Prospective study of psychological morbidity and illness perceptions in young people with inflammatory bowel disease

Background and Aims: Psychological morbidity is increased in young people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Illness perceptions may be an important factor. This study aimed to describe the prevalence and severity of psychological morbidity and examine relationships between baseline illness perceptions and anxiety, depression and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) at baseline and 12-months later in 16-21-years olds with IBD. Methods: IBD patients (n = 121) completed measures of anxiety, depression, HRQoL, and illness perceptions (IPQ-R) at baseline and follow-up (n = 100, 83%). Results: mong the 121 patients at baseline (median age 19.3 years, 40% female, 62% Crohn's disease, 73% in clinical remission), 55% reported elevated symptoms of anxiety/depression and 83% low HRQoL. Negative illness perceptions at baseline were significantly correlated with greater anxiety, depression and lower HRQoL at baseline and follow-up. In regression analysis at baseline, IPQ-R domain of greater perception of a cyclical nature of IBD was an independent predictor of anxiety, whilst a greater perceived emotional impact of IBD was an independent predictor of anxiety, depression and HRQoL. Female gender and clinical relapse were also independent predictors of lower HRQoL. After controlling for baseline measures, clinical risk factors and illness perceptions did not explain additional variance in psychological morbidity at follow-up. Conclusion: A high prevalence of psychological morbidity, stable over one year, was demonstrated in young people with IBD. Having negative illness perceptions, being female and active disease predicted those at greatest risk of psychological morbidity. Illness perceptions may be an appropriate target for psychological interventions

Attitudes to a male contraceptive pill in a group of contraceptive users in the UK

BACKGROUND. Small scale trials of male hormonal contraception have produced encouraging results. Attitudes to and beliefs about a proposed male pill may affect uptake. METHODS. This paper examines attitudes towards a proposed ‘male contraceptive pill’ among a self selected sample of 54 men and 134 women, living in a non-metropolitan centre in the East of England, United Kingdom who were already users of contraception. Thirty four respondents were also interviewed and their views on the male pill were qualitatively analysed. RESULTS. The acceptability of a male pill was high with just under half (49.5%) of respondents indicating that they would use it. Gender, length of relationship, age and educational achievement did not affect the reported acceptability. 42% of respondents expressed concerns that men would forget to take a male pill. Women were significantly more likely to express this concern than men. 26% of respondents expressed health concerns. Willingness to take a male pill was associated with expressing the view that increased protection against pregnancy would be an advantage of such a method. Those unwilling or undecided were more likely to express concerns about the effect of a pill on future fertility. CONCLUSIONS. A male pill was accepted as a potential aid to increased fertility control by a large proportion of a convenience sample of contraceptive users in the East of England. If a male pill were to be marketed in the UK this study suggests that concerns about effects on future fertility and health risks may need to be addressed

Extra Dimensions, Isosinglet Charged Leptons and Neutrino Factories

Isosinglet fermions naturally arise in a variety of extensions of the Standard Model, in particular in models with extra dimensions. In this paper, we study the effect of the addition of a new isosinglet charged lepton to the standard spectrum, with special emphasis on implications for neutrino asymmetries to be measured at future neutrino factories. Lepton flavour violation in neutral current and lepton universality constraints are extensively discussed. We show that new physics effects in $\nu_e-\nu_{\mu}$ CP asymmetries are significantly enhanced due to leptonic maximal mixings but still too small to give a signature at future neutrino factories. A signal for CP asymmetries in $\nu_{\mu}-\nu_{\tau}$ channel due to new physics could be observed at $1-3 \sigma$ if lepton flavour violating $\tau$ decays are seen in a very close future in B-factories like BELLE experiment.Comment: 30 page

Exploring leadership in multi-sectoral partnerships

This article explores some critical aspects of leadership in the context of multi-sectoral partnerships. It focuses on leadership in practice and asks the question, `How do managers experience and perceive leadership in such partnerships?' The study contributes to the debate on whether leadership in a multi-sectoral partnership context differs from that within a single organization. It is based on the accounts of practising managers working in complex partnerships. The article highlights a number of leadership challenges faced by those working in multi-sectoral partnerships. Partnership practitioners were clear that leadership in partnerships was more complex than in single organizations. However, it was more difficult for them to agree a consensus on the essential nature of leadership in partnership. We suggest that a first-, second- and third-person approach might be a way of better interpreting leadership in the context of partnerships

New Superembeddings for Type II Superstrings

Possible ways of generalization of the superembedding approach for the supersurfaces with the number of Grassmann directions being less than the half of that for the target superspace are considered on example of Type II superstrings. Focus is on n=(1,1) superworldsheet embedded into D=10 Type II superspace that is of the interest for establishing a relation with the NSR string.Comment: 26 pages, LaTeX, JHEP.cls and JHEP.bst style files are used; v2: misprints corrected, comments, acknowledgments, references adde

Strategies for fitting nonlinear ecological models in R, AD Model Builder, and BUGS

Summary: 1. Ecologists often use nonlinear fitting techniques to estimate the parameters of complex ecological models, with attendant frustration. This paper compares three open-source model fitting tools and discusses general strategies for defining and fitting models. 2. R is convenient and (relatively) easy to learn, AD Model Builder is fast and robust but comes with a steep learning curve, while BUGS provides the greatest flexibility at the price of speed. 3. Our model-fitting suggestions range from general cultural advice (where possible, use the tools and models that are most common in your subfield) to specific suggestions about how to change the mathematical description of models to make them more amenable to parameter estimation. 4. A companion web site (https://groups.nceas.ucsb.edu/nonlinear-modeling/projects) presents detailed examples of application of the three tools to a variety of typical ecological estimation problems; each example links both to a detailed project report and to full source code and data

Chronic Stress, Sense of Belonging, and Depression Among Survivors of Traumatic Brain Injury

To test whether chronic stress, interpersonal relatedness, and cognitive burden could explain depression after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Design : A nonprobability sample of 75 mild-to-moderately injured TBI survivors and their significant others, were recruited from five TBI day-rehabilitation programs. All participants were within 2 years of the date of injury and were living in the community. Methods : During face-to-face interviews, demographic information, and estimates of brain injury severity were obtained and participants completed a cognitive battery of tests of directed attention and short-term memory, responses to the Perceived Stress Scale, Interpersonal Relatedness Inventory, Sense of Belonging Instrument, Neurobehavioral Functioning Inventory, and Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale;. Findings : Chronic stress was significantly and positively related to post-TBI depression. Depression and postinjury sense of belonging were negatively related. Social support and results from the cognitive battery did not explain depression. Conclusions : Postinjury chronic stress and sense of belonging were strong predictors of post-injury depression and are variables amenable to interventions by nurses in community health, neurological centers, or rehabilitation clinics. Future studies are needed to examine how these variables change over time during the recovery process.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/72593/1/j.1547-5069.2002.00221.x.pd

Learning Objects, Learning Objectives and Learning Design.

Educational research and development into e-learning mainly focuses on the inclusion of new technological features without taking into account psycho-pedagogical concerns that are likely to improve a learner's cognitive process in this new educational category. This paper presents an instructional model that combines objectivist and constructivist learning theories. The model is based on the concept of a learning objective which is composed of a set of learning objects. A software tool, called the Instruction Aid System (IAS), has been developed to guide instructors through the development of learning objectives and the execution of the analysis and design phases of the proposed instructional model. Additionally, a blended approach to the learning process in Web-based distance education is also presented. This approach combines various event-based activities: self-paced learning, live e-learning and the use of face-to-face contact in classrooms