Cultural Variations in Public Beliefs about Mental Disorders: A Comparison between Tunisia and Germany

In recent years there is a growing interest in public beliefs about mental disorders. Numerous representative population-based studies have been conducted around the globe, also in European countries bordering on the Mediterranean Sea. However, relatively little is known about public beliefs in countries in Northern Africa. To fill this gap by comparing public beliefs about mental disorders in Tunisia and Germany, focusing on causal beliefs, help-seeking recommendations and treatment preferences. Representative national population-based surveys have been conducted in Tunisia in 2012 (N = 811) and in Germany in 2011 (N = 1852), using the same interview mode and the same fully structured interview starting with a vignette depicting a person suffering from either schizophrenia or depression. In Tunisia, the public was more likely to adopt psychosocial and to reject biogenetic explanations than in Germany. Correspondingly, psychological treatments were more frequently recommended and biological ones more frequently advised against. There was also a strong inclination to share religious beliefs and to recommend seeking religious advice. Tunisians tended much more than Germans to hold moralistic views and to blame the afflicted person for his or her illness. In Tunisia, the public tended less to differentiate between schizophrenia and depression than in Germany. Marked differences between Tunisia and Germany exist in public beliefs about the causes of mental disorders and their treatment, which correspond to differences in cultural orientations prevailing in these countries. Mental health professionals need to be sensitive to the particular cultural context in which they operate, in order to be able to reach those they intend to care for

Congenital Dysplastic Hips, Spinal Column Abnormalities, Fractures and Progressive Neurological Manifestations in Tunisian Family with Cockayne Syndrome

We report an inbred, Tunisian family in which cousins have the definite diagnosis of Cockayne syndrome. Intervening members in this family, who are intellectually normal, though, most are manifesting complications of hip dysplasia (development of dysplastic arthrosis) and various vertebral abnormalities. We presume that these are carriers who manifest dreadful bone features rather than the clinical phenotype of Cockayne syndrome, the mode of inheritance of the abnormal gene in this family is suggesting autosomal dominant, to our knowledge the family reported with such skeletal abnormalities in association to Cockayne syndrome is the largest in comparison to the international literatures. A correction to this article has been issued in Annals of African Medicine, Vol. 4, No. 3, 2005, pp. 141. Please see the full text HTML document for further details.Nous faisons un rapport sur un cas r\ue9sultant de croisements entre animaux de m\ueame souche, une famille tunisiene chez laquelle les cousins avaient un diagnostic pr\ue9cis du syndrome de cockaye. Les membres de cette famille qui interviennent et qui sont sains intellectuellement bien que la plupart des patients manifestaient des complications de la hanche dysplasie (dev\ue9loppement d'arthrose dysplastique) et des anomalies vert\ue9brales. Nous supposons qu'elles sont des porteuses qui manifestent des traits \ue9pouvantables d'os plut\uf4t que le ph\ue9notype clinique de syndrone de cockaye, la m\ue9thode d'h\ue9ritage de ce g\ueane anomalie chez cette famille pourrait \ueatre autosome dominant. Pour autant que nous sachons, la famille s'est pr\ue9sent\ue9e atteinte d'une telle anomalit\ue9 squelettique en association avec le syndrome de cockaye est le plus grand par rapport \ue0 la litt\ue9rature international

Trajectories of frailty with aging:Coordinated analysis of five longitudinal studies

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: There is an urgent need to better understand frailty and its predisposing factors. Although numerous cross-sectional studies have identified various risk and protective factors of frailty, there is a limited understanding of longitudinal frailty progression. Furthermore, discrepancies in the methodologies of these studies hamper comparability of results. Here, we use a coordinated analytical approach in 5 independent cohorts to evaluate longitudinal trajectories of frailty and the effect of 3 previously identified critical risk factors: sex, age, and education. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We derived a frailty index (FI) for 5 cohorts based on the accumulation of deficits approach. Four linear and quadratic growth curve models were fit in each cohort independently. Models were adjusted for sex/gender, age, years of education, and a sex/gender-by-age interaction term. RESULTS: Models describing linear progression of frailty best fit the data. Annual increases in FI ranged from 0.002 in the Invecchiare in Chianti cohort to 0.009 in the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA). Women had consistently higher levels of frailty than men in all cohorts, ranging from an increase in the mean FI in women from 0.014 in the Health and Retirement Study cohort to 0.046 in the LASA cohort. However, the associations between sex/gender and rate of frailty progression were mixed. There was significant heterogeneity in within-person trajectories of frailty about the mean curves. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: Our findings of linear longitudinal increases in frailty highlight important avenues for future research. Specifically, we encourage further research to identify potential effect modifiers or groups that would benefit from targeted or personalized interventions

Multiple slot nano-jet impingement cooling of a sinusoidal hot surface by using active rotating cylinders under magnetic field

In this study, cooling performance of a multi-slot jet impingement system for a wavy surface are explored under the triple combined effects of using magnetic field (MG-F), double active rotating cylinders and nanofluid. Double rotating cylinders which provide additional cooling are used while Galerkin weighed residual finite element method is used for the solution of the governing equations. Effects of Rew (rotational Reynolds number, between −1000 and 1000), Ha (MG-F strength between 0 and 30), MG-F inclination (between 0 and 90) and sub-cooling temperature of the active cylinders (dT between 0 and 10) on the cooling performance are assessed. Rotations of the double cylinders generally provide higher Nusselt number (Nu) while 41% and 18.9% increment in the Nu is obtained when using pure fluid and nanofluid. The average Nu behavior is different when using MG-F depending upon the rotations are active or not. Average Nu is sharply reduced by about 25.1% without rotations but it rises by about 89% at Ha = 10 by using rotations. The impacts of sub-cooling is very effective when rotations are active while up to 37.9% rise of Nu is obtained at Rew = −1000. When no cylinders are used, using MG-F reduced the average Nu by about 15.4%. The best cooling performance case in the absence of MG-F with cylinders is obtained at Rew = −1000 and dT = 10

Body mass index to predict fat mass and metabolic syndrome severity: should it really be specific to sex, age and ethnicity? A NHANES study (1999–2014)

Background: Body mass index (BMI) is often criticised since it doesn’t consider sex, age and ethnicity, which may affect the height scaling exponent of the equation. Aims: First, to identify specific height scaling exponents (α) based on sex, age and ethnicity. Second, to assess the performance of the current vs the proposed BMI equations (1) to predict total fat mass (TFM) and metabolic syndrome (MetS) severity and (2) to correctly identify obese individuals and those having MetS. Methods: In total, 41,403 individuals aged 20–80 years (NHANES, 1999–2014) were studied. Specific “α” were identified using the Benn formula. Various statistical approaches were performed to assess performances of the current vs the proposed-BMIs. Results: The proposed “α” varies from 1.2 to 2.5, after considering sex, age and ethnicity. BMIs calculated using the proposed “α” showed a similar capacity to predict TFM and MetS severity and to correctly identify obese individuals and those having MetS compared to the current BMI. Conclusions: Despite sex, age and ethnicity modulating the height scaling exponent of the BMI equation, using these proposed exponents in the BMI equation didn’t improve the capacity to predict TFM and MetS severity, suggesting that the current BMI remains a valid clinical tool

L'os sous-fibulaire symptomatique chez l'enfant

4 observations d'os fibulaire symptomatique chez des enfants sportifs, victimes d'entorses à répétition ou de douleurs de la pointe de la malléole externe. Exploration par IRM, immobilisation plâtrée suivie d'une rééducation proprioceptive

Magneto-convection of nanofluid flow over multiple rotating cylinders in a confined space with elastic walls and ventilated ports

In this study, convective heat transfer for nanofluid flow over multiple rotating cylinder in a confined space is analyzed under magnetic field while enclosure has one inlet and one outlet port. Three identical circular cylinder are used and the two walls of the cavity are considered to be elastic. The coupled fluid-structure interaction and magneto-convection problem is solved by finite element method. Impacts of rotational Reynolds number (Rew between -100 and 100), Hartmann number (Ha between 0 and 50), cylinder size (R between 0.001H and 0.11H) and Cauchy number (Ca between 10−8 and 10−3) on the flow and thermal performance features are explored. The flow field and recirculation inside the cavity are significantly affected by the activation of rotation and magnetic field. The vortices are suppressed by increasing the strength of magnetic field and thermal performance is improved. Thermal performance of 56.6% is achieved by activation of magnetic field at the highest strength with rotations of the circular cylinders. When rotations are active, heat transfer rate is reduced while up to 40% reduction is obtained without magnetic field. Cylinder size has the highest impact on the overall thermal performance improvement while up to 132% enhancements are achieved. The contribution of elastic walls on the thermal performance is slight while less than 5% improvements in the average heat transfer is obtained. An optimization study leads to 12.7% higher thermal performance improvements as compared to best case of parametric computational fluid dynamics simulation results while the optimum values of (Rew, Ha, R) is obtained as (-80.66, 50, 0.11H)

Effects of a conductive T-shaped partition on the phase change dynamics in a channel equipped with multiple encapsulated PCMs under different magnetic fields

For enhanced thermal management and energy storage, an understanding of the phase change process and how to control it is crucial in many different engineering applications. In this study, effects of using a T-shaped conductive partition on the phase change process in a multiple phase change material-installed three dimensional cylinder are explored by using finite element method. In the computational domain, a uniform magnetic field with varying strengths is applied. The investigation is conducted for various Reynolds numbers (Re:200–500), Hartmann number of the first and second domains (Ha1: 0–50 and Ha2: 0–50), partitions sizes (Lp: 0.05L–0.5L), and conductivity ratios (KR:0.01–100). The entire transition times (trF) of the left and right phase change materials decrease with increasing Re and Ha. At Ha1=0, the reduction amounts of trF with Re for phase change materials P1 and P2 are 24.40% and 27.45%, respectively. When magnetic field is imposed at Ha1=50, the amounts are 19.4% and 22.7%. The size of the conductive partition affects the size of the vortex established within the phase change material zone. When the partition size is altered, the tr-F variation for P1 and P2 in the absence of magnetic field is 11% and 8.5%, respectively, but in the presence of magnetic field it is 26.5% and 7%. The partition’s conductivity has an impact on the dynamics of phase changes as well. The phase completion times of the various phase change materials differ most at KR=0.1, and at that moment, P1’s trF is 42% higher than P2’s. When modeling the time-dependent variation of liquid fraction for various phase change materials and conductivity ratios, a polynomial type regression model is employed. The findings are useful for the initial design, thermal management and the optimization studies of phase change material embedded systems in a variety of applications, such as heat recovery systems, convective heat transfer applications, and the cooling of electronic equipments

Congenital dysplastic hips, spinal column abnormalities, fractures and progressive neurological manifestations in Tunisian family with Cockayne syndrome

We report an inbred, Tunisian family in which cousins have the definite diagnosis of Cockayne syndrome. Intervening members in this family, who are intellectually normal, though, most are manifesting complications of hip dysplasia (development of dysplastic arthrosis) and various vertebral abnormalities. We presume that these are carriers who manifest dreadful bone features rather than the clinical phenotype of Cockayne syndrome, the mode of inheritance of the abnormal gene in this family is suggesting autosomal dominant, to our knowledge the family reported with such skeletal abnormalities in association to Cockayne syndrome is the largest in comparison to the international literatures. A correction to this article has been issued in Annals of African Medicine, Vol. 4, No. 3, 2005, pp. 141. Please see the full text HTML document for further details