Setting individualised goals for people living with dementia and their family carers: A systematic review of goal-setting outcome measures and their psychometric properties.

BACKGROUND: Individualised goal-setting outcome measures can be a useful way of reflecting people living with dementia and family carers' differing priorities regarding quality-of-life domains in the highly heterogeneous symptomatology of the disease. Evaluating goal-setting measures is challenging, and there is limited evidence for their psychometric properties. AIM: (1) To describe what goal-setting outcomes have been used in this population; (2) To evaluate their validity, reliability, and feasibility in RCTs. METHOD: We systematically reviewed studies that utilised goal-setting outcome measures for people living dementia or their family carers. We adapted a risk of bias and quality rating system based on the COSMIN guidelines to evaluate the measurement properties of outcomes when used within RCTs. RESULTS: Thirty studies meeting inclusion criteria used four different goal-setting outcome measures: Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS), Bangor Goal Setting Interview (BGSI), Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) and Individually Prioritized Problems Assessment (IPPA); other papers have reported study-specific goal-setting attainment systems. Only GAS has been used as an outcome over periods greater than 9 months (up to a year). Within RCTs there was moderate quality evidence for sufficient content validity and construct validity for GAS, COPM and the BGSI. Reliability was only assessed in one RCT (using BGSI); in which two raters reviewed interview transcripts to rate goals with excellent inter-rater reliability. Feasibility was reported as good across the measures with a low level of missing data. CONCLUSION: We found moderate quality evidence for good content and construct validity and feasibility of GAS, BGSI and COPM. While more evidence of reliability of these measures is needed, we recommend that future trials consider using individualised goal setting measures, to report the effect of interventions on outcomes that are most meaningful to people living with dementia and their families

The Association Between Personality Disorder Traits and Suicidality Following Sudden Bereavement: A National Cross-Sectional Survey

Personality disorder is associated with increased risk of suicidal behavior. The authors aimed to investigate the association between number of personality disorder traits and suicidality risk following sudden bereavement. A secondary analysis of cross-sectional data on 3,167 young adults in the United Kingdom who had experienced sudden bereavement investigated the association between number of traits (measured using a standardized screening instrument) and postbereavement suicide attempt and suicidal ideation. Using multivariable logistic regression, the authors found a linear relationship between number of traits and suicide attempt (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.36, 95% CI [1.23, 1.49]) and suicidal ideation (AOR = 1.31, 95% CI [1.25, 1.38]) following bereavement. This represented an increase in odds by 36% and 31%, respectively, for each additional personality trait. The authors suggest that individuals with a greater number of traits suggestive of a personality disorder diagnosis are at increased risk of suicidality after a negative life event

Microstrip patch antenna array with cosecant-squared radiation pattern profile

In this paper the radiation pattern on either side of the main beam, which is created by a standard microstrip patch antenna, is configured to correspond to a cosecant-squared curve. The 8×2 antenna array comprises eight pairs of radiating elements that are arranged in a symmetrical structure and excited through a single common feedline. Interaction of the fields generated by each pair of elements contribute towards the overall radiation characteristics. The proposed array is shown to exhibit an impedance bandwidth of 1.93 GHz from 9.97 to 11.90 GHz for S11 ≤ -10 dB with a peak gain of 14.95 dBi. The antenna’s radiation pattern follows a cosecant-squared curve over an angular range of ±60.91°. The compact antenna array has dimensions of 106×34×0.813 mm3. These characteristics qualify the antenna for radar applications at the X-band frequency

The Relationship between Chronic Diseases and Disability in Daily Activities and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living in the Elderly

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Chronic disease is one of the major causes of disability in doing daily activities. The aim of this study is to determine the relationship between chronic disease and disability in daily activities and instrumental activities of daily living in the elderly. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted among the elderly of Amirkola. Demographic characteristics (age, gender, level of education and occupation), daily activities and instrumental activities of daily living were collected using a questionnaire. The ability to perform daily activities and instrumental activities was categorized as independently, with the help of others and completely dependent, and ultimately, completely dependent people and those using the help of others were placed in the disability group. The presence of chronic diseases in the elderly was characterized and examined by reviewing the medical records. FINDINGS: Of 1,500 elderly who were eligible to enter the study, 832 people (55.5%) were male and 668 people (44.5%) were female. In this study, 38 people (2.5%) had a disability in daily activities and 723 (48.2%) had disability in instrumental activities of daily living. The number of associated diseases (p < 0.003, CI-95% = 1.08 – 1.46, OR = 1.261), cognitive impairment (p<0.009, CI-95% = 1.308 – 6.508, OR = 2.917) and old age had a significant relationship with daily activity. The highest significant relationship was between the instrumental activities of daily living and gender (p<0.000, CI-95% = 1.53 – 2.69, OR = 2.029), age (p = 0.000), education level (p = 0.000), the number of associated diseases (P = 0.000, CI-95% = 1.13 – 1.28, OR = 1.2) and cognitive impairment (p = 0.000, CI-95% = 1.487 – 2.596, OR = 1.965). CONCLUSION: According to the results of this study, the presence of chronic diseases, especially cognitive impairment, is one of the effective factors in disability in daily activities and instrumental activities of daily living

Redox-Responsive Nanocarrier for Controlled Release of Drugs in Inflammatory Skin Diseases

A synthetic route for redox-sensitive and non-sensitive core multi-shell (CMS) carriers with sizes below 20 nm and narrow molecular weight distributions was established. Cyclic voltammetric measurements were conducted characterizing the redox potentials of reduction-sensitive CMS while showcasing its reducibility through glutathione and tris(2-carboxyethyl)-phosphine as a proof of concept. Measurements of reduction-initiated release of the model dye Nile red by time-dependent fluorescence spectroscopy showed a pronounced release for the redox-sensitive CMS nanocarrier (up to 90% within 24 h) while the non-sensitive nanocarriers showed no release in PBS. Penetration experiments using ex vivo human skin showed that the redox-sensitive CMS nanocarrier could deliver higher percentages of the loaded macrocyclic dye meso-tetra (m-hydroxyphenyl) porphyrin (mTHPP) to the skin as compared to the non-sensitive CMS nanocarrier. Encapsulation experiments showed that these CMS nanocarriers can encapsulate dyes or drugs with different molecular weights and hydrophobicity. A drug content of 1 to 6 wt% was achieved for the anti-inflammatory drugs dexamethasone and rapamycin as well as fluorescent dyes such as Nile red and porphyrins. These results show that redox-initiated drug release is a promising strategy to improve the topical drug delivery of macrolide drugs

Sustainable resources management and allocation in agricultural systems: using non-linear mathematical models Section 2 . Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology Sustainable resources management and allocation in agricultural systems: using non- linear

Abstract Sustainable agricultural development depends strongly on the socio-economic and bioecological attributes and optimal resource utilization as well. The high level of integration of the environmental, economic and social components of farming systems, implies that dynamics of these components need to be taken in to account in evaluation of agricultural sustainability. This paper introduces two ratio objective functions &quot;net return / water consumption&quot; and &quot;labor employment / water consumption&quot; in order to assess the sustainability of a rural farming system by simultaneously optimizing these ratio indicators and subsequently determining the optimal cropping pattern. Aimed to this, a fractional programming (FP) procedure has been employed in two forms of single and multiple objective programming. The results were finally explained and compared with the LP solutions in a quantitative manner

A Theoretical Survey on the Potential Performance of a Perovskite Solar Cell Based on an Ultrathin Organic-Inorganic Electron Transporting Layer

An ultrathin perovskite solar cell with 29.33 % theoretical power conversion efficiency (PCE) is designed for flexible applications. The perovskite layer is sandwiched between two multijunctions, i.e. poly(3- hexylthiophene) (P3HT), nickel oxide (NiO), and copper (I) thiocyanate (CuSCN) as the hole transporting element, from one side, and zinc oxide (ZnO), tin (IV) oxide (SnO2) and phenyl-C61 butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) as the electron transporting compartment, from the other side. This study uses a professional software package to accurately simulate a series of highly efficient perovskite-based solar cell structures that use both organic and inorganic materials. Calculations are simultaneously run with SCAPS (version. 3.3.07). The materials system for the electron transporting multijunction, bandgap of the perovskite layer, defection density, temperature of operating conditions, and concentration of charge doping are manipulated as the tuning parameters. An excellent fill factor (84.76 %), a potentially low entire thickness (⁓ 1 µm), and compatible nature for both organic and inorganic materials make this layout auspicious for a feasible and versatile high efficiency, but low-cost electronic devices. The constituent materials are selected based on the thickness and photoconversion efficiency. In order to assess the further potentials of materials system, we replaced CuSCN with PTAA (Polytriarylamine) and observed an increase in the theoretical efficiency, and we investigated the effect of varying the doping concentration in the PTAA layer. To simulate this structure, both the electrical and physical properties of the materials are considered, and the results are compared with those of previous works. These results should be of significant interest to experimentalists in the field

Study on feasibility of rearing integrated native fish of Shizotorax zarudnyi with chianies carp on Sistan area

Present study carried out in 6 earthen ponds (3500 m^2 each) at the Zahak fish propagation and cultivation center. In July 2005 ponds were prepared and stocked with 1100 fish specimens with 40 g average weight. Stocking normative in two ponds (1 and 4) were 220 common carp, 110 grass carp, 715 silver carp, and 55 big head specimens. In the next two ponds (5 and 6) common carp reduced to 50% and Shizotorax zarudnyi was replaced. In the rest two ponds (7 and 8) common carp reduced to zero and totally replaced with Shizotorax zarudnyi. Manure and inorganic fertilizer were used during cultivation period. Carp was fed by concentrated food and grass carp was fed by alfalfa. At the end of the cultivation period (16 months) mean weights of common carp, grass carp, silver carp, big head, and Shizotorax zarudnyi reached 1201 g, 1572 g, 313 g, 486 g, 531 g respectively. Mean daily growth were 2.41 g, 3.19 g, 0.56 g, 0.92 g, 1 g respectively. Survival rate during cultivation period were 97.57%, 68.3%, 94%, 85.45%, 46.85% respectively. Biological parameters were recorded once a month. Other chemical and physical parameters such as air and water temperatures, oxygen, pH, twice per day and factors such as nitrite, nitrate, Ammoniac, transparency, salinity and phosphate were measured and recorded once per week. During cultivation period average pH was 7-10.34, water temperature was 0.5-33 °C, transparency was 12-115cm, salinity was 1.1-5 mg/l, oxygen was 2-10 mg/l, nitrite was 0.86-0.16 mg/l, nitrate was 0.06- 2.21 mg/l, and phosphate was 0.1-1.8 mg/l. Average total yields in the ponds 1 and 4 with standard normative for the region were 554, and 623 kg. In the ponds 5 and 6 with 50% Shizotorax zarudnyi were 514 and 518 kg, and in the ponds 7 and 8 with total Shizotorax zarudnyi replacement were 533 and 386 kg