Judgment of Contingency in Hospitalized Depressives

Numerous investigations with college students have found that mild depressives perceive environmental contingencies more accurately than do nondepressives. The present study explores this 'depressive realism' phenomenon in a hospitalized sample

Reaction Toward Rape as a Function of Rater Sex, Victim Sex, and Form of Injury

Raters' response toward victim and perpetrators in the context of rape is examined. More blame is attributed to a female than a male victim by all raters, particularly if the female victim is described only as being raped. Detailed description of different forms of injury resulting from the rape tends to act as a mediating factor in the amount of blame assigned to victims. Whereas the delineation of injury tends to decrease the amount of blame assigned to the female victim, this pattern is reversed for the male. Raters also claim a physically injured rape victim would require a substantially longer recuperation time than one whose injuries are psychological or unspecified

Perception of safety climate among Indonesian nurses: A cross-sectional survey

Background: The measurement of nurse perception on safety, and the factors associated to safety climate, direct the development of effective strategies in reducing adverse events, and patient safety improvement.Design and Method: This research was quantified, using the teamwork and safety climate domains of an Indonesian translated version of the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ-INA). The teamwork and safety climate domain scores were calculated, using the published SAQ-INA scoring algorithm. The univariate and multivariate median regression models were performed to examine the association between potential predictors and safety climate.Result: The results showed that 279 nurses responded to the survey (82% response rate). While most of them had a positive attitude towards teamwork (n= 170, 61%), fewer possessed the same mentality towards safety climate (n=109, 39%).  The lowest level of teamwork was perceived by nurses working in the emergency department (median 71, interquartile range 12.5), and safety climate (median 64, interquartile range 14.2). Furthermore, those that worked in the private hospitals, also reported lower levels of safety climate, compared to nurses in the public health centres (median difference=-3.571, p=0.009).Conclusion: Ward and hospital type were associated with the level of safety climate, perceived by nurses. Understanding the key areas, the intervention is best directed to target hospital wards with poor safety climate, in a bid to reduce adverse events, and improve patient safety

Experiences of pelvic floor dysfunction and treatment in women with breast cancer: a qualitative study

Purpose To explore the experiences of women with breast cancer and pelvic floor (PF) dysfunction and the perceived enablers and barriers to uptake of treatment for PF dysfunction during their recovery. Method Purposive sampling was used to recruit 30 women with a past diagnosis of breast cancer and PF dysfunction. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, and data were analysed inductively to identify new concepts in the experiences of PF dysfunction in women with breast cancer and deductively according to the capability, opportunity, motivation and behaviour (COM-B) framework to identify the enablers and barriers to the uptake of treatment for PF dysfunction in women with breast cancer. Results Participants were aged between 31 and 88 years, diagnosed with stages I–IV breast cancer and experienced either urinary incontinence ( n  = 24/30, 80%), faecal incontinence ( n  = 6/30, 20%) or sexual dysfunction ( n  = 20/30, 67%). They were either resigned to or bothered by their PF dysfunction bother was exacerbated by embarrassment from experiencing PF symptoms in public. Barriers to accessing treatment for PF dysfunction included a lack of awareness about PF dysfunction following breast cancer treatments and health care professionals not focussing on the management of PF symptoms during cancer treatment. An enabler was their motivation to resume their normal pre-cancer lives. Conclusion Participants in this study reported that there needs to be more awareness about PF dysfunction in women undergoing treatment for breast cancer. They would like to receive information about PF dysfunction prior to starting cancer treatment, be screened for PF dysfunction during cancer treatment and be offered therapies for their PF dysfunction after primary cancer treatment. Therefore, a greater focus on managing PF symptoms by clinicians may be warranted in women with breast cancer

The health profile of people living with Parkinson\u27s Disease managed in a comprehensive care setting

Background: Globally there are few reports of the impairments, disabilities and medications used in people living with idiopathic Parkinson’s disease. Caregiver characteristics and caregiver burden have seldom been reported. We examined the health status in a large cohort of people living with Parkinson’s disease and their caregivers managed in a comprehensive health care setting. Methods/Design: A prospective, cross sectional analysis of impairments, disabilities and Parkinson’s disease medication use was conducted in a sample of 100 people with Parkinson’s disease rated I-IV on the modified Hoehn & Yahr scale. Participants were recruited from the Victorian Comprehensive Parkinson Program in Melbourne, Australia. Their caregivers were invited to provide their views on the burden of care, services provided and support received. Results: The severity of impairments and disabilities was strongly associated with disease duration (mean of 5.5 years). Those with long standing disease or more severe disease also used more Parkinson’s disease medications and participated in fewer social roles than people who were newly diagnosed or mildly affected. The severity of impairments was strongly correlated with limitations in performing activities of daily living. Limitations in performing daily activities were also found to be a significant contributing factor for health-related quality of life (PDQ-39 SI β=0.55, p=0.000; EQ-5D SI β=0.43, p=0.001). People with Parkinson’s disease lived at home with relatives. The average caregiver was a spouse or child providing approximately 3.5 hours of care per day, with the capacity to provide 9.4 hours per day and had provided care for four years. Additional support was high (63%) for 2.5 hours per day. Conclusion: The comprehensive care setting of this cohort describes a relatively benign condition despite a wide range of disease duration and severity. This report provides a baseline with which to compare other delivery models

Development of young sago palm environmental monitoring system with wireless sensor networks

Environmental monitoring plays a significant role in the agriculture field as it manages the critical factors required for sustainable growth of plants, and thus enhancing the quality and productivity of the crops. In this paper, the development of a wireless sensor network (WSN) monitoring system for young sago palms in mist chambers is presented. The effect of the functional system with respect to the environmental factors monitored is also discussed. The system was set up to monitor three environmental factors i.e., temperature, relative humidity, and light intensity. Instantaneous readings of the monitored parameters were made possible through a wireless network and a web portal connection. The system recorded the environmental reading at every 15-min interval and transmitted the data from node to base using the Zigbee network. The data was then stored in an online cloud platform through the general radio packet service (GPRS) gateway. Linear actuators were also installed to control the mist chamber doors opening for natural ventilation and they were automatically triggered by the threshold temperature. Besides, a smart alert system was added to the system prompting for actions via short messaging services (SMS) when triggered. The developed system achieved a reliable data transmission with a low packet loss rate (PLR) of 2.3%. The use of the GPRS gateway also enabled the system to operate at a lower cost as the mobile data consumption was low (10 MB per month). In conclusion, a WSN system for mist chambers in a sago palm greenhouse was successfully developed to real-time monitor the plant growing environment through data acquisition, data transmission and data visualisation. The developed WSN system had laid a foundation for smart farming. For future applications, the system could be further modified and developed for precision agriculture

Rubber Tire Dust-Rice Husk Pyramidal Microwave Absorber

Rubber tire dust-rice husk is an innovation in improving the design of pyramidal microwave absorbers to be used in radio frequency (RF) anechoic chambers. An RF anechoic chamber is a shielded room covered with absorbers to eliminate unwanted refection signals. To design the pyramidal microwave absorber, rice husk will be added to rubber tire dust since the study shows that both have high percentages of carbon. This innovative material combination will be investigated to determine the best reflectivity or reflection loss performance of pyramidal microwave absorbers. Carbon is the most important element that must be in the absorber in order to help the absorption of unwanted microwave signals. In the commercial market, polyurethane and polystyrene are the most popular foam- based material that has been used in pyramidal microwave absorber fabrication. Instead of using chemical material, this study shows that agricultural waste is more environmentally friendly and has much lower cost. In this paper, three combinations of rubber tire dust and rice husk are fabricated to investigate the performance of microwave absorber reflection loss in operating in the frequency range from 7 GHz to 12 GHz

The MidPIC study : midwives’ knowledge, perspectives and learning needs regarding preconception and interconception care

Preconception and interconception care improves health outcomes of women and communities. Little is known about how prepared and willing Australian midwives are to provide preconception and interconception care. The aim of this study was to explore midwives’ knowledge, perspectives and learning needs, and barriers and enablers to delivering preconception and interconception care. We conducted a cross-sectional exploratory study of midwives working in any Australian maternity setting. An online survey measured midwives’ self-rated knowledge; education needs and preferences; attitudes towards pre and interconception care; and views on barriers, enablers; and, future service and workforce planning. Quantitative data were analysed descriptively and demographic characteristics (e.g., years of experience, model of care) associated with knowledge and attitudes regarding pre- and interconception care were examined using univariate logistic regression analysis. Qualitative data were captured through open-ended questions and analysed using inductive content analysis. We collected responses from (n = 338) midwives working across all models of care (full survey completion rate 96%). Most participants (n = 290; 85%) rated their overall knowledge about pre and interconception health as excellent, above average or average. Participants with over 11 years of experience were more likely to report above average to excellent knowledge (OR 3.11; 95% CI 1.09, 8.85). Online e-learning was the most preferred format for education on this topic (n = 244; 72%). Most (n = 257; 76%) reported interest in providing pre and interconception care more regularly and that this is within the midwifery scope of practice (n = 292; 87%). Low prioritisation in service planning was the most frequently selected barrier to providing preconception and interconception care, whereas continuity models and hybrid child health settings were reported as enablers of pre and interconception care provision. Findings revealed that midwives are prepared and willing to provide preconception and interconception care. Pre and post registration professional development; service and funding reform; and policy development are critical to enable Australian midwives’ provision of pre and interconception care

Examination of an eHealth literacy scale and a health literacy scale in a population with moderate to high cardiovascular risk: Rasch analyses

IntroductionElectronic health (eHealth) strategies are evolving making it important to have valid scales to assess eHealth and health literacy. Item response theory methods, such as the Rasch measurement model, are increasingly used for the psychometric evaluation of scales. This paper aims to examine the internal construct validity of an eHealth and health literacy scale using Rasch analysis in a population with moderate to high cardiovascular disease risk.MethodsThe first 397 participants of the CONNECT study completed the electronic health Literacy Scale (eHEALS) and the Health Literacy Questionnaire (HLQ). Overall Rasch model fit as well as five key psychometric properties were analysed: unidimensionality, response thresh-olds, targeting, differential item functioning and internal consistency.ResultsThe eHEALS had good overall model fit (χ2 = 54.8, p = 0.06), ordered response thresholds, reasonable targeting and good internal consistency (person separation index (PSI) 0.90). It did, however, appear to measure two constructs of eHealth literacy. The HLQ subscales (except subscale 5) did not fit the Rasch model (χ2: 18.18–60.60, p: 0.00–0.58) and had sub-optimal targeting for most subscales. Subscales 6 to 9 displayed disordered thresholds indi-cating participants had difficulty distinguishing between response options. All subscales did, nonetheless, demonstrate moderate to good internal consistency (PSI: 0.62–0.82)