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Available Measures (available + measure)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	60%

Selected Abstracts

Evolutionary biology and practical conservation: bridging a widening gap

MOLECULAR ECOLOGY, Issue 1 2008
GEORGINA M. MACE
Abstract At the ecosystem, species and population level, available measures suggest that average rates of loss of populations and habitats are now around 1% per year and seem likely to increase in the future. Habitat conversion continues in most parts of the world, especially in areas of high species richness, and novel threats, especially climate change, will pose new challenges. With this pressure, maintaining evolutionary processes in natural populations will be critical to longer term persistence, and will often require specific planning relevant to the context. However, in many areas of policy and practice, urgent actions tend to focus on pattern-based analyses and considerations of evolutionary and ecological processes are neglected. At a variety of levels, from setting goals to implementing conservation management at the site or species level, there are simple adjustments that can be made. Improved methods for integrating the work of scientists and policymakers is recommended, from the beginning to end of the planning process. [source]

The relationship between the neighbourhood environment and adverse birth outcomes

PAEDIATRIC & PERINATAL EPIDEMIOLOGY, Issue 3 2006
Thomas A. Farley
Summary Intrauterine growth retardation and preterm birth are more frequent in African-American women and women of lower socio-economic status, but the reasons for these disparities are not fully understood. The physical and social environments in which these women live may contribute to these disparities. We conducted a multilevel study to explore whether conditions of mothers' neighbourhood of residence contribute to adverse birth outcomes independent of individual-level determinants. We analysed data from 105 111 births in 1015 census tracts in Louisiana during 1997,98, merging it with data from other existing sources on neighbourhood socio-economic status, neighbourhood physical deterioration, and neighbourhood density of retail outlets selling tobacco, alcohol and foods. After controlling for individual-level sociodemographic factors, tract-level median household income was positively associated with both birthweight-for-gestational-age and gestational age at birth. Neighbourhood physical deterioration was associated with these birth outcomes in ecological analyses but only inconsistently associated with them after controlling for individual-level factors. Neither gestational age nor birthweight-for-gestational-age was associated with the neighbourhood density of alcohol outlets, tobacco outlets, fast-food restaurants or grocery supermarkets. We conclude that measures of neighbourhood economic conditions are associated with both fetal growth and the length of gestation independent of individual-level factors, but that readily available measures of neighbourhood retail outlets are not. Additional studies are needed to better understand the nature of environmental influences on birth outcomes. [source]

Discrete Polarisation with an Application to the Determinants of Genocides,

THE ECONOMIC JOURNAL, Issue 533 2008
Jose G. Montalvo
Inequality and polarisation are two different measures of heterogeneity. As in the case of inequality, the measurement of polarisation was initially developed in the context of a continuous dimension (income). However, in many important dimensions, like ethnicity, there are no available measures of distance across ethnic groups and individuals are mostly separated by the dichotomous perception ,we versus they'. In this article we analyse the theoretical properties of a measure of polarisation based on classifications (discrete polarisation) instead of continuous distances across groups. The second part of the article presents an application of the index of discrete ethnic polarisation to the explanation of genocides. [source]

Diagnosing comorbidity: concepts, criteria, and methods

ACTA NEUROPSYCHIATRICA, Issue 1 2004
S. Samet
Background:, The clinical and etiologic implications of comorbid psychiatric and substance-use disorders are relevant across countries and cultures. The DSM-IV now places greater emphasis on the clinical and research utility of the substance-induced disorders classification, and clarifies several important diagnostic issues specific to primary and substance-induced disorders. However, no research consensus exists over the core problem of identifying and differentiating the drug and alcohol intoxication and withdrawal symptoms that can mimic psychiatric symptoms in heavy drinkers and drug users. Objective:, To investigate how various diagnostic instruments have measured comorbid psychiatric and substance-use disorders and how each instrument operationalizes the DSM-IV classification. Method:, We review the evolution of the concept of comorbidity beginning with its formalization as the ,primary,secondary' distinction in the Feighner Criteria. We address the ,organic,non-organic' distinction found in the RDC, DSM-III, and DSM-III-R; and finally, review the ,primary' and ,substance-induced' categories of DSM-IV, DSM-IV-TR and ICD-10. We describe how these distinctions have been operationalized in widely used diagnostic instruments. Conclusion:, Further understanding of these classifications and the rela-tionship of co-occurring psychiatric and substance disorders can be accom-plished with the range of available measures, particularly the Psychiatric Research Interview for Substance and Mental Disorders (PRISM), which reliably utilizes and refines DSM-IV classification distinctions. [source]

The development of a General Nasal Patient Inventory

CLINICAL OTOLARYNGOLOGY, Issue 5 2001
S.A. Douglas
Most available clinical outcome measures for rhinology patients relate to specific nasal disease or general quality of life. Fairley's validated 12-item questionnaire measures general nasal symptoms, but is a ,physician-derived' clinical tool and may not reflect all the problems that rhinology patients experience. Our aims were to develop a patient-orientated questionnaire, representing the concerns of a large number of rhinology patients, called the General Nasal Patient Inventory (GNPI) and compare this with the Fairley nasal questionnaire (FNQ). The GNPI was developed from the open-ended problem lists of 211 rhinology patients, from the 45 most frequent complaints. Both questionnaires were then administered to 153 general rhinology patients and the results compared. The highest-ranking items for each questionnaire were different, but the total scores were highly correlated (r = 0.79, P < 0.0001). Factor analysis showed six factors to account for 75% of FNQ variance and 18 factors for 78% of GNPI variance. The 45-item GNPI, the first patient-derived, comprehensive nasal questionnaire could be a time-saving tool in rhinology clinics and more sensitive to change after intervention than other available measures. [source]