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Medical Researchers (medical + researcher)
Selected AbstractsNurses' decision-making in collecting information for the assessment of patients' nursing problemsJOURNAL OF CLINICAL NURSING, Issue 2 2002TARJA JUNNOLA MNSc ,,The paper addresses two questions: Firstly, what kind of information do nurses acquire from cancer patients for purposes of judging their patients' problems and preparing a care plan? Secondly, how systematically do nurses proceed in the decision-making process from the formulation of initial assumptions about the patient's situation to the final definition of problems? ,,The instrument used for data collection was a computer-simulated case description compiled by a team of four nursing researchers and one medical researcher. The case description was based on a real patient history. ,,The sample consisted of 107 Registered Nurses on four oncology, two internal medicine and five surgical wards of two central university hospitals in Finland. Data were collected in autumn 1998 and spring 1999 using a laptop computer and a tape recorder. ,,The four most important problems identified by nurses at baseline were pain (85%), pain medication (59%), family situation (66%) and spread of cancer (49%). Presented with a list of 23 options, they obtained additional information on average on 13 areas. Almost one-third collected information from 16 to 22 areas. On average nurses identified 12 of the 28 nursing problems specified. A statistically significant association was observed between information acquisition and problem definition in seven different variables. These had to do with pain, general condition and prognosis. ,,Nurses adequately prioritized their patients' problems and systematically collected data on those problems. On the other hand they also identified a number of problems that were not relevant to the situation. [source] Responses of jawbone to pressure,GERODONTOLOGY, Issue 2 2004Gunnar E. Carlsson Objective:, To provide a literature review of bone resorption of edentulous jaws focusing on responses to pressure. Background:, After the extraction of all teeth in a jaw there is a continuous reduction of the residual ridge. The individual variation of bone resorption is great, and the aetiology is complex and not yet well understood. Materials and methods:, A search of the literature published up to May 2003 on bone resorption and pressure was performed using PubMed/Medline. Results:, Animal studies have demonstrated that excessive and constant pressure induces bone resorption. Recent experimental research has indicated that bone resorption is a pressure-regulated phenomenon with a lower threshold for continuous than for intermittent pressure. Clinical studies have suggested that residual ridge resorption is due more to the effects of denture wearing than to disuse atrophy. However, the results of leaving out dentures at night are not conclusive. Nor does the literature offer any strong evidence for the so-called combination syndrome, which has been described as a result of unfavourable loading. Clinical studies using multivariate analyses indicate that female gender and systemic factors may be of greater importance than oral and denture factors. Implant-supported prostheses have a bone preserving effect rather than the continuing resorption under complete dentures. Conclusions:, The best way to reduce bone resorption is to avoid total extraction, preserve a few teeth and fabricate overdentures. In edentulous jaws, placement of implant-supported prostheses will lead to less bone loss and may even promote bone growth. To increase our knowledge of residual ridge resorption extended experimental, clinical and statistical methods will be needed, preferably including collaboration between dental and medical researchers. [source] Everyday objects of learning about health and healing and implications for science educationJOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 2 2006Wanja Gitari The role of science education in rural development is of great interest to science educators. In this study I investigated how residents of rural Kirumi, Kenya, approach health and healing, through discussions and semistructured and in-depth interviews with 150 residents, 3 local herbalists, and 2 medical researchers over a period of 6 months. I constructed objects of learning by looking for similarities and differences within interpretive themes. Objects of learning found comprise four types of personal learning tools, three types of relational learning tools, three genres of moral obligation, and five genres of knowledge guarding. Findings show that rural people use (among other learning tools) inner sensing to engage thought processes that lead to health and healing knowledge. The sociocultural context is also an important component in learning. Inner sensing and residents' sociocultural context are not presently emphasized in Kenyan science teaching. I discuss the potential use of rural objects of learning in school science, with specific reference to a health topic in the Kenyan science curriculum. In addition, the findings add to the literature in the Science, Technology, Society, and Environment (STSE) approach to science education, and cross-cultural and global science education. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 43: 172,193, 2006 [source] Favorable Impact of a Vegan Diet with Exercise on Hemorheology: Implications for Control of Diabetic NeuropathyJOURNAL OF THE PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEM, Issue 2 2003MF McCarty A little-noticed clinical report indicates that a low-fat, whole-food vegan diet, coupled with daily walking exercise, leads to rapid remission of neuropathic pain in the majority of type 2 diabetics expressing this complication. Concurrent marked improvements in glycemic control presumably contribute to this benefit, but are unlikely to be solely responsible. Consideration should be given to the possibility that improved blood rheology , decreased blood viscosity and increased blood filterability , plays a prominent role in mediating this effect. There is considerable evidence that neural hypoxia, secondary to impaired endoneurial microcirculatory perfusion, is a crucial etiologic factor in diabetic neuropathy; the unfavorable impact of diabetes on hemorheology would be expected to exacerbate endoneurial ischemia. Conversely, measures which improve blood fluidity would likely have a beneficial impact on diabetic neuropathy. There is indeed evidence that vegan diets, as well as exercise training, tend to decrease the viscosity of both whole blood and plasma; reductions in hematocrit and in fibrinogen may contribute to this effect. The fact that vegan diets decrease the white cell count is suggestive of an improvement in blood filterability as well; filterability improves with exercise training owing to an increase in erythrocyte deformability. Whether these measures influence the activation of leukocytes in diabetics , an important determinant of blood filterability , remains to be determined. There are various reasons for suspecting that a vegan diet can reduce risk for other major complications of diabetes , retinopathy, nephropathy, and macrovascular disease , independent of its tendency to improve glycemic control in type 2 patients. The vegan diet/exercise strategy represents a safe, ,low-tech' approach to managing diabetes that deserves far greater attention from medical researchers and practitioners. [source] Increased intakes of selenium-enriched foods may benefit human healthJOURNAL OF THE SCIENCE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE, Issue 9 2007John Weldon Finley Abstract Selenium is an essential nutrient and deficient intakes compromise health in domestic animals and humans. A recommended dietary allowance (RDA) of 55 µg d,1 has been set for adult males and females in the United States; most North Americans consume more than this amount, but many residents of Europe, Asia and Africa consume less. While there are very few reports of outright Se deficiency in people consuming mixed Western diets that have Se intakes below the RDA, there is evidence that dietary intakes of selenium greater than the requirement may help reduce the risk of cancer, especially prostate cancer, to men. Selenium metabolism depends on the chemical form of Se in the diet, and some forms are better for some actions (e.g., cancer reduction) than other forms. Foods may contain different amounts and chemical forms of Se; consequently the benefits of Se may depend on the particular foods consumed. There are many reports of the chemistry and health benefits of Se from plant foods; animal foods also contain Se, but there are fewer reported studies. Fully understanding the health benefits of Se that may be gained by consumption of Se-enriched foods will require multidisciplinary approaches by teams of medical researchers, chemists, nutritionists, and agricultural scientists. Copyright © 2007 Society of Chemical Industry [source] ON THE MORALITY OF GUINEA-PIG RECRUITMENTBIOETHICS, Issue 6 2010MIKHAIL VALDMAN ABSTRACT Can it be wrong to conduct medical research on human subjects even with their informed consent and even when the transaction between the subjects and researchers is expected to be mutually beneficial? This question is especially pressing today in light of the rise of a semi-professional class of ,guinea pigs', human research subjects that sell researchers a right of access to their bodies in exchange for money. Can these exchanges be morally problematic even when they are consensual and mutually beneficial? I argue that there are two general kinds of concern one can have about such transactions , concerns about the nature of what is sold and concerns about the conditions in which the selling occurs. The former involves worries about degradation and the possible wrongness of selling a right of access to one's body. These worries, I argue, are not very serious. The latter involves worries about coercion, exploitation, and undue influence , about how, by virtue of their ignorance, impulsiveness, or desperation, guinea pigs can be taken advantage of by medical researchers. These worries are quite serious but I argue that, at least in cases where the exchange between guinea pigs and researchers is consensual and mutually beneficial, they do not raise insurmountable moral problems. [source] | ||||||||||