Proceedings of the 2015 Asian American/Pacific Islander Nurses Association conference: Biological measures: A role in nursing self-management research

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Reproducibility of in vitro contracture test results in patients tested for malignant hyperthermia susceptibility.

BACKGROUND: The in vitro contracture test (IVCT) is the golden standard to diagnose malignant hyperthermia susceptibility (MHS). A high reproducibility is important for a high validity of a test. METHODS: We have therefore analyzed IVCT in 838 patients, investigated in two laboratories. Each halothane and caffeine test was performed in two muscle strips. The test results were analyzed with respect to reproducibility of abnormal outcomes within pairs of tested muscle strips and size of contractures, thresholds and quality criteria. The patients were tested according to the European Malignant Hyperthermia Group protocol (EMHG). To fulfill quality criteria in the EMHG protocol the twitch height should be 10 mN (1 g) or more. For the caffeine test a minimum contracture of 50 mN (5 g) or more at 32 mmol l-1 caffeine could be used as an alternative quality criterion RESULTS: There was better reproducibility with larger contractures. The correlation between size of contractures and fraction of muscle strips with abnormal contractures was 0.77 or larger. Contractures < 5 mN (0.5 g) were reproducible in less than half of the tests. There was no difference in reproducibility or size of contractures between tests fulfillling all quality criteria and those not fulfillling these criteria. CONCLUSIONS: IVCT responses close to cut off limits, i.e. <5 mN (0.5 g) in the EMHG protocol, are less reproducible and must scientifically be considered as less reliable. The clinical cut off limits must remain unchanged for reasons of clinical safety. The outcome of quality measurements does not influence the test results

Experiments on Vortices in Rotating Superfluid 3He-A

A satellite peak has been observed in the NMR spectrum of rotating 3He-A; the peak intensity depends linearly on Ω at the high angular velocities, Ω=0.6−1.5 rad/s, needed to resolve it. The frequency shift of the satellite is independent of Ω. These results strongly suggest the existence of vortices in rotating 3He-A with the vortex density proportional to Ω. Another satellite peak also has been observed which probably is due to solitons.Peer reviewe

The effect of geometrical presplit blast parameters on presplit quality at Kuusilampi open pit mine

In open pit mines, controlled blasting methods are used to reduce blast damage on the remaining rock mass, which increases the safety and economy of the operation. Presplitting is one of the most common controlled blasting methods used to achieve stable pit walls. The aim of this thesis is to discover suitable presplitting designs for the different areas of the Kuusilampi open pit mine. Furthermore, this thesis studied the connection between a geotechnical block model's rock mass quality estimates and the result of presplit blasting. This study has been conducted to improve the slope stability at the mine by improving the presplit blasting practices. This thesis consists of a historical review of presplitting practice at Kuusilampi open pit and presplitting tests. Presplitting tests were conducted with smaller diameter explosive cartridge than previously used and different borehole diameters, inclinations and spacings. The results were estimated based on visual inspection of the presplit faces and by calculating the half core factor, and over- and underbreak in cubic meters per square meter of presplit face. In this thesis, no major differences were found in the presplit results with the different presplit parameters. Furthermore, it was concluded that the greatest improvements to the slope stability at the Kuusilampi open pit could be achieved with modifications to the buffer row. Additionally, no connection was found between the rock mass quality estimate of the geotechnical block model and presplitting results, because the geotechnical block model was found to lack sufficient accuracy and resolution to represent the rock mass quality accurately

The Howard Government's Northern Territory Intervention: Are Neo-Paternalism and Indigenous Development Compatible?

Professor Altman examines the political and ideological background to the Northern Territory Emergency intervention, its policy goals, and its progress in the first four months, including a survey of implementation in five remote communities

Economic Development and Participation for Remote Indigenous Communities: Best Practice, Evident Barriers, and Innovative Solutions in the Hybrid Economy

My presentation today focuses on remote Indigenous communities of which there are 1,200, with a total population of around 120,000 or 30% of the total estimated Indigenous population. These figures suggest an average community size of only 100—clearly there is a great deal of variation from tiny outstation and pastoral communities to relatively large remote townships that are growing quickly. Most of these communities are in what was called ‘colonial Australia’ by Charles Rowley in 1971. While they are often also termed ‘discrete’ Indigenous communities many of the larger also have non-Indigenous, but often temporary, residents. My reasons for focusing on these communities, mainly in the NT, WA, Qld and SA, are twofold. First, according to official statistics gathered by the ABS with an Indigenous identifier only since 1971, the socio-economic status of residents of these communities is the lowest of all Australians—a view that I will challenge below. Second, these are the contexts where the issue of economic development looms largest, something that was highlighted by the Miller Committee of Employment and Training in 1985

Osteoporosis in experimental postmenopausal polyarthritis: the relative contributions of estrogen deficiency and inflammation

Generalized osteoporosis in postmenopausal rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is caused both by estrogen deficiency and by the inflammatory disease. The relative importance of each of these factors is unknown. The aim of this study was to establish a murine model of osteoporosis in postmenopausal RA, and to evaluate the relative importance and mechanisms of menopause and arthritis-related osteoporosis. To mimic postmenopausal RA, DBA/1 mice were ovariectomized, followed by the induction of type II collagen-induced arthritis. After the mice had been killed, paws were collected for histology, one femur for bone mineral density (BMD) and sera for analyses of markers of bone resorption (RatLaps; type I collagen cross-links, bone formation (osteocalcin) and cartilage destruction (cartilage oligomeric matrix protein), and for the evaluation of antigen-specific and innate immune responsiveness. Ovariectomized mice displayed more severe arthritis than sham-operated controls. At termination of the experiment, arthritic control mice and non-arthritic ovariectomized mice displayed trabecular bone losses of 26% and 22%, respectively. Ovariectomized mice with arthritis had as much as 58% decrease in trabecular BMD. Interestingly, cortical BMD was decreased by arthritis but was not affected by hormonal status. In addition, markers of bone resorption and cartilage destruction were increased in arthritic mice, whereas markers of bone formation were increased in ovariectomized mice. This study demonstrates that the loss of endogenous estrogen and inflammation contribute additively and equally to osteoporosis in experimental postmenopausal polyarthritis. Markers of bone remodeling and bone marrow lymphocyte phenotypes indicate different mechanisms for the development of osteoporosis caused by ovariectomy and arthritis in this model