Fathers: The Lost Ring in the Chain of Family-Centered Care: A Phenomenological Study in Neonatal Intensive Care Units of Iran.

Background: The basic principles of family-centered care in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) include the unlimited presence of parents and their participation in infant's care. Nurses play a central role in encouraging parental attachment with their infant.

Purpose: This study was carried out with the aim of understanding NICU nurses' lived experiences of family participation in family-centered care.

Potential Threats Posed by New or Emerging Marine Biotoxins in UK Waters and Examination of Detection Methodologies Used for Their Control: Cyclic Imines.

Cyclic imines (CIs) are a group of phytoplankton produced toxins related to shellfish food products, some of which are already present in UK and European waters. Their risk to shellfish consumers is poorly understood, as while no human intoxication has been definitively related to this group, their fast acting toxicity following intraperitoneal injection in mice has led to concern over their human health implications. A request was therefore made by UK food safety authorities to examine these toxins more closely to aid possible management strategies.

Potential Threats Posed by Tetrodotoxins in UK Waters: Examination of Detection Methodology Used in Their Control.

Tetrodotoxin is a neurotoxin responsible for many human fatalities, most commonly following the consumption of pufferfish. Whilst the source of the toxin has not been conclusively proven, it is thought to be associated with various species of marine bacteria. Whilst the toxins are well studied in fish and gastropods, in recent years, there have been a number of reports of tetrodotoxin occurring in bivalve shellfish, including those harvested from the UK and other parts of Europe.

Testing and application of a refined rapid detection method for paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins in UK shellfish.

The Scotia Rapid Test for PSP is designed for qualitative identification of saxitoxins at levels in shellfish equivalent to the limit of detection of the biological reference method. However, issues with the method have been reported, including the low assay cross reactivity for some toxins, high numbers of false positive results and the subjective test interpretation. This study focussed on approaches to improve each of these issues.

Potential threats posed by new or emerging marine biotoxins in UK waters and examination of detection methodology used in their control: brevetoxins.

Regular occurrence of brevetoxin-producing toxic phytoplankton in commercial shellfishery areas poses a significant risk to shellfish consumer health. Brevetoxins and their causative toxic phytoplankton are more limited in their global distribution than most marine toxins impacting commercial shellfisheries. On the other hand, trends in climate change could conceivably lead to increased risk posed by these toxins in UK waters.

Interlaboratory comparison of two AOAC liquid chromatographic fluorescence detection methods for paralytic shellfish toxin analysis through characterization of an oyster reference material.

An interlaboratory ring trial was designed and conducted by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries, and Aquaculture Science to investigate a range of issues affecting the analysis of a candidate Pacific oyster paralytic shellfish toxin reference material. A total of 21 laboratories participated in the study and supplied results using one or more of three instrumental methods, specifically precolumn oxidation (Pre-COX) LC with fluorescence detection (FLD; AOAC Official Method 2005.06), postcolumn oxidation (PCOX) LC-FLD (AOAC Official Method 2011.

A feasibility study into the production of a freeze-dried oyster reference material for paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins.

Matrix reference materials are an essential component for the validation and quality control of analytical methodologies for the quantitation of marine biotoxins in shellfish. Given the potential advantages of reference materials in powder form, a study was conducted to assess the feasibility for the production of a freeze-dried oyster tissue reference material containing a range of important paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins. One bulk sample of a wet oyster tissue homogenate was generated following mass culturing of toxic Alexandrium and oyster feeding experiments.

Feasibility studies into the production of gamma-irradiated oyster tissue reference materials for paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins.

A study was conducted to assess the feasibility for the production of sterile, stable and homogenous shellfish reference materials containing known concentrations of paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) toxins. Pacific oysters were contaminated with toxins following mass culturing of toxic algae and shellfish feeding experiments. Live oysters were shucked and tissues homogenised, before measuring into multiple aliquots, with one batch subjected to gamma irradiation treatment and the other remaining untreated.

Transformation of paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins in Crassostrea gigas and Pecten maximus reference materials.

Matrix reference materials are an important requirement for the assessment of method performance characteristics and for routine quality control. In the field of marine toxin testing where biological assays have been used and where modern analytical testing methods are now becoming available, this requirement has become an urgent one. Various approaches are utilised for preparation of such materials in the absence of available naturally occurring toxic shellfish samples.

Comparison of AOAC 2005.06 LC official method with other methodologies for the quantitation of paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins in UK shellfish species.

A refined version of the pre-column oxidation liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection (ox-LC-FLD) official method AOAC 2005.06 was developed in the UK and validated for the determination of paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins in UK shellfish. Analysis was undertaken here for the comparison of PSP toxicities determined using the LC method for a range of UK bivalve shellfish species against the official European reference method, the PSP mouse bioassay (MBA, AOAC 959.

A feasibility study into the provision of Paralytic Shellfish Toxins laboratory reference materials by mass culture of Alexandrium and shellfish feeding experiments.

As the official control laboratory for biotoxin testing in England, Wales and Scotland, Cefas employs two approaches for the detection of Paralytic Shellfish Poisons (PSP) in bivalve shellfish: a qualitative HPLC method for oysters, whole king scallops and cockles (with PSP bioassay confirmation of positive HPLC samples) with subsequent quantitation of positive samples by mouse bioassay and a quantitative HPLC method for mussels (no PSP bioassay confirmation required). To aid the validation of the quantitative HPLC method for native oysters, Pacific oysters, cockles and king scallops and ultimately remove the need for the PSP bioassay for these species, appropriate contaminated shellfish matrices were required. As it was not possible to obtain naturally contaminated material for these species, shellfish were contaminated in-house through feeding experiments with high concentrations of Alexandrium species.

Potential use of gamma irradiation in the production of mussel and oyster reference materials for paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins.

Bivalve shellfish samples containing paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins were subjected to gamma irradiation dosage trials in order to assess the potential suitability of the technique in the production of toxin reference materials. Two candidate reference materials of tissue homogenates, mussels (Mytilus sp.) and native oysters (Ostrea edulis), were prepared in-house.

First evidence of an extensive northern European distribution of azaspiracid poisoning (AZP) toxins in shellfish.

Azaspiracids have recently been identified as the toxins responsible for a series of human intoxications in Europe since 1995, following the consumption of cultured mussels (Mytilus edulis) from the west coast of Ireland. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometric (LC-MS) methods have been applied in the study reported here to investigate the new human toxic syndrome, azaspiracid poisoning. Separation of azaspiracid (AZA1) and its analogues, 8-methylazaspiracid (AZA2) and 22-demethylazaspiracid (AZA3), was achieved using reversed-phase LC and coupled, via an electrospray ionisation source, to an ion-trap mass spectrometer.