14 research outputs found
Family membersâ experiences of âwait and seeâ as a communication strategy in end-of-life decisions
The aim of this study is to examine family membersâ experiences of end-of-life decision-making processes in Norwegian intensive care units (ICUs) to ascertain the degree to which they felt included in the decision-making process and whether they received necessary information. Were they asked about the patientâs preferences, and how did they view their role as family members in the decision-making process? A constructivist interpretive approach to the grounded theory method of qualitative research was employed with interviews of 27 bereaved family members of former ICU patients 3â12 months after the patientâs death. The core finding is that relatives want a more active role in end-of-life decision-making in order to communicate the patientâs wishes. However, many consider their role to be unclear, and few study participants experienced shared decision-making. The clinicianâs expression âwait and seeâ hides and delays the communication of honest and clear information. When physicians finally address their decision, there is no time for family participation. Our results also indicate that nurses should be more involved in familyâphysician communication. Families are uncertain whether or how they can participate in the decision-making process. They need unambiguous communication and honest information to be able to take part in the decision-making process. We suggest that clinicians in Norwegian ICUs need more training in the knowledge and skills of effective communication with families of dying patients
Dietary tuna hydrolysate modulates growth performance, immune response, intestinal morphology and resistance to Streptococcus iniae in juvenile barramundi, Lates calcarifer
This study investigated the effects of tuna hydrolysate (TH) inclusion in fishmeal (FM) based diets on the growth performance, innate immune response, intestinal health and resistance to Streptococcus iniae infection in juvenile barramundi, Lates calcarifer. Five isonitrogenous and isoenergetic experimental diets were prepared with TH, replacing FM at levels of 0% (control) 5%, 10%, 15% and 20%, and fed fish to apparent satiation three times daily for 8 weeks. The results showed that fish fed diets containing 5% and 10% TH had significantly higher final body weight and specific growth rate than the control. A significant reduction in blood glucose was found in fish fed 10%, 15% and 20% TH compared to those in the control whereas none of the other measured blood and serum indices were influenced by TH inclusion. Histological observation revealed a significant enhancement in goblet cell numbers in distal intestine of fish fed 5 to 10% TH in the diet. Moreover, fish fed 10% TH exhibited the highest resistance against Streptococcus iniae infection during a bacterial challenge trial. These findings therefore demonstrate that the replacement of 5 to 10% FM with TH improves growth, immune response, intestinal health and disease resistance in juvenile barramundi
High dietary energy level stimulates growth hormone receptorand feed utilization in large Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) under hypoxic conditions
This study examines how appetite and growth regulation of Atlantic salmon are affected by low dissolved oxygen (LO) and dietary digestible energy levels (DE: high [HE] vs. low [LE]). Long-term exposure to LO resulted in a reduced feed intake, growth, digestible protein and fat retention efficiencies and increased feed conversation ratio and plasma ghrelin concentrations (p < .05) compared to high dissolved oxygen (HO). Pair-feeding of rations based on the feed intake of the LO groups, but fed at HO, resulted in a 50% growth improvement in HE diet groups. This suggests that the poor growth under LO was not entirely caused by the reduced feed intake. Salmon adapted to LO by increased haemoglobin concentrations, while osmoregulation was affected by increased plasma
chloride concentrations (p .05). Growth regulation was affected by the HE diet, with increased liver and muscle growth hormone receptor ghr1 mRNA (p < .05), regardless of oxygen level. The growth depression due to low oxygen appears to be related to higher metabolic costs, while higher DE upregulates the GH-IGF system at the ghr1 level and found to be beneficial for growth, feed intake, oxyregulation and osmoregulation under hypoxia
Dietary histidine requirement to reduce the risk and severity of cataracts is higher than the requirement for growth in Atlantic salmon smolts, independently of the dietary lipid source
Lens metabolomic profiling as a tool to understand cataractogenesis in Atlantic salmon and rainbow trout reared at optimum and high temperature
Effects of lysine and leucine in free and different dipeptide forms on the growth, amino acid profile and transcription of intestinal peptide, and amino acid transporters in turbot (Scophthalmus maximus)
Plasma Nesfatin-1 Is Not Affected by Long-Term Food Restriction and Does Not Predict Rematuration among Iteroparous Female Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)
The metabolic peptide hormone nesfatin-1 has been linked to the reproductive axis in fishes. The purpose of this study was to determine how energy availability after spawning affects plasma levels of nesfatin-1, the metabolic peptide hormone ghrelin, and sex steroid hormones in rematuring female rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). To limit reproductive maturation, a group of female trout was food-restricted after spawning and compared with a control group that was fed a standard broodstock ration. The experiment was conducted twice, once using two-year-old trout (second-time spawners) and once using three-year-old trout (third-time spawners). During monthly sampling, blood was collected from all fish, and a subset of fish from each treatment was sacrificed for pituitaries. Pituitary follicle-stimulating hormone-beta (fsh-β) mRNA expression was analyzed with q-RT-PCR; plasma hormone levels were quantified by radioimmunoassay (17β-estradiol and ghrelin) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (11-keto-testosterone and nesfatin-1). Although plasma nesfatin-1 levels increased significantly in the months immediately after spawning within both feeding treatments, plasma nesfatin-1 did not differ significantly between the two treatments at any point. Similarly, plasma ghrelin levels did not differ significantly between the two treatments at any point. Food restriction arrested ovarian development by 15â20 weeks after spawning, shown by significantly lower plasma E2 levels among restricted-ration fish. Pituitary fsh-β mRNA levels were higher among control-ration fish than restricted-ration fish starting at 20 weeks, but did not differ significantly between treatment groups until 30 weeks after spawning. Within both treatment groups, plasma 11-KT was elevated immediately after spawning and rapidly decreased to and persisted at low levels; starting between 20 and 25 weeks after spawning, plasma 11-KT was higher among control-ration fish than restricted-ration fish. The results from these experiments do not provide support for plasma nesfatin-1 as a signal for the initiation of reproductive development in rematuring female rainbow trout