The use of positive behaviour support plans in mental health inpatient care: a mixed methods study

An international drive is to minimise restrictive practices in mental healthcare. Positive behaviour support Plans (PBSPs) help staff prevent behaviour which would require restrictive intervention. Originating in learning disability services, data within mental healthcare are limited. To evaluate PBSPs within a mental health‐inpatient service; understand mental health nurses’ and relatives’ attitudes to them and understand the barriers and facilitators for their use in routine mental healthcare. Mixed methods ‐ quality‐ratings and interviews with relatives and nurses. PBSPs were poorly implemented. Relatives and nurses valued the potential of PBSPs to facilitate holistic care, though no relative had contributed to one and not every eligible patient had one. Barriers to their use included confusion around positive behaviour support, including how, when and for whom PBSPs should be used, and difficulties describing the function of a behaviour. The potential of PBSPs to improve mental healthcare is recognised. However, there are barriers to their use which should be addressed to ensure that PBSPs have been properly implemented before their impact on patient care can be assessed. Mental health professionals implementing PBSPs should engage with relatives and patients, gain organizational commitment and ensure that those involved understand fully the positive behaviour support approach

Hydrogels Of Chiral–Nematic Cellulose Nanocrystals And Nanochitin

The mechanical strength of hydrogels and aerogels produced from inorganic nano- and microparticles has been out of limits for those based on organic counterparts. Control over the nanoscale architecture of such materials is a possible answer to this challenge, which can even expand properties and functions, including mechano-optical activity. Here we show unprecedented levels of strength by controlling the assembly architecture of cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) and nanochitin (NCh), nanoscaled building blocks presenting anisometry and high intrinsic strength. High yield (\u3e85%) and low-energy deconstruction of never-dried residual marine biomass is proposed following partial deacetylation and microfluidization. This process results in NCh of ultrahigh axial size that produce highly entangled networks upon pH shift. Viscoelastic and strong hydrogels are formed by ice templating upon freezing and thawing with simultaneous cross-linking. Slow supercooling and ice nucleation at −20 °C make ice crystals grow slowly and exclude nanochitin and cross-linkers, becoming spatially confined at the interface. At a NCh concentration as low as 0.4 wt %, highly viscoelastic hydrogels are formed, at least an order of magnitude larger compared to those measured for the strongest chitin-derived hydrogels reported so far. The water absorption capacity of the hydrogels reaches a value of 466 g/g. Moreover, our results demonstrate that chiral-nematically ordered hydrogels can lead to aerogels with controlled meso- and microstructures that replicate the liquid crystalline phase transitions of the hydrogels. The obtained architectures are feasible by systematically varying the long-range order of the aqueous CNC dispersions, from mostly isotropic to completely anisotropic. The resultant aerogels display strong coupling between the mesopore fraction and selective light reflection (iridescence) as a function of mechanical load. Specifically, we find that the mechanical performance associated with pore compression under load is greatly enhanced by chiral nematic ordering. These new limits in the mechanical properties of CNC- and NCh-based hydrogels and aerogels point to new structural considerations for the synthesis of porous constructs that exploit the inherent long-range order of such unique building blocks

Helix straminea Briganti, 1825 in Italy (Gastropoda: Pulmonata): taxonomic history, morphology, biology, distribution and phylogeny

The land snail taxon Helix straminea Briganti, 1825 has been reintroduced as a valid species in 2014. We provide here a comprehensive account of its taxonomy, distribution, anatomy, phylogeny and karyology in Italy. An overview of the historical views on the validity of the species is presented and faunistic data are reviewed and implemented with new records from Campania and Basilicata. A lectotype is fixed for H. straminea from the syntypes stored in the Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle of Genève, as well as for three other taxa (Helix straminiformis Bourguignat, 1876, Helix yleobia Bourguignat, 1883 and Helix straminea ssp. elongata Bourguignat, 1860). Genital system, radula and karyotype are described for the first time. Molecular analysis of two mitochondrial genes combining GenBank data and the new sequences presented in this paper showed no differentiation between the northern and southern Italian populations. The conservation status of the species and its possible threats are discussed

The CMS conductor

The Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) is one of the experiments, which are being designed in the framework of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) project at CERN, the design field of the CMS magnet is 4 T, the magnetic length is 13 m and the aperture is 6 m. This high magnetic field is achieved by means of a 4 layer, 5 modules superconducting coil. The coil is wound from an Al-stabilized Rutherford type conductor. The nominal current of the magnet is 20 kA at 4.5 K. In the CMS coil the structural function is ensured, unlike in other existing Al-stabilized thin solenoids, both by the Al-alloy reinforced conductor and the external former. In this paper the retained manufacturing process of the 50-km long reinforced conductor is described. In general the Rutherford type cable is surrounded by high purity aluminium in a continuous co-extrusion process to produce the Insert. Thereafter the reinforcement is joined by Electron Beam Welding to the pure Al of the insert, before being machined to the final dimensions. During the manufacture the bond quality between the Rutherford cable and the high purity aluminium as well as the quality of the EB welding are continuously controlled by a novel ultrasonic phased array system. The dimensions of the insert and the final conductor are measured by laser micrometer. (8 refs)

Viscous and filamentous bulking in activated sludge: Rheological and hydrodynamic modelling based on experimental data

Although achieving good activated sludge settleability is a key requirement for meeting effluent quality criteria, wastewater treatment plants often face undesired floc structure changes. Filamentous bulking has widely been studied, however, viscous sludge formation much less investigated so far. Our main goal was to find relationship between sludge floc structure and related rheological properties, moreover, to estimate pressure loss in pipe networks through hydrodynamic modelling of the non-Newtonian flows in case of well settling (ideal-like), viscous and filamentous sludge. Severe viscous and filamentous kinds of bulking were generated separately in continuous-flow lab-scale systems initially seeded with the same reference (ideal-like) biomass and the entire evolution of viscous and filamentous bulking was monitored. The results suggested correlation between the rheological properties and the floc structure transformations, and showed the most appropriate fit for the Herschel-Bulkley model (vs. Power-law and Bingham). Validated computational fluid dynamics studies estimated the pipe pressure loss in a wide Reynolds number range for the initial well settling (reference) and the final viscous and filamentous sludge as well. A practical standard modelling protocol was developed for improving energy efficiency of sludge pumping in different floc structure scenarios

Hidden expectations: Scaffolding subject specialists' genre knowledge of the assignments they set

Subject specialists’ knowledge of academic and disciplinary literacy is often tacit. We tackle the issue of how to elicit subject specialists’ tacit knowledge in order to develop their pedagogical practices and enable them to communicate this knowledge to students. Drawing on theories of genre and metacognition, a professional development activity was designed and delivered. Our aims were to (1) build participants’ genre knowledge and (2) scaffold metacognitive awareness of how genre knowledge can enhance their pedagogical practices. The findings reveal that participants built a genre-based understanding of academic literacy and that the tasks provided them with an accessible framework to articulate and reflect upon their knowledge of disciplinary literacy. Participants gained metacognitive awareness of misalignments between what they teach and what they expect from students, their assumptions about students’ prior learning and genre-based strategies to adapt their practice to students’ needs. Our approach provides a theoretically grounded professional development tool for the HE sector

Anomalies and Vector Space Search: Tools for S-Box Analysis

International audienceS-boxes are functions with an input so small that the simplest way to specify them is their lookup table (LUT). How can we quantify the distance between the behavior of a given S-box and that of an S-box picked uniformly at random? To answer this question, we introduce various "anomalies". These real numbers are such that a property with an anomaly equal to should be found roughly once in a set of $2^a$ random S-boxes. First, we present statistical anomalies based on the distribution of the coefficients in the difference distribution table, linear approximation table, and for the first time, the boomerang connectivity table. We then count the number of S-boxes that have block-cipher like structures to estimate the anomaly associated to those. In order to recover these structures, we show that the most general tool for decomposing S-boxes is an algorithm efficiently listing all the vector spaces of a given dimension contained in a given set, and we present such an algorithm. Combining these approaches, we conclude that all permutations that are actually picked uniformly at random always have essentially the same cryptographic properties and the same lack of structure

Association between siesta (daytime sleep), dietary patterns and the presence of metabolic syndrome in elderly living in Mediterranean area (MEDIS study):The moderating effect of gender

Objectives: Several lifestyle parameters including diet, physical activity and sleep were associated in isolation with the presence of Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) in adults, to date there is a paucity of studies which evaluated their combined role aging populations and especially with respect to gender. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to provide a global consideration of the lifestyle factors associated with MetS among elderly individuals. Design: Cross-sectional observational study. Setting: 21 Mediterranean islands and the rural Mani region (Peloponnesus) of Greece. Participants: during 2005-2015, 2749 older (aged 65-100 years) from were voluntarily enrolled in the study. Measurements: Dietary habits, energy intake, physical activity status, sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyle parameters (sleeping and smoking habits) and clinical profile aspects were derived through standard procedures. The presence of MetS was defined using the definition provided by NCEP ATP III (revised) and cluster analysis was used to identify overall dietary habit patterns. Results: The overall prevalence of MetS in the study sample was 36.2%, but occurred more frequently in females (40.0% vs. 31.8%, respectively, p=0.03). Individuals with MetS were more likely to sleep during the day (89.4% vs. 76.8% respectively, p=0.039) and frequent ‘siesta’ was positively linked to the odds of MetS presence in females (Odds Ratio (OR) =3.43, 95% Confidence Intervals (CI): 1.08-10.9), but not for men (p=0.999). The lower carbohydrate (i.e., 45.2% of total daily energy, 120±16gr/day) dietary cluster was inversely associated with the odds for MetS presence, but only for men (OR=0.094, 95%CI: 0.010-0.883). Conclusions: Lifestyle parameters including sleep and diet quality are strongly associated with the presence of MetS in elderly cohort, but different their level of influence appears to be different, depending on gender. Further research is needed to better consider the role of lifestyle characteristics in the management of MetS in clinical practice

Acetate-induced apoptosis in colorectal carcinoma cells involves lysosomal membrane permeabilization and cathepsin D release

Colorectal carcinoma (CRC) is one of the most common causes of cancer-related mortality. Short-chain fatty acids secreted by dietary propionibacteria from the intestine, such as acetate, induce apoptosis in CRC cells and may therefore be relevant in CRC prevention and therapy. We previously reported that acetic acid-induced apoptosis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells involves partial vacuole permeabilization and release of Pep4p, the yeast cathepsin D (CatD), which has a protective role in this process. In cancer cells, lysosomes have emerged as key players in apoptosis through selective lysosomal membrane permeabilization (LMP) and release of cathepsins. However, the role of CatD in CRC survival is controversial and has not been assessed in response to acetate. We aimed to ascertain whether LMP and CatD are involved in acetate-induced apoptosis in CRC cells. We showed that acetate per se inhibits proliferation and induces apoptosis. More importantly, we uncovered that acetate triggers LMP and CatD release to the cytosol. Pepstatin A (a CatD inhibitor) but not E64d (a cathepsin B and L inhibitor) increased acetateinduced apoptosis of CRC cells, suggesting that CatD has a protective role in this process. Our data indicate that acetate induces LMP and subsequent release of CatD in CRC cells undergoing apoptosis, and suggest exploiting novel strategies using acetate as a prevention/therapeutic agent in CRC, through simultaneous treatment with CatD inhibitors.This work was supported by the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) research project PTDC/BIA-BCM/69448/2006 and FCT PhD grants for SA (SFRH/BD/64695/2009) and CO (SFRH/BD/77449/2011). This work was also supported by FEDER through POFC—COMPETE, and by national funds from FCT through the project PEst-C/BIA/UI4050/2011