10 research outputs found
Nurse Autonomy Pain Control and Discharge from Recovery
No full text Beverley Colwill, the author of this article, was faced with the question, ‘Is it always necessary for patients to remain in the recovery room for 30 minutes following their last intravenous bolus dose of morphine?’ To try to find an answer, she carried out the literature search which is reported here. </jats:p
Tolerance, intolerance, and fanaticism, W.D. Valgardson's reaction to the religious debate in New Iceland
No full textIn the 1870s, religious controversy and its resulting dissent created a division in the immigrant community of New Iceland. The heart of the religious debate centred on Pall porlaksson's orthodox teachings of the Norwegian Lutheran Synod and Jon Bjarnason's liberal views espoused by the Lutheran State Church of Iceland. The debate resulted in animosity between community members to the point that the community split. Although poor living conditions played some role, rancour over religious dissent was the primary dividing force, leading, in 1879, to a migration to North Dakota in the footsteps of porlaksson. This thesis will focus on the writings of Icelandic-Canadian author W. D. (William Dempsey) Valgardson and the religious events that took place in New Iceland long before his birth. It will show how Valgardson, drawing from this religious heritage, creates themes of tolerance, intolerance and fanaticism. Valgardson claims that a moral quality exists in his writing, a concern with Christian and non-Christian behaviour, and the use and abuse of religious power. This thesis will examine these themes in his novel, short stories, and poetry, in light of the historic events of religious strife and bonding in New Iceland
An exploration of male and female managers' perspectives on the meaning and assessment of commitment: Cases from leading British and Swedish engineering companies
No full textThis thesis explores the issue of why female managers’ commitment is so often reported
as being less of that of males, despite research evidence that there is no gender
difference in levels of commitment. No previous research was found which reported
managerial meanings of “commitment”, usually conceptualised with an affective
component resulting in loyalty and effort, and a continuance component, the desire to
stay in an organisation. Meanings of “commitment” in three major engineering companies
were elicited through interviews with 37 engineering managers in the UK and Sweden.
The sample included sixteen male/female pairs matched on age, qualifications and job
position, from top, middle and junior levels of management.
The meanings important to managers were the manifested behaviours of commitment at
work. The most common of the 36 elicited meanings were task delivery, putting yourself
out, involvement, and quality. Overall, male meanings were more similar to top managers’
meanings than female meanings. Top women’s meanings were similar to those of top
men, sharing meanings of being proactive/using initiative, being ready for challenge,
being creative/innovative, and being business aware. More women overall gave
meanings oriented towards the organisation, particularly good citizen behaviours, which
would be less visible to managers, whilst more men overall gave meanings, benefiting
themselves as well as the organisation, which were very active and highly visible. Five
types of commitment meanings were identified: Virtuous, Volunteer, Virtuoso, Vanguard
and Gender-Shared.
In a later questionnaire, the sample were asked to rate the importance of their 36
meanings of commitment in terms of their own view and their perceived view of how their
organisation would rate them. Through gaps between individual and perceived
organisational ratings, tensions were identified and mapped, providing a guide for an indepth
analysis of meanings with the greatest tensions, particularly on hours over the
norm perceived to be valued more by the organisation, and on getting balance, enjoying
work, thinking of oneself as well as the organisation, and being people-concerned.
Interviewees at all levels indicated the importance of getting work/nonwork balance, most
rejecting the notion of commitment meaning working additional hours. Attitudes to
managers seeking maternity/paternity leave were reported. Through the Swedish
comparison, a trend was identified that where most male managers take extended
paternity leave, the issue which is seen as a woman’s individual problem in the UK
becomes an organisational planning issue in Sweden. Thus, perceived lesser
commitment is transformed into less unplanned availability for a short period.
The process of commitment assessment has also been explored and a number of
dimensions drawn out, particularly the tacit nature of the evidence, the subjectivity of
assessment, and the manager’s susceptibility to influence. These affect the way in which
commitment behaviours are interpreted by the manager, as both males and females use
impression management strategies to demonstrate their commitment.
The contribution of this thesis is to the commitment field, in identifying managers’
meanings of commitment, and to the women in management field, where evidence is
presented of the differences in male and female meanings of commitment, and the
importance of visibility of commitment to managers. As women’s meanings are less
visible than those of men in this sample, this suggests an explanation of why women’s
commitment is still challenged
Evaluating the Ecological Impacts of Cultivating Genetically Modified Herbicide Tolerant (GMHT) Oilseed Rape and Maize: (2007-B-DS-1-S1) STRIVE Report
No full textThis report is published as part of the Science, Technology, Research and Innovation for the
Environment (STRIVE) Programme 2007–2013.Author has checked copyrigh
A sojourn in Paris 1824-25: sex and sociability in the manuscript writings of Anne Lister (1791-1840)
No full textThis thesis examines the day to day practices that constituted Anne Lister's (1791-1840) sexuality and sociability within the range of her writings, as well as her society. Anne's writings were a detailed account, spanning her lifetime, of her own love and relationships with the 'fairer sex' (Whitbread 1988, 145). Anne's sociality, seen in her correspondence and plain handwritten journal entries, has been explored by Muriel Green in Miss Lister of Shibden Hall and Jill Liddington in Female Fortune and Nature's Domain (Green 1992; Liddington 1998; 2003). As a gentlewoman of adequate means, Anne has garnered some attention from women's historians interested in her agency within an early nineteenth century social and historical context. Anne's sexual identity has been extensively analysed over the past nearly twenty years by lesbian feminists, queer theorists, women's historians and historians of sexuality concerned with the history and development of modern Western female homosexuality and gender. The source for theorising Anne's sexuality has been the edited selections of the crypted journal entries, published by Helena Whitbread in I Know My Own Heart and No Priest but Love (Whitbread 1988; 1992). However, many analyses deal either with the theorisation of Anne's sexuality or her sociality; the theoretical difficulty with reconciling these categories has troubled the analysis of her complex subjectivity. Drawing upon the archival materials, I have used an interdisciplinary feminist approach to analyse the sexual and social processes of Anne's everyday interactions in her writings. Taking the seven month period of the sojourn to Paris in 1824-25, I have focused upon Anne's textual practices within her journal volume and letters during her residence in Paris, her social practices with the other guests at the guesthouse 24 Place Vendome and her sexual practices with her lover, the widow Mrs. Maria Barlow. The journal volumes and correspondence are a valuable historical record of one gentlewoman's engagement with early nineteenth century British culture
British Society of Gastroenterology guidelines on inflammatory bowel disease in adults: 2025
No full text\ua9 Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2025. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ Group.In response to recent advancements in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) management, the British Society of Gastroenterology (BSG) Clinical Services and Standards Committee (CSSC) has commissioned the BSG IBD section to update its guidelines, last revised in 2019. These updated guidelines aim to complement the IBD standards and promote the use of the national primary care diagnostic pathway for lower gastrointestinal symptoms to enhance diagnostic accuracy and timeliness. Formulated through a systematic and transparent process, this document reflects a consensus of best practices based on current evidence. The guideline, while developed primarily for the UK, is structured to support IBD management internationally. It is endorsed by the BSG executive board and CSSC without external commercial funding, with involvement primarily supported through professional roles in public institutions and the National Health Service (NHS). Methodological revisions since the prior guidelines have enhanced rigor in technical review and development, with methodology details published independently following peer review. In developing the recommendations, 89 clinical experts and stakeholders participated in an online survey, identifying primary outcomes, such as clinical and endoscopic remission, as well as adverse event metrics, all stratified by clinically relevant effect sizes. These guidelines are intended to support clinical decision-making but are not prescriptive, recognizing that individual clinical scenarios may warrant tailored approaches. Further research may inform future revisions as new evidence emerges
Ceramide regulates SR protein phosphorylation during adenoviral infection
No full textIn this study, we show that adenoviral infection induced accumulation of the sphingolipid ceramide in a dose- and time-dependent manner. This accumulation preceded cell lysis, occurred in the absence of biochemical evidence of apoptosis, and was derived from de novo synthesis of ceramide. An adenovirus mutant that lacks the adenovirus death protein (ADP) produced ceramide accumulation in the absence of cell lysis. This suggested that ceramide accumulation was either driven by adenovirus or was a cellular stress response but was unlikely a result of cell death. The use of inhibitors of ceramide synthesis resulted in a significant delay in cell lysis, suggesting that ceramide was necessary for the lytic phase of the infection. Serine-arginine-rich (SR) proteins were dephosphorylated during the late phase of the viral cycle, and inhibitors of ceramide synthesis reversed this. These findings suggest that adenovirus utilizes the ceramide pathway to regulate SR proteins during infection. © 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.BLIGH EG, 1959, CAN J BIOCHEM PHYS, V37, P911; Chalfant CE, 1999, J BIOL CHEM, V274, P20313, DOI 10.1074-jbc.274.29.20313; Chalfant CE, 2001, J BIOL CHEM, V276, P44848, DOI 10.1074-jbc.M106291200; Chalfant CE, 2002, J BIOL CHEM, V277, P12587, DOI 10.1074-jbc.M112010200; Chang Y, 1995, P NATL ACAD SCI USA, V92, P12275, DOI 10.1073-pnas.92.26.12275; CHIOU SK, 1994, MOL CELL BIOL, V14, P2556; Colwill K, 1996, EMBO J, V15, P265; Dbaibo GS, 2001, FEBS LETT, V503, P7, DOI 10.1016-S0014-5793(01)02625-4; DBAIBO GS, 1995, P NATL ACAD SCI USA, V92, P1347, DOI 10.1073-pnas.92.5.1347; Dbaibo GS, 1997, J EXP MED, V185, P481, DOI 10.1084-jem.185.3.481; Desai K, 2002, BBA-MOL CELL BIOL L, V1585, P188, DOI 10.1016-S1388-1981(02)00340-2; DOBROWSKY RT, 1992, J BIOL CHEM, V267, P5048; Doronin K, 2001, J VIROL, V75, P3314, DOI 10.1128-JVI.75.7.3314-3324.2001; DYSON N, 1989, CELL, V58, P249, DOI 10.1016-0092-8674(89)90839-8; El-Assaad W, 1998, BIOCHEM J, V336, P735; FISHBEIN JD, 1993, J BIOL CHEM, V268, P9255; Furuyama S, 2002, MOL CELL BIOL, V22, P5337, DOI 10.1128-MCB.22.15.5377-5346.2002; GOODING LR, 1992, CELL, V71, P5; GOODING LR, 1991, J VIROL, V65, P4114; GUI JF, 1994, NATURE, V369, P678, DOI 10.1038-369678a0; HAIMOVITZFRIEDMAN A, 1994, J EXP MED, V180, P525, DOI 10.1084-jem.180.2.525; Han JH, 1998, ONCOGENE, V17, P2993, DOI 10.1038-sj.onc.1202215; Hannun YA, 2002, J BIOL CHEM, V277, P25847, DOI 10.1074-jbc.R200008200; Hastings ML, 2001, CURR OPIN CELL BIOL, V13, P302, DOI 10.1016-S0955-0674(00)00212-X; JAYADEV S, 1995, J BIOL CHEM, V270, P2047; Kanopka A, 1996, NATURE, V381, P535, DOI 10.1038-381535a0; Kanopka A, 1998, NATURE, V393, P185; KIM MY, 1991, J BIOL CHEM, V266, P484; Kishikawa K, 1999, J BIOL CHEM, V274, P21335, DOI 10.1074-jbc.274.30.21335; Kojaoghlanian T, 2003, REV MED VIROL, V13, P155, DOI 10.1002-rmv.386; Leppard KN, 1997, J GEN VIROL, V78, P2131; LIU J, 1994, J BIOL CHEM, V269, P3047; LYNCH KW, 1995, GENE DEV, V9, P284, DOI 10.1101-gad.9.3.284; Mal A, 1996, NATURE, V380, P262, DOI 10.1038-380262a0; Manley JL, 1996, GENE DEV, V10, P1569, DOI 10.1101-gad.10.13.1569; Marcellus RC, 2000, J VIROL, V74, P7869, DOI 10.1128-JVI.74.17.7869-7877.2000; MERMOUD JE, 1994, EMBO J, V13, P5679; Molin M, 2000, J VIROL, V74, P9002, DOI 10.1128-JVI.74.19.9002-9009.2000; Nemunaitis J, 2000, CANCER RES, V60, P6359; NEVINS JR, 1981, CELL, V26, P213, DOI 10.1016-0092-8674(81)90304-4; NEVINS JR, 1995, CURR TOP MICROBIOL, V199, P25; Nilsson CE, 2001, EMBO J, V20, P864; OBEID LM, 1993, SCIENCE, V259, P1769, DOI 10.1126-science.8456305; Ogretmen B, 2001, J BIOL CHEM, V276, P24901, DOI 10.1074-jbc.M100314200; Perez D, 1998, J CELL BIOL, V141, P1255, DOI 10.1083-jcb.141.5.1255; Perry DK, 2000, ANN NY ACAD SCI, V905, P91; Post DE, 2003, HUM GENE THER, V14, P933, DOI 10.1089-104303403766682205; ROUSER G, 1970, LIPIDS, V5, P494, DOI 10.1007-BF02531316; Smith CWJ, 2000, TRENDS BIOCHEM SCI, V25, P381, DOI 10.1016-S0968-0004(00)01604-2; St George JA, 2003, GENE THER, V10, P1135, DOI 10.1038-sj.gt.3302071; Tacke R, 1999, CURR OPIN CELL BIOL, V11, P358, DOI 10.1016-S0955-0674(99)80050-7; TEPPER CG, 1995, P NATL ACAD SCI USA, V92, P8443, DOI 10.1073-pnas.92.18.8443; TIAN M, 1992, SCIENCE, V256, P237, DOI 10.1126-science.1566072; Tollefson AE, 1996, J VIROL, V70, P2296; Walls T, 2003, LANCET INFECT DIS, V3, P79, DOI 10.1016-S1473-3099(03)00515-2; WHYTE P, 1989, CELL, V56, P67, DOI 10.1016-0092-8674(89)90984-7; Wold WSM, 1999, CURR OPIN IMMUNOL, V11, P380, DOI 10.1016-S0952-7915(99)80064-8; WOLFF RA, 1994, J BIOL CHEM, V269, P19605; Zhang YH, 1997, CELL, V89, P63, DOI 10.1016-S0092-8674(00)80183-X99
Professional power and the state: A study of five professions in state welfare agencies in the UK
No full textThis thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.The thesis defines a profession as a group of workers who have been authorised by the state
to determine aspects of their own work, training and organisation,usually,but not necessarily,as a result of their specialist expertise. It argues that knowledge about professions would be advanced by examining the social structures and processes of regulation and management of different professions, rather than by concentrating on the particular characteristics of the work or of the workers. Following this approach the thesis presents research into the different national regulatory structures, and local management structures of five "welfare service" professions in the U.K. In explaining the differences in structure the thesis shows how each occupation exploited characteristics which provided power in particular situations to establish organisation and control advantageous to its interests,and how characteristics such as specialist knowledge, status, and income were stabilised and further developed as a result. It also examines the complex involvement of the state in legitimating, advancing and limiting professional power.
The main contribution of the thesis is to develop Freidson's theory of professions through logical critique and by reference to empirical evidence about five U.K. welfare professions, and by,
- showing that national regulatory structures do not define a division of labour or provide the absolute autonomy which Freidson proposed, - showing that different types of professional autonomy are institutionalised in local
management structures, usually on central government recommendation, and by providing a typology of professional autonomy based on empirical research, - showing that characteristics of professions are related to, but not, as proposed by Freidson, determined by professional autonomy, - developing Freidson's general perspective to accommodate the empirical evidence by reconceptualising the nature of professions in terms of professional authority, rather than autonomy, and by developing a model of the authorisation of professional power.
In developing Freidson's theory the thesis also contributes, - to knowledge about professional organisation within state welfare bureaucracies,
mainly by providing detailed descriptions of differences and changes in management structures, - to the methodology of action research by developing the theoretical basis of a method for investigating the legitimation of authority in establishing management structures, - to knowledge about the details of the relationship between the state and welfare professions, mainly by providing evidence of the involvement of the state at national and local levels in decisions and structures which profoundly shape the nature of practice, relationships with clients, and futures of welfare occupations
An Investigation into the Psychological Determinants of Health Habit Formation
No full textForming habits – broadly defined as learned automatic responses to contextual cues – is proposed as a means to health behaviour maintenance. Habits form through context dependent repetition, but additional variables may affect this process. This work aimed to investigate additional predictors of habit formation.
The potential predictors investigated were: placement in a routine; attraction versus health information; perceived reward and its impact; and individual differences.
The study investigated habit formation for dental flossing and taking a vitamin C tablet daily, in a sample of 118 participants from the general public. Eighty participants received an online intervention for vitamin C tablets at the start of the study. All participants received an intervention for flossing after four weeks, randomised to be based on attraction versus health, and to advise flossing before or after brushing. Self-reported behaviour, habit, and motivational variables were measured every four weeks, for sixteen weeks.
Habit strength and behaviour increased for both target behaviours. Neither behaviour nor automaticity were affected by the attraction and health interventions, or placement of flossing before or after toothbrushing. Experiencing the behaviour to be rewarding led to greater automaticity, but was not mediated by behaviour frequency. Reward strengthened the behaviour-automaticity relationship, as predicted by theories of reinforcement. Pleasure and intrinsic motivation also acted in this way, but positive attitudes about the behavioural outcomes did not predict behaviour or automaticity. Rational, rather than experiential, thinking style was associated with weaker habits, and higher prospective memory ability predicted greater initial gains in behaviour, followed by stronger habits.
The results suggest that there are experiential and trait factors which affect the habit formation process and which can reinforce habits, beyond their impact upon repetition. These findings advance habit theory and lead to suggestions for intervention development, such as recommending encouraging intrinsic motivation, and tailoring interventions according to individual dispositions
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Neural systems involved in delay and risk assessment in the rat
No full textThis thesis investigated the contribution of the nucleus accumbens core (AcbC) and the hippocampus (H) to choice and learning involving reinforcement that was delayed or unlikely. Animals must frequently act to influence the world even when the reinforcing outcomes of their actions are delayed. Learning with action–outcome delays is a complex problem, and little is known of the neural mechanisms that bridge such delays. Impulsive choice, one aspect of impulsivity, is characterized by an abnormally high preference for small, immediate rewards over larger delayed rewards, and is a feature of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), addiction, mania, and certain personality disorders. Furthermore, when animals choose between alternative courses of action, seeking to maximize the benefit obtained, they must also evaluate the likelihood of the available outcomes. Little is known of the neural basis of this process, or what might predispose individuals to be overly conservative or to take risks excessively (avoiding or preferring uncertainty, respectively), but risk taking is another aspect of the personality trait of impulsivity and is a feature of a number of psychiatric disorders, including pathological gambling and some personality disorders.
The AcbC, part of the ventral striatum, is required for normal preference for a large, delayed reward over a small, immediate reward (self-controlled choice) in rats, but the reason for this is unclear. Chapter 3 investigated the role of the AcbC in learning a free-operant instrumental response using delayed reinforcement, performance of a previously learned response for delayed reinforcement, and assessment of the relative magnitudes of two different rewards. Groups of rats with excitotoxic or sham lesions of the AcbC acquired an instrumental response with different delays (0, 10, or 20 s) between the lever-press response and reinforcer delivery. A second (inactive) lever was also present, but responding on it was never reinforced. The delays retarded learning in normal rats. AcbC lesions did not hinder learning in the absence of delays, but AcbC-lesioned rats were impaired in learning when there was a delay, relative to sham-operated controls. Rats were subsequently trained to discriminate reinforcers of different magnitudes. AcbC-lesioned rats were more sensitive to differences in reinforcer magnitude than sham-operated controls, suggesting that the deficit in self-controlled choice previously observed in such rats was a consequence of reduced preference for delayed rewards relative to immediate rewards, not of reduced preference for large rewards relative to small rewards. AcbC lesions also impaired the performance of a previously learned instrumental response in a delay-dependent fashion. These results demonstrate that the AcbC contributes to instrumental learning and performance by bridging delays between subjects’ actions and the ensuing outcomes that reinforce behaviour.
When outcomes are delayed, they may be attributed to the action that caused them, or mistakenly attributed to other stimuli, such as the environmental context. Consequently, animals that are poor at forming context–outcome associations might learn action–outcome associations better with delayed reinforcement than normal animals. The hippocampus contributes to the representation of environmental context, being required for aspects of contextual conditioning. It was therefore hypothesized that animals with H lesions would be better than normal animals at learning to act on the basis of delayed reinforcement. Chapter 4 tested the ability of H-lesioned rats to learn a free-operant instrumental response using delayed reinforcement, and their ability to exhibit self-controlled choice. Rats with sham or excitotoxic H lesions acquired an instrumental response with different delays (0, 10, or 20 s) between the response and reinforcer delivery. H-lesioned rats responded slightly less than sham-operated controls in the absence of delays, but they became better at learning (relative to shams) as the delays increased; delays impaired learning less in H-lesioned rats than in shams. In contrast, lesioned rats exhibited impulsive choice, preferring an immediate, small reward to a delayed, larger reward, even though they preferred the large reward when it was not delayed. These results support the view that the H hinders action–outcome learning with delayed outcomes, perhaps because it promotes the formation of context–outcome associations instead. However, although lesioned rats were better at learning with delayed reinforcement, they were worse at choosing it, suggesting that self-controlled choice and learning with delayed reinforcement tax different psychological processes.
Chapter 5 examined the effects of excitotoxic lesions of the AcbC on probabilistic choice in rats. Rats chose between a single food pellet delivered with certainty (probability p = 1) and four food pellets delivered with varying degrees of uncertainty (p = 1, 0.5, 0.25, 0.125, and 0.0625) in a discrete-trial task, with the large-reinforcer probability decreasing or increasing across the session. Subjects were trained on this task and then received excitotoxic or sham lesions of the AcbC before being retested. After a transient period during which AcbC-lesioned rats exhibited relative indifference between the two alternatives compared to controls, AcbC-lesioned rats came to exhibit risk-averse choice, choosing the large reinforcer less often than controls when it was uncertain, to the extent that they obtained less food as a result. Rats behaved as if indifferent between a single certain pellet and four pellets at p = 0.32 (sham-operated) or at p = 0.70 (AcbC-lesioned) by the end of testing. When the probabilities did not vary across the session, AcbC-lesioned rats and controls strongly preferred the large reinforcer when it was certain, and strongly preferred the small reinforcer when the large reinforcer was very unlikely (p = 0.0625), with no differences between AcbC-lesioned and sham-operated groups. These results suggest that the AcbC contributes to action selection by promoting the choice of uncertain, as well as delayed, reward
