Micromotor endoscope catheter for in vivo, ultrahigh-resolution optical coherence tomography.

A distally actuated, rotational-scanning micromotor endoscope catheter probe is demonstrated for ultrahigh-resolution in vivo endoscopic optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging. The probe permits focus adjustment for visualization of tissue morphology at varying depths with improved transverse resolution compared with standard OCT imaging probes. The distal actuation avoids nonuniform scanning motion artifacts that are present with other probe designs and can permit a wider range of imaging speeds. Ultrahigh-resolution endoscopic imaging is demonstrated in a rabbit with <4-microm axial resolution by use of a femtosecond Cr:forsterite laser light source. The micromotor endoscope catheter probe promises to improve OCT imaging performance in future endoscopic imaging applications.

New directions in analyses of parenting contributions to children's acquisition of values.

Traditional theories of how children acquire values or standards of behavior have emphasized the importance of specific parenting techniques or styles and have acknowledged the importance of a responsive parent-child relationship, but they have failed to differentiate among forms of responsiveness, have stressed internalization of values as the desired outcome, and have limited their scope to a small set of parenting strategies or methods. This paper outlines new directions for research. It acknowledges the central importance of parents and argues for research that (1) demonstrates that parental understanding of a particular child's characteristics and situation rather than use of specific strategies or styles is the mark of effective parenting; (2) traces the differential impact of varieties of parent responsiveness; (3) assesses the conditions surrounding the fact that parents have goals other than internalization when socializing their children, and evaluates the impact of that fact; and (4) considers a wider range of parenting strategies.

Unasked-for support and unsolicited advice: age and the quality of social experience.

The present study (N = 122) examined whether older adults (M = 79 years) differed from younger age groups (Ms = 25 and 45 years) in their experience of 35 situations of unsolicited support selected from 7 content areas (e.g., health, cognition, finances, life management). Examined were reported occurrence, affective quality, interpretation, and strategies used when support was unwelcome. At all ages, unasked-for support was regarded as more unpleasant than pleasant, primarily because it implied incompetence. Unexpectedly, compared with the younger adults, older adults reported less occurrence overall (with some variations by content area) but the same level of unpleasant affect. Cognitive and social-relational factors that are age related (e.g., the use of active discounting strategies) played a role in reported occurrence and affective appraisal and may determine whether unsolicited support has positive or negative outcomes.

The use of dilemma situations to analyse industrial action by nurses.

Traditionally, the history of nursing has emphasised sacrifice and the obligation to care, placing limits on the way that nurses could argue for improved conditions and status. However, over the past decade nursing has changed significantly both in terms of its educational system and in respect of the context in which nurses now work. In an increasingly technological environment, nurses now seem more ready to consider the industrial actions that other professions take. The present study measures the particular orientation to care (personal or technical) that nurses currently hold and then looks at whether this orientation has an effect on nurses' industrial activism, and the degree of difficulty felt by nurses when faced with choosing between industrial options. Orientation to care was measured through the choice of actions in a series of behaviours which were pre-rated as to whether they primarily involved technical or personal care. Industrial activism was measured through a series of vignette situations, with behavioural options ranging from low to high activism. Results of the study demonstrated that a particular orientation to care does in fact impact on industrial activism and difficulty scores. Overall, the results of this study demonstrated, firstly, that nurses who preferred to express their care in a personal rather than a technical manner were more ready to take industrial action. Secondly, those nurses who held a strong duty of care towards their patients were less ready to take industrial action than those who considered workers' rights as the more important issue. However, at the same time, nurses who held a strong duty of care had more difficulty in choosing between options.

The impact of experience on children's understanding of illness.

Reported two studies investigating the relationship between the extent of children's experience with illness and their level of understanding about the causes of illness. Both studies compared children with experience of a major chronic illness (cystic fibrosis in Study 1 and cancer in Study 2) with children whose illness experience was relatively minor and acute. The age range of the children in Study 1 was 4.6 to 10.6 years; in Study 2 it was 7 to 14 years. The measure of understanding of illness was the Bibace and Walsh (1980, 1981) Piagetian-based test. To determine the specificity of illness experience effects, performance on this test was considered against a second measure of cognitive functioning: conservation of amount and volume in Study 1; the Peabody Picture Vocabulary test-Revised in Study 2. Results point to both age and experience as contributing to children's understanding of illness. Methodological issues and implications for future research are discussed.