| Getting to the bottom of the matter Nursing lecturer imparts embarrassing knowledge in research documentNurses must acquire some skills that non-medical people find embarrassing, disgusting, maybe even childish. Such knowledge can be difficult to obtain from the standard medical books and journals. A monograph called How to Perform a Digital Removal of Faeces aims to remedy one such gap in the literature.Gaye Kyle, a senior lecturer at the faculty of health and human science at Thames Valley University in Slough, researched the subject in depth. She published her findings in the journal Continence Essentials.There exists an official document that purports to provide the digital-removal information a nurse needs to know. But Kyle finds that document wanting. She complains that: "The publication of Digital Rectal Examination and Manual Removal of Faeces – Guidance for Nurses by the Royal College of Nursing addressed many issues concerning the professional and legal aspects of the manual (digital) removal of faeces. However, the document did not give detailed guidance on how to actually carry out the procedure."Kyle is can-do when it comes to how to. What must be discussed she discusses, prissy diplomatic mincing be damned. "Digital removal of faeces is a procedure that many healthcare workers are not confident about performing," she writes. "However, in some patients it is a necessary part of their routine bowel care".Some aspects of the situation strike her as dangerous and ludicrous. "Some nurses are actively refusing to undertake digital removal of faeces on spinal cord injury patients either because they have not been trained or, even more alarmingly, because they think they are not allowed to perform the procedure at all."Kyle uses plain language to describe the entire procedure, listing 25 distinct, specific actions. These range from the philosophical to the hands-in. For each action, she states a rationale, removing the guesswork that would stymie many an unconfident healthcare professional.Why should one ensure privacy? "To help the patient relax and minimise embarrassment."Why should one "place water-based lubricating gel on gloved index finger... for patients receiving this procedure on a REGULAR basis"? The reason is practical and also commonsensical: "To facilitate easier insertion of index finger."Kyle explicates technical minutiae, but only when and where such is needed to provide a clear, unambiguous understanding. "Gently rotate the finger 6–8 times in a clockwise motion and withdraw", she directs, then goes on to tell how many times the rotation may be repeated.Kyle has given us a case study in the way vital knowledge can remain hidden and difficult to get at, especially when it pertains to matters or matter that can remain hidden and difficult to get at.• Marc Abrahams is editor of the bimonthly Annals of Improbable Research and organiser of the Ig Nobel prizeNursingResearchHigher educationMedical researchMarc Abrahamsguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Birdbooker Report 137 Compiled by an ardent bibliophile, this is a weekly report about nature, science and history books that have been newly published in North America and the UKBooks to the ceiling, Books to the sky,My pile of books is a mile high.How I love them! How I need them!I'll have a long beard by the time I read them. ~ Arnold Lobel [1933-1987] author of many popular children's books. Compiled by Ian "Birdbooker" Paulsen, the Birdbooker Report is a long-running weekly report listing the wide variety of nature, natural history, ecology, animal behaviour, science and history books that have been newly released or republished in North America and in the UK. The books listed here were received by Ian during the previous week, courtesy of their publishers. Featured titles: Kington, John. Climate and Weather. 2010. Collins. Paperback: 484 pages. Price: $50.00 U.S. (30 GBP). [Amazon UK; Amazon US]. SUMMARY: Reviewing the history and causes of climatic change and evaluating regional models, this New Naturalist volume offers an important analysis of climatic variations. Much has happened in our knowledge of climate and weather over the past fifty years. The recording of relations between weather and natural history has continued to be of constant interest, with the weather providing a continual and essential backdrop to natural history accounts. But the significance of this backdrop has been very much widened by our better understanding of climate change and its effects on flora, fauna and biodiversity and also by our increased knowledge of historical climates and weather events. In this timely addition to the New Naturalist Library, leading climatologist John Kington offers a comprehensive and up-to-date survey of the diverse climate of the British Isles. Examining the ways in which regional climates evolve from the interplay of meteorological conditions and geography of the British Isles, the author analyses the climatic characteristics and provides a historical overview of changing weather patterns, which is complemented by fascinating and never-before published photographs. Kington reviews the many ways in which people have observed and recorded weather conditions throughout the ages. It is a story based on a rich and varied resource stretching back 2,000 years. This approach has allowed climatic trends, anomalies and extremes to be identified over the past two millennia, putting our present experience of weather into striking perspective.IAN'S RECOMMENDATION: For those with an interest in British climate and weather or who collect the New Naturalist series. Scott, S. David and Casey McFarland. Bird Feathers: A Guide to North American Species. 2010. Stackpole Books. Paperback: 358 pages. Price: $34.95 U.S. [Amazon UK; Amazon US]. SUMMARY: This guide teaches birders to use the characteristics of wing types and feather morphology to identify feathers - not only by species but also by their place on the bird's body.The introductory chapters give a detailed overview of the feather - how feathers developed, the parts of a single feather, and the variety of types of feathers on a bird. In the feather identification section, more than 400 color photographs show feather samples from 379 bird species from all over North America. Along with the wing type of the species and a map showing its range, several types of feathers are included for each bird; each feather is labeled with its type and its size.IAN'S RECOMMENDATION: North American birders will want to have this book! Other naturalists with a general interest in birds or feathers will find it useful. British and European books that are similar include: Feathers: Identification for Bird Conservation [NHBS] and The Tracks and Signs of the Birds of Britain and Europe: An Identification Guide. [Amazon UK] New and recent titles: Ayala, Francisco J. Am I A Monkey? Six Big Questions about Evolution. 2010. Johns Hopkins University Press. Hardbound: 85 pages. Price: $12.95 U.S. [Amazon UK; Amazon US]. SUMMARY: Despite the ongoing cultural controversy in America, evolution remains a cornerstone of science. In this book, Francisco J. Ayala - an evolutionary biologist, member of the National Academy of Sciences, and winner of the National Medal of Science and the Templeton Prize - cuts to the chase in a daring attempt to address, in nontechnical language, six perennial questions about evolution:• Am I a Monkey?• Why Is Evolution a Theory?• What Is DNA?• Do All Scientists Accept Evolution?• How Did Life Begin?• Can One Believe in Evolution and God?This to-the-point book answers each of these questions with force. Ayala's occasionally biting essays refuse to lend credence to disingenuous ideas and arguments. He lays out the basic science that underlies evolutionary theory, explains how the process works, and soundly makes the case for why evolution is not a threat to religion.Brief, incisive, topical, authoritative, Am I a Monkey? will take you a day to read and a lifetime to ponder.IAN'S RECOMMENDATION: A very good introduction on the subject. Drisdelle, Rosemary. Parasites: Tales of Humanity's Most Unwelcome Guests. 2010. University of California Press. Hardbound: 258 pages. Price: $27.50 U.S. [Amazon UK; Amazon US]. SUMMARY: Hidden away within living tissues, parasites are all around us - and inside us. Yet, despite their unsavoury characteristics, as we find in this compulsively readable book, parasites have played an enormous role in civilisations through time and around the globe. Parasites: Tales of Humanity's Most Unwelcome Guests puts amoebae, roundworms, tapeworms, mites, and others at the centre of the action as human cultures have evolved and declined. It shows their role in exploration, war, and even terrorist plots, often through an unpredictable ripple effect. It reveals them as invisible threats in our food, water, and luggage; as invaders that have shaped behaviors and taboos; and as unexpected partners in such venues as crime scene investigations. Parasites also describes their evolution and life histories and considers their significant benefits. Deftly blending the sociological with the scientific, this natural and social history of parasites looks closely at a fascinating, often disgusting group of organisms and discovers that they are in fact an integral thread in the web of life.IAN'S RECOMMENDATION: An interesting guide to what's eating you, literally! Not for the squeamish! Taylor, Richard Cachor. Birds of Southeastern Arizona. 2010. R.W. Morse Company. Paperback: 430 pages. Price: $19.95 U.S. [Amazon UK; Amazon US]. SUMMARY: Birds of Southeastern Arizona is an identification guide for the birds that live in, or migrate through, Pima, Santa Cruz, and Cochise Counties, as well as southern Maricopa, Pinal, Graham, and Greenlee Counties, an area of approximately 25,000 square miles.The Species Account pages provide colour photographs of 640 birds and have a companion page with key information about birds. Elevation Charts (exclusive to this new title) show during which season and at what elevation most birds can be found.A Quick Guide to Local Birds provides an easy colour-coded means to find birds in the book.Common Local Birds shows photographs of the most common birds in southeastern Arizona.There are a number of sections of the book designed for the beginning and expert birder:· Identifying Birds (how to tell one bird from another)· Bird Habitats in Southeastern Arizona (habitat map and text describes ten primary habitats)· Elevation Charts (show elevation and seasonal occurrence)· Helpful Resources (where to get more information)· Index/Checklist (use this checklist to record your bird sightings) IAN'S RECOMMENDATION: A good introduction to the birds of the region. You can read the early Birdbooker Reports in the archives on my former ScienceBlogs site, and Ian has his own website, The Birdbooker Report, where you can read his synopses about newly published science, nature and animal books.GrrlScientistguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Intellectual Poverty | Lily Asquith Lily Asquith makes an impassioned plea for science. Time to watch Alom Shaha's film again, perhapsScientific research is not a luxury, without it we wouldn't have anything, not even hope. Those who think the world is moving too fast for them, it's not going to slow down if UK science is blown out of the water, it's going to keep on going while we sit there and descend.Particle physics does an unfathomable amount of good for everybody. Without particle physics research everyone would have died from the cancers that are treated by proton therapy, we wouldn't have the World Wide Web, iPods, satellites, or chocolate*. How can that even be quantified?There's a lot of kerfuffle at the moment about the "brain drain" - UK scientists leaving for America or Europe because they can't get a job in the UK any more. This is undoubtedly a real effect, but perhaps doesn't seem that relevant to the average UK tax payer. Or MP.I've left the UK already, because the 6 pounds an hour I was earning as a barmaid just wasn't enough to pay off the debt I got into learning my subject. I'm well aware that particle physics seems abstract and unnecessary to most people, so I'm doing something about that. Projects that cost a lot, like the LHC and the royal family and so on, should be appreciated by everyone who pays for them. We weren't really making that possible and that was wrong.It's a common line that those in favor of LHC funding push: we wouldn't have the www if it weren't for UK particle physics. Nobody really cares about that now, because everyone knows that the web is free and belongs to everyone, and nobody really cares how it got there. But the web is really just the tip of the iceberg. When I look at some of the people I know and they are working 70-80 hours a week and are eyewateringly smart and dedicated, I want them to have some sleep because I care about them, but I feel excited. It excites me that these amazing people are working on new ideas and thinking and developing them all the time.Even the ones who aren't brilliant at physics are vital. Software engineers cost a bloody fortune compared to physics PhD students/postdocs. That's why we are forced to spend half our lives (almost exactly, including the time most people spend sleeping) coding (writing computer programs using c++), which is an activity that at least 50% of physicists find abhorrently difficult, at first anyway. I am one of those, I didn't know how to do email until I started my PhD and spent the entire first year of it wishing I was dead.The UK is fucked financially. We all feel it. People are going to suffer because there isn't enough left on the credit card to keep us living to the standard we are used to. It'll last for ages, then it will improve and then it will get worse again. But there is hope where there are people who are dedicated and highly trained in providing solutions to seemingly intractable problems such as these and such as the much worse ones that will face us in the future.The Peoples' concern is quite rightly with ensuring that as many people as possible have access to healthcare, education and a job, therefore the people in charge of allocating money in this country will wonder how they can justify spending money on cutting-edge scientific research when there are people dying of cold because they can't pay their gas bill. I completely understand the problem of being a bit too preoccupied with just getting by to start doing something crazy like thinking about further than two weeks into the future. I've been about as deep in poverty as a person can get in the UK for a large part of my life. It's quite hard to think about hardcore research when you are shattered and disillusioned and wondering if you can afford to make dinner for two or just eat your kid's leftovers. And yes it is that bad.What UK science means to me is hope, and I for one don't mind tightening my belt a bit now if it means there is a brighter and better future for my daughter and her friends, and her children if she has them, and their friends, if they have them…So when those deciding where to spend the last dregs of the overdraft look at everyone with their hands out they will probably try and put a sticker on particle physics that says "not necessary". If they do that then we are all going to die.*I made that up about the chocolate.Jon ButterworthLily Asquithguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Australian's Ottoman treasure hunt stalled An attempt by a Greek-Australian prospector to find a hoard of Ottoman treasure in Greece has run into trouble. abc.net.au |
Forty-year mystery of Mars solved ASTRONOMERS said they could explain a four-decade-old enigma surrounding rugged troughs and a chasm in the northern ice cap of Mars. news.com.au |