Narrative enquiry

It is falling increasingly to international organisations and institutions to provide a coherent and workable global value system which embraces difference internally and externally with compliance expected from every level of the organisation. International human rights conventions and statutory regulations require compliance to human rights principles putting such organisations at the forefront of cultural relations. A global values framework gives them the opportunity to shake off colonial pasts and to strive to make a good business case for adherence to such principles. As principles are more challenging to enact than to formulate, to support this values portfolio, research is needed into how principles can be enacted in every day matters of the organisation. Current literature highlights the use of storytelling as sense-making and, as such, has become a growing trend in the use of the narrative approach across disciplines and professional sectors. Its contributors are from anthropology, education, linguistics, translation studies, literature, politics, psychology and sociology, organization studies and history. This chapter surfaces the link between local and grand narratives through an ethno narrative approach contextualised within a recent study of EDI and specifically Global Diversity Management

An unusual cutaneous lesion as the presenting sign of spinal dysraphism in a preterm infant

We present a preterm female infant with an unusual vascular nevus on the lumbosacral and gluteal regions. Our clinical diagnosis was probable twin nevus, with a blanched nevus adjacent to a telangiectatic nevus, later complicated by ulceration. Ultrasonography and magnetic resonance imaging of the lumbosacral region revealed that her conus medullaris level was at L4 and the spinal cord was tethered by an intraspinal lipoma, without evidence of a hemangioma. We could not find any literature reporting the association of twin nevus with spinal dysraphism

Spontaneous intestinal perforation after oral ibuprofen treatment of patent ductus arteriosus in two very-low-birthweight infants

Aim: To discuss intestinal side effects of ibuprofen in the treatment of patent ductus arteriosus, after having observed two cases of spontaneous intestinal perforation following ibuprofen treatment. Methods: Clinical and laboratory records of two preterm infants, who developed intestinal perforation after ibuprofen administration, were evaluated. Results: Gestational ages of infants were 29 wk (male) and 30 wk (female). Both infants developed intestinal perforations without signs of necrotizing enterocolitis. The perforations cured with Penrose drainage alone

Selective inhibition of nitric oxide in hypoxic-ischemic brain model in newborn rats: Is it an explanation for the protective role of erythropoietin?

Erythropoietin (Epo) exerts neuroprotection against neuronal death induced by ischemia and hypoxia in vitro and in vivo. Recent studies suggest that the neuroprotective effects of Epo may depend upon different mechanisms, including the inhibition of nitric oxide ( NO). We recently demonstrated that Epo exerts neuroprotection in a model of neonatal hypoxic-ischemic brain damage. In the present study, we directly determined whether systemic administration of recombinant Epo modulates cerebral NO production in a neonatal rat model of hypoxic-ischemic brain injury. Seven-day-old Wistar rat pups were subjected to left carotid artery occlusion followed by 2.5 h of hypoxic exposure. Brain nitrite levels were evaluated in both hemispheres ( carotid ligated or nonligated) by Griess reagent 72 h after the hypoxic-ischemic insult. Our results show that hypoxic- ischemic insult results a significant increase in NO production as compared with NO levels in hypoxic hemispheres and control animals. A single dose of Epo treatment ( 1,000 U/kg i.p.) significantly decreased NO overproduction in the hypoxic- ischemic hemisphere, whereas no significant change appeared in hypoxia alone or in controls. These data suggest that the selective inhibitory effect of Epo on NO overproduction could have a neuroprotective effect in neonatal hypoxic- ischemic brain injury. Copyright (C) 2004 S. Karger AG, Basel