Saint Anselm College

About: Saint Anselm College is a education organization based out in Manchester, New Hampshire, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Nurse education & Extinction (psychology). The organization has 255 authors who have published 522 publications receiving 7222 citations.

Self-monitored pain intensity: psychometric properties and clinical utility.

Abstract: A procedure for the evaluation of fluctuations in perceived pain intensity among chronic pain patients is described, and its psychometric properties and clinical and heuristic utility are examined. A heterogeneous sample of 97 chronic pain patients recorded 2 weeks of hourly self-monitored pain intensity (SMPI), completed a structured interview and several questionnaires, and established behavioral goals prior to participation in a pain rehabilitation program. Three variables were derived from the SMPI data: mean SMPI, variability, and number of missing observations. A series of analyses supported both the test-retest reliability and the concurrent validity of SMPI. Significant correlations with measures of depression, anxiety, marital satisfaction, perceived life interference, and activity levels were interpreted as support for the conceptual validity of SMPI within a cognitive-behavioral perspective. The utility of SMPI in predicting rehabilitation outcomes was also demonstrated.

A longer vernal window: the role of winter coldness and snowpack in driving spring transitions and lags

Abstract: Climate change is altering the timing and duration of the vernal window, a period that marks the end of winter and the start of the growing season when rapid transitions in ecosystem energy, water, nutrient, and carbon dynamics take place. Research on this period typically captures only a portion of the ecosystem in transition and focuses largely on the dates by which the system wakes up. Previous work has not addressed lags between transitions that represent delays in energy, water, nutrient, and carbon flows. The objectives of this study were to establish the sequence of physical and biogeochemical transitions and lags during the vernal window period and to understand how climate change may alter them. We synthesized observations from a statewide sensor network in New Hampshire, USA, that concurrently monitored climate, snow, soils, and streams over a three-year period and supplemented these observations with climate reanalysis data, snow data assimilation model output, and satellite spectral data. We found that some of the transitions that occurred within the vernal window were sequential, with air temperatures warming prior to snow melt, which preceded forest canopy closure. Other transitions were simultaneous with one another and had zero-length lags, such as snowpack disappearance, rapid soil warming, and peak stream discharge. We modeled lags as a function of both winter coldness and snow depth, both of which are expected to decline with climate change. Warmer winters with less snow resulted in longer lags and a more protracted vernal window. This lengthening of individual lags and of the entire vernal window carries important consequences for the thermodynamics and biogeochemistry of ecosystems, both during the winter-to-spring transition and throughout the rest of the year.

Ontogeny, phylogeny, and morphology in anuran larvae: Morphometric analysis of cranial development and evolution in Rana tadpoles (Anura: Ranidae)

Abstract: Comparative studies of chondrocranial morphology in larval anurans are typically qualitative in nature, focusing primarily on discrete variation or gross differences in the size or shape of individual structures. Detailed data on chondrocranial allometry are currently limited to only two species, Rana sylvatica and Bufo americanus. This study uses geometric morphometric and multivariate statistical analyses to examine interspecific variation in both larval chondrocranial shape and pat- terns of ontogenetic allometry among six species of Rana. Variation is interpreted within the context of hypothe- sized phylogenetic relationships among these species. Ca- nonical variates analyses of geometric morphometric datasets indicate that species can be clearly discriminated based on chondrocranial shape, even when whole ontoge- nies are included in the analysis. Ordinations and cluster analyses based on chondrocranial shape data indicate the presence of three primary groupings (R. sylvatica; R. catesbeiana R. clamitans; and R. palustris R. pipi- ens R. sphenocephala), and patterns of similarity closely reflect phylogenetic relationships. Analysis of chondrocra- nial allometry reveals that some patterns are conserved across all species (e.g., most measurements scale with negative allometry, those associated with the posterior palatoquadrate tend to scale with isometry or positive allometry). Ontogenetic scaling along similar allometric trajectories, lateral transpositions of individual trajecto- ries, and variable allometric relationships all contribute to shape differences among species. Overall patterns of sim- ilarity among ontogenetic trajectories also strongly reflect phylogenetic relationships. Thus, this study demonstrates a tight link between ontogeny, phylogeny, and morphol- ogy, and highlights the importance of including both on- togenetic and phylogenetic data in studies of chondrocra- nial evolution in larval anurans. J. Morphol. 264:34 -52, 2005. © 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Overcoming Barriers to Palliative Care Consultation

Abstract: Palliative care consultations for patients with life-threatening illnesses provide benefits for the patients and their families as well as for the health care team. Patients have better quality of life and live longer but cost the health care system less. Still, many patients are not offered the opportunity to receive a palliative care consultation. Barriers to palliative care consultation for patients in critical care units include misunderstandings about palliative care and not having agreed upon criteria for referral. Critical care nurses can assist in overcoming these barriers.