Mental health patients' preferences regarding restrictive interventions: An integrative review

Introduction The use of restrictive interventions is a violation of patients' rights that causes physical and psychological harm and which is a well-known challenge globally. Mental health law and legislative principles and experts agree that when restrictive interventions are applied, the least restrictive alternative should be used. However, there is no consensus on what is the least restrictive alternative, especially from the patient perspective. Aim To investigate the literature on mental health patients' preferences regarding restrictive interventions applied during admission to a psychiatric hospital. Method An integrative review informed by the PRISMA statement and thematic analysis were undertaken. Results There were tendencies towards patients preferring observation and, for the majority, mechanical restraint was the least preferred restrictive intervention. Factors such as environment, communication and duration were found to influence patients' preferences. Discussion There is a lack of agreement on how best to measure patients' preferences and this complicates the choice of the least restrictive alternative. Nonetheless, our findings show that staff should consider environment, communication and duration when applying restrictive interventions. Implications for Practice More research on restrictive interventions and the least restrictive alternative is warranted, but agreement is needed on standard measures, and a standard global definition of restrictive interventions

Sustainability-focused international PBL project:Rethinking digital education for individuals of low socioeconomic status

Providing access to education for individuals of lower socio-economic status is a significant way to reduce poverty, as it empowers them to grow as professionals and as individuals. Although there is an increasing sense of urgency to promote these changes, notably motivated by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the UN 2030 Agenda, there are still few successful ways to solve this problem on a large-scale. As digital technology develops and affordability increases, new ways to share quality educational content are created. In an exploratory case study, with a qualitative approach, this paper presents the development of a digital application focused on providing quality educational content directed to vulnerable groups that lack access to formal learning experiences, specifically focused on waste pickers in Brasilia, Brazil. The main data collection methods used to make the decisions through the development process were observation, surveys, and interviews. Within the framework of Problem Based Learning (PBL) an international cross-disciplinary collaboration among different universities, the project, denominated “Mobile Education”, involved: (i) the design and implementation of a system consisting of both a web and mobile application; (ii) the research of a viable business model to provide long-term sustainability for the project; (iii) and the creation of a pilot course of financial education for the preliminary target group, i.e., waste pickers from Brasilia, Brazil. Conclusively, the project aims to positively impact social transformation for individuals who work at the Waste Sorting facilities and lack financial knowledge. The Mobile Education project resulted in a functional version of the app (Web and Mobile) as well as the delimitation of a viable business model to keep it providing digital equality in Brazilian education

A Conformally Invariant Holographic Two-Point Function on the Berger Sphere

We apply our previous work on Green's functions for the four-dimensional quaternionic Taub-NUT manifold to obtain a scalar two-point function on the homogeneously squashed three-sphere (otherwise known as the Berger sphere), which lies at its conformal infinity. Using basic notions from conformal geometry and the theory of boundary value problems, in particular the Dirichlet-to-Robin operator, we establish that our two-point correlation function is conformally invariant and corresponds to a boundary operator of conformal dimension one. It is plausible that the methods we use could have more general applications in an AdS/CFT context.Comment: 1+49 pages, no figures. v2: Several typos correcte

Domain walls of N=2 supergravity in five dimensions from hypermultiplet moduli spaces

We study domain wall solutions in d=5, N=2 supergravity coupled to a single hypermultiplet whose moduli space is described by certain inhomogeneous, toric ESD manifolds constructed recently by Calderbank and Singer. Upon gauging a generic U(1) isometry of these spaces, we obtain an infinite family of models whose "superpotential" admits an arbitrary number of isolated critical points. By investigating the associated supersymmetric flows, we prove the existence of domain walls of Randall-Sundrum type for each member of our family, and find chains of domain walls interpolating between various AdS_5 backgrounds. Our models are described by a discrete infinity of smooth and complete one-hypermultiplet moduli spaces, which live on an open subset of the minimal resolution of certain cyclic quotient singularities. These spaces generalize the Pedersen metrics considered recently by Behrndt and Dall' Agata.Comment: 39 pages, numerous figures; v4: two references adde

Evaluating synergy between marbofloxacin and gentamicin in Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains isolated from dogs with otitis externa

The aim of this study was to determine antimicrobial susceptibility of Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains to marbofloxacin and gentamicin, and investigate the possible synergistic, additive, indifferent or antagonistic effects between the two agents. P. aeruginosa strains can develop resistance quickly against certain antibiotics if used alone, thus the need emerges to find synergistic combinations. A total of 68 P. aeruginosa strains isolated from dogs were examined. In order to describe interactions between marbofloxacin and gentamicin the checkerboard microdilution method was utilized. The MICs (minimum inhibitory concentrations) for marbofloxacin and gentamicin were in the range 0.25–64 mg/L and 0.25–32 mg/L, respectively. The combination of marbofloxacin and gentamicin was more effective with a MIC range of 0.031–8 mg/L and a MIC90 of 1 mg/L, compared to 16 mg/L for marbofloxacin alone and 8 mg/L for gentamicin alone. The FIC (fractional inhibitory concentration) indices ranged from 0.0945 (pronounced synergy) to 1.0625 (indifference). Synergy between marbofloxacin and gentamicin was found in 33 isolates. The mean FIC index is 0.546, which represents a partial synergistic/additive effect close to the full synergy threshold. In vitro results indicate that marbofloxacin and gentamicin as partially synergistic agents may prove clinically useful in combination therapy against P. aeruginosa infections. Although marbofloxacin is not used in the human practice, the interactions between fluoroquinolones and aminoglycosides may have importance outside the veterinary field

Innovation Management Techniques and Tools: a review from Theory and Practice

Knowledge is considered to be an economic driver in today’s economy. It has become a commodity, a resource that can be packed and transferred. The objective of this paper is to provide a comprehensive review of the scope, trends and major actors (firms, organizations, government, consultants, academia, etc.) in the development and use of methods to manage innovation in a knowledge-driven economy. The paper identifies the main innovation management techniques (IMTs) aiming at the improvement of firm competitiveness by means of knowledge management. It will specifically focus on those IMTs for which knowledge is a relevant part of the innovation process. The research study, based on a survey at the European level, concludes that a knowledge-driven economy affects the innovation process and approach. The traditional idea that innovation is based on research (technology-push theory) and interaction between firms and other actors has been replaced by the current social network theory of innovation, where knowledge plays a crucial role in fostering innovation. Simultaneously, organizations in both public and private sectors have launched initiatives to develop methodologies and tools to support business innovation management. Higher education establishments, business schools and consulting companies are developing innovative and adequate methodologies and tools, while public authorities are designing and setting up education and training schemes aimed at disseminating best practices among all kinds of businesse

Green function techniques in the treatment of quantum transport at the molecular scale

The theoretical investigation of charge (and spin) transport at nanometer length scales requires the use of advanced and powerful techniques able to deal with the dynamical properties of the relevant physical systems, to explicitly include out-of-equilibrium situations typical for electrical/heat transport as well as to take into account interaction effects in a systematic way. Equilibrium Green function techniques and their extension to non-equilibrium situations via the Keldysh formalism build one of the pillars of current state-of-the-art approaches to quantum transport which have been implemented in both model Hamiltonian formulations and first-principle methodologies. We offer a tutorial overview of the applications of Green functions to deal with some fundamental aspects of charge transport at the nanoscale, mainly focusing on applications to model Hamiltonian formulations.Comment: Tutorial review, LaTeX, 129 pages, 41 figures, 300 references, submitted to Springer series "Lecture Notes in Physics

Holography and Quaternionic Taub-NUT

As a concrete application of the holographic correspondence to manifolds which are only asymptotically Anti-de Sitter, we take a closer look at the quaternionic Taub-NUT space. This is a four dimensional, non-compact, inhomogeneous, riemannian manifold with the interesting property of smoothly interpolating between two symmetric spaces, AdS_4 itself and the coset SU(2,1)/U(2). Even more interesting is the fact that the scalar curvature of the induced conformal structure at the boundary (corresponding to a squashed three-sphere) changes sign as we interpolate between these two limiting cases. Using twistor methods, we construct the bulk-to-bulk and bulk-to-boundary propagators for conformally coupled scalars on quaternionic Taub-NUT. This may eventually enable us to calculate correlation functions in the dual strongly coupled CFT on a squashed S^3 using the standard AdS/CFT prescription.Comment: 1+36 pages, no figures. Some minor typos correcte