Different attitudes towards mental health revealed in a survey of nurses across five European countries; more positive attitudes found in Portugal, in women and in those in senior roles

Commentary on: Chambers M, Guise V, Välimäki M, et al. Nurses’ attitudes to mental illness: a comparison of a sample of nurses from five European countries. Int J Nurs Stud 2010; 47: 350–62

Supporting people with depression and anxiety: a guide for practice nurses

This guide has been devleoped for GP practice nurses following a three year research study called ProCEED (Proactive care and its evaluation for enduring depression), conducted by Dr Marta Buszewicz and a research team at University College London

Software digitizer for high granular gaseous detector

A sampling calorimeter equipped with gaseous sensor layers with digital readout is near perfect for "Particle Flow Algorithm" approach, since it is homogeneous over large surfaces, robust, cost efficient, easily segmentable to any readout pad dimension and size and almost insensitive to neutrons. The response of a finely segmented digital calorimeter is characterized by track efficiency and multiplicity. Monte Carlo (MC) programs such as GEANT4 simulate with high precision the energy deposited by particles. The sensor and electronic response associated to a pad are calculated in a separate "digitization" process. We developed a general method for simulating the pad response, a digitization, reproducing efficiency and multiplicity, using the spatial information from a simulation done at higher granularity. The digitization method proposed here has been applied to gaseous detectors including Glass Resistive Plate Chambers (GRPC) and MicroMegas. Validating the method on test beam data, experimental observables such as efficiency, multiplicity and mean number of hits at different thresholds have been reproduced with high precision.Comment: Proceeding for MPGD 201

Association between pruritus and serum concentrations of parathormone, calcium and phosphorus in hemodialysis patients.

Chronic renal disorders have a progressive course in most cases, and finally result in end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Hemodialysis (HD) is one of the mainstays in the treatment of these patients. Disturbance in calcium (Ca) and phosphorus (P) metabolism and alteration of serum levels of parathormone (PTH) are observed in these patients. One of the most common cutaneous manifestations in patients on HD is pruritus. The aim of this study is to evaluate the association between pruritus and serum concentrations of Ca, P and PTH in patients with chronic renal disease. This analytic, descriptive, cross-sectional study was performed on 120 patients on HD at the Fifth-Azar Hospital in Gorgan, Iran, in 2010. Information related to the patients, including age, gender, pruritus, time of pruritus and duration on dialysis, was extracted from questionnaires. Serum concentrations of intact PTH, Ca and P were measured. Data were analyzed by the chi-square test and SPSS-16 software. A P-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Among the 120 study patients, 50% were male and the mean age (±SD) was 49 ± 12.3 years. Sixty percent of the patients had pruritus, of whom 33.3% had PTH levels above the normal range. Among the 40% of the patients who did not have pruritus, 39.6% had PTH levels higher than the normal levels. The mean serum Ca and P levels were 8.44 ± 1.65 mg/dL and 5.48 ± 1.81 mg/dL, respectively. The mean (±SD) Ca-P product was 55.46 ± 47.16 and the mean PTH concentration was 274.34 ± 286.53 pg/mL. No significant association was found between pruritus and age, sex, serum PTH and P levels as well as Ca-P product. However, the association between serum Ca levels and pruritus was significant (P = 0.03). Our study showed that most patients with pruritus had serum Ca levels in the abnormal range (lower or higher), and there was no significant correlation between serum iPTH level and pruritis. Thus, good control of serum Ca levels is important to reduce pruritus in these patients

Association of serum fetuin-A and biochemical parameters in hemodialysis patients.

Fetuin-A, a hepatic glycoprotein present in the circulation, is a potential inhibitor for systemic calcification. The main aim of this study was to evaluate the association between fetuin-A and other biochemical parameters as facilitator factors for developing atherosclerosis in hemodialysis (HD) patients. This case-control study was conducted on 44 HD patients undergoing treatment in 2012. Parathormone (i-PTH) and fetuin levels were performed by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) by chemiluminescence, low-density lipoprotein by direct enzymatic, calcium and albumin by colorimetric and phosphorous by ultraviolet (UV) methods. Chi-square was used for evaluating the association between variables and t-test was used for comparing the mean of the quantitative variables for the two groups. SPSS-16 software was used for data analysis and P-value less than 5% was considered as significant. Mean of serum fetuin level was 23.25 ± 4.90 ng/mL in HD patients and 32.92 ± 5.21 in the control group. Median of hs-CRP was 2.45 mg/dL in the patients and 1.00 mg/dL in the control group and i-PTH was 74.3 pg/mL in the patients and 7.30 pg/mL in the control group. The calcium-phosphorous product was 46.77 ± 14.22 mg/dL in the patient and 31.73 ± 6.48 mg/dL in the control group. A reverse significant association was found between fetuin-A and hs-CRP in this study. In this study, serum fetuin-A level in HD patients was lower than controls. Therefore, a low level of fetuin-A seems to be associated with atherosclerosis, inflammation and malnutrition

Promoting mental health in men

Health promotion is essential to improve the health status and quality of life of individuals. Promoting mental health at an individual, community and policy level is central to reducing the incidence of mental health problems, including self-harm and suicide. Men may be particularly vulnerable to mental health problems, in part because they are less likely to seek help from healthcare professionals. Although this article discusses mental health promotion and related strategies in general, the focus is on men's mental health

Depression in adults with a chronic physical health problem: treatment and management

The NHS National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE, 2009) publication – Depression in adults with a chronic physical health problem: treatment and management – is a clinical practice guideline for the UK which partially updates and extends the earlier depression management in primary and secondary care guideline (NICE, 2004). Like other clinical guidelines, it has been systematically developed from the best available research evidence to assist clinicians and patients, and service commissioners and providers in making decisions about the most appropriate treatment and service organisation for this important area of health care need. The National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health (one of a number of centres established by NICE for the purpose of clinical guideline development) together with a guideline development group, comprising health and social care professionals, lay and patient representatives, and technical experts, worked on the guidance. The process from initial scope preparation to the production of the final guideline took over two years. As with other NICE recommendations, the development of this guidance has involved extensive stakeholder consultations at the initial scoping phase that defined the aspects of care covered and to whom it would apply, and later when the draft guideline was prepared. The aim of this editorial is to bring this important document to the attention of nurses and midwives worldwide who work with depression sufferers

Use and relevance of bibliometrics for nursing

A vast and increasing scientific literature is published each year, including books, journals, research articles and reviews. One approach to determining the value of an academic publication involves measuring how often other academic writers or researchers refer to or cite it. This is the essence of bibliometrics. This article examines how bibliometrics has developed. It describes how analysing citations provides a measure of the influence of specific articles (individual article citations), to compare different journals (journal impact factor) and to examine the output and impact of individual academics (the h-index). Particular reference is made to nursing. Using citations should not be the only way that the value of scholarly work is judged, because there are limitations in using this method. However, bibliometrics provides an important, feasible and systematic means of reaching judgments about the importance of published works. As a result, it can be useful for examining the productivity and influence of individuals and institutions and for comparing different disciplines and journals