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At least 937 records · Page 52Linked to original sources

PubMed2004

Exploring physicians' comfort level with opioids for chronic noncancer pain.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the attitudes of family physicians (FPs) toward the use of opioids in the management of chronic noncancer pain (CNCP) in the Calgary Health Region (CHR), Calgary, Alberta. METHODS: From January to February 2003, random samples of 147 FPs (32 were used to pretest the instrument and were therefore excluded from the findings) and 142 specialists practicing in the CHR were invited to participate in a 20 min survey to explore aspects of CNCP management in the CHR. Physicians' comfort in prescribing opioids and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for CNCP was measured on a four-point ordinal scale. The specialists' subgroup served as a quasi-control group. In addition, a short version of the survey was provided for those physicians who declined to fully partake in the study. This allowed the researchers to compare important characteristics between respondents and nonrespondents. RESULTS: A total of 125 physicians (63 FPs and 62 specialists) participated in the study. The overall response rate was 48.6% and response rates for FPs and specialists were 54.8% and 43.7%, respectively. Response rates for the long version of the survey were 42.6% for FPs (n=49), 31.6% for other specialists (n=45) and 36.6% for both combined. The majority of FPs and specialists (98% and 71.1%, respectively) reported that 'they can handle' nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, Tylenol No 3 with Codeine (Janssen-Ortho/McNeil Consumer Healthcare, Canada) (95.9% and 64.4%, respectively), morphine/MS Contin (Purdue Pharma, Canada) (61.2% and 24.4%, respectively) and Percocet (Bristol-Myers Squibb, Canada)/OxyContin (Purdue Pharma, Canada) (61.2% and 33.3%, respectively). Fewer FPs and specialists report that 'they can handle' Dilaudid (Abbott Laboratories, Canada)/Hydromorph Contin (Purdue Pharma, Canada) (36.7% and 13.3%, respectively), fentanyl patch (30.6% and 11.1%, respectively) and methadone (0% and 6.7%, respectively). Male FPs reported a greater degree of comfort than female FPs regarding morphine/MS Contin, Percocet/OxyContin and Dilaudid/ Hydromorph Contin (Mann-Whitney U tested at alpha <or=0.05). No sex differences were detected among specialists. No relationship was detected between comfort and years of practice or number of chronic pain patients in practice. Among specialists, a weak positive relationship was detected between the degree of comfort with methadone (Spearman's rank correlation coefficient=0.35, alpha=0.03) and the significance of pain management in the practice. Except for methodone, the FPs reported a higher confidence with the drugs in question compared with specialists (alpha <or=0.05). CONCLUSIONS: FPs in the CHR need to increase their comfort level toward opioids in general to adequately manage CNCP. Their lack of comfort may reflect a lack of education or fear of regulatory scrutiny.

Alberta↗

PubMed1992

The use of ultrasonography as the initial diagnostic exploration in blunt renal trauma.

Fifty-four patients with blunt renal trauma underwent abdominal ultrasound as their initial diagnostic exploration if their hemodynamic status and associated injuries did not contraindicate unnecessary delays. Renal ultrasound allowed us to diagnose the injuries and to identify which patients required a more aggressive radiological exploration to obtain a diagnosis of certainty. At the same time we were able to certify that this technique is highly accurate in the diagnosis of lesions associated with gross hematuria. The noninvasiveness and low cost of this procedure makes it, in our experience, the technique of choice in the initial workup of blunt renal trauma.

Adult↗

PubMed1995

Alexithymia: a further exploration of its nomological network.

The present studies were designed in order to obtain a better understanding of the nomological network of the alexithymia concept. In study I, the links between alexithymia, coping, and self-rated health were explored. As predicted, strong negative correlations were found between alexithymia and the expression of emotions, daydreams and fantasies, and planful and rational actions. Contrary to expectations, no clear associations were found with self-reported health status. In study II, the focus was on links with personality, temperament, and self-reported (susceptibility to) homesickness. Although some correlations reached statistical significance, all were rather modest. The most remarkable finding was the independence of alexithymia and neuroticism. In study III, the associations between alexithymia and aspects of love experiences were examined, again yielding low correlations. It is concluded that alexithymia is relatively independent of temperament and personality. In addition, it is suggested that the association between alexithymia and the experience of positive emotions deserves further exploration.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2002

Iatrogenic symptoms in psychotherapy. A theoretical exploration of the potential impact of labels, language, and belief systems.

Although the mental health professions are effective in ameliorating personal distress, treatment can sometimes have negative consequences. The authors explore causal mechanisms for iatrogenic symptoms in therapy by discussing the processes by which clients may be socialized into therapy and the potential impact that psychiatric labels and language may have in influencing clients' self-perceptions. The authors review research that has examined possible negative effects of psychiatric labels and then examine other forms of language, categorization, and conceptualizations that may contribute to negative effects in therapy. Iatrogenic symptoms may originate through the over-reliance on a belief system within which therapists interpret, reinterpret, or label clients' characteristics or distress as pathological. Therapeutic communication that emphasizes pejorative language may introduce clients to this belief system. Iatrogenic symptoms may also provide clients and therapists with secondary gains. Possible approaches for minimizing iatrogenic symptoms are explored.

Culture↗

PubMed1979

Intraoral transmission of Streptococcus mutans by a dental explorer.

A streptomycin-resistant strain of S. mutans was introduced into the mouth as adherent growth on an artificial fissure (AF). A second AF, which was initially sterile, was placed in a crown on the opposite side of the dentition. The labeled strain was not found in 8 initially-sterile AFs which were left in vivo for 2 to 6 days and were not examined with a dental explorer. The labeled strain was detected in 7 of 9 initially-sterile AFs which were probed with the dental explorer.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

An exploration of nursing home organizational processes.

The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between nursing home staffs' perceptions of organizational processes (communication, teamwork, and leadership) with characteristics (turnover, tenure, and educational preparation) of the nursing home administrator (NHA) and director of nursing (DON). NHAs and DONs rate communication, teamwork, and leadership significantly higher than direct care staff do (registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, certified nurse aides [CNAs]). CNAs have the lowest ratings of communication and teamwork. Turnover of the NHA and DON is significantly and negatively associated with communication and teamwork. Two thirds of DONs surveyed hold less than a baccalaureate degree; this does not influence staffs' ratings of communication, teamwork, and leadership. Findings from this study highlight the need to explore differences in perceptions between administrative and direct care staff and how these may or may not influence staff development and quality improvement activities in nursing homes.

Administrative Personnel↗

PubMed1991

The Space Exploration Initiative: a challenge to advanced life support technologies: keynote presentation.

President Bush has enunciated an unparalleled, open-ended commitment to human exploration of space called the Space Exploration Initiative (SEI). At the heart of the SEI is permanent human presence beyond Earth orbit, which implies a new emphasis on life science research and life support system technology. Proposed bioregenerative systems for planetary surface bases will require carefully designed waste processing elements whose development will lead to streamlined and efficient and efficient systems for applications on Earth.

Ecological Systems, Closed↗

PubMed1996

Quality of life and the human becoming theory: exploring discipline-specific contributions.

This article explores the concept of quality of life. Current understandings of quality of life are considered in relation to the notion of discipline-specificity. The authors contend that different disciplines require distinct definitions of quality of life and that research which informs practitioners about quality of life needs to be discipline-specific and theory-based. The contribution of the human becoming theory to knowledge and understanding of quality of life in nursing science is explored, drawing on insights from theory-guided practice and research.

Human Development↗

PubMed1997

Expanding self-awareness through exploration of meaningful experience.

In a phenomenological investigation of nurses' meaningful experiences with patients, the author continued investigation of caregiver/patient interaction reported in two previous studies of confirmation and exclusion. Exploration of meaningful experience is presented as an avenue for greater self-awareness for the caregiver. Findings include description of study participants' lived meaningful experiences and the essential structures of experiencing meaningfulness. The lived meaningful experiences were characterized by intense emotion, implicit experiencing, and relating. The essential structures of experiencing meaningfulness were found to be a temporal process of reflecting and articulating the discovery of self and the function of meaningful experience as a template for both future and past experiences. Expanded self-understanding through exploration of meaningful experience is discussed for its significance in nursing practice and education.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

The life course of activity limitations: exploring indicators of functional limitations over time.

OBJECTIVE: To strengthen the foundations for the use of survey-based measures of functional limitations and to explore associations between limitations in a variety of activities across the adult life course. METHOD: Five panels of data from the young and mature women's cohorts of the National Longitudinal Surveys are used to (a) examine patterns of limitations in activities as women age, (b) compare how limitations develop over the life course, (c) explore how limitations in one activity are associated with limitations in others, and (d) investigate whether limitations develop incrementally or occur in clusters. RESULTS: We find that scales of functional limitations are not dependent on the age of the respondent, activity limitations emerge in clusters, and relationships between items do not consistently fall into upper and lower body groups. DISCUSSION: Scales of functional limitations are equally applicable to younger and older women, but further research is needed to compare substantive results using different methods of scale construction.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed2004

Self-sampling in screening to reduce mortality from colorectal cancer: a qualitative exploration of the decision to complete a faecal occult blood test (FOBT).

OBJECTIVE: To explore beliefs that might impact upon public reactions to a proposed population level faecal occult blood test (FOBT) screening invitation and acceptability of completing an FOBT home self-sampling kit. METHODS: Four focus groups were conducted to explore men and women's beliefs about colorectal cancer risk, their understanding of screening and reactions to an FOBT kit. Participants were shown a kit and permitted to examine it during the focus groups. RESULTS: Colorectal cancer is viewed as having severe quality of life impacts and is commonly regarded as being caused by diet. Faecal blood is an expected symptom. A home self-sampling kit is viewed as highly acceptable, but some concerns were raised about collecting and storing faecal matter. CONCLUSIONS: The main implications for public education arising from the analysis were firstly, that communications regarding the potential to avoid quality of life impacts of colorectal cancer may motivate participation; secondly, that public education might address the ability of the test to detect asymptomatic abnormalities, in particular occult (as opposed to visible) blood; thirdly, in order to prevent avoidance responses to fear, communications need to emphasise that many abnormal test outcomes will not be cancer and early treatment may prevent cancer and associated adverse quality of life impacts; fourthly, that uptake may be promoted by emphasising messages that the test kit is very convenient; and finally, that instruction leaflets might minimise procedural concerns by suggesting simple and easy methods to collect and store faecal samples.

Attitude to Health↗

PubMed1999

Ethical considerations in qualitative research with vulnerable groups: exploring lesbians' and gay men's experiences of health care--a personal perspective.

It is rare to find honest accounts of the difficulties and dilemmas encountered when conducting sensitive research with vulnerable research populations. This account explores some of the ethical issues raised by a qualitative interview study with lesbians and gay men about their experiences of nursing care. There is tension between the moral duty to conduct research with vulnerable and stigmatized groups in order to improve care, and the inevitable lack of resources that go with such a venture. This increases the risk of harm during the process of research. The risk of harm to both the researchers and the researched is explored and the need for a support structure for both groups is raised. There is a pressing need to develop further understanding about the ways in which the dissemination of research can potentially harm already vulnerable research populations.

Attitude to Health↗

PubMed2007

Exploring the relationship between senior management team culture and hospital performance.

The purpose of this study was to explore relationships between senior management team culture and organizational performance in English hospital organizations (NHS trusts [National Health Service]). We used an established culture-rating instrument, the Competing Values Framework, to assess senior management team culture. Organizational performance was assessed using a wide variety of routinely collected measures. Data were gathered from all English NHS acute hospital trusts, a total of 197 organizations. Multivariate econometric analyses were used to explore the associations between measures of culture and measures of performance using regressions, ANOVA, multinomial logit, and ordered probit. Organizational culture varied across hospital organizations, and at least some of this variation was associated in consistent and predictable ways with a variety of organizational characteristics and measures of performance. The findings provide particular support for a contingent relationship between culture and performance.

Cross-Sectional Studies↗

PubMed2003

'Why are there so many drums playing until dawn?' Exploring the role of Gamba spirits and healers in the post-war recovery period in Gorongosa, Central Mozambique.

In the wake of a civil war, local resources can play a potential role in shaping the recovery process by providing both old and new exegeses for the disturbing effects of the past. Using the case of Gorongosa, this article aims to explore the ways in which the war has impacted upon traditional medicine by creating Gamba spirits that cause havoc but can also transform the psychosocial hurts of war survivors. Historically, traditional healing practice was under the sole responsibility of the Dzoca, an ancestral spirit that for generations was embodied in living people through lineage descent to exercise its healing powers. There is consensus among healers that the Gamba spirit and healers emerged after the war and are rapidly spreading throughout Gorongosa. I explore the emic theories to explain the Gamba's puzzling origins and the role they are currently playing in Gorongosa.

Cultural Characteristics↗

PubMed2006

Exploring the self-concepts of persons with intellectual disabilities.

This study explores the self-concepts of Hong Kong Chinese with intellectual disabilities. Face-to-face and individual interviews were conducted in Cantonese, using the Chinese version of the Adult Source of Self-Esteem Inventory (ASSEI) together with three open-ended questions to explore the participants' self-conceptions in different life domains. An opportunity sample of 135 young adults with intellectual disabilities was interviewed. The findings showed that the family self, the social self and achievement in school and work were the self-concept attributes most important to the participants. The participants of this study had a higher total self-concept than that of a comparison group of people without disabilities when the participants used the in-group social comparison to maintain positive self-perception. The importance of partnership with family, self-concept enhancement strategies and quality employment service are discussed in order to facilitate people with intellectual disabilities to develop more positive self-concepts and thus achieve better community integration.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

Boron workers in China: exploring work and lifestyle factors related to boron exposure.

This article describes the lifestyle patterns of boron mining and processing workers (N=936) and a comparison group (N=251) in northeast China, and explores relationships between boron exposure and reproductive health. An English version of an interview guide addressing areas of work and lifestyle relevant to boron exposure and metabolism was developed by an occupational health research team, translated to Chinese, and translated back, for clarity. Modifications incorporated suggestions from a local community advisory board and boron industry workers; the translation-back translation process was reapplied, and cultural and semantic equivalence was attained. Results from the interviews showed more than 64% of workers and comparison group participants smoked tobacco and more than 92% reported exposure to environmental tobacco smoke. Boron workers and the comparison group varied in their food intake and alcohol consumption, but not in their smoking habits. Thirty-four percent of boron workers reported eating in the contaminated work area. Nearly all boron workers (99%) showered or bathed after work, although approximately 10% redressed in their contaminated clothes. Reproductive health outcomes were explored, including delayed pregnancy, multiple births, spontaneous miscarriages, induced abortions, stillbirths, and an unusual ratio of male to female offspring. Implications for occupational health nurses and recommendations for future research are provided.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

A database and tool, IM Browser, for exploring and integrating emerging gene and protein interaction data for Drosophila.

BACKGROUND: Biological processes are mediated by networks of interacting genes and proteins. Efforts to map and understand these networks are resulting in the proliferation of interaction data derived from both experimental and computational techniques for a number of organisms. The volume of this data combined with the variety of specific forms it can take has created a need for comprehensive databases that include all of the available data sets, and for exploration tools to facilitate data integration and analysis. One powerful paradigm for the navigation and analysis of interaction data is an interaction graph or map that represents proteins or genes as nodes linked by interactions. Several programs have been developed for graphical representation and analysis of interaction data, yet there remains a need for alternative programs that can provide casual users with rapid easy access to many existing and emerging data sets. DESCRIPTION: Here we describe a comprehensive database of Drosophila gene and protein interactions collected from a variety of sources, including low and high throughput screens, genetic interactions, and computational predictions. We also present a program for exploring multiple interaction data sets and for combining data from different sources. The program, referred to as the Interaction Map (IM) Browser, is a web-based application for searching and visualizing interaction data stored in a relational database system. Use of the application requires no downloads and minimal user configuration or training, thereby enabling rapid initial access to interaction data. IM Browser was designed to readily accommodate and integrate new types of interaction data as it becomes available. Moreover, all information associated with interaction measurements or predictions and the genes or proteins involved are accessible to the user. This allows combined searches and analyses based on either common or technique-specific attributes. The data can be visualized as an editable graph and all or part of the data can be downloaded for further analysis with other tools for specific applications. The database is available at http://proteome.wayne.edu/PIMdb.html CONCLUSION: The Drosophila Interactions Database described here places a variety of disparate data into one easily accessible location. The database has a simple structure that maintains all relevant information about how each interaction was determined. The IM Browser provides easy, complete access to this database and could readily be used to publish other sets of interaction data. By providing access to all of the available information from a variety of data types, the program will also facilitate advanced computational analyses.

Database Management Systems↗

PubMed2006

Exploration of biological network centralities with CentiBiN.

BACKGROUND: The elucidation of whole-cell regulatory, metabolic, interaction and other biological networks generates the need for a meaningful ranking of network elements. Centrality analysis ranks network elements according to their importance within the network structure and different centrality measures focus on different importance concepts. Central elements of biological networks have been found to be, for example, essential for viability. RESULTS: CentiBiN (Centralities in Biological Networks) is a tool for the computation and exploration of centralities in biological networks such as protein-protein interaction networks. It computes 17 different centralities for directed or undirected networks, ranging from local measures, that is, measures that only consider the direct neighbourhood of a network element, to global measures. CentiBiN supports the exploration of the centrality distribution by visualising central elements within the network and provides several layout mechanisms for the automatic generation of graphical representations of a network. It supports different input formats, especially for biological networks, and the export of the computed centralities to other tools. CONCLUSION: CentiBiN helps systems biology researchers to identify crucial elements of biological networks. CentiBiN including a user guide and example data sets is available free of charge at http://centibin.ipk-gatersleben.de/. CentiBiN is available in two different versions: a Java Web Start application and an installable Windows application.

Computer Graphics↗