Measurement of faecal ammonia.

A modified end-point enzymatic method for the measurement of ammonia in stool water is presented. A protein precipitation step was included in order to inactivate urease and faecal enzymes, which oxidise NADH. The modified method is reliable, with acceptable precision and accuracy, and is linear up to a concentration of 1.5 mmol/l.     

Developing the future nurse leaders of Fiji.

BACKGROUND: Nurse leaders in Fiji are currently involved in meeting the challenges of being at the forefront of an AusAID supported Health Sector Improvement process. Fiji is experiencing the same shortages of health professionals (including nurses) as is occurring internationally, while simultaneously striving to improve the quality of its health services. PRIMARY ARGUMENT: This paper provides information about the current situation in relation to health services in Fiji, and describes strategies being undertaken by the nurse leaders of Fiji to meet the challenge of leading an exciting reform process. James Cook University, School of Nursing Sciences, has been privileged to support the provision of contemporary leadership and management education for current and future nurse leaders in the Fiji Health Sector as a component of a current education program to educate registered nurses to bachelor level. This paper will provide an overview of the current Fiji Health Sector Improvement Program, with a particular focus on the preparation of nurse leaders. CONCLUSION: There is an ongoing need to understand beliefs and values, and styles of interaction and communication, and indeed, ideas about time. With collaboration between Australian academics and Fiji tutors from the Fiji School of Nursing, the program appears to be remarkably successful.     

A pilot sequential study of cognitive therapy and pharmacotherapy of atypical depression.

BACKGROUND: Parallel comparison studies of cognitive therapy and antidepressant medication have suggested that both treatments are effective. However, we cannot determine from these studies whether cognitive therapy and antidepressant medication are effective for the same populations of depressives. A sequential study in which nonresponders to the first treatment are then treated with the second can address this issue. METHOD: Twenty-seven patients meeting DSM-III criteria for major depression or dysthymic disorder and Columbia criteria for atypical depression received cognitive therapy followed by antidepressant medication for cognitive therapy nonresponders. A response rate with the second treatment equal to that expected with placebo would suggest both treatments target the same depressive population. RESULTS: Of the 25 completers of the study, 14 (56%) were judged responders to cognitive therapy alone. Sixty-nine percent (9/13) of the responders maintained their benefits for 6 months or more. Seven of the 11 cognitive therapy nonresponders (63%) responded to antidepressant medication. These results were compared with those of a concurrent double-blind medication study; both its sample and ours were drawn from the same population at the same time: cognitive therapy and antidepressant medication response rates were higher than expected with placebo (28%). CONCLUSION: The results suggest that (1) cognitive therapy and antidepressant medication are effective treatments for differing populations of depressed patients, as the antidepressant medication response of cognitive therapy nonresponders was greater than expected with placebo, and (2) cognitive therapy has a lasting effect.