pathological findings included recent petechial and local hemorrhages in the mamillary bodies, periventricular regions around the third and fourth ventricles and aqueduct. Under light microscopy the proliferation and dilatation of the capillaries was particularly prominent in the mamillary bodies and pericapillary hemorrhages were present in the periventricular regions. Neuronal losses were found only in the medial nucleus of the thalamus and inferior olive, myelin staining demonstrated demyelination and gliosis in those areas. The diagnosis of Wernicke's encephalopathy was made. In combination with the reviewed literature, our cases suggest that Wernicke's encephalopathy can occur not only in patients with alcohol abuse, but also in those who have suffered thiamine deficiency due to metabolic and nutritional disorders. [source] Bacterial vaginosis , a disturbed bacterial flora and treatment enigma,APMIS, Issue 5 2005Review article IV The syndrome bacterial vaginosis (BV) is characterized by a disturbed vaginal microflora in which the normally occurring lactobacilli yield quantitatively to an overgrowth of mainly anaerobic bacteria. As BV is a possible cause of obstetrics complications and gynaecological disease , as well as a nuisance to the affected women , there is a strong impetus to find a cure. In BV treatment studies, the diagnosis criteria for diagnosis of BV vary considerably and different methods are used for cure evaluation. The design of study protocols varies and there is no consensus respecting a suitable time for follow-up visits. For the purpose of this review, available data were recalculated for 4-week post treatment cure rates. For oral metronidazole the 4-week cure rate was found not to exceed 60,70%. Treatment regimens with topical clindamycin or topical metronidazole have the same cure rates. It can thus be said that no sound scientific basis exists for recommending any particular treatment. There is no evidence of beneficial effects on BV engendered by partner treatment, or by addition of probiotics or buffered gel. Long-term follow-up (longer than 4 weeks) shows a relapse rate of 70%. With a primary cure rate of 60,70%, and a similar relapse rate documented in the reviewed literature, clinicians simply do not have adequate data for determining treatment or designing clinical studies. This is unfortunate since , apart from the obvious patient benefits , clinical studies can often serve as a guide for more basic studies in the quest for underlying disease mechanisms. In the case of BV there is still a need for continued basic studies on the vaginal flora, local immunity to the flora and host-parasite interactions as an aid when designing informative clinical studies. [source] DEVELOPING STRATEGIES TO GATHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE MATERNITY EXPERIENCES OF INDIGENOUS WOMEN IN AN ACUTE CARE SETTINGAUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF RURAL HEALTH, Issue 3 2002Jennifer Watson ABSTRACT: This project emerged from the concerns of health care professionals at a large acute care hospital in the Northern Territory of Australia. The aim of the project was to develop educational resources through information and experiences provided by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and health care professionals. The objectives are to optimise collaboration and participation by Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander women in sharing their maternity experiences about the birthing of their baby either in hospital, or out of hospital before arrival. Stage one of a three stage project is reported here. In stage one a modified Delphi method was used to interview ten purposefully chosen professional Indigenous women with insight into the research process and changing social arrangements. Stage two involved the development of an interview schedule and face-to-face interviews. Stage three includes the development of a questionnaire to be answered by health care professionals. Discussion of the background to the study, reviewed literature and issues identified from interviews with the professional Indigenous women regarding best methods and appropriate data collection processes is presented. Research described here explores issues of concern for Indigenous women from the Northern Territory around their child birthing experiences in an acute care setting. [source] Employer-sponsored occupational therapy professional development in a multicampus facility: A quality projectAUSTRALIAN OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY JOURNAL, Issue 4 2009Anne Cusick Aim:,To critically assess and develop recommendations for professional development (PD) for occupational therapists in a multisite specialist cerebral palsy occupational therapy service. Method:,Quality improvement project based on principles of participatory action research: audit of PD resources/activity; stakeholder consultations and literature review. Results:,The PD program goal, resources, strategies, activities and evaluations conducted at the centre were identified and described. Areas for improvement were identified by critically considering the PD program in the context of reviewed literature. There was an assumption that personal change through PD would help attain the organisational goal of clinically competent practitioners who use evidence-based practice in a family-centred context. Recommendations:,Future PD plans and evaluations need to explicitly address this assumption. The use of structured reflection and the ,clinical reasoning' conceptual framework was recommended as one way to help personal change from PD to have workplace impact. This project provides a precedent and guide to occupational therapy PD planners regarding a whole-of-organisation approach to developing and maintaining competence through PD. [source] Home programmes in paediatric occupational therapy for children with cerebral palsy: Where to start?AUSTRALIAN OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY JOURNAL, Issue 4 2006Iona Novak Aim:, Home programmes are used extensively for children with cerebral palsy. Even though there is consensus about the importance of home programme intervention, there is little evidence of efficacy and scant information regarding programme characteristics that might affect family participation. Instead, research to date has focussed on parental compliance with prescribed programmes and parent,child interactions. Methods:, Based on reviewed literature, this article proposes a model to guide development of home programmes for children with cerebral palsy. It is a starting point for therapists to consider the way in which they focus and structure their home programmes for children who have cerebral palsy. Results and Conclusions:, The paper identifies an urgent need to develop clinical guidelines for home programmes through rigorous formal processes and to evaluate the impact of occupational therapy home programmes. [source] Anatomical variations of the plantaris muscle and a potential role in patellofemoral pain syndromeCLINICAL ANATOMY, Issue 2 2008A. Jay Freeman Abstract The plantaris muscle has been given little attention in the reviewed literature. It is most commonly mentioned only when absent from a specimen. This study aimed to document the anatomy of the plantaris muscle and to discuss the clinical significance of the observations. Cadaveric knees (n = 46) were dissected to identify the possible variations of the plantaris muscle. The muscle conformed with standard descriptions (n = 26; 56.52%), was present but varied from previous descriptions (n = 14; 30.44%), or was absent (n = 6; 13.04%). The variations consisted of distinct interdigitations with the lateral head of the gastrocnemius muscle (n = 9; 19.57%) and a strong fibrous extension of the plantaris muscle to the patella (n = 5; 10.87%). The presence of interdigitations strengthen the argument that the plantaris muscle supplement the activity of the lateral head of the gastrocnemius muscle whereas the patellar extension suggests an involvement with patellofemoral dynamics and may play a role in the various presentations of patellofemoral pain syndrome. Greater understanding of the relationship between these and other posterior knee structures will facilitate more precise interpretation and treatment of knee injuries. Clin. Anat. 21:178,181, 2008. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] | |||||||||||||