The Lived Experiences of Sexual Minority Women Who Have Recently Reduced Their Alcohol Intake

Background: Sexual minority women (SMW) are more likely to report hazardous alcohol consumption than their heterosexual counterparts. However, despite a recent growth of interest in drinking transitions to reduced or no drinking, no studies to date have explored this in the context of SMW. The little research available focuses only on sobriety in SMW following alcohol addiction, rather than drinking trends from a general health promotion perspective. Aims: Given the gaps within the literature, the study sought to investigate the experiences of SMW who have reduced alcohol consumption and the factors that contributed to this decision. This was also explored in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic guidance on social distancing. Methods: A qualitative approach was adopted to investigate the experiences of eight SMW who had reduced their alcohol intake within the previous 18 months. Participants were recruited using social media and participated in semi-structured interviews. Interview transcripts were subjected to interpretative phenomenological analysis. Results: Three super-ordinate themes were found across participant interviews: 1) Personal, Relational and Contextual Triggers for Changing Relationship with Alcohol; 2) Navigating the Public Arena; 3) Renegotiating the Relationship with Alcohol. Conclusion: Findings demonstrated the commonality of experience that included facing peer pressure to consume alcohol and the need to develop coping tools to manage, such as consuming alcohol-free beverages or avoiding alcohol-centric venues. Uniquely for SMW, this avoidance also meant a transition from the LGBT+ Scene entirely due to the lack of sober venues. Reasons for reducing intake included fear of reliance on alcohol, familial history of alcohol misuse, achieving physical and mental health benefits, and intimate relationships. The context of lockdown was significant in providing an opportunity to reduce consumption away from the usual pressures. Implications for clinical practice, policy and research are proposed

Cyprus' image—a sun and sea destination—as a detrimental factor to seasonal fluctuations. Exploration into motivational factors for holidaying in Cyprus

Cyprus is established as a summer destination. To aid the destination in developing its winter season as well, this research uses a qualitative inductive approach to explore the tourists’ current image of the island and their motivations of visiting it. The research indicates that the current image, which essentially portrays Cyprus as a sun-and-sea destination is thought to dissuade tourists from perceiving the island as a year-round destination. Nonetheless, increasing the pull factors of the destination through the development of unique special interest products can help in extending the tourism season as well as broaden its narrow image

Takayasu's disease presenting as convulsive syncope which had been misinterpreted as epilepsy: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Takayasu's arteritis is a chronic vasculitis mainly involving the aorta and its main branches. The disease has protean clinical manifestation ranging from asymptomatic to catastrophic illness.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 19-year-old woman of Asian origin was referred to our neurology out-patient department for the management of refractory seizures. She reported several episodes of a loss of consciousness with tonic posturing when she assumed an upright position, which was accompanied by constitutional symptoms. A clinical examination showed orthostatic hypotension and an investigation confirmed the diagnosis of Takayasu's disease with presentation as convulsive syncope.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our case highlights the importance of a thorough clinical history and physical examination in order to distinguish events mimicking epileptic seizure. We also describe an unusual presentation of Takayasu's disease with convulsive syncope and systemic constitutional symptoms.</p

A Bayesian test for the appropriateness of a model in the biomagnetic inverse problem

This paper extends the work of Clarke [1] on the Bayesian foundations of the biomagnetic inverse problem. It derives expressions for the expectation and variance of the a posteriori source current probability distribution given a prior source current probability distribution, a source space weight function and a data set. The calculation of the variance enables the construction of a Bayesian test for the appropriateness of any source model that is chosen as the a priori infomation. The test is illustrated using both simulated (multi-dipole) data and the results of a study of early latency processing of images of human faces. [1] C.J.S. Clarke. Error estimates in the biomagnetic inverse problem. Inverse Problems, 10:77--86, 1994.Comment: 13 pages, 16 figures. Submitted to Inverse Problem

Penetration of high intensity focused ultrasound in vitro and in vivo rabbit brain using MR imaging

In this paper magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is investigated for monitoring the penetration of high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) ex vivo and in vivo rabbit brain. A single element spherically focused transducer of 5 cm diameter, focusing at 10 cm and operating at 2 MHz was used. A prototype MRI- compatible positioning device is described. MRI images were taken using fast spin echo (FSE). The length of the lesions in vivo rabbit brain was much higher than the length ex vivo, proving that the penetration in the ex vivo brain is limited by reflection due to trapped bubbles in the blood vessels

Tourism policy and destination marketing in developing countries: the chain of influence

Tourism marketers including destination marketing organisations (DMOs) and international tour operators play a pivotal role in destination marketing, especially in creating destination images. These images, apparent in tourist brochures, are designed to influence tourist decision-making and behaviour. This paper proposes the concept of a “chain of influence” in destination marketing and image-making, suggesting that the content of marketing materials is influenced by the priorities of those who design these materials, e.g. tour operators and DMOs. A content analysis of 2,000 pictures from DMO and tour operator brochures revealed synergies and divergence between these marketers. The brochure content was then compared to the South African tourism policy, concluding that the dominant factor in the chain of influence in the South African context is in fact its organic image

Secukinumab demonstrated sustained retention, effectiveness and safety in a real-world setting in patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis: long-term results from an interim analysis of the SERENA study.

Randomized controlled trials of secukinumab have shown sustained efficacy and a favourable safety profile in multiple manifestations of psoriatic disease. To assess the long-term, real-world retention, effectiveness and safety of secukinumab in routine clinical practice for the treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque-type psoriasis (PsO). SERENA (CAIN457A3403) is a large, ongoing, longitudinal, observational study conducted at 438 sites and 19 countries for an expected duration of up to 5 years in adult patients with moderate-to-severe PsO, psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis. Patients received ≥16 weeks of secukinumab treatment before enrolment. This interim analysis presents data from PsO patients, who were enrolled in the study between October-2016 and October-2018 and were observed for ≥2 years. In total, 1756 patients (67.3% male) with a mean age of 48.4 years and body mass index of 28.8 kg/m &lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt; were included in the analysis. The secukinumab treatment retention rates after 1, 2 and 3 years in the study were 88.0%, 76.4% and 60.5%, respectively. Of the 648 patients who discontinued the study, the most common reasons included lack of efficacy (42.6%), adverse event (17.4%), physician decision (12.2%) and subject decision (11.6%). Mean ± SD absolute PASI was 21.0 ± 13.0 at the start of treatment (n = 1,564). At baseline, the mean ± SD PASI score reduced to 2.6 ± 4.8 and remained low at Year 1 (2.3 ± 4.3), Year 2 (1.9 ± 3.6) and Year 3 (1.9 ± 3.5). The safety profile of secukinumab during the SERENA study was consistent with its known safety profile, with no new safety signals reported. Particularly, low rates of inflammatory bowel disease (0.3%; Incidence Rate [IR]:0.15), candida infections (3.1%; IR:1.43) and MACE (0.9%; IR:0.37) were observed. Secukinumab showed high treatment persistence, sustained effectiveness and a favourable safety profile up to 3 years of follow-up in the real-world population of PsO patients observed in SERENA