Substance misuse in youth admitted to a psychiatric emergency unit

Objectives. To investigate the pattern of substance misuse in youth admitted to a psychiatric emergency unit of a 'major hospital, and to compare regular users of cannabis,methaqualone and alcohol with the rest of the sample in terms of selected psychosocial variables.Study population. Consecutive patients aged 25 years or younger admitted to a psychiatric emergency unit over a 3month period.Method. Patients completed a standardised questionnaire .containing questions about their family, social, economic and educational backgrounds. Their current psychiatric folder was examined to ascertain mental state and behaviour on admission as well as previous psychiatric contacts and hospitalisation. Particular attention was paid to the use of cannabis, methaqualone and alcohol For each substance patients were divided into two groups, namely those who did not use the substance or who used it infrequently, and regular users. Unadjusted odds ratios were used to document the relationship between substance use and the selected psychosocial variablesResults. One hundred and fourteen patients were assessed, of which number 61 (53.5%) were male and 98 (86%) were single. The group consisted of 37 blacks (32.5%), 56 coloureds (49.1%) and 21 whites (18.4%)_ Alcohol was . regularly used by 30 patients (263%), cannabis by 29 (25.4%), methaqualone by 11 (9.6%), and any-of these substances by 46 patients (40.4%). Unadjusted odds ratios showed that there was a significant association between regular use of alcohol and cannabis and male gender, dropping out of school, previous psychiatric treatment, and an absence of both depression and suicidal ideation; and between regular cannabis use and bizarre behaviour, auditory hallucinations and disorganised or incoherent speech. Methaqualone use was associated with hostile threats.Conclusions. In the study population substance use was associated with various adverse psychosocial circumstances; these may alert the practitioner to the possibility of substance use. Cannabis misuse was suggested by behavioural, perceptual and speech abnormalities on mental state examination

Konflik Antarklan Dalam Novel Taira No Masakado Karya Eiji Yoshikawa (Kajian Struktural)

Wedari, Allin. 2009. Konflik Antarklan yang Tergambar dalam Novel Taira no Masakado Karya Eiji Yoshikawa (Tinjauan Objektif). Program Studi Sastra Jepang. Fakultas Ilmu Budaya. Universitas Brawijaya. Pembimbing: (I) Retno Dewi Ambarastuti, M.Si. (II) Dra. Elisabeth Worobroto P.Kata Kunci : Novel, Konflik antar klan, Kajian Struktural dan Konflik Sosial. Novel Taira no Masakado menceritakan tentang konflik-konflik yang terjadi di zaman Heian. Konflik yang mendominasi dalam cerita adalah konflik antarklan. Oleh karena itu, dalam analisis kali ini penulis akan menganalisis sebab dan akibat dari konflik antarklan dalam novel Taira no Masakado. Di dalam sebuah karya fiksi terdapat beberapa unsur yang saling berkaitan hubungannya antara unsur yang satu dengan unsur yang lain. Kajian Struktural dapat digunakan untuk mendeskripsikan hubungan antarunsur tersebut. Dalam novel Taira no Masakado hubungan antara peristiwa yang satu dengan yang lain saling berkaitan sebab dan akibatnya. Selain itu, peristiwa dan konflik dalam novel tersebut juga berkaitan dengan tokoh dan penokohan, latar serta tema. Pada analisis kali ini penulis menggunakan kajian struktural untuk menganalisis konflik antarklan dalam novel Taira no Masakado. Hasil penelitian kali ini menunjukkan bahwa dalam novel Taira no Masakado terjadi konflik antara klan Taira dan klan Minamoto. Wujud konflik antarklan tersebut berupa peperangan. Konflik tersebut berawal dari pertikaian antara tokoh utama Taira no Masakado dan para pamannya dalam memperebutkan harta warisan ayah Masakado. Konflik tersebut mengakibatkan beberapa peristiwa. Bagi peneliti selanjutnya yang ingin meneliti novel Taira no Masakado, dapat meneliti dengan pendekatan historis

The Quiescent Spectrum of the AM CVn star CP Eri

We used the 6.5m MMT to obtain a spectrum of the AM CVn star CP Eri in quiescence. The spectrum is dominated by He I emission lines, which are clearly double peaked with a peak-to-peak separation of ~1900 km/s. The spectrum is similar to that of the longer period AM CVn systems GP Com and CE 315, linking the short and the long period AM CVn systems. In contrast with GP Com and CE 315, the spectrum of CP Eri does not show a central 'spike' in the line profiles, but it does show lines of SiII in emission. The presence of these lines indicates that the material being transferred is of higher metallicity than in GP Com and CE 315, which, combined with the low proper motion of the system, probably excludes a halo origin of the progenitor of CP Eri. We constrain the primary mass to M_1>0.27 M_sun and the orbital inclination to 33 degr < i < 80 degr. The presence of the He I lines in emission opens up the possibility for phase resolved spectroscopic studies which allows a determination of the system parameters and a detailed study of helium accretion disks under highly varying circumstances.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ Letter

Outcomes of elective head and neck confirmed or suspected cancer surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic.

PURPOSE: To analyse the complication outcomes of COVID-19 negative patients undergoing elective head and neck surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: This was a retrospective case review of all patients undergoing elective head and neck surgery for confirmed or suspected head and neck cancer. RESULTS: There were no mortalities recorded in the cohort of patients analysed. At 30 days, pulmonary complications had occurred in 4 patients (9%). None of these were related to COVID infection. CONCLUSION: With careful pre-operative screening of patients for COVID-19 and post-operative care in a COVID-19 clean ward, head and neck surgery can proceed safely during the epidemic. This data could help to minimise delay in treatment by allowing a greater number of elective head and neck cancer operations to proceed

Simultaneous optical polarimetry and X-ray data of the near synchronous polar RX J2115-5840

We present simultaneous optical polarimetry and X-ray data of the near synchronous polar RX J2115-5840. We model the polarisation data using the Stokes imaging technique of Potter et al. We find that the data are best modelled using a relatively high binary inclination and a small angle between the magnetic and spin axes. We find that for all spin-orbit beat phases, a significant proportion of the accretion flow is directed onto the lower hemisphere of the white dwarf, producing negative circular polarisation. Only for a small fraction of the beat cycle is a proportion of the flow directed onto the upper hemisphere. However, the accretion flow never occurs near the upper magnetic pole, whatever the orientation of the magnetic poles. This indicates the presence of a non-dipole field with the field strength at the upper pole significantly higher. We find that the brightest parts of the hard X-ray emitting region and the cyclotron region are closely coincident.Comment: 9 pages, accepted for publication in MNRAS 2 March 200

Comparing dental care coverage for older adults in eight jurisdictions

Abstract Background Oral health is an important component of general health and healthy aging, yet financial protection for the costs of oral health care is often limited. Methods We systematically compare dental care coverage in Australia (New South Wales), Canada (Alberta), England, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, and the United States. Drawing on the WHO Universal Coverage Cube, we compare breadth (who is covered), depth (share of total costs covered), and scope (services covered), with a focus on adults aged 65 and older. We populated data collection templates to provide detailed and comparable descriptions of dental care coverage in 8 jurisdictions. Results Overall there were four general types of coverage models: 1) deep public coverage for a small subset of the population based on strict eligibility criteria jurisdictions: Canada, Australia and Italy; 2) universal but shallow coverage of the population, combined with deeper coverage for a sub-set of the population meeting eligibility criteria: England, France, Sweden; 3) universal, and predominantly deep coverage for the whole population: Germany; and 4) shallow coverage available to some subgroups of the population in the United States. Conclusions While age, specifically turning 65, is an important consideration in the design of public coverage in Canada, Australia and the United States, many jurisdictions do not consider age as an eligibility criterion for public coverage. Yet all jurisdictions we include, except Sweden, provide differential coverage for those who meet a specific low-income threshold. Due to the limited availability of comparable data within and across jurisdictions, further research would benefit from standardized data collection initiatives for oral health measures. Key message Given the important role oral health plays in promoting healthy aging, the limited public coverage of oral health within statutory health systems warrants policy and research attention