Self-determination and co-operation in supported mealtimes involving people with severe intellectual disabilities.

Purpose: People with severe intellectual disabilities are often supported during mealtimes. However, little information exists about how they and care staff co-ordinate their mealtime behaviours.

Method: Four people with severe intellectual disabilities and 12 members of care staff participated in this research.

Forms of resistance in people with severe and profound intellectual disabilities.

Government policy in the UK emphasises that people with intellectual disabilities should have the opportunity to make choices and exert control over their own lives as much as possible. The ability of a person to resist activities and offers is therefore important, particularly for people with severe and profound intellectual disabilities, who are likely to have language impairments and need to communicate their choices non-verbally. Video and ethnographic data were collected from two services for people with severe and profound intellectual disabilities.

Occupational therapy consensus recommendations for functional neurological disorder.

Background: People with functional neurological disorder (FND) are commonly seen by occupational therapists; however, there are limited descriptions in the literature about the type of interventions that are likely to be helpful. This document aims to address this issue by providing consensus recommendations for occupational therapy assessment and intervention.

Methods: The recommendations were developed in four stages.

Outcome Measures for Functional Neurological Disorder: A Review of the Theoretical Complexities.

The development and selection of optimal outcome measures is increasingly recognized as a key component of evidence-based medicine, particularly the need for the development of a standardized set of measures for use in clinical trials. This process is particularly complex for functional neurological disorder (FND) for several reasons. FND can present with a wide range of symptoms that resemble the full spectrum of other neurological disorders.

Ethical approval in studies raising consent issues.

This article offers practical advice on applying for ethical approval for research involving participants who may be unable to give informed consent. It briefly outlines my own experiences and offers tips on using the Integrated Research Application System website, going to a social care research ethics committee meeting and resubmitting an application.

Total artificial heart and physical therapy management.

Purpose: To describe the total artificial heart (TAH) device as a bridge to heart transplantation (BTT), and related physical therapy management, while comparisons to left ventricular assist devices (LVAD) are made.

Summary: The SynCardia CardioWest Temporary TAH System is the only TAH approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Health Canada and Consultants Europe (CE) for BTT. CardioWest implantation involves cardiectomy thus avoiding pulmonary hypertension, right heart failure, inotropic or anti-arrhythmic agents, myocardial and valve related problems.

Cathepsin S expression: An independent prognostic factor in glioblastoma tumours--A pilot study.

Cysteine proteinases have been implicated in astrocytoma invasion. We recently demonstrated that cathepsin S (CatS) expression is up-regulated in astrocytomas and provided evidence for a potential role in astrocytoma invasion (Flannery et al., Am J Path 2003;163(1):175-82).