Nursing activities directed at maintaining patient comfort incorporates time and energy. Nurses and researchers continue to search for adequate methods and information to quantify pain. The common mode of therapy is the administration of narcotics, which do not consistently relieve the pain described by traumatically injured patients. Discovery of endogenous opiates, such as β-endorphins, provided the potential for acquiring additional physiologic information regarding neuro-endocrine activities associated with pain. Consistent findings of concentrated β-endorphins in areas of the central nervous system previously identified as pain pathways prompted clinical researchers to determine β-endorphin levels in patients experiencing pain. The purposes of this investigation were to study β-endorphin levels in burn injured patients by describing: (1) the pattern of β-endorphin levels in burn injured patients during the first two weeks following injury, (2) the relationship between β-endorphin levels and the severity of the burn injury, (3) the relationship between analgesia taken by patients and the severity of the burn, and (4) the relationship between β-endorphin levels and the amount of analgesia given to the burn patient. Plasma samples for β-endorphin levels were obtained from 28 burned patients over a two-week interval. New England Nuclear ¹²⁵I β-Endorphin Kits were used to assay the plasma samples. In addition, information was tabulated from the patient's chart to complete the Burn Severity Index. Narcotic analgesia taken 24 hours before obtaining the blood sample were summarized and categorized according to the Equianalgesia Table. Descriptive and correlational statistics showed no significant relationships between β-endorphins over time, β-endorphins with burn severity, β-endorphins with the analgesia equivalency score, or burn severity with the analgesia equivalency scores. β-endorphin levels were elevated above normal in all 28 patients. Five patients displayed the anticipated declining pattern over the two-week interval post burn. Many erratic peaks and troughs in β-endorphin levels were observed with some peaks associated with clinical events. The findings of elevated β-endorphin levels have implications for nursing practice and provide stimulus for continued nursing research.

Introduction: Bums are senous health problems associated with high mortality and morbidity. Bum deaths include bums from residential fires and scalds, clothing bums, industrial injuries, electrical injuries, among other sources of thermal energy. Aim: The aim of the study was to identify risk factors and describe characteristics of bum injuries in Rwanda. Ninety eight patients of all ages were selected and stratified by age, sex, bum size, causes of bum, and province of residence. Most of the patients (54.5%) were below the age of 12. Among children, 6% were aged between 0 and 11 months, 38% were aged between I and 5 years, 11% were between 13 and 21 years, 34% were adult between 22 and 49 years, and 3% were senior persons of above 50 years. The male population accounted for 55% of the total sample population, whereas the female population accounted for 41 %. Method: A quantitative retrospective descriptive survey was used in this study intended at reporting the characteristics and risk factors of bums in Rwanda. Results: The study finds a statistical correlation between gender and agent since 90% of contact bums occurred among the female population, although more male persons were affected by chemical bums (73%) in comparison to incidence among the female population (27%). Scalds were the most common type ofbum among children of 0 to 5 years of age as well as among adults. Flame bums predominated in older children. Large bum size was the strongest predictor of mortality. Among the twenty eight resultant deaths observed, twenty (71.4%) had a TBSA> 20%. Bum patients from rural areas had a higher mortality rate compared to patients that came from the urban context of the city of Kigali. The Southern Province recorded the highest mortality rate (l00%) followed by the Northern Province (62.5%) and the Eastern Province (45.4%). The city of Kigali has a mortality rate of 19%, notwithstanding its high frequency rate in terms of hospital admission (34.7%). Moreover, the study found that 25% of patients from the city of Kigali with major (more than 20%) TBSA recovered without disability, while none (0%) from the rural areas survived. Large bum size was the strongest predictor of mortality, followed by the rural factor (residence), and by the presence of inhalation injury. Infants and young children had the highest risk of death from bum injury. Bums smaller than 20% TBSA, without an inhalation injury (such as small scald injuries), are occasionally lethal in bums for both adults and children. Conclusion: The consequences of fire and bum injuries are so large and potentially devastating that efforts for their prevention should be proportionally much greater than reflected in mortality statistics. Some individuals feel that large bums are a worse fate than death (MacKenzie et al 1989). The scars of bum victims should remind us that prevention of these injuries must have high priority and attention now than they have had in the past. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of North Texas, August, 2008. / Title from title page display. Includes bibliographical references.

A computer model is developed to study the fluid and protein redistribution after thermal injuries in rats. This model is derived by including the burned skin as a fourth compartment in the microvascular exchange model developed by Bert et al. [6]. The pathological changes that occur after thermal injuries are introduced into the burn model as perturbations. The simulations of short-term and long-term responses were then made in this four compartment (burn) model for two cases: 10% and 40% percent surface area burns. Appropriate ranges of the perturbations were estimated based on the available information in the literature. The perturbations for the 10% burn include: the plasma leak coefficient in the injured skin, the tissue pressure in the injured skin, the fluid exchange coefficients in the injured skin, the arterial capillary pressure in the injured skin and the lymph flow characteristics in the injured skin. The perturbations for the 40% burn include the perturbations for the 10% burn plus the plasma leak coefficients in the intact tissues, the fluid exchange coefficients in the intact tissues and the lymph flow characteristics in the intact tissues. The dynamic responses of the system using these perturbations were plotted. Comparisons between the simulation predictions and the experimental data were characterized in terms of sum-of-squares of differences between simulation results and experimental data. Compared to the limited amount of data available in the literature, the burn model describes microvascular exchange after thermal injuries reasonably well. The work in this thesis could easily be extended to account for fluid resuscitation following a thermal injury in rats and, it is hoped that this approach might eventually be applied to the resuscitation management of burn patients. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Chemical and Biological Engineering, Department of / Graduate

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Science University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg for the Degree of Master of Science. Johannesburg 1992 / 1. Beder, J.B. Thornley, A.L. and Veale.R, Human keratinocyte culture techniques using foetal, neonatal and adult keratinocytes with particular reference to extensive bum wounds. This paper was presented at the South African Burn Society Biannual Congress held at Berg en Dal, Kruger National Park, from 31 August to 1 September 1989. 2. Beder, J.B., Thornley, A.L. and Veale, R. Human keratinocyte culture techniques in extensive burn wounds. The Journal of Trauma and Emergency Medicine. 1990 Jan/Feb; 7 (1); 29-32. 3. Beder J.B. Cultured allografts. A letter appearing in the Continuing Medical Education Journal (CEM). 1990 Jan; 8(1): 48. 4. Beder, J.B. Problems and attempted solutions associated with the application of cultured epidermal grafts to full thickness burns in extensively burnt patients. This paper was presented in the form of a poster at the Association of Surgeons of South Africa Biannual Congress held in Bloemfontein from May 1-4 1990. 5. Beder, J.B., Thornley, A.L., Veale R., Kadwa, A.M., Scott, E. Healing chronic leg ulcers cultured keratinocyte allografts. This paper was presented at the annual Congress of The Surgical Research Society of Southern Africa held in Bloemfontein from 29 April to 1 May 1990. This paper was the runner-up for the best paper presented at the above congress. 6. The abstract of the paper mentioned in 5. above was published in the South African Journal of Surgery 1990 Sep; 28 (3): 123. 7. Beder, J.B., Healing full thickness burns with various types of cultured epidermal grafts - a comparative study. This paper was presented at the Z4th annual meeting of the British Burn Association held at the post-graduate centre, Stock Mandeville, Aylesbury, Bucks. England, United Kingdom, on the 10th May 1991. 8. Beder, J.B, J.B. A comparative study of various keratinocyte cell lines used in the synthesis of confluent stratified keratinocyte sheets. This paper was presented at the skin culture meeting, a satellite meeting of the 24th annual meeting of the British Burn Association, held at the post-graduate centre, Stoke-Mandeville, Aylesbury, Bucks, England, United Kingdom, on the 8th May 1991. 9. Beder, J.B. Healing chronic leg ulcers using cultured keratinocyte allografts. This paper was presented at the skin culture meeting of the British Burn Association held at the post-graduate centre, Stoke- Mandeville, Aylesbury, Bucks, England, United Kingdom on the 8th May 1991. 10. Beder, J.B., Thornley, A.L. and Veale, R. Healing chronic ulcers and other skin defects, using cultured keratinocyte allografts - including an assessment of their survival. Submitted for publication to the British Medical Journal. 11. Beder, J.B. The preparation and grafting of cultured epidermal sheets. Submitted for publication to the South African Journal of Surgery. 13. Beder, J.B., Thoenley, A.L. and Veale. R. Healing full thickness burns with cultured epidermal grafts - a comparative study. Submitted for publication to Transplantation.

Thesis (M.A.)--West Virginia University, 2001. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains v, 42 p. Vita. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 25-26).

Thesis (M.S.)--Worcester Polytechnic Institute. / Keywords: tissue engineering; trachea; chondrocyte; epithelium; aerosol. Includes bibliographical references (p. 64-65).

published_or_final_version / Nursing Studies / Master / Master of Nursing

Thesis (doctoral)--Munich, 1934. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 19).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 2004. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains vii, 86 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 56-64).