Informal Interpreting in General Practice: Comparing the perspectives of General Practitioners, migrant patients and family interpreters.

Objective To explore differences in perspectives of general practitioners, Turkish-Dutch migrant patients and family interpreters on interpreters’ role, power dynamics and trust in interpreted GP consultations. Methods 54 semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with the three parties focusing on interpreter’s role, power and trust in interpreters. Results In line with family interpreters’ perspective, patients expected the interpreters to advocate on their behalf and felt empowered when they did so. GPs, on the contrary, felt annoyed and disempowered when the family interpreters performed the advocacy role. Family interpreters were trusted by patients for their fidelity, that is, patients assumed that family interpreters would act in their best interest. GPs, on the contrary, mistrusted family interpreters when they perceived dishonesty or a lack of competence. Conclusion Opposing views were found between GPs on the one hand and family interpreters and patients on the other hand on interpreter’s role, power dynamics and the different dimensions of trust. These opposing perspectives might lead to miscommunication and conflicts between the three interlocutors. Practice implications GPs should be educated to become aware of the difficulties of family interpreting, such as conflicting role expectations, and be trained to be able to call on professional interpreters when needed

Alterations in peptide levels in Parkinson's disease and incidental Lewy body disease

The levels of the neuropeptides Met- and Leu-enkephalin (MET-ENK, LEU-ENK), substance P and neurotensin were measured by a combined high performance liquid chromatography/radioimmunoassay (HPLC/RIA) method in postmortem samples of basal ganglia from Parkinson's disease patients, incidental Lewy body disease patients (presymptomatic Parkinson's disease) and matched controls. Dopamine (DA) levels were reduced in the caudate nucleus and putamen in Parkinson's disease, but unaltered in incidental Lewy body disease. The levels of MET-ENK were reduced in the caudate nucleus, putamen and substantia nigra in Parkinson's disease. Met-enkephalin levels were reduced in the caudate nucleus and in the putamen in incidental Lewy body disease. Leu-enkephalin levels were decreased in the putamen and were undetectable in the substantia nigra in Parkinson's disease. Leu-enkephalin levels were unchanged in incidental Lewy body disease, although there was a tendency to a reduction in putamen. Substance P levels were reduced in the putamen in Parkinson's disease. No significant changes in substance P content were observed in incidental Lewy body disease. Neurotensin levels were increased in the substantia nigra in Parkinson's disease. Neurotensin levels in incidental Lewy body disease were not altered significantly, but tended to parallel the changes in Parkinson's disease. The changes in basal ganglia peptide levels in incidental Lewy body disease generally followed a trend similar to those seen in Parkinson's disease, but were less marked. This suggests that they are an integral part of the pathology of the illness and not secondary to DA neuronal loss or a consequence of prolonged drug therapy.Peer Reviewe

Validation of a method to assess occupational exposure to tert-buthyl mercaptan by gas chromatography- mass spectrometry (GC-MS)

زمینه و اهداف: ترشیو بوتیل مرکاپتان به عنوان یکی از مهمترین ترکیبات بودارکننده گاز طبیعی استفاده می­گردد. مواجهه با غلظت­های بالای این ماده، منجر به اثرات تحریک کنندگی در انسان­ می­شود. مواجهه شغلی با مرکاپتان‌ها با استفاده از کروماتوگرافی گازی با دتکتور فوتویونیزاسیون شعله­ای بر اساس روش NIOSH به شماره2542 تعیین می­گردد. هدف این مطالعه ارائه روشی برای نمونه برداری و آنالیز برخی ترکیبات بودار کننده در گاز طبیعی با استفاده از GC-MS می­باشد. مواد و روش­ها: در این مطالعه با استفاده از ستون BP-5 MS و با استاندارد داخلی 4-متیل تیوفنل ترکیب ترشیوبوتیل مرکاپتان آنالیز گردید. در این تحقیق منحنی استاندارد در گستره غلظتی   ppm 0.45-10 تهیه شد. تکرار پذیری روش در یک روز و چند روز بر اساس ضریب تغییرات ­(CV) محاسبه شد. بازیافت نمونه­های ترشیو بوتیل مرکاپتان به عنوان صحت روش گزارش گردید. تمام مراحل این مطالعه توسط کمیته اخلاق دانشگاه علوم پزشکی شهید بهشتی تایید گردید. یافته­ها: زمان ماند ترشیو بوتیل مرکاپتان و 4-متیل تیو فنل به ترتیب 4/05، 8/01 دقیقه مشخص شد. منحنی خطی با رگرسیون 0/99 بدست آمد. میانگین درصد بازیافت 6/6 ± 98/36تعیین شد. ضریب تغییرات درون روز و برون روز برای غلظت‌های استاندارد مختلف از ترکیب مدنظر در محدوده 7/2 – 0/46 بدست آمد. حداقل غلظت قابل تشخیص و قابل ارزیابی برای ماده مدنظر به ترتیب 0/037 و 1/84 میکروگرم در نمونه بدست آمد. نتیجه­ گیری: روش ارائه شده با GC-MS با پارامترهای اعتبار بخشی ارایه شده به عنوان جایگزین مناسب روش NIOSH پیشنهاد می‌شود. کلمات کلیدی:ترکیب ترشیوبوتیل مرکاپتان، گاز طبیعی، کروماتوگرافی گازی-طیف سنجی جرمیBackground and Aims: Tert-butyl mercaptan is used as an important odorant of natural gas. Exposure to high concentrations of this substance lead to stimulating effects in human. Occupational exposure to mercaptan is measured by gas chromatography - flame photometer according to NIOSH 2542. The purpose of this study was to develop a method for sampling and analyzing tert-butyl mercaptan using GC_MS. Materials and Methods: In this study, tert-butyl mercaptan was analyzed using BP-5 MS column and internal standard of 4-methyl thiophenol. Calibration curve was developed and evaluated in the range of 0.45-10 ppm. Repeatability of method was presented by inter- day and intra-day assay based on the coefficient of variation (CV). Recovery of tert-butyl mercaptan was reported as the accuracy of method. All procedures of this study were approved by Shahid beheshti University of medical Science Institutional Review Board. Results: Retention Time of tert-butyl mercaptan and 4-methylthiophenol were determined as 4.05 and 8.01 min, respectively. Calibration curve was evaluated by the regression of 0.99. The mean recovery percent was 98.68 ± 6.6. Intra-day and inter-day coefficient of variance for standard concentrations was ranged between 0.46-7.2 percent. The limit of detection and limit of quantitation were presented 0.037 and 1.84 μg/sample, respectively. Conclusion: GC-MS method by validated parameters was suggested as a suitable alternative for NIOSH method