Māori, Tongan and Chinese households: Medications and elder care

Research reveals that medicines are frequently not taken as intended, stockpiled for future use, discontinued when symptoms fade or passed to others. Medications are material objects with therapeutic uses that enter into and take on meaning within people’s lives. In this way they are culturally embedded phenomena that carry meanings and shape social relationships and practices. The symbolic meanings given to medications and cultural relations are important for understanding variations in medication practices. Households with elders often contain more medications and have more complex age-related medical conditions. In households where members are engaged in the reciprocation of care among two or three generations, medications within and between these relationships take on a range of dynamic meanings. In this paper, we explore how interactions between household members affect medicines-taking practices of elders and their families from three cultural groups: Māori, Tongan and Chinese. This research was funded by the Health Research Council of New Zealand and the Marsden Fund of the Royal Society of New Zealand

Defining Excellence in Graduate Studies

This article provides an analysis of definitions of excellence in graduate study provided by Master’s degree and doctoral candidates, identified by their department as “excellent,” and by chairs of graduate programs (n = 43) at two western Canadian universities. Faculty members’ definitions tended to focus primarily on external markers of success rather than on personal characteristics of graduate students. Both graduate faculty respondents (n = 20) and graduate student interview participants (n = 23) mentioned the importance of visibility in the department and the community. The graduate student participants made infrequent mention of external indicators, such as grades and ability to garner funding, and attributed their identification as excellent to their own actions and internal attributes. External factors frequently mentioned by graduate students were the cutting edge nature of their research and the importance of the supervisory relationship. Further exploration is needed to develop a working definition of “excellence” in graduate study and explore the factors involved in its attainment. This paper offers a rudimentary framework for how excellence in graduate study is currently defined, makes preliminary recommendations, and discusses possible directions for future research into excellence in graduate studies

Lohkoketjuteknologian vaikutus valeuutisten leviämiseen sosiaalisessa mediassa

Viimeisen vuosikymmenen aikana sosiaalisesta mediasta on tullut merkittävä osa miljardien ihmisten päivittäistä elämää. Tavat kommunikoida ja jakaa tietoa ovat mullistuneet sosiaalisen median myötä, mutta se on myös saanut ihmiset epäilemään valtamedian luotettavuutta tiedonlähteenä. Esimerkiksi koronaviruksen aiheuttamasta pandemiasta liikkunut väärä informaatio lietsoi paniikkia ja sai ihmiset käyttämään kuolemaan johtanutta metanolia suojautuakseen tartunnalta. Syynä näille tapahtumille ovat valeuutiset, joiden levittämiseen sosiaalinen media on antanut tehokkaan alustan. Valeuutiset ovat uutisia, jotka sisältävät epätodenmukaista tai tahallisesti vääristeltyä tietoa ja ovat sosiaalisen median kasvun myötä viime vuosien aikana kehittynyt ilmiö. Ilmiönä valeuutiset ovat verrattavissa propagandaan, jolla puolestaan on pitkä historia. Perinteisillä sosiaalisen median alustoilla kenen tahansa on mahdollista jakaa valheellista tietoa, joka voi levitä hallitsemattomasti ennen kuin sitä ehditään korjaamaan. Ratkaisuna valeuutisten leviämiseen on esitetty lohkoketjuteknologiaa, jonka ominaisuudet kuten sen sisältämän datan luotettavuus sekä tiedon hajautuneisuus vaikuttavat tarkoitukseen nähden lupaavilta. Lohkoketjujen nykyistä suosiota voidaan pitää Bitcoinin ansiona, sillä se oli ensimmäinen lohkoketjuteknologiaan perustuva menestynyt sovellus. Tutkielmassa etsittiin vastausta kysymykseen, miten lohkoketjuteknologia vaikuttaa valeuutisten leviämiseen sosiaalisessa mediassa. Tutkielma on toteutettu kirjallisuuskatsauksena. Työssä käsitellään lohkoketjuteknologian ominaisuuksia, sosiaalisen median piirteitä sekä valeuutisten ja niiden leviämisen aiheuttamia ilmiöitä. Tutkielmassa esitetään lohkoketjuteknologiaan perustuvia ratkaisuja ja niiden vaikutusta valeuutisten tunnistettavuuteen ja leviämiseen sosiaalisessa mediassa. Tulosten mukaan lohkoketjuteknologiaan perustuvat sosiaalisen median alustat tukevat laadukkaamman sisällön tuottamista ja tekevät valeuutisista helpommin tunnistettavia käyttäjilleen. Haasteiksi lohkoketjuteknologian laajemmassa käyttöönotossa sosiaalisen median alustoilla osoittautuivat tapahtumien prosessointi lohkoketjuun silloin, kun tapahtumia on paljon, lohkoketjuteknologian käytön aiheuttamat kustannukset sekä uuden teknologian omaksuminen käyttäjien toimesta. Lohkoketjuteknologiaan perustuvat sosiaalisen median alustat tarjoavat käyttäjilleen mahdollisuuden tarkistaa esimerkiksi uutisten alkuperän ja lähteet tai arvioida sisällön laatua. Valeuutisten leviäminen voi vähentyä lohkoketjuteknologian avulla

When and why people misestimate future feelings: Identifying strengths and weaknesses in affective forecasting.

People try to make decisions that will improve their lives and make them happy, and to do so, they rely on affective forecasts-predictions about how future outcomes will make them feel. Decades of research suggest that people are poor at predicting how they will feel and that they commonly overestimate the impact that future events will have on their emotions. Recent work reveals considerable variability in forecasting accuracy. This investigation tested a model of affective forecasting that captures this variability in bias by differentiating emotional intensity, emotional frequency, and mood. Two field studies examined affective forecasting in college students receiving grades on a midterm exam (Study 1, N = 643), and U.S. citizens after the outcome of the 2016 presidential election (Study 2, N = 706). Consistent with the proposed model, participants were more accurate in forecasting the intensity of their emotion and less accurate in forecasting emotion frequency and mood. Overestimation of the effect of the event on mood increased over time since the event. Three experimental studies examined mechanisms that contribute to differential forecasting accuracy. Biases in forecasting intensity were caused by changes in perceived event importance; biases in forecasting frequency of emotion were caused by changes in the frequency of thinking about the event. This is the first direct evidence mapping out strengths and weaknesses for different types of affective forecasts and the factors that contribute to this pattern. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)

Individualized quality of life, standardized quality of life, and distress in patients undergoing a phase I trial of the novel therapeutic Reolysin (reovirus)

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the individualized and standardized quality of life (QL) and psychological distress of patients participating in a Phase I trial of the novel therapeutic reovirus (Reolysin). METHODS: 16 patients with incurable metastatic cancer were interviewed prior to being accepted into the phase I trial with a semi-structured expectations interview, the Schedule for the Evaluation of Individual Quality of Life – Direct Weighting (SEIQoL-DW), the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30), the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and the Spiritual Health Inventory (SHI). RESULTS: Patients were able to complete all measures. They felt hopeful and excited about the trial, with about two thirds hoping for disease regression and one third hoping for a cure. The most commonly spontaneously nominated areas of QL were family relationships, activities and friends, and the overall SEIQoL mean index score was 69. Health was nominated by only 38% of the sample. Scores on the SEIQoL were correlated with global QL on the EORTC QLQ C-30. Scores on the BDI and BSI were lower than reported for similar populations, and on the SHI scores were similar to other samples. Global QL on the EORTC QLQ C-30 and depression scores were associated with time to death in the nine patients who had died at the time of writing. CONCLUSIONS: Individualized QL is easy to assess in seriously ill cancer patients, provides useful information relative to each individual, and is related to standard QL measures. Repeated assessment of individualized QL of patients in Phase I trials would be a useful addition to the research

The impact of mindfulness-based interventions on symptom burden, positive psychological outcomes, and biomarkers in cancer patients

Research on the use of mindfulness-based stress reduction and related mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) in cancer care has proliferated over the past decade. MBIs have aimed to facilitate physical and emotional adjustment to life with cancer through the cultivation and practice of mindfulness (ie, purposeful, nonjudgmental, moment-to-moment awareness). This descriptive review highlights three categories of outcomes that have been evaluated in MBI research with cancer patients – namely, symptom reduction, positive psychological growth, and biological outcomes. We also examine the clinical relevance of each targeted outcome, while describing recently published original studies to highlight novel applications of MBIs tailored to individuals with cancer. Accumulating evidence suggests that participation in a MBI contributes to reductions in psychological distress, sleep disturbance, and fatigue, and promotes personal growth in areas such as quality of life and spirituality. MBIs may also influence markers of immune function, hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis regulation, and autonomic nervous system activity, though it remains unclear whether these biological changes translate to clinically important health benefits. We conclude by discussing methodological limitations of the extant literature, and implications of matching MBIs to the needs and preferences of cancer patients. Overall, the growing popularity of MBIs in cancer care must be balanced against scientific evidence for their impact on specific clinical outcomes

Influence of coral and algal exudates on microbially mediated reef metabolism.

Benthic primary producers in tropical reef ecosystems can alter biogeochemical cycling and microbial processes in the surrounding seawater. In order to quantify these influences, we measured rates of photosynthesis, respiration, and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) exudate release by the dominant benthic primary producers (calcifying and non-calcifying macroalgae, turf-algae and corals) on reefs of Mo'orea French Polynesia. Subsequently, we examined planktonic and benthic microbial community response to these dissolved exudates by measuring bacterial growth rates and oxygen and DOC fluxes in dark and daylight incubation experiments. All benthic primary producers exuded significant quantities of DOC (roughly 10% of their daily fixed carbon) into the surrounding water over a diurnal cycle. The microbial community responses were dependent upon the source of the exudates and whether the inoculum of microbes included planktonic or planktonic plus benthic communities. The planktonic and benthic microbial communities in the unamended control treatments exhibited opposing influences on DO concentration where respiration dominated in treatments comprised solely of plankton and autotrophy dominated in treatments with benthic plus plankon microbial communities. Coral exudates (and associated inorganic nutrients) caused a shift towards a net autotrophic microbial metabolism by increasing the net production of oxygen by the benthic and decreasing the net consumption of oxygen by the planktonic microbial community. In contrast, the addition of algal exudates decreased the net primary production by the benthic communities and increased the net consumption of oxygen by the planktonic microbial community thereby resulting in a shift towards net heterotrophic community metabolism. When scaled up to the reef habitat, exudate-induced effects on microbial respiration did not outweigh the high oxygen production rates of benthic algae, such that reef areas dominated with benthic primary producers were always estimated to be net autotrophic. However, estimates of microbial consumption of DOC at the reef scale surpassed the DOC exudation rates suggesting net consumption of DOC at the reef-scale. In situ mesocosm experiments using custom-made benthic chambers placed over different types of benthic communities exhibited identical trends to those found in incubation experiments. Here we provide the first comprehensive dataset examining direct primary producer-induced, and indirect microbially mediated alterations of elemental cycling in both benthic and planktonic reef environments over diurnal cycles. Our results highlight the variability of the influence of different benthic primary producers on microbial metabolism in reef ecosystems and the potential implications for energy transfer to higher trophic levels during shifts from coral to algal dominance on reefs

Affect and Mindfulness as Predictors of Change in Mood Disturbance, Stress Symptoms, and Quality of Life in a Community-Based Yoga Program for Cancer Survivors

Little attention has been paid to the psychological determinants by which benefits are accrued via yoga practice in cancer-related clinical settings. Using a longitudinal multilevel modeling approach, associations between affect, mindfulness, and patient-reported mental health outcomes, including mood disturbance, stress symptoms, and health-related quality of life (HRQL), were examined in an existing seven-week yoga program for cancer survivors. Participants (N=66) were assessed before and after the yoga program and at three- and six-month follow-ups. Decreases in mood disturbance and stress symptoms and improvements in HRQL were observed upon program completion. Improvements in mood disturbance and stress symptoms were maintained at the three- and six-month follow-ups. HRQL exhibited further improvement at the three-month follow-up, which was maintained at the six-month follow-up. Improvements in measures of well-being were predicted by initial positive yoga beliefs and concurrently assessed affective and mindfulness predictor variables. Previous yoga experience, affect, mindfulness, and HRQL were related to yoga practice maintenance over the course of the study

Make Research Data Public? -- Not Always so Simple: A Dialogue for Statisticians and Science Editors

Putting data into the public domain is not the same thing as making those data accessible for intelligent analysis. A distinguished group of editors and experts who were already engaged in one way or another with the issues inherent in making research data public came together with statisticians to initiate a dialogue about policies and practicalities of requiring published research to be accompanied by publication of the research data. This dialogue carried beyond the broad issues of the advisability, the intellectual integrity, the scientific exigencies to the relevance of these issues to statistics as a discipline and the relevance of statistics, from inference to modeling to data exploration, to science and social science policies on these issues.Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/10-STS320 the Statistical Science (http://www.imstat.org/sts/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

Implementing a screening programme for distress in cancer settings: Science and practice

Objective. Previous work has addressed the development and diagnostic validity testing of tools for measuring cancer-related distress. Relatively little has been published on the implementation of these tools in clinical practice. We aimed to review the findings of randomized and non-randomized trials of the effect of distress screening to identify the effectiveness and acceptability of screening programmes. Methods. A search was made of the Embase/ Medline and Web of knowledge abstract databases from inception to May 2012. Our inclusion criterion was randomized and non- randomized controlled trials concerning the effect of screening for psychological distress on patient and clinician reported outcomes. We included studies on quality of life. Results. We identified 21 qualifying studies. Twelve were randomized trials and nine were non-randomized trials of the effect of screening for psychological distress. Six randomized trials assigned patients to receive screening or no screening, the remainder randomized patients to receive feedback or no feedback of screening results. Only 6 of the randomized reported benefits (five as a direct result of screening), although an additional 8 non-randomized studies showed partial benefits. Most benefits were seen in domains of communication, clinician behaviour and patient referral. Acceptability of screening was high during funded screening implementation studies but mixed when incorporated into routine clinical care. Conclusions. Screening for distress has the potential to influence communication, clinician behaviour and patient referral and to a lesser extent recognition of distress and unmet needs. Barriers to implementation success include low staff confidence, lack of training and support, low acceptability and failure to tie treatment to the screening results. Further work needs to be conducted on the value of screening when incorporated into routine clinical care and into the most appropriate methods for studying the implementation of screening in clinical practice