Aims and objectives. To present data on Swedish ICU nurses’ attitudes to brain death and organ donation and to test a questionnaire designed to explore these issues in terms of validity and reliability.Background. Previous studies have identified various barriers to organ donation. The single most important factor was the attitude of ICU staff.Design. A 34‐item instrument was developed to explore

The aim of this study was an in-depth investigation of the change process experienced by patients undergoing bariatric surgery. A prospective interview study was performed prior to as well as 1 and 2 years after surgery. Data analyses of the transcribed interviews were performed by means of the Grounded Theory method. A core category was identified: Wishing for deburdening through a sustainable co

Background:The understanding of the association between the objective conditions of health and the subjective perceptions of morbidly obese patients appears to be poor. The use of objective indicators alone produces results totally unrelated to the feelings and experiences of the bariatric patients studied. No study has approached the bariatric patient from both an inside and a preoperative perspe

Background: The gap between what is stated in legislation about written individualized nursing care plans (ICP) and how they are used in practice is still too wide.Aim: To explore attitudes and experiences among nurses and managers in order to capture which factors and conditions impact on the successful implementation of individual care plans within hospital care, as well as the strategies that w

A blog-post on a performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream by LU students.

There is increasing interest in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) among healthcare professions. However, no studies have been conducted in Sweden or in a surgical context. The aim of this study is to describe different perceptions of complementary therapies among registered healthcare professions in Swedish surgical care. Sixteen interviews were conducted with registered physicians, nur

The possibility that the anandamide transport inhibitor N-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-5,8,11,14-eicosatetraenamide (AM404), structurally similar to the vanilloid receptor agonists anandamide and capsaicin, may also activate vanilloid receptors and cause vasodilation was examined. AM404 evoked concentration-dependent relaxations in segments of rat isolated hepatic artery contracted with phenylephrine. Relaxa

1. In the rat hepatic artery, the SK(Ca) inhibitors UCL 1684 (300 nM) completely blocked, and scyllatoxin (1 μM) and d-tubocurarine (100 μM) partially inhibited EDHF relaxations when each of them was combined with charybdotoxin (300 nM). 2. The IK(Ca) inhibitors clotrimazole (3 μM) and 2-chlorophenyl-bisphenyl-methanol (3 μM) strongly depressed EDHF relaxations when each of them was combined with

In the presence of ouabain (1 mM), acetylcholine and KCl (5 mM) evoked endothelium-independent relaxations in rat hepatic arteries. Treatment with capsaicin (10 μM), scopolamine (1 μM) or CGRP8-37 (3 μM) prevented these relaxations. Acetylcholine-induced relaxations in intact arterial segments in the presence of indomethacin (10 μM) and N(G)-nitro-L-arginine (0.3 mM) were only partially inhibited

Vasodilator responses to anandamide (arachidonylethanolamide) and potassium ions were compared with those mediated by endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factor (EDHF) in guinea-pig isolated basilar artery contracted with prostaglandin F(2α). In this artery, EDHF-mediated responses can be evoked by acetylcholine in the presence of both indomethacin (10 μM) and N(G)-nitro-L-arginine (0.3 mM). In en

1. In the present study, the vasodilator actions of methanandamide and capsaicin in the rat isolated mesenteric arterial bed and small mesenteric arterial segments were investigated. 2. Methanandamide elicited concentration-dependent relaxations of preconstricted mesenteric arterial beds (pEC 50 = 6.0 ± 0.1, E(max) = 87 ± 3%) and arterial segments (pEC 50 = 6.4 ± 0.1, E(max) = 93 ± 3%). 3. In art

The endogenous cannabinoid receptor agonist anandamide is a powerful vasodilator of isolated vascular preparations, but its mechanism of action is unclear. Here we show that the vasodilator response to anandamide in isolated arteries is capsaicin-sensitive and accompanied by release of calcitonin- gene-related peptide (CGRP). The selective CGRP-receptor antagonist 8-37 CGRP (ref. 5), but not the c

1. In rat isolated hepatic arteries contracted with phenylephrine, acetylcholine and the calcium ionophore A23187 each elicit endothelium-dependent relaxations, which involve both nitric oxide (NO) and endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factor (EDHF). However, the contribution of prostanoids to these responses, and the potential interaction between EDHF and other endothelium-derived relaxing fact

A blog-post on a performance of The Taming of the Shrew by LU students.

In the guinea pig basilar artery, acetylcholine and the calcium ionophore A23187 induced endothelium-dependent relaxations, which were not significantly affected by the nitric oxide (NO) synthase inhibitor N(ω)- nitro-L-arginine (L-NOARG; 0.3 mM) or the guanylate cyclase inhibitor ODQ (1H-[1,2,4]oxadiazolo[4,3-a]quinoxaline-1-one; 1-10 μM), or by these inhibitors combined. However, acetylcholine (

1. The effects of anandamide on K+ currents and membrane potential have been examined in freshly-isolated smooth muscle cells from rat hepatic artery and the results compared with the effects of this arachidonic acid derivative on tension and membrane potential changes in segments of whole artery. 2. In the presence of 0.3 mM L-NOARG and 10 μM indomethacin, anandamide (0.1-100 μM) and endothelium-

1. In the rat hepatic artery, the acetylcholine-induced relaxation mediated by endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factor (EDHF) is abolished by a combination of apamin and charybdotoxin, inhibitors of small (SK(Ca)) and large (BK(Ca)) conductance calcium-sensitive potassium (K)-channels, respectively, but not by each toxin alone. The selective BK(Ca) inhibitor iberiotoxin cannot replace charybdot

1. In the presence of N(G)-nitro-L-arginine (L-NOARG, 0.3 mM) and indomethacin (10 μM), the relaxations induced by acetylcholine and the calcium (Ca) ionophore A23187 are considered to be mediated by endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factor (EDHF) in the guinea-pig basilar artery. 2. Inhibitors of adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP)-sensitive potassium (K)-channels (K(ATP); glibenclamide, 10 μM), vo