bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Thyroid Dysfunction Associated With Follicular Cell Steatosis in Obese Male Mice and Humans
Authors: Lee Min Hee , Lee Jung Uee , Joung Kyong Hye , Kim Yong Kyung , Ryu Min Jeong , Lee Seong Eun , Kim Soung Jung , Chung Hyo Kyun , Choi Min Jeong , Chang Joon Young , Lee Sang-Hee , Kweon Gi Ryang , Kim Hyun Jin , Kim Koon Soon , Kim Seong-Min , Jo Young Suk , Park Jeongwon , Cheng Sheue-Yann , Shong Minho
Published: January 2015

Adult thyroid dysfunction is a common endocrine disorder associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality. A recent epidemiologic study revealed a link between obesity and increased prevalence of hypothyroidism. It is conceivable that excessive adiposity in obesity might lead to expansion of the interfollicular adipose (IFA) depot or steatosis in thyroid follicular cells (thyroid steatosis, TS). In this study, we investigated the morphological and functional changes in thyroid glands of obese humans and animal models, diet-induced obese (DIO), ob/ob, and db/db mice. Expanded IFA depot and TS were observed in obese patients. Furthermore, DIO mice showed increased expression of lipogenesis-regulation genes, such as sterol regulatory element binding protein 1 (SREBP-1), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ), acetyl coenzyme A carboxylase (ACC), and fatty acid synthetase (FASN) in the thyroid gland. Steatosis and ultrastructural changes, including distension of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and mitochondrial distortion in thyroid follicular cells, were uniformly observed in DIO mice and genetically obese mouse models, ob/ob and db/db mice. Obese mice displayed a variable degree of primary thyroid hypofunction, which was not corrected by PPARγ agonist administration. We propose that systemically increased adiposity is associated with characteristic IFA depots and TS and may cause or influence the development of primary thyroid failure.
Commodities Consensus: Neoextractivism and Enclosure of the Commons in Latin America
Authors: Svampa Maristella
Published: January 2015

Over the past decade, a significant number of Latin American countries have questioned the Washington consensus and financial valorization. In doing so, they have moved into the paradigm of the commodities consensus and the large-scale exportation of raw materials. These processes have led to a series of important political and economic changes, while also opening a new phase of conflict linked to the appropriation and dispossession of territories and natural resources. Starting from a regional scenario pierced with strong tensions and asymmetries, this article examines the current phase of capital accumulation in Latin America, focusing on critical concepts such as neoextractivism and bad development. It presents a particular reading of environmental conflict, linked to processes of dispossession, enclosure of the common, and the deepening of extractivism by Latin American progressive governments. The article also explores some prescriptive categories spanning contemporary Latin American thought and debate linked to the environmentalization of struggles. These concepts include buen vivir (living well), the rights of nature, and the commons. To conclude, it briefly reviews the debate around transition and postextractivism.
African Extraction, Indian Ocean Critique
Authors: Chari Sharad
Published: January 2015

A moral frenzy surrounds Chinese and Indian capital in Africa, particularly in resource and mineral extraction. There are some good reasons for this fear and loathing about “African extraction”—the plundering of Africa and its resources—as the related processes all too often offer few benefits to the peoples and environs involved. In fact, we know little about the uneven processes of extractive accumulation on the ground and their potential for something we might defensibly call “development.” Asian circuits of capital allow us to pry open some verities about African states and processes of social change. As Indian and Chinese circuits of capital, labor, and expertise work through enclaves of extractive accumulation, postcolonial archetypes, like the gatekeeper state, are reconfigured into new forms of secured enclaves. This article considers the possibilities of progressive development in this brave new world of enclaved capitalisms by exploring how Indian and Chinese capital draws from very different Asian legacies in its passage to Africa’s diverse extractive economies. This Asian critique of African extraction fundamentally questions the efficacy of the trinity of extraction, logistics, and finance harnessed to a fantasy of logistical biopower in service of capital. Rather, Asian circuits of capital in Africa call attention to new, uneven geographies of accumulation, accountability, and struggle.
Governing Offshore Oil: Mapping Maritime Political Space in Ghana and the Western Gulf of Guinea
Authors: Chalfin Brenda
Published: January 2015

Ocean spaces are a dynamic arena of political transformation and claims-making essential to the unfolding of late capitalism. Indicative of the expanding geography of oil prospecting in the South Atlantic Ocean, the deep waters of the western Gulf of Guinea map a political economic frontier encompassing the maritime zones and resources of a swath of West African nation-states stretching from Senegal to Benin. In Ghana, the country at the leading edge of this extractive front and a harbinger of regional trends, these developments are premised on innovative arrangements of maritime governance. Namely, offshore extraction extends and alters the conventions of territorial rule in maritime space, recasting state authority to fit the distinctive contours of deepwater petrocapital.
Beyond Zoning: India’s Corridors of “Development” And New Frontiers of Capital
Authors: Dey Ishita , Grappi Giorgio
Published: January 2015

This article explores the postcolonial state’s experiments with logistics through the construction of industrial corridors. Through the concept of “corridor economy” it traces the shift from special economic zones to corridors, with a special focus on the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) to understand how land, labor, and capital are being organized through new governance strategies. By closely analyzing the violent labor unrest that broke out in the Maruti Suzuki plant in Manesar, an industrial center of prominence in the DMIC project, the article explores the ways the corridor economy model is being projected as the future of development. In so doing, the article positions this model as a neoliberal institution that marks new frontiers of capital and asks how the struggles crisscrossing the spaces of the DMIC reveal the paradoxical and heterogeneous political constellations of capital-labor relations and the transformations of the state form.
Europe as Infrastructure: Networking the Operative Community
Authors: Opitz Sven , Tellmann Ute
Published: January 2015

This article analyzes how infrastructures take part in constituting Europe as a material collectivity. To that end, it modifies Bruno Latour’s sociology of associations in two respects: In order to theorize the relation between connectivity and collectivity, we consider the political rationalities that infrastructures embody and the political spatiality that they configure. This theoretical perspective is put to a test in exploring the “infrastructuralism” that lies at the core of the European project. After tracing both the operative and imaginary significance of infrastructure policy historically, the analysis concentrates on the most recent initiative to build trans-European energy networks. We demonstrate that the neoliberal configuration of infrastructural collectivity manifests itself in a specific spatial configuration of the market. Europe’s infrastructuralism defines the common as a topological space of corridors and high-voltage lines, which align territorial cohesion with fragmentation.
Labor Migration and the German Meat Processing Industry: Fundamental Freedoms and the Influx of Cheap Labor
Authors: Wagner Bettina , Hassel Anke
Published: January 2015

This article analyzes the challenges of labor migration for both capital and labor within the European Union (EU). It asks how, in a country with traditionally strong unions and employers’ associations, it has been possible to create and maintain a segment in the labor market characterized by very low wages and abusive practices. The challenges of mobility within the EU are presented from an institutional perspective, focusing on its effects on migrant labor as well as on social partners in the receiving countries. The claim is that, in the context of increased labor mobility coming from countries with lower average wage levels, trade unions in particular have to mobilize new resources and go beyond their traditional focus on labor market insiders.
Difference and Dependence among Digital Workers: The Case of Amazon Mechanical Turk
Authors: Irani Lilly
Published: January 2015

Digitally mediated labor can take many forms: valorized and visible, hidden and forgotten, or even disavowed. This article examines one particular digital work system: Amazon Mechanical Turk (AMT). AMT is a system that organizes tens of thousands of workers to do data-processing work; workers might contract with hundreds of employers in a year without ever meeting them. Employers, likewise, can access these workers through computer interfaces without ever interacting with them. I examine the AMT-mediated computational labor relations between technologist employers and the data-processing workers who work for them. In systems such as AMT, some people are employers, entrepreneurs, and programmers, and others simulate computation for them. The subjectivities of valorized workers are dependent on employing and distancing the labor of AMT workers. I take up these relations of dependency and disavowal as symptomatic of emerging forms and stakes of digital work.
The Patronage of the Body: Burial Sites, Identity, and Gender in Fifteenth-Century Venice
Authors: Chojnacki Stanley
Published: January 2015

This essay examines the social orientation of married and widowed Venetian patricians in the fifteenth century as expressed in their election of final resting places. Comparing the choices of women and men reveals sharp contrasts by gender in burial patronage of lineage and of religious institutions. Most men displayed loyalty to their lineage of birth in their chosen site of interment, while women’s family choices demonstrated nearly equal loyalty to natal and marital family, indicating varied individual responses to the vicissitudes of married life. The most striking contrast, however, was between men’s and women’s affiliations to religious institutions. Men usually opted for burial in male monasteries, chiefly those with their family’s tombs, another indication of enduring identification with their natal lineage. The great majority of women, by contrast, patronized female convents, usually ones with no family connections, demonstrating a preference for postmortem association not with family but with a community of celibate women.
Auxin transporters and binding proteins at a glance
Authors: Grones Peter , Friml Jiří
Published: January 2015

The plant hormone auxin is a key regulator of plant growth and development. Differences in auxin distribution within tissues are mediated by the polar auxin transport machinery, and cellular auxin responses occur depending on changes in cellular auxin levels. Multiple receptor systems at the cell surface and in the interior operate to sense and interpret fluctuations in auxin distribution that occur during plant development. Until now, three proteins or protein complexes that can bind auxin have been identified. SCFTIR1 [a SKP1–cullin-1–F-box complex that contains transport inhibitor response 1 (TIR1) as the F-box protein] and S-phase-kinase-associated protein 2 (SKP2) localize to the nucleus, whereas auxin-binding protein 1 (ABP1), predominantly associates with the endoplasmic reticulum and cell surface. In this Cell Science at a Glance article, we summarize recent discoveries in the field of auxin transport and signaling that have led to the identification of new components of these pathways, as well as their mutual interaction.
Weeds Pressuring on the Grow th and Yield of Soybean Plants By Giving an Acasia Organic Mulch
Authors: Soverda Nerty , Evita Evita , Indraswari Elly
Published: January 2015

Soybean is the one of agricultural commodities that was very needed in Indonesia, neither as a human food, animal feed nor a basic material of industry. In the development of soybean plants, there were some issues that related to the agro-ecosystem during the planting and it must be overcome, the one of them was the problem of the weeds management that have not optimum yet. The purpose of this research is to examined the effectiveness of a combination of some organic mulchs towarded the weeds suppressing ability on the growth and yield of soybean. In this experiment, it was conducted the effectiveness of acasia organic mulch to suppress the growth of weeds, and also the testing of community coefficient, vegetation analysis (initial SDR value, middle and final), the weeds heavy with broad and narrow leaf types, and kinds of other teki-tekian. Plant’s growth (height, dry weight of shoots and roots). The yield components (amount of pods, amount of meaty pods, weight of 100 seeds and the yield of soybean). The experiment was conducted in a Group Randomized Plan. From the results of this study, found that the Acacia mulch is the organic mulch that effective to suppress the growth of weeds, especially in doses of 20 tons per-ha-1 of mulch Acacia.
Stability of Metarhizium ac ridum Based Biopesticide in Operational Conditions in Senegal
Authors: Diedhiou Papa , Badji Kemo , Faye Rokhaya , Samb Papa
Published: January 2015

Grasshoppers and locusts are important pests in the Sahel zone with a big economic and environmental impact. The move towards biological control methods represents an important option to mitigate environmental impact linked with the use of insecticides for their control.Metarhiziumacridum, a locust pathogenic fungus that gave excellent test results in controlling grasshoppers, was further developed as biopesticide. The stability of the manufactured biopesticide in operational conditions was tested. In the present study, the germination of spores and mycelial growth of M. acridum were higher at 28 °C and 33 °C. Higher temperatures led to a significant decrease of these biological parameters. The sporulation of M. acridum is abundant at 28°C and 33 °C but was completely inhibited at 37 °C. Furthermore, M. acridum based biopesticide showed a good infection rate for the dry spores formulation for 3 months of storage in all test sites. In the oil formulation in contrast, infectivity rate dropped quickly to a very low level after one month storage in the inland sites and remained good in Dakar. High temperatures and low moisture, away from the coast were speculated to be the reasons.
Comparative Efficiency of Tillage Practices in Maize
Authors: Ita B , Ariga E , Michieka R , Muiru W
Published: January 2015

Weed management practices used by small scale farmers determine maize productivity. The trials were executed in Kigumo district during the long and short rains in 2010 to compare effectiveness of glyphosate and hand weeding on weed management in maize (Zea mays L.). Treatments were arranged in a Completely Randomized Complete Block Design replicated three times in a split plot arrangement. The main plots were two maize varieties DUMA SC 41 and DK 8031 and the subplots three weed management practices,(glyphosate, hand weeding and no tillage). Data collected included weed count by species,fresh and dry weed biomass and maize grain yield. Data was subjected to ANOVA using Genstat computer software package at P<0.05. Treatments means were separated by Student-Newman Keuls Test. Results revealed that there were significant differences in weed count among weed management practices (P < 0.05). Weeds, significantly established faster under hand weeding than other weed management practices. There were no significant differences among weed management practices in biomass and maize grain yield (P < 0.05). The two maize varieties significantly differed in grain yield under different weed management practices, DK 8031 under glyphosate had the highest yield among the tillage practices involved.
Consequences of ATMA Project and Related Constraints and Suggestions in Anand District of Gujarat in India
Authors: Matwa Jasvant , Deshmukh Girish
Published: January 2015

ATMA is a society of key stakeholders involved in agricultural activities for sustainable agricultural development in the district. It is a focal point for integrating research and extension activities and decentralizing day-to-day management of the public Agricultural Technology System (ATS). It is a registered society responsible for technology dissemination at the district level. As a society, it would be able to receive and expend project funds, entering into contracts and agreements and maintaining revolving accounts that can be used to collect fees and thereby recovering operating cost.
Evaluation of Chickpea Cultiv ation Approaches in Terms of Environmental Resilience and Future Protein Security
Authors: Mazid Mohd , Chowdhury Rajib , Khan Fiza
Published: January 2015

The commercial growth in chickpea production for exportation purposes is not keeping pace with increasing demand for protein and protein derived products. In this concern, a pot experiment was conducted under field conditions during winter 2013-2014 at Botany department, AMU, Aligarh, India. Treatment consists of (1) FW (2) FP (3) FS (4) FPS (5) SGA (6) SGA+FP (7) SGA+FS (8) SGA+FPS (9) FGA (10) FGAP (11) FGAS (12) FGAPS (13) SGA+FGA (14) SGA+FGAP9 (15) SGA+FGAS (16) SGA+FGAPS. Before sowing, the seeds of chickpea are soaked for 8 h in 10-6M GA3. After 60 and 70 days of sowing, the plants were sprayed with 10-6MGA3 along with 2 kg P and /or S/ha in equal splits. Performance of the crop was assessed especially in terms of nodule number per plant, nitrate reductase activity (NR), nitrogenase (N-ase) two most significant N-fixing enzymes, leghaemoglobin content (Lb), pod weight per plant, seed yield per plant, and seed protein content. Nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) content in leaves were influenced almost non-significantly due to applied P and S level. Treatment (16) SGA+FGAPS proved best, it enhanced NR by 22.37% and 22.46%; Lb by 206.113 and 215.38% respectively at 90 and 100 DAS. Seed yield per plant and seed protein content enhanced by 86 and 21% by the same treatment at harvest without compromising the N-fixing activity.
Assessment of Grazing Land and Livestock Feed Balance in Gummara-Rib Watershed, Ethiopia
Authors: Amsalu Tadesse , Addisu Solomon
Published: January 2015

Ethiopia has the largest animal population in Africa. Next to crop production, the livestock sector has a great potential to assist the socio-economic development and transformation of the country. Studies indicate that the livestock sector accounts for about 40% of agricultural GDP and 20% of the total GDP. Amhara Region contributes 30% of the country’s livestock population. At the regional level, livestock production is an integral part of the mixed farming system, contributing 22% and 12.5% from agricultural GDP and total GDP, respectively. Though livestock play a great role to rural livelihoods, there are a number of challenges in this sector. A mix of quantitative and qualitative data collection methods were employed to generate the required information. The overall land use/ land cover change analysis of the Landsat image of the year 1986 and 2013 showed that grazing land has declined drastically by 30.52 %. However, cultivated land has rapidly increased by 11.65%. Moreover, the remaining percentage of grassland use type was changed in to degraded grassland, degraded shrubby bush land, urban Settlement, and eucalyptus woodland. On the other hand, the total dry matter (DM) requirement was estimated to be 1,126,269.54 ton/year. Moreover, feed supply from pastureland, aftermath grazing and crop residues were estimated to be 852,700.30 tons of DM. This shows that the available feed/forage addressed only 72% and 28% the annual DM still required for livestock feeding in Gummara-Rib watershed. Based on this study, it is highly recommended that increase the productivity of the local breeds appropriate management practices and policy interventions should be made, especially on forage development and breed quality improvement. The mean livestock holding should be adjusted with feed availability to minimize its impacts on grazing land degradation and for better productivity.
Changes in Anti-nutrients Contents of Edible Vegetables Under Varied Temperature and Heating Time
Authors: Udousoro Imaobong , Akpan E
Published: January 2015

Three edible vegetables, Pterocarpus mildbraedii (mkpafere), Lasianthera africanum (editan) and Piper guineense (odusa) consumed by people of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria were purchased from Akpan Andem market in Uyo, the State capital. The vegetables were analysed for the presence of anti-nutrients (HCN, tannin, phytate and oxalate), and the effect of heating at 50 °C for 5 minutes, 90 °C for 5 minutes and 90 °C for 15 minutes in water. Tannins among the anti-nutrients, recorded highest level for all vegetables. At 50 °C for 5 minutes, HCN, tannin, phytate, total oxalate and soluble oxalate respectively, reduced by 17.6%, 9.1%, 11.0%, 9.5% and 23.8% (Pterocarpus mildbraedii), 13.9%, 6.1%, 1.4%, 13.8% and 13.0% (Lasianthera africanum), and 14.1%, 35.1%, 5.8%, 15.4% and 22.2% (Piper guineense). The percentage reductions for HCN, tannin, phytate, total oxalate and soluble oxalate were 23.6%, 53.4%, 25.5%, 56.2% and 52.4% (Pterocarpus mildbraedii), 43.5%, 25.0%, 51.8%, 37.9% and 52.2% (Lasianthera africanum), 50.0%, 51.9%, 40.2%, 23.0% and 33.3% (Piper guineense) respectively, after heating at 90 °C for 15 minutes. The study revealed reduction of anti-nutrients on heating; and 90 °C as optimum temperature, with heating time of not less than 15 minutes for processing the vegetables.
Processing and Nutritive Valu e of Mango Seed Kernel Flour
Authors: Yatnatti Shilpa , Vijayalakshmi D , Chandru R
Published: January 2015

Processing of ripe mango fruit, generates its peel and seed as waste, which is approximately 40-50 % of the total fruit weight. Present study was undertaken to process mango seed kernel and to study its nutritional value. Mango seeds of Totapuri variety were procured from local food processing industry. Kernels were separated from seeds and processed into flour through various processing steps. Particle size distribution of the flour was studied. The Mango Kernel Flour (MKF) was subjected for chemical analysis. The nutrients analyzed for mango kernel flour were moisture, protein, fat, crude fibre, ash, calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, manganese, copper, zinc and iron by standard methods. Carbohydrate and energy contents were computed. Mango kernel oil was extracted by solvent extraction method. Results revealed that recovery per cent of mango kernel flour was 80.6 and maximum flour particles passed through 60 mesh. MKF is good source of protein (7.53 g/100g), fat (11.45 g/100 g) and energy (421 k.cal /100g). It also contains appreciable levels of calcium (170 mg/100g), magnesium (210 mg/100g) and potassium (368 mg/100g) which are important macro minerals required for vital functions of the body. Oil yield from mango kernel flour was found to be 11.5 per cent which was studied for selected physical and chemical properties.
Faecal incontinence in adults 2: treatment and management
Authors: Norton Christine
Published: December 2014

The first article in this two-part series (Vol 5(22): 1366–74) discussed the prevalence, aetiology and investigation of faecal incontinence in adults. The second article summarizes the main treatment options available for faecal incontinence. Surgery is the most widely available intervention, and offers a reasonable chance of success for appropriately selected individuals. Drug therapy is currently limited to constipating agents, which can be very useful for people with internal anal sphincter disruption. The potential role of biofeedback is promising and warrants further research. Management options for people living with faecal incontinence are very limited and there is an urgent need to develop methods which enable the individual to cope with this distressing symptom.
Self-directed and student-centred learning in nurse education: 1
Authors: Nolan Janet , Nolan Mike
Published: December 2014

This article, the first of two, considers the factors precipitating the widespread adoption of self-directed and student-centered learning in nurse education. It argues that these concepts have been accepted in a relatively uncritical fashion and that the theoretical rationale for their use has yet to be fully tested empirically. The results of a study of the expectations of Project 2000 students suggest that adult learners may not necessarily want the freedom afforded by self-directed approaches, but may prefer a more structural and ordered model.
IV access options for AIDS patients with cytomegalovirus disease
Authors: Sargent Juliet , Nixon Eileen
Published: December 2014

In view of changes over the past 2 years in the intravenous (IV) management of patients with AIDS and cytomegalovirus (CMV) disease, a small study was carried out at the Kobler Clinic, an HIV treatment centre in London, to examine optimal IV access for CMV induction treatment. Thirty lines were analysed over a period of 4 months: 18 were peripherally inserted central catheter. (PICCs) and 12 were midline catheters. Each line was monitored and evaluated for reason for choice of line, Insertion data, line survival, patient self-administration, patient comfort scores, Infection rate, and other difficulties encountered during treatment induction. The study results indicated noticeable differences between PICC and midline catheter performances, although a change in treatment protocol during the study influenced the choice of line used. There were also marked differences from other studies, carried out predominantly in non-HIV patients, when infection rate, dwell time of lines and thrombus formation were compared. Significant changes in practice have been implemented and further clinical studies/research identified.
What opportunities will Labour provide for nurses?
Authors: Castledine George
Published: December 2014

Whatever our political persuasion, now that the election is over we have a chance to look afresh at our healthcare system. Nursing seems to have suffered over the past few years as a result of reduced spending, quicker throughput and less qualified nurse contact with patients. In addition, the strict financial regime has caused conflict over what we would like to offer our patients and what it is possible to give them, which in turn has created cynicism, anxiety and burnout. The new political climate means that there is a chance for new ideas to emerge which will not only change the current values in our health service, but also stimulate and encourage more nurses to improve nursing.
Relatives' views of care in residential/nursing homes
Authors: Keady John
Published: December 2014

The Alzheimer's Disease Society (ADS) has recently published the results of a survey on its members' experiences of the care given to their relative/partner in residential and nursing homes(ADS, 1997). It is interesting that the ‘overwhelming majority of carers’ who responded to the survey (85%) said that the care provided was satisfactory, with 70% rating food, staff attitudes and physical environment highly. In contrast: 10% of ca rers cited cases of mistreatment or neglect of their relative/partn er 56% sa id they were not consulted on the use of drugs in the management of their relative's condition Carers gave poor or average ratings for personal care (30%), contin ence management (29%) and occupational therapy(69%) 49% felt that support from their GPs was poor or no better than average 20% were not consulted on their relative's care 44% fe lt they were given inadequate in formation on which home to choose.
Clinical guidelines: legal and clinical risk management issues
Authors: Tingle John
Published: December 2014

Clinical guidelines are becoming a frequent feature of the care environment. With more patients resorting to litigation and complaints the legal aspects of guidelines takes on an increasing significance. Cases on clinical guidelines have gone to court. This article discusses examples of these and gives practical guidance on some key legal aspects of clinical guidelines such as the need to schedule a review date and to fully document the development process. Dangers of clinical guidelines are also highlighted. The author further develops some of the themes on legal and clinical risk management aspects of guidelines that he discussed in a previous article (Vol 5(5): 266-7).
Nutrition and the hospitalized patient: implications for nurses
Authors: Cortis Joseph Domenic
Published: December 2014

This article, in response to the recent report by the Association of Community Health Councils (CHCs) England and Wales ‘Hungry in Hospital’, explores nutrition in the hospitalized patient. Nutrition is instrumental to health and perhaps, more importantly, ill health. CHCs have a statutory responsibility to monitor the delivery of health care on behalf of the general public. It Is suggested that the issue of nutrition in hospitals is of concern and that there are numerous factors which contribute to this. However, this aspect of patient care is not identified as the specific responsibility of hospital staff. Nurses should play a pivotal role in preventing malnutrition in hospital but, in most cases, they do not. The article concludes with a set of recommendations to improve the nutritional status of patients and stresses the importance of health professionals listening to patients' views.
A nurse-led clinic for patients with peripheral vascular disease
Authors: Murray Shelagh
Published: December 2014

Patients with peripheral vascular disease have complex and challenging health needs. This article describes an innovative nurse practitioner role in the provision of care for patients with intermittent claudication in an acute hospital setting. A small-scale evaluative study of patient satisfaction with the nurse consultation revealed high levels of satisfaction with the care received. It is suggested that experienced nurses can make substantial contributions to improving care for patients with chronic disease.
Understanding memory to enhance nursing practice
Authors: Wilkinson John
Published: December 2014

A key aspect of compliance is that the advice given is remembered. Nurses who have an understanding of human memory processes are better informed to offer healthcare advice to their patients and may do so in such a way that it is more likely to be remembered. They can also enhance their own memory to promote job performance and enhance study skills. This article demonstrates that human memory is an active information-processing activity. The processes of registration, storage and retrieval are explained, and recommendations are made on how an awareness of memory function can be used to improve practice.
Establishing a protocol for parental presence in recovery
Authors: Turner Patricia
Published: December 2014

This study aimed to contribute to providing a quality service that is Sensitive to the needs of children undergoing surgery and their parents. An action research approach, focusing on parents' perceptions of coming into recovery, was used. A retrospective survey design was utilized to establish parents' views. A response rate of 71% (n = 100) was achieved. A short prospective study carried out concurrently achieved a 50% (n = 50) response from questionnaires handed out in recovery. Almost all the parents (98%) from both studies felt that they and their child had benefited from the parents' presence in recovery. When given the choice, 100% of parents came to recovery. The structural location and information given to parents preoperatively helped to ensure that parents were easy to find when the time was right to come to recovery. Communication between recovery staff, children and parents before surgery was recognized as a significant factor. A protocol for allowing parents into the recovery room has been produced. Staff who had preconceived Ideas about parents' presence now identified the practice as good and considered that it contributed to the quality of the service.
Expanding the role of the neonatal transport nurse: nurse-led teams
Authors: Aylott Marion
Published: December 2014

Nottingham neonatal service provides a unit-based interhospital transport programme for the stabilization and transportation of critically III neonate. within the Trent region. The transport nurse is responsible and accountable for providing optimum care for infants in conjunction With a registrar. The quality of care received by the neonate requiring emergency transfer could be further enhanced by a team of two. specifically trained transport nurses.
Alternating-pressure air mattresses: the Quattro range
Authors: Lowthian Peter
Published: December 2014

Alternating-pressure air mattresses (APAMs) have a long history, and after some advances in their design, which began in the 1980s, have become widely used for pressure sore prevention. A recent variation in the inflation/deflation cycle of a ‘large-cell’ APAM, which allows the use of lower (peak) pressures for inflating the air cells, is used in the Quattro range of APAMs. This should make the new products more comfortable, more versatile, and more durable than earlier large-cell APAMs. This article discusses both the theoretical and practical advantages and disadvantages of these products. It also suggests a simple method of checking the suitability of a given support for promoting a healthy skin for highly dependent patients.
Identification of coping strategies used by heart transplant recipients
Authors: Kaba Evridiki , Shanley Eamon
Published: December 2014

Heart transplantation confronts the patient with major physical, psychological and social demands. Psychological adjustment to these stressors requires effective coping abilities. The purpose of this study was to investigate the coping mechanisms used by heart transplant recipients. A group of 42 heart transplant recipients completed the questionnaire. The instrument, F-COPES (Family Crisis Oriented Personal Evaluation Scales), was used to measure coping behaviours, thereby producing scores on five coping subscales: Acquiring social support; Reframing; Seeking spiritual support; Mobilizing family to accept help; and Passive appraisal. The results Indicated that subjects in the present study (Scottish patients) scored slightly higher than normative subjects (American patients) on the Reframing subscale, slightly lower on the two subscales Acquiring social support and Mobilizing family to accept help, and much lower on Spiritual support. These results also indicated that the coping strategies used by this sample appeared to be largely independent of the time elapsed since transplantation, and the age of the subject. The major finding was that subjects scored much higher on the Passive appraisal coping subscale (almost double the score of the normative subjects).
The legal and ethical implications of consent to nursing procedures
Authors: Power Kevin J
Published: December 2014

Nurses are increasingly expanding their practice to include many more invasive procedures. Consequently, there is a need to re-examine nurses' responsibilities in relation to obtaining consent for nursing as opposed to medical procedures. Fully informed consent is not a legal requirement in England, for either medical or nursing procedures. However, this article argues that to comply with the standard set by the Code of Professional Conduct nurses should obtain informed consent for any proposed procedure they undertake. The concept of informed consent is examined and applied to practice. Ultimately, nurses are charged with four key tasks in relation to securing consent for nursing procedures: educating themselves about the risks and benefits of the procedures they propose to undertake; conveying this information to patients; assessing their understanding of the information given; and endeavouring to support the patient in his/her decision.
Is advanced nursing practice a post or a person?
Authors: Salussolia Margie
Published: December 2014

While the nursing profession is making progress in clarifying its position within the healthcare setting, the recent proliferation of new nursing roles is potentially clouding the issue. Roles such as expert practitioner, advanced practitioner and specialist practitioner are not clearly defined which causes confusion both within and outwith the profession. In the UK, the nursing profession's educational and national registration bodies have been struggling to develop a consensus on what these roles should entail and what part education should play in their development. The latest definitive position statement from the UKCC states that there are ‘neither agreed definitions of advanced practice nor criteria against which standards can be set’ (UKCC, 1997a). It is, therefore, proposed that the profession re-examines the use of the term ‘advanced nursing practice’ and accepts that this term describes characteristics that are not dependent on academic levels of education.
Just ‘doing the observations’: reflective practice in nursing
Authors: Fernandez Elaine
Published: December 2014

The first part of this article explores the development, definition, and design of reflective practice. In the second part the author relates an ‘ordinary nursing’ story — ‘10 minutes with Mr Kandlnskl’ — and uses an existentialist framework for reflective analysis. Reflection on personal experience can expose something of the interrelationship of theory and practice, perhaps helping practitioners to improve their work. More importantly, reflective practice provides a means for nurses to reveal a more complete picture of the reality of nursing work to others.
Lower limb amputation 1: indications and treatment
Authors: Donohue Samantha Jane
Published: December 2014

Lower limb amputation is performed predominantly to alleviate acute and chronic limb ischaemia caused by vascular disease, poorly controlled diabetes or, occasionally, infection. Atherosclerosis is the primary cause of chronic arterial ischaemia and the most common reason for amputation. The vascular nurse has an important role in reducing the need for amputation, by providing information on health promotion and illness prevention to patients with vascular insufficiency to halt progression to amputation. This is the first of four articles focusing on lower limb amputation. It examines the indications for lower limb amputation in detail, and briefly outlines other treatment options including revascularization techniques.
Use of EMDR to treat morbid jealousy: a case study
Authors: Blore David C
Published: December 2014

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is a relatively new psychological intervention which has mainly been utilized to treat post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms. The following case study of a 75-year-old World War II veteran, however, illustrates that such symptoms can present in less obvious ways. During his incarceration, the soldier had been subjected to systematic taunting by his Japanese captives. The resultant traumatic memories had been triggered in a range of social situations over the next 50 years, leaving a legacy of morbid jealousy which was quickly and effectively treated. Potential areas for research are indicated.
Correspondence
Authors: Saunders Diana , Chiam Molly
Published: December 2014

I read your editorial (Vol 6(16): 904) with interest. You raise many issues, some of which I support; others, however, demonstrate a lack of understanding of the role that practice nurses undertake in practice.
Participatory research methods: people with learning difficulties
Authors: Richardson Malcolm
Published: December 2014

The use of participatory research methods as a means of empowering disadvantaged and oppressed groups or individuals has attracted increasing interest in recent years. This article critically examines the use of such methods to empower people with learning difficulties as co-researchers. Emancipatory research would, by definition, be led and processed by people with learning difficulties. For the time being, however, the possibility of engaging people with learning difficulties in truly emancipatory nursing research is regarded as highly problematic, since it assumes empowerment as a precondition. As a step towards emancipatory research, participatory research represents a radical shift in the research process. It may potentially strengthen the voice of people with learning difficulties and enable them to express their views on nursing. The author proposes a methodology which addresses a number of critical issues facing the nurse researcher. It is a step towards developing more liberating and emancipatory methodologies.
Service planning and people with learning disabilities
Authors: Dawson Peter
Published: December 2014

Do people with learning disabilities take part in service planning? The short answer is yes, but this is not something which happen easily, regularly or consistently.
The importance of assessing patients with leg ulceration
Authors: Shipperley Terry
Published: December 2014

The treatment of leg ulceration consumes a significant portion of NHS resources, in terms of both equipment and manpower. Recent developments in diagnosis and treatment of these wounds have led to improved healing rates. This article reviews the literature relating to the assessment of patients with leg ulceration. It stresses the importance of holistic assessment, including medical and social history, and explains the importance of each aspect of the assessment process. The factors involved in clinical assessment of the wound and details of how to undertake the Doppler procedure are also outlined. With this knowledge the nurse can determine the origin of the ulcer and tailor the care and treatment to the patient's individual needs.
Cervical smear scandal: women deserve better
Authors: Chiam Molly
Published: December 2014

An independent inquiry into the cervical screening services at Kent and Canterbury Hospital between 1990 and 1994 has revealed an alarming picture of mismanagement and disregard of standards that has left 333 women in need of urgent treatment, 10 of whom have not yet been traced (Wells, 1997). In addition, the families of a further five women, who have since died from cervical cancer despite being screened at Kent and Canterbury, are seeking redress through the legal system (Hall, 1997).
Rehabilitation: realizing the potential nursing contribution
Authors: Nolan Mike , Nolan Janet
Published: December 2014

This article highlights the present renewed interest in the subject of rehabilitation and describes the nursing role as it is portrayed in the literature. It is argued that the focus of rehabilitation is too narrow, concentrating mainly on the physical aspects of care, and that the nursing contribution is under-developed. The article is the first in a series which will subsequently consider rehabilitation in multiple sclerosis, arthritis, spinal injury, myocardial infarction and stroke. The series will conclude with suggestions as to how rehabilitation in general, and nursing in particular, can respond more adequately to the needs of chronically ill and disabled people and their family carers.
Managing the stress of caring in ITU: a reflective practice group
Authors: Parish Colin , Bradley Louise , Franks Vicky
Published: December 2014

Working in a busy intensive therapy unit can be psychologically demanding. A reflective practice group was set up to provide staff with a forum for discussion and support in an effort to manage the stress of caring in such an environment. There was no planned agenda and staff were encouraged to speak freely about both the rewarding and exacting aspects of the job. The weekly sessions were facilitated by staff from outside the unit. Their approach encouraged staff to develop and share their insights and experiences and helped to generate new ways of coping with the personal, Interpersonal and professional demands of their work.
Correspondence
Authors: Rithalia S , Gonsalkorale M
Published: December 2014

While not wishing to comment on the specific features of the products described in the recent product focus ‘Alternating-pressure air mattresses: the Quattro range’ by Peter Lowthian (Vol 6(14): 827-33), we feel that we must challenge some of the generalizations postulated by the author.
Pressure-relieving equipment: criteria and selection
Authors: Fletcher Jacqueline
Published: December 2014

The selection of equipment for pressure sore prevention and management is extremely complex, with many variables to consider. There is a considerable lack of data to support the use of individual pieces of equipment, and so additional criteria need to be considered. A logical approach, taking into account the objectives of treatment, the modality of action, and the resources available, enables an optimal choice to be reached which should satisfy both the patient and the staff involved.
Pressure sores: adopting the principles of risk management
Authors: Kiernan Martin
Published: December 2014

This article examines the continuing problem of pressure sores in the NHS from a purchasing and a providing manager's perspective. Risk management and the need for clinical effectiveness in treatment and prevention strategies are discussed. Reporting systems are advocated as a means to estimate risk and to form a store of information that will enable a response to made when problem areas are identified. Nursing advice and input into the contracting process is vital. The need for purchasers and NHS managers to work together to ensure that effective interventions are implemented to reduce both the financial burden on the NHS and the physiological insult offered to patients is stressed.
A self-medication scheme in a post-coronary care unit
Authors: Noy Karyn
Published: December 2014

The drug knowledge of 107 patients was determined before and after entering a self-medication scheme on the post-coronary care unit (PCCU) at City Hospital, Birmingham, and approximately 6 weeks post-discharge when these patients attended their cardiac rehabilitation classes. Fifty-two completed questionnaires were returned. The results indicated a general increase in patients' knowledge about the names and side-effects of their drugs, the times at which they take them and the reasons for taking them, following self-medication. A smaller number of questionnaires (19) were completed 6 weeks after discharge. The response to these suggested that patients who self-medicated in hospital showed greater drug knowledge, especially with regard to potential side-effects, than those who had not. Patients' confidence in their ability to self-medicate safely at home showed no relation to their actual knowledge. It is suggested that self-medication on the PCCU is an important part of the cardiac rehabilitation programme.
Nurses must manage and control healthcare assistants
Authors: Castledine George
Published: December 2014

I have received many comments about my last column on the delegation of nursing tasks to healthcare assistants (HCAs) (Vol 6(7): 407). Many nurses believe that the increase in the number of HCAs has eroded the boundaries of nursing practice by encouraging reductionism and causing confusion over the roles of registered nurses and non-nurses. In his study on the effects of Project 2000 on nursing in terms of students' reduced time in practice, Ramprogus (1995) states: ‘It was found that this substantial reduction in clinical practice had a major effect on the student's ability to contribute to nursing care delivery when they were in the clinical areas and that their absence from the latter also meant that their impact on clinical practice was less visible and credible, thus leaving the healthcare assistants to fill the gaps left by the traditional students and enrolled nurses.’