Qualitative comparison of sonic or laser energisation of 4% sodium hypochlorite on an Enterococcus faecalis biofilm grown in vitro

The effectiveness of sonic activation, laser activation and syringe irrigation of 4% sodium hypochlorite in removing an Enterococcus faecalis biofilm was compared. Biofilms were grown in extracted human single rooted teeth using a flow cell apparatus. After 4 weeks' growth, teeth were subjected to each treatment using 4% sodium hypochlorite and radicular dentinal surfaces of the root canals were analysed by scanning electron microscopy. Results showed that sonic activation and syringe irrigation with sodium hypochlorite showed reduced numbers of bacterial cells on the radicular dentine but were not effective in eliminating E. faecalis in the dentinal tubules. Laser activation of sodium hypochlorite resulted in clean dentine walls and undetectable levels of bacteria within dentinal tubules. Qualitatively, sonic or laser activation of 4% NaOCl resulted in greater bacterial reduction compared with syringe irrigation, with laser activation producing the greatest overall reduction.     

重症颅脑损伤患者脑氧利用率的临床研究

目的　探讨重症颅脑损伤患者脑氧利用率 (O2 U Cc)与病情及预后的关系和意义。方法　选择重症颅脑损伤 4 0例作为实验组 ,同期 4 0例轻、中度颅脑损伤作为对照组。通过颈内动脉和颈内静脉采血 ,观察颈内动脉血氧饱和度 (Sa O2 )、颈内静脉血氧饱和度 (Sj O2 )以及颈内动静脉血氧饱和度差〔 S(a j) O2 〕;根据氧利用率的计算公式推导出 O2 UCc。O2 U Cc=S(a j) O2 / Sa O2 ,并计算 O2 U Cc;分析 O2 U Cc与颅脑损伤病情及预后的关系。结果　实验组 Sa O2 与对照组比较无显著性差异 ;实验组 Sj O2 升高 ,O2 U Cc降低 ,与对照组比较差异显著 (P均 <0 .0 1)。实验组死亡 2 6例 ,存活 14例 ,病死率 6 5 %。死亡组 Sa O2 与存活组比较无显著性差异 ;死亡组 Sj O2 升高 ,O2 UCc降低 ,与存活组比较差异显著 (P均 <0 .0 1)。结论　重症颅脑损伤常伴有脑氧代谢动力学障碍 ,以高 Sj O2 和低 O2 U Cc为主要表现 ;O2 UCc<11%预示预后不良。     

Schizophrenia: a review of the contemporary literature and implications for mental health nursing theory, practice and education

Contemporary research in the aetiology, neuropsychology and epidemiology of schizophrenia is reviewed. The picture coming from this work is of a group of brain diseases of neurodevelopmental origin which manifest themselves in a variety of ways. In turn, there are a range of cognitive deficits associated with the schizophrenias which may, in the extreme, produce major functional handicap. This new knowledge has obvious implications for nurse education and a priority is to place this in undergraduate programmes. However, more importantly, it is argued that we need to alter conceptual frameworks. For example, in some cases we should care for people with schizophrenia in the same way as one would care for an individual suffering the after-effects of a head injury. In the more severe forms of the illness we should take into account the probability that our patients may have significant problems of memory and attention, and thus modify interventions accordingly. It seems clear that our current nursing theories are not underpinned by relevant knowledge of the nature of schizophrenia and this problem warrants urgent attention.     

Changes, challenges and choices for the primary health care workforce: looking to the future

AIMS: The main aim of this paper is to draw attention to problems facing the primary health care workforce in terms of demand for treatment of minor illness over the next two decades. These predictions have implications for the community nursing workforce in particular and the flexibility of primary health care teams in general. BACKGROUND: Care delivered in the primary care sector influences, and is influenced by, the characteristics of the health care workforce. These characteristics fall into two main groups: firstly, the shape of the present medical and nursing workforce and manpower trends; and secondly, the changes in doctors' and nurses' workloads. DESIGN: This paper draws on two studies, both commissioned by the Department of Health; the first study focusing on skill mix and delegation in primary health care teams and the second addressing the implications of skill mix for medical workforce scenarios in the changing policy environment. FINDINGS: From the first study, general practitioners across ten general practices were prepared to delegate at least one topic from over a third of 836 consultations and a further 17% of entire consultations. This potential delegation fell mainly to practice nurses and nurse practitioners. The second study used data extracted from the National Morbidity Surveys of 1981 and 1991 predicting that minor consultations are set to increase by 11 million from the 1990s to 2020--a minimal estimate. The authors argue that many of these extra predicted consultations will find their way onto practice nurses' and nurse practitioners' caseloads. CONCLUSIONS: Workforce issues and questions of professional roles and boundaries, in the context of the "greying" community nursing workforce, demand solutions if patient/client demand is to be met over the next two decades.     

Developing a culture of nursing research through clinical-academic partnership

Evidence based practice is essential to advanced practice nursing, enabling the delivery of quality care and improved patient outcomes. As the name suggests, it requires healthcare decisions to be based on the best available and current evidence. Advanced practice nurses need astute critical analysis skills to appraise the evolving literature, and require research skills to lead on scientific inquiry and develop the profession. Yet, advanced practice nurses may not recognize themselves as research leaders. Participation in a journal club can promote evidence-based practice, improve clinician's critical thinking skills, and expose members to different research methodologies, however, nurses continue to face barriers to participation in these clubs. Establishing a clinical-academic partnership appears to be both mutually beneficial for clinicians and academics and is a significant enabler in the sustainability and functioning of the club through sharing expertise and experience. A supportive workplace culture is favourable to research utilization and knowledge translation. This paper outlines the role, practicalities, challenges, and benefits of setting up a hybrid urology journal and research club for advanced practice nurses in a clinical-academic partnership.     

What matters to users of services? An explorative study to promote shared decision making in health care

Background Involving service users and carers in decisions about their health care is a key feature of health‐care practice. Professional health and social care students need to develop skills and attributes to best enable this to happen. Aims The aims were to explore service user and carer perceptions of behaviours, attributes and context required to enable shared decision making; to compare these perceptions to those of students and academic staff with a view to utilizing the findings to inform the development of student assessment tools. Methods A mixed methods approach was used including action learning groups (ALG) and an iterative process alongside a modified Delphi survey. Participants The ALGs were from an existing service user and carer network. The survey was sent to sixty students, sixty academics and 30 service users from 16 different professional disciplines, spanning four Universities in England. Results The collaborative enquiry process and survey identified general agreement that being open and honest, listening, showing respect, giving time and being up to date were important. The qualitative findings identified that individual interpretation was a key factor. An unexpected result was an insight into possible insecurities of students. Conclusions The findings indicate that distilling rich qualitative information into a format for student assessment tools could be problematic as the individual context could be lost, it is therefore proposed that the information could be better used as a learning rather than assessment tool. Several of those involved identified how they valued the process and found it beneficial.     

The contribution of primary care practitioners to interventions reducing loneliness and social isolation in older people—An integrative review

Background

Social connection is a fundamental human need. Its absence can lead to loneliness and social isolation, adversely impacting health and well-being. Given their regular contact and trusted relationships with older people, practitioners delivering community-based primary care are well-positioned to address this issue. However, their contribution to addressing loneliness and social isolation is unclear.

Aim

This integrative review explores the contribution of the primary care workforce to interventions aimed at reducing loneliness and social isolation in community-dwelling older people.

Method

Using an integrative review method, Scopus, Web of Science, CINAHL and PubMed were searched for original research published between 2000 and 2022. Fourteen papers reporting 13 primary studies were appraised for methodological quality and included in the review. Data were extracted into a summary table and analysed using thematic analysis.

Results

Included studies came from over six countries. Internationally, primary care services have diverse structures, funding and workforces influencing their response to loneliness and social isolation. All but one intervention was multi-component, with ten studies including a group-based activity and three providing primarily individual-level activities. Only six studies reported reductions in loneliness following the intervention. Three themes were identified: characteristics of interventions; implementation context, barriers and facilitators; and differing contributions of primary care practitioners in addressing loneliness and social isolation of older people.

Conclusion

There is increasing demand and scope for primary care practitioners to assist lonely and socially isolated older people. It is important to understand how to equip and incentivise these practitioners to routinely identify, assess and respond to lonely and socially isolated older people despite varying implementation contexts. There is a need for further research that explores how the primary care team can be better utilised to deliver effective interventions that reduce the health impacts of loneliness and social isolation.     

骨髓增生异常综合征患者的asxli基因变异分析

目的探讨骨髓增生异常综合征(myelodysplastic syndromes,MDS)患者ASXL1基因变异的发生情况及其与其他基因变异和部分临床参数之间的相关性。方法采用PCR扩增产物直接测序法检测149例MDS患者ASXU、U2AF1、SF3B1、DNMT3A、TET2、IDH1/2、NPM1、FLT3-ITD.C-KIT等基因的变异情况。结果在149例患者中,ASXU基因变异的检出率为24.8%(37/149),变异率>5%的基因分别是U2AF1(22.8%)、TET2(11.4%)、DNMT3A(9.4%)、NPM1(8.1%).SF3B1(6.0%)。ASXL1变异最常见的共存变异基因为U2AF1(27.0%,10/37)及TET2(18.9%,7/37)。ASXL1变异组与野生组患者在中位年龄、MDS亚型、染色体核型、外周白细胞、血红蛋白、血小板水平及骨髓原始细胞计数等方面的差异均无统计学意义(P>0.05)o对29例ASXL1变异患者进行了有效的随访,其中11例进展为急性髓系白血病(acute myeloid leukemia,AML),白血病转化率为37.9%。在92例野生型患者中,13例进展为AML,白血病转化率为14.1%。ASXL1变异组白血病转化率明显高于野生组,差异有统计学意义(PV 0.01)。结论ASXL1变异在MDS中有较高的发生率,并常与U2AF1及TET2基因变异共存,伴有该变异的患者具有更高的白血病转化率。