Complications And Stoma Care Self-Efficacy Are Associated With Ostomy Adjustment In People With An Intestinal Or Urinary Ostomy

poster abstractMore than 120,000 new ostomies, or surgically created openings through the abdomen for bowel or urinary elimination, are created annually in North America. Up to 80% of patients with a new ostomy experience ostomy-related complications that can interfere with adjustment to living with an ostomy and diminish quality of life. The purpose of this study was to examine relationships among ostomy complications, stoma care self-efficacy, and ostomy adjustment in people living with an intestinal or urinary ostomy. Examining relationships is important to identify people at risk for poor adjustment and to allow for early intervention to improve outcomes for these patients. Data were collected from 202 participants by trained telephone interviewers. Eligible participants: 18 years of age or older, had ostomy surgery within the past 24 months, currently have an ostomy, and were able to speak English. The Ostomy Adjustment Inventory-23 was used to assess adjustment to living with an ostomy and the Stoma Self- Efficacy Scale measured confidence in caring for an ostomy. Univariate analyses were conducted using t-tests, ANOVA, and correlations using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. Higher ostomy adjustment scores were observed in participants with permanent versus temporary ostomies (p=.002). Compared to those who did not experience ostomy complications, participants who developed peristomal dermatitis (p=.005), parastomal hypergranulation (p=.003), stomal bleeding (p=.004), and stomal retraction (p=.015) had lower ostomy adjustment scores. Stoma care self-efficacy scores were significantly correlated with ostomy adjustment scores (r=0.534, p=.000). Ostomy complications that may be modifiable influence ostomy adjustment. Additional support and education to reduce complications and enhance stoma care self-efficacy are needed for people at risk for poor adjustment. Future research is needed to develop and test the effectiveness of interventions to enhance self-efficacy and ostomy adjustment

Factors Associated With Ostomy Adjustment In People Living With An Intestinal Or Urinary Ostomy

poster abstractMore than 120,000 new ostomies, or surgically created openings through the abdomen for bowel or urinary elimination, are created annually in North America. Up to 80% of patients with a new ostomy experience ostomy-related complications that can interfere with adjusting to living with an ostomy and diminish quality of life. Short hospital stays and fragmented follow-up care make it difficult for people with new ostomies to adjust and find the support and resources they need. Little is known about factors that influence positive adjustment to a new ostomy. The purpose of this study was to explore demographic factors that may be associated with adjustment to living with an ostomy. Potentially eligible participants who had ostomy surgery in the past 24 months were identified from lists generated by wound, ostomy, and continence nurses in 5 hospitals affiliated with a major health system in Indiana. Introductory study letters were mailed to potentially eligible participants. Trained research assistants telephoned participants who did not call the office to decline in order to assess eligibility, explain the study, and answer questions. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected via telephone interviews from 203 participants and entered directly into the RedCap database. The Ostomy Adjustment Inventory-23 was used to assess adjustment to living with an ostomy. Data were analyzed using correlations, t-tests, and analyses of variance using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. Results indicated that participants with higher incomes had significantly better adjustment scores than those with lower incomes (p<.000). No other demographic variables were associated with ostomy adjustment. People with lower incomes may be at risk for poor adjustment after ostomy surgery. Additional support and education may be needed to enhance ostomy adjustment for people at risk. Future research is needed to develop and test the effectiveness of interventions to support ostomy adjustment

All-Optical Switching Demonstration using Two-Photon Absorption and the Classical Zeno Effect

Low-contrast all-optical Zeno switching has been demonstrated in a silicon nitride microdisk resonator coupled to a hot atomic vapor. The device is based on the suppression of the field build-up within a microcavity due to non-degenerate two-photon absorption. This experiment used one beam in a resonator and one in free-space due to limitations related to device physics. These results suggest that a similar scheme with both beams resonant in the cavity would correspond to input power levels near 20 nW.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Violation of Bell's Inequality with Photons from Independent Sources

We report a violation of Bell's inequality using one photon from a parametric down-conversion source and a second photon from an attenuated laser beam. The two photons were entangled at a beam splitter using the post-selection technique of Shih and Alley [Phys. Rev. Lett. 61, 2921 (1988)]. A quantum interference pattern with a visibility of 91% was obtained using the photons from these independent sources, as compared with a visibility of 99.4% using two photons from a central parametric down-conversion source.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures; minor change

Structure and function of the bacterial heterodimeric ABC transporter CydDC: stimulation of ATPase activity by thiol and heme compounds.

In Escherichia coli, the biogenesis of both cytochrome bd-type quinol oxidases and periplasmic cytochromes requires the ATP-binding cassette-type cysteine/GSH transporter, CydDC. Recombinant CydDC was purified as a heterodimer and found to be an active ATPase both in soluble form with detergent and when reconstituted into a lipid environment. Two-dimensional crystals of CydDC were analyzed by electron cryomicroscopy, and the protein was shown to be made up of two non-identical domains corresponding to the putative CydD and CydC subunits, with dimensions characteristic of other ATP-binding cassette transporters. CydDC binds heme b. Detergent-solubilized CydDC appears to adopt at least two structural states, each associated with a characteristic level of bound heme. The purified protein in detergent showed a weak basal ATPase activity (approximately 100 nmol Pi/min/mg) that was stimulated ∼3-fold by various thiol compounds, suggesting that CydDC could act as a thiol transporter. The presence of heme (either intrinsic or added in the form of hemin) led to a further enhancement of thiol-stimulated ATPase activity, although a large excess of heme inhibited activity. Similar responses of the ATPase activity were observed with CydDC reconstituted into E. coli lipids. These results suggest that heme may have a regulatory role in CydDC-mediated transmembrane thiol transport

Quantum Imaging

We provide a brief overview of the newly born field of quantum imaging, and discuss some concepts that lie at the root of this field.Comment: 8 pages, 19 figure

Bulletin No. 371 - Fifty Years of Dry Land Research at the Nephi Field Station

The Nephi Field Station is the oldest dry-Iand experimental farm in America still in operation. It was established in 1903 by action of the Utah legislature and has been in continuous operation since. Five other arid experimental farms were established in Utah at the same time (Widtsoe and Merrill 1905) but they were all discontinued prior to 1920 (Harris et al. 1920). The Nephi Field Station has had a most interesting history, and it is worthy of note that many of the men who were closely associated with it during its early history subsequently distinguished themselves as outstanding leaders. The station came into being largely as a result of the efforts of Dr. John A. Widtsoe, noted irrigation and dry farm authority of the west until his death in 1952. Under his leadership a systematic investigation was undertaken in 1901 to determine the possibilities of farming without irrigation in Utah. The experimental farm at Nephi was established largely as a result of that study