The Care Dialog: the "ethics of care" approach and its importance for clinical ethics consultation.

Ethics consultation in institutions of the healthcare system has been given a standard form based on three pillars: education, the development of guidelines and concrete ethics consultation in case conferences. The spread of ethics committees, which perform these tasks on an organizational level, is a remarkable historic achievement. At the same time it cannot be denied that modern ethics consultation neglects relevant aspects of care ethics approaches.

[Dying and death in societal transformation].

Dying and death in modern societies are subject to profound social, professional and cultural-religious changes. Secularization and a stronger differentiation of societies have led to a change in the way humans handle the dying process. Normatively ritualized collective behaviour has been replaced by an individual, subjectivized approach.

Diffusivities of Ternary Mixtures of n-Alkanes with Dissolved Gases by Dynamic Light Scattering.

Theoretical approaches suggest that dynamic light scattering (DLS) signals from low-molecular-weight ternary mixtures are governed by fluctuations in temperature as well as two individual contributions from fluctuations in concentration that are related to the eigenvalues of the Fick diffusion matrix. Until now, this could not be proven experimentally in a conclusive way. In the present study, a detailed analysis of DLS signals in ternary mixtures consisting of n-dodecane (n-CH) and n-octacosane (n-CH) with dissolved hydrogen (H), carbon monoxide (CO), or water (HO) as well as of n-CH or n-CH with dissolved H and CO is given for temperatures up to 523 K and pressures up to 4.

A European multicenter study on systematic ethics work in nursing homes.

Background: There are many existing ethical challenges in nursing homes. Although different methods and approaches to discussing the ethical challenges have been established, systematic ethics work is not yet a standard in all nursing homes. The aim of the present study was to explore ethical challenges and approaches to implementing systematic ethics work in nursing homes.

Mutual and Self-Diffusivities in Binary Mixtures of [EMIM][B(CN)4] with Dissolved Gases by Using Dynamic Light Scattering and Molecular Dynamics Simulations.

Ionic liquids (ILs) are possible working fluids for the separation of carbon dioxide (CO2) from flue gases. For evaluating their performance in such processes, reliable mutual-diffusivity data are required for mixtures of ILs with relevant flue gas components. In the present study, dynamic light scattering (DLS) and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were used for the investigation of the molecular diffusion in binary mixtures of the IL 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetracyanoborate ([EMIM][B(CN)4]) with the dissolved gases carbon dioxide, nitrogen, carbon monoxide, hydrogen, methane, oxygen, and hydrogen sulfide at temperatures from 298.

OA52 "ethics from the bottom up": promoting networks and participation through shared stories of care.

Background: The "basic action" in creating compassionate communities is to create settings where people effectively have the opportunity to develop concerns and compassion for each other. The project "ethics from the bottom up" (in Bad Bentheim, Lower Saxony, Germany) brings together the relatives of old and dying people, professionals from healthcare organisations and people from other living and working contexts in order to share their sorrows and care experiences.

Aim: Current methods and concepts of applied and organised ethical deliberation (or ethics "consultation") are not qualified and able to fulfil the requirements of ethical questions in the field of health promotion and health promoting palliative care.

Ethical challenges in nursing homes--staff's opinions and experiences with systematic ethics meetings with participation of residents' relatives.

Background: Many ethical problems exist in nursing homes. These include, for example, decision-making in end-of-life care, use of restraints and a lack of resources.

Aims: The aim of the present study was to investigate nursing home staffs' opinions and experiences with ethical challenges and to find out which types of ethical challenges and dilemmas occur and are being discussed in nursing homes.

Mutual and thermal diffusivity of binary mixtures of the ionic liquids [BMIM][C(CN)3] and [BMIM][B(CN)4] with dissolved CO2 by dynamic light scattering.

Ionic liquids (ILs) are promising solvents for gas separation processes such as carbon dioxide (CO2) capture from flue gases. For the design of corresponding processes and apparatus, thermophysical properties of ILs containing dissolved gases are required. In the present study, it is demonstrated that with a single optical setup, mutual and thermal diffusivities as well as refractive indices can be measured quasi-simultaneously for such mixtures.

Simultaneous determination of thermal and mutual diffusivity of binary mixtures of n-octacosane with carbon monoxide, hydrogen, and water by dynamic light scattering.

It is demonstrated that thermal and mutual diffusivities of binary mixtures of n-octacosane (n-C28H58) with carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen (H2), and water (H2O) are simultaneously accessible by dynamic light scattering (DLS). As the light-scattering signals originating from thermal and concentration fluctuations appear in similar time scales, different data evaluation strategies were tested to achieve minimum uncertainties in the resulting transport properties. To test the agreement of the respective theoretical model with the DLS signals in the regression, an improved multifit procedure is introduced.

Chronic kidney disease is associated with high abdominal incisional hernia rates and wound healing disturbances.

Background And Objectives: Incisional hernias are among the most frequent complications following abdominal surgery with impact on morbidity and mortality rates. Elevated uremia toxins may inhibit granulation tissue formation and impair wound healing, thereby promoting incisional hernia development. Here, we quantified the hazard ratio for incisional hernia prevalence in patients at risk undergoing abdominal reoperations with interrelationship to kidney function.

Catechol-O-methyltransferase polymorphism influences outcome after ischemic stroke: a prospective double-blind study.

Background: To explore whether a polymorphism in dopamine metabolism influences the effectiveness of neurological rehabilitation and the outcome after ischemic stroke.

Methods: The Barthel Index (BI) and the Rivermead Motor Assessment (RMA) were assessed in 78 moderately affected stroke patients (1) after they had entered a neurological inpatient rehabilitation, (2) after 4 weeks of rehabilitation therapy, and (3) 6 months later. Polymorphisms of the gene encoding catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) were determined.

Binary diffusion coefficients for mixtures of ionic liquids [EMIM][N(CN)2], [EMIM][NTf2], and [HMIM][NTf2] with acetone and ethanol by dynamic light scattering (DLS).

Mutual diffusivities for binary mixtures of the ionic liquids (ILs) [EMIM][N(CN)2] (1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium dicyanimide), [EMIM][NTf2] (1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide), and [HMIM][NTf2] (1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide) with acetone and ethanol were studied in dependence on composition in the temperature range from 283.15 to 323.15 K, applying dynamic light scattering (DLS).

Topical use of dexpanthenol in skin disorders.

Pantothenic acid is essential to normal epithelial function. It is a component of coenzyme A, which serves as a cofactor for a variety of enzyme-catalyzed reactions that are important in the metabolism of carbohydrates, fatty acids, proteins, gluconeogenesis, sterols, steroid hormones, and porphyrins. The topical use of dexpanthenol, the stable alcoholic analog of pantothenic acid, is based on good skin penetration and high local concentrations of dexpanthenol when administered in an adequate vehicle, such as water-in-oil emulsions.