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Biomedical subjects

K Krause

Publications and source records attributed to K Krause.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1993

Neopterin in patients with choroidal melanoma.

Neopterin excretion in urine and the serum concentrations of neopterin were compared in 101 patients with a malignant melanoma of the choroid and in a matched group of healthy volunteers. The majority of cases (n = 99) presented an untreated (n = 20) or treated and either partially (n = 33) or completely regressed (n = 47) melanoma of stage I-III without signs of extraocular manifestation at the time of analyses. The incidence of elevated neopterin concentrations in all melanoma patients beyond the upper limit (mean + 2 S.D. of healthy controls) was 16% for both serum and urine. In patients with critical events, for example orbital infiltration or delayed metastatic disease during the subsequent follow-up period (at least 14 months), the neopterin concentrations were at the higher end of distribution. One patient with verified metastatic disease at the time of analysis presented extremely elevated neopterin concentrations in serum (82.3 nmol/l) and urine (1608 mumol/mol creatinine). It seems that the results of neopterin analyses are informative as a prognostic factor for the follow-up of patients with a malignant melanoma of the choroid.

Aged↗
PubMed1993

[Nursing science research to support nursing care practice].

It is stated in this article that nursing is a professional science the goal being to utilize the nursing practice. New theories are formed or existing theoretical hypotheses are tested by nursing research. The difference between these two approaches is introduced. Nursing research for health promotion, prevention from illness and rehabilitation is discussed. The subject is viewed by the basic concepts of nursing: person, environment, health, nursing interventions. It seems to be essential to develop nursing theory for practise. It means to accept the point of view in which clinical nurses are theorists like academic researches.

Diffusion of Innovation↗
PubMed1993

Influence of exercise on clearance of oxidant stress products and loosely bound iron.

The significance of free radical chemistry within the exercise and post-exercise milieu is not yet well understood. It is yet to be determined whether adequate biochemical defense mechanisms exist to protect the organism from oxygen-centered radicals generated by exercise. Rats trained at 70% VO2peak for 6 wk were compared with controls after an exhaustive run. Post-exhaustion urinary malondialdehyde, gastrocnemius loosely bound iron, and susceptibility to oxidant stress were assessed. Exhaustive exercise resulted in a significant (P < 0.05) increase in urinary malondialdehyde, tissue loosely bound iron, and susceptibility to oxidative stress in both control and trained rats. The untrained group's tissue iron and susceptibility to oxidative stress were both significantly greater than trained rats. Electrical stimulation of perfused hindquarters of untrained and trained rats resulted in a significant increase of malondialdehyde into the perfusate. Trained rats cleared the malondialdehyde from the perfusate more rapidly than did the untrained.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

[The effect of triamterene on the ERG of Long-Evans rats].

Dopamine is an important mediator of the neuronal adaptation mechanism of the retina. Tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) is cofactor of the rate-limiting enzymatic tyrosine-hydroxylase step in the biosynthetic pathway of dopamine. This enzymatic step causes an oxidation of BH4 to dihydrobiopterin (BH2), which is reduced again to BH4 by action of dihydropterin-reductase (DHPR) and dihydrofolate-reductase (DHFR). Triamterene, a pterin derivate, is known to induce DHFR after initial inhibition. Concomitant elevation of retinal BH4 will result in a higher dopamine concentration. ERG changes of Long-Evans rats mediated by this triamterene effect on dopamine concentration were examined after the rats received triamterene with tap water in two experimental series for 5 and 11 days. After 5 days of triamterene administration a significant decrease of scotopic a- and b-wave ERG amplitudes were registered. After 11 days of triamterene application the decrease could be shown to be even more substantial. This effect was completely reversible: 10 weeks after cessation of triamterene supply ERG amplitudes increased to previous levels. The observed transient ERG changes support the concept of biopterin as an mediator of neuronal adaptation mechanisms of the retina.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

[Development of the nursing profession].

In Finland nursing has been seen as an encounter between a nurse and a client or a patient. It is necessary to see nursing from the wider point of view and the wholeness of the profession it consists. There are at least three universal dimensions. They are: to fulfill the basic task of nursing, the development of nursing discipline and the development of the profession. The profession cannot be developed without a strong commitment in the task of nursing this commitment and its improvement being the most important challenge of nursing. The commitment is followed by responsibility, collegiality and collectivity as means to achieve the mutual goal. It is important to achieve the professional nursing education, which means university education. This kind of education is necessary because it provides ability to keep up with scientific studies, to apply the results of the studies to do research work. The education of nursing leaders also must be the kind it provides with ability to commit oneself to development of nursing and nursing research on one's own area, and managing nursing from the point of view of the knowledge base of nursing discipline, i.e. from the leadership and management theories of nursing.

Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate↗
PubMed1992

Methyl jasmonate conditions parsley suspension cells for increased elicitation of phenylpropanoid defense responses.

Pre-incubation of suspension-cultured parsley cells with methyl jasmonate greatly enhances their ability to respond to fungal elicitors by secretion of coumarin derivatives. The effect is most pronounced at relatively low elicitor concentration and also observed for the incorporation of esterified hydroxycinnamic acids and of "lignin-like" polymers into the cell wall. These three responses correspond to defense reactions induced locally when a fungal pathogen attacks plant cells. In contrast, the conditioning of parsley cells by the signal substance methyl jasmonate is reminiscent of the developmental nature of systemic acquired resistance and renders the cells more effective for the elicitor-induced local defense reactions.

Acetates↗
PubMed1992

[Knowledge and skills of newly graduated nurses].

Nursing education was recently reformed in Finland. By now nurses who have graduated from the new programmes have already entered nursing practice. The purpose of this study is to describe the following two aspects: 1) How do the newly graduated nurses assess their own skills and knowledge on completion of their nursing studies and what is their assessment four months later? 2) What skills and knowledge did the nurse managers expect the nurses to have and what, in fact, did they discover when the new nurses began their work in practice? The data were collected by questionnaires, measuring the competencies of professional nurse (Clayton 1983) from a sample (N = 30), which consisted of registered nurses (response rate was 67%), specialized in medical-surgical nursing, and their nurse managers. The nurses had graduated from two different colleges of nursing. Data were analysed by the means and differences of the means. On completion of their studies the nurses felt that their best skills and knowledge were related to the hygienic care of the patient, while their weakest area was in implementing specialized care. In their assessment made four months after graduation the nurses felt that in terms of the different areas of nursing practice their skills and knowledge had improved to some degree. The nurse managers, on the other hand, expected the newly graduated nurses to have better skills and knowledge than what was actually discovered. Furthermore, the nurse managers were clearly more critical in their assessment than the nurses themselves.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Clinical Competence↗
PubMed1991

Readiness of cancer patients to report for examination and treatment.

The purpose of the present research was to obtain information of the way in which cancer patients report for examination and treatment and the delay often observed in this. The material comprises data collected by questionnaire in January 1986 concerning a total of 123 volunteer participants suffering from various types of cancer and at different stages of the disease. In summary, it may be said that 43% of the cancer sufferers studied here had sought advice on the cause of the symptoms within a month of their appearance, or else their disease had been discovered by accident, and almost three-quarters had done so within three months. Two-thirds of the respondents to the questionnaire had seen two doctors at most at the diagnosis stage, which may be considered a good diagnostic performance, although the remaining third had had to consult more than two doctors, as many as seven in some cases.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Attitude, anxiety, and social readjustment toward learning disabilities by student teachers.

84 student teachers from undergraduate classes at a western university in Kansas completed a 9-question checklist of learning disabilities before interacting with a behavioral disordered/learning disabilities teacher, a paraprofessional, and a high school learning-disabled student. After the dialog, the student teachers completed a Social Readjustment Rating Scale, Breskin Rigidity Test, the Self-evaluation Questionnaire: State and Trait Anxiety, and the same 9-question checklist with one additional question ("Now that you have seen a learning-disabled student has it affected your opinion of learning disabilities?"). The dialog affected 63% of the students' opinions while 31% stated the presentation did not affect their opinion (6% were missing or not completed). Persons who experienced more life-changes and problems tended to rate or view learning disabilities more negatively. The more trait anxiety experienced by the students, the lower they rated learning disabilities after the presentation.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

[Humanistic nursing care].

The purpose of this study is to describe the degree of humanistic nursing care in different health care facilities as perceived by specialized nurses, registered nurses and licensed practical nurses. The problems of study are as follows: 1) What is the degree of humanistic nursing care as perceived by specialized nurses, registered nurses and practical nurses? 2) Do the nurses' perceptions of humanistic nursing differ between types of hospitals? The materials were gathered by a questionnaire which was compiled on the basis of the scale of humanistic nursing created and tested by Fenton (1987). In this scale, humanistic nursing is divided into four dimensions, including empathy, status equality, holistic selves, and shared decision-making and responsibility. The scale consisted of 70 statements describing patient and nursing staff behaviors, which were placed in a questionnaire with a 5-point Likert format. Fenton's scale was translated into Finnish as accurately as possible. Of the four dimensions of humanistic nursing care, the one-way analysis of variance revealed a statistically significant difference in the sum index for two dimensions and highly significant difference for one dimension by types of hospitals. The means of the equal status sum index differed in a statistically significant way among different hospitals. The sum index for status equality in nursing and the means computed for the statement measuring status equality in the nurses' own ward indicated that the nursing staff employed in central hospitals and health centers regard nursing as much more equal than those working in district hospitals. The central hospital nursing staff considered nursing care slightly more equal than those working in health centers.

Community Health Nursing↗
PubMed1991

Contracting cancer and coping with it. Patients' experiences.

The aim of this exploratory study was to provide information for use in improving the nursing care of cancer patients in Finland. This was done by describing the adaptation demands and the means used for coping with the situation. Material was assembled by open-ended questions in a questionnaire and by a semistructured interview centered on four themes. The material comprised 123 patients who had different types of cancer, were at various stages in the disease, and were living in or around a city in Finland. Interviews were conducted with 43 of these patients. The adaptation demands imposed by cancer were apparent at the time of observation of the first symptoms and reporting for treatment. Contracting cancer had come as a shock to 68% of the patients, and they had reacted by employing various defense mechanisms such as denial and rejection to cope with this stage. The results of the early feelings of the patients when they first heard that they had cancer were coded into three conceptual categories that followed each other: use of defense mechanisms, realization of feelings, and action aimed at management of the feelings caused by cancer. The subsequent methods of coping included emotional evaluation of their situation in life, comparison with earlier experiences and those of other cancer patients, and appeals for social welfare assistance.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1991

[Implementation of nursing in the acute care of patients with stroke. Description of the acute care stroke unit in the Tampere University Hospital Center].

The study examines the implementation of nursing care and uses information derived from the nursing plan as its point of departure. The focus is on the acute nursing phase of stroke patients in the Stroke Unit. The study is based on the theoretical model presented by Roper et al. (1985). The study depicts the components of the nursing care of stroke patients. It was found that the sixty-two (62) stroke patients received a total of 17,125 nursing interventions of different kinds. In the acute phase, the focus seems to be on maintaining the vital functions. The results help nurses to improve the nursing care given to these patients.

Cerebrovascular Disorders↗
PubMed1990

[Quality and value of expert assessment of disability with reference to evaluation of cardiovascular diseases].

Because of the high frequency of diseases of heart and circulation a great number of physicians is concerned with experts opinions of them. There were 273 experts opinions from the rural and city district of Leipzig analysed in order to estimate quality and assertions force of experts opinions of invalidity with regard to estimation of diseases of heart and circulation. There was often found that data of anamnesis and documents extracts did not satisfy. But the parts about findings and estimates of experts opinions were in most cases well. Often complaints of patients and possibilities of therapy and rehabilitation were considered too less. The code of diagnosis did not always correspond to the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Death Causes. There was often no sufficient evidence of diagnosis and degree of heaviness in the text of the experts opinions. But clinical findings with function checks were very well documented in many experts opinions.

Coronary Disease↗
PubMed1990

Identification of time-compressed sentential stimuli by good vs poor readers.

Ability of eight good and eight poor readers (in Grade 1, ages ranging from 6.7 to 7.4 yr.) to discriminate phonemic contrasts presented in 50% time-compressed sentential stimuli (Subtest 13 of the Carrow-Auditory Visual Abilities Test) was measured. Good readers exhibited a significantly higher over-all mean performance than poor readers on the time-compressed task. Effects of time-compression on the perception of manner, place, voicing and frequency contrasts showed a similar pattern of errors for both groups of readers. Implications of the effects of auditory discrimination on reading abilities are discussed.

Arousal↗