Novel Achilles tendon repair technique utilizing an allograft and hybrid external fixator in dogs.

Background: Achilles mechanism rupture is a surgical condition involving primary tenorrhaphy with various described means of surgical augmentation and bolstering.

Aim: To report complications and outcomes with a novel Achilles repair technique in dogs using a superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT) or deep digital flexor tendon (DDFT) allograft.

Methods: Medical records were reviewed for dogs with chronic rupture or deterioration of the Achilles mechanism.

Effects of Acute Yohimbine Hydrochloride Supplementation on Repeated Supramaximal Sprint Performance.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a single acute dose of yohimbine hydrochloride on repeated anaerobic sprint ability. Physically active females ( = 18) completed two separate repeated supramaximal sprint trials each with a different single-dose treatment: placebo (PL; gluten-free corn starch) or yohimbine hydrochloride (YHM; 2.5 mg).

Use of iPads to Decrease Faculty Workload.

Background: Multiple faculty were present during a simulation for competency assessments of students, thus creating an increased workload and fatigue. Faculty used technology to reduce the workload and maintain interrater reliability, at little to no cost.

Method: The use of high-fidelity simulators, tablet computers, and a university video platform were used to record student competency assessments.

Acquired defects in CFTR-dependent β-adrenergic sweat secretion in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Rationale: Smoking-induced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is associated with acquired systemic cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) dysfunction. Recently, sweat evaporimetry has been shown to efficiently measure β-adrenergic sweat rate and specifically quantify CFTR function in the secretory coil of the sweat gland.

Objectives: To evaluate the presence and severity of systemic CFTR dysfunction in smoking-related lung disease using sweat evaporimetry to determine CFTR-dependent sweat rate.

Cigarette smoke induces systemic defects in cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator function.

Rationale: Several extrapulmonary disorders have been linked to cigarette smoking. Smoking is reported to cause cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) dysfunction in the airway, and is also associated with pancreatitis, male infertility, and cachexia, features characteristic of cystic fibrosis and suggestive of an etiological role for CFTR.

Objectives: To study the effect of cigarette smoke on extrapulmonary CFTR function.

Acquired cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator dysfunction in the lower airways in COPD.

Background: Cigarette smoke and smoking-induced inflammation decrease cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) activity and mucociliary transport in the nasal airway and cultured bronchial epithelial cells. This raises the possibility that lower airway CFTR dysfunction may contribute to the pathophysiology of COPD. We compared lower airway CFTR activity in current and former smokers with COPD, current smokers without COPD, and lifelong nonsmokers to examine the relationships between clinical characteristics and CFTR expression and function.

Empower U: effectiveness of an adolescent outreach and prevention program with sixth-grade boys and girls: a pilot study.

Sixth graders are at a prime age to modify behaviors and beliefs regarding exercise, nutrition, body image, and smoking. Empower U was created to change knowledge, beliefs, and behaviors regarding these topics. This pilot study utilized pre/post assessments of 58 sixth graders from a private middle school in the midsouth.

Promoting physical activity in preschoolers to prevent obesity: a review of the literature.

This literature review summarizes clinical recommendations for adequate physical activity and reviews recently published studies that focus on identifying common factors associated with physical activity levels among preschoolers in the United States and Canada. Currently, there is inconsistency in both the definition of and recommendations for physical activity. In addition, there is relatively little research in this area.

Lung volume reduction for advanced emphysema: surgical and bronchoscopic approaches.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is the third leading cause of death in the United States, affecting more than 24 million people. Inhaled bronchodilators are the mainstay of therapy; they improve symptoms and quality of life and reduce exacerbations. These and smoking cessation and long-term oxygen therapy for hypoxemic patients are the only medical treatments definitively demonstrated to reduce mortality.

On the training and testing of entry-level commercial motor vehicle drivers.

This study examined the effectiveness of 3 different training types on commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers' skill levels. The training types included a conventional 8-week certified course, a conventional 8-week certified course with approximately 60% of driving time spent in a CMV driving simulator, and a Commercial Driver's License (CDL) test focused short course. Participants' scores on the Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) road and range tests were assessed.

Budgeting nursing workload for required minimum data set assessments.

Aim: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of an instrument used to measure nursing workload of federally mandated assessments. Specifically, the instrument measures the nursing workload of the resident assessment instrument the mandated assessment tool used in nursing facilities.

Background: It is imperative that nursing managers and nurse executives in health care organizations have a process to budget Registered Nurse full-time equivalents required for federally mandated assessments.

Incidence of pulmonary embolism after non-cemented total hip arthroplasty in eleven dogs: computed tomographic pulmonary angiography and pulmonary perfusion scintigraphy.

Objective: To compare the incidence of pulmonary embolism (PE) in 11 dogs that had non-cemented total hip replacement (THR) to that reported in dogs after cemented THR.

Study Design: Prospective clinical study.

Animals: Large mixed breed dogs (n=11).

Processing complaints and disciplining nurses. An overview of the investigative process by the Kansas State Board of Nursing.

This is a brief review of the process the Kansas State Board of Nursing would utilize when investigating a complaint and determining discipline against a licensee, and does not include all points of law that could apply. Although the Kansas Administrative Procedures Act was discussed, there are many sections of the statute that were not addressed. The Board of Nursing has published two pamphlets "Your Rights Before the Kansas State Board of Nursing" and "The Investigative Process" which are valuable to the nurse in understanding the process.

Achieving excellence in end-of-life care.

Nurses in practice have verified the need for nursing education curricula to include content related to care of the dying patient. Nurse educators are initiating curricular changes to assure students have the knowledge and attitudes needed to provide quality care at the end of life. The authors discuss one university undergraduate program's development of both a theory and practicum course.

Use of a hydro-pool system to recover horses after general anesthesia: 60 cases.

Objective: To report complications observed using a hydro-pool recovery system after general anesthesia in horses.

Study Design: Retrospective study.

Animals: Sixty horses.

Low maternal serum levels of placenta growth factor as an antecedent of clinical preeclampsia.

Objective: Maternal serum placenta growth factor levels have been shown to be significantly reduced in women with established preeclampsia. However, the temporal change in serum placenta growth factor levels before the clinical onset of preeclampsia is not known.

Study Design: Serum samples were collected from patients at the first prenatal (5-15 weeks' gestation), second-trimester (16-20 weeks' gestation), and third-trimester (26-30 weeks' gestation) visits.

Autism and the school nurse.

Until recently, treatment for children with autism involved housing them in hospitals for the developmentally disabled. Today, more states are returning children with autism to their home communities, and more parents are choosing or are being required to keep their children with autism in their homes. Laws were developed to ensure that children with autism receive some form of education, often through the local school system.

Washington State's model of physician leadership in cardiac outcomes reporting.

Background: In 1993, the cardiac surgery community in Washington State opposed an effort by the state Health Care Authority (HCA) to identify "centers of excellence" for selective contracting of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) procedures, and proposed an alternate model that would create a statewide cardiac outcomes registry under physician governance to be used by all institutions for internal quality improvement activities.

Methods: A prospective pilot data collection effort, which examined preoperative and postoperative patient-reported health status, served as the basis for evaluating the capacity of a physician-led organization to develop a collaborative atmosphere and facilitate universal hospital participation.

Results: A surgical steering group met on a regular basis and reached consensus on governance issues, protocols for standardized data collection, and policies regarding data dissemination.

Beta blockade to prevent atrial dysrhythmias following coronary bypass surgery.

Background: Atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter (AF) frequently complicate coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG) and increase hospital stay as well as morbidity. Studies of drug prophylaxis to prevent AF with beta-adrenergic blocking agents administered in fixed doses have had conflicting results.

Methods: One hundred patients were randomized to receive metoprolol or placebo following CABG.

Efficient radially polarized laser beam generation with a double interferometer.

Conversion of a linearly polarized CO(2) laser beam into a radially polarized beam is demonstrated with a novel double-interferometer system. The first Mach-Zehnder interferometer converts the linearly polarized input beam into two beams with sin(2) θ and cos(2) θ intensity profiles, where θ is the azimuthal angle. This is accomplished by using two spiral-phase-delay plates with opposite handedness in the two legs of the interferometer to impart a one-wave phase delay azimuthally across the face of the beams.

Selection of patients for same-day coronary bypass operations.

Between March 15, 1990, and December 31, 1991, we admitted to the Virginia Mason Hospital for isolated coronary bypass operations 175 consecutive patients with chronic, stable angina pectoris who had prior coronary arteriography. One hundred patients were admitted on the same day as their operations, and 75 patients, deemed to be at higher risk, were admitted 1 day before the operation. Postoperative progress of all patients was monitored by means of a clinical pathway form with physiologic and activity measures plotted against postoperative days.