Retinoblastoma: Identifying the Diagnostic Signs for Early Treatment

Retinoblastoma is a rare but significant cause of childhood eye cancer world-wide. The prognosis depends upon early diagnosis and treatment but also upon accurate classification of the tumours. Unilateral incidence is normally non-hereditary compared with bilateral incidence where secondary tumours are more common. Survivorship is much better for unilateral compared with bilateral and trilateral retinoblastoma. Early signs are important to detect and photography can assist in identifying no return of “red-eye” during flash photography and yellow appearance of the tumour. Treatment options are discussed together with new psycho-oncology approaches that address potential trauma in the survivor as well as in the family of the survivor

Resistivity network and structural model of the oxide cathode for CRT application

In this paper, the electrical properties of oxide cathode and oxide cathode plus, supplied by LG Philips Displays, have been investigated in relation to different cathode activation regimes and methods. Oxide cathode activation treatment for different durations has been investigated. The formations of the compounds associated to the diffusion of reducing elements (Mg, Al, and W) to the Ni cap surface of oxide cathode were studied by a new suggestion method. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) was used as analytical techniques. Al, W, and Mg doping elements take place during heating to 1080 K (Ni-Brightness) under a rich controlled Ba–SrO atmosphere through an acceleration life test. The chemical transport of these elements was occurred mainly by the Ni cap grain boundary mechanism with significant pile-up of Mg compounds. Al and W show a superficial concentrations and distribution. A new structural and resistivity network model of oxide cathode plus are suggested. The new structural model shows a number of metallic and metallic oxide pathways are exist at the interface or extended through the oxide coating. The effective values of the resistances and the type of the equivalent circuit in the resistivity network model are temperature and activation time dependent.</p

Strategies for Agile Leadership in a Challenging Environment

The post pandemic environment has provided many significant challenges for all forms of organisations. The requirement for good leadership in this context is vital. This research considers the features of such leadership and how their application can affect organisations and their required outputs. The need for agility in this sphere is proposed, in order to accommodate the environmental challenges, globally and within the different sectors. There should be an emphasis on creativity in order to provide solutions to the many issues for organisations in the prevailing environment. Recruitment and retention are viewed as critical activities for sustaining these entities by ensuring the supply of the requisite standard of personnel at all levels. The latter should have suitable qualifications or the aptitude to acquire them. These staff should be given appropriate training then empowered, including being given the scope to utilise their own leadership style, as appropriate. The form of the post pandemic environment and its effects on leadership are noted. The principal factors identified here include the economic challenges, hybrid working patterns and the use of agency staff to supplement the permanent resource. The proactive development of leaders is emphasised as a critical activity for organisations, enabling them to address the issues prevalent in their environment. Research into this area occurred, using qualitative techniques. A literature review and interview with a current practitioner were performed, in order to glean the data for an inductive analysis. A template to assist organisations in creating a strategy for ‘Agile Leadership’ was then formulated.How to cite this article: Blair, G., Barratt, S., & Pagano, R., (2023). Strategies for Agile Leadership in a Challenging Environment. GS Spark: Journal of Applied Academic Discourse. 1(1), 55-66. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.837211

The impact of Clinical Nurse Specialists on the decision making process in cancer multidisciplinary team meetings: A qualitative study

PURPOSE: There are well-documented barriers to nurse participation in cancer multidisciplinary team (MDT) meetings. This paper aims to identify the approaches used by Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNSs) in this setting to contribute during discussion, and to consider the impact of these approaches on the decision making process. In doing so it aims to highlight ways that CNSs can increase their influence, and enhance multidisciplinary engagement. METHODS: This study is based on analysis of observation data from 122 MDT meetings in gynaecology, haematology and skin cancer MDTs. Field notes were reviewed, identifying 58 cases where CNSs contributed to MDT discussion. Audio recordings of the relevant sections were then transcribed and analysed thematically. RESULTS: Five approaches were used by CNSs to contribute in MDT meetings: sharing information, asking questions, providing practical suggestions, framing and using humour. These approaches influenced three key intermediary processes identified during the analysis ('successful contributions'): prompting discussion, influencing a treatment plan and facilitating teamwork. CNSs contributed successfully in cases where medical factors (such as relapsed disease or complex comorbidities) or non-medical factors (such as strong patient preference), had the potential to impact on the ability of teams to deliver treatment. CONCLUSIONS: CNSs have an important role in cancer MDT meetings. By focusing on a subset of cases where CNSs contributed during MDT discussion, this study has provided an insight into approaches that can be adopted by CNSs to increase their influence on the decision making process, enabling teams to capitalise on their knowledge and expertise in MDT meetings

Research and evidence based environmental health

Environmental health (EH) professionals have often spoken of the need to become more research active (Burke et al., 2002; McCarthy, 1996) and make their work more evidence based, but to date little has been written about how to achieve this in practice. This chapter is therefore written as an introductory guide to research for EH professionals, students, and policy makers. By developing your knowledge it is hoped you will feel more confident navigating the world of research; motivated towards making your own work more evidence based; and enthused about contributing to the evidence base from which others can learn. This chapter is not a research methods textbook, a step by step guide to research or evidence based environmental health, nor does it seek to make definitive statements about these complex areas. However it highlights the most important issues regarding research in environmental health, considers the importance of research to the environmental health profession and provides useful signposts towards further resources. The chapter is divided into three sections. The first defines evidence based environmental health and why it remains a priority for EH professionals. The second section explores the key stages of environmental health research and provides guidance on the development of your reading skills. The final section suggests ways to become more research active and evidence based, acknowledging the many challenges EH professionals face and concluding with a vision for evidence based environmental health. The chapter ends with an annex including a glossary of environmental health research terms, a list of references and suggested further reading

Novel pharmacological actions of Trequinsin Hydrochloride improve human sperm cell motility and function

Background and purposeAsthenozoospermia is a leading cause of male infertility, but the development of pharmaceuticals to improve sperm motility has been hindered by the lack of effective screening platforms and knowledge of suitable molecular targets. We have demonstrated that a high throughput screening (HTS) strategy in conjunction with established in vitro tests can identify and characterise the action of compounds that improve sperm motility. The study aimed to apply HTS to identify new compounds from a novel small molecule library that increase intracellular calcium, [Ca2+]I, promote human sperm cell motility and systemically determine the mechanism of action. Experimental approach A validated HTS fluorometric [Ca2+]i assay was used to screen an in-house library of compounds. Trequinsin hydrochloride (a phosphodiesterase 3 inhibitor) was selected for detailed molecular (plate reader assays, electrophysiology and cyclic nucleotide measurement) and functional (motility and acrosome reaction) testing in sperm from healthy volunteer donors and, where possible, patients.   Key resultsThe fluorometric analysis identified Trequinsin as an efficacious agonist of [Ca2+]i, although less potent than progesterone (P4). Functionally, Trequinsin significantly increased cell hyperactivation and penetration into viscous medium in all donor sperm samples and cell hyperactivation in 22/25 (88%) patient sperm samples. The Trequinsin-induced [Ca2+]i response was cross-desensitised consistently by prostaglandin E1 but not with P4. Whole-cell patch clamp electrophysiology confirmed that Trequinsin activates CatSper and partially inhibits potassium channel activity. Trequinsin also increases intracellular cGMP.   Conclusion and Implications Trequinsin exhibits a novel pharmacological profile in human sperm and may be a suitable lead compound for the development of new pharmaceuticals to improve patient sperm function and fertilisation potential

JOINT-SPECIFIC POWER PRODUCTION DURING SUBMAXIMAL AND MAXIMAL CYCLING

Cycle ergometry is commonly used to quantify muscular work and power, and to elicit perturbations to metabolic homeostasis for a broad range of physiological investigations. Separate authors have reported that knee extension dominates power production during submaximal cycling (SUBcyc; Ericson, 1988) and hip extension is the dominate action during maximal cycling (MAXcyc, Martin & Brown, 2009). Changes in joint-specific powers across broad ranges of net cycling powers within one group of cyclists have not been reported. Our purpose was to determine the extent to which ankle, knee, and hip joint actions produced power across a range of net cycling powers. Based on previous reports we hypothesized that relative contributions of knee extension power would decrease and relative knee flexion and hip extension powers would increase as net cycling power increase

The development and evaluation of a nested PCR assay for detection of Neospora caninum and Hammondia heydorni in feral mouse tissues

The development of a novel nested polymerase chain reaction is described and used for detecting the presence of Neospora caninum and Hammondia heydorni DNA in DNA extracted from feral rodent tissues. A unique strategy was used for design of an assay that could be adapted for detecting DNA from more than one member of Toxoplasmatinae simultaneously with a minimal number of additional steps. The level of sensitivity described for this assay is comparable to real time-PCR and other nested PCR assays. Twenty-eight of 104 feral mice tested positive for N. caninum in at least one tissue (the brain, heart or liver) studied. In this study, eight instances are reported where the brain tested negative to N. caninum while at least one other tissue was positive. This suggests that prior studies, which screened only the brain, describe prevalence levels that are under-represented. None of 54 mouse brains tested positive for H. heydorni DNA. This suggests that mice are rarely infected by H. heydorni although this hypothesis needs to be explored further. Data obtained in the current study suggest that N. caninum is a common parasite of feral rodents which may be important in the epidemiology of the disease. © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved