ABSTRACT
Japan has the largest number of psychiatric beds per population in the world. At the same time, little research had been done to describe nursing care delivered in psychiatric units. To describe contents of nursing care, the framework for care classification and measuring methods must be examined. The purpose of this study was to develop a nursing intervention classification and examine the correlation between amount of care and patients' mental states. Data were collected from 39 patient care records from 4 randomly selected psychiatric hospitals. Patients' function and condition were evaluated by their doctors using the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) and the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS). Six care categories were extracted: basic activities of daily living, psychological support/interpersonal skills, medical support, monitoring, family support and miscellaneous. By examining three cases with this classification, there were significant correlations between the GAF and BPRS scores and amount of care for two acutely ill psychotic patients.
Subject(s)
Hospitals, Psychiatric , Mental Disorders/nursing , Nurse's Role , Psychiatric Nursing/classification , Activities of Daily Living , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Delivery of Health Care/classification , Delivery of Health Care/organization & administration , Drug Monitoring/nursing , Female , Humans , Japan , Male , Mental Disorders/diagnosis , Mental Disorders/psychology , Middle Aged , Nurse's Role/psychology , Nurse-Patient Relations , Nursing Evaluation Research , Nursing Methodology Research , Psychiatric Nursing/organization & administration , Psychiatric Status Rating Scales , Qualitative Research , Social Support , Time and Motion StudiesABSTRACT
RNA interference is a powerful technique for suppressing gene functions in many eukaryotes including plants. Here we show that introduction of double-stranded RNA into Arabidopsis protoplasts leads to marked silencing of endogenous genes, as observed previously for transgenes [Biosci. Biotechnol. Biochem., 67, 2674-2677 (2003)]. This simple system should be useful for functional analysis of genes involved in fundamental cellular processes.
Subject(s)
Arabidopsis/genetics , Protoplasts/physiology , RNA Interference , RNA, Double-Stranded/physiology , Cells, Cultured , Gene Dosage , Gene Expression Regulation, Plant , Gene Silencing , Time FactorsABSTRACT
Double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) induces sequence-specific gene silencing in eukaryotes through a process known as RNA interference (RNAi). RNAi is now used as a powerful tool for functional genomics in many eukaryotes, including plants. We herein report a dsRNA-mediated transient RNAi assay system using protoplasts from Arabidopsis mesophyll cells and suspension-cultured cells (cell line T87). Introduction of dsRNA into protoplasts led to marked silencing of target transgenes. Our assay system would provide a convenient and efficient way to induce RNAi in protoplasts of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana.
