Interventions to prevent loneliness in older adults living in nursing homes

Introduction: The number of older adults is increasing worldwide, as a result their need for institutionalized care is rising. One of the problems older adults experience when going to a nursing home is loneliness. Loneliness affects the person quality of life, so it is vital to help prevent it with appropriate interventions. Objective: To explore the different kind of interventions to prevent loneliness of older adults living in nursing homes. Methodology: This systematic review used three databases (PubMed, CINAHL, and PsycInfo) and searched for articles from 2010 to 2020 using search terms like “older adults”, “prevent”, “loneliness”, and “intervention”. From an initial 124 articles, 16 articles were selected at the end. Results: Two main themes were found: person-to-person/group interventions and technological interventions. All interventions showed positive results in reducing the perception of loneliness. Group interventions showed high success on reduction of loneliness. For technological intervention, the use of a pet robot created an atmosphere where residents socialize. Videoconferencing and messaging showed the need of a third party implication. Conclusion: Interventions found in this review are an effective way of alleviating loneliness even if interventions were vaguely described, and there was not follow up for long-term effectiveness.Introducción: El número de personas mayores está incrementando en todo el mundo, por lo que la necesidad de cuidados para personas institucionalizadas aumentará. Uno de los problemas que las personas mayores experimentan cuando van a una residencia es la soledad. La soledad afecta a la calidad de vida de las personas, por lo que es importante prevenirla mediante intervenciones apropiadas. Objetivo: Presentar diferentes tipos de intervenciones para prevenir la soledad en personas mayores institucionalizadas. Material y métodos: Está revisión utilizó tres bases de datos (PubMed, CINAHL y PsycInfo) y se buscaron artículos entre los años 2010-2020. Se utilizaron términos cómo “older adults”, “prevent”, “loneliness” y “intervention”. De una selección inicial de 124 artículos, se seleccionaron 16 artículos. Resultados: Se encontraron dos temas principales: intervenciones entre personas o grupos de personas e intervenciones tecnológicas. Todas las intervenciones mostraron resultados positivos. Las intervenciones grupales mostraron una gran efectividad. Las intervenciones de videoconferencias y mensajes necesitaban a una tercera personas para poder llevarse a cabo. Las relacionadas con el robot Paro creaban una atmósfera donde los residentes les resultaba más fácil interaccionar. Conclusiones: Las intervenciones fueron efectivas para aliviar la soledad, a pesar de descripciones imprecisas de las intervenciones y la falta de seguimiento a largo plazo

Aplicación de la Dignity Therapy en pacientes oncológicos en situación avanzada.

The Dignity Therapy was designed to cope with suffering, psychosocial and existential distress among patients with advanced or terminal disease. This paper is a cuasi experimental study with sixteen cancer patients in advanced stages of the disease. The aim of the study is to apply, in our context, the Dignity Therapy as a proposal for intervention for the relief of suffering such patients, in order to assess whether there is pre and post intervention changes. The results of Wilcoxon’s test, show statistically significant differences comparing the pre-intervention and the post-intervention for the variables Anxiety and Well-being. Nevertheless, statistically significant differences are not observed for the variables Depression and Serenity. The subjects agreed to participate voluntarily, and all the subjects felt satisfied after the application of the Dignity Therapy and noted that they found it useful enough or very useful. These results suggest that it is an appropriate therapeutic approach to these patients.La Dignity Therapy fue diseñada para hacer frente al sufrimiento, la angustia psicosocial y existencial entre los pacientes con enfermedad avanzada o terminal. El presente trabajo es un estudio cuasi experimental con dieciséis pacientes oncológicos en estado avanzado de la enfermedad. El objetivo del estudio fue aplicar, en nuestro contexto, la Dignity Therapy como propuesta de intervención para el alivio del sufrimiento a dichos pacientes, evaluando si existen cambios pre y post intervención. Tras obtener resultados mediante la prueba de Wilcoxon, se obtienen diferencias estadísticamente significativas comparando la pre-intervención y la post-intervención para las variables Ansiedad y Bienestar. Sin embargo, no se observa diferencias estadísticamente significativas para las variables Depresión y Serenidad. Los sujetos accedieron a participar de forma voluntaria y todos se sintieron satisfechos tras la aplicación de la Dignity Therapy, destacando que les había resultado bastante útil o muy útil. Estos resultados apuntan a que se trata de un acercamiento terapéutic

Sampling uncertainty associated with western Mediterranean pelagic fish abundance estimates derived from acoustic data.

Acoustic surveys are used worldwide for the assessment of pelagic fish stocks. In the Spanish Mediterranean area acoustic surveys are performed annually in late autumn and cover the entire continental shelf between 30 and 200 m depth. This survey was initiated to obtain estimates of anchovy recruitment (Engraulis encrasicolus), but additionally provide a general overview of the whole pelagic fish community in the study area during the time of the year it is performed. Our study area has a diverse assemblage of small and medium-sized pelagic fish (up to nine species) and thus we rely on the proportion of species obtained in middle-water pelagic fishing trawls to attribute the amount of echo corresponding to every single species and estimate their abundance. Although uncertainties may arise from many different sources (e.g. transducer motion, target strength, migration) we focus our study on the estimation of overall sampling uncertainty, one of the main contributors to random error. We apply geostatistical techniques to deal with spatial correlation and discuss benefits and pitfalls in their application. Although transitive geostatistics have seldom been used, most probably due to their inability to produce spatial maps of abundance and variance estimations, they constitute a powerful tool to routinely estimate sampling variance and its variation in time in a multi-specific context. They may also help to assess the effects of varying sampling intensity and could potentially be useful to detect possible processing errors, for example, in echogram scrutinizing. These techniques may therefore potentially help improve both the precision and the accuracy of acoustic dat

Novel methylselenoesters induce programed cell death via entosis in pancreatic cancer cells

Redox active selenium (Se) compounds have gained substantial attention in the last decade as potential cancer therapeutic agents. Several Se compounds have shown high selectivity and sensitivity against malignant cells. The cytotoxic effects are exerted by their biologically active metabolites, with methylselenol (CH3SeH) being one of the key executors. In search of novel CH3SeH precursors, we previously synthesized a series of methylselenoesters that were active (GI50 < 10 µM at 72 h) against a panel of cancer cell lines. Herein, we refined the mechanism of action of the two lead compounds with the additional synthesis of new analogs (ethyl, pentyl, and benzyl derivatives). A novel mechanism for the programmed cell death mechanism for Se-compounds was identified. Both methylseleninic acid and the novel CH3SeH precursors induced entosis by cell detachment through downregulation of cell division control protein 42 homolog (CDC42) and its downstream effector β1-integrin (CD29). To our knowledge, this is the first time that Se compounds have been reported to induce this type of cell death and is of importance in the characterization of the anticancerogenic properties of these compounds

Acoustic assessment and distribution of the main pelagic fish species in the ICES Subdivision IXa South during the ECOCÁDIZ-RECLUTAS 1112 Spanish survey (November 2012).

ECOCÁDIZ-RECLUTAS 1112 survey is the second survey by the IEO of acoustically assessing the abundance of anchovy and sardine juveniles in their main recruitment areas off the Gulf of Cádiz. The survey was conducted between 10th and 27th November 2012 onboard the Spanish R/V Emma Bardán and its sampled area was restricted only to the Spanish waters of the Gulf of Cádiz between 10 and 200 m depth.Versión del edito

Application of dignity therapy in cancer patients in advanced state

The Dignity Therapy was designed to cope with suffering, psychosocial and existential distress among patients with advanced or terminal disease. This paper is a cuasi experimental study with sixteen cancer patients in advanced stages of the disease. The aim of the study is to apply, in our context, the Dignity Therapy as a proposal for intervention for the relief of suffering such patients, in order to assess whether there is pre and post intervention changes. The results of Wilcoxon’s test, show statistically significant differences comparing the pre-intervention and the post-intervention for the variables Anxiety and Well-being. Nevertheless, statistically significant differences are not observed for the variables Depression and Serenity. The subjects agreed to participate voluntarily, and all the subjects felt satisfied after the application of the Dignity Therapy and noted that they found it useful enough or very useful. These results suggest that it is an appropriate therapeutic approach to these patients

Acoustic assessment and distribution of the main pelagic fish species in the ICES Subdivision IXa South during the ECOCADIZ 0813 Spanish survey (August 2013).

The present working document summarises the main results from the Spanish (pelagic ecosystem‐) acoustic survey conducted by IEO between 2nd and 13th August 2013 in the Portuguese and Spanish shelf waters (20‐200 m isobaths) off the Gulf of Cadiz onboard the R/V “Cornide de Saavedra”. The survey dates were somewhat delayed in relation to the usual ones and to the anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus) peak spawning as well. Abundance and biomass estimates are given for all the mid‐sized and small pelagic fish species susceptible of being acoustically assessed according to their occurrence and abundance levels in the study area. The distribution of these species is also shown from the mapping of their back‐scattering energies. The bulk of the anchovy population was concentrated in the Spanish shelf, with a residual nucleus to the west of Cape Santa Maria. A delay of the usual survey dates may be the reason of a higher relative importance of smaller anchovies in the population as a probable consequence of the incorporation of the first waves of recently recruited juveniles to the adult population. The total biomass estimated for anchovy was 8.5 thousand tonnes (609 million fish), the lowest estimate in its series. Sardine showed a distribution pattern almost complementary to that described for anchovy, with higher densities occurring over the inner‐middle shelf of both extremes of the surveyed area, mainly west to Cape Santa Maria, and in shallower waters than anchovy. Sardine yielded a total of 9.7 thousand tonnes (232 million fish). The 2013 sardine estimate was also the lowest one in its series and corroborates a clear recent decline in the population which has also been evidenced by the PELAGO surveys. Chub mackerel was present all over the surveyed area although showed a more “oceanic” distribution in the westernmost waters. The species was the most important in terms of assessed biomass, rendering estimates of 31.3 thousand tonnes (333 million fish). Acoustic estimates for jack and horse‐mackerel species (Trachurus spp.), and bogue (Boops boops) are also given in the WD. No acoustic estimates either for mackerel S. scombrus or round sardinella (Sardinella aurita) were computed because their incidental occurrence in the study area during the survey

Validación lingüística del Demand-Control-Support Questionnaire para profesionales de enfermería en España

Fundamento. Los profesionales de enfermería son uno de los grupos más afectados por el estrés laboral, lo que puede afectar la calidad de vida del profesional y comprometer la calidad de los cuidados de enfermería. A nivel internacional, el Demand-Control-Support Questionnaire (DCSQ) ha demostrado ser una herramienta breve, válida y fiable para evaluar el estrés laboral. El objetivo de este estudio fue obtener una versión adaptada al español del DCSQ para profesionales de enfermería. Método. La validación lingüística se realizó en dos fases: 1) traducción-retrotraducción y adaptación lingüística del instrumento y 2) validación de contenido del instrumento mediante un panel de siete expertos y evaluación de la aplicabilidad y comprensión de la versión adaptada en una muestra de veintiún profesionales de enfermería. Resultados. Fase 1) En el proceso de traducción, un ítem precisó cambios semánticos, mientras que cinco ítems precisaron cambios sintácticos. Las retrotraducciones fueron similares. Las dudas más relevantes se encontraron en el ítem 5, identificado como un ítem problemático a lo largo de todo el proceso. Fase 2) El análisis de la validez de contenido mostró excelentes resultados (índice de validez de contenido ≥ 0,90 y valores de kappa ≥ 0,65); además, el estudio piloto confirmó la adecuada comprensibilidad y aplicabilidad del cuestionario. Conclusiones. El empleo de una metodología sistemática y rigurosa ha permitido obtener una versión adaptada al español del DCSQ, conceptual y lingüísticamente equivalente al instrumento original, y adecuada para valorar de manera multidimensional el estrés psicosocial de profesionales de enfermería en el ámbito laboral.Background. Nursing professionals are one of the groups most affected by work-related stress, which may affect the professional’s quality of life and the quality of nursing care. At the international level, the DemandControl-Support Questionnaire (DCSQ) has proved to be a brief, valid and reliable tool for assessing psychosocial stress at work. The objective of this study was to obtain a Spanish version of the DCSQ for nursing professionals. Methods. The linguistic validation proceeded in two phases: 1) forward-translation, back-translation and linguistic adaptation of the instrument and 2) content validation of the instrument using a panel of seven experts, and evaluation of the applicability and comprehension of the adapted version in a sample of twenty-one nursing professionals. Results. Phase 1) In the translation process, one item required semantic changes, while five items required syntactic changes. The back-translation versions were similar, and the most relevant doubts were found in item 5, identified as a problematic item throughout the entire process. Phase 2) The content validity analysis showed excellent values (content validity index ≥ 0.90 and Kappa index values ≥ 0.65); moreover, the pilot study confirmed the adequate comprehensibility and applicability of the questionnaire. Conclusions. The use of a systematic and rigorous methodology made it possible to obtain a Spanish version of the DCSQ that is conceptually and linguistically equivalent to the original instrument and suitable for assessing psychosocial stress of nursing professionals in the workplace in a multidimensional manner

Spatial similarities between European agroforestry systems and ecosystem services at the landscape scale

This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Agroforestry Systems. The final authenticated version is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10457-017-0132-3Agroforestry systems are known to provide ecosystem services which differ in quantity and quality from conventional agricultural practices and could enhance rural landscapes. In this study we compared ecosystem services provision of agroforestry and non-agroforestry landscapes in case study regions from three European biogeographical regions: Mediterranean (montado and dehesa), Continental (orchards and wooded pasture) and Atlantic agroforestry systems (chestnut soutos and hedgerows systems). Seven ecosystem service indicators (two provisioning and five regulating services) were mapped, modelled and assessed. Clear variations in amount and provision of ecosystem services were found between different types of agroforestry systems. Nonetheless regulating ecosystems services were improved in all agroforestry landscapes, with reduced nitrate losses, higher carbon sequestration, reduced soil losses, higher functional biodiversity focussed on pollination and greater habitat diversity reflected in a high proportion of semi-natural habitats. The results for provisioning services were inconsistent. While the annual biomass yield and the groundwater recharge rate tended to be higher in agricultural landscapes without agroforestry systems, the total biomass stock was reduced. These broad relationships were observed within and across the case study regions regardless of the agroforestry type or biogeographical region. Overall our study underlines the positive influence of agroforestry systems on the supply of regulating services and their role to enhance landscape structureWe acknowledge funding through Grant 613520 from the European Commission (Project AGFORWARD, 7th Framework Program), the Xunta de Galicia, Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria (“Programa de axudas á etapa posdoutoral DOG no. 122, 29/06/2016 p.27443, exp: ED481B 2016/071-0”), the Forest Research Center strategic project (PEst OE/AGR/UI0239/2014) and the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology through the contract SFRH/BD/52691/2014S