They did explain everything, but I can't remember : the search for relevant information following a heart attack : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts in Nursing at Massey University

This qualitative descriptive study was undertaken to find out what information patients and their partners wanted following a heart attack. There were 17 participants, of whom 11 were patients and six were partners. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants and then thematic content analysis was used to identify the four main themes. The first two themes relate to the experience of having a heart attack and question the widely held belief that it is a dramatic experience and that patients deny what is happening. It seems more likely that the non-specific and insidious onset leaves patients genuinely not knowing what is happening. Women have an additional problem in that once they seek professional help, the medical staff often fail to correctly diagnose that they are having a heart attack. The third and fourth themes relate to the recovery period and show that in spite of a plethora of information provided during cardiac rehabilitation, there is strong evidence that patients and partners fail to receive information that meets their own needs in relation to social, physical and psychological issues. This has an impact on the major adjustments to be made after a heart attack and the coping strategies that are a part of this. An additional problem following discharge is poor communication between health professionals, resulting in anxiety for patient and partners. The role of the cardiac educator emerged as extremely useful and valuable to patients and partners as a support and source of relevant information after discharge. Further support and training for these nurses and expansion of the service would increase their availability to patients and partners. It would also be in line with the World Health Organisation (WHO) (1997) recommendations to provide an environment, which supports and motivates people to make lifestyle changes. An additional recommendation is increased flexibility in cardiac rehabilitation with a shift into the primary care setting, thus offering wider opportunities for patients and partners to obtain support and hopefully facilitate the process of adjustment following a heart attack

File card marker Patent

Describing device for flagging punched business card

Tools for computer graphics applications

Extensive research in computer graphics has produced a collection of basic algorithms and procedures whose utility spans many disciplines. These tools are described in terms of their fundamental aspects, implementations, applications, and availability. Programs which are discussed include basic data plotting, curve smoothing, and depiction of three dimensional surfaces. As an aid to potential users of these tools, particular attention is given to discussing their availability and, where applicable, their cost

Schumpeterian Growth and Endogenous Business Cycles

This paper looks at the linkages between growth and business cycles by bringing together two strands of literature. We incorporate a quality ladders engine of growth into an otherwise standard real business cycle model. We are interested in whether the process which leads to technological improvement over time, is also a good candidate for the process which leads to business cycles. We use a standard real business cycle approach to solve for rules of motion in our state variables and proceed to generate artificial time series. We compare the statistical properties of these series with their historical counterparts to determine if the model mimics the real world closely. One advantage our approach has over the standard approach is that the trend component is included in our artifical series just as it is in the data. Hence, we are not tied to any particular filtering method when we compare simulations with the real world data. Quantitative analysis reveals the model is capable of accounting for key features of fluctuations at various frequencies. Moreover, the model can do so without relying as heavily on highly persistent exogenous shocks as standard models must.

New approaches in social investing

If asset managers provided more information on community development finance vehicles to socially responsible investors, many more people would choose to earn returns while helping local communities.Investments ; Community development

Technique for pinpointing submicron particles in the electron microprobe

Series of electron micrographs at successively lower magnifications can localize the substrate area sufficiently for a particle to be picked up by the beam of the electron microprobe. This approach could be modified to apply to fractographic studies, particularly of oxidation products stripped from fractures

Temporal introduction patterns of invasive alien plant species to Australia

We examined temporal introduction patterns of 132 invasive alien plant species (IAPS) to Australia since European colonisation in 1770. Introductions of IAPS were high during 1810–1820 (10 species), 1840– 1880 (51 species, 38 of these between 1840 and 1860) and 1930–1940 (9 species). Conspicuously few introductions occurred during 10-year periods directly preceding each introduction peak. Peaks during early European settlement (1810–1820) and human range expansion across the continent (1840-1860) both coincided with considerable growth in Australia’s human population. We suggest that population growth during these times increased the likelihood of introduced plant species becoming invasive as a result of increased colonization and propagule pressure. Deliberate introductions of IAPS (104 species) far outnumbered accidental introductions (28 species) and were particularly prominent during early settlement. Cosmopolitan IAPS (25 species) and those native solely to South America (53 species), Africa (27 species) and Asia (19 species) have been introduced deliberately and accidentally to Australia across a broad period of time. A small number of IAPS, native solely to Europe (5 species) and North America (2 species), were all introduced to Australia prior to 1880. These contrasting findings for native range suggest some role for habitat matching, with similar environmental conditions in Australia potentially driving the proliferation of IAPS native to southern-hemisphere regions. Shrub, tree and vine species dominated IAPS introduced prior to 1840, with no grasses or forbs introduced during early colonisation. Since 1840, all five growth forms have been introduced deliberately and accidentally in relatively large numbers across a broad period of time. In particular, a large number of grass and forb IAPS were deliberately introduced between 1840 and 1860, most likely a direct result of the introduction of legislation promoting intensive agriculture across large areas of the continent. Since the 1980s, only three IAPS have been introduced (all deliberately introduced forbs). The decline in IAPS introductions is most likely a reflection of both increased surveillance and biosecurity efforts and the likelihood that many potential IAPS are still within a pre-expansion lag period