Teaching research in undergraduate nursing education.

This textbook provides alternative ways of thinking about research and the use of research in nursing practice. New textbooks on nursing research may be written, curricula reorganized to provide a different emphasis on research, new teaching strategies applied, and new learning experiences offered; but, in the final analysis, the key to inculcating in students an excitement about inquiry in nursing rests with the faculty. Faculty clearly convey their own beliefs about research and its relevance for practice; they can encourage or dampen a student's interest and inquisitiveness about nursing phenomena, in part, by their own beliefs about inquiry and, in part, by their approach to students.

Risk factors for progression in Parkinson's disease.

Using case-control methodology, we assessed prevalence and duration of exposure to putative risk factors for rapid progression of Parkinson's disease (PD) in patients not taking levodopa or direct dopamine agonists. We identified 31 patients termed "rapidly progressive" who were stage I or II (Hoehn and Yahr) on their first visit to our center and who progressed to stage III during the study period; we pair-matched this group with 31 "slowly progressive" patients who had the same symptom duration and the same Hoehn and Yahr stage at study entry, but whose parkinsonism did not progress to stage III during the study. Only age of PD onset was associated with different rates of PD progression; older patients at PD onset progressed more rapidly than younger patients.

An antibody in the CSF of Parkinson's disease patients disappears following adrenal medulla transplantation.

CSF from Parkinson's disease (PD) patients undergoing autologous transplantation of adrenal medulla tissue into their lateral ventricle was examined for the presence of IgG. CSF from 6 of 7 patients incubated with rat brain tissue reacted immunocytochemically to neuronal cell bodies in the substantia nigra and ventral tegmental region. This reactivity gradually disappeared in the months following transplantation.

Relationship of aluminum to neurocognitive dysfunction in chronic dialysis patients.

Aluminum has been proposed as the causative agent in dialysis encephalopathy syndrome. We prospectively assessed whether other, less severe, neuropsychologic abnormalities were also associated with aluminum. A total of 16 patients receiving chronic dialytic therapy were studied.

Electrophysiologic consequences of the arterial switch repair of d-transposition of the great arteries.

Electrophysiologic studies were performed at 12.7 +/- 4 months postoperatively in 20 patients who had the arterial switch repair at 1 to 120 days (mean 13 +/- 26 [SD]) for d-transposition of the great arteries. Preoperative electrocardiograms (ECGs) at rest revealed an ectopic atrial rhythm in one patient.

Controlled-release carbidopa/levodopa (CR4-Sinemet) in Parkinson's disease patients with and without motor fluctuations.

Sixteen patients with advanced Parkinson's disease (PD) and motor fluctuations were evaluated throughout 12 months of open label therapy on CR4-Sinemet. Reduced dosage frequency and significant motor improvement with reduced fluctuation occurred and were maintained with CR4-Sinemet compared with baseline on Sinemet. In a double-blind protocol using CR4-Sinemet in 20 stable PD patients, CR4-Sinemet was given twice daily and compared with Sinemet given four times daily.

The adrenal medullary transplant operation for Parkinson's disease: clinical observations in five patients.

The recent report by Madrazo and coworkers on the successful treatment of Parkinson's disease using adrenal medullary tissue transplanted to the caudate nucleus has aroused international interest in the procedure. The present article reports our initial experiences with the operation in five patients and discusses the postoperative effects of the procedure, the protocol used to monitor motor performance, and the need for cooperation with the two registries that have been created to follow morbidity, mortality, and efficacy. We intend to alert the neurosurgeon to important side effects, but not to assess the long term efficacy of the procedure.

Atomic beam collimation using a laser diode with a self-locking power-buildup cavity.

We have demonstrated a self-locking power-buildup cavity for laser diodes. This device requires only a few simple optical elements and can provide a standing wave containing as much as 1000 times the power emitted by the laser diode. With this device we have obtained an intense standing wave of tunable light that was used to collimate a cesium atomic beam.

Type A behavior and cardiovascular responsivity in preschoolers.

Type A behavior was investigated in preschool children in relation to cardiovascular reactivity. One hundred forty-four children from 3 1/2 to 6 1/2 years of age were categorized by their teachers according to the Matthews Youth Test for Health as Type A, Mixed, or Type B. The children's pulse, pulse rate variability, and blood pressure were then measured at rest and during a challenging situation.

Inducible atrial flutter after the Mustard repair of complete transposition of the great arteries.

Atrial flutter is a common postoperative arrhythmia in patients with complete transposition of the great arteries (d-TGA) after the Mustard repair. Sixty patients with d-TGA who had the Mustard repair were evaluated by electrophysiologic studies. Thirty-three (55%) had inducible sustained atrial flutter; 17 of them developed spontaneous clinical episodes of atrial flutter (clinical atrial flutter group) and 16 did not (nonclinical atrial flutter group).

Concurrent treatment with benztropine and haloperidol attenuates development of behavioral hypersensitivity but not dopamine receptor proliferation.

Groups of male rats (n = 16 each) were treated with normal saline, haloperidol (0.75 mg/kg), benztropine (1.8 mg/kg) or haloperidol and benztropine once a day for 24 days.

Electrophysiologic consequences of the Mustard repair of d-transposition of the great arteries.

This study describes the electrophysiologic effects of the Mustard repair of d-transposition of the great arteries on the sinus node and on conduction and refractoriness in the atrium, atrioventricular (AV) node and ventricle. Seventy-two electrophysiologic studies were performed on 64 patients after the Mustard operation. Standard rest and 24 hour ambulatory electrocardiograms were evaluated.