1,045 research outputs found
Raman mapping of coesite inclusions in garnet from the Kokchetav Massif (Northern Kazakhstan)
Emergency care provision for, and psychological distress in, survivors of domestic violence
Background
This study aimed (i) to ascertain the number of treatment referrals and information about protection orders given to survivors of domestic violence presenting for emergency trauma care, as reported at the one-month visit, (ii) to obtain a profile of violent incidents and injuries, and (iii) to assess self-esteem and posttraumatic and depressive symptomatology in the aftermath of injury.
Methods
A survey of 62 participants presenting in the acute aftermath of domestic violence (as defined by the Domestic Violence Act of 1998) was conducted over 12 weeks at the Trauma and Resuscitation Unit of a Level One trauma centre in an urban public hospital in South Africa.1 Following informed consent, face-to-face structured interviews were conducted during admission and a month later. The following instruments were administered at baseline: a Demographic and Injury Questionnaire, the Beck Depression and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Inventories, and the Davidson Trauma Scale. A psychosocial questionnaire was administered at the one-month follow-up.
Results
Fifty-eight per cent of the participants were female and 42% were male. Seventy-four per cent of the perpetrators were male. Ninety-five per cent of the participants said that no health professional had informed them about where or how they could find help. Although all were seriously injured, 76% of the participants said only the researcher had asked about their experience. Sixty-six per cent of the cases of domestic violence were related to intimate partner violence. Overall, subjects displayed high levels of depressive and post-traumatic stress symptomatology that had neither been treated nor adequately referred.
Conclusion
Even though domestic violence poses significant health threats and costs to the health system, it appears to be a neglected area of South African health care. Health professionals should at least be able to identify and intervene within the "open window" period when psychosocial opportunities are pivotal.
South African Family Practice Vol. 49 (3) 2007: pp. 1
Overweight children overeat after exposure to food cues
Overweight is becoming more common in children, but we know nearly nothing about the eating behavior of overweight children. Learning theory predicts that overeating follows from learned associations between the smell and taste of palatable food on the one hand and intake on the other hand. It was tested whether overweight children overeat after confrontation to these cues. They indeed failed to regulate food intake after both the exposure to the intense smell of tasty food (without eating it) and after eating a small preload of appetizing food, whereas normal-weight children decreased their intake after both cues. Overweight children are thus more vulnerable to triggers of overeating. Their overeating was not related to psychological factors like mood, body esteem, and a restrained eating style, but it was related to cue-elicited salivation flow. Apart from supporting the cue reactivity model of overeating, the data point to an interesting satiety phenomenon in normal eaters after prolonged and intense smelling palatable food without eating it
GPsâ strategies in exploring the preschool childâs wellbeing in the paediatric consultation
Background:
Although General Practitioners (GPs) are uniquely placed to identify children with emotional, social, and behavioural problems, they succeed in identifying only a small number of them. The aim of this article is to explore the strategies, methods, and tools employed by GPs in the assessment of the preschool childâs emotional, mental, social, and behavioural health. We look at how GPs address parental care of the child in general and in situations where GPs have a particular awareness of the child.
Method:
Twenty-eight Danish GPs were purposively selected to take part in a qualitative study which combined focus-group discussions, observation of child consultations, and individual interviews with GPs.
Results:
Analysis of the data suggests that GPs have developed a set of methods, and strategies to assess the preschool child and parental care of the child. They look beyond paying narrow attention to the physical health of the child and they have expanded their practice to include the relations and interactions in the consultation room. The physical examination of the child continues to play a central role in doctor-child communication.
Conclusion:
The participating GPsâ strategies helped them to assess the wellbeing of the preschool child but they often find it difficult to share their impressions with parents
Effect of Pulsed or Continuous Delivery of Salt on Sensory Perception Over Short Time Intervals
Salt in the human diet is a major risk factor for hypertension and many countries have set targets to reduce
salt consumption. Technological solutions are being sought
to lower the salt content of processed foods without altering their taste. In this study, the approach was to deliver salt solutions in pulses of different concentrations to determine whether a pulsed delivery profile affected sensory perception of salt. Nine different salt profiles were delivered by a Dynataste device and a trained panel assessed their saltiness using timeâintensity and single-score sensory techniques. The profile duration (15 s) was designed to match eating conditions and the effects of intensity and duration of the pulses on sensory perception were investigated. Sensory results from the profiles delivered in either water or in a bouillon base were not statistically different. Maximum perceived salt intensities and the area under the timeâ
intensity curves correlated well with the overall perceived
saltiness intensity despite the stimulus being delivered as
several pulses. The overall saltiness scores for profiles
delivering the same overall amount of sodium were statistically not different from one another suggesting that, in this system, pulsed delivery did not enhance salt
perception but the overall amount of salt delivered in each
profile did affect sensory perception
Effects of induced relative hypoxia during the postoperative period of abdominal oncologic surgery, on hemoglobin and reticulocyte levels: a prospective, randomized controlled clinical trial
Mode locking of vortex matter driven through mesoscopic channels
We investigated the driven dynamics of vortices confined to mesoscopic flow
channels by means of a dc-rf interference technique. The observed mode-locking
steps in the -curves provide detailed information on how the number of rows
and lattice structure in the channel change with magnetic field. Minima in flow
stress occur when an integer number of rows is moving coherently, while maxima
appear when incoherent motion of mixed and row configurations is
predominant. Simulations show that the enhanced pinning at mismatch originates
from quasi-static fault zones with misoriented edge dislocations induced by
disorder in the channel edges.Comment: some minor changes were made, 4 pages, 4 figures, accepted for
publication in Phys. Rev. Let
Hall-conductivity sign change and fluctuations in amorphous NbGe films
The sign change in the Hall conductivity has been studied in thin amorphous
NbGe0.3) films. By changing the film thickness it is
shown that the field at which the sign reversal occurs shifts to lower values
(from above to below the mean-field transition field ) with increasing
film thickness. This effect can be understood in terms of a competition between
a positive normal and a negative fluctuation contribution to the Hall
conductivity.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.
Incommensuration Effects and Dynamics in Vortex Chains
We examine the motion of one-dimensional (1D) vortex matter embedded in a 2D
vortex system with weak pinning using numerical simulations. We confirm the
conjecture of Matsuda et al. [Science 294, 2136 (2001)] that the onset of the
temperature induced motion of the chain is due to an incommensuration effect of
the chain with the periodic potential created by the bulk vortices. In
addition, under an applied driving force we find a two stage depinning
transition, where the initial depinning of the vortex chain occurs through
soliton like pulses. When an ac drive is added to the dc drive, we observe
phase locking of the moving vortex chain.Comment: 4 pages, 4 postscript figure
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