Anticipating the decline of the large general hospital.

Changing attitudes to healthcare provision look set to prompt a move away from treating patients in large general hospitals. Hospitals would then be left to deal with acute problems, while local provision would cater for patients requiring care.

Depending on the intent and emphasis of the supervisor, clinical supervision can be a different experience.

The paper proposes that clinical supervision can be a very different experience for the practitioner depending on the intent and emphasis of the supervisor. Utilizing Habermas's typology of knowledge constituted interests (1971), clinical supervision can be viewed as a dialectic between technical and emancipatory interests. The rhetoric and spirit of supervision would suggest an emancipatory approach yet the reality is that when supervision is accommodated with bureaucratic cultures, the technical interest will be dominant, especially when supervisors are in line-management roles to practitioners.

The UKCC's Scope of Professional Practice--some implications for health care delivery.

Aims: The research reported here is part of a larger study commissioned by the United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting (UKCC) to analyse and understand the impact of the Scope of Professional Practice (Scope) on the practice of nursing, midwifery and health visiting. The data in this paper relate to attitudes about, and perceptions of Scope among a variety of stakeholders.

Background: This research provided a valuable opportunity to explore the essence of Scope and the ways in which it can enable nurses, midwives and health visitors to adapt to growing or changing health care needs.

The UK's Asian population: solving the transplant crisis.

The United Kingdom Transplant Authority has recently re-introduced a policy to identify the ethnicity of patients. This is in response to the realisation byTransplant Co-ordinators and other health professionals in the field that a number of disparities existed between Asian residents and the indigenous population. The limited data that exists highlights that the Asian population are in a disproportionately greater need of kidney transplants.

Working with Alice: a reflection.

Reflective practice has become established within educational programmes and in clinical supervision. Yet what does it mean to be a reflective practitioner? This paper seeks to give some meaning to this concept by drawing on a story I wrote in my reflective journal one evening. My reflection on this event draws out key issues of practice and reflection that enable me to gain insight and apply to future practice within a reflexive learning spiral.

Therapeutic caring: a learning disability experience.

This paper is a reflective account of our experiences of giving Therapeutic Touch (TT), for the first time within a learning disability setting, to a client who has profound learning disabilities. Using a case study approach, we share our story of this pathfinder journey of discovery and show how the process of reflection was instrumental in enabling us to gain insight on the unfolding therapeutic and caring relationship which we developed with this client. Issues relating to informed consent were addressed, however these were complex and needed special consideration.

The influence of crank rate on peak oxygen consumption during arm crank ergometry.

The aim of this study was to assess the influence of three imposed crank rates on the attainment of peak oxygen consumption (VO2peak) and other physiological responses during incremental arm crank ergometry. Twenty physically active, although non-specifically trained, males volunteered for the study. They completed an exercise protocol using an electrically braked arm ergometer (Lode Angio, Groningen, Netherlands) at crank rates of 60, 70 and 80 rev x min(-1).

Development of reading proficiency in English by bilingual children and their monolingual peers.

The semantic, syntactic, and graphophonic cueing techniques employed by 55 bilingual children and 39 monolingual peers when reading aloud in English were identified through miscue analysis. In contrast to earlier research in 1999 by Cline and Cozens no significant differences were found between the two groups on any of the techniques. Both bilingual and monolingual readers consistently used more graphophonic cues than syntactic or semantic cues but not significantly so.

Rating of perceived exertion during high-intensity treadmill running.

Purpose: The purpose of this investigation was 1) to evaluate the time course of the rating of perceived exertion (RPE; 6-20 Borg scale) during short-term, high-intensity, constant-load running (ST); and 2) to determine the reproducibility of RPE during ST.

Methods: Fifteen well-trained males (VO2max = 58.0 +/- 4.

Removal of nail polish and finger rings to prevent surgical infection.

Background: Surgical wound infection may be caused by transfer of bacteria from the hands of the surgical team during operative procedures. Careful surgical scrubbing is therefore performed to reduce the number of bacteria on the skin. The wearing of finger rings and nail polish is thought to reduce the efficacy of the scrub as they are thought to harbour bacteria in microscopic imperfections of nail polish and on the skin beneath finger rings.

Conducting focus groups for health research among Asian communities: insights and experiences.

An exploratory qualitative study was undertaken in Luton to examine the issues that may underlie the severe shortage of organ donors from the United Kingdom's (UK) Asian population. To date, this subject area had not been researched within this sub-population of the UK. Thus, focus groups were employed as the initial stage of research to pre-test the applicability and validity of questions used in empirical studies undertaken within other cultural groups, and to allow the opportunity for new and unexpected issues to emerge.

Whole cell biosensors--electrochemical and optical approaches to ecotoxicity testing.

Two different approaches to the interrogation of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells have been explored, with the objective of developing biosensor based rapid ecotoxicity test protocols for use in a wide range of applications. Prokaryotic cells and some eukaryotic cell types lend themselves to interrogation by mediated amperometry, a technique that allows metabolic activity of the cell to be monitored by accessing cellular redox events with a chemical mediator. Reduction of the mediator by the cell is followed by re-oxidation at an electrode surface poised at a fixed potential.

Women users' views on the role and value of the practice nurse.

Aspects of the views of women aged 16-65 years on practice nurses in the primary health care setting are explored. The extent to which women consult practice nurses and the reasons for consultation are first identified. Women's assessments of practice nurses are then examined.

Differential scanning calorimetry studies of intraembryonic freezing and cryoprotectant penetration in zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos.

Nucleation temperatures of intraembryonic water and cryoprotectant penetration in zebrafish embryos were studied using differential scanning calorimetry. The effects of embryo developmental stage, dechorionation, partial removal of yolk, cooling rate, and cryoprotectant treatment on the temperatures of intraembryonic freezing were investigated. Embryo stages were found to have a significant effect on the nucleation temperatures of intact embryos.

The concept of care in male nurse work: an ontological hermeneutic study in acute hospitals.

Aims: The aims of the study were to facilitate reflection upon an aspect of practice chosen by the participants, to explore and analyse these experiences and compare them with current literature on the concept of care in nursing practice.

Background: The concept of care is commonly used in the attempt to define what is unique about the role of the nurse, and both nursing and the concept of care are frequently associated with womanhood. Little research has been undertaken in relation to male nurse experiences and views on the concept.

Intraocular pressure and vascular effects of sodium azide in bovine perfused eye.

The effects of the nitrovasodilator, sodium azide, on intraocular pressure (IOP) and ciliary vascular tone were compared. IOP was measured in the bovine isolated eye that was perfused via the ciliary artery. Separately, vasodilator effects were assessed after raising the vascular tone using noradrenaline (10 microM).

Effect of cooling rate and partial removal of yolk on the chilling injury in zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos.

High chilling sensitivity is one of the main obstacles to successful cryopreservation of zebrafish embryos. So far the nature of the chilling injury in fish embryos has not been clear. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of cooling rate and partial removal of yolk on chilling injury in zebrafish embryos.

Development of a charged-coupled device-based light-scattering instrument for the detection of C-reactive protein using particle-enhanced immunoassay.

A novel light-scattering instrument has been developed for rapid detection of immunoreactions in test latex particle-enhanced immunoassays. The detector consists of a flat-field grating and a charge-coupled device mounted on a rotating platform, and the detector measures a continuous spectrum from 350 nm to 735 nm at 440 polar angles with a resolution of 0.5 degrees.

Attentional processing and levels of symptomatology in Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD): a preliminary longitudinal study.

Design: The ability of performance on the emotional Stroop task to predict subsequent levels of symptomatology was examined within a longitudinal design in a group of individuals with SAD. Participants were tested in the winter when depressed and again in the summer when remitted.

Results: There was no change in emotional Stroop performance across the two time points.

The changing nature of organ procurement policies and the implications for the UK.

The shift away from socialized forms of welfare over the past twenty years has changed the symbolic basis on which bodily parts are exchanged. Titmuss viewed the newly-formed National Health Service in the United Kingdom as a vehicle for institutionalizing altruistic practices, notably the voluntary "gift" of blood to strangers represented by the transfusion service. More recent advances in medical technology have made new forms of bodily tissue donation possible, including the transplantation of whole organs.

Lipopolysaccharide and silica-stimulated mononuclear cell prostaglandin production in ulcerative colitis.

Basal, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and silica-stimulated prostaglandin (PG) production were compared between peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMNC) from UC patients and healthy subjects (HS). Basal and LPS-stimulated PBMNC PGI2, but not PGE2, production was greater in UC. LPS stimulated both PGE2 and PGI2 by PBMNC from HS and UC patients.