Diameter-selective encapsulation of metallocenes in single-walled carbon nanotubes.

Encapsulation of organic molecules in carbon nanotubes has opened a new route for the fabrication of hybrid nanostructures. Here we show that diameter-selective encapsulation of two metallocene compounds bis(cyclopentadienyl) cobalt and bis(ethylcyclopentadienyl) cobalt has been observed in single-walled carbon nanotubes. In particular, bis(cyclopentadienyl) cobalt is observed to fill only nanotubes of one specific diameter. Electron transfer from the cobalt ions to the nanotubes has been directly observed through a change in the charge state of the encapsulated molecules. The filling of the tubes is found to induce a red-shift of the photoluminescence emission, which is attributed to the formation of localized impurity states below the conduction band of the nanotubes.

Medical history from the viewpoint of the patient.

The patient narrative is now an established literary form, but has been largely disregarded within medicine. Medical history in general also pays only passing attention to the testimonies of individual patients. The patient narrative is not a merely contemporary development, however, but has many precursors in the past. This article outlines a project to bring medical history and the patient narrative into relationship and thereby to give the patient an intellectual history.

Medical science, nursing, and the future.

Drawing on the work of Evelyn Fox Keller, this paper examines the notion of 'objectivism' and suggests that medicine as a science is premised upon the denial of common mortality. Alternative models for medicine are then examined, including the 'romantic science' of Oliver Sacks, and the paper concludes with a brief discussion of nursing as a key concept in the articulation of a more comprehensive medicine of the future.

Containing abjection in nursing: the end of shift handover as a site of containment.

This theoretical paper has arisen out of a national study of the end of shift nursing handover. It draws upon and offers a postmodern reformulation of the psychodynamic concepts of anxiety and defence as articulated by Menzies Lyth in her study of nursing work in the 1950s. It outlines Kristeva's concept of abjection and draws upon Bion's formulation of the concept of containing to offer an account of how, in the current context of hospital nursing, the handover can function to contain abjection.

Some foliar characteristics of ash trees (Fraxinus excelsior) exposed to ozone episodes.

Young ash trees (Fraxinus excelsior L.) growing in the field were exposed to episodes of 150 nl 1-1 ozone, or to clean air, in open-top chambers at the University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington Campus, UK, May-October, 1992-1994. The episodes were for 8 h daily and for 1-4 d in succession, with seasonal totals of 24-27 d. A nondestructive method for estimating whole-tree leaf area was developed in 1992 and used to monitor leaf area, leaf number and leaf size in 1993 and 1994. Stomatal density and leaf abscission were also studied. No effects of exposure to ozone on leaf area and leaf number were detected. In 1994 there were consistent trends towards greater mean leaf size and higher stomatal density in trees exposed to ozone, but these effects were not significant at the 95% confidence level. Leaf abscission was slower in trees exposed to ozone in 1992 and 1994, but not in 1993 when there were fewer exposure days late in the season.

Telling a story, writing a narrative: terminology in health care.

This paper examines the current use of the terms 'story', 'narrative' and 'voice' within health care. It argues that the focus on narrative forms is related to nursing's professional development of an alternative epistemology to science, and to nursing theorists' mistrust of 'Enlightenment' modes. However, in order for this project to be productively developed it is necessary to distinguish story from narrative: the former is an informal activity, the latter is meditative and theoretical. Both have therapeutic dimensions.

Endogenous porphyrins in murine skin and transplanted PAM-212 squamous cell carcinoma tissues after injection of delta-aminolevulinic acid.

After intraperitoneal (IP) injection of delta-aminolevulinic acid (ALA), the endogenous porphyrins in murine skin and tumor tissues were determined by a method involving solvent and acid extractions. The results showed that the total amount of porphyrins in the tumor tissues after ALA injection was much higher than that in the skin from the same mice, although the amount of porphyrins in the skin from the ALA-injected mice was higher than that from the saline-injected (control) mice. The porphyrins in the tumor were mostly protoporphyrin and coproporphyrin, with only a small amount of uroporphyrin. The optimum period for porphyrin accumulation in the tumor as well as in the skin was 1 hour after the injection of ALA. As the period was extended to 3 and 6 hours, the amount of porphyrins in these tissues decreased considerably. These findings could be valuable for further application of ALA in the photodynamic therapy of skin cancer.

Reading grade levels and health behaviors of parents at child clinics.

OBJECTIVES: Recent reports suggest alarmingly low levels of literacy among adults in the U.S., but these are not expressed in grade levels. Assessment of the epidemiology of reading grade levels is necessary for development of patient education materials written at appropriate levels. METHODS: We measured demographics, reading ability and self-described health behaviors of 646 parents at two private, two university, two indigent and six public child-related clinics in a midwestern city using a bilingual oral interview and the Wide Range Achievement Test. RESULTS: Parents were 59% white, 92% female, with mean age 28 years, mean years of school 12.1 and mean reading grade 8.7. Parents tended to read four to five grades below their highest completed school grade. Analysis of self-reported health behaviors showed that 69% had no private insurance, 31% smoked cigarettes, 35% had body mass index greater than 27, and 46% of parous mothers had never breast-fed. Prevalence odds ratios showed that all adverse health risks except obesity were associated with low reading ability. CONCLUSIONS: These findings have important implications for public health professionals working in clinical care, health education and agency policy. Persons with low literacy levels appear to be at particularly high risk for adverse health behaviors. Education materials and teaching vocabulary should be appropriate for client reading grade levels.

Central Sydney Palliative Care Service: potential and limitations of an integrated palliative care service based in a metropolitan teaching hospital.

Palliative care needs to be available wherever needed, in hospital and home, and should be part of mainstream health care. Palliative care should be concurrent with anti-disease therapy, and includes but goes beyond "terminal care". The World Health Organization (WHO) encourages such development. Palliative care in Australia takes on many forms. Central Sydney Palliative Care Service based in Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (RPAH), Camperdown, is an example of mainstream palliative care integrating home and hospital care. Almost all units of RPAH refer patients to the palliative care service. Approximately 1000 new patients are referred annually by doctors (specialists or general practitioners) for medical consultation. Registrar (fellow) training in palliative medicine is a feature of the service. Palliative care in a hospital or community-based service is an issue of justice and equity, and gives structure to compassion.

Seasonal changes in water use of ash trees exposed to ozone episodes.

Young ash trees (Fraxinus excelsior L.) growing in the field were exposed to episodes of 150 nl 1-1 ozone, or to clean air, in open-top chambers at the University of Nottingham, Sucton Bonington Campus, UK, in the summer of 1992. The episodes were for 8 h daily and for 1-4 in succession, with a seasonal total of 27 d. From late-June until mid-September 1942, flow of water in the stems of individual trees was measured using a heat balance method. Short-term effects of ozone exposure on stem flow were not detected. However, in the longer-term, daily integrated stem flow values for the ozone treatment decreased throughout the measurement period relative to the clear air treatment. Further data analysis showed that integrated stem flow values for morning, evening and for the more stable central part of the day changed in a similar way, but this was statistically significant only for the evening period. No treatment differences, however, were detected in night-time water use values. This response was probably mediated by changes in stomatal resistance and, if applicable to other species, has important implications for the long-term growth of trees in regions where photochemical ozone is common.

Handover: the collective narrative of nursing practice.

This paper examines the practice of handover in a large metropolitan hospital. It shows that the handover is a significant site at which to examine how tensions and imperatives derived from the traditional institutional position and role of the nurse are played out in contradiction with emergent professionalism. It identifies handover dimensions and focuses discussion on how the collective narrative of the handover serves to construct patient identities as well as ensure solidarity and cohesion among nurses.

A study on the sequence of phototoxic effects of rose bengal using retinal pigment epithelial cells in vitro.

This paper describes a study on the sequence of the phototoxic effects of rose bengal (RB), a fluorescein derivative used as a vital stain in the diagnosis of certain external ocular diseases. Bovine melanotic RPE cells were grown in culture. These cells were labeled with [51Cr] and exposed to visible light in the presence of various concentrations of RB; the leakage of [51Cr] from the cells was used as a measure of cell lysis. Exposure to light of the cells with 0.3-10 microM RB induced approximately 13 to 43% cell lysis. The lysis progressively increased when the exposure time was varied from 10 to 30 min. A relatively short period of irradiation in the presence of RB was sufficient to produce sublytic cellular injury which could subsequently lead to complete cell lysis even in the absence of the photochemical treatment. The dark reaction was time-dependent, and reached a maximum for a given irradiation period. Our results thus show that there are two different processes that could eventually lead to the cell lysis: (a) a phototoxic effect which caused a sublytic damage and (b) a dark reaction that followed.

Binding of chlorpromazine to cultured retinal pigment epithelial cells loaded with melanin.

The accumulation of chlorpromazine (CPZ) in cultured bovine amelanotic retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells artificially loaded with melanin was investigated. The melanin was isolated from human eye bank eyes. Suspensions of the melanin were added to the RPE cells and incubated for 3 hrs. The cells ingested the melanin which was dispersed in the cytoplasm of the cells. They were not adhering to the cell membrane. The melanin-loaded cells grew in culture, although their rate of growth was slower than that of the control RPE cells not loaded with melanin. When the melanin-loaded cells were treated with CPZ, these cells accumulated a greater amount of CPZ than the control cells. A greater amount of CPZ was released from the melanin-loaded cells than from the control cells. The results suggest that some drugs or chemicals such as CPZ could accumulate in vivo in larger quantities and for longer periods in melanotic cells than in nonmelanotic cells. These compounds may subsequently be released into the extracellular fluid, thus affecting the neighbouring cells. This phenomenon may play an important role in the activities of these drugs in the melanotic cells and in the cells adjacent to the melanotic cells. These results suggested that cultured cells loaded with melanin could be used as a suitable model for studying the mechanisms of binding of drugs to intracellular melanin, and of their subsequent release outside the cells.

Bio-effects of extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields (60 Hz.) on the healing of corneal epithelial wound: an in vitro study.

The organ cultures of standardized epithelial wound of rabbit cornea, were exposed to electric and magnetic fields components of the extremely low frequency (60 Hz) sinusoidal electromagnetic field, separately or in combination. The electric field was applied as a pure electric current via an agar-salt bridge, and the magnetic field component was applied as a pure polarized magnetic field by means of a pair of energized coils in a Helmholtz configuration. The two field components were at right angles to each other and in phase (phi = 0 degrees) when applied in combination. Their vectors or planes of polarization were parallel to the surface of the culture dish. The three exposure combinations used were: a) electric current density of 0.19 V/m (30 microA/cm2) and/or magnetic fields strength of 1.0 Gauss. (low intensity) b) electric current density of 0.31 V/m (50 microA/cm2) and/or magnetic fields strength of 1.5 Gauss. (medium intensity) c) electric current density of 0.57 V/m (90 microA/cm2) and/or magnetic fields strength of 2.5 Gauss. (high intensity). After 2 days of exposure the incorporation of radiolabelled thymidine into DNA of the regenerating epithelial cells was determined. Results showed thymidine incorporation (adjusted by regression for differences in the levels of DNA in corneal wound) (DNA*) depended upon the electromagnetic field strength. The only significant effect on this outcome, was an interaction effect between the electric (E) and magnetic (M) fields employed. The size and direction of this interaction depended strongly on the maximum field strengths. At the lowest level DNA* was significantly lower when both fields were present than would be expected from the effects of either field alone. At the highest level, DNA* was significantly higher. There were no significant effects for medium field strengths.

Psychosexual counselling training for nurses and midwives.

PIP: Psychosexual training for nurses began in 1974 as an experiment. The advantages of seminar training in psychosexual problems were found to be numerous. This pilot study revealed the need for training programs in this field. The Joint Board of Clinical Nursing Studies (JBCNS) set up in 1977 a psychosexual counselling panel which designed a course on the subject. The purpose for this course is to train the nurses and midwives in discussing the psychology of interpersonal relationships and sexuality, the characteristics of sexual dysfunction, and referring the patient when the problem lies outside their expertise, assessing the reciprocal influence between the sexual problem and the general relationship of the partners, responding to the psychosexual problems of men and women and stating the purpose and limitations of counselling those with these problems. It may prove necessary for the JBCNS to design a more comprehensive course in order to enable nurses and midwives to develop a role in more specialized apsects of sexual dysfunction treatment.^ieng