Perceived Social Support of Survivors of Suicide Who Attend a Support Group Compared to Those Survivors of Suicide Who Are Non-Attendees

Death from suicide results in a troublesome and complex adjustment for the surviving friends and family members. As compared to other forms of bereavement, suicide survivors are likely to experience different grief reactions than people dealing with other types of loss. The survivor of suicide may suffer from social rejection and alienation. In this study, the level of perceived social support of survivors of suicide who attend a support group (n=22 ) was compared to the level of perceived social support in survivors of suicide who do not attend a support group (n=20). Subjects had lost a friend or family member to suicide within the last 3-12 months. Each participant was given the Perceived Social Support - Friend Scale and the Perceived Social Support - Family Scale. It was hypothesized that survivors attending a support group will report a higher level of social support compared to those survivors not attending a support group. The results of the study indicated there was no significant differences in the level of perceived social support between the two groups

Procedural justice and Australian environment : the case of the Wonthaggi water desalination plant

Drier conditions in Australia have compelled governments to implement various projects to address current or impending water shortages. Such projects have not always been popular with the local community who are directly affected by this infrastructure, with \u27procedural justice\u27 emerging as a critical issue. This paper analyses issues of public perceptions of \u27procedural justice\u27 in implementing environmental projects in regional areas, in the context of the recently approved desalination plant in the regional Victorian town of Wonthaggi. Drawing on both qualitative and quantitative data from a survey of 316 Wonthaggi residents, we show that one of the major predictors of residents\u27 resistance toward accepting the building of the desalination plant was explained by perceptions of procedural injustice. We further argue that inadequate attention to the particular political history of the region has compounded the sense that the plant implementation has been unfair. Attention to such political histories is vital to avoiding conflict with local stakeholders and to the successful and ethical implementation of development projects in regional areas.<br /

Osmotic Edema Rapidly Increases Neuronal Excitability Through Activation of NMDA Receptor-Dependent Slow Inward Currents in Juvenile and Adult Hippocampus.

Cellular edema (cell swelling) is a principal component of numerous brain disorders including ischemia, cortical spreading depression, hyponatremia, and epilepsy. Cellular edema increases seizure-like activity in vitro and in vivo, largely through nonsynaptic mechanisms attributable to reduction of the extracellular space. However, the types of excitability changes occurring in individual neurons during the acute phase of cell volume increase remain unclear. Using whole-cell patch clamp techniques, we report that one of the first effects of osmotic edema on excitability of CA1 pyramidal cells is the generation of slow inward currents (SICs), which initiate after approximately 1 min. Frequency of SICs increased as osmolarity decreased in a dose-dependent manner. Imaging of real-time volume changes in astrocytes revealed that neuronal SICs occurred while astrocytes were still in the process of swelling. SICs evoked by cell swelling were mainly nonsynaptic in origin and NMDA receptor-dependent. To better understand the relationship between SICs and changes in neuronal excitability, recordings were performed in increasingly physiological conditions. In the absence of any added pharmacological reagents or imposed voltage clamp, osmotic edema induced excitatory postsynaptic potentials and burst firing over the same timecourse as SICs. Like SICs, action potentials were blocked by NMDAR antagonists. Effects were more pronounced in adult (8-20 weeks old) compared with juvenile (P15-P21) mice. Together, our results indicate that cell swelling triggered by reduced osmolarity rapidly increases neuronal excitability through activation of NMDA receptors. Our findings have important implications for understanding nonsynaptic mechanisms of epilepsy in relation to cell swelling and reduction of the extracellular space

Auditory cueing strategy for stride length and cadence modification: a feasibility study with healthy adults

People with Parkinson's Disease experience gait impairments that significantly impact their quality of life. Visual, auditory, and tactile cues can alleviate gait impairments, but they can become less effective due to the progressive nature of the disease and changes in people's motor capability. In this study, we develop a human-in-the-loop (HIL) framework that monitors two key gait parameters, stride length and cadence, and continuously learns a person-specific model of how the parameters change in response to the feedback. The model is then used in an optimization algorithm to improve the gait parameters. This feasibility study examines whether auditory cues can be used to influence stride length in people without gait impairments. The results demonstrate the benefits of the HIL framework in maintaining people's stride length in the presence of a secondary task.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures; the paper is accepted and presented at EMBC 202

Guidance on how Learning at Scale can be made more accessible

While learning at scale has the potential to widen access to education, the accessibility of courses offered on Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) platforms has not been researched in depth. This paper begins to fill that gap. Data was gathered using the participatory ‘Evidence Café’ method. Thematic analysis identified characteristics of accessible courses on these platforms. These characteristics include elements of both technology and pedagogy. Capturing and analysing expert insights enables this paper to provide guidance on how online courses can be made more accessible. The findings suggest that course production teams need to work collaboratively with providers to address issues of accessibility and involve learners in design, testing and evaluation. Well-designed tutor-supported activities that follow web accessibility and usability guidelines are needed, as well as educator training on accessibility

Initial Palivizumab Dose Administration in Outpatient Clinic After Hospital Discharge

BACKGROUND:Palivizumab provides passive immunity for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), but poor adherence compromises protection. A hospital initiative promoted administration of first palivizumab doses at an outpatient clinic immediately after discharge. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the impact of the initiative on location and timing of first palivizumab dose, patient adherence, reimbursement, acquisition cost and RSV-positive hospital readmissions.METHODS:This retrospective cohort study included pediatric patients who received palivizumab from 2012 to 2016. Three groups were compared: "before initiative," "transition" and "after initiative." Patients who did not qualify for palivizumab or who were eligible for palivizumab in previous RSV seasons were excluded. Multivariable logistic and linear regressions adjusted for patients' characteristics were used in outcome analysis.RESULTS:After adjusting for patients' characteristics, there was a 13.5-fold (95% confidence interval: 5.9-30.5, P &lt; 0.0001) increase in odds that patients would receive outpatient administration of palivizumab and 2.7-fold (95% confidence interval: 1.3-5.7, P = 0.0103) increase in odds of receiving the second dose within 35 days after initiative implementation compared with before. Although there was no significant difference in reimbursement percentage after initiative implementation (32% ± 30% after initiative and 31% ± 22% before), calculated palivizumab acquisition costs were 20.8% lower. RSV readmissions were not significantly different.CONCLUSIONS:Implementation of an initiative with defined workflow, multidisciplinary collaboration, and early case management efforts to obtain insurance authorization increased outpatient administration of first palivizumab doses. Patient adherence improved as demonstrated by more timely receipt of the second palivizumab dose. There was no difference in reimbursement; however, acquisition cost decreased which is valuable considering low reimbursement rates. RSV-positive readmissions did not change significantly

Efficient Activation of Reconstructed Rat Embryos by Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitors

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Getting science to the citizen : 'food addiction' at the British Science Festival as a case study of interactive public engagement with high profile scientific controversy

Non peer reviewedPublisher PD