Intimacy for older adults in long-term care: a need, a right, a privilege-or a kind of care?

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Sexual harassment or disinhibition? Residential care staff responses to older adults' unwanted behaviours

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Distribution of ELF magnetic fields in Swedish dwellings

The purpose of this study is to assess the distribution of magnetic fields in the frequency range 10 Hz - 2000 Hz in randomly selected Swedish dwellings. The fields were measured in up to 3 rooms in each residence. In the master bedroom a 24 h logging of the fields was performed. The results show that 89 % of the measured houses have average magnetic fields below 0.2 μT with mean value of 0.11 μT and median value 0.05 μT. The comparison of magnetic fields in urban and rural area show that the lowest fields were found in rural areas with 97% of the residences have average magnetic fields below 0.2 μT with median value 0.04 μT. Comparing villas and apartments show that the median magnetic fields value for apartments is 0.07 μT compared to 0.04 μT for villas. The dominating frequency of the magnetic field was 50 Hz. The total harmonic distortion (THD) of the magnetic field was measured; the median value of THD was 10.3 %

Serration pattern analysis for differentiating epidermolysis bullosa acquisita from other pemphigoid diseases

Background: Direct immunofluorescence (DIF) microscopy of a skin biopsy specimen is the reference standard for the diagnosis of pemphigoid diseases (PDs). Serration pattern analysis enables the differentiation of epidermolysis bullosa acquisita (EBA) from other PDs using DIF microscopy alone. However, practice gaps need to be addressed in order to implement this technique in the routine diagnostic procedure. Objective: We sought to determine and optimize the technical requirements for serration pattern analysis of DIF microscopy and determine interrater conformity of serration pattern analysis. Methods: We compared serration pattern analysis of routine DIF microscopy from laboratories in Groningen, The Netherlands and Lubeck, Germany with 4 blinded observers. Skin biopsy specimens from 20 patients with EBA and other PDs were exchanged and analyzed. Various factors were evaluated, including section thickness, transport medium, and biopsy specimen processing. Results: The interrater conformity of our 4 observers was 95.7%. Recognition of serration patterns was comparable in samples transported in saline and in Michel's medium and with section thicknesses of 4, 6, and 8 mu m. Limitations: Limitations include our small sample size and the availability of 20 samples that were compared retrospectively. Conclusion: DIF serration pattern analysis is not restricted by variation in laboratory procedures, transport medium, or experience of observers. This learnable technique can be implemented as a routine diagnostic method as an extension of DIF microscopy for subtyping PD. (J Am Acad Dermatol 2018;78:754-9.

The role of breastfeeding and breast milk on the colonization of Helicobacter pylori in the infants gastrointestinal tract

Background: Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is a highly prevalent, serious and chronic infection. It been associated causally with a diverse spectrum of gastrointestinal disorders including chronic gastritis, peptic ulcer disease, gastric adenocarcinoma. We conducted a study to Evaluation of the role of breastfeeding and breast milk on the colonization of H. pylori in the gastrointestinal tract of 2-24 month old. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 92 children referred to Ali Asghar Hospital of Iran University of Medical Sciences for two years (from July 2015 to June 2017). At first, a questionnaire was recorded by the neonatal specialist including demographic and clinical characteristics of the infants. Stool samples were taken from infants at 2, 6, 12, and 24 months of age. We used the H. pylori stool antigen test to detection infection in the selected group of children. H. pylori status was evaluated by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results: In the study of breastfeeding at 12 months of age, 51.1 were fed only dry milk and 28.3 were breastfed only. At 24 months, 22 infants (24) were breastfed with supplemental feeding and 54 children (58.7) were formula-fed only and 8 children (8.7) were breastfed only. In our study, the prevalence of H. pylori in infants of Tehran, at 2, 6, 12, and 24 months, were 0, 6.5, 15.21, and 34.4, respectively. Of the 92 children studied, during the first month, 25 children (27.2) only formula-fed and 49 children (53.3) were breastfed only and (19.6) 18 infants were breastfed with dry milk. The prevalence of H. pylori infection was 28.3. The prevalence of H. pylori infection was 20 in the breastfeeding group and 44 in the infant dry milk feeding group. The prevalence of H. pylori antigen was greater than 12 IU/ml in infants 2, 6, 12, and 24 months of age, including 19.92 (20.6), 19.92 (20.6), 24.92 (26.1) and 21.92 (22.8), respectively. Conclusion: According to the findings of the article, breastfed children compared to formula-fed children were less infected by Helicobacter pylori. © 2020 Tehran University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved

Patient-specific RF safety assessment in MRI: Progress in creating surface-based human head and shoulder models

The interaction of electromagnetic (EM) fields with the human body during magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is complex and subject specific. MRI radiofrequency (RF) coil performance and safety assessment typically includes numerical EM simulations with a set of human body models. The dimensions of mesh elements used for discretization of the EM simulation domain must be adequate for correct representation of the MRI coil elements, different types of human tissue, and wires and electrodes of additional devices. Examples of such devices include those used during electroencephalography, transcranial magnetic stimulation, and transcranial direct current stimulation, which record complementary information or manipulate brain states during MRI measurement. The electrical contact within and between tissues, as well as between an electrode and the skin, must also be preserved. These requirements can be fulfilled with anatomically correct surface-based human models and EM solvers based on unstructured meshes. Here, we report (i) our workflow used to generate the surface meshes of a head and torso model from the segmented AustinMan dataset, (ii) head and torso model mesh optimization for three-dimensional EM simulation in ANSYS HFSS, and (iii) several case studies of MRI RF coil performance and safety assessment

A Study on the Feasibility of the Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) Electrode Localization Based on Scalp Electric Potential Recordings

Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) is an effective therapy for patients disabling motor symptoms from Parkinson’s disease, essential tremor, and other motor disorders. Precise, individualized placement of DBS electrodes is a key contributor to clinical outcomes following surgery. Electroencephalography (EEG) is widely used to identify the sources of intracerebral signals from the potential on the scalp. EEG is portable, non-invasive, low-cost, and it could be easily integrated into the intraoperative or ambulatory environment for localization of either the DBS electrode or evoked potentials triggered by stimulation itself. In this work, we studied with numerical simulations the principle of extracting the DBS electrical pulse from the patient’s EEG – which normally constitutes an artifact – and localizing the source of the artifact (i.e., the DBS electrodes) using EEG localization methods. A high-resolution electromagnetic head model was used to simulate the EEG potential at the scalp generated by the DBS pulse artifact. The potential distribution on the scalp was then sampled at the 256 electrode locations of a high-density EEG Net. The electric potential was modeled by a dipole source created by a given pair of active DBS electrodes. The dynamic Statistical Parametric Maps (dSPM) algorithm was used to solve the EEG inverse problem, and it allowed localization of the position of the stimulus dipole in three DBS electrode bipolar configurations with a maximum error of 1.5 cm. To assess the accuracy of the computational model, the results of the simulation were compared with the electric artifact amplitudes over 16 EEG electrodes measured in five patients. EEG artifacts measured in patients confirmed that simulated data are commensurate to patients’ data (0 ± 6.6 μV). While we acknowledge that further work is necessary to achieve a higher accuracy needed for surgical navigation, the results presented in this study are proposed as the first step toward a validated computational framework that could be used for non-invasive localization not only of the DBS system but also brain rhythms triggered by stimulation at both proximal and distal sites in the human central nervous system

Distribution of Antibiotic Resistance Genes among the Phylogroups of Escherichia coli in Diarrheic Calves and Chickens Affected by Colibacillosis in Tehran, Iran

Antibiotic resistance occurs in the endogenous flora of exposed population in addition to pathogenic bacteria. This study was conducted to evaluate the distribution of antibiotic resistance genes among 63 isolates of Escherichia coli of Escherichia coli (E. coli) in diarrheic calves and poultry. According to the results, B1 and B2 were the most prevalent phylogroups of E. coli in calves and poultry carcasses, respectively. Antimicrobial resistance was observed in 76% of the isolates, and 62% of the strains were multi-drug resistant. Antibiotic resistance in E. coli strains obtained from calves strains was significantly higher than those obtained from poultries. Additionally, the strains of B1 and D phylogroups had the highest and lowest antimicrobial resistance, respectively. At least one encoding gene for integrone was detected in 23 strains (36.5%) and Class I integron had the highest prevalence. Accordingly, this study gave baseline information on the magnitude of the resistance problem and its genetic background in E. coli from domesticated animals of the Tehran, Iran. Moreover, the power of oligonucleotide array technology in the discrimination of different genotypes during a short time was confirmed in this study

Extraction of Biomolecules Using Phosphonium-Based Ionic Liquids + K3PO4 Aqueous Biphasic Systems

Aqueous biphasic systems (ABS) provide an alternative and efficient approach for the extraction, recovery and purification of biomolecules through their partitioning between two liquid aqueous phases. In this work, the ability of hydrophilic phosphonium-based ionic liquids (ILs) to form ABS with aqueous K3PO4 solutions was evaluated for the first time. Ternary phase diagrams, and respective tie-lines and tie-lines length, formed by distinct phosphonium-based ILs, water, and K3PO4 at 298 K, were measured and are reported. The studied phosphonium-based ILs have shown to be more effective in promoting ABS compared to the imidazolium-based counterparts with similar anions. Moreover, the extractive capability of such systems was assessed for distinct biomolecules (including amino acids, food colourants and alkaloids). Densities and viscosities of both aqueous phases, at the mass fraction compositions used for the biomolecules extraction, were also determined. The evaluated IL-based ABS have been shown to be prospective extraction media, particularly for hydrophobic biomolecules, with several advantages over conventional polymer-inorganic salt ABS

On the analysis of the contact angle for impacting droplets using a polynomial fitting approach

ractical considerations on the measurement of the dynamic contact angle and the spreading diameter of impacting droplets are discussed in this paper. The contact angle of a liquid is commonly obtained either by a polynomial or a linear fitting to the droplet profile around the triple phase point. Previous works have focused on quasi-static or sessile droplets, or in cases where inertia does not play a major role on the contact angle dynamics. Here, we study the effect of droplet shape, the order of the fitting polynomial, and the fitting domain, on the measurement of the contact angle on various stages following droplet impact where the contact line is moving. Our results, presented in terms of the optical resolution and the droplet size, show that a quadratic fitting provides the most consistent results for a range of various droplet shapes. As expected, our results show that contact angle values are less sensitive to the fitting conditions for the cases where the droplet can be approximated to a spherical cap. Our experimental conditions include impact events with liquid droplets of different sizes and viscosities on various substrates. In addition, validating past works, our results show that the maximum spreading diameter can be parameterised by the Weber number and the rapidly advancing contact angle