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Biomedical subjects

P Draper

Publications and source records attributed to P Draper.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Quality of life as quality of being: an alternative to the subject-object dichotomy.

The opening section of this paper is concerned with certain questions concerning the concept 'quality of life'. Is it possible for one person to make judgements about the quality of life of another? If it is possible, then is it morally acceptable? Given that quality of life is a concept and therefore not amenable to direct observation, which visible phenomena will be chosen as its indicators, and how can their choice be justified? Do the components of a life of quality vary from person to person, or can features be identified which are common to all? Next, it is argued that instruments which have been developed to measure quality of life give clues to the ontological beliefs of their authors; those which address fragments of the human experience, or accept the artificial limits of the subjective/objective dichotomy, are expressive of a fractured and reductionist view of what it means to be a human being. Finally, it is suggested that the adoption of insights drawn from Heidegger's work would enable us to develop a rather more unified view of quality of life as quality of being, and that this theoretical principle might constitute a common link between nurses of varying professional backgrounds.

Attitude↗
PubMed1991

The ideal and the real: some thoughts on theoretical developments in British nursing.

Two types of nursing theory are described: the realistic, whose purpose is to account for the complex reality of nursing; and the idealistic, whose purpose is to describe an idealized world of nursing as it 'ought to be'. It is argued that British nurses have overemphasized the importance of idealistic theory, and that this has retarded the development of our understanding of the real world of nursing. I recommend that the hermeneutical approach, as described by Gadamer (1989) might provide a base from which the balance might be redressed.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed1991

Childhood experience, interpersonal development, and reproductive strategy: and evolutionary theory of socialization.

The concept of "reproductive strategy" drawn from the field of behavioral ecology is applied to the study of childhood experience and interpersonal development in order to develop an evolutionary theory of socialization. The theory is presented in terms of 2 divergent development pathways considered to promote reproductive success in the contexts in which they have arisen. One is characterized, in childhood, by a stressful rearing environment and the development of insecure attachments to parents and subsequent behavior problems; in adolescence by early pubertal development and precocious sexuality; and, in adulthood, by unstable pair bonds and limited investment in child rearing, whereas the other is characterized by the opposite. The relation between this theory and prevailing theories of socialization, specifically, attachment, social-learning, and discrete-emotions theory, is considered and research consistent with our evolutionary theory is reviewed. Finally, directions for future research are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Change in nursing and the introduction of the support worker.

Many changes have occurred in the British nursing profession over the last 15 years, including the introduction of the nursing process, the change in emphasis to holistic care, the contemporary focus on wellness rather than illness, models of nursing, primary nursing and Project 2000. These changes are discussed as the outcome of the interaction between groups of nurses of various ideological persuasions. Firstly, the ideologies of professionalism, bureaucracy and paramedicine are identified and described. Next, the historical relationship between these ideological groups is discussed. The paramedical ideology, as an expression within nursing of the controlling power of the medical profession, dominated nursing for many years. Its position was maintained through means that included the division of labour (as seen in task allocation) and the control of knowledge (as seen in a medically modelled nursing curriculum). More recently, however, the professionalists have gained the upper hand. In the paper, each of the changes identified above is seen as part of a strategy of professionalisation. The main thrust of this strategy has been to reunite the divided nursing function, and to redefine the nature of nursing knowledge through the development of nursing theory. The introduction of the support worker grade is an attempt to consolidate professionalist control by re-dividing nursing labour between the stages of the nursing process, with professional nurses being responsible for care planning, while support workers undertake its delivery. The professionalists can now be described as an occupational hegemony.

Humans↗
PubMed1990

The development of theory in British nursing: current position and future prospects.

This paper is concerned with the development of theory in the discipline of nursing as it is practised in Great Britain. It stems from dissatisfaction with the generally uncritical adoption by British nurses of models of nursing which have been developed to explain and enhance North American practice. After the introductory paragraph, four roles for nursing theory are proposed. These are: to define nursing by describing nursing phenomena; to form a realistic basis for curriculum design; to provide tools for the professional practice of nursing; and to provide a nursing language. It is then argued that although British nurses have recognized the need for an adequate theoretical basis for practice, their response has been rather uncritical adoption of American models of nursing. As a basis for practice, it is argued that American models generally fail to meet the needs described above, and therefore fail to have impact on clinical work. Structural and philosophical reasons for this failure are identified. Following a brief discussion of the inductive and deductive approaches to the development of theory, the paper closes with the argument that British nurses should be concerned with the development of new theory which, if grounded in the reality of practice, would be likely to be both useful and realistic.

Curriculum↗
PubMed1990

Personality development in the evolutionary perspective.

A relationship between personality processes and evolution can be seen when behaviors associated with sexual maturation, mating, and parenting are examined. This article stipulates the types of proximal cues implicated in the shaping of personality variables that become important in the development of the individual's reproductive behavior.

Biological Evolution↗
PubMed1990

Estimating parity of parents: application to the history of infertility among the !Kung of Southern Africa.

We derive a method for interpreting information about the reproductive performance of mothers of a sample of informants and apply it to the history of low fertility among the !Kung of the Kalahari desert of southern Africa. The method formalizes the commonsense procedure of weighting mothers with 1 birth by 1, with 2 births by 1/2, with 3 births by 1/3, etc. An expression for the confidence interval of the estimate of mean completed fertility of fertile women in the mothers' cohort is given. Several independent studies show that !Kung women have low fertility, with a population average completed family size of slightly over 4. Our method, applied to the cohort of old informants, shows that fertility is comparable among !Kung women, mothers of old informants, who were born in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. If the cause is an endemic infectious disease of long standing in this region, there are important implications for the history of southern and central Africa.

Africa, Southern↗
PubMed1989

Biosynthesis of phenolic glycolipids in M. microti.

Mycobacterium microti readily incorporates radioactive propionate into phenolic glycolipids and phthiocerol dimycocerosates. This process is inhibited by 2- and 3-fluoropropionic acids at concentrations which do not affect overall growth. Incorporation is also inhibited by N-(phosphonomethyl) glycine, an inhibitor of the synthesis of aromatic units, but only at high concentrations which also inhibit bacterial growth.

Antigens, Bacterial↗
PubMed1987

Peptidoglycan and arabinogalactan of Mycobacterium leprae.

The arabinogalactan and peptidoglycan of armadillo-grown Mycobacterium leprae were examined. Within the limits defined by the small amount of material available, the resemblance of these polymers to those of other mycobacteria was confirmed. The polymers were linked by a highly acid-labile bond and the arabinogalactan was itself acid-labile; free arabinose and a variety of oligosaccharides containing both arabinose and galactose, as well as polysaccharide and peptidoglycan, were released by dilute acid. The resonances from anomeric protons in the proton NMR spectrum of the arabinogalactan were similar to those from the arabinogalactan of M. tuberculosis. The composition and structure of the peptidoglycan resembled those of other mycobacteria. The only major difference was the specific replacement of L-alanine by glycine in the peptide of the peptidoglycan.

Cell Wall↗
PubMed1987

Efficacy of perfluorodecalin as an oxygen carrier for mouse and rat testes perfused in vitro.

Perfluorodecalin is a superior artificial oxygen carrier because of its high oxygen dissolving capacity, low toxicity, and short retention times within tissues. However, the instability of perfluorodecalin emulsions has hindered its application in blood substitutes. The present study addressed two questions. First, is perfluorodecalin deleterious to the endocrine function of testes? This question was examined by comparing testosterone secretion by testes perfused in vitro with medium incorporating either perfluorodecalin or erythrocytes as oxygen carriers. Second, can stable emulsions of perfluorodecalin be attained with the new surfactant Butronic U-1? This question was approached by determining the stability of perfluorodecalin emulsions containing either Butronic U-1 or Pluronic F-68, a proven ineffective surfactant. The experimental results support the efficacy of perfluorodecalin emulsions as oxygen carriers for mouse and rat testes perfused in vitro. Perfluorodecalin emulsions formed with Butronic U-1 were stable during the 4-hr perfusions but not during long-term storage.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

A cooperative taxonomic study of mycobacteria isolated from armadillos infected with Mycobacterium leprae.

Seventeen strains of mycobacteria, recovered from six armadillos experimentally infected with Mycobacterium leprae, were examined in ten different laboratories. This collaborative study included use of conventional bacteriological tests, lipid analyses, determination of mycobactins and peptidoglycans, characterization by Py-MS, and immunological, metabolic, pathological and DNA studies. These armadillo-derived mycobacteria (ADM) formed five homogeneous groups (numbered ADM 1 to 5) on the basis of phenetic analyses. However, DNA studies revealed only four homogeneous groups since group ADM 1 and one of the two strains in group ADM 3 showed a high level of DNA relatedness. The phenetic and DNA studies confirmed that the ADM strains differed from all other known mycobacteria. Cultural, biochemical, metabolic and pathogenic properties as well as DNA-DNA hybridizations clearly differentiated these ADM from M. leprae.

Amino Acids↗
PubMed1986

Separation of Mycobacterium leprae from contamination with armadillo-liver-derived "pigment" particles.

Mycobacterium leprae isolated from armadillo liver by the widely used IMMLEP protocol is sometimes contaminated with a particulate "pigment." This paper describes a simple, efficient, and rapid method for purifying large quantities of contaminated bacteria, which may readily be used as an additional step added at the end of the protocol when necessary. The process involves a discontinuous Percoll gradient and generates an essentially pure fraction containing greater than 90% of the original bacteria, and a fraction of "pigment" slightly contaminated with bacteria. Use of the system should release large additional numbers of pure M. leprae suitable for use in human vaccine trials.

Animals↗