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Medical Sciences	35%
Life Sciences	32%
Humanities and Social Sciences	23%
Business, Economics, Finance and Accounting	5%

Selected Abstracts

Context rich problems in oral biology teaching

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF DENTAL EDUCATION, Issue 3 2002
Jules Kieser
Problem-based learning (PBL) has now been introduced in at least one of its various taxonomic forms in most dental curricula. We recently developed a novel form of PBL, referred to as Context Rich Problems, which we implemented in the Oral Biology course at the Otago University Dental School. A unique event, the teaching of second and third year students in the same year, allowed us to evaluate CRPs in these two academic years simultaneously. Our findings showed that second year students were not as positive as more mature third year students in accepting the transition from a traditional didactic form of teaching to PBL. Both groups, however, found that CRPs significantly enhanced their learning experience and both groups found that they needed less time spent on preparation than they had expected. In some respects, such as previous exposure to the web and electronic media, non-New Zealanders had had a significantly higher exposure. [source]

HETEROSIS AND OUTBREEDING DEPRESSION IN DESCENDANTS OF NATURAL IMMIGRANTS TO AN INBRED POPULATION OF SONG SPARROWS (MELOSPIZA MELODIA)

EVOLUTION, Issue 1 2002
Amy B. Marr
Abstract We studied heterosis and outbreeding depression among immigrants and their descendants in a population of song sparrows on Mandarte Island, Canada. Using data spanning 19 generations, we compared survival, seasonal reproductive success, and lifetime reproductive success of immigrants, natives (birds with resident-hatched parents and grandparents), and their offspring (F1s, birds with an immigrant and a native parent, and F2s, birds with an immigrant grandparent and resident-hatched grandparent in each of their maternal and paternal lines). Lifetime reproductive success of immigrants was no worse than that of natives, but other measures of performance differed in several ways. Immigrant females laid later and showed a tendency to lay fewer clutches, but had relatively high success raising offspring per egg produced. The few immigrant males survived well but were less likely to breed than native males of the same age that were alive in the same year. Female F1s laid earlier than expected based on the average for immigrant and native females, and adult male F1s were more likely to breed than expected based on the average for immigrant and native males. The performance differences between immigrant and native females and between F1s and the average of immigrants and natives are consistent with the hypothesis that immigrants were disadvantaged by a lack of site experience and that immigrant offspring benefited from heterosis. However, we could not exclude the possibility that immigrants had a different strategy for optimizing reproductive success or that they experienced ecological compensation for life-history parameters. For example, the offspring of immigrants may have survived well because immigrants laid later and produced fewer clutches, thereby raising offspring during a period of milder climatic conditions. Although sample sizes were small, we found large performance differences between F1s and F2s, which suggested that either heterosis was associated with epistasis in F1s, that F2s experienced outbreeding depression, or that both phenomena occurred. These findings indicate that the performance of dispersers may be affected more by fine-scale genetic differentiation than previously assumed in this and comparable systems. [source]

Domestic Violence and Out-of-hospital ProvidersA Potential Resource to Protect Battered Women

ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE, Issue 3 2000
M. Elaine Husni MD
Abstract Objective: The primary objective was to determine the prevalence of domestic violence (DV) in a subset of women presenting to the Boston emergency medical services (EMS) system and to evaluate documentation. A secondary objective was to determine the rate of refusal of transport to the hospital for DV-positive patients, compared with the general population. Methods: A retrospective chart review of ambulance run sheets from a nonconsecutive, convenience sample between July and December 1995 was performed. Women presenting with injury, obstetric/gynecologic complaints, or psychiatric complaints were included. Records were reviewed, and labeled as positive, probable, suggestive, or negative for DV, based on a previously used classification system. A weighted kappa test was performed, and data were analyzed using chi-square and t-test. Results: Among 1,251 charts reviewed, 876 met criteria for inclusion. The percentage of positive cases was 5.4% (95% CI = 3.9% to 6.9%), probable 10.8% (8.8% to 12.9%), suggestive 2.6% (1.6% to 3.7%), and negative 81.2% (78.6% to 83.6%). Among DV-positive patients, the refusal to transport rate was 23.4% (11.3% to 35.5%), compared with a 7.1% (5.8% to 9.3%) rate for the entire study population (n= 876), and 4.7% for the general Boston EMS population during the same year. More DV patients presented during the night shift compared with other shifts. Conclusions: Domestic violence is common in this high-risk population. A substantial proportion of women in this population refuse transport to the hospital. Out-of-hospital personnel should be trained with the tools to identify and document DV, assess patient safety, offer timely resources, and empower victims to make choices. [source]

Seasonal resin canal formation and necroses expansion in resinous stem canker-affected Chamaecyparis obtusa

FOREST PATHOLOGY, Issue 4-5 2002
T. YAMADA
Summary The season of disease development on the basis of two major internal symptoms, resin canal formation and necrotic lesion expansion in phloem, were anatomically determined in Chamaecyparis obtusa (Hinoki cypress) affected by resinous stem canker. Newly formed resin canals were mostly observed at first from July to August in samples of the canker-affected C. obtusa phloem. This result indicates the occurrence of stimuli causing resin canal formation and the beginning of the formation from May to July of the same year. This and the beginning of resin exudation observed in May or June indicated that resin, exuded at least before August, originated from resin canals formed in the previous year(s). The expansion of phloem necrotic lesions began in June and continued until October, and was conspicuous in the August samples. Stimuli causing necrotic lesion development were also suggested to occur from May to August of the same year. It is hypothesized that excess resin production induces lesion development and that expansion of necrotic lesion induces both resin exudation from previously formed resin canals and new resin canal formation. The causal agent of the disease could be activated in the late spring or summer season. Résumé Formation saisonnière de canaux résinifères et extension des nécroses chez Chamaecyparis obtusa atteint par le chancre résineux du tronc Chez Chamaecyparis obtusa affecté par le chancre résineux du tronc, la saison de développement de la maladie a été déterminée anatomiquement en se basant sur deux symptômes internes majeurs: la formation de canaux résinifères et l'extension des nécroses au niveau du phloème. Des canaux résinifères récemment formés ont surtout été observés à partir de juillet et en août dans le phloème de C. obtusa atteint par la maladie. Ce résultat montre l'existence de stimuli de la formation de canaux résinifères, ceux-ci commençant à se former en mai jusqu'en juillet. Jointe au fait que l'exsudation de résine a lieu en mai ou juin, cette observation montre que la résine (au moins celle exsudée avant août) provient des canaux formés au cours de la ou des années précédentes. L'extension de la nécrose du phloème débutait en juin, était forte en août et se poursuivait jusqu'en octobre. Il est suggéré que les stimuli du développement de la nécrose ont lieu entre mai et août de la même année. Il est supposé, d'une part que la production excessive de résine induit le développement des lésions, et d'autre part que l'extension des nécroses induit l'exsudation de résine à partir des canaux antérieurement formés ainsi que la formation de nouveaux canaux. L'agent causal de la maladie pourrait être activéà la fin du printemps ou en été. Zusammenfassung Saisonale Harzkanalbildung und Entwicklung der Nekrosen bei Chamaecyparis obtusa mit ,HarzigemStammkrebs' Bei Chamaecyparis obtusa mit Befall durch den ,Harzigen Stammkrebs' wurde die Phänologie der Krankheitsentwicklung anhand der Harzkanalbildung und der Ausbreitung der Nekrosen im Phloem anatomisch erfasst. Im krebsbefallenen Phloem wurden neu gebildete Harzkanäle zuerst im Juli und August beobachtet. Dies weist darauf hin, dass die Stimulation für die Harzkanalbildung und die Entwicklung der Harzkanäle in der Zeit von Mai bis Juli des laufenden Jahres erfolgt. Diese Beobachtung und der Beginn des Harzflusses, welcher im Mai und Juni auftritt, deuten darauf hin, dass der Harzfluss vor dem August aus Harzkanälen stammt, die bereits im Vorjahr oder noch früher angelegt worden waren. Die Expansion der Phloem-Nekrosen begann im Juni und hielt bis Oktober an, im August war sie besonders stark ausgeprägt. Der Reiz für die Ausdehnung der Nekrosen dürfte somit von Mai bis August des laufenden Jahres vorhanden sein. Es wird die Hypothese aufgestellt, dass die stark gesteigerte Harzproduktion die Nekrosenentwicklung fördert und dass die Expansion der Nekrosen sowohl den Harzfluss aus den früher gebildeten Harzkanälen anregt als auch die Bildung neuer Harzkanäle induziert. Der ursächliche Faktor für diese Krankheit dürfte im späten Frühjahr oder im Sommer aktiv sein. [source]

Projecting future N2O emissions from agricultural soils in Belgium

GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY, Issue 1 2007
CAROLINE ROELANDT
Abstract This study analyses the spatial and temporal variability of N2O emissions from the agricultural soils of Belgium. Annual N2O emission rates are estimated with two statistical models, MCROPS and MGRASS, which take account of the impact of changes in land use, climate, and nitrogen-fertilization rate. The models are used to simulate the temporal trend of N2O emissions between 1990 and 2050 for a 10, latitude and longitude grid. The results are also aggregated to the regional and national scale to facilitate comparison with other studies and national inventories. Changes in climate and land use are derived from the quantitative scenarios developed by the ATEAM project based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change-Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (IPCC-SRES) storylines. The average N2O flux for Belgium was estimated to be 8.6 × 106 kg N2O-N yr,1 (STD = 2.1 × 106 kg N2O-N yr,1) for the period 1990,2000. Fluxes estimated for a single year (1996) give a reasonable agreement with published results at the national and regional scales for the same year. The scenario-based simulations of future N2O emissions show the strong influence of land-use change. The scenarios A1FI, B1 and B2 produce similar results between 2001 and 2050 with a national emission rate in 2050 of 11.9 × 106 kg N2O-N yr,1. The A2 scenario, however, is very sensitive to the reduction in agricultural land areas (,14% compared with the 1990 baseline), which results in a reduced emission rate in 2050 of 8.3 × 106 kg N2O-N yr,1. Neither the climatic change scenarios nor the reduction in nitrogen fertilization rate could explain these results leading to the conclusion that N2O emissions from Belgian agricultural soils will be more markedly affected by changes in agricultural land areas. [source]

Case-Mix Adjusting Performance Measures in a Veteran Population: Pharmacy- and Diagnosis-Based Approaches

HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH, Issue 5 2003
Chuan-Fen Liu
Objective. To compare the rankings for health care utilization performance measures at the facility level in a Veterans Health Administration (VHA) health care delivery network using pharmacy- and diagnosis-based case-mix adjustment measures. Data Sources/Study Setting. The study included veterans who used inpatient or outpatient services in Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) 20 during fiscal year 1998 (October 1997 to September 1998; N=126,076). Utilization and pharmacy data were extracted from VHA national databases and the VISN 20 data warehouse. Study Design. We estimated concurrent regression models using pharmacy or diagnosis information in the base year (FY1998) to predict health service utilization in the same year. Utilization measures included bed days of care for inpatient care and provider visits for outpatient care. Principal Findings. Rankings of predicted utilization measures across facilities vary by case-mix adjustment measure. There is greater consistency within the diagnosis-based models than between the diagnosis- and pharmacy-based models. The eight facilities were ranked differently by the diagnosis- and pharmacy-based models. Conclusions. Choice of case-mix adjustment measure affects rankings of facilities on performance measures, raising concerns about the validity of profiling practices. Differences in rankings may reflect differences in comparability of data capture across facilities between pharmacy and diagnosis data sources, and unstable estimates due to small numbers of patients in a facility. [source]

Influences of restock age and habitat patchiness on Tree Pipits Anthus trivialis breeding in Breckland pine plantations

IBIS, Issue 2007
NIALL H.K. BURTON
The British Tree Pipit Anthus trivialis population has shown a marked decline in recent decades, together with a range contraction that has been most apparent in central and southeast England. In East Anglia, the species is now largely restricted to heathland and, in particular, the conifer plantations established on light soils in these areas. Here I evaluate how Tree Pipits are influenced by the age of pine restock and the patchiness of habitat in Thetford Forest in the Breckland area of Norfolk and Suffolk, eastern England. Both the probability of occurrence and the densities of territory-holding Tree Pipits varied according to the age of coupes of restock , densities peaking in restock 1,6 years old , and were also significantly higher in coupes (a stand comprising one or more forest subcompartments planted in the same year, usually with the same tree crop) in the largest, most central forest block than in smaller, isolated blocks peripheral to this. Within coupes, the distribution and thus densities of Tree Pipits were limited by the availability of songposts. Few songflights finished on the ground or in flight and displaying birds only perched on restock once trees were at least 3 years old (0.8 m high) , thus, territories were only established away from bordering or retained mature trees once restock had reached this age. Pairing success was reduced among males with territories of less than 1 ha, as found in the highest densities in restock, but was unrelated to the proportion of songflights that individuals finished on perches. Thus, although the availability of songposts limited the distribution of the species, it did not appear to affect individual breeding success. The study highlights the importance of pine plantations for the species in lowland England, but also the benefits of large blocks of habitat and targeted forest management, for instance, the retention of mature trees in coupes of restock for Pipits to use as songposts. [source]

Elderly suicide and the 2003 SARS epidemic in Hong Kong

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GERIATRIC PSYCHIATRY, Issue 2 2006
Sau Man Sandra Chan
Abstract Background Hong Kong was struck by the community outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2003. In the same year, the elderly suicide rate in Hong Kong showed a sharp upturn from a previous downward trend. Methods Secondary analyses using Poisson Regression Models on the suicide statistics from the Census and Statistics Department of the Hong Kong Government were performed. Results In a Poisson Regression Model on the annual suicide rates in elders aged 65 and over in years 1986,2003, 2002 served as the reference year. Suicide rates in 1986,1997 were significantly higher than the reference year, with an Incident Rate Ratio (IRR) of 1.34 to 1.61. However, rates in 1998,2001 did not differ from the reference year significantly, representing stabilization of suicide rates for 4 years after 1997. The elderly suicide rate increased to 37.46/100,000 in 2003, with an IRR of 1.32 (p,=,0.0019) relative to 2002. Such trend is preserved when female elderly suicide rates in 1993,2003 were analyzed, while suicide rates in elderly men and younger age groups did not follow this pattern. Discussions Mechanistic factors such as breakdown of social network and limited access to health care might account for the findings. These factors could have potentiated biopsychosocial risk factors for suicide at individual levels, particularly in elderly. Female elders, by way of their previous readiness to utilize social and health services instituted in the past decade, are thus more susceptible to the effects of temporary suspension of these services during the SARS epidemic. Conclusions The SARS epidemic was associated with increased risk of completed suicide in female elders, but not in male elders or the population under 65 years of age. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Joaquin Maria Albarran Y Dominguez: Microbiologist, histologist, and urologist,a lifetime from orphan in Cuba to Nobel nominee

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF UROLOGY, Issue 9 2006
ROWAN G CASEY
Abstract, Joaquin Albarran was an extraordinary late 19th century urologist. His early career was in the field of microbiology and histopathology in Paris at a time of great medical developments and innovations. His later contributions to urology included the Albarran lever, Albarrans sign, Albarran,Ormond syndrome and seminal works on testicular and renal tumors. He also wrote treatizes on the pathophysiology of acute urinary retention, nephritis and calculus ureteric obstruction. He died at the young age of 52 from the effects of tuberculosis and in this same year was nominated for the Nobel prize in medicine. [source]

History of science , spores

JOURNAL OF APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 3 2006
Lewis B Perry Memorial Lecture 200
Abstract Bacterial endospores were first studied 130 years ago by Cohn in 1876 and independently by Koch in the same year. Although spore dormancy and resistance have been much studied since then, questions still remain concerning the basic mechanisms and the kinetics of heat inactivation in particular. Likewise, the extreme dormancy and longevity of spores was recognized early on and later greatly extended but still evade complete understanding. Evidence has accumulated for the involvement of specific spore components such as calcium, dipicolinic acid, small acid soluble proteins in the core and peptidoglycan in the cortex. Involvement of physical factors too, such as the relative dehydration of the core, maybe in a high-viscosity state or even in a glassy state, has added to appreciation of the multicomponent nature of dormancy and resistance. Spore-former morphology formed the basis for early classification systems of sporeformers from about 1880 and consolidated in the mid-1900s, well prior to the use of modern genetic procedures. With respect to sporulation, groundbreaking sequence studies in the 1950s provided the basis for later elucidation of the genetic control widely relevant to many cell differentiation mechanisms. With respect to the breaking of dormancy (activation and germination), the elucidation of mechanisms began in the 1940s following the observations of Hills at Porton who identified specific amino acid and riboside ,germinants', and laid the basis for the later genetic analyses, the identification of germinant receptor genes and the elucidation of key germination reactions. The nonexponential nature of germination kinetics has thwarted the development of practical Tyndallization-like processing. So inactivation by heat remains the premier method of spore control, the basis of a huge worldwide industry, and still relying on the basic kinetics of inactivation of Clostridium botulinum spores, and the reasoning regarding safety first evolved by Bigelow et al. in 1920 and Esty and Meyer in 1922. ,Newer' processes such as treatment with ionizing radiation (first proposed in 1905) and high hydrostatic pressure (first proposed in 1899) may be introduced if consumer resistance and some remaining technical barriers could be overcome. [source]

The first biogeographical map

JOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY, Issue 5 2006
Malte C. Ebach
Abstract Unbeknownst to many historians of biology, the first biogeographical map was published in the third edition of the Flore française by Lamarck and Candolle in 1805, the same year in which Humboldt's famous Essai sur la Geographie appeared. Lamarck and Candolle's map marks the beginning of a descriptive or classificatory biogeography focusing on the study of biota rather than on the distributional pathways of taxa. The map is relevant because it heralds the beginning of the creation of biogeographical maps popularized by zoogeographers in the mid- to late nineteenth century together with the study of biogeographical regions. [source]

Clinical drug interactions in outpatients of a university hospital in Thailand

JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PHARMACY & THERAPEUTICS, Issue 6 2005
B. Janchawee PhD
Summary Background:, A clinical event is likely to occur in patients receiving a pair of drugs, that have the potential to cause an interaction. The occurrence of a clinical drug,drug interaction in outpatients of university hospitals in Thailand is unknown. Purpose:, To investigate the occurrence of a clinical event associated with drug,drug interactions in outpatients at a Thai university hospital. Methods:, A case,control study was established. The case was a sample group, randomly selected from a 1-year sample of outpatient prescriptions containing ,significance-1' potential drug,drug interactions, whereas the control was from the same year but with no potential drug interactions. Medical records of the cases and the controls were reviewed for an adverse event (AE) using a newly developed review form. The odds ratio of occurrence of the AE between the cases and the controls was determined. The AE was assessed for its possibility of being caused from a drug,drug interaction. Results:, The most common specific AE in both the cases and the controls was cough. An unplanned revisit to outpatient department or emergency room was found to be the most common general AE. The odds ratio of the occurrence of an AE in the cases, compared with the controls, was 1·495 (95% CI: 0·917,2·438). The possibility that the AEs resulted from drug interactions in the case group was nine ,probable' patients and 15 ,possible' patients, whereas that in the control group was eight ,possible' patients. The most common interacting drug pair was isoniazid,rifampin with an increase in serum hepatic enzymes as the corresponding AE. Conclusions:, Despite outpatients receiving drug pairs with a high potential for adverse interactions, the rate of occurrence of clinical drug interaction events was low. [source]

Preventable but not prevented: the reality of cervical cancer,

JOURNAL OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNAECOLOGY RESEARCH (ELECTRONIC), Issue 5 2003
Usha B. Saraiya
Abstract Introduction: The incidence of invasive cervical cancer has decreased in the last 50 years in the developed countries substantially due to the use of routine pap smears. However, in the Asia,Oceanic region it continues to be high as screening programs are not established. Credit for starting cytology services in India goes to Professor P.N. Wahi of Agra. He became Founder President when about 34 cytologists got together in 1970 to form the Indian Academy of Cytologists. Since then cytology has spread through all parts of India. The Cytology Clinic in Cama & Albless Hospital was started in the same year. Since then over 100 000 women have been screened. Approximately 1200 cases of pre- and early cancers have been detected and treated. Since 1982 we are aware of the important role of human papillomavirus infection. We diagnose it by cytology and colposcopy and histology. Facilities for polymerase chain reaction, in-situ hybridization and other virology studies are not available to us. CO2 laser treatment is found particularly useful in multicentric human papillomavirus disease. Screening for the State of Maharashtra: Since 1984 we have planned for a screening program for our State. We have a population of 78.9 million. Approximately 15 million women in the age group of 35,64 years have to be screened. The health care infrastructure is good with 36 medical colleges and over 35 district hospitals. Screening is planned in phases. Trained personnel are the key to a successful program. In the final analysis, cervical cancer is not just a biomedical disease. It has socio-cultural and economic implications. [source]

Performing Buddhist Modernity: The Lumbini Festival, Tokyo 1925

JOURNAL OF RELIGIOUS HISTORY, Issue 2 2009
JUDITH SNODGRASS
This paper looks at the 1920s Tokyo transformation of hanamatsuri (the celebration of the Buddha's birthday) from a local observance to a mass public spectacle. The Lumbini Festival was a performance of Buddhist modernity orchestrated to promote links between Japan and Asia and present Japan as leader of Asia. The Lumbini Festival appeared in 1925, the same year as did the Young East, an English language journal published in Tokyo to promote the trans-Asian Buddhist fellowship. Neither was a state initiative, but both nevertheless contributed to the formation and naturalisation of links between Japan and its Asian neighbours and the development of the Japanese empire. The Lumbini festival naturalised Buddhist brotherhood in Tokyo; the Young East, by reporting it through Asia and the West, promoted ideas of their shared Buddhist heritage, and of a Buddhist basis for social reform and Asian modernity. [source]

The Seventh Messenger and Australia 1904,1980: Benjamin Purnell and the House of David

JOURNAL OF RELIGIOUS HISTORY, Issue 3 2005
GUY FEATHERSTONE
The Southcottian tradition of the Seven Angelic Messengers of Rev. 10:7 has a long association with millennial belief in Australia. Brought hither by Christian Israelite missionaries in the 1840s, the final three Messengers (Wroe, Jezreel, and Purnell) all journeyed to Australia to win converts. After describing the origins and beliefs of the sects established by these Messengers, this article outlines the impact of Benjamin Purnell's House of David on local Christian Israelites and others. His visit to Melbourne in December 1904 to "ingather" over seventy converts from the Fitzroy congregation is outlined; a comparison is made with J. A. Dowie's missionary tour of the same year. A description of the life the Australians led in Michigan and their attempts to leave the colony and expose Purnell's sexual misconduct are outlined. Despite unfavourable press reports, continuing missionary activity in Melbourne and then in Sydney resulted in further converts leaving for America, and the establishment of a branch community at North Ryde. A comparison of its ethos and that prevailing at Benton Harbor is included. Details of the eventual demise of the North Ryde community are followed by a brief analysis of its place in Australia's religious life. This essay is published to mark the centenary of the departure of the Christian Israelites in February 1905. [source]

A needs-based study and examination skills course improves students' performance

MEDICAL EDUCATION, Issue 5 2003
Lutz Beckert
Background, Adult learning theory suggests that learning is most effective when related to need, when driven by the learner and when it is flexible. We describe the effect of an educational intervention that was driven by student need, and largely designed by students. Methods, We undertook a needs assessment of fifth year medical students' study needs. Based on this, we helped them design a course to meet these needs. This was predominantly related to study skills and a practice objective structured clinical examination (OSCE). We evaluated the course by asking for student opinion and by measuring the effect on student performance in a high stakes medical school examination (written examination and OSCE). Findings, Despite the course being run voluntarily and in after-hours sessions, 80,90% of the medical student class attended each session. Student performance on the end of year examinations was significantly enhanced in the year of the intervention, compared with previous years and with students from other schools sitting identical examinations in the same year. Interpretation, Learning activities that are directly based on student needs, that focus on study and examination techniques, and that are largely student-driven, result in effective and valuable outcomes. [source]

Comorbid conditions associated with Parkinson's disease: A population-based study

MOVEMENT DISORDERS, Issue 4 2006
Cynthia L. Leibson PhD
Abstract The burden of comorbidity in Parkinson's disease (PD) remains unclear. All Olmsted County, Minnesota, residents with incident PD in 1976,1995 (n = 197) plus one age- and sex-matched non-PD referent subject per case were followed for all clinical diagnoses from 5 years before through 15 years after index (i.e., year of PD onset for each case and same year for the referent subject). Both members of a case,referent pair were censored at death or emigration of either member to ensure equivalent follow-up. Cases and referent subjects were compared for summary comorbidity (Charlson index) and for the likelihood of having one or more diagnoses within each International Classification of Diseases chapter/subchapter. Before index, the groups were similar for all comparisons. After index, cases had a higher likelihood of diagnoses within the chapters "Mental Disorders" and "Diseases of the Genitourinary System," and within the subchapters "Organic Psychotic Conditions," "Other Psychoses," "Neurotic/Personality/Other Nonpsychotic Disorders," "Hereditary/Degenerative Diseases of Central Nervous System," "Symptoms," "Other Diseases of Digestive System," "Other Diseases of Urinary System," "Diseases of Veins/Lymphatics/Other Circulatory System Diseases," "Fractures of Lower Limb," "Other Diseases of Skin/Subcutaneous Tissue," "Osteopathies/Chrondropathies/Acquired Musculoskeletal Deformities," and "Pneumonia and Influenza." The excess morbidity and mortality observed for persons with PD are consistent with recognized PD sequelae. © 2005 Movement Disorder Society [source]

The impact of raptors on the abundance of upland passerines and waders

OIKOS, Issue 8 2008
Arjun Amar
The issue of predator limitation of vertebrate prey populations is contentious, particularly when it involves species of economic or conservation value. In this paper, we examine the case of raptor predation on upland passerines and waders in Scotland. We analysed the abundance of five wader and passerine species on an upland sporting estate in southern Scotland during an eight-year period when hen harrier, peregrine and merlin numbers increased due to strict law enforcement. The abundance of meadow pipit and skylark declined significantly during this time. Golden plover also showed a declining trend, whereas curlew increased significantly and there was a near significant increase in lapwings. Contrasting the local population trends of these species with trends on nearby areas revealed higher rates of decline for meadow pipit and skylark at the site where raptors increased, but no differences in trends for any of the three wader species. There was a negative relationship between the number of breeding harriers and meadow pipit abundance the same year and between total annual raptor numbers and meadow pipit abundance. Predation rates of meadow pipit and skylark determined from observations at harrier nests suggested that predation in June was sufficient to remove up to 40% of the June meadow pipit population and up to 34% of the June skylark population. This ,quasi-natural' experiment suggests that harrier predation limited the abundance of their main prey, meadow pipit, and possibly the abundance of skylark. Thus, high densities of harriers may in theory reduce the abundance of the prey species which determine their breeding densities, potentially leading to lower harrier breeding densities in subsequent years. We found no evidence to suggest that raptor predation limited the populations of any of the three wader species. We infer that concerns over the impact of natural densities of hen harriers on vulnerable upland waders are unjustified. [source]

The spatial pattern of air seeding thresholds in mature sugar maple trees

PLANT CELL & ENVIRONMENT, Issue 9 2005
BRENDAN CHOAT
ABSTRACT Air seeding threshold (Pa) of xylem vessels from current year growth rings were measured along the vertical axis of mature sugar maple trees (Acer saccharum Marsh.), with sampling points in primary leaf veins, petioles, 1-, 3-, and 7-year-old branches, large branches, the trunk and roots. The air seeding threshold was taken as the pressure required to force nitrogen gas through intervessel pit membranes. Although all measurements were made on wood produced in the same year, Pa varied between different regions of A. saccharum, with distal organs such as leaves and petioles having lower Pa than basal regions. Mean (SE) Pa ranged from 1.0 (± 0.1) MPa in primary leaf veins to 4.8 (± 0.1) MPa in the main trunk. Roots exhibited a Pa of 2.8 (± 0.2) MPa, lower than all other regions of the tree except leaf veins and petioles. Mean xylem vessel diameter increased basipetally, with the widest vessels occurring in the trunk and roots. Within the shoot, wider vessels had greater air seeding thresholds, contrasting with trends previously reported. However, further experimentation revealed that differences in Pa between regions of the stem were driven by the presence of primary xylem conduits, rather than differences in vessel diameter. In 1-year-old branches, Pa was significantly lower in primary xylem vessels than in adjacent secondary xylem vessels. This explained the lower values of Pa measured in petioles and leaf veins, which possessed a greater ratio of primary xylem to secondary xylem than other regions. The difference in Pa between primary and secondary xylem was attributed to the greater area of primary cell wall (pit membrane) exposed in primary xylem conduits with helical or annular thickening. [source]

,Condemned by some, read by all': the attempt to suppress the publications of the Louvain humanist Erycius Puteanus in 1608,

RENAISSANCE STUDIES, Issue 3 2010
Demmy Verbeke
Numerous examples of censorship in early modern Europe prove that church and state frequently collaborated in their efforts to prevent the publication and distribution of heretical or seditious works. Yet, the prosecution of Erycius Puteanus (1574,1646) on account of his De conviviorum luxu epistola (1608) shows that a publication could also be opposed on other than religious or political grounds. The case, as well as the strategic presentation of Puteanus'Comus, published later that same year, demonstrates how an early modern author could even find support with political, legal and ecclesiastical dignitaries to overcome opposition against a questionable publication. Moreover, this study sheds new light on the continuing success of the Comus, which became one of the standard seventeenth-century texts satirizing excessive eating and drinking. [source]

We were the Trojans: British national identities in 1633

RENAISSANCE STUDIES, Issue 1 2002
Lisa Hopkins
In 1633, several significant works of literature were published for the first time. These included Spenser's A View of the Present State of Ireland, Jasper Fisher's Fvimus Troes, George Wither's Iwenilia, Charles Aleyn's The Battailes of Crescey and Poictiers, while John Ford's Perkins Warbeck, though not published until 1634, was probably first performed in 1633. In the same year, Charles I rode north to his Scottish coronation, calling forth the celebratory poem Scotland's Welcome by William Lithgow, and Ben Jonson also wrote The King's Entertainment at Welbeck to entertain the king when he broke his journey at the earl of Newcastle's great house, Welbeck Abbey in Nottinghamshire. The year also saw the appointment of Strafford as Lord Deputy in Ireland, Thomas Stafford's Pacata Hibernica, and Geoffrey Keating's History of Ireland, and the centenary of Henry VIII's first declaration of England as an empire in 1533. This essay argues that these events and publications are linked by their concern with questions of what it meant to be English, Scottish, Irish, or Anglo-Irish, with the occasion of Charles I's Scottish coronation, coupled with his growing political unpopularity, provoking a collective soul-searching on the subject of national identities. [source]

The Economics of Wine , Introduction

THE ECONOMIC JOURNAL, Issue 529 2008
Alan Duncan
To coincide with the 150th anniversary of the famous Bordeaux Wine Classification of 1855, the Centre for Policy Evaluation at the University of Nottingham sponsored a special session at the 2005 RES Annual Conference on the economics of wine. The 1855 classification was completed as part of the Paris Exhibition of the same year as a temporary means to determine which Bordeaux wines would be exhibited. The classification took hold, and is still in use today. In celebration, this Feature explores how economics can add to an understanding of wine production and wine markets. [source]

FRAMING THE HUMAN CONDITION: THE EXISTENTIAL DILEMMA IN IRIS MURDOCH'S THE BELL AND MURIEL SPARK'S ROBINSON

THE HEYTHROP JOURNAL, Issue 5 2007
MICHAEL GIFFIN
One of the features of modernist and postmodernist novels is the way they interrogate classical metaphysics, in the spirit of what Habermas calls post-metaphysical thinking, otherwise known as the post-Enlightenment critique of the Enlightenment. As a literary prism, post-metaphysical thinking is not anti-metaphysical: it conducts its interrogation and still accommodates both secular and religious frames. Iris Murdoch and Muriel Spark are often compared but they interrogate classical metaphysics from different perspectives and for different purposes. In the nineteen-fifties, Murdoch was an aspiring philosophical author who treated classical metaphysics as a canon of influential myth, while Spark was an aspiring theological author who had recently converted to Catholicism. Through a reading of The Bell and Robinson, both published in the same year, this article describes how the young Murdoch and Spark do what emerging literary authors of the nineteen-fifties were expected to do: frame the human condition and reflect on its existential dilemma. With their different perspectives they both write within the same paradigm, or theory of mind; against symbolic backgrounds, and among significant dialogues, they make use of similar tropes. But Murdoch and Spark arrive at opposite positions on the relationship between imagination and reality, between logos and mythos, and ultimately on the nature of freedom and contingency. [source]

Long-term changes of aphid vectors of Barley yellow dwarf viruses in north-eastern Italy (Friuli-Venezia Giulia)

ANNALS OF APPLIED BIOLOGY, Issue 1 2009
P.G. Coceano
Abstract Migrations of aphid vectors of Barley yellow dwarf viruses (BYDV) were monitored using a Rothamsted Insect Survey suction trap in Friuli-Venezia Giulia (north-eastern Italy). Catches from 1983 to 2002 were studied for trends, correlations of total catches of each year with those of previous years, correlations between the autumn and the spring + summer catches of the same year and between spring + summer catches of one year with catches of the previous autumn. Infectivity of autumn alates was studied using biological tests, and infectivity indexes were calculated for all vector species and for Rhopalosiphum padi alone. Colonisation of barley and proportion of infected plants were checked in a field close to the suction trap from 1992 to 2002 and related to trap catches. Catches were also correlated to acreage dedicated to cereal and fodder crops in the region. During the 20 years, 15 BYDV vector species were caught in the trap, but only five species were found consistently colonising barley plants during autumn. R. padi was the most numerous species in catches, while Sitobion avenae was the predominant colonising species in the barley field. Relatively to R. padi, S. avenae colonies were about six times more numerous than expected from catches. The yearly abundance of catches of most species did not change significantly during the 20 years, with a few exceptions, significantly correlated to changes in the acreage dedicated to cereal and fodder crops. There was a significant decrease of the autumn catches of both R. padi and the total of BYDV vectors. [source]

Smoking is a major risk factor for wound dehiscence after midline abdominal incision; case,control study

ANZ JOURNAL OF SURGERY, Issue 4 2009
Saleh M. Abbas
Abstract Background:, The incidence of acute fascial wound dehiscence (AFWD) after major abdominal operations is as high as 3%. AFWD is associated with mortality rates of 15,20%. Male gender, advanced age and numerous systemic factors including malignancy hypoproteinemia and steroid use have been associated with increased risk. The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between smoking prevalence and AFWD. Methods:, Middlemore Hospital records were retrieved from the 1997,2006 period for patients who had undergone midline abdominal surgery and developed AFWD. A return to the operating theatre for closure of the fascial dehiscence was required for study group inclusion. Each patient in the study group was matched to two control patients who had been admitted in the same year for surgery and who had a similar initial surgical intervention. Conditional logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals, representing the risk of developing fascial wound dehiscence in smokers compared with the non-smoking group. Results:, There were 52 patients (32 male, 20 female) and 104 controls (64 male, 40 female). Median age for both groups was 63 years. A history of heavy tobacco use (,20 pack-years) was more prevalent in those who had AFWD (46%) compared with the control group (16%; P = 0.0002; odds ratio 3.7). Conclusions:, Smoking is associated with an increased incidence of acute fascial wound dehiscence following laparotomy. It is not known whether smoking is a causal or a surrogate factor. [source]

Updating Poverty Maps without Panel Data: Evidence from Vietnam,

ASIAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL, Issue 4 2009
Nguyen Viet Cuong
I31; I32; O15 A household survey and a census can be combined to estimate a poverty map for small areas. Ideally, the survey and the census should be conducted in the same year. In several empirical applications, however, survey and census years can be different, which might make poverty estimates biased. Using data from the Vietnam Household Living Standard Survey 2002 and the 1999 Population and Housing Census, the present paper produces a 2002 poverty map for Vietnam and describes the biases when the survey and census years are not coincident. It is found that poverty estimates from the poverty mapping method taking into account the time difference between the survey and the census are quite close to survey-based estimates, at least at the regional level. [source]

Physical activity, Body Mass Index and health care costs in mid-age Australian women

AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, Issue 2 2008
Wendy J. Brown
Abstract Objective: This study examined the relationships between combined categories of physical activity (PA) and Body Mass Index (BMI) with health care costs in women and assessed the potential cost savings of improving PA and BMI in sedentary mid-age women. Methods: Cross-sectional analysis of 2001 survey data linked to health service use data for the same year from 7,004 mid-age women (50-55 years) participating in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health. Results: The mean (median; interquartile range) annual cost of Medicare-subsidised services was $542 (355; 156-693) per woman. Costs were 17% higher in obese than in healthy-weight women and 26% higher in sedentary than in moderately active women. For sedentary obese women, mean costs were 43% higher than in healthy weight, moderately active women. After adjustment for potential confounders, the relative risk of ,high' claims (,15 claims per year) for overweight women who reported ,moderate' or ,high' PA were lower than for women with healthy BMI who reported no PA. Conclusions and Implications: Lower PA and higher BMI are both associated with higher health care costs, but costs are lower for overweight active women than for healthy-weight sedentary women. At the population level these data suggest that there would be significant cost savings if all sedentary mid-age women could achieve at least ,low' levels of PA (60-150 minutes a week). [source]

"Atlantic Revolution" or Local Difficulty: Aspects of Revolt in Brazil, 1780,1880

AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF POLITICS AND HISTORY, Issue 3 2010
Dick Geary
It has become commonplace to argue that the ideals of the Enlightenment, the American War of Independence and the French Revolution inspired revolutionary struggles on both sides of the Atlantic and even played an increasing role in the inspiration of slave revolts in the Americas. This paper tests this hypothesis against two kinds of upheaval, namely slave revolt in Brazil between 1780 and 1850 and artisan protest in the so-called Praiera Rising in Brazilian Recife in 1848/9, seen by Hobsbawm and others (including some Brazilian historians) as a South American variant of the Parisian upheavals of the same year. The analysis of slave revolts in this paper, on the other hand, concludes that they were rarely inspired by Western discourse, as they were overwhelmingly the work of African slaves, who relied on African , or to be more precise , Afro-Brazilian traditions, including local cults and African Islam. In so far as there was an "Atlantic Revolution" in this case, therefore, it came from the South and not the North Atlantic. In the case of the Praiera the paper further demonstrates that the demands of free and freed Brazilian artisans for "work for all Brazilians" and the "nationalisation of the retail trade" were not inspired by the same kind of radical, anti-merchant ideology as their Parisian counterparts but were primarily driven by hostility to the competition of both slave artisans and an influx of Portuguese craftsmen. This difference it explains by the different meaning of labour in slave and non-slave society. [source]

Selling Goodwill: Peter Russo and the Promotion of Australia-Japan Relations, 1935-1941

AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF POLITICS AND HISTORY, Issue 3 2001
Prue Torney-Parlicki
This article examines the contribution of Dr Peter Russo (1908-1985) to Australia-Japan relations from 1935 to 1941. Born and educated in Australia, Russo went to Japan in 1931 as the recipient of a travelling scholarship, and in 1934 he was appointed to a lectureship in modern languages at the Tokyo University of Commerce. In 1935, acting in his capacity as delegate for Japan's principal organisation for international cultural relations, he undertook a successful lecture tour in Australia, and in the same year acted as adviser to Japanese diplomat, Katsuji Debuchi, on a goodwill tour of Australia and New Zealand. Over the next five years Russo worked to consolidate these efforts, but as the Pacific War drew closer his loyalty to Australia was increasingly brought into question. The article will trace the development of Russo's role in promoting Australia-Japan relations between 1935 and his return to Australia amid suspicion and controversy in 1941. [source]

Secular decreasing trend of the frequency of hypospadias among newborn male infants in Spain

BIRTH DEFECTS RESEARCH, Issue 2 2004
María Luisa Martínez-Frías
Abstract BACKGROUND The frequency of hypospadias is not uniform worldwide. Several countries have reported an increase in its frequency at birth. Although a better ascertainment of the minor forms has been considered as an explanation, the potential effect of environmental endocrine disrupters has also been proposed. We studied the secular trend of hypospadias in Spain over the past 22 years, separating the minor and major forms. METHODS We used data from the Spanish Collaborative Study of Congenital Malformations (ECEMC) registry, analyzing the frequency in two different periods: from 1978 to 1995, and from 1996 to 2002. To evaluate the "step" of the frequency between the two periods, we applied a parametric Student's t -test, and the nonparametric Mann-Whitney rank test. RESULTS The birth frequency of isolated and total hypospadias was quite stable between 1978 and 1995. In 1996, it decreased dramatically in a step, essentially due to isolated cases with minor forms of hypospadias. Study of the geographical distribution by the 17 Spanish regions showed that the frequency step occurred in nearly all of them. CONCLUSIONS It is difficult to consider that the observed decrease of the frequency of minor forms of hypospadias could be due to less accurate reporting of these minor forms in all 87 hospitals in the same year without any previous physician agreement. This decrease rather suggests a change in some product or exposure affecting the whole country. We think that the observed change in the frequency cannot be attributable to a lower exposure to endocrine disrupters or the voluntary interruption of gestation. Birth Defects Research (Part A) 67:000,000, 2003. © 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]