Gastrointestinal tract: dynamic MR studies with echo-planar imaging

Gastrointestinal (GI) tract motility was depicted in four human volunteers with the high-speed echo-planar imaging technique: modulus blipped echo-planar single-pulse technique (MBEST). Data acquisition times of 64 and 128 msec obviate image degradation due to motion without the need for gut paralysis and allow imaging of the GI tract in real time. Peristaltic patterns of the gastric antrum and proximal small intestine were depicted for fasting and fed subjects and subjects in whom peristalsis had been pharmacologically stimulated. The potential for quantitative measurements of GI tract motion with this new technique was demonstrated.     

The Entire Life: Nursing's Obligation to Bring Truth to the Death Penalty Debate

The author explores the costs and impact of capital punishment on society's ability to address social ills that precede criminal behavior–lack of access to health care, child abuse, domestic violence, drug addictions, and poverty. Two case studies are used to demonstrate that the death penalty is applied arbitrarily against the disadvantaged, the mentally ill, and the retarded. The author asserts that nurses must not support killing people, and challenges nurses to find ways to address community health issues to provide alternatives to capital punishment.     

Prognosis of black children with acute lymphocytic leukemia.

To assess the racial differences in survival of children with acute lymphocytic leukemia, we analyzed data for 1,675 white and 126 black children, diagnosed from 1955 to 1969. Blacks had a significantly shorter median survival and lower one-year and three-year survival rates than whites. There was substantial variation in racial differences by age. In addition, much of the variation between races seemed to be due to socioeconimic factors rather than strictly racial ones. Identification of the specific factors responsible for the poorer survival of children from lower social classes is sorely needed.     

Red cell membrane deformability: new data

Red cells arrested by fine fibers and subjected to drag forces in a moving stream of fluid can be stressed beyond the point of rupture. The technique, which is basically an in vitro analogue of the microangiopathic hemolytic state, thus permits a study of red cell behavior over the entire range of stress that the membrane can withstand. Measurements made by this approach show an exponential relationship between the velocity of fluid flow and the resultant membrane deformation. Such exponential membrane deformation is consistent with the morphology of red cell fragments and appears to explain their mechanism of formation.     

Medical-legal issues of mild traumatic brain injury

Numerous concussions/mild traumatic brain injuries occur each year during athletic participation by a variety of athletes not only in the United States but around the globe. A variety of standards-type statements have been developed by various athletic and sports medicine groups that can be used to improve and standardize the diagnosis and treatment of these injuries. These standards can also be used to assist practitioners in sports medicine clearance for participation and return-to-play decisions. In a medical-legal arena these statements can be used to support the care that is provided to athletes and thus serve as a “shield” to medical-legal claims and suits. However, these standards can also be used to attack the service that is provided and then be used as a “sword.” Legal issues surrounding standards statements regarding these injuries and the diagnosis and management of them should be recognized and appreciated by sports medicine providers and used to balance the applicable medical and legal risks associated with their practices.