Northampton Community College

About: Northampton Community College is a education organization based out in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 3410 authors who have published 4582 publications receiving 130398 citations. The organization is also known as: Northampton County Area Community College.

Research on Homeopathy: State of the Art

Abstract: In this paper, we review research on homeopathy from four perspectives, focusing on reviews and some landmark studies. These perspectives are laboratory studies, clinical trials, observational studies, and theoretical work. In laboratory models, numerous effects and anomalies have been reported. However, no single model has been sufficiently widely replicated. Instead, researchers have focused on ever-new models and experiments, leaving the picture of scattered anomalies without coherence. Basic research, trying to elucidate a purported difference between homeopathic remedies and control solutions has also produced some encouraging results, but again, series of independent replications are missing. While there are nearly 200 reports on clinical trials, few series have been conducted for single conditions. Some of these series document clinically useful effects and differences against placebo and some series do not. Observational research into uncontrolled homeopathic practice documents consistently strong therapeutic effects and sustained satisfaction in patients. We suggest that this scattered picture has to do with the fourth line of research: lack of a good theory. Some of the extant theoretical models are reviewed, including placebo, water structure, silica contamination, energy models, and entanglement models. It emerges that local models, suggesting some change in structure in the solvent, are far from convincing. The nonlocal models proposed would predict that it is impossible to nail down homeopathic effects with direct experimental testing and this places homeopathy in a scientific dilemma. We close with some suggestions for potentially fruitful research.

Pollination systems in the Asclepiadaceae: a survey and preliminary analysis☆

Abstract: Using published and unpublished records of pollination in the dicot family Asclepiadaceae (the ‘milkweeds’) we offer a preliminary analysis of present-day pollination systems in the family. Variation in principal pollinators is apparent at and below the tribal level. The tribes Marsdenieae and Stapelieae and Asclepiadeae subtribe Gonolobineae are primarily Diptera-pollinated, a tentative conclusion also for the tribe Periploceae, and we emphasize the ubiquity and importance of fly pollination in the family. The rest of the tribe Asclepiadeae is pollinated in the main by Hymenoptera and Lepidoptera. Lack of data makes it impossible to draw even initial conclusions for the remaining tribes, Secamoneae and Fockeeae. Within the Asclepiadeae, there has been a trend towards more diverse pollination systems (incorporating butterflies and wasps) in the New World compared to the Old World. In terms of the taxonomic breadth of pollinators of individual species, Stapelieae is the most specialized tribe. We emphasize that this is only a preliminary account of pollination in the Asclepiadaceae, and detail areas where further work is urgently required.

Disability, facilitated sex and the role of the nurse

Abstract: Aim. The aim of this paper is to explore the role that nurses can play in acknowledging and facilitating the sexual needs of disabled patients within an holistic framework of nursing care. Background. Contemporary nursing claims to offer patient care within an holistic framework; this framework should encompass the biopsychosocial needs of patients, as defined by patients themselves. In spite of the importance of sexuality and sexual expression to the psychosocial welfare of patients, sexuality is often excluded from nursing practice. Method. Literature is reviewed from nursing, disability studies, and a variety of social science disciplines. Findings. The paper begins with a discussion of the concept of 'holistic care' and the ways in which this has been interpreted in the nursing literature. The biopsychosocial approach and the notion of 'whole person' holism seem particularly significant, although the lack of attention to patient sexuality is identified. Literature from the social sciences is used to explore the significance of sexuality to individual self-identity and psychosocial welfare. This literature also highlights the way in which the denial of sexual identity is a significant feature of power relations. The disability studies literature catalogues the way in which disabled people are generally infantilised by society and perceived as asexual. This literature also highlights the professional neglect of disabled sexual identities. Using a variety of literature, the concept of facilitated sex is explored as a continuum of activities and the role of nursing, within a holistic framework, is examined.