Intrapreneurial nursing: the Comprehensive Lower Extremity Assessment Form

The Comprehensive Lower Extremity Assessment Form was developed in response to the need for a screening tool in a nurse-managed foot care clinic. It differs from other such tools because it includes clinical measures that identify the potential for foot pathology. The Comprehensive Lower Extremity Assessment Form also serves as an assessment teaching guide in a foot care course and is included as part of a home-study program. The authors demonstrate how the Comprehensive Lower Extremity Assessment Form has generated revenue as part of an intrapreneurial outgrowth of their foot clinic and provides a comprehensive approach to lower extremity assessment. The form can be tailored to meet the needs of the advanced practice nurse, the clinical setting, or patient population.     

Indicine-N-oxide: the antitumor principle of Heliotropium indicum

Extracts of Heliotropium indicum Linn. (Boraginaceae) showed significant activity in several experimental tumor systems. The active principle is isolated and shown to be the N-oxide of the alkaloid, indicine, previously isolated from this plant. Supporting structural data and anti-tumor data are provided.     

Pulmonary effects of chronic exposure to airborne cadmium

In haemoglobinometry grave errors are still being made even though an internationally accepted standardized method is available for the determination of the haemoglobin content of blood. Up to the present only haemiglobincyanide reference solutions have been available on a wide scale to check the measuring stage of the standardized haemiglobincyanide method. These reference solutions are shown to remain stable, under proper storage conditions, for more than 10 years. Concentrated haemoglobin solutions have become available recently, offering the possibility to control the dilution and conversion steps of the haemiglobincyanide method. Such a solution is shown to remain stable, under proper storage conditions, for at least a year. Using both haemiglobincyanide reference solutions and concentrated haemoglobin solutions, as well as having the possibility of checking the cyanide content of the reagent used, an acceptable intra-laboratory control program may now be set up.     

Self-esteem in alcoholics and nonalcoholics

Alcoholics scored lower on a test of self-esteem than did nonalcoholics, Alcoholics with lower self-esteem were found to be more willing to seek treatment than those with higher self-esteem.     

Acute reductions in serum testosterone levels by narcotics in the male rat: stereospecificity, blockade by naloxone and tolerance

The effects of a single injection of morphine (20 mg/kg) on serum testosterone levels were examined in the male rat. Within 2 hours after the morphine injection, testosterone levels were significantly lower than control levels. The decline in testosterone levels reached a maximum 4 hours after the administration of morphine, at which time testosterone levels were reduced by more than 85% with respect to controls. The ability of a large number of narcotics to depress serum testosterone levels, 4 hours after their administration, was also examined. All narcotics depressed testosterone levels significantly and their potency relative to morphine was comparable to that observed in several other preparations, such as the guinea-pig ileum and mouse vas deferens. The testosterone-depleting effects of the narcotics appear to represent specific narcotic effects since the (-)-isomers of the narcotics were considerably more potent than the (+)-isomers, naloxone competitively inhibited the effects of morphine on testosterone levels and tolerance developed to the testosterone-depleting effects of these drugs. Acute treatment with morphine also lowered serum luteinizing hormone levels, and this reduction preceded the fall in testosterone levels by 1 to 2 hours.     

Radiation enteritis following radiotherapy for prostatic carcinoma

Two cases of radiation enteritis and small bowel obstruction are reported following supervoltage radiation therapy for carcinoma of the prostate. The mechanisms of radiation injury to the small bowel and contributing factors are discussed. It is suggested that lymph node staging procedures for carcinoma of the prostate be done extraperitoneally in order to avoid the enhanced sensitivity of small bowel to radiation injury following transperitoneal procedures.     

Compensating changes in fertility and mortality

This paper illustrates a method of studying changes in vital rate schedules which have no effect on the intrinsic rate of population growth. These changes are described as compensating changes in fertility and mortality. The analysis proceeds from the discrete perspective of Leslie matrices, wherein the central idea is to establish the set of all compensating changes by identifying that class of Leslie matrices which possess the same positive eigenvalue, lambda1. A root-squaring technique is adapted for the purpose of estimating lambda1. Finally, a variety of compensating fertility and mortality changes is illustrated using data from Japan.