Effects of Tactile Stimulation on Premature Infant Weight Gain

A study was conducted to determine the effect of continuous tactile stimulation on weight gain in premature infants. Thirty infants made up the sample. The experimental group received continuous tactile stimulation by being placed on a pile decubitus pad for a five-day period. Infants in the control group received routine nursery care. Both groups were weighed daily on the same scale. Analysis of covariance was used to analyze the data, which resulted in a failure to reject the hypotheses of no difference.     

Participation in Prepared Childbirth Baccalaureate Nursing Education

Nurses need to meet consumer demands for quality maternal-infant health care. To meet this need, the College of Nursing faculty at the University of Florida included prepared childbirth classes as a clinical experience in a BSN program. Each student works with a client couple in an ambulatory care setting to provide complete and individualized nursing care through the final weeks of pregnancy, the labor and delivery experience, and for a brief period postpartum. How this program facilitates students' development of a holistic approach to maternal-infant nursing and increases the quality of health care for expectant parents is described.     

Serum Gamma-glutamyltransferase: an epidemiological indicator of alcohol consumption?

Relations between the alcohol consumption of a population and the prevalence of elevated serum gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) were studied. Based on empirical data on the prevalance of elevated GGT within different alcohol consumption intervals and the Ledermann theory, relations between mean alcohol consumption of a population and GGT were deduced. Data from other studies were used to verify the relations. The results indicated that the percentage of subjects with elevated GGT in a selected population might be used to gain information about the alcohol consumption of the population.     

An International Perspective on the Cholesterol Debate

For the past 5 years there has been an intensive debate anda number of conflicting guidelines suggesting what general practitioners(GPs) should do to screen and manage hyperlipidaemia. At a WONCAseminar in Vancouver in 1992, policies and guidelines from Canada,the UK, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Hong Kong and the USAwere reviewed. It was concluded that cholesterol policy andguidelines tend to be influenced more by political and economicfactors than by evidence of health benefit. International guidelinesfor cholesterol screening and management would be of minimalvalue, as GPs would have to interpret the epidemiological evidenceof benefit from lipid screening and lipid lowering strategyin the context of each patient to arrive at optimum management.     

THE PATTERN OF K-rasMUTATION IN PULMONARY ADENOCARCINOMA DEFINES A NEW PATHWAY OF TUMOUR DEVELOPMENT IN THE HUMAN LUNG

Codon 12 of the K-ras oncogene was screened for mutations in 65 surgically-resected primary pulmonary adenocarcinomas and in 32 tissue foci of alveolar atypical hyperplasia (AAH) by a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based method. Mutations in either position 1 or position 2 of codon 12 were detected in 16 tumours (25 per cent). When analysed by site of origin, mutations were seen in 9/26 (35 per cent) parenchymal and in 0/12 bronchial adenocarcinomas (P<0·02). K-ras mutations were seen in five AAH lesions from four patients. DNA sequencing showed that the great majority of mutations in both adenocarcinomas and AAH were G–T transversions. These findings provide support for the classification of pulmonary adenocarcinomas into bronchial and parenchymal subtypes and also provide molecular evidence to support the importance of AAH in the development of parenchymal cancers. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.