Ultrasound and endocrine evaluation of the ovarian cycle and early pregnancy in the Sumatran rhinoceros, Dicerorhinus sumatrensis.

Longitudinal ultrasound and endocrine evaluations were conducted in two adult female Sumatran rhinoceroses (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) over a period of 12-22 months to learn more about their reproductive physiology. Rectal ultrasonography was conducted to monitor ovarian activity. Blood samples were collected and analysed for progesterone and LH, and faecal samples were analysed for progestin metabolites.

Social issues in the rehabilitation of younger stroke patients.

Objectives: To study social factors and outcomes in stroke rehabilitation patients under the age of 50.

Study Design: Retrospective chart review examining (1) martial status and employment status on admission and at 3 months post discharge, (2) discharge destination, (3) the presence of absence of children under the age of 16, and (4) psychosocial difficulties as recorded by staff during hospitalization.

Subjects And Setting: Eighty-three consecutive stroke patients under the age of 50 admitted to a Canadian tertiary-care hospital rehabilitation unit.

Fetal surveillance and monitoring legal issues revisited.

The issue of obstetric litigation and electronic fetal monitoring (EFM) is revisited. The controversy in the medical literature that suggests that we are in an era fraught with both medical and legal dilemmas in the use of EFM is explored. The role of the nurse expert, the standard of care, and case studies are presented that demonstrate the need for obstetric nurses to be competent in EFM, the physiology and pathophysiology of labor, and the standard of care to which they are held accountable.

Frequency of videofluoroscopic modified barium swallow studies and pneumonia in stroke rehabilitation patients: a comparative study.

Objective: To study the association between the frequency of videofluoroscopic modified barium swallow (VMBS) studies and the incidence of pneumonia in stroke rehabilitation patients.

Design: Retrospective comparative study.

Subjects And Setting: Five hundred sixty-three consecutive stroke patients admitted to one hospital rehabilitation unit in London, Ontario, Canada were compared with 461 consecutive stroke patients admitted to another hospital rehabilitation unit in the same city.

Development of embryos produced by intracytoplasmic sperm injection of cat oocytes.

Development of cat oocytes following intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) and in vitro fertilization (IVF) was compared in two experiments. Domestic cat donors (used as a model for wild felids) were treated with 150 IU equine chorionic gonadotrophin (eCG) on treatment day 1 or a total of 10-15 IU of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) over four days, followed by 100 IU human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) on day 5 and follicular aspiration 24-26 h later. A jaguarundi (Herpailurus yaguarondi) female was stimulated twice with FSH (20 IU) or eCG (300 IU) and hCG (250 or 300 IU) before oocyte recovery.

Black churches as therapeutic systems: a group process perspective.

This article examines Black churches as therapeutic systems that provide psychological and physical support to African American communities. Systems theory and group relations theory are used as conceptual frameworks to discuss Black churches as indigenous community resources. Instrumental to a systems approach is an understanding of Black churches and the religious experiences they support as part of a dynamic process that may vary across churches while maintaining certain basic similarities.

Development of a research-based standard for assessment, intervention, and evaluation of pain after neonatal and pediatric cardiac surgery.

This analysis of retrospective and prospective data quantified children (age range 0-18 years, total n = 132) during their stay in a cardiothoracic intensive care unit and examined pain management and sedation practices. Data on both factors that could potentially affect pain and its management, and analgesics/sedatives ordered for and administered to subjects were collected from chart review. In the prospective group, pain intensity was measured twice daily using the Wong-Baker FACES Pain Rating Scale.

In vitro and in vivo development of embryos produced by in vitro maturation and in vitro fertilization of cat oocytes.

Cumulus-oocyte complexes of domestic cats were classified by morphology of ooplasm (A = good, B = fair, C = poor) and cultured for 24 h in TCM 199 with gonadotrophins (eCG, FSH, hCG or FSH/hCG). More of type A oocytes (52%) underwent in vitro maturation (IVM) than of type B (41%) or type C (17%). The gonadotrophin source did not affect frequency of IVM of type A (50-53%) or type B (38-44%) oocytes, but IVM of type C oocytes in hCG or FSH/hCG (27%/19%) was about double that in eCG or FSH alone (13%/10%).

Birth of a western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) following in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer.

A 21-year-old multiparous female exhibiting 31-41 day menstrual cycles was given hFSH (225 IU/day, Metrodin 75, from cycle day 3 through 9 (menses = day 1) and hCG (10,000 IU, Profasi, on day 10 to stimulate follicular development. At 35 h after hCG, under isoflurane (AErrane) anesthesia, follicles were aspirated by controlled suction under transvaginal ultrasound guidance. Metaphase II oocytes (n = 11) were placed in modified human tubal fluid (mHTF, 100 microliters) medium under oil at 37 degrees C in humidified 5% CO2.

False positive malignant peritoneal cytology and psammoma bodies in benign gynecologic disease.

Objective: To determine the incidence of false positive malignant peritoneal cytology and psammoma bodies associated with benign gynecologic disorders.

Study Design: Pelvic peritoneal fluid was prospectively collected for cytologic examination from 119 women undergoing laparoscopy for benign conditions (infertility, 67; pelvic pain, 35; elective sterilization, 17). The median age was 30.

Gain changes in the accommodative convergence cross-link.

The output of the accommodative vergence cross-link, the AC/A ratio, was measured before and after subjects viewed through a telestereoscope which increased their interocular separation (pd) approximately fourfold. The initial paradigm was designed to force an increase in the AC/A ratio in that subjects alternately fixated targets set at differing distances. In this paradigm, the varying vergence demands could not be met by a constant increase in phasic or tonic vergence responses.

Pneumonia associated with aspiration following stroke.

Objective: To determine the association between demonstrated aspiration and pneumonia in stroke patients.

Methods: Chart review of 441 consecutive stroke patients admitted to a stroke rehabilitation unit within 4 months of their stroke over an 8-year period. Videofluoroscopic modified barium swallow (VMBS) was performed on all patients suspected of aspirating.

Hospitalization of patients with diabetes.

To determine annual hospitalization rates for patients with diabetes mellitus, we retrospectively analyzed the frequency of hospitalization among 905 patients with diabetes receiving primary care in a private practice outpatient program during a 20-month period (1,508 patient-years). We assessed the annual hospitalization rates stratified by diabetes clinical severity index, type of diabetes, type of treatment, age, sex, and mean glycosylated hemoglobin. The all-cause annual hospitalization rate was 211 per 1,000 patients (95% confidence interval, 184 to 238).

Analgesic administration, pain intensity, and patient satisfaction in cardiac surgical patients.

Background: Pain can adversely affect a patient's physiological and psychological recovery, yet little is known about the pain experience of cardiac surgical patients.

Objectives: To examine nursing practice regarding analgesic administration and measure pain intensity and patient satisfaction with pain management practices.

Methods: To establish baseline nursing practice regarding analgesic administration, charts were reviewed retrospectively in 50 adult cardiac surgical patients, and the same information was collected concurrently for a prospective sample of 51 patients.

Influence of sex role stereotypes on personnel decisions of black managers.

The influence of sex role stereotypes on the hiring decisions of Black managers was investigated. A 2 x 2 x 2 factorial design and multivariate analysis of variance were used to analyze the relationship between sex of respondent, sex of applicant, and job sex type. Respondents were 131 managers who rated either a Black man or a Black woman for a stereotypically female- or male-sex-typed job on a Likert-type scale.

Successful in vitro and in vivo development of in vitro fertilized two- to four-cell cat embryos following cryopreservation, culture and transfer.

In vitro and in vivo survival of in vitro-derived 2- to 4-cell cat embryos following cryopreservation was examined. Prefreeze 1- vs 2-step cryoprotectant exposure (Experiment 1) and warming method (Experiment 2) on zona pellucida damage and development in vitro were compared. To determine viability in vivo, frozen/thawed embryos were cultured in vitro to the morula/early blastocyst stage and transferred to synchronous recipients (Experiment 3).

Prevalence and recovery of aspiration poststroke: a retrospective analysis.

This retrospective study was undertaken to review aspiration documented by videofluoroscopic modified barium swallow (VMBS) examination in a group of patients admitted to a stroke rehabilitation unit. Forty-two of 54 patients tested demonstrated evidence of aspiration of thin liquids on VMBS performed an average of over 5 weeks following the onset of stroke. However, only patients in whom there was clinical concern of aspiration (54 of 255 stroke patients admitted to the rehab unit) were tested with VMBS evaluation.

Litigation, electronic fetal monitoring, and the obstetric nurse.

Using excerpts from actual lawsuits that allege malpractice and name obstetric nurses as defendants, this article explores the process and some possible outcomes of malpractice litigation. It discusses the duty of the nurse, the concept of reasonably prudent practice, and the role of the expert. In addition, it identifies some institutional standards that can mitigate potential damages in malpractice claims.

Massive ovarian edema in a woman receiving clomiphene citrate. A case report.

There have been 65 previously reported cases of massive ovarian edema. We present a case in a woman receiving clomiphene citrate. It is an uncommon, benign condition and usually involves the right ovary.

Abnormal uterine bleeding. Finding and treating the cause.

Abnormal vaginal bleeding is a common presenting symptom with an extensive list of potential causes. In evaluating abnormal bleeding, nonuterine causes and pregnancy should first be excluded; after that, it is important to differentiate between ovulatory and anovulatory bleeding (dysfunctional uterine bleeding). Initial laboratory tests, in addition to a sensitive pregnancy test, include hemoglobin and hematocrit determinations, platelet count, and occasionally coagulation studies.

Amenorrhea and chronic anovulation. Finding and addressing the underlying cause.

Amenorrhea is a common problem with a complex etiology. However, the same diagnostic approach can be used in evaluation of all amenorrheic patients. Complete history taking and physical examination are important for determining the presence of congenital abnormalities and chronic conditions.

Identification of proteins binding to interferon-inducible transcriptional enhancers in hematopoietic cells.

The binding of nuclear proteins of hematopoietic cells to transcriptional enhancers of interferon-inducible genes has been studied before and after exposure to alpha-interferon. Mobility shift assays show that a complex formed with interferon-inducible transcriptional enhancers before interferon induction contains a 73- and 84-kDa protein. Amino acid sequencing of the oligoaffinity column purified 73- and 84-kDa proteins showed that they belonged to a family of DNA-binding proteins which have been previously identified to exhibit binding in a sequence nonspecific manner to the ends of fragmented DNA or the origin of replication of adenovirus Type 2 DNA and sequence-specific binding to the distal regions of the U1 small nuclear RNA promoter, the promoter of the transferrin receptor gene, and the transcriptional regulatory regions of HLA genes.

Holding death at bay: the experience of the spouses of patients undergoing cardiovascular surgery.

This study utilized a grounded theory design to investigate the experiences related to being the spouse of a cardiovascular surgical patient during five subject-identified phases: a) finding out the surgery was necessary, b) waiting for surgery, c) waiting during surgery, d) the intensive care unit (ICU) experience, and e) the recovery period before hospital discharge. Data were collected from each of eight subjects via three unstructured, tape-recorded interviews conducted a) on the day of the patients' hospital admission, b) during the first 48 hours of the patients' ICU stay and c) just before the patients' hospital discharge. Holding Death at Bay was identified as the core category.