An evaluation of a rehabilitation workshop

Staff awareness of the steps involved in rehabilitation was assessed before and after a multidisciplinary workshop concerned with the aims, methods and principles of rehabilitation in psychiatry. Results were compared with similar assessments derived from a matched control group which was not exposed to any educational programme. The data suggest severe limitations in staff performance on the rehabilitation problem solving task which was used. Performance was not improved by the workshop, and the limitations of staff opinion as measures of the educational value of the workshop were clearly demonstrated. These results are consistent with other findings, and demonstrate the need to evaluate educational programmes provided in the Health Services.     

THE INVOLVEMENT OF PARENTS WITH THEIR INTELLECTUALLY HANDICAPPED CHILDREN IN INSTITUTIONS — RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT

Taken from a report submitted to Cumberland College of Health Sciences, Sydney, as part of the requirements of the Bachelor of Applied Science in Occupational Therapy     

Teratology Studies of Compound Lyn 171883 Administered Orally to Rats and Rabbits

Teratology Studies of Compound LY171883 Administered Orallyto Rats and Rabbits. HA-GOPIAN, G. S., HOOVER, D. M., AND MARKHAM,J. K. (1988). Fundam Appl Toxicol. 10, 672–681. The teratogenicpotential of the leukotriene antagonist LY171883, a novel antiasthmaagent, was investigated in CD rats and Dutch Belted rabbits.Mated female rats were dosed with 0, 10, 65, or 425 mg/kg/dayon gestation days 6 through 15 and killed on gestation day 20.Mated female rabbits were dosed with 0, 20, 65, or 200 mg/kg/dayon gestation days 6 through 18 and killed on gestation day 28.Maternal toxicity was indicated at 425 mg/kg in rats and 200mg/kg in rabbits by depressed body weight gain and food consumption.In the rabbit study four abortions occurred at 200 mg/kg, mostlikely secondarily to maternal toxicity. LY171883 did not causeembryo/fetal toxicity or teratogenicity in rats or rabbits atdoses up to and including those that were maternally toxic.     

Metabolic disturbance and sensitivity to endotoxin in patients with advanced cancer: relationship to lymphocyte reactivity, tumour necrosis factor (TNF) production and survival

Increased TNF production and impaired lymphocyte function have been individually linked with metabolic disturbance, endotoxaemia and mortality in humans. The inter-relationship between these observations was investigated in humans with cancer. In 13 patients with metastatic colorectal cancer and seven healthy volunteers, observations (n = 23) included peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) TNF production, IL-2 production and phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) response; the acute-phase protein response (APPR) (serum C-reactive protein (CRP), albumin, CRP/albumin ratio), and survival. APPR correlated with survival (CRP, r = −0.689, P = 0.006; CRP/albumin, r = −0.758, P = 0.002; albumin, r = 0.655, P = 0.011), but not with TNF production. TNF production in response to in vitro endotoxin correlated with impaired lymphocyte function in patients (r = 0.567, P = 0.043) and in the whole group (r = 0.65, P = 0.001). The ratio (basal PBMC TNF production)/(lymphocyte function) correlated with CRP (r = 0.569, P = 0.042), CRP/albumin (r = 0.617, P = 0.025), endotoxin sensitivity (r = 0.567, P = 0.043) and survival (r = −0.545, P = 0.038) in patients, and the whole group (P<0.002). Impaired lymphocyte function may influence TNF production, endotoxin sensitivity and metabolic disturbance in humans with cancer. (r = Spearman correlation coefficient.)