Non‐restrictive interventions to reduce self‐harm amongst children in mental health inpatient settings: Systematic review and narrative synthesis

Rates of self-harm amongst children appear to be increasing. This presents challenges for practitioners responsible for maintaining the safety of children admitted to mental health inpatient settings. Policy guidelines recommend that practitioners should aim to avoid the use of restrictive practices for children. It is currently unclear, however, what evidence-based alternatives to restrictive practices are available. We aimed to identify what non-restrictive interventions have been proposed to reduce self-harm amongst children in mental health inpatient settings and to evaluate the evidence supporting their use in clinical practice. A systematic search of five databases (CINAHL, Embase, Ovid MEDLINE, APA Psycinfo, and Cochrane) was conducted to identify articles reporting on non-restrictive interventions aimed at reducing self-harm amongst children in mental health inpatient settings. Articles were quality assessed and relevant data were extracted and synthesized using narrative synthesis. Searches identified relatively few relevant articles (n = 7) and these were generally of low methodological quality. The underlying theoretical assumptions and putative mechanisms of change for the interventions described were often unclear. Despite concerns about the rates of self-harm amongst children in mental health inpatient settings, there is a lack of high-quality research to inform clinical practice. There is an urgent need to develop effective non-restrictive interventions aimed at reducing self-harm for children using inpatient mental health services. Intervention development should be theoretically informed and be conducted in collaboration with people who have lived experience of this issue

Negative Differential Resistivity and Positive Temperature Coefficient of Resistivity effect in the diffusion limited current of ferroelectric thin film capacitors

We present a model for the leakage current in ferroelectric thin- film capacitors which explains two of the observed phenomena that have escaped satisfactory explanation, i.e. the occurrence of either a plateau or negative differential resistivity at low voltages, and the observation of a Positive Temperature Coefficient of Resistivity (PTCR) effect in certain samples in the high-voltage regime. The leakage current is modelled by considering a diffusion-limited current process, which in the high-voltage regime recovers the diffusion-limited Schottky relationship of Simmons already shown to be applicable in these systems

Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya Interaction and Spiral Order in Spin-orbit Coupled Optical Lattices

We show that the recent experimental realization of spin-orbit coupling in ultracold atomic gases can be used to study different types of spin spiral order and resulting multiferroic effects. Spin-orbit coupling in optical lattices can give rise to the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya (DM) spin interaction which is essential for spin spiral order. By taking into account spin-orbit coupling and an external Zeeman field, we derive an effective spin model in the Mott insulator regime at half filling and demonstrate that the DM interaction in optical lattices can be made extremely strong with realistic experimental parameters. The rich finite temperature phase diagrams of the effective spin models for fermions and bosons are obtained via classical Monte Carlo simulations.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure

Electrical properties of ferroelectric YMnO3 films deposited on n-type Si (111) substrates

YMnO3 thin films were grown on n - type Si substrate by nebulized spray pyrolysis in Metal - Ferroelectric - Semiconductor (MFS) configuration. The C-V characteristics of the film in MFS structure exhibit hysteretic behavior consistent with the polarization charge switching direction, with the memory window decreasing with increase in temperature. The density of interface states decreases with the increase in the annealing temperature. Mapping of the silicon energy band gap with the interface states has been carried out. The leakage current measured in the accumulation region, is lower in well-crystallized thin films and obeys a space- charge limited conduction mechanism. The calculated activation energy from the dc leakage current characteristics of Arhennius plot reveals that the activation energy correspond to the oxygen vacancy motionComment: 26 pages, 1 table, 8 figures, submitted to submitted to J. Phys. D; applied physics on 5th feb 200

Genetic analysis of variation in human meiotic recombination

The number of recombination events per meiosis varies extensively among individuals. This recombination phenotype differs between female and male, and also among individuals of each gender. In this study, we used high-density SNP genotypes of over 2,300 individuals and their offspring in two datasets to characterize recombination landscape and to map the genetic variants that contribute to variation in recombination phenotypes. We found six genetic loci that are associated with recombination phenotypes. Two of these (RNF212 and an inversion on chromosome 17q21.31) were previously reported in the Icelandic population, and this is the first replication in any other population. Of the four newly identified loci (KIAA1462, PDZK1, UGCG, NUB1), results from expression studies provide support for their roles in meiosis. Each of the variants that we identified explains only a small fraction of the individual variation in recombination. Notably, we found different sequence variants associated with female and male recombination phenotypes, suggesting that they are regulated by different genes. Characterization of genetic variants that influence natural variation in meiotic recombination will lead to a better understanding of normal meiotic events as well as of non-disjunction, the primary cause of pregnancy loss. © 2009 Chowdhury et al

The Florey Adelaide Male Ageing Study (FAMAS): Design, procedures & participants

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The Florey Adelaide Male Ageing Study (FAMAS) examines the reproductive, physical and psychological health, and health service utilisation of the ageing male in Australia. We describe the rationale for the study, the methods used participant response rates, representativeness and attrition to date.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>FAMAS is a longitudinal study involving approximately 1200 randomly selected men, aged 35–80 years and living in the north – west regions of Adelaide. Respondents were excluded at screening if they were considered incapable of participating because of immobility, language, or an inability to undertake the study procedures. Following a telephone call to randomly selected households, eligible participants were invited to attend a baseline clinic measuring a variety of biomedical and socio-demographic factors. Beginning in 2002, these clinics are scheduled to reoccur every five years. Follow-up questionnaires are completed annually. Participants are also invited to participate in sub-studies with selected collaborators.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of those eligible to participate, 45.1% ultimately attended a clinic. Non-responders were more likely to live alone, be current smokers, have a higheevalence of self-reported diabetes and stroke, and lower levels of hypercholesterolemia. Comparisons with the Census 2001 data showed that participants matched the population for most key demographics, although younger groups and never married men were under-represented and elderly participants were over-represented. To date, there has been an annual loss to follow-up of just over 1%.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>FAMAS allows a detailed investigation into the effects of bio-psychosocial and behavioural factors on the health and ageing of a largely representative group of Australian men.</p

Protein disulphide isomerase-mediated grafting of cysteine-containing peptides onto over-bleached hair

The ability of Protein disulphide isomerase (PDI) to promote the grafting of two cysteine-containing peptides onto hair was investigated in order to develop an alternative treatment for over-bleached hair. The studied peptides were designed based on human keratin and human lung surfactant proteins and were linked to a fluorescent dye to facilitate visualisation of the grafting process and to assess hair penetration. The ability of the peptides to restore mechanical and thermal properties lost by repeated bleaching treatments was also studied. After eight bleaching treatments, hair samples displayed 42% less mechanical resistance, coupled with a decrease in α-helix denaturation enthalpies and temperatures. Hair surface damage following bleaching was visualized by scanning electron microscopy. Addition of PDI to the treatment formulations promoted peptide attachment to the hair via disulphide bonds, facilitating their penetration into the hair cortex, as observed by fluorescence microscopy. The proposed peptide treatment resulted in an increase in α-helix denaturation enthalpy in over-bleached hair, as well as an increase in both Young's modulus and tensile strength. Thus, mechanical and thermal properties were improved after the peptide treatment in the presence of PDI; suggesting that the formulations presented in this work are promising candidates for hair-care applications

Preparation, structural, dielectric and magnetic properties of LaFeO3-PbTiO3 solid solutions

Solid solutions of (1-x)LaFeO3-(x)PbTiO3 (0<x<1) have been prepared by conventional solid-state reaction. These complex perovskites have been studied by means of X-ray (XRPD) and neutron powder (NPD) diffraction, complemented with dielectric, magnetic, heat capacity and M\"ossbauer measurements. Complete solubility in the perovskite series was demonstrated. The NPD and XRPD patterns were successfully refined as orthorhombic (x \leq 0.7) and tetragonal (x \geq 0.8). A composition-driven phase transformation occurs within the interval 0.7<x<0.8. The samples with x<0.5 showed evidence of long-range magnetic ordering with an G-type antiferromagnetic arrangement of the magnetic moments of the Fe3+ cations in the B-site with propagation vector k = (0,0,0). Based on the obtained experimental data, a combined structural and magnetic phase diagram has been constructed. The factors governing the structural, dielectric and magnetic properties of (1-x) LaFeO3 - (x)PbTiO3 solid solutions are discussed, as well as their possible multiferroicity.Comment: 33 pages, 15 figure

The Framingham Heart Study 100K SNP genome-wide association study resource: overview of 17 phenotype working group reports

Background: The Framingham Heart Study (FHS), founded in 1948 to examine the epidemiology of cardiovascular disease, is among the most comprehensively characterized multi-generational studies in the world. Many collected phenotypes have substantial genetic contributors; yet most genetic determinants remain to be identified. Using single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from a 100K genome-wide scan, we examine the associations of common polymorphisms with phenotypic variation in this community-based cohort and provide a full-disclosure, web-based resource of results for future replication studies. Methods: Adult participants (n = 1345) of the largest 310 pedigrees in the FHS, many biologically related, were genotyped with the 100K Affymetrix GeneChip. These genotypes were used to assess their contribution to 987 phenotypes collected in FHS over 56 years of follow up, including: cardiovascular risk factors and biomarkers; subclinical and clinical cardiovascular disease; cancer and longevity traits; and traits in pulmonary, sleep, neurology, renal, and bone domains. We conducted genome-wide variance components linkage and population-based and family-based association tests. Results: The participants were white of European descent and from the FHS Original and Offspring Cohorts (examination 1 Offspring mean age 32 ± 9 years, 54% women). This overview summarizes the methods, selected findings and limitations of the results presented in the accompanying series of 17 manuscripts. The presented association results are based on 70,897 autosomal SNPs meeting the following criteria: minor allele frequency ≥ 10%, genotype call rate ≥ 80%, Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium p-value ≥ 0.001, and satisfying Mendelian consistency. Linkage analyses are based on 11,200 SNPs and short-tandem repeats. Results of phenotype-genotype linkages and associations for all autosomal SNPs are posted on the NCBI dbGaP website at http:// www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/projects/gap/cgi-bin/study.cgi?id=phs000007. Conclusion: We have created a full-disclosure resource of results, posted on the dbGaP website, from a genome-wide association study in the FHS. Because we used three analytical approaches to examine the association and linkage of 987 phenotypes with thousands of SNPs, our results must be considered hypothesis-generating and need to be replicated. Results from the FHS 100K project with NCBI web posting provides a resource for investigators to identify high priority findings for replication.Molecular and Cellular Biolog

Unfolding grain size effects in barium titanate ferroelectric ceramics

Grain size effects on the physical properties of polycrystalline ferroelectrics have been extensively studied for decades; however there are still major controversies regarding the dependence of the piezoelectric and ferroelectric properties on the grain size. Dense BaTiO3 ceramics with different grain sizes were fabricated by either conventional sintering or spark plasma sintering using micro- and nano-sized powders. The results show that the grain size effect on the dielectric permittivity is nearly independent of the sintering method and starting powder used. A peak in the permittivity is observed in all the ceramics with a grain size near 1μm and can be attributed to a maximum domain wall density and mobility. The piezoelectric coefficient d33 and remnant polarization Pr show diverse grain size effects depending on the particle size of the starting powder and sintering temperature. This suggests that besides domain wall density, other factors such as back fields and point defects, which influence the domain wall mobility, could be responsible for the different grain size dependence observed in the dielectric and piezoelectric/ferroelectric properties. In cases where point defects are not the dominant contributor, the piezoelectric constant d33 and the remnant polarization Pr increase with increasing grain size