The TeleTAnDem intervention - Study protocol for a psychotherapeutic intervention for family caregivers of people with dementia

Soellner R, Reder M, Machmer A, Holle R, Wilz G. The TeleTAnDem intervention - Study protocol for a psychotherapeutic intervention for family caregivers of people with dementia. BMC Nursing. 2015;14(11): 11

Nutritional Evaluation and Physicochemical Properties of Fermented Shirezh Dairy Product

Many of the Kurdish traditional dairy products have not been studied thoroughly so far though are still produced at small scale. Dow (sour butter milk) and Shirezh are among these products. Shirezh known to Iraqi Kurds as sour concentrated Dow. The characteristics of Shirezh and Dow were: pH (5.5, 4.05), acidity (2.13%, 1.10%), total solids (18.70%, 5.32%), ash (0.62%, 0.45%), fat (2.57%, 0.8%) and total protein (13.59%, 3.28%) respectively, furthermore the amino acids of Shirezh’s protein found in balanced and acceptable quality. The aim of this research is to introduce Shirezh and Dow to scientific literature and to determine their characterization and nutritional values. Keywords: Shirezh, Dow, Dairy, Fermented, Nutrition, Physicochemical, Amino acids

Transitions of care from child and adolescent mental health services to adult mental health services (TRACK Study) : a study of protocols in Greater London

Background: Although young people's transition from Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) to Adult Mental Health Services (AMHS) in England is a significant health issue for service users, commissioners and providers, there is little evidence available to guide service development. The TRACK study aims to identify factors which facilitate or impede effective transition from CAHMS to AMHS. This paper presents findings from a survey of transition protocols in Greater London. Methods: A questionnaire survey (Jan-April 2005) of Greater London CAMHS to identify transition protocols and collect data on team size, structure, transition protocols, population served and referral rates to AMHS. Identified transition protocols were subjected to content analysis. Results: Forty two of the 65 teams contacted (65%) responded to the survey. Teams varied in type (generic/targeted/in-patient), catchment area (locality-based, wider or national) and transition boundaries with AMHS. Estimated annual average number of cases considered suitable for transfer to AMHS, per CAMHS team (mean 12.3, range 0–70, SD 14.5, n = 37) was greater than the annual average number of cases actually accepted by AMHS (mean 8.3, range 0–50, SD 9.5, n = 33). In April 2005, there were 13 active and 2 draft protocols in Greater London. Protocols were largely similar in stated aims and policies, but differed in key procedural details, such as joint working between CAHMS and AMHS and whether protocols were shared at Trust or locality level. While the centrality of service users' involvement in the transition process was identified, no protocol specified how users should be prepared for transition. A major omission from protocols was procedures to ensure continuity of care for patients not accepted by AMHS. Conclusion: At least 13 transition protocols were in operation in Greater London in April 2005. Not all protocols meet all requirements set by government policy. Variation in protocol-sharing organisational units and transition process suggest that practice may vary. There is discontinuity of care provision for some patients who 'graduate' from CAMHS services but are not accepted by adult services

Assessing variations of extreme indices inducing weather-hazards on critical infrastructures over Europe?the INTACT framework

Extreme weather events are projected to be more frequent and severe across the globe because of global warming. This poses challenging problems for critical infrastructures, which could be dramatically affected (or disrupted), and may require adaptation plans to the changing climate conditions. The INTACT FP7-European project evaluated the resilience and vulnerability of critical infrastructures to extreme weather events in a climate change scenario. To identify changes in the hazard induced by climate change, appropriate extreme weather indicators (EWIs), as proxies of the main atmospheric features triggering events with high impact on the infrastructures, were defined for a number of case studies and different approaches were analyzed to obtain local climate projections. We considered the influence of weighting and bias correction schemes on the delta approach followed to obtain the resulting projections, considering data from the Euro-CORDEX ensemble of regional future climate scenarios over Europe. The aim is to provide practitioners, decision-makers, and administrators with appropriate methods to obtain actionable and plausible results on local/regional future climate scenarios. Our results show a small sensitivity to the weighting approach and a large sensitivity to bias correcting the future projections.This work has been carried out within the activities of INTACT project, receiving funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n° FP7-SEC-2013-1-606799. The information and views set out in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Union. We acknowledge the World Climate Research Programme's Working Group on Regional Climate, and the Working Group on Coupled Modelling, former coordinating body of CORDEX and responsible panel for CMIP5

Brief International Cognitive Assessment for MS (BICAMS): International Standards for Validation

An international expert consensus committee recently recommended a brief battery of tests for cognitive evaluation in multiple sclerosis. The Brief International Cognitive Assessment for MS (BICAMS) battery includes tests of mental processing speed and memory. Recognizing that resources for validation will vary internationally, the committee identified validation priorities, to facilitate international acceptance of BICAMS. Practical matters pertaining to implementation across different languages and countries were discussed. Five steps to achieve optimal psychometric validation were proposed. In Step 1, test stimuli should be standardized for the target culture or language under consideration. In Step 2, examiner instructions must be standardized and translated, including all information from manuals necessary for administration and interpretation. In Step 3, samples of at least 65 healthy persons should be studied for normalization, matched to patients on demographics such as age, gender and education. The objective of Step 4 is test-retest reliability, which can be investigated in a small sample of MS and/or healthy volunteers over 1–3 weeks. Finally, in Step 5, criterion validity should be established by comparing MS and healthy controls. At this time, preliminary studies are underway in a number of countries as we move forward with this international assessment tool for cognition in MS

The dusty AGB star RS CrB: first mid-infrared interferometric observations with the Keck Telescopes

We report interferometric observations of the semi-regular variable star RS CrB, a red giant with strong silicate emission features. The data were among the first long baseline mid-infrared stellar fringes obtained between the Keck telescopes, using parts of the new nulling beam combiner. The light was dispersed by a low-resolution spectrometer, allowing simultaneous measurement of the source visibility and intensity spectra from 8 to 12 microns. The interferometric observations allow a non-ambiguous determination of the dust shell spatial scale and relative flux contribution. Using a simple spherically-symmetric model, in which a geometrically thin shell surrounds the stellar photosphere, we find that ~30% to ~70% of the overall mid-infrared flux - depending on the wavelength - originates from 7-8 stellar radii. The derived shell opacity profile shows a broad peak around 11 microns (tau ~ 0.06), characteristic of Mg-rich silicate dust particles.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ Letter

Design, development and validity testing of the Gang Affiliation Risk Measure (GARM)

This study aimed to create a measure of risk for gang affiliation, for use in the UK. A pilot stage invited gang affiliated and non-gang affiliated participants between the ages of 16–25 years to retrospectively self-report on 58 items of risk exposure at the age of 11 years. Based on performance of these items, a 26-item measure was developed and administered to a main study sample (n=185) of gang affiliated and non-gang affiliated participants. Categorical Principal Component Analysis was applied to data, yielding a single-factor solution (historic lack of safety and current perception of threat). A 15-item gang affiliation risk measure (GARM) was subsequently created. The GARM demonstrated good internal consistency, construct validity and discriminative ability. Items from the GARM were then transformed to read prospectively, resulting in a test measure for predictive purposes (T-GARM). The T-GARM requires further validation regarding its predictive utility and generalisability. However, this study has resulted in the first measure of gang affiliation, with promising results

The Bacillus subtilis Minimal Genome Compendium

To better understand cellular life, it is essential to decipher the contribution of individual components and their interactions. Minimal genomes are an important tool to investigate these interactions. Here, we provide a database of 105 fully annotated genomes of a series of strains with sequential deletion steps of the industrially relevant model bacterium Bacillus subtilis starting with the laboratory wild type strain B. subtilis 168 and ending with B. subtilis PG38, which lacks approximately 40% of the original genome. The annotation is supported by sequencing of key intermediate strains as well as integration of literature knowledge for the annotation of the deletion scars and their potential effects. The strain compendium presented here represents a comprehensive genome library of the entire MiniBacillus project. This resource will facilitate the more effective application of the different strains in basic science as well as in biotechnology