Ureteric stents: The past, present and future

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 280-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin G Williams ◽  
Anthony JR Blacker ◽  
Priyadarshi Kumar

Ureteric stents are fundamental to modern-day urological practice. This article aims to chronicle their development over the last century and the key individuals whose efforts have made their development possible. Early stents were ureteric catheters that were exteriorised outside the body and were associated with complications including migration, infection and encrustation. The use of polyethylene stents in humans was first reported by Tulloch in 1952. Polyethylene was thought to be a promising material due to its durability and water-repellent nature. It would, however, suffer the problems that would become associated with stents over the following decades mentioned above. The first silicone ureteric stents were developed in the 1960s by Zimskind and provided prolonged, efficient drainage but were complicated with stent migration. Collars, wings, flanges and barbs were developed to help prevent migration. Finney developed a double ‘pig-tail’ stent in the 1970s which helped to prevent both proximal and distal migration and the modern-day ureteric stent was born. Modern polymers have been developed such as polyurethane or styrene ethylene-butylene (C-flex®). Metal stents have also been used over the last three decades including the Wallstent™, Resonance® and Memokath™ stents. They have shown promising results particularly when long-term relief of ureteric obstruction is needed. Various strategies are available for removal including cystoscopically, stents with a metallic end that can be removed by using a catheter with a magnet at the proximal end, tethered stents that can be removed noninvasively either by the urologist, nurse or even by the patient and dissolvable stents which are in development.

2014 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike Smith

This paper examines how the past of desert landscapes has been interpreted since European explorers and scientists first encountered them. It charts the research that created the conceptual space within which archaeologists and Quaternarists now work. Studies from the 1840s–1960s created the notion of a ‘Great Australian Arid Period'. The 1960s studies of Lake Mungo and the Willandra Lakes by Jim Bowler revealed the cyclical nature of palaeolakes, that changed with climate changes in the Pleistocene, and the complexity of desert pasts. SLEADS and other researchers in the 1980s used thermoluminescence techniques that showed further complexities in desert lands beyond the Willandra particularly through new studies in the Strzelecki and Simpson Dunefields, Lake Eyre, Lake Woods and Lake Gregory. Australian deserts are varied and have very different histories. Far from ‘timeless lands', they have carried detailed information about long-term climate changes on continental scales.


2008 ◽  
Vol 82 (2) ◽  
pp. 279-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Jes Iversen

Recently, a number of groups sponsored large international research projects that are concerned with business history. Harm G. Schröter's group investigated the European integration that followed the Treaty of Rome in 1957 in order to discover whether it had led to the appearance of a characteristically “European” corporation. Franco Amatori, Camilla Brautaset, and Youssef Cassis coordinated an analysis with the ambitious title “The Performance of European Business in the Twentieth Century.” The projects shared some common “Chandlerian” features: they were problem-oriented, comparative studies of the long-term development of large enterprises, and their goal was to propose illuminating generalizations. Such Chandler-inspired studies are likely to undergo a renaissance in the next couple of years. Still, as the term “renaissance” implies, Chandler's impact on European business studies has undergone upswings and downturns over the past four decades.


2015 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 345-371
Author(s):  
Deryk Stec

Purpose This paper aims to examine how residues of ancient images have influenced one’s perspectives on management. Increased attention has been given to the absence of bodies within discussions of organisations; however, far less attention has been given to the interplay between organisations and images of one’s body. Design/methodology/approach By comparing the perceived benefits of studying sport (e.g. passion, embodiment and action) with the tensions that existed between athletic performances and an ancient image of the body, this paper draws attention to residuals that exist within discussions of organisations. Findings In a context where an image of the body encouraged moderation, the appropriate levels of heat, and the development of an immaterial and eternal soul, athletic performances, which were physical, extreme, focused on the body and generated excessive heat, were often problematic. These problems are then examined within the literature discussing current issues in management. Research limitations/implications Sport has the potential to facilitate one’s understanding of issues that management, consistent with ancient images of the body, has traditionally neglected (i.e. extremes, passion) and the possibilities of using embodied cognition to enhance our understandings of performance, teams and leading are discussed. Social implications As scientists become increasingly concerned about the long-term consequences of the reduced opportunities for cultural programs (sport, art, music, etc.), revisiting one’s assumptions is increasingly important, especially as athletics and philosophy once shared the same physical space. Originality/value By describing how residues from historical images of the body have influenced the thinking about organizing, this paper highlights the connection between the social and the biological and demonstrates how vestiges from the past influence contemporary discussions.


2006 ◽  
Vol 80 (2) ◽  
pp. 263-295 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hartmut Berghoff

TheMittelstandsector of the German economy, which is made up of small and medium-sized family firms, is generally not mentioned in debates about German capitalism. This article makes the case that the focus of research on the German economy should shift from large corporate structures to these smaller firms. The classic Mittelstand model, which dominated the economy until about 1970, was characterized by identity of ownership and management, strong emotional investment by owners and staff, and an emphasis on continuity, paternalism, and independence. Beginning in the 1960s, this model was undermined by fundamental changes in the country's economic and sociocultural environment. In response, the firms abandoned a number of their traditional attributes, a process that led to the demise of some businesses and the regeneration of others. Although the modern form adopted by the surviving Mittelstand firms allows them to be less dependent on individual families, to enjoy more access to external capital, and to display more openness and international orientation, they can no longer rely on the prospect of long-term stability, as they did in the past.


2006 ◽  
Vol 80 (2) ◽  
pp. 263-295 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hartmut Berghoff

TheMittelstandsector of the German economy, which is made up of small and medium-sized family firms, is generally not mentioned in debates about German capitalism. This article makes the case that the focus of research on the German economy should shift from large corporate structures to these smaller firms. The classic Mittelstand model, which dominated the economy until about 1970, was characterized by identity of ownership and management, strong emotional investment by owners and staff, and an emphasis on continuity, paternalism, and independence. Beginning in the 1960s, this model was undermined by fundamental changes in the country's economic and sociocultural environment. In response, the firms abandoned a number of their traditional attributes, a process that led to the demise of some businesses and the regeneration of others. Although the modern form adopted by the surviving Mittelstand firms allows them to be less dependent on individual families, to enjoy more access to external capital, and to display more openness and international orientation, they can no longer rely on the prospect of long-term stability, as they did in the past.


2001 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 379-393 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara A. Gutek

A productive workforce is a prime goal of the Decade of Behavior initiative. Thanks to the women's movement that started in the 1960s, the majority of adult women today are a part of that productive workforce, demonstrating their knowledge, skills and abilities, and earning a livelihood through paid employment. Nevertheless, real equal opportunity in paid work remains an elusive goal. In this paper, two major reviews of the literature on women and paid work written 20 years apart (Cleveland, Stockdale, & Murphy, 2000; Nieva & Gutek, 1981) serve to structure a discussion of what we know about women's experiences in paid work. Selective areas of research are reviewed under four kinds of topics: (1) topics that have disappeared over the past 20 years, (2) important topics that were not studied or could not be studied 20 years ago but are now (women as leaders), (3) previously neglected topics (stereotyping), and (4) rapidly emerging topics (mentoring, effects of preferential selection, sexual harassment). It is largely from feminist scholarship on women and paid work that we have been able to separate myth from reality through the accumulation of a sizable research-based literature. Unfortunately the body of research on women and paid work is still insufficiently integrated into the body of research on the psychology of work.


2014 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. 985-991 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola Jayne Kulendra ◽  
Harriet Syme ◽  
Livia Benigni ◽  
Zoe Halfacree

The objective of this study was to determine the outcome of cats with ureteric obstruction managed with double pigtail ureteric stents and to document the incidence of lower urinary tract signs at long-term follow-up. Data were obtained retrospectively from the medical records (2009–2012) of 26 cats that underwent ureteric stent placement. Owners were contacted for follow-up, and a quality of life questionnaire completed. Survival to discharge after stent placement was 85% (22/26). Prevalence of postoperative uroabdomen necessitating further surgery was 15% (4/26). Stents were replaced 4–28 months after the initial surgery in four cats because of migration, fracture, encrustation causing luminal obstruction or sterile cystitis, respectively. Nine cats were alive at follow-up, which was 3–28 months after the original surgery. Nine cats had azotaemic chronic kidney disease and nine had signs related to sterile cystitis; three of these cats were euthanased as a result of the severity of the signs. Preoperative serum creatinine of the survivors (9.4 mg/dl, n = 9) was not significantly different from that of the non-survivors (6.5 mg/dl, n = 13; P = 0.295). Quality of life was assigned a mean score of 8/10. Median survival of cats following discharge was 419 days (range 44–994 days). Signs consistent with sterile cystitis affected 35% of cats. It was concluded that ureteric stent placement in cats was associated with a 15% mortality rate before hospital discharge. Long-term management of ureteric stents is associated with a high rate of lower urinary tract signs.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 227-237
Author(s):  
Seok-Ju Kim ◽  
Do-Kyun Kim

In soil dams and embankments made of soil, deterioration and stress release owing to internal and external influences occur, and the instability of the body increases as the shear strength decreases. In particular, understanding the location and flow of underground water is very important for securing the long-term stability of waterfront structures in contact with water. However, the physical limitations of measuring equipment cause many difficulties in understanding the existence and location of groundwater over a long period of time. In this study, measuring equipment using electric capacity was developed for the long-term measurement of groundwater, and contactless measuring sensors were manufactured to eliminate the possibility of corrosion by water. In addition, the precision of the measurement data was improved by applying waterproof and water-repellent coatings to the measurement sensor. Laboratory tests conducted using the developed equipment demonstrate the high precision of the measurement data according to the groundwater level change and enhanced durability of the sensor, which facilitate long-term measurements in the field.


Author(s):  
Simon Cox

How does the soul relate to the body? Through the ages many religions and intellectual movements have posed answers to this question. Many have gravitated to the notion of the subtle body, positing some kind of subtle entity that is neither soul nor body, but some mixture of the two. This book traces the history of this idea from the late Roman Empire to the present day, touching on how philosophers, wizards, scholars, occultists, psychologists, and mystics have engaged with the idea over the past two thousand years. The book begins in the late Roman Empire, moving chronologically through the Renaissance, the British project of colonial Indology, the development of theosophy and occultism in the nineteenth century, and the Euro-American counterculture of the 1960s and 1970s.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily J Burns ◽  
Peter M Smith ◽  
Matthew Liew

Abstract Ureteric stents are widely used for the management of obstructive uropathy and intraoperative identification of the ureters. Despite undergoing numerous modifications since their introduction in 1967, they are frequently associated with complications ranging from irritative symptoms to migration of the stent. Proximal migration of ureteric stents is a relatively uncommon occurrence, with a reported incidence of 1–4.2%; it is usually associated with inappropriate stent length, poor positioning or incorrect deployment of the stent. Here we discuss an interesting case of a patient who unfortunately suffered proximal ureteric stent migration associated with pelvico-ureteric junction obstruction, despite appropriate stent choice, adequate deployment and confirmation of correct positioning. This complication likely occurred secondary to mechanical disruption of the stent caused by the presence of a large staghorn calculus within the renal pelvis.


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