Taiwanese nursing students' knowledge, application and confidence with standard and additional precautions in infection control.

Aim: This study reports on nursing students' current capacity to handle standard and additional infection-control precautions in terms of their knowledge, application skills and confidence.

Background: These precautions are recommended as the guidelines for preventing infections and ensuring occupational safety. As nursing students undertake patient care during clinical practice, their knowledge of and ability to apply these precautions with confidence should be examined before they enter the clinical field.

Effect of glycogen concentration and form on the response to electrical stimulation and rate of post-mortem glycolysis in ovine muscle.

The associations between the muscle glycogen concentration and form and the rate of post-mortem glycolysis in ovine muscle were investigated. Twenty-two merino wethers (18-24 months) were allocated to either roughage or concentrate pelleted diets for 34 days prior to slaughter. An exercise depletion/repletion model was applied four days prior to slaughter to generate differences in muscle glycogen levels at slaughter.

Synapse elimination accompanies functional plasticity in hippocampal neurons.

A critical component of nervous system development is synapse elimination during early postnatal life, a process known to depend on neuronal activity. Changes in synaptic strength in the form of long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD) correlate with dendritic spine enlargement or shrinkage, respectively, but whether LTD can lead to an actual separation of the synaptic structures when the spine shrinks or is lost remains unknown. Here, we addressed this issue by using concurrent imaging and electrophysiological recording of live synapses.

Best practice in stabilisation of oral endotracheal tubes: a systematic review.

Mechanical ventilation of patients in intensive care units is common practice. Artificial airways are utilised to facilitate ventilation and the endotracheal tube (ETT) is most commonly used for this purpose. The ETT must be stabilised to optimise ventilation and avoid displacement or unplanned extubation.

Self-report measures of child and adolescent psychopathy as predictors of offending in four samples of justice-involved youth.

The authors examined the relation between self-report psychopathy measures and official records of offending in four samples of justice-involved youth (total N = 447). Psychopathy measures included the Antisocial Process Screening Device (APSD) and a modified version of the Childhood Psychopathy Scale (mCPS). Measures of offending included the total number of preadmission arrest charges for three samples (n = 392) and the total number of offenses in the year following release for two samples (n = 138).

The core role of the nurse practitioner: practice, professionalism and clinical leadership.

Aim: To draw on empirical evidence to illustrate the core role of nurse practitioners in Australia and New Zealand.

Background: Enacted legislation provides for mutual recognition of qualifications, including nursing, between New Zealand and Australia. As the nurse practitioner role is relatively new in both countries, there is no consistency in role expectation and hence mutual recognition has not yet been applied to nurse practitioners.

Assessment of TP53 mutation using purified tissue samples of ovarian serous carcinomas reveals a higher mutation rate than previously reported and does not correlate with drug resistance.

The TP53 mutation frequency in ovarian serous carcinomas has been reported to range between 50% and 80%, but a stringent analysis of TP53 using purified epithelial samples has not yet been performed to accurately assess the mutation frequency and to correlate it with the histologic grade. The purpose of this study was to assess the TP53 mutational profile in a relatively large series of high-grade (53 primary and 18 recurrent) and 13 low-grade ovarian serous tumors using DNA isolated from affinity-purified tumor cells and to correlate it with in vitro drug resistance. All samples were affinity purified, and the tumor DNA was analyzed for TP53 mutations in exons 4-9.

Epigenetic events underlie the pathogenesis of sinonasal papillomas.

Benign inverted papillomas have been reported as monoclonal but lacking common genetic alterations identified in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. Epigenetic changes alter the heritable state of gene expression and chromatin organization without change in DNA sequence. We investigated whether epigenetic events of aberrant promoter hypermethylation in genes known to be involved in squamous head and neck cancer underlie the pathogenesis of sinonasal papillomas.

An epigenetically derived monoclonal origin for recurrent respiratory papillomatosis.

Objective: To investigate the contribution of promoter methylation-mediated epigenetic events in recurrent respiratory papillomatosis tumorigenesis.

Design: Archival tissue DNA, extracted from microdissected papilloma lesions, was interrogated for methylation status by means of the novel, multigene methylation-specific multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification assay.

Subjects: Fifteen subjects with recurrent respiratory papillomatosis, 3 females and 12 males, all with adult onset of illness (age range, 23-73 years) except for 1 female patient with juvenile onset (1 year old).

Differences of chemoresistance assay between invasive micropapillary/low-grade serous ovarian carcinoma and high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the pattern of chemoresistance in invasive micropapillary/low-grade serous ovarian carcinoma (invasive MPSC/LGSC) and high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma (HGSC) according to extreme drug resistance (EDR) assay testing. Surgical specimens of 44 recurrent ovarian cancer patients harvested at the time of cytoreductive surgery between August 1999 and February 2004 were identified retrospectively from the tumor registry database. Thirteen patients (29.

Biosynthetic production of universally (13)C-labelled polyunsaturated fatty acids as reference materials for natural health product research.

Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFA) including eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20:5n-3) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6n-3) have become important natural health products with numerous proven benefits related to brain function and cardiovascular health. Not only are omega-3 fatty acids available in a plethora of dietary supplements, but they are also increasingly being incorporated as triglycerides into conventional foods, including bread, milk, yoghurt and confectionaries. Recently, transgenic oil seed crops and livestock have been developed that enhance omega-3 fatty acid content.

From competence to capability: a study of nurse practitioners in clinical practice.

Aims And Objectives: This research aimed to understand the level and scope of practice of the nurse practitioner in Australia and New Zealand further using a capability framework.

Background: The original study, from which the present paper was developed, sought to identify competency standards for the extended role of the nurse practitioner in Australia and New Zealand. In doing so the researchers became aware that while competencies described many of the characteristics of the nurse practitioner they did not manage to tell the whole story.

Unique histopathologic findings in a patient with adult-onset Still disease.

Adult-onset Still disease (AOSD) is an uncommon disorder characterized by fever, polyarthralgia, elevated white blood cell count, and a maculopapular rash, the histologic features of which have not been well-known. A 55-year-old Asian woman presented initially with a "burning" and severely pruritic eruption on her face, hands, and arms, thought clinically to be urticaria. Within 1 month, she began spiking high fevers, developed diffuse joint pain, and had marked elevations of ferritin, C-reactive protein, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate, characteristic of AOSD.

The role of cytoreductive surgery for colon cancer metastatic to the ovary.

Objective: We sought to further elucidate the survival impact of cytoreductive surgery among patients with colon cancer metastatic to the ovary.

Methods: All women diagnosed with primary colon cancer metastatic to the ovary at a single institution from 1980 to 2005 were retrospectively identified. Survival analyses and comparisons were performed using Kaplan-Meier plots and the log rank test.

Centralization of care for patients with advanced-stage ovarian cancer: a cost-effectiveness analysis.

Background: The objective of this study was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of centralized referral of patients with advanced-stage epithelial ovarian cancer who underwent primary cytoreductive surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy.

Methods: A decision-analysis model was used to compare 2 referral strategies for patients with advanced-stage ovarian cancer: 1) referral to an expert center, with a rate of optimal primary cytoreduction of 75% and utilization of combined intraperitoneal and intravenous adjuvant chemotherapy, and 2) referral to a less experienced center, with a rate of optimal primary cytoreduction of 25% and adjuvant treatment that consisted predominantly of intravenous chemotherapy alone. The cost-effectiveness of each strategy was evaluated from the perspective of society.

Evaluation of the activity of an academic rheumatology consult service over 10 years: using data to shape curriculum.

Objective: We reviewed rheumatology consults over the last 10 years at a major academic medical center and used these data to revise our fellowship curriculum.

Methods: The medical records of all patient consults from 1994 to 2003 at a university hospital were reviewed with regard to reason for consult, demographic data, and final rheumatologic diagnosis. For comparison we reviewed one year of data from our veterans hospital rheumatology consult service during this same period.

Making nursing work: breaking through the role confusion of advanced practice nursing.

Aim: This paper reports a study to develop a research-informed model of the service parameters and an analysis framework for advanced practice nursing roles.

Background: Changing patterns of health care are forcing service planners to examine new service delivery models. Apparent is the call for nursing service that incorporates expanded levels of autonomy, skill and decision-making.

The capability of nurse practitioners may be diminished by controlling protocols.

Nurse practitioners will become a vital component of the health workforce because of the growing need to manage chronic illness, to deliver effective primary health services, and to manage workforce challenges effectively. In addition, the role of nurse practitioner is an excellent example of increased workforce flexibility and changes to occupational boundaries. This paper draws on an Australasian research project which defined the core role of nurse practitioners, and identified capability as the component of their level of practice that makes their service most useful.

Complex gas hydrate from the Cascadia margin.

Natural gas hydrates are a potential source of energy and may play a role in climate change and geological hazards. Most natural gas hydrate appears to be in the form of 'structure I', with methane as the trapped guest molecule, although 'structure II' hydrate has also been identified, with guest molecules such as isobutane and propane, as well as lighter hydrocarbons. A third hydrate structure, 'structure H', which is capable of trapping larger guest molecules, has been produced in the laboratory, but it has not been confirmed that it occurs in the natural environment.