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Balancing risk and safety in long-term care settings can be challenging while providing and respecting patients’/residents’ needs and rights in terms of sexual expression. We look at factors affecting the expression of sexuality, including staff attitudes and reactions, and the lack of policies governing sexuality. We review the various statute and case law, other legislative and quasi-legal provisions governing sexuality and sexual expression. Finally, we consider the need for clear policies and training for both staff and family members.
An understanding of the current state of mental health services in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from a clinical perspective is an important step in advising government and stakeholders on addressing the mental health needs of the fast-growing population. We conducted a retrospective study of data on all patients admitted to a regional psychiatric in-patient unit between June 2012 and May 2015. More Emiratis (UAE nationals) were admitted compared with expatriates. Emiratis were diagnosed more frequently with substance use disorders and expatriates with stress-related conditions. Psychotic and bipolar disorders were the most common causes for admission and had the longest in-patient stays; advancing age was associated with longer duration of in-patient stay.
The syrinx is the main source for phonation in birds, its function is analogous to the mammalian larynx. Birds have both a larynx and a syrinx, but they use only the latter to vocalize. The objective of this work to give a detailed description of the anatomical, histological, and ultrastructural of syrinx in male budgerigars as a model of a passerine bird. The syrinx in the current study was to be found as a tracheobronchial type, it consists of cranial (tympanum) part and caudal (bronchosyringeal) part and, additionally, there are lateral vibrating membranes. The tympanum is formed of the last six tracheal rings, histologically its lamina epithelialis is a pseudostratified ciliated columnar epithelium with goblet cells and interrupted by intraepithelial glands. The secretory acini appear oval and lined by pyramidal secretory cells. The lamina propria–submucosa contain numerous blood capillaries, immune cells, and telocytes (TCs). The electron microscopic examination revealed numerous blood capillaries surrounded by fibroblasts and numerous immune cells, including mast cells and wandering leukocytes, within the tympanum mucosa. Hence, this study provides a detailed knowledge about the syrinx in male budgerigars.
A household-level constant visual deterrent advocacy campaign to reduce tobacco intake was conducted in rural Bangladesh.
Aims
To evaluate smoking tobacco expenditure by campaign components.
Methods
We conducted a single-blind clustered randomized controlled trial on 630 adult male household heads from 16 chars (riverine islands) in rural northern Bangladesh, between November 2018 and January 2019. Intervention allotment was randomized at the char level to minimize spillovers, with 8 chars in treatment and control groups each. The intervention provided households in treatment chars (n = 323) with two visual warning posters, detailing the health effects of tobacco on oneself and external actors, to be hung inside the household for 4 weeks. Households in control chars (n = 307) received nothing. Reported daily smoking (log) tobacco expenditure values were the primary outcome of interest.
Results
Final analysis was conducted using 251 and 210 smokers in treatment and control chars respectively. The intervention reduced relative smoking tobacco expenditure by 12.8% (95% CI −31.45 to 5.81) but was not statistically significant (P-value = 0.163). Weak to moderate emotional reactions to the posters was identified as a reason for the statistical insignificance.
Conclusion
For a visual anti-tobacco intervention to have a substantial impact, it must induce strong emotional responses.
Short-term peripheral venous catheter–related bloodstream infection (PVCR-BSI) rates have not been systematically studied in resource-limited countries, and data on their incidence by number of device days are not available.
Methods:
Prospective, surveillance study on PVCR-BSI conducted from September 1, 2013, to May 31, 2019, in 727 intensive care units (ICUs), by members of the International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC), from 268 hospitals in 141 cities of 42 countries of Africa, the Americas, Eastern Mediterranean, Europe, South East Asia, and Western Pacific regions. For this research, we applied definition and criteria of the CDC NHSN, methodology of the INICC, and software named INICC Surveillance Online System.
Results:
We followed 149,609 ICU patients for 731,135 bed days and 743,508 short-term peripheral venous catheter (PVC) days. We identified 1,789 PVCR-BSIs for an overall rate of 2.41 per 1,000 PVC days. Mortality in patients with PVC but without PVCR-BSI was 6.67%, and mortality was 18% in patients with PVC and PVCR-BSI. The length of stay of patients with PVC but without PVCR-BSI was 4.83 days, and the length of stay was 9.85 days in patients with PVC and PVCR-BSI. Among these infections, the microorganism profile showed 58% gram-negative bacteria: Escherichia coli (16%), Klebsiella spp (11%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (6%), Enterobacter spp (4%), and others (20%) including Serratia marcescens. Staphylococcus aureus were the predominant gram-positive bacteria (12%).
Conclusions:
PVCR-BSI rates in INICC ICUs were much higher than rates published from industrialized countries. Infection prevention programs must be implemented to reduce the incidence of PVCR-BSIs in resource-limited countries.
This study aims to assess the impact of a behavioural intervention, in the form of a self-monitoring record-keeping logbook, in reducing smoking tobacco expenditure amongst adult male household heads in rural Bangladesh.
Method
The experiment was designed as a single-blind clustered randomised controlled trial utilising two-stage random sampling. A total of 650 adult male household heads were sampled from 16 chars (riverine islands) from Gaibandha, Northern Bangladesh, with eight chars in treatment and control groups each, between November 2018 and January 2019. The intervention consisted of a logbook to record daily smoking tobacco intake for 4 weeks provided only to participants in treatment chars (n = 332) while households in control chars received nothing (n = 318).
Results
Final analysis was conducted using 222 and 210 households in the treatment and control chars respectively. The logbook intervention had a significant impact (P-value = 0.040) on reducing daily tobacco expenditure by 14% (α = 95%; CI: −0.273, −0.008) for the treatment group relative to the control group based on a difference-in-difference estimator. This is equivalent to a reduction of 20 cigarettes or 140 bidis smoked in a month.
Conclusion
Our minimal contact intervention successfully induced a reduction in smoking tobacco expenditure, which could effectively be incorporated with existing programs in the char regions of Bangladesh.
Balloon pulmonary valvuloplasty is the treatment of choice for patients with moderate to severe pulmonary valve stenosis.
Methods:
An observational retrospective cross-sectional study including neonates, small infants, and children who underwent balloon pulmonary valvuloplasty in the period from 2007 to 2016 in the cardiac catheterisation unit of the paediatric cardiology department in Cairo University. Multivariable models were built to report the predictors of the outcome of balloon pulmonary valvuloplasty and its complications.
Results:
A total of 1200 patients were included in the study and divided according to age into 3 groups: neonates and early infants (n = 282), infants (n = 362), and children (n = 556). Procedural success, defined as a drop pressure gradient across the pulmonary valve to less than or equal to 50% of the baseline measurements, was achieved in 82.7% of the patients. Multivariate analysis revealed that only infundibular pulmonary stenosis (p value 0.032), supravalvular in association with valvular pulmonary stenosis (p value <0.001), and pulmonary valve diameter by angiogram (p value <0.001) were significant predictors of success. The presence of supravalvular in association with valvular pulmonary stenosis (p value <0.001) was associated with a lower weight (p value 0.007) and higher right ventricular pressure before the intervention (p value <0.001), and a minor immediate drop in the pressure gradient post-intervention (p value <0.001) was found to be the most significant predictor of the occurrence of complications.
Conclusion:
The absence of infundibular and supravalvular stenosis and a large pulmonary valve diameter were the most significant predictors of success.
Many studies have been carried out to investigate the morphological structure of the syrinx in many bird species. However, the cellular organization of the syrinx in the fowls and pigeons is still unclear. The current study revealed that in fowl and pigeon, the syrinx is formed of three main parts including tympanum (cranial) part, intermediate syringeal part, and bronchosyringeal (caudal) part, in addition to pessulus and tympaniform membranes. A great variation in the structural characteristics of syrinx of fowl and pigeon was recorded. In fowl, the tympaniform membranes showed a characteristic distribution of elastic and collagen fibers which increase the elasticity of tympaniform membranes. Moreover, the bony pessulus helps the medial tympaniform membranes to be stiffer, vibrate more strongly so that louder sound will be generated. In pigeon, the lateral tympaniform membrane is of greater thickness so that the oscillation of this membrane is reduced and the amplitude is lower. Moreover, the pessulus is smaller in size and is formed mainly of connective tissue core (devoid of cartilaginous or bony plates), resulting in the failure of stretching and vibrating of the medial tympaniform membranes, that leads to the generation of deeper sound. Electron microscopic examination of the syringes of fowls and pigeons revealed numerous immune cells including dendritic cells, plasma cells, mast cells, and lymphocytes distributed within syringeal mucosa and invading the syringeal epithelium. Telocytes were first recorded in the syrinx of fowls and pigeons in this study. They presented two long telopodes that made up frequent close contacts with other neighboring telocytes, immune cells, and blood capillaries.
This article considers sexuality in older adults and the associated stereotypes and stigmas that lead to this area being underappreciated. Normal physiological changes in ageing are discussed and how they can cause sexual dysfunction. The elderly population has a higher burden of comorbid physical illness and this review considers evidence on the interplay between physical health and sexual health. Mental illness is also strongly linked with sexual functioning and is discussed, as is the evidence on psychotropics and sexual side-effects. Attitudes on sexuality in long-term care settings are highlighted and approaches to managing sexual disinhibition are included.
The Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences (CAPE) is a 42-item self-report questionnaire that has been developed and validated to measure the dimensions of psychosis in the general population. The CAPE has a three-factor structure with dimensions of positive, negative and depression. Assessing the cross-national equivalence of a questionnaire is an essential prerequisite before pooling data from different countries. In this study, our aim was to investigate the measurement invariance of the CAPE across different countries.
Methods
Data were drawn from the European Union Gene-Environment Interaction (EU-GEI) study. Participants (incident cases of psychotic disorder, controls and siblings of cases) were recruited in Brazil, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and UK. To analyse the measurement invariance across these samples, we tested configural invariance (i.e. identical structures of the factors), metric invariance (i.e. equivalence of the factor loadings) and scalar invariance (i.e. equivalence of the thresholds) of the three CAPE dimensions using multigroup categorical confirmatory factor analysis methods.
Results
The configural invariance model fits well, providing evidence for identical factorial structure across countries. In comparison with the configural model invariance, the fit indices were very similar in the metric and scalar invariance models, indicating that factor loadings and thresholds did not differ across the six countries.
Conclusion
We found that, across six countries, the CAPE showed equivalent factorial structure, factor loadings and thresholds. Thus, differences observed in scores between individuals from different countries should be considered as reflecting different levels of psychosis.
In this overview we discuss the palliative psychiatric care of older people towards the end of life. We briefly consider ethics, dementia care, delirium, depression, anxiety, grief and physician-assisted suicide. We also discuss hope, dignity, spirituality and existentialism. We hope that this article will encourage clinicians to reflect on the effects of terminal illnesses on the mental health of dying people and the current provision of palliative psychiatric care.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
• Appreciate that patient-centred care builds on providing individualised care for the dying person to meet their needs and wishes
• Understand the collaborative role of psychiatry in assessing the aetiology and appropriate response to patients presenting with problems of loss, grief, anxiety, depression, hopelessness, suicidal ideation, personality change and confusion
• Recognise that maintaining hope and living with hope is a way for terminally ill patients to endure and cope with their suffering
To explore the use of the STOPP/START toolkit in older psychiatric in-patients with dementia. Clinical records and current drug charts were reviewed against STOPP/START criteria for all in-patients (n = 86) on six specialist dementia wards.
Results
Benzodiazepines, antipsychotics and opiates were most commonly prescribed inappropriately. The most common unprescribed medication groups were statins, calcium supplements and vitamin D supplements. There was an overall reduction of 7% in comorbidities and 8% in the number of prescriptions. t-test showed a significant drop in average comorbidities between both audits, t(1) = 23.920, P = 0.027, and in average prescriptions per patient, t(1) = 28.808, P = 0.022. There was no difference in the number of patients receiving polypharmacy, t(1) = 7.500, P = 0.084, or receiving medication with a high risk of adverse drug reactions, t(1) = 6.857, P = 0.092.
Clinical implications
The STOPP/START toolkit highlighted the importance of collaborative working between doctors, clinical pharmacists and nursing staff, and could provide old age psychiatrists with a structured tool to identify inappropriate prescribing of non-psychiatric medications.
This overview considers causes of disordered eating, including eating disorders, in older people. Eating disorders are becoming more common in older adults and research has shown a related mortality of 21%. The wide range of medical and pharmacological causes of weight loss in older people means that eating disorders may go undetected, occurring insidiously and surreptitiously.
Learning Objectives
• Be aware of the numerous causes of weight loss in older people, and understand that eating disorders are not about weight but about control
• Appreciate that physical and mental health problems and polypharmacy affect eating and weight
• Understand that successful management focuses on a combination of pharmacological and behavioural interventions
In radiotherapy planning, computed tomography (CT) images are used to calculate the dose in the patient. However, a high density hip prosthesis can cause streaking artefacts in CT images, which make dose calculations for nearby organs inaccurate. This study aim to quantify the impact of a hip prosthesis on 6 MV photon beam dose distribution using the Monte Carlo (MC) simulation. To quantify the radiation dose at the hip prosthesis accurately, image processing techniques were used to generate CT images free from streak artefacts. MATLAB software was used to produce computer-generated phantoms consisting of bone, titanium, stainless steel and CoCrMo. Percentage depth dose (PDD) and beam profile were used to analyse the impact of the hip prosthesis on the dose distribution of the photon beam. PDD showed that the absorbed dose was reduced as the density of the material increased, and the dose was reduced by as much as 49% when the photon beam struck the highest density material (CoCrMo, 8·2g/cm3). However, dose was increased at the tissue-hip prosthesis interface (depths of 4 and 19cm). As the depth increased, the absorbed dose decreased due to attenuation of photons by the tissue and the metal.
In order to compare estimates by one assessment scale across various cultures/ethnic groups, an important aspect that needs to be demonstrated is that its construct across these groups is invariant when measured using a similar and simultaneous approach (i.e., demonstrated cross-cultural measurement invariance). One of the methods for evaluating measurement invariance is testing for differential item functioning (DIF), which assesses whether different groups respond differently to particular items. The aim of this study was to evaluate the cross-cultural measurement invariance of the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS) in societies with different socioeconomic, cultural, and religious backgrounds.
Methods.
The study was organised by the International Child Mental Health Study Group. Self-reported data were collected from adolescents residing in 11 countries: Brazil, Bulgaria, Croatia, Indonesia, Montenegro, Nigeria, Palestinian Territories, the Philippines, Portugal, Romania and Serbia. The multiple-indicators multiple-causes model was used to test the RCADS items for DIF across the countries.
Results.
Ten items exhibited DIF considering all cross-country comparisons. Only one or two items were flagged with DIF in the head-to-head comparisons, while there were three to five items flagged with DIF, when one country was compared with the others. Even with all cross-culturally non-invariant items removed from nine language versions tested, the original factor model representing six anxiety and depressive symptoms subscales was not significantly violated.
Conclusions.
There is clear evidence that relatively small number of the RCADS items is non-invariant, especially when comparing two different cultural/ethnic groups, which indicates on its sound cross-cultural validity and suitability for cross-cultural comparisons in adolescent anxiety and depressive symptoms.
Introduction: Measures of satisfaction are essential to understanding patient experience, and pain management. Currently, there are no validated tools to quantify children’s satisfaction. To develop such a tool, we must first understand which words children use to communicate satisfaction. Our objectives were to (A) to identify the words commonly used by children of different ages to communicate satisfaction, in general, and in the context of pain management, and (B) to determine if this vocabulary is similar to that used by their caregiver. Methods: A qualitative study of 105 children-parent pairs, aged 3-16 years, who were evaluated at a pediatric emergency department (PED) from July-November 2014 was conducted. Children were interviewed using a semi-structured format of ten open-ended questions. They were asked to describe their feelings when 1) they received something they wanted/needed, 2) their expectations were met or not met in the ED, and 3) their pain was or was not relieved. A written survey was also completed by the caregiver. Interviews were transcribed and grounded theory was employed for data coding and analysis. Results: 105 child interviews were completed (n=53 female, mean age 9.91 SD 3.71, age range 4-16). 105 caregiver surveys were completed (n=80 female). “Good”, “better,” and “happy” were most commonly used by all children (n=99) to express satisfaction with pain management (27%, 21% and 22%, respectively), with PED care (31%, 14% and 33%) and in general (13%, 5% and 49%). Children (n=99) used the words “sad”, “bad,” and “not good” to communicate dissatisfaction with pain management (21%, 7% and 11% respectively), and with PED care (21%, 13% and 12%, respectively). Only 55% of children understood the meaning of the word ‘satisfaction’. Children used words that were similar to their caregiver 14% of the time. Conclusion: The word “satisfaction” should not be used to communicate with children in the emergency department, as many lack understanding of the term. The vocabulary that children use to describe satisfaction does not largely vary with context and involves simpler words than their parents. Caregiver vocabulary should not be used as a surrogate for pediatric patients. This study will inform the development of a validated tool to measure children’s satisfaction with pain management.
Remingtonocetidae are Eocene archaeocetes that represent a unique experiment in cetacean evolution. They possess long narrow skulls, long necks, fused sacra, and robust hind limbs. Previously described remingtonocetids are known from middle Eocene Lutetian strata in Pakistan and India. Here we describe a new remingtonocetid, Rayanistes afer, n. gen. n. sp., recovered from a middle to late Lutetian interval of the Midawara Formation in Egypt. The holotype preserves a sacrum with four vertebral centra; several lumbar and caudal vertebrae; an innominate with a complete ilium, ischium, and acetabulum; and a nearly complete femur. The ilium and ischium of Rayanistes are bladelike, rising sharply from the body of the innominate anterior and posterior to the acetabulum, and the acetabular notch is narrow. These features are diagnostic of Remingtonocetidae, but their development also shows that Rayanistes had a specialized mode of locomotion. The expanded ischium is larger than that of any other archaeocete, supporting musculature for powerful retraction of the hind limbs during swimming. Posteriorly angled neural spines on lumbar vertebrae and other features indicate increased passive flexibility of the lumbus. Rayanistes probably used its enhanced lumbar flexibility to increase the length of the power stroke during pelvic paddling. Recovery of a remingtonocetid in Egypt broadens the distribution of Remingtonocetidae and shows that protocetids were not the only semiaquatic archaeocetes capable of dispersal across the southern Tethys Sea.
A new name Sarcocystis chloropusae is proposed for a parasite previously found in two of 25 common moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) from Brolos Lake, Egypt. Sarcocysts were microscopic, up to 650 μm long, the cyst wall was up to 4·5 μm thick, and contained villar protrusions that were up to 4 μm long and up to 2 μm wide. The villar protrusions were crowded, contained vesicles but lacked microtubules. The ground substance layer was smooth. The bradyzoites were up to 12 μm long and up to 2 μm wide. Molecular characterization and phylogenetic analysis of the (ITS-1) supported the conclusion that the Sarcocystis in G. chloropus is a distinct species.