The Lived Experience of Acute Care Nurses, Following Possible Exposure to HIV/AIDS in the Working Environment: A Phenomenological Research Proposal

The following paper takes the form of a research proposal that seeks to examine the lived experience of acute care nurses following possible exposure to the HIV/AIDS virus in their working environment. The paper explores the characteristics of qualitative research and offers the phenomenological research design of Helen Streubert as the base methodology for the study. The paper justifies the choice of design by giving account of it\u27s suitability to the study of the acute care nurses\u27 lived experience when potentially exposed to HIV/AIDS. A detailed explanation of Streubert\u27s design is offered along with a description of the method that would be followed in order to obtain the study\u27s objectives. A preliminary literature review is offered in an attempt to explain some of the effects that potential exposure to HIV/AIDS has on nurses. The paper offers some insight as to the transmissibility of HIV/AIDS and details some common fears, attitudes and coping mechanisms which nurses possess when confronted with the HIV/AIDS issue. The psychology behind nurses\u27 fears and attitudes is explored along with the need for nurse managers to consider such psychology before attempting to change nurses attitudes and values. It is surmised that an understanding of nurses fears, attitudes and coping mechanisms in relation to HIV/AIDS, will give some insight as to the lived experience of acute care nurses following possible exposure to the HIV/AIDS virus in the working environment. The paper briefly examines some of the advances that have been made in the areas of information, counselling and health agency policy in relation to nurses and possible HIV/AIDS exposure. The paper also seeks to explain how these topics can effect the lived experience of nurses following the possibility of exposure to HIV/AIDS. The need for comprehensive educational programs by nurse managers and educators, which give consideration to the education, counselling and policy requirements of acute care nurses, is highlighted in order to assist such acute care nurses through their lived experience. Further justification of the need for the proposed study is highlighted by the fact that there is very little literature available, which deals with nurses\u27 lived experience, following possible exposure to HIV/AIDS in their working environment. The paper offers some suggestions, based on the preliminary literature review, as to what the possible findings of this research may be. It is hoped that defining and explaining the lived experience of nurses, following possible exposure to HIV/AIDS in the working environment, by utilising a phenomenological study of this type, would result in a better understanding of what the nurses\u27 lived experience entails. This understanding may therefore assist acute care nurses to have their needs met more effectively, following a period of possible exposure to HIV/AIDS at work

Evaluation and Uncertainty Quantification of VS30 Models Using a Bayesian Framework for Better Prediction of Seismic Site Conditions

The time-averaged shear-wave velocity in the top 30 meters of subsurface material (VS30) is a widely used parameter when estimating the potential for amplification of seismic waves. Situations often arise where a design VS30 value needs to be chosen from multiple proxy-based VS30 models. This dissertation seeks to assist with the problem of model selection and to improve the overall prediction of VS30 through implementation of a Bayesian framework for model ranking. Furthermore, this dissertation investigates the effects of uncertainty on the model ranking results. In this work, probabilistic methods are developed and implemented to assess the performance of multiple proxy-based VS30 models. The methodology utilizes Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE) to evaluate how well a model (or set of models) can predict the sample data against which it is being evaluated. Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC) is used to quantify the relative performance of multiple candidate VS30 models. The proposed method can provide a performance ranking for situations when one model is superior as well as when multiple models show comparable levels of performance. With ranking results, a new VS30 database comprised of a superior set of VS30 predictions based on known information can be obtained, and this is illustrated through the development of a new synthetic VS30 database for California. The method is also applied to other regions of the country, specifically the Seattle and Puget Sound area and the Salt Lake City, Ogden, and Provo area to further demonstrate the new method and explore its applicability to areas with limited data. Enhanced site condition maps for those regions are also developed. To strengthen confidence in predictions and designs, civil engineers have started to explicitly consider uncertainty in their calculations. The Bayesian method for model ranking presented herein is also presented in a modified form to allow users to include appropriate, available uncertainty information. The effects of uncertainty on the updated site conditions map for California are investigated, and recommendations for appropriate use of uncertainty information in model ranking applications are made. Finally, the new synthetic database is used to inform the hazard information needed when performing a CPT-based liquefaction hazard quantification calculation. Its application is explained alongside an illustrative example in the San Francisco Bay area

AMPA receptor translocation and phosphorylation are induced by transcranial direct current stimulation in rats.

Abstract Over the last decade, the interest in transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has continued to increase, along with consideration of how it affects neuroplasticity mechanisms in the brain. Both human and animal studies have demonstrated numerous benefits and, although its application has increased, the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying tDCS' beneficial effects remain largely unknown. Recent studies have shown that long-term potentiation (LTP) increases following tDCS. In this work, we utilized a rodent model of tDCS to directly assess changes in the α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptor, a critical protein for enhancing synaptic transmission. Animals were subjected to 250 μA of direct current (DC) stimulation for 30 min with immediate tissue collection. Translocation and phosphorylation of AMPA receptors were examined using protein immunoblot analysis following a subcellular fractionation method. Our findings show that a single application of in vivo tDCS can affect both the translocation and phosphorylation of AMPA receptors in the hippocampus while increasing AMPA receptor phosphorylation in the hypothalamus. In the hippocampus, tDCS increased AMPA translocation to the synapse and increased the phosphorylation of the S831 site on GluA1. In the hypothalamus, no statistically significant changes were observed in AMPA translocation while an increase in the phosphorylation of the S831 site was observed. No changes in the phosphorylation of GluA1 at the S845 site were detected in either brain region. In sum, our findings identify specific AMPA receptor changes induced by tDCS, thereby providing further details on the mechanisms by which tDCS could affect the establishment of LTP and modulate neuroplasticity

Evaluation of a novel method for controlling bovine trypanosomiasis

The problem of controlling tsetse flies in Africa is an old one. The tsetse fly transmits the trypanosome parasites which cause sleeping sickness in humans and disease in cattle. Because cattle are a favoured food source for tsetse much work has been done looking at the use of insecticide treated cattle as a control strategy for the tsetse fly. Such treatment methods possess many advantages; they are safe and relatively environmentally benign, they can be applied by individual farmers without the need for logistically demanding and costly traditional control programmes and, in addition to tsetse flies the insecticides are effective against a wide range of other harmful cattle parasites. The cost of the insecticide is however a significant constraint to the number of livestock keepers who can afford to employ the technique and as a result many cattle remain untreated. Following the discovery that tsetse had a significant predilection for feeding on the legs and belly of cattle, it was hypothesised that restricting the insecticide to only those areas could offer comparable protection to treating the whole animal. Such an approach would use up to 80% less drug and thus make the treatment per animal much cheaper. In addition, preferentially targeting areas favoured by tsetse, and leaving the rest of the animal untreated, preserves some important ecological balances between cattle and their parasites which traditional treatment methods destabilise. This thesis describes the design, implementation and analysis of a longitudinal study run over 8 months in south east Uganda that sought to compare the effect of applying insecticide to cattle only on the regions favoured by tsetse flies. Cattle were recruited to the study and assigned one of four treatment groups; a whole body application of deltamethrin insecticide pour-on; a restricted application of deltamethrin spray, applied to the front legs, ears and belly; a prophylactic trypanocide injection of isometamidium chloride, and a control group, that received no further treatments. All animals in the study were however cleared using twin doses of a trypanocide diminazene aceturate at the start of the study

Not just fat : investigating the proteome of cetacean blubber tissue

Mammalian adipose tissue is increasingly being recognized as an endocrine organ involved in the regulation of a number of metabolic processes and pathways. It responds to signals from different hormone systems and the central nervous system, and expresses a variety of protein factors with important paracrine and endocrine functions. This study presents a first step towards the systematic analysis of the protein content of cetacean adipose tissue, the blubber, in order to investigate the kinds of proteins present and their relative abundance. Full depth blubber subsamples were collected from dead-stranded harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) (n = 21). Three total protein extraction methods were trialled, and the highest total protein yields with the lowest extraction variability were achieved using a RIPA cell lysis and extraction buffer based protocol. Extracted proteins were separated using 1D Sodium Dodecyl Sulphate Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), and identified using nanoflow Liquid Chromatography Electrospray Ionization in tandem with Mass Spectrometry (nLC-ESI–MS/MS). A range of proteins were identified (n = 295) and classed into eight functional groups, the most abundant of which were involved in cell function and metabolism (45%), immune response and inflammation (15%) and lipid metabolism (11%). These proteins likely originate both from the various cell types within the blubber tissue itself, and from the circulation. They therefore have the potential to capture information on the cellular and physiological stresses experienced by individuals at the time of sampling. The importance of this proteomic approach is two-fold: Firstly, it could help to assign novel functions to marine mammal blubber in keeping with current understanding of the multi-functional role of adipose tissue in other mammals. Secondly, it could lead to the development of a suite of biomarkers to better monitor the physiological state and health of live individuals though remote blubber biopsy sampling.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Towards new ecologically relevant markers of health for cetaceans

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Reproductive Failure in UK Harbour Porpoises Phocoena phocoena : Legacy of Pollutant Exposure?

This research was supported by a Marie Curie International Outgoing Fellowship within the Seventh European Community Framework Programme (Project Cetacean-stressors, PIOF-GA-2010-276145 to PDJ and SM). Additional funding was provided through the Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans of the Baltic, North East Atlantic, Irish and North Seas (ASCOBANS) (Grants SSFA/2008 and SSFA / ASCOBANS / 2010 / 5 to SM). Analysis of Scottish reproductive and teeth samples was funded by the EC-funded BIOCET project (BIOaccumulation of persistent organic pollutants in small CETaceans in European waters: transport pathways and impact on reproduction, grant EVK3-2000-00027 to GJP), and Marine Scotland (GJP). Samples examined in this research were collected under the collaborative Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (http://ukstrandings.org/), which is funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the UK’s Devolved Administrations in Scotland and Wales (http://sciencesearch.defra.gov.uk/Defaul​t.aspx?Menu=Menu&Module=More&Location=No​ne&Completed=0&ProjectID=15331) (grants to PDJ, RD). UK Defra also funded the chemical analysis under a service-level agreement with the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (grants to RJL, JB). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Intrasarcoplasmic Polyglucosan Inclusions in Heart and Skeletal Muscles of Long-Finned Pilot Whales (Globicephala melas) may be Age-Related

Polysaccharide storage myopathies have been described in several animal species and are characterized by periodic acid–Schiff (PAS)-positive, diastase-resistant intrasarcoplasmic inclusions in myocytes. Skeletal and cardiac muscle samples from a subset of a single pod of stranded long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas) were evaluated by light and transmission electron microscopy. Twelve individuals demonstrated sporadic basophilic packets of PAS-positive, diastase-resistant complex polysaccharide material, either centrally or peripherally, in skeletal and cardiac myocytes. Few microscopic myopathic changes were found but included focal inflammation and internalized nuclei. Ultrastructurally, the inclusions consisted of loosely arranged, tangled filaments and were not membrane-bound, which is consistent with polyglucosan inclusions. Within skeletal muscle, the number of inclusions had a marginal statistically significant (P = 0.0536) correlation with length, as a proxy for age, suggesting that such inclusions in skeletal muscles may be age-related, although the cause remains unclear

High resolution visualisation of tiemannite microparticles, essential in the detoxification process of mercury in marine mammals

RvH and AH are funded by the Net Zero Technology Centre and the University of Aberdeen, through their partnership with the UK National Decommissioning Centre, and DEFRA (ETPP-33/C10). RvH received additional funding from the University of Aberdeen under the interdisciplinary project funding and the internal funding to pump-prime interdisciplinary research and impact (CF10723-32). AH received additional funding from the UK Energy Research Centre research programme (UKERC-4, EP/S029575/1). CG is funded by Chevron through its Anchor Partnership with the UK National Decommissioning Centre. The Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme is funded by Marine Scottland with additional support provided by the University of Glasgow.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Toxic methaemoglobinaemia due to the action of nitrites

Opisane su methemoglobinemije prouzrokovane nitritima s naročitim obzirom na kemijske konzervanse u industriji mesnih proizvoda, koji su glavni izvor alimentarnih otrovanja nitritima. Iznesen je kazuistički prikaz nekoliko slučajeva otrovanja radnika u mesnoj industriji, koji su zabunom uzeli toksičke doze nitrita.Seven cases of toxic methaemoglobinaemia due to accidental nitrite poisoning in workers engaged in the preparation of meat and meat products are reported. In all these cases the meat-pickling salt was ingested as a consequence of the accidental water and food contamination. The main sources of nitrites in clinical intoxications are listed and the importance of the meat preserving solution for mass poisoning is emphasized. The general chemistry of the meat curing process is therefore briefly described. The clinical picture and the treatment of toxic methaemoglobinaemia are discussed