Can stigmatizing attitudes be prevented in psychology students?

Background: Stigmatizing attitudes have been found among psychology students in many studies, and they are becoming more common with time. Aims: This study examines whether participation in clinical psychology lessons reduces levels of stigmatization in a population of psychology students and whether it leads to any change in stigmatization. Methods: The study is a pre/post evaluation of the effectiveness of clinical psychology lessons (63 hours of lectures) as a tool to fight stigma. The presence of stigmatizing attitudes was detected using the Italian version of the Attribution Questionnaire-27 (AQ-27-I). Stigmatization was described before and after the lessons with structured equation modeling (SEM). Results: Of a total of 387 students contacted, 302 (78.04%) agreed to be involved in the study, but only 266 (68.73%) completed the questionnaires at both t0 and t1. A statistically significant reduction was seen in all six scales and the total score on the AQ-27-I. The models defined by the SEM (pre- and post-intervention) showed excellent model fit indices and described different dynamics of the phenomenon of stigma. Conclusions: A cycle of clinical psychology lessons can be a useful tool for reducing stigmatizing attitudes in a population of students seeking a psychology degree

The performance of mHealth in cancer supportive care:A research agenda

Background: Since the advent of smartphones, mhealth has risen to the attention of all actors in the health care system as something that could radically change the way health care has been thought of, managed, and delivered to date. This is particularly relevant for cancer, as it is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, and for cancer supportive care (CSC) since patients and care givers have a key role in managing side effects: given adequate knowledge, they are able to expect appropriate assessments and interventions. In this scenario, mhealth has great potential for linking patients, care givers, and health care professionals, for enabling early detection and intervention, for lowering costs and achieving better quality of life. Given its great potential, it is important to evaluate the performance of mhealth. This can be considered from several perspectives, of which organizational performance is a particularly relevant dimension, since mhealth may increase the productivity of health care providers and as a result even the productivity of health care systems. Objective: This paper aims to review studies on the evaluation of the performance of mhealth, with particular focus on cancer care and cancer supportive care processes, concentrating on its contribution to organizational performance, and identifying some indications for a further research agenda. Methods: We carried out a review of literature, aimed at identifying studies related to the performance of mhealth in general or focusing on cancer care and cancer supportive care. Results: Our analysis revealed that studies are almost always based on a single dimension of performance. Any evaluations of the performance of mhealth are based on very different methods and measures, with a prevailing focus on issues linked to efficiency. This fails to consider the real contribution that mhealth can offer for improving the performance of health care providers, health care systems, and the quality of life in general

Efek Daun Sirih Merah (Piper Crocatum) Terhadap Kadar Gula Darah Dan Gambaran Morfologi Endokrin Pankreas Tikus Wistar (Rattus Norvegicus)

: Leaves of 'sirih merah‘ (Piper Crocatum) contain compounds such as flavonoid, alkaloid and tannin, wich are capable of lowering blood sugar levels. This study aimed to investigate the effects of the administration of ‘sirih merah' broth on blood sugar levels and histopathological features of pancreatic endocrine. This was a laboratory experimental study which was conducted for five month using 12 wistar rats as objects. The rats were divided into four groups: Group A (negative control), which received no treatment; group B, which were given the broth of ‘sirih merah' at 2,4 ml; Group C, which were given sugar solution at 2,4 ml; and Group D, which were given the broth (1,2 ml) and sugar solution (1,2 ml). The results revealed that the levels of blood sugar decreased in rats in Groups B and D but increased in Group C. When compared with rats in Group A, the size and the number of Langerhans islets increased in Group C (more than twice). On the contrary, the number of Langerhans islets in Group D was relatively similar with that of Group A. Conclusion: The administration of the broth of ‘sirih merah' leaves is able to lower blood sugar levels and to cause hyperplasia of pancreatic Langerhans islets

Influence of hydrogen on the structural stability of annealed ultrathin Si/Ge amorphous layers

Semiconductor structures based on Si and Ge are generally submitted to hydrogenation because H passivates the dangling bonds of Si and Ge. By this way the devices prepared from those semiconductors, e.g., solar cells, have much better electrical properties. However, H stability is still a critical issue. In fact, there is wide evidence that H is very unstable against illumination as well as heat treatment. It has been seen that H out effuses from the samples under such treatments. As this causes unsaturation of the dangling bonds the electrical properties worsen significantly. In this work we will show that in the case of ultrathin Si/Ge amorphous layers the H thermal instability also affects the structural stability even up to the micrometric scale depending on the H content. Such type of structure can also be used to prepare SiGe alloys by mixing the layers with heat treatments. The samples were amorphous multilayers (MLs) of alternating ultrathin (3 nm) layers of Si and Ge deposited by sputtering on (100) oriented Si substrate. The total thickness of the MLs was 300 nm. The samples were hydrogenated by introducing H in the sputter chamber with flow rates varying from 0.8 to 6 ml/min. The MLs underwent different heat treatments, from the one at 350 ?C for 1 h up to the one at 250 ?C for 0.5 h + 450 ?C for 5 h. The samples were analysed by AFM, TEM, energy filtering TEM and Small-Angle X-Ray Diffraction (SAXRD). AFM showed that upon annealing the structure of the samples degrades with formation of surface bumps whose size increases by increasing the annealing temperature and/or time, for the same H content, or by increasing the H content for the same annealing conditions. For high H content and/or annealing conditions AFM showed that the bumps have blown up giving rise to craters. This suggests that H was released from its dangling bonds to Si and Ge and formed H bubbles in the MLs because of the energy supplied by the annealing. Additional energy for the break of the Si-H and Ge-H bonds could be the one supplied by the recombination of thermally generated carriers associated with the band gap fluctuations caused by the not uniform distribution of H in the MLs. The first sites of H accumulation are very likely nanocavities certainly present in the amorphous MLs. By TEM it has been seen that layer intermixing occurred which could be the first step of H bubbles formation. SAXRD measurements as well as TEM energy filtering maps for Si and Ge showed that Si and Ge interdiffusion took place in an asymmetric way as Si was seen to diffuse to the Ge layers whereas Ge did not diffuse to the Si layers. This might be due to the higher density of free dangling bonds in the Ge layers created by annealing because the binding energy of the Ge-H bond is smaller than the one of the Si-H bond

Pd@TiO2/carbon nanohorn electrocatalysts: reversible CO2 hydrogenation to formic acid

Direct conversion of carbon dioxide to formic acid at thermodynamic equilibrium is an advantage of enzymatic catalysis, hardly replicated by synthetic analogs, but of high priority for carbon-neutral energy schemes. The bio-mimetic potential of totally inorganic Pd@TiO2 nanoparticles is envisioned herein in combination with Single Walled Carbon NanoHorns (SWCNHs). The high surface nano-carbon entanglement templates a wide distribution of \u201chard-soft\u201d bimetallic sites where the small Pd nanoparticles (1.5 nm) are shielded within the TiO2 phase (Pd@TiO2), while being electrically wired to the electrode by the nanocarbon support. This hybrid electrocatalyst activates CO2 reduction to formic acid at near zero overpotential in the aqueous phase (onset potential at E < 120.05 V vs. RHE, pH = 7.4), while being able to evolve hydrogen via sequential formic acid dehydrogenation. The net result hints at a unique CO2 \u201ccircular catalysis\u201d where formic acid versus H2 selectivity is addressable by flow-reactor technology

Molecular mechanisms of mtdna-mediated inflammation

Besides their role in cell metabolism, mitochondria display many other functions. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), the own genome of the organelle, plays an important role in modulating the inflammatory immune response. When released from the mitochondrion to the cytosol, mtDNA is recognized by cGAS, a cGAMP which activates a pathway leading to enhanced expression of type I interferons, and by NLRP3 inflammasome, which promotes the activation of pro-inflammatory cytokines Interleukin-1beta and Interleukin-18. Furthermore, mtDNA can be bound by Toll-like receptor 9 in the endosome and activate a pathway that ultimately leads to the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines. mtDNA is released in the extracellular space in different forms (free DNA, protein-bound DNA fragments) either as free circulating molecules or encapsulated in extracellular vesicles. In this review, we discussed the latest findings concerning the molecular mechanisms that regulate the release of mtDNA from mitochondria, and the mechanisms that connect mtDNA misplacement to the activation of inflammation in different pathophysiological conditions

Critical Strain Region Evaluation of Self-Assembled Semiconductor Quantum Dots

A novel peak finding method to map the strain from high resolution transmission electron micrographs, known as the Peak Pairs method, has been applied to In(Ga) As/AlGaAs quantum dot (QD) samples, which present stacking faults emerging from the QD edges. Moreover, strain distribution has been simulated by the finite element method applying the elastic theory on a 3D QD model. The agreement existing between determined and simulated strain values reveals that these techniques are consistent enough to qualitatively characterize the strain distribution of nanostructured materials. The correct application of both methods allows the localization of critical strain zones in semiconductor QDs, predicting the nucleation of defects, and being a very useful tool for the design of semiconductor device