Assessment of rehabilitation needs in cancer patients

In Germany and the United States cancer patients are admitted to rehabilitation programmes after anti-cancer treatment. Such programmes do not exist in the Netherlands. This leads to the question of whether in the Dutch health care situation certain problems (impairments-disabilities-handicaps) exist in (ex)cancer patients that can be dealt with by a rehabilitation programme. Using theories on the development of health care needs of chronic patients and the WHO approach of Impairment, Disability and Handicap, a framework for a questionnaire was developed. This questionnaire used quality of life items, functional health items and items mainly from specific cancer-orientated instruments. One hundred and forty seven patients participated in the study. After the results of this phase were clear, a focus group approach combined with in-depth interviews was used to present patients with possible rehabilitation programmes. Questions were formulated verifying the nature of prior results, inquiring about specific elements and desired outcomes and about practical aspects concerning post-cancer rehabilitation. The population consisted mostly of breast cancer (69.4%) and bowel cancer patients (23.8%). Quality of life scored averagely moderate, not indicating large problems. About 26% of all respondents wanted to receive professional help; this was largely determined by perceived quality of life and level of social support. The desire for professional help concentrated significantly on role performance, cognition, control, family relations, psychologic and somatic aspects. The focus group discussion and interviews revealed that patients would prefer a rehabilitation programme focusing on reducing fatigue, reinforcing loadability, coping with social aspects, dietary aspects and finding new life targets. Quality of life seemed to be relatively high and only 26% of post-cancer patients indicated the need of rehabilitation. Related to a significantly lower quality of life score, improved physical loadability and psychosocial functioning (coping) should be the main outcomes of such a programme. Specific elements such as dietary advice and finding new life targets should, from the patients' perspective, be included

Strategies of the beetle Oochrotus unicolor (Tenebrionidae) thriving in the waste dumps of seed‐harvesting Messor ants (Formicidae)

1. A diverse group of arthropods have adapted to the niches found inside the nests of social insects. Studies mostly focused on very specialised parasites residing in the brood chambers. However, the biology and strategies of symbionts occupying other niches, such as waste dumps, are underexplored. 2. Using a series of complementary experiments, this study demonstrated that the Mediterranean beetle Oochrotus unicolor has adapted to the waste dump niche found in the nests of Messor harvester ants. 3. Laboratory experiments confirmed field observations that the beetle preferentially resided in the refuse pits. Next, it was shown that the beetles readily consumed seeds and flour, whereas other food sources were poorly accepted and ant brood was never even eaten. The beetles did not elicit a strong aggression response in Messor ants, and they could tolerate very high densities of workers without clear costs. The beetles modestly mimicked the nest recognition cues of their Messor host. This imperfect mimicry could promote the adoption of the beetle in the ant colony, in concert with mechanical defence generated by its tank-like body. Isolation of the beetle from its host did not significantly affect the beetle's chemical cuticular profile nor did it provoke elevated ant aggression, indicating that the beetle does not acquire the chemicals passively from its host. 4. This paper discusses the fact that waste dumps in social insect nests are hotspots for arthropod symbionts. It shows that symbionts in this niche may employ behavioural, trophic and chemical strategies that are different from those found in other niches of social insect nests

Thermodynamics and Long-Range Order of Interstitials in a Hexagonal Close-Packed Lattice

Statistical thermodynamics was applied to describe long-range order (LRO) of interstitial atoms in a hexagonal close-packed (hcp) host lattice. On the basis of the Gorsky-Bragg-Williams (GBW) approximation and a division of the interstitial sublattice into six interpenetrating sublattices, all the possible ordered configurations were derived for this assembly. Special attention was devoted to two of the possible ordered configurations of interstitial atoms, viz., the two ground-state structures that have been indicated for ε-Fe2N1-z. A description of the order-disorder transition was obtained, and the evolution of the occupancies of the different types of interstitial sites on changing the total interstitial content was given. Composition-temperature regions of stability for the two ordered configurations were given in phase diagrams for different combinations of pairwise interaction energies. The results are compatible with observations for ε-Fe2N1-z as reported in the literature. The advantages of the present treatment were discussed relative to an earlier one, which a priori excluded nearest neighboring interstitial sites from simultaneous occupancy.