Evidence-Based Health Care is becoming increasingly popular, and in some settings is influencing the direction of health-care policy. If Meta-analyses (MAs) are to continue to be useful, consideration must be given to how they are reported. This study was carried out to: (a) assess the quality of reporting and general characteristics of paper-based MAs published from 1977 to 1995; (b) assess over time; (c) compare with Cochrane Collaboration (i.e., electronically published) MAs. Paper-based MAs were randomly selected from a database of systematic reviews. Cochrane Collaboration MAs were randomly selected from the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Issue 3, 1996. Data were analyzed using univariate and multivariate approaches. One hundred and fifty-one MAs were reviewed. The overall mean quality score of MAs published in the 'Early Years' was 3.04 (95% Confidence Interval (CI) 2.53,3.56); 'Later Years' 3.35 (95% CI 2.83,3.87), and the Cochrane Library MAs 3.42 (95% CI 2.92,3.93). This study reveals that there has been a trend, over time, towards improvement in the reporting quality of paper-based published MAs and that the reporting quality of (Cochrane) electronically based MAs are no different from that of paper-based MAs.

Introduction. The impact of the inclusion/exclusion of grey literature in meta-analysis (MA) is unclear. Objectives. To investigate, in a sample of published MA; the prevalence of grey literature, the quality of reporting at the MA and trial levels, and the impact of grey literature on the point estimate and precision of the results. Methods. Analysis of Variance and regression models were used to consider the quality of reporting and the impact of grey literature on estimates of efficacy. Results. Grey literature was included in 33% of the MA. Grey inclusive MA tended to be of higher quality than those that excluded it. At the trial level, grey literature was of lower quality than published literature. The exclusion of grey literature led to increases in both the reported effectiveness of the intervention and the precision of the results. Conclusions. MA that exclude grey literature run the risk of producing biased estimates of intervention effectiveness. Grey literature must be sought and included when it meets pre-defined inclusion criteria.

This thesis examines the phytochemical discovery process from temperate and tropical trees. Thirty extracts of wood and bark of hardwood trees from Eastern North America were examined for insect control and antimicrobial activities. Nine of the bark extracts and four of the wood extracts showed significant growth reducing effects against Ostrinia nubilalis at 0.5%, whereas only two bark extracts and one wood extract showed significant antifeedant effect against Sitophilus oryzae at the same concentration. Slower growing tree species were more biologically active than fast growing ones. Isolation of the bioactive compounds in one of the active species, Prunus serotina, showed that naringenin, its derivative 4 'methoxynaringenin, and eriodictyol were responsible for the antifeedant effects. Antimicrobial activity of the hardwood trees was also tested against eight strains of bacteria and six strains of fungi. Eighty-six percent of the bark extracts were active against methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus; 71% against Bacillus subtilus and 79% against Mycobacterium phlei. The bark extract of Juglans cinerea was active against Pseudomonas aeruginosa 187, Salmonella typhiumurium, and Klebsiella pneumoniae. The wood extracts were less active: 72% were active against S. aureus (methicillin-sensitive), 36% against B. subtilus and 43% against M. phlei. Results from antifungal tests indicated that 36% of the extracts were active against at least one fungal strain and that bark extracts were more active than wood extracts. The bark extract from Juglans cinerea had the broadest spectrum of activities against Candida albicans, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Cryptococcus neoformans, Trichophyton mentagrophytes, Microsporum gypseum, and Aspergillus fumigatus . In general, the extracts were more active against gram-positive bacteria than gram-negative bacteria and against filamentous fungi than yeast-like fungi. The study also demonstrated a correlation between frequency of traditional medicinal use by the First Nations people and antimicrobial activity of extracts indicating that the traditional knowledge encompasses an understanding of aspects of chemical ecology. Tropical trees have been used as a source of traditional remedies for malaria. Bioassay-guided isolation of active principles of the traditionally used antimalarial plant, Lansium domesticum from Borneo (Indonesia) was undertaken. Six novel triterpenoids were identified and three derivatives were prepared. All nine compounds were tested for in vitro antimalarial activities against chloroquine sensitive (D6) and chloroquine resistant (W2) Plasmodium falciparum clones. Four of these compounds exhibited high activity comparable to quinine. In vivo studies were conducted using mice infected with Plasmodium bergheii in a 4-day suppression test. The results indicated that methyl 15, acetoxylansiolate produced parasitemia clearance level of 50%. It was concluded that the bitter triterpenoids are responsible for the antimalarial activity of Lansium domesticum. Gedunin from Cedrela odorata (Meliaceae), a potent in vitro antimalarial agent, was also investigated for its in vivo efficacy. When orally administered at 50 mg/kg/day, gedunin was only able to suppress the parasitemia level by 44%. However, at a combination treatment of gedunin and dillapiol (cytochrome P450 inhibitor), the parasitemia clearance increased to 79%. Furthermore, 7-methoxygedunin, a semiderivative stable to degradation by esterases tested at a daily dose of 50 mg/kg body weight, suppressed the parasitemia level by 67%. When administered in combination with dillapiol, the parasitemia level decreased by 80% similar to the results obtained with gedunin. These results indicated that standardized phytomedicines could potentially be developed using these materials.

Abstract not available.

It is well known within the field of sport psychology that the ability to focus is crucial to performance, however there are relatively few empirical studies that have explored the experience of maintaining concentration or the process of developing a capacity to achieve it. This study explored concentration in terms of its development within the practice of yoga, which is an eastern discipline often used to train concentration. The two objectives of the study were to examine the experience of concentration in advanced yogis, and to explore how they developed this ability to concentrate. Eight participants were selected on the basis of two criteria: they had practiced yoga for a minimum of twenty years, and they were currently maintaining a daily practice. Two one-hour interviews were conducted in a semi-structured format and an interpretational theme analysis was used. The findings that emerged from the interviews were discussed within two main themes: The Nature of Yogic Awareness, and The Practice. It is hoped that the yogis' description of their development of concentration within yoga will help athletes and coaches to better understand the nature of concentration and the ways they could develop this skill.

Through the examination of 12 young women skateboarders' narratives, I explore skateboarding as a gendered performance which challenges existing cultural norms about gender through the corporeal display of risk-taking and the ability to withstand pain and injury. Most of the participants construct themselves as 'alternative' women who engage in 'masculine' practices, rejecting dominant notions of femininities. Although skateboarding provides young women with a space to complicate and challenge dominate discourses of gender, skateboarding nevertheless also reinforces dominant constructions of gender. Indeed, young women struggled to establish 'alternative' identities as they are not immune to the ideological power of the dominant codes embedded in the social structures. Using a feminist poststructuralist framework (Lupton, 1999; Weedon, 1997), I explore how discursive power contributes to the construction of women's subjectivities as skateboarders and risk-takers by examining how female skateboarders come to conform to, resist and/or reconstruct dominant notions of 'femininities' and risk.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.