Adapted cardiac rehabilitation programme to improve uptake in patients of Moroccan and Turkish origin in The Netherlands:a qualitative study

Aim. To explore the treatment experiences in patients of Moroccan and Turkish origin and their rehabilitation therapists regarding an adapted outpatient cardiac rehabilitation programme. Background. Non-native patients who participated in a cardiac rehabilitation programme at a Dutch rehabilitation centre had more difficulties to achieve the treatment aims than native Dutch patients. Therefore, an adapted programme for non-native patients, lacking proficiency in Dutch, has been instigated. The programme contains six adapted treatment modules and additional strategies: adapted education regarding (1) the heart and the vascular system and (2) the use of healthy food, with use the of (audio) visual educational materials, (3) adapted physical exercise module with explicit involvement of the patients relatives, (4) standard use of professional interpreters, (5) increase in the number and length of consultations and (6) individual treatment instead of a group programme. Design. Qualitative study. Method. Semi-structured, face-to-face interviews were conducted with eight patients of Moroccan and Turkish origin and five native Dutch rehabilitation therapists. By comparison, three native Dutch patients were interviewed regarding the regular programme. Results. The results indicate that the patients disease symptoms reduced and that patients adopted lifestyle changes. Therapists experienced that the number and length of the consultations, the structural use of interpreters and (audio) visual educational materials contributed to the achievement of the treatment aims. Conclusion. An adapted cardiac rehabilitation programme with separate modules and additional strategies for non-native patients appears to lead to satisfied patients who adopted lifestyle changes. Relevance to clinical practice. The findings of this study are important as the study highlights the practical actions that may be taken by physicians and healthworkers to adjust rehabilitation treatment to the needs of patients of non-native origin

Louis-Ferdinand Céline, literary genius or national pariah? Defining moral parameters for influential cultural figures, post- Charlie Hebdo

In January 2011 the French Minister of Culture, Frédéric Mitterrand, withdrew Louis-Ferdinand Céline from a list of famous French authors specifically selected for a national celebration of culture. This bold decision polarized opinion: while many welcomed Mitterrand’s intervention, a number of prominent writers, some of them Jewish, opposed it on the grounds that Céline’s abhorrent political beliefs – expressed in three anti-Semitic pamphlets and his flirtation with Nazism- should in no way detract from his literary genius. In the light of this controversy, and of the rise in anti-Semitism following the Charlie Hebdo attacks of January 2015, this paper proposes Céline as a vital case study of the moral parameters a democratic nation should apply to a culturally important figure whose political views are deemed unacceptably reactionary

Subject- and injury-related factors influencing the course of manual wheelchair skill performance during initial inpatient rehabilitation of persons with spinal cord injury

Objectives: To study changes in wheelchair skills in subjects with spinal cord injury (SCI) during rehabilitation; to determine whether changes in wheelchair skill performance are related to the subject, lesion characteristics, secondary complications, and upper extremity pain; and to investigate if wheelchair skill performance at discharge can be predicted from these features. Design: Longitudinal. Subjects performed the Wheelchair Circuit 3 times during rehabilitation: at admission (t1), 3 months later (t2), and at discharge (t3). Setting: Eight rehabilitation centers in the Netherlands. Participants: One hundred twenty-one subjects with SCI. Interventions: Not applicable. Main Outcome Measures: The Wheelchair Circuit consists of 8 wheelchair skills and results in 3 test scores: ability, performance time, and physical strain. Results: All the scores of the Wheelchair Circuit improved significantly between t1 and t2, and between t2 and t3. The scores were related to age and lesion level, whereas changes in scores were related to age, sex, lesion level, and secondary complications. The variables age, body mass index, sex, lesion level, motor completeness, and secondary complications contributed significantly to the prediction of the scores at t3. Conclusions: Wheelchair skill performance improved during rehabilitation. Personal and lesion characteristics are most important for improving wheelchair skill performance and predicting wheelchair skill performance. © 2005 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

African Linguistics in Central and Eastern Europe, and in the Nordic Countries

Non peer reviewe

Guattegaumerine, New Bisbenzylisoquinoline Alkaloid from Guatteria gaumeri.

The aqueous-alcoholic extract of the bark of GUATTERIA GAUMERI (Mexican Annonaceae) is used for the treatment of cholelithiasis and hypercholesterolemia. Therefore it seems very interesting to perform a phytochemical study of this drug in order to know its composition and to determine, if possible, all the active principles. We describe now the isolation of the main alkaloid named guattegaumerine. This new bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloid has been assigned structure 1, on the basis of spectroscopic, chemical and chromatographic evidence

Crystal and molecular structure of a new bisindolic alkaloid: molecular complex 1:2 Strychnofoline-Ethanol

Strychnofoline is a phenolic alkaloid isolated from leaves of Strychnos usambarensis. The crystals of the complex Strychnofoline-Ethanol are monoclinic. the crystal structure has been solvad by direct methods. The configuration determined by biogenetic arguments is 3S?4R?7S?15S?17S?20R. This is the first oxindole alkaloid found in a Strychnos species

Crystal and molecular structure of a new bisindole lakaloid: strychnopentamine

Strychnopentamine is a bisindolic alkaloid isolated from the leaves of Strychnos usambarensis . The crystals are tetragonal. The crystal structure was solved by direct methods . It is the first compound with five amines found in a Strychnos: a methylpyrrolidine group is joined to the benzene ring of the corynane part of the molecule. The configuration was determined on the basis of biogenetic arguments. Compound and water molecules are linked together by seven non-equivalent hydrogen bonds