Junior Medical Officers' knowledge of advance care directives and substitute decision making for people without decision making capacity: a cross sectional survey.

Background: For the benefits of advance care planning to be realised during a hospital admission, the treating team must have accurate knowledge of the law pertaining to implementation of advance care directives (ACDs) and substitute decision making.

Aims: To determine in a sample of Junior Medical Officers (JMOs): (1) knowledge of the correct order to approach people as substitute decision makers if a patient does not have capacity to consent to treatment; (2) knowledge of the legal validity of ACDs when making healthcare decisions for persons without capacity to consent to treatment, including the characteristics associated with higher knowledge; and (3) barriers to enacting ACDs.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted at five public hospitals in New South Wales, Australia.

Junior medical doctors' decision making when using advance care directives to guide treatment for people with dementia: a cross-sectional vignette study.

Background: Junior medical doctors have a key role in discussions and decisions about treatment and end-of-life care for people with dementia in hospital. Little is known about junior doctors' decision-making processes when treating people with dementia who have advance care directives (ACDs), or the factors that influence their decisions. To describe among junior doctors in relation to two hypothetical vignettes involving patients with dementia: (1) their legal compliance and decision-making process related to treatment decisions; (2) the factors influencing their clinical decision-making; and (3) the factors associated with accurate responses to one hypothetical vignette.

Knowledge and confidence of junior medical doctors in discussing and documenting resuscitation plans: a cross-sectional survey.

Background: A resuscitation plan is a medically authorised order to use or withhold resuscitation interventions. Absence of appropriate resuscitation orders exposes patients to the risk of invasive medical interventions that may be of questionable benefit depending on individual circumstances.

Aims: To describe among junior doctors: (i) self-reported confidence discussing and completing resuscitation plans; (ii) knowledge of resuscitation policy including whether resuscitation plans are legally enforceable and key triggers for completion; and (iii) the factors associated with higher knowledge of triggers for completing resuscitation plans.

An immersive orientation programme to improve medical student integration and well-being.

Background: Multiple common challenges exist for medical students transitioning to regional clinical placements, including a relative paucity of well-being skills required for the promotion of work-life integration. Beginning Education at Central Coast Hospitals (BEACCHES) is an immersive orientation programme aimed at negotiating this transition and promoting student well-being through improved social connectedness. The programme was evaluated with the objectives of understanding the most highly valued and effective components.

An action research protocol to strengthen system-wide inter-professional learning and practice [LP0775514].

Background: Inter-professional learning (IPL) and inter-professional practice (IPP) are thought to be critical determinants of effective care, improved quality and safety and enhanced provider morale, yet few empirical studies have demonstrated this. Whole-of-system research is even less prevalent. We aim to provide a four year, multi-method, multi-collaborator action research program of IPL and IPP in defined, bounded health and education systems located in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).

Effect of floor conditions upon frictional characteristics of squash court shoes.

Vertical (FN) and horizontal (FH) forces were recorded while four vertically-loaded court shoes were dragged horizontally across six types of floor surface. Variation in coefficient of limiting friction (FH/FN) between floor surfaces was greater than that between shoes. Squash strokes were also performed on the same surfaces during which FH/FN was calculated.

A low-budget and easy-to-operate room respirometer for measuring daily energy expenditure in man.

Accurate assessment of energy requirements of humans under various physiological, pathological, and environmental conditions is hampered by the high cost of techniques for measuring daily energy expenditure. A room respirometer novel in its novel in its low cost of construction and simplicity of operation is described, together with an appreciation of errors and assumptions. It is suitable for measurements of daily energy expenditure in humans with an accuracy of +/- 1.

Microcomputer control applied to the Vickers M85/86 microdensitometer.

An electronic interface for a Research Machines 380Z microcomputer and a Vickers M85/6 integrating microdensitometer is described, together with outlines of the control software. A typical applications programme, which may be written in several high-level languages, is outlined for the determination of a time course plot for enzyme activity in a tissue section. This system facilitates rapid accurate measurement and analysis of experimental data.

Albumin inhibits human polymorphonuclear leucocyte luminol-dependent chemiluminescence: evidence for oxygen radical scavenging.

Luminol-dependent chemiluminescence of normal human polymorphonuclear leucocytes (PMN) which were resting, or stimulated by unopsonized latex beads, opsonized zymosan or the chemotactic peptide N-formyl-met-leu-phe was decreased more than 80% in the presence of physiological concentrations of albumin (4%, w/v). This inhibition did not result from impairment of light transmission, cellular toxicity, luminol excited-state quenching or a dialysable contaminant in the albumin preparation, but was reduced by 30% when the fall induced by albumin in extracellular free Ca2+ concentration was corrected. The inhibition was most apparent in the larger second phase of the PMN chemiluminescent response to chemotactic peptide or opsonized zymosan stimulation.