Telemedicine

Using telemedicine systems, physicians around the world have been able to provide health access to their own communities and others abroad. Telemedicine is still a developing field in the health sciences, but much progress has been made with the advent of new communication technologies. Today, telemedicine offers an alternative to traditional physician consultations, especially for those patients with different needs. Patients with mobility issues, low socioeconomic standing, and far away from big cities have seen benefits from this form of patient care. Not only has telemedicine been able to just bridge these gaps, but it has also provided a new way for the international community of health practitioners to cooperate and aid areas in need of specialized care in the developing world. New cooperation programs between developed and developing countries have been developed to bring specialist knowledge to areas that otherwise would not have access to it. Telemedicine is a way to take care of patients in this technological area and perhaps will become the new standard of care.

Consultation and clinical assessment of the genitourinary system for advanced clinical practitioners

Assessment of symptoms affecting the genitourinary system is in high demand as they can significantly impact on quality of life. Nurses with advanced skills in communication, consultation and specialist knowledge play a key role in improving the experience for patients presenting with genitourinary symptoms.

Intra-aortic balloon pumps in cardiogenic shock: an overview

The intra-aortic balloon pump was first introduced for the treatment of cardiogenic shock. It is now the most commonly used form of circulatory support, despite disappointing findings from the intra-aortic balloon pump SHOCK II trial ( Thiele et al, 2012 ). Common placement is via the femoral artery into the aorta, with the tip of the balloon sitting below the left subclavian artery and the distal end above the renal arteries. The balloon is timed to inflate at the beginning of diastole augmenting coronary perfusion and deflate on the R wave just before systole, reducing the afterload. Patients who may be considered for intra-aortic balloon pump insertion are those experiencing ST elevation myocardial infarction or complex ischaemic disease and cardiogenic shock. Despite advances in catheter size and technology, potential complications include bleeding from the insertion site, limb ischaemia and compartment syndrome. Cardiovascular nurses require specialist knowledge and skills concerning balloon console technology, nursing care and potential complications.

The EBCOG Postgraduate Textbook of Obstetrics & Gynaecology

This authoritative textbook provides a much-needed guide for postgraduate trainees preparing for the European Board and College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (EBCOG) Fellowship examination. Published in association with EBCOG, it fully addresses the competencies defined by the EBCOG curriculum and builds the clinical practice related to these competencies upon the basic science foundations. Volume 2 covers the depth and breadth of gynaecology, and draws on the specialist knowledge of four highly experienced Editors and over 100 contributors from across Europe, reflecting the high-quality training needed to ensure the safety and quality of healthcare for women. It incorporates key international guidelines throughout, along with colour diagrams and photographs for easy understanding. This is an invaluable resource, not only for postgraduate trainees planning to sit the EFOG examination, but also for practising specialists looking to update their knowledge and skills to meet the ever-evolving complexity of clinical practice.

The EBCOG Postgraduate Textbook of Obstetrics & Gynaecology

This authoritative textbook provides a much-needed guide for postgraduate trainees preparing for the European Board and College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (EBCOG) Fellowship examination. Published in association with EBCOG, it fully addresses the competencies defined by the EBCOG curriculum and builds the clinical practice related to these competencies upon the basic science foundations. Volume 1 covers the depth and breadth of obstetrics, and draws on the specialist knowledge of four highly experienced Editors and over 100 contributors from across Europe, reflecting the high-quality training needed to ensure the safety and quality of healthcare for women and their babies. It incorporates key international guidelines throughout, along with colour diagrams and photographs for easy understanding. This is an invaluable resource, not only for postgraduate trainees planning to sit the EFOG examination, but also for practising specialists looking to update their knowledge and skills to meet the ever-evolving complexity of clinical practice.

How Things Are

This work is designed to introduce some of the more important fruits of Indian Buddhist metaphysical theorizing to philosophers with little or no prior knowledge of classical Indian philosophy. It is widely known among non-specialists that Buddhists deny the existence of a self. Less widely appreciated among philosophers currently working in metaphysics is the fact that the Indian Buddhist tradition contains a wealth of material on a broad assortment of other issues that have also been foci of recent debate. Indian Buddhist philosophers have argued for a variety of interesting claims about the nature of the causal relation, about persistence, about abstract objects, about the consequences of presentism, about the prospects for a viable ontological emergentism. They engaged in a spirited debate over illusionism in the philosophy of consciousness. Some espoused global anti-realism while others called its coherence into question. And so on. This work is meant to introduce the views of such major Buddhist philosophers as Vasubandhu, Dharmakīrti, and Nāgārjuna on these and other issues. And it presents their arguments and analyses in a manner meant to make them accessible to students of philosophy who lack specialist knowledge of the Indian tradition. Analytic metaphysicians who are interested in moving beyond the common strategy of appealing to the intuitions of “the folk” should find much of interest here.

Healthcare professionals’ perspectives on infant feeding support in paediatric inpatients: single-centre qualitative study

ObjectiveTo provide information on baseline knowledge, skills and attitudes (KSA) of paediatric staff to formulate a plan for improving infant feeding support in hospitals.DesignSemistructured interviews assessed baseline infant feeding KSA and experiences in 14 paediatric health professionals of various grades (medical students, healthcare assistants, ward nurses and specialist nurses). Audio recordings were transcribed verbatim and underwent thematic analysis. An online questionnaire gathered descriptive statistics about participants.SettingA single large hospital trust, North East England.ResultsSeven major themes were identified in KSA: culture and trends, roles and working practice, training and resources, the health professional, understanding the parent, effective communication and the challenges of feeding the ill child.Staff discussed various organisational and personal barriers to acquiring infant feeding support training and experience, and to delivering feeding support. Staff were keen to support families with feeding but often felt constrained by a belief that this required specialist knowledge and skills. Although staff believed they actively promoted breastfeeding-friendly messages, it was evident that marketing communications and personal experiences inadvertently influenced their approach to families.ConclusionsThe development of clear, evidence-based infant feeding education and training for paediatric staff delivered by experienced mentors is warranted. Training should cover background theory, delivering practical support, communication skills and creating a baby-friendly hospital environment. UNICEF Baby Friendly Standards would be suitable to inform content. Training is likely to be received positively by staff and benefit women and babies in this setting.

Colorants in coatings

The aim of this chapter is to provide a compact overview of colorants and their use in coatings including a brief introduction to paint technology and its raw materials. In addition, it will focus on individual colorants by collecting information from the available literature mainly for their use in coatings. Publications on colorants in coatings applications are in many cases standard works that cover the wider aspects of color chemistry and paint technology and are explicitly recommended for a more detailed study of the subject [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18]. Articles or information on paint formulation using coatings which contain colorants are rare [19]. This formulation expertise is often company property as it is the result of many years of effort built up over very long series of practical “trial-and-error” optimization tests and, more recently, supported by design of experiment and laboratory process automation [20, 21]. Therefore, it is protected by rigorous secrecy agreements. Formulations are in many ways part of a paint manufacturer’s capital, because of their use in automotive coatings, coil coatings, powder coatings, and specialist knowledge is indispensable to ensure their successful industrial use [22]. An important source to learn about the use of pigments in different coating formulations are guidance or starting formulations offered by pigment, additive, and resin manufacturers. These are available upon request from the technical service unit of these companies. Coating formulations can also be found scattered in books on coating and formulation technology [4, 5, 18, 23,24,25,26,27]. This overview can in no way claim to be complete, as the literature and relevant journals in this field are far too extensive. Nevertheless, it remains the author’s hope that the reader will gain a comprehensive insight into the fascinating field of colorants for coatings, including its literature and current research activities and last but not least its scientific attractiveness and industrial relevance.

The concept of a maintenance-free drive-thru inspection station for commercial vehicles

The article presents the concept of a maintenance-free inspection station intended for conducting drive-thru tests of commercial vehicles. The main purpose of building this type of diagnostic line is to carry out non-invasive, preliminary tests of heavy-duty vehicles entering the vehicle service area in terms of parameters affecting the safety of their operation in relation to the applicable standards. The main parameter to be assessed will be the concentration of toxic exhaust components, measured using remote sensing methods. In addition, the proposed diagnostic line can be supplemented with additional remote measurement systems, such as, for example, systems for assessing the condition of vehicle lighting, loads on individual axles and individual wheels of the vehicle, tire pressure, thermal load of the brake system, as well as a system for detecting leaks of fluids from the vehicle. Based on the carried out work, it has been shown that using the current specialist knowledge and the components of measurement systems available on the market, it is possible to develop an innovative diagnostic line using remote measurement methods.

Our Identity Remains Marked!

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to collectively work towards understanding and resolving the COVID-19 pandemic issues based on Messersmith's (2018) song, We All Do Better When We All Do Better. Furthermore, Our Identity should not Remain Marked to understand and overcome the workings of a virus whose Identity [DOES NOT] Remain Marked!Design/methodology/approachPractice-based creation coalesced with analytical writing.FindingsWe All Do Better When We All Do Better! The COVID-19 pandemic corresponds to crucial fundamental assumptions which have appeared from adversity anthropology over the past epochs. First, that environmental catastrophes infrequently surface, because calamities are communal and reliant on trans-species relationships. Furthermore, they appear from a blend of threat and susceptibility, with susceptibility as the causal issue. Second, the disaster occurs at manifold ranks concurrently, with responses to a threat; it endangers all the weak issues along with the original threat (Kelman, 2020).Research limitations/implicationsThroughout COVID-19 much of the media left cavernous time gaps, masks turned into tools of rebellion, and power and violence were exercised indirectly on the vulnerable. The virtual campuses of WhatsApp, Facebook and conventional broadcasting are disseminating specialist knowledge in pandemic science; now everyone is certified. They voice a nouveau-vindictive biopolitical language, so we rise towards COVID-19 denialism. And, we turn into unthinking puppets who speed up the transfer of misinformation that moves like an “asymptomatic” cough through an overcrowded bar or beach as all inhale-consume it.Practical implicationsPart of pandemic planning and dealing with the consequential calamity is to integrate instantly the disastrous aspects caused by lockdowns. In this surge of terror and apprehension, we cannot afford to isolate people, even more through shame and prejudice. Each one of us is accountable to support each other and advocate for an all-inclusive healthy community.Social implicationsUnescapably, as an immigrant, I had never dreaded this “home away from home” and stay anyhow, and I always had something to write home about. But recently I have had “Nothing to Write Home About,” (Madan-Soni, 2019). Migrant employees in most countries including international students were not much more than uninvited guests positioned in a conventional neighbourhood. It is as if your every expatriate-neighbour was plague-ridden and waiting to infect you. But the virus required no genomic or national identity or visa rank, it could cut all lines to get to you. The virus's Identity Is [Not] Marked.Originality/valueOur Identity Remains Marked (2020) is my probing visual description of how Our Identity Remains Marked, layered, and stratified in stone under authoritarian structures of patriarchy. I read and researched about how Our Identity Remains Marked when humans are othered through the colours of race, gender, national and immigrant status, including all Earth others. Crafting things, creating something engages with a developing field of ecofeminist research on visual and embodied approaches and creativity (VEM Network, n.d; Reynolds, 2021). Painting offered me a therapeutic way of thinking and of using my senses.