Burden, coping, physical symptoms and psychological morbidity in caregivers of functionally dependent family members

Objectives: this study assessed burden, coping, physical symptoms and psychological morbidity in caregivers of functionally dependent family members. Methods: fifty family caregivers completed self-reported measures of burden, physical symptoms, psychological morbidity and coping strategies. Results: there was a significant negative correlation between coping strategies and the different clinical variables, as well as a significant positive correlation between coping strategies and duration of care. It appears that the stronger bond between caregiver and family member leads to a poorer use of adaptive coping strategies. It also appears that the deterioration of the relationship between them and the lower perceived self-efficacy are more prominente in caregivers of family members with cognitive impairment, indicating that caregivers with family members without cognitive impairment face fewer difficulties. Conclusion: these results emphasize the need for interventions to include coping strategies, since they are important in reducing caregivers’ burden, psychological morbidity and physical symptoms

On the mechanisms governing gas penetration into a tokamak plasma during a massive gas injection

A new 1D radial fluid code, IMAGINE, is used to simulate the penetration of gas into a tokamak plasma during a massive gas injection (MGI). The main result is that the gas is in general strongly braked as it reaches the plasma, due to mechanisms related to charge exchange and (to a smaller extent) recombination. As a result, only a fraction of the gas penetrates into the plasma. Also, a shock wave is created in the gas which propagates away from the plasma, braking and compressing the incoming gas. Simulation results are quantitatively consistent, at least in terms of orders of magnitude, with experimental data for a D 2 MGI into a JET Ohmic plasma. Simulations of MGI into the background plasma surrounding a runaway electron beam show that if the background electron density is too high, the gas may not penetrate, suggesting a possible explanation for the recent results of Reux et al in JET (2015 Nucl. Fusion 55 093013)

PERSONALITY AND BODY IMAGE DISORDERS IN COSMETIC SURGERY SETTINGS: PREVALENCE, COMORBIDITY AND EVALUATION OF THEIR IMPACT ON POST-OPERATIVE PATIENT'S SATISFACTION

Introduction Based on clinical impressions personality disorders (PDs) and psychiatric disorders characterized by body image disorder (BID) have been suggested to be relatively common in cosmetic surgery settings and closely associated with patient's post-operative dissatisfaction despite technically satisfactory surgical results, leading to problems for both patients and surgeons. Aims The study investigated the prevalence and the comorbidity between BID and PDs in patients seeking cosmetic surgery, as well as the impact of the following clinical variables on patient's post-operative dissatisfaction: number of pathological personality traits, severity of body uneasiness and worries about particular body parts and intensity of these concerns. Methods Two hundred fifty patients scheduled for profile, breast and body contouring cosmetic surgery from two Italian hospitals (90% F; Mage = 31.5 ± 4.0) completed the Body Uneasiness Test (BUT), the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire-4+ (PDQ-4) before surgery and a measure of patient satisfaction 13 months after surgery. Results 18.9% of subjects, had at least 1 PD (cluster B and C's in particular). Using the BUT cut-off score as a marker of clinical significance, 48.8% of subjects had a BID, and all PD patients showed comorbidity with BID. The number of pathological personality traits, the severity of body uneasiness and the intensity of worries about body parts showed a predictive power on patients’ post-operative dissatisfaction. Conclusion PDs and BID are common in cosmetic surgery settings. Our data suggest also that a thorough pre-operative clinical assessment may allow the pre-operative identification of patients with low levels of post-operative satisfaction

Disordered eating behaviors among Italian men: objectifying media and sexual orientation differences

Objectification theory was tested as a suitable framework for explaining sexual orientation differences in disordered eating behaviors in college-aged Italian men. The theory's applicability to 125 homosexual and 130 heterosexual men was investigated using self-report questionnaires. Gay men scored significantly higher on exposure to sexually objectifying media, body surveillance, body shame, disordered eating behaviors, and depression than heterosexual men. Although path analyses support the theory's applicability to both groups, for gay men the path model demonstrated a better fit to the objectification theory for disordered eating and depression. Practical implications are discussed