Virtually there: An innovative approach for training oncology pharmacy residents in gynecologic oncology.

Objective: To develop an alternative approach to provide oncology pharmacy practice residents' education and training in the management of gynecologic malignancies in the absence of a specialist in this area at their institution.

Setting: Gynecologic oncology is a unique specialty in oncology. There is a need for more oncology clinical pharmacy specialists to participate in the care of patients with gynecologic malignancies as many do not have specific education in this area.

Are nurses empowered to make decisions about levels of patient observation in mental health?

Background: The Clinical Resource and Audit Group (2002) guidelines emphasise that local policies should make the procedure for deciding and maintaining patient observation levels clear.

Aim: To investigate the views of nurses, doctors and other members of the multidisciplinary team on patient observation.

Method: A postal survey of all acute adultinpatient facilities and intensive patient care units in Scotland was carried out, followed by 38 interviews, 37 with staff members and one with a service user.

A novel monoclonal antibody specific for canine CD25 (P4A10): selection and evaluation of canine Tregs.

A monoclonal antibody (mAb), P4A10, was made to the canine interleukin-2 receptor alpha chain (IL-2Ralpha; p55; Tac antigen; CD25) to facilitate studies of canine regulatory T-cells (Treg). By non-reduced Western blot, P4A10 bound to a 55kDa protein, the size of human IL-2Ralpha. In flow cytometry assays, it reacted with a minor population of circulating dog CD3(+)CD4(+) T-cells and the majority (>60%) of in vitro PMA-Ionomycin (PMA-IO)-activated canine CD3(+) T-cells.

Windows and mirrors: reflections of a module team teaching the arts in nurse education.

The five-year experience of a group of nursing lecturers teaching the expressive arts within a Scottish degree programme is outlined and discussed. The place of the arts is contextualised within curriculum developments and module content, sequencing, thematic development, mode of delivery, assessment, student evaluation and pedagogical approaches are all addressed. Relationship to practice is discussed in terms of the art of nursing, reflection, ethics and spirituality.

An examination of the scope and purpose of education in mental health nursing.

This study examined the education of mental health nurses by surveying all qualified mental health nurses working within one National Health Service region in Scotland. Using an adaptation of a previously used instrument, 488 questionnaires were distributed producing a response rate of 194 (39.75%).

Electroconvulsive therapy and the work of mental health nurses: a grounded theory study.

Background: There is a long history of nursing practice in the area of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Opinions on the involvement of nurses in this treatment reflect the wider debate on its use in the professional and popular media. There is extensive literature on the issues raised by this particular treatment but little research into what nurses actually do when working with patients receiving ECT.

Evaluation of a clinical leadership initiative.

Aim: To evaluate a clinical leadership initiative in mental health and care of older people settings.

Method: Clinical leaders (n=15), clinical nurse managers (n=6), and mentors (n=4) involved in the initiative received three questionnaires assessing perceived change, occupational stress and burnout. A nurse, a support worker and a doctor or therapist with whom the clinical leaders worked, each received the perceived change questionnaire (n=45).

Modularisation - flexible or restrictive professional education.

In response to the Dearing Report [Higher education in the learning society. Report of the National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education. HMSO, London, 1997] modularising courses has been a major activity in schools of nursing and midwifery.

Recombinant human macrophage colony-stimulating factor-induced thrombocytopenia in dogs.

To characterize recombinant human macrophage-colony stimulating factor (rhM-CSF)-associated thrombocytopenia (TCP), in vivo studies were performed in dogs, including the biodistributions and recoveries of radiolabelled autologous and allogeneic platelets. rhM-CSF induced a reversible, dose-dependent decrease in platelet counts. The number of megakaryocytes in spleen and marrow of rhM-CSF-treated dogs was increased two to threefold.

FLT3 ligand promotes engraftment of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cells without significant graft-versus-host disease.

Background: Graft-versus-host (GVH) reactions contribute to stable engraftment of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplants. It was hypothesized that the in vivo expansion of recipient dendritic cells (DC) with the administration of ligand for Flt3 (FL) could promote allogeneic engraftment after reduced-intensity conditioning by enhancing the GVH effect.

Methods: FL was first administered to three nonirradiated healthy dogs for 13 days at a dosage of 100 microg/kg/day.

NOD/SCID mice transplanted with marrow from patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) show long-term propagation of normal but not clonal human precursors.

Sublethally irradiated NOD/SCID mice were transplanted with hematopoietic progenitor cells obtained from the marrow of patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). Engraftment of MDS cells, as determined by flow cytometry, was delayed compared to marrow from normal donors. Human CD38(+)CD34(-) cells were prominent in marrows and spleens of MDS chimeras.

Effect of c-mpl ligands after total body irradiation (TBI) with and without allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation: low-dose TBI does not prevent sensitization.

This study investigates the potential role of the recombinant c-mpl ligands (recombinant human thrombopoietin [rhTPO] and pegylated recombinant human megakaryocyte growth and development factor [PEG-rhMGDF]) on the recovery of platelet counts after TBI with and without allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) in an established canine model. Initially, 3 cohorts, each with 2 nonirradiated dogs, received increasing doses of rhTPO (5 microg/kg per day; 10 microg/kg per day; 20 microg/kg per day) for 7 days to determine the optimal dose. The dose of 10 microg/kg per day of rhTPO was selected for subsequent studies.