Oddershedekent0190
The High and Intensive Care model (HIC) was developed to reduce coercion and improve the quality of acute mental health care in the Netherlands. This study aimed to identify drivers of change which motivate professionals and management to implement HIC, and to identify facilitators and barriers to the implementation process. 41 interviews were conducted with multiple disciplines on 29 closed acute admission wards for adult psychiatric patients of 21 mental healthcare institutions in the Netherlands. The interviews were analysed by means of thematic analysis, consisting of the steps of open coding, axial coding and selective coding. Findings reveal three major drivers of change the combination of existing interventions in one overall approach to reduce coercion, the focus on contact and cooperation and the alignment with recovery oriented care. Facilitators to implementation of HIC were leadership, involving staff, making choices about what to implement first, using positive feedback and celebrating successes, training and reflection, and providing operationalizable goals. Barriers included the lack of formal organizational support, resistance to change, shortage of staff and use of flex workers, time restraints and costs, lack of knowledge, lack of facilities, and envisaged shortcomings of the HIC standards. Drivers of change motivate staff to implement HIC. In the process of implementation, attention to facilitators and barriers on the level of culture, structure and practice is needed.The coronavirus pandemic and related social distancing measures have brought about dramatic changes in people's lives. In particular, health workers have been forced to change their activities both for the different needs of patients and for preventive measures against the spread of the virus. This study is aimed at comparing the urgent psychiatric consultations (UPC) performed at the outpatient Mental Health Center (MHC) of Modena during the coronavirus outbreak period, from 1 March to 31 August 2020, with the same period in 2019. We retrospectively collected in a database the demographic and clinical characteristics of patients who required UPC in the MHC during the 6-month observation periods in both 2019 and 2020. Data were statistically analyzed. We analyzed 656 urgent psychiatric consultations in 2019 and 811 in 2020, requested by 425 patients in 2019 and 488 in 2020, respectively. In the pandemic period, we observed an increase in the total and daily number of UPC which were more frequently required by patients in care at local outpatient services in comparison with the previous period. During 2020, an increased number of UPC was carried out remotely and the outcome was more frequently represented by discharge at home, avoiding hospitalization as much as possible. In the course of the coronavirus pandemic, MHC had to face an increased demand for clinical activity especially from the most clinically and socially vulnerable patients, who more frequently required UPC in outpatient psychiatric services.The pathological hallmarks of Parkinson's disease (PD), a neurodegenerative disorder, are the selective loss of dopamine neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) and the presence of α-synuclein (α-syn) aggregates in the form of Lewy bodies/Lewy neurites (LBs/LNs) in neurons. Recent studies have indicated that aquaporin 4 (AQP4), as a predominant water channel protein in the brain, is involved in the progression of Parkinson's disease (PD). However, it remains unclear whether AQP4 expression affects α-syn pathology in Parkinson's disease. In this study, we established a progressive PD model by subjecting AQP4 null (AQP4+/-) mice to bilateral intrastriatal injection of α-syn preformed fibrils (PFFs) and investigated the effect of decreased AQP4 expression on the development of PD. We found that decreased expression of AQP4 accelerated pathologic deposition of α-syn and facilitated the loss of dopamine neurons and behavioral disorders. Draining of macromolecules from the brain via the glymphatic pathway was slowed due to decreased AQP4 expression. Taken together, these findings indicate that decreased AQP4 expression may aggravate PD-like pathology, possibly via impairment of the glymphatic pathway.The present work investigates the increase of confirmed cases of West Nile virus and the relationship between weather-related patterns and the geographical expansion of West Nile virus in Greece, with a special focus on West Attica, Central Greece, a semi-arid, ecologically fragile Mediterranean area. Using data from the European Environment Agency, European Drought Observatory of Joint Research Centre, the pairwise relationship between surface air temperature anomalies, precipitation anomalies, soil moisture index anomalies, and the fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation anomalies (fAPAR) was evaluated during summer time of 2018, a particularly intense virus outbreak. The empirical results of this study indicate that total precipitation during 2018 was extremely high, nearly 500% above the average. These conditions contributed to the increase of soil moisture index anomaly and fAPAR, creating an ideal microenvironment (wet soils and green pastures) for mosquito breeding. This phenomenon was directly associated with a drastic outbreak of West Nile virus cases in the area, compared with earlier years. Our results indicate how unusually high values of summer precipitation may have contributed (both through direct and indirect ecological channels) to the rapid spread of the West Nile virus in West Attica, causing a significant number of confirmed cases and fatalities. Climate change may bring forth other issues aside from natural disasters, including-but not limited to-virus expansion.Increased importance has been placed on noncognitive skills in professional development and by accrediting bodies of health professions programs in recent years. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to conduct a comprehensive systematic review of evidence examining effects of academic resilience, grit, perceived stress, locus of control, and Big Five Personality Traits on academic performance of health professions students. A literature search of peer-reviewed, English-language articles describing select noncognitive factors was performed using seven databases. Searches were performed from the earliest index date through May 2020. The following data from included studies were extracted and summarized research design hierarchy, hierarchy of study outcomes (modified from Kirkpatrick), association between noncognitive factors and academic outcomes, and quality assessment criteria. 149 articles met inclusion criteria. Almost 80% of studies were Level III (observational). Medical students were the most frequently studied population (n = 73 articles). The most studied academic outcome was grade point average (n = 61). Perceived stress and Big Five Personality Traits accounted for greater than 50% of studies. Most studies were rated as fair to good quality. Associations between noncognitive factors and academic outcomes were largely inconsistent, although greater perceived stress was generally associated with poorer academic performance outcomes, while higher conscientiousness, academic resilience, and grit were generally associated with better outcomes. This systematic review represents a large body of evidence concerning select noncognitive factors and their association with academic performance of health professions students. Support services addressing noncognitive factors should be deliberated and tailored for specific health professions education programs and student populations.
Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is increasingly being considered as a critical parameter to measure how the disease affects patients' health status, especially for long-term ailments like chronic kidney disease (CKD). This study aimed to assess the HRQoL and its determinants in pre-dialysis patients with CKD.
This cross-sectional study recruited patients with CKD stages one to four. Data were collected using the HRQoL Questionnaire (15D). Descriptive statistics were used to summarize patients' characteristics. Chi-square test or Fisher's exact test was used to explore the association between independent variables and the HRQoL. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were employed to investigate the determinants of HRQoL. A P value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Two hundred and twenty patients were enrolled in the study (average age 52.7 ± 12.4years, 61.8% females, and 69.1% with CKD stage 4). The average multidimensional utility score of the study population was 0., and 69.1% with CKD stage 4). The average multidimensional utility score of the study population was 0.82 ± 0.13, while the single-attribute utility scores ranged from 0.73 to 0.89. The speech, and discomfort and symptoms dimensions had the highest (0.89) and lowest (0.73) single-attribute utility scores, respectively. The patients who were uneducated [Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) 0.34, 95% CI (0.12-0.97)] were significantly less likely to have poor HRQoL compared to those with tertiary education level. Additionally, unemployed [AOR 4.69, 95% CI (1.69-13.02)], and self-employed patients [AOR 4.25, 95% CI (1.26-14.38)] were significantly more likely to have poor HRQoL compared to the retirees CONCLUSIONS This study shows that the overall HRQoL of the participants was high, though a considerable proportion of them had poor HRQoL, while the discomfort and symptoms dimension was the most impacted. Being educated, unemployed, and self-employed were significantly and independently associated with poor overall HRQoL.Among patients with COVID-19 evaluated in outpatient settings, factors associated with hospitalization remain poorly understood. Multivariable regressions were used to assess sociodemographic and clinical factors associated with increased odds of hospitalization among patients with confirmed COVID-19 between March 18, 2020 through April 25, 2020 at a community-based outpatient clinic in Massachusetts. Older age, BMI ≥ 25, self-reported dizziness/lightheadedness, temperature ≥ 99.5°F, tachycardia, and oxygen saturation less then 95% were associated with increased odds of hospitalization after adjustment for age, sex, and BMI. There was also an association between speaking Spanish as primary language and increased odds of hospitalization (compared to English, adjusted OR = 2.99 [95% CI 1.39, 6.39]). Speaking Portuguese as primary language was not associated with increased odds of hospitalization (compared to English, adjusted OR = 1.83 [0.78, 4.28]). In addition to several clinical risk factors established among inpatients, our study found that primarily speaking Spanish, but not Portuguese, was a marker of hospitalization risk among a diverse outpatient cohort of patients with COVID-19.The aim of this study was to consider the expression of farnesoid X receptor (Fxr), liver X receptor (LXRα) and sirtuin 1 (Sirt1), oxidative stress, inflammation, apoptosis, and the protective role of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) in the liver of rats treated with cadmium (Cd). 30 Wistar rats were divided into 5 groups G1 (control), G2 (single dose of Cd), G3 (continuous dose of Cd), G4 (single dose of Cd + continuous dose of NAC), and G5 (continuous dose of Cd + continuous dose of NAC). The apoptosis of hepatic cells was measured using the TUNEL assay. Levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), IL-10, TNF-α, and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) were measured by specific kits. The expression of Fxr, LXRα, and Sirt1 genes and ratio of Bax/Bcl2 was considered using RT-PCR. Selleck AD80 While NAC treatment improved TAC and IL-10 values, it decreased MDA and TNF-α levels in the liver of rats exposed to Cd (P less then 0.001). NAC decreased Bax/Bcl2 in the liver of G4 and G5 groups (P less then 0.001). Exposure to a continuous dose of Cd decreased Fxr, LXRα, and Sirt1 expression by 36.