Cyber and traditional bullying victimization as a risk factor for mental health problems and suicidal ideation in adolescents

Purpose: To examine whether traditional and cyber bullying victimization were associated with adolescent's mental health problems and suicidal ideation at two-year follow-up. Gender differences were explored to determine whether bullying affects boys and girls differently. Methods: A two-year longitudinal study was conducted among first-year secondary school students (N = 3181). Traditional and cyber bullying victimization were assessed at baseline, whereas mental health status and suicidal ideation were assessed at baseline and follow-up by means of self-report questionnaires. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to assess associations between these variables while controlling for baseline problems. Additionally, we tested whether gender differences in mental health and suicidal ideation were present for the two types of bullying. Results: There was a significant interaction between gender and traditional bullying victimization and between gender and cyber bullying victimization on mental health problems. Among boys, traditional and cyber bullying victimization were not related to mental health problems after controlling for baseline mental health. Among girls, both traditional and cyber bullying victimization were associated with mental health problems after controlling for baseline mental health. No significant interaction between gender and traditional or cyber bullying victimization on suicidal ideation was found. Traditional bullying victimization was associated with suicidal ideation, whereas cyber bullying victimization was not associated with suicidal ideation after controlling for baseline suicidal ideation. Conclusions: Traditional bullying victimization is associated with an increased risk of suicidal ideation, whereas traditional, as well as cyber bullying victimization is associated with an increased risk of mental health problems among girls. These findings stress the importance of programs aimed at reducing bullying behavior, especially because early-onset mental health problems may pose a risk for the development of psychiatric disorders in adulthood

Risky music listening, permanent tinnitus and depression, anxiety, thoughts about suicide and adverse general health

Objective: To estimate the extent to which exposure to music through earphones or headphones with MP3 players or at discotheques and pop/rock concerts exceeded current occupational safety standards for noise exposure, to examine the extent to which temporary and permanent hearing-related symptoms were reported, and to examine whether the experience of permanent symptoms was associated with adverse perceived general and mental health, symptoms of depression, and thoughts about suicide. Methods: A total of 943 students in Dutch inner-city senior-secondary vocational schools completed questionnaires about their sociodemographics, music listening behaviors and health. Multiple logistic regression analyses were used to examine associations. Results: About 60% exceeded safety standards for occupational noise exposure; about one third as a result of listening to MP3 players. About 10% of the participants experienced permanent hearing-related symptoms. Temporary hearing symptoms that occurred after using an MP3 player or going to a discotheque or pop/rock concert were associated with exposure to high-volume music. However, compared to participants not experiencing permanent hearing-related symptoms, those experiencing permanent symptoms were less often exposed to high volume music. Furthermore, they reported at least two times more often symptoms of depression, thoughts about suicide and adverse self-assessed general and mental health. Conclusions: Risky music-listening behaviors continue up to at least the age of 25 years. Permanent hearing-related symptoms are associated with people's health and wellbeing. Participants experiencing such symptoms appeared to have changed their behavior to be less risky. In order to induce behavior change before permanent and irreversible hearingrelated symptoms occur, preventive measurements concerning hearing health are needed

The relationship between sensory sensitivity and autistic traits in the general population.

Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) tend to have sensory processing difficulties (Baranek et al. in J Child Psychol Psychiatry 47:591–601, 2006). These difficulties include over- and under-responsiveness to sensory stimuli, and problems modulating sensory input (Ben-Sasson et al. in J Autism Dev Disorders 39:1–11, 2009). As those with ASD exist at the extreme end of a continuum of autistic traits that is also evident in the general population, we investigated the link between ASD and sensory sensitivity in the general population by administering two questionnaires online to 212 adult participants. Results showed a highly significant positive correlation (r = .775, p < .001) between number of autistic traits and the frequency of sensory processing problems. These data suggest a strong link between sensory processing and autistic traits in the general population, which in turn potentially implicates sensory processing problems in social interaction difficulties

Organization specific predictors of job satisfaction: findings from a Canadian multi-site quality of work life cross-sectional survey

BACKGROUND: Organizational features can affect how staff view their quality of work life. Determining staff perceptions about quality of work life is an important consideration for employers interested in improving employee job satisfaction. The purpose of this study was to identify organization specific predictors of job satisfaction within a health care system that consisted of six independent health care organizations. METHODS: 5,486 full, part and causal time (non-physician) staff on active payroll within six organizations (2 community hospitals, 1 community hospital/long-term care facility, 1 long-term care facility, 1 tertiary care/community health centre, and 1 visiting nursing agency) located in five communities in Central West Ontario, Canada were asked to complete a 65-item quality of work life survey. The self-administered questionnaires collected staff perceptions of: co-worker and supervisor support; teamwork and communication; job demands and decision authority; organization characteristics; patient/resident care; compensation and benefits; staff training and development; and impressions of the organization. Socio-demographic data were also collected. RESULTS: Depending on the organization, between 15 and 30 (of the 40 potential predictor) variables were found to be statistically associated with job satisfaction (univariate analyses). Logistic regression analyses identified the best predictors of job satisfaction and these are presented for each of the six organizations and for all organizations combined. CONCLUSIONS: The findings indicate that job satisfaction is a multidimensional construct and although there appear to be some commonalities across organizations, some predictors of job satisfaction appear to be organization and context specific

Five recurrent BRCA1/2 mutations are responsible for cancer predisposition in the majority of Slovenian breast cancer families

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Both recurrent and population specific mutations have been found in different areas of the world and more specifically in ethnically defined or isolated populations. The population of Slovenia has over several centuries undergone limited mixing with surrounding populations.</p> <p>The current study was aimed at establishing the mutation spectrum of <it>BRCA1/2 </it>in the Slovenian breast/ovarian cancer families taking advantage of a complete cancer registration database. A second objective was to determine the cancer phenotype of these families.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The original population database was composed of cancer patients from the Institute of Oncology Ljubljana in Slovenia which also includes current follow-up status on these patients. The inclusion criteria for the <it>BRCA1/2 </it>screening were: (i) probands with at least two first degree relatives with breast and ovarian cancer; (ii) probands with only two first degree relatives of breast cancer where one must be diagnosed less than 50 years of age; and (iii) individual patients with breast and ovarian cancer, bilateral breast cancer, breast cancer diagnosed before the age of 40 and male breast cancer without any other cancer in the family.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Probands from 150 different families met the inclusion criteria for mutation analysis of which 145 consented to testing. A <it>BRCA1/2 </it>mutation was found in 56 (39%). Two novel large deletions covering consecutive exons of <it>BRCA1 </it>were found. Five highly recurrent specific mutations were identified (1806C>T, 300T>G, 300T>A, 5382insC in the <it>BRCA1 </it>gene and IVS16-2A>G in the <it>BRCA2 </it>gene). The IVS16-2A>G in the <it>BRCA2 </it>gene appears to be a unique founder mutation in the Slovenian population. A practical implication is that only 4 PCR fragments can be used in a first screen and reveal the cancer predisposing mutation in 67% of the <it>BRCA1/2 </it>positive families. We also observed an exceptionally high frequency of 4 different pathogenic missense mutations, all affecting one of the cryptic cysteine residues of the <it>BRCA1 </it>Ring Finger domain.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>A high mutation detection rate and the frequent occurrence of a limited array of recurring mutations facilitate <it>BRCA1/2 </it>mutation screening in Slovenian families.</p

Developing and testing an instrument for identifying performance incentives in the Greek health care sector

BACKGROUND: In the era of cost containment, managers are constantly pursuing increased organizational performance and productivity by aiming at the obvious target, i.e. the workforce. The health care sector, in which production processes are more complicated compared to other industries, is not an exception. In light of recent legislation in Greece in which efficiency improvement and achievement of specific performance targets are identified as undisputable health system goals, the purpose of this study was to develop a reliable and valid instrument for investigating the attitudes of Greek physicians, nurses and administrative personnel towards job-related aspects, and the extent to which these motivate them to improve performance and increase productivity. METHODS: A methodological exploratory design was employed in three phases: a) content development and assessment, which resulted in a 28-item instrument, b) pilot testing (N = 74) and c) field testing (N = 353). Internal consistency reliability was tested via Cronbach's alpha coefficient and factor analysis was used to identify the underlying constructs. Tests of scaling assumptions, according to the Multitrait-Multimethod Matrix, were used to confirm the hypothesized component structure. RESULTS: Four components, referring to intrinsic individual needs and external job-related aspects, were revealed and explain 59.61% of the variability. They were subsequently labeled: job attributes, remuneration, co-workers and achievement. Nine items not meeting item-scale criteria were removed, resulting in a 19-item instrument. Scale reliability ranged from 0.782 to 0.901 and internal item consistency and discriminant validity criteria were satisfied. CONCLUSION: Overall, the instrument appears to be a promising tool for hospital administrations in their attempt to identify job-related factors, which motivate their employees. The psychometric properties were good and warrant administration to a larger sample of employees in the Greek healthcare system

Recommendations and guidelines from the ISMRM Diffusion Study Group for preclinical diffusion MRI: Part 1 -- In vivo small-animal imaging

The value of in vivo preclinical diffusion MRI (dMRI) is substantial. Small-animal dMRI has been used for methodological development and validation, characterizing the biological basis of diffusion phenomena, and comparative anatomy. Many of the influential works in this field were first performed in small animals or ex vivo samples. The steps from animal setup and monitoring, to acquisition, analysis, and interpretation are complex, with many decisions that may ultimately affect what questions can be answered using the data. This work aims to serve as a reference, presenting selected recommendations and guidelines from the diffusion community, on best practices for preclinical dMRI of in vivo animals. In each section, we also highlight areas for which no guidelines exist (and why), and where future work should focus. We first describe the value that small animal imaging adds to the field of dMRI, followed by general considerations and foundational knowledge that must be considered when designing experiments. We briefly describe differences in animal species and disease models and discuss how they are appropriate for different studies. We then give guidelines for in vivo acquisition protocols, including decisions on hardware, animal preparation, imaging sequences and data processing, including pre-processing, model-fitting, and tractography. Finally, we provide an online resource which lists publicly available preclinical dMRI datasets and software packages, to promote responsible and reproducible research. An overarching goal herein is to enhance the rigor and reproducibility of small animal dMRI acquisitions and analyses, and thereby advance biomedical knowledge.Comment: 69 pages, 6 figures, 1 tabl

De samenhang tussen de kwaliteit van de wijk en psychosociale problemen bij jongeren in Rotterdam

The relationship between quality of the neighborhood and psychosocial problems among young people in Rotterdam It is assumed that neighborhood characteristics influences the development of psychosocial problems in adolescents. This assumption is mainly based on research from abroad, in the Netherlands still little research is done. Therefore in this article we examined whether there is a correlation between the quality of the neighborhood and psychosocial problems among teenagers in first and third grade. The quality of the neighborhood is measured by the social index of Rotterdam and the psychosocial problems is measured with the SDQ. Youth who experienced a lot social control and a high perception have fewer psychosocial problems. No relevant correlation was found between the quality of the neighborhood and psychosocial problems among young people. The quality of the neighborhood explained only 0.1% of the differences between the neighborhoods. This small difference can be explained by the composition (by sex, level of education en ethnicity) of the neighborhood

3D remote sensing as a tool for river and riparian area regional monitoring in Wallonia (Belgium)

Sous l’impulsion de son administration, la Wallonie a entamé un processus de révision des modalités de gestion de ses cours d’eau publics, notamment à travers le projet des Programmes d’actions sur les rivières par une approche intégrée et sectorisée (PARIS). Les PARIS ont pour but d’intégrer dans le temps et dans l’espace l’ensemble des mesures de gestion spécifiques au linéaire des cours d’eau en fonction d’enjeux prioritaires identifiés à l’échelle d’unités de gestion homogènes : les secteurs (6 185 secteurs de gestion de 2 km de long en moyenne). La mise en place et le suivi de ces plans de gestion impliquent de facto le développement d’outils de suivi efficaces, permettant d’établir les états des lieux pour la planification des actes de gestion et à terme, d’évaluer l’efficacité desdits plans de gestion. Ces opérations doivent se réaliser sur près de 12 000 km de cours d’eau et de bandes riveraines associées sur une base objective et commune à l’ensemble des gestionnaires des cours d’eau publics. Des données fines de télédétection sont disponibles et acquises de manière régulière par l’administration wallonne ; des solutions dérivées de ces sources de données permettront de répondre partiellement aux besoins réguliers en information des plans de gestion PARIS à un coût réduit. Pour atteindre cet objectif, un protocole a été établi à partir de nuages de points lidar (light detection and ranging ; densité 1 point « sol » par m2) complétés par des nuages de points photogrammétriques. Ces données ont été utilisées afin de caractériser la structure spatiale des bandes riveraines du réseau hydrographique public wallon à partir de six paramètres. Ces paramètres peuvent être d’ordre hydromorphologique (hauteur des berges, largeur et sinuosité du lit mineur), ou décrire la structure des forêts riveraines (hauteur moyenne et continuité longitudinale des peuplements arborés et ombrage du lit mineur). Différentes formes de visualisations de l’information peuvent appuyer le processus décisionnel des gestionnaires, de l’échelle locale (secteurs d’une masse d’eau DCE (directive cadre sur l’eau) à l’échelle régionale (354 masses d’eau DCE). Les paramètres extraits dans le cadre de ce projet seront prochainement intégrés au sein d’une plateforme informatique permettant leur visualisation à différentes échelles ainsi que l’encodage des actions par les gestionnaires.The Walloon administration has initiated a process of reform of river management policies, notably through the project PARIS action programs. The PARIS programs aim the integration in time and space of all specific management measures regarding public waterways based on priority issues identified at the level of homogeneous management units (6185 units, with mean length of 2 km). The implementation and monitoring of these management plans involve the development of effective monitoring tools to establish the initial state, planning acts of management and evaluating the effectiveness of such management plans. These operations must be carried out on nearly 12,000 km of streams and associated riparian area. This task must be realized on an objective and common basis for all of public waterways managers. Fine remote sensing data’s are available and regularly acquired by the Walloon administration. Derived solutions of these data sources will partially meet the information needs of PARIS management plans at reduced cost. To achieve this goal, a protocol has been established based on lidar point clouds (density 1 point «soil»/m2) completed by photogrammetric points clouds. These data were used to characterize the spatial structure of riparian areas associated with all of the Walloon public water system (>12,000 km) through six parameters. These parameters can be hydromorphological (height of banks, width, and sinuosity of the riverbed), or describe the structure of riparian forests (average height, longitudinal continuity, and shading of the riverbed). Different types of visualizations can support management decision-making to the local level (single river management unit) to regional (354 waterbodies of the water framework directive). Through various visualizations at different scales, the extracted parameters by the project will be integrated into a webGIS platform used by the river managers to report and plan their management actions