The effects of clinical support surfaces on pressure as a risk factor in the development of pressure ulcers, from a radiographical perspective: a narrative literature review

Purpose: Pressure ulcers are a high cost, high volume issue for health and medical care providers, having a detrimental effect on patients and relatives. Pressure ulcer prevention is widely covered in the literature, but little has been published regarding the risk to patients in the radiographical setting. This review of the current literature is to identify findings relevant to radiographical context. Methods: Literature searching was performed using Science Direct and Medline databases. The search was limited to articles published in the last ten years to remain current and excluded studies containing participants less than 17 years of age. In total 14 studies were acquired; three were excluded as they were not relevant. The remaining 11 studies were compared and reviewed. Discussion: Eight of the studies used ‘healthy’ participants and three used symptomatic participants. Nine studies explored interface pressure with a range of pressure mat technologies, two studies measured shear (MRI finite element modelling, and a non-invasive instrument), and one looked at blood flow and haemoglobin oxygenation. A range of surfaces were considered from trauma, nursing and surgical backgrounds for their ability to reduce pressure including standard mattresses, high specification mattresses, rigid and soft layer spine boards, various overlays (gel, air filled, foam). Conclusion: The current literature is not appropriate for the radiographic patient and cannot be extrapolated to a radiologic context. Sufficient evidence is presented in this review to support the need for further work specific to radiography in order to minimise the development of PU in at risk patients.

Factors of repatriates’ turnover: literature review

One of the important challenges for multinational organisations is to increase the ability to retain their repatriates. The literature review shows high turnover rates amongst repatriates in the first two years following return from the international assignment. This paper discusses organisation’s (in)ability to retain its repatriates. A diversity of predictable factors of repatriates’ turnover is identified, including factors related to the job, the organisation, qualification, career development, personality, social context and the market. The paper analysis organisational support practices designed to increase the power of retention and decrease the turnover. We concluded that research about retention versus turnover of repatriates is scarce, mainly regarding the role a formal repatriation and retention programme in facilitating the retention of these employees with acquired international knowledge and skills, that is, the role that organisational factors play in voluntary turnover decisions. Further research is suggested at the end of the article.

The role of human resource management practices on repatriates’ retention: a literature review

This investigation reviews literature on human resource management practices that influence the retention of repatriates. The processes of selection and training/preparation before the departure, the role of the mentor and of communication during the international assignment, a program of readjustment to repatriation and a career development plan after return to the home firm are the practices identified in the literature as the main promoters of repatriates’ retention. Evidence suggests that greater responsibility on the part of the firms before, during and after the international assignment allows for more efficiency in the management of their repatriates.

Analysis of the Out-Of-Plane Seismic Behavior of Unreinforced Masonry: A Literature Review

Although the issue of the out-of-plane response of unreinforced masonry structures under earthquake excitation is well known with consensus among the research community, this issue is simultaneously one of the more complex and most neglected areas on the seismic assessment of existing buildings. Nonetheless, its characterization should be found on the solid knowledge of the phenomenon and on the complete understanding of methodologies currently used to describe it. Based on this assumption, this article presents a general framework on the issue of the out-of-plane performance of unreinforced masonry structures, beginning with a brief introduction to the topic, followed by a compact state of art in which the principal methodologies proposed to assess the out-of-plane behavior of unreinforced masonry structures are presented. Different analytical approaches are presented, namely force and displacement-based, complemented with the presentation of existing numerical tools for the purpose presented above. Moreover, the most relevant experimental campaigns carried out in order to reproduce the phenomenon are reviewed and briefly discussed.

Calciphylaxis: a Literature Review Based in Two Case Reports

Calciphylaxis is a rare and devastating obliterative vasculopathy, leading to ischemia and subcutaneous necrosis. In most cases it affects patients with renal disease and is associated with high morbidity and mortality. We present two case reports followed recently in our department, and a literature review on this topic. Case one refers to an 80 -year -old Caucasian woman with chronic kidney disease stage 5 and primary hyperparathyroidism with secondary brown tumour and calciphylaxis. Case two refers to a 59 -year -old Caucasian woman admitted with severe nephrotic syndrome associated with amyloidosis, that developed a catastrophic picture of calciphylaxis, ending in the patient’s death. There is a critical need to understand the pathogenesis of calciphylaxis. Its comprehension is the only way to improve the survival of these patients, and may help to elucidate the pathophysiology of vascular calcification in general. Educating physicians in the prevention and early detection of calciphylaxis is crucial. Only by increasing the knowledge about risk factors, pathophysiology, response to treatment and outcome, will we be able to improve prophylaxis and therapy of patients with calciphylaxis, decreasing the high mortality of this entity.

Integrative literature review of the reported uses of serological tests in leprosy management

Abstract: An integrative literature review was conducted to synthesize available publications regarding the potential use of serological tests in leprosy programs. We searched the databases Literatura Latino-Americana e do Caribe em Ciências da Saúde, Índice Bibliográfico Espanhol em Ciências da Saúde, Acervo da Biblioteca da Organização Pan-Americana da Saúde, Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online, Hanseníase, National Library of Medicine, Scopus, Ovid, Cinahl, and Web of Science for articles investigating the use of serological tests for antibodies against phenolic glycolipid-I (PGL-I), ML0405, ML2331, leprosy IDRI diagnostic-1 (LID-1), and natural disaccharide octyl-leprosy IDRI diagnostic-1 (NDO-LID). From an initial pool of 3.514 articles, 40 full-length articles fulfilled our inclusion criteria. Based on these papers, we concluded that these antibodies can be used to assist in diagnosing leprosy, detecting neuritis, monitoring therapeutic efficacy, and monitoring household contacts or at-risk populations in leprosy-endemic areas. Thus, available data suggest that serological tests could contribute substantially to leprosy management.

Workplace ergonomics in lean production environments: A literature review

BACKGROUND: Lean Production Systems (LPS) have become very popular among manufacturing industries, services and large commercial areas. A LPS must develop and consider a set of work features to bring compatibility with workplace ergonomics, namely at a muscular, cognitive and emotional demands level. OBJECTIVE: Identify the most relevant impacts of the adoption of LPS from the ergonomics point of view and summarizes some possible drawbacks for workplace ergonomics due to a flawed application of the LPS. The impacts identified are focused in four dimensions: work pace, intensity and load; worker motivation, satisfaction and stress; autonomy and participation; and health outcome. This paper also discusses the influence that the work organization model has on workplace ergonomics and on the waste elimination previewed by LPS. METHODS: Literature review focused LPS and its impact on occupational ergonomics conditions, as well as on the Health and Safety of workers. The main focus of this research is on LPS implementations in industrial environments and mainly in manufacturing industry workplaces. This is followed by a discussion including the authors’ experience (and previous research). RESULTS: From the reviewed literature it seems that there is no consensus on how Lean principles affect the workplace ergonomics since most authors found positive (advantages) and negative (disadvantages) impacts. CONCLUSIONS: The negative impacts or disadvantages of LPS implementations reviewed may result from the misunderstanding of the Lean principles. Possibly, they also happen due to partial Lean implementations (when only one or two tools were implemented) that may be effective in a specific work context but not suitable to all possible situations as the principles of LPS should not lead, by definition, to any of the reported drawbacks in terms of workplace ergonomics.

Respiratory viruses in lung transplant recipients: a critical review and pooled analysis of clinical studies.

Lung transplant recipients present an increased risk for severe complications associated with respiratory infections. We conducted a review of the literature examining the clinical relationship between viral respiratory infection and graft complications. Thirty-four studies describing the clinical impact of influenza, respiratory syncytial virus, parainfluenza, human metapneumovirus, rhinovirus, enterovirus, coronavirus, bocavirus or adenovirus were identified. The detection rate of respiratory viral infection ranged from 1.4% to 60%. Viruses were detected five times more frequently when respiratory symptoms were present [odds ratio (OR) = 4.97; 95% CI = 2.11-11.68]. Based on available observations, we could not observe an association between respiratory viral infection and acute rejection (OR = 1.35; 95% CI = 0.41-4.43). We found a pooled incidence of 18% (9/50) of bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS) in virus-positive cases compared to 11.6% (37/319) in virus-negative cases; however, limited number of BOS events did not allow to confirm the association. Our review confirms a causal relationship between respiratory viruses and respiratory symptoms, but cannot confirm a link between respiratory viruses and acute lung rejection. This is related in part to the heterogeneity and limitations of available studies. The link with BOS needs also to be reassessed in appropriate prospective studies.

Partnerships: a literature review

The Research and Development Office for Health and Personal Social Services in Northern Ireland funded the Institute of Public Health in Ireland (IPH) to undertake research into partnerships between 2003 and 2006, as part of their New Targeting Social Need programme.The aim of the research was to identify the impacts of multisectoral partnerships, how they can be measured, and what contribution they make to tackling inequalities in health. This document is one of a suite of three produced as a result of this work

Literature Review: Equality of Opportunity in Relation to the DHSSPS Draft Equality Scheme

This review of the literature on equality of opportunity issues was commissioned by the Department of Public Health, Social Sevices and Public Safety.

Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting - A Literature Review

This report represents the result of two different strands of work by the Women's Health Council. At the beginning of 2006, due to the recent significant inward migration experienced in Ireland, the Council's board identified the promotion of the health of ethnic minority women as a key area of work in its strategic plan for the period 2007-2009. At the same time, it was also decided that the problem of gender-based violence would also be addressed through a number of research and policy initiatives. This report focuses on a health issuethat marries these two concerns, Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C – see below for definition) and serves as an accompanying document to the recently published Violence Against Women and Health (2007) and the forthcoming study on Ethnic Minority Women and Gender-Based Violence. Download document here

Prehistoric tuberculosis in America: adding comments to a literature review

Tuberculosis is a prehistoric American human disease. This paper reviews the literature and discusses hypotheses for origins and epidemiological patterns of prehistoric tuberculosis. From the last decades, 24 papers about prehistoric tuberculosis were published and 133 cases were reviewed. In South America most are isolated case studies, contrary to North America where more skeletal series were analyzed. Disease was usually located at the deserts of Chile and Peru, Central Plains in USA, and Lake Ontario in Canada. Skeletal remains represent most of the cases, but 16 mummies have also been described. Thirty individuals had lung disease, 19 of them diagnosed by the ribs. More then 100 individuals had osseous tuberculosis and 26 also had it in other organs. As today, transmission of the infection and establishment of the disease were favored by cultural and life-style changes such as sedentarization, crowding, undernutrition, use of dark and insulated houses, and by the frequency of interpersonal contacts. The papers confirm that despite previous perceptions, tuberculosis seems to have occured in America for millennia. It only had epidemiological expression when special conditions favored its expansion. Occurring as epidemic bursts or low endemic disease, it had differential impact on groups or social segments in America for at least two millennia.

La palce de la spiritualité dans les soins infirmiers: une revue de littérature [The role of spirituality in nursing care: a literature review].

Spirituality addresses the need to give meaning to life events and is characterized by the relationship with oneself, others and the universe. This article aims to provide an overview of the empirical knowledge, and the prevailing thoughts about spirituality in nursing and suggest perspectives for future directions. The literature review was conducted using the main databases; 36 articles, published between 2008-2013, were selected. The themes covered include the definitions of the spirituality, the spiritual care and the spiritual well-being. Spirituality differs from, yet is not opposed to religion and takes different forms in multicultural and secular societies. Cancer incites existential questions and impacts quality of life, and spiritual well-being is recognized as a good indicator of quality of life for people living with cancer. Professional caregivers are concerned about the needs and spiritual well-being of their patients and often consider interventions to address them. This article reflects the depth of thought and research in nursing and touches on both discipline-specific and interdisciplinary issues.