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Background Conduct disorders and adolescent violence have been found to be a significant problem in the United Kingdom. Method Nonviolent Resistance (NVR) Parenting Groups were piloted in Kent to address the demand on CAMHS for young people with this issue, and preliminary analysis on outcome measures was conducted. Results A significant difference in a positive direction was found on all but one of the measurements used. Conclusion Findings suggest that using NVR methods in a group format is an effective intervention for these families. De-escalation and acts of unconditional love were rated by parents as the most useful interventions.

In this article, a model of intertextuality is introduced as an instructional approach for postsecondary developmental reading courses. This model involves a scaffolded, schema-building approach to teaching college reading that aims to link core material (a text, a concept, or specific academic content) with supplementary texts that focus on specific topics associated with that core material. The purpose is to facilitate the building of a knowledge base on topics associated with the core material in order for students to engage on a deeper level with that core material. Two exemplar course designs are described: one at a community college and another in an alternative-admissions program in a university setting. Implications for practice and future research possibilities are included.

Introduction: The introduction of the innovative non-violent resistance approach (NVR) at a multi-agency service in east Kent, UK, has presented challenges in terms of the recruitment of the necessary wider professional support for the family, with some professionals seeing the approach as not child-focused. Aims and objectives: To identify child-focused themes among professionals, and to compare these with discourses used in NVR and, for comparison, in the Webster-Stratton approach, to elucidate possible obstacles to the acceptance by professionals of NVR. Methods and analysis: A focus group of experienced professionals was convened to discuss what it means to be child-focused, and a thematic analysis was conducted. Key texts from NVR and the Webster-Stratton approach were selected and analysed using Foucauldian discourse analysis. Results: Being child-focused was considered to require the child's voice being heard, at least by the parents. Power differentials and developmental issues were also highlighted in the discussion. The key text analyses suggests that the Webster-Stratton approach is communicated through familiar 'biomedical' and 'missionary' discourses, while surprisingly NVR is communicated through a discourse of 'war' as well as the more familiar and child-focused 'family values' discourse. Implications: The 'war' discourse used by NVR, in which violent young people are seen as aggressors and oppressors, challenges the traditional discourses of childhood formed around notions of innocence. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to furthering the adoption of NVR as an effective way of working to help violent children of all ages.

This article responds to issues raised in 2004 by Spurlock and Hanks, who interpreted data that were presented in four published studies describing the validity of the Health Education Systems, Inc. (HESI) Exit Examination. The argument for using classical testing theory as the preferred theoretical framework to a clinical disease detection model is advanced. While the Spurlock and Hanks article promotes a philosophical bias against the establishment of progression policies within schools of nursing, this article offers another assessment of the merits of detecting at-risk students so timely remediation can occur prior to administration of the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN). From data presented in the four validity studies, the HESI Exit Examination was reported to be 96.36% to 98.30% accurate in predicting NCLEX-RN success, and those original findings are reaffirmed. AUTHORS Received: February 3, 2005 Accepted: February 15, 2006 Dr. Nibert is Director of Research, and Dr. Hinds is Director of Curriculum, Health Education Systems, Inc., Houston, Texas. Dr. Nibert is also Clinical Associate Professor, Dr. Adamson, Dr. Young, and Dr. Britt are Professors, and Dr. Hinds is formerly Assistant Clinical Professor of Nursing, College of Nursing, Texas Woman’s University, Houston, Texas. Dr. Lauchner is Professor, Austin Community College, Austin, Texas. Address correspondence to Ainslie T. Nibert, PhD, RN, Director of Research, Health Education Systems, Inc., 2656 South Loop West, Suite 690, Houston, TX 77054; e-mail: ainslien@hesitest.com.

This follow-up study compares the accuracy of the HESI Exit Exam (E2) in predicting NCLEX success for the academic years 1996-97 (N = 2,809) and 1997-98 (N = 3,752) and is designed to replicate the study of Lauchner et a1l and to implement recommendations suggested by the authors for further research. The E2 was again found to be highly predictive of licensure success, regardless of the type of program tested: associate degree, baccalaureate degree, diploma, or practical nurse programs. The predictive accuracy of the E2-was 98.27% for the RN group and 99.34% for the PN group. The E2 was again found to be significantly more accurate when administration of the exam was monitored than when it was not monitored (P = 0.05). In the 1997-98 academic year, NCLEX success of low-scoring E2 students was examined. Significantly more (P = 0.001) of the low-scoring E2 students failed the licensure exam than high-scoring E2 students. However, significantly fewer (p = 0.05) of these low-scoring E2 students failed the licensing exam when the E2 was used as a benchmark or guide for remediation.

Neurodegenerative diseases as well as acute center nervous system (CNS) injuries remains a problematic and frustrating area of medicine in terms of treatments and cures, which is mostly due to the complex circuitry of the CNS along with our limited knowledge. Therapeutically, the last two and a half decades have offered new hope for those suffering from neurodegenerative diseases or injuries with advent of new drug discoveries and cellular therapies. Cell transplantation is a compelling and potential treatment for certain neurological and neurodegenerative diseases as well as for acute injuries to the spinal cord and brain. The hematopoietic system offers an alternative source of cells that is easily obtainable, abundant, and reliable when compared to cells obtained from fetal or embryonic origins. Human umbilical cord blood (HUCB) cells have been used clinically for over ten years to treat both malignant and non-malignant diseases. With in the last five years these cells have been used pre-clinically in animal models of brain and spinal cord injuries, in which functional recovery have been shown. This paper reviews the advantages, utilization, and progress of HUCB cells in the field of cellular transplantation and repair.

issues and purpose. Pediatric nurses do not consistently use the anesthetic cream for children. This study examined availability, use, and perception of driving and restraining forces for use of EMLA cream for venipuncture and IV catheter insertion. design and methods. In this descriptive study, surveys were sent to 400 randomly selected pediatric RNs. Surveys were returned by 211 nurses from 36 states. results. Driving forces for EMLA usage included ease of use and increased patient rapport. Restraining forces were focused on barriers to accessing EMLA. Positive perceptions of EMLA were affected by ease of accessibility. practice implications. Use of EMLA may be enhanced by standard orders, inservice instruction, and stocking EMLA on the patient care unit.

Administrators at 5 schools of nursing who implemented a progression policy based on HESI Exit Examtrade mark scores were interviewed regarding their NCLEX-RN pass rates before and after initiating the policy and methods used for remediation. Even though the methods used for remediation were quite different among the participating schools, data obtained from these interviews indicated that the schools' NCLEX-RN pass rates improved 9-41% within 2 years after implementing the progression policies.

Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP-1alpha) are implicated in monocyte infiltration into the central nervous system (CNS) under pathological conditions. We previously showed that in vivo human umbilical cord blood cells (HUCB) migrate toward brain injury after middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). We hypothesized that MCP-1 and MIP-1alpha may participate in the recruitment of HUCB towards the injury. Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO), and 24 hours later the production of MCP-1 and MIP-1alpha in the brain was examined with immunohistochemistry, ELISA, and western blotting. The chemotactic effect of MCP-1 and MIP-1alpha, and the expression of MCP-1 receptor CCR2 and MIP-1alpha receptor CCR1, CCR5 on the surface of HUCB were also examined. MCP-1 and MIP-1alpha expression were significantly increased in the ischemic hemisphere of brain, and significantly promoted HUCB cell migration compared to the contralateral side. This cell migration was neutralized with polyclonal antibodies against MCP-1 or MIP-1alpha. Also chemokine receptors were constitutively expressed on the surface of HUCB cells. The data suggested that the increased chemokines in the ischemic area can bind cell surface receptors on HUCB, and induce cell infiltration of systemically delivered HUCB cells into the CNS in vivo.

This study was designed to determine the accuracy of computerized comprehensive nursing exams, HESI Exit Exams (E2s), in predicting registered nurse and practical nurse students' success on the licensing exam. Schools of nursing that administered Els during the academic year 1996-97 were surveyed to determine how many students (n = 2809) predicted by the E2 to pass the licensure exam had failed, and if the exam administration was monitored or proctored. Based on the findings of this study, the E2 was determined to be an accurate-predictor of students' success on the licensing exam. However, it was significantly more accurate (P = .05) when the exam was monitored (99.49%) than unmonitored (96.82%}. The E2 was determined to be highly predictive of students' success on the licensing exam for all groups tested: associate degree, baccalaureate, diploma, and practical nursing students.

This study examined the use of color measurement to determine tooth color in a study of bleaching with peroxide and light used separately and in combination. Two measurement protocols were evaluated for their ability to reveal differences between treatments and confirm tooth shade evaluations.Before and after treatment, 43 subjects were evaluated for tooth color using a shade guide and a chromameter. Two measurement procedures were used: one measured a single location on each tooth using a fabricated plastic stent, and the other measured nine locations across the buccal surface. Values from the two procedures were compared to each other, and to shade guide measurements.Tooth color, as measured by both procedures, significantly correlated with shade evaluation. Statistically significant differences between treatment groups were found more often with data from the multiple-site procedure than from the single-site procedure. Incisal-gingival color gradation on tooth surfaces was diminished as a result of whitening treatments. Chromameter measurement data showed that tooth whitening procedures reduced tooth yellowness (b) more reproducibly than they increased whiteness (L).When more sites per surface were measured, tooth color measurement by the chromameter more closely matched shade with less variability and greater statistical power. Chromameter-derived values can be used to estimate shade values to a reasonable level of accuracy. Decreasing yellowness, particularly at the gingival margin, was an important component of the tooth whitening effect. Following tooth whitening, teeth were more uniform in their color, and this may contribute substantially to the subjective patient recognition of whiter teeth.

Despite the evidence dissociating the harmful effects of cigarette smoking from the pharmacological effects of nicotine(1), the potential therapeutic properties of nicotine have often been ignored (2). On the other hand, a large body of empirical evidence from both animal and human studies suggests that research aimed at understanding nicotine pharmacology may be an important area for future drug development (2–5). Nicotine modulates a family of ligand-gated ion channels know as acetylcholinergic nicotinic receptors (nAChRs). Those that bind to nicotine with high affinity and comprise 90% of nAChRs in the brain have been characterized as α4β2 nAChRs, while those with lower affinity to nicotine but higher affinity to the snake toxin, α-bungarotoxin, have been characterized as α7 nAChRs(3). Several pharmaceutical companies are currently developing compounds that have more selective actions at various central nicotinic receptors with better safety profiles than nicotine. Some of these are discussed later in the chapter, but first we will discuss an area of research that may well have been the first systematic attempt to bring nicotine therapeutics from the animal laboratory to the clinic.