Documentary America: Exploring Popular Culture

Documentary America: Exploring Popular Cultur

Minimal Males: Men in the Movies

Minimal Males: Men in the Movie

Hollywood and American Politics: The Play's the Thing

Hollywood and American Politics: The Play's the Thin

The health education needs of the patient and family upon discharge after a myocardial infarction.

Thesis (M.Cur.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2002.A knowledgeable person can deal with problems in a confident and flexible manner. This statement is certainly applicable in the area of health where an adequate knowledge helps clients to avoid complications. This study was conducted to explore the perceptions of ischemic heart disease patients and their families regarding the content and format of health education they need, before discharge from the hospital. A non-experimental survey study was conducted in the coronary care unit (ccu) of three governmental hospitals in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE). A convenient sample of one hundred and twelve (112) participants consisting of eighty (80) patients and thirty two (32) relatives, were selected over a three month period. A self-report approach was used to collect data and a questionnaire in the form of five point Likert scale, was developed with appropriate content matching the study purpose. Reliability was tested by test- retest for nine (9) patients not participating in the sample. A panel of experts tested its validity. The confidentiality of the participants was carefully considered. The study has revealed that patients and their families indicate a strong need for health education. Most of the sample prefers health education during the hospital stay by the doctor, although nurses and different health service members were also seen as being important. The respondents perceived the health education function as increasing their confidence in dealing with the disease, while reducing their readmission and anxiety. They preferred a member of the family to attend the session. They wanted comprehensive health education addressing a wide range of topics. Since the study result agreed with other previous research results, it confirmed that people's perceptions about the need for information is similar in the UAE and everywhere else in the world

Defining Optimal Brain Health in Adults A Presidential Advisory From the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association

Cognitive function is an important component of aging and predicts quality of life, functional independence, and risk of institutionalization. Advances in our understanding of the role of cardiovascular risks have shown them to be closely associated with cognitive impairment and dementia. Because many cardiovascular risks are modifiable, it may be possible to maintain brain health and to prevent dementia in later life. The purpose of this American Heart Association (AHA)/American Stroke Association presidential advisory is to provide an initial definition of optimal brain health in adults and guidance on how to maintain brain health. We identify metrics to define optimal brain health in adults based on inclusion of factors that could be measured, monitored, and modified. From these practical considerations, we identified 7 metrics to define optimal brain health in adults that originated from AHA's Life's Simple 7: 4 ideal health behaviors (nonsmoking, physical activity at goal levels, healthy diet consistent with current guideline levels, and body mass index < 25 kg/m(2)) and 3 ideal health factors (untreated blood pressure < 120/< 80 mm Hg, untreated total cholesterol < 200 mg/dL, and fasting blood glucose < 100 mg/dL). In addition, in relation to maintenance of cognitive health, we recommend following previously published guidance from the AHA/American Stroke Association, Institute of Medicine, and Alzheimer's Association that incorporates control of cardiovascular risks and suggest social engagement and other related strategies. We define optimal brain health but recognize that the truly ideal circumstance may be uncommon because there is a continuum of brain health as demonstrated by AHA's Life's Simple 7. Therefore, there is opportunity to improve brain health through primordial prevention and other interventions. Furthermore, although cardiovascular risks align well with brain health, we acknowledge that other factors differing from those related to cardiovascular health may drive cognitive health. Defining optimal brain health in adults and its maintenance is consistent with the AHA's Strategic Impact Goal to improve cardiovascular health of all Americans by 20% and to reduce deaths resulting from cardiovascular disease and stroke by 20% by the year 2020. This work in defining optimal brain health in adults serves to provide the AHA/American Stroke Association with a foundation for a new strategic direction going forward in cardiovascular health promotion and disease prevention

Children struggle beyond preschool-age in a continuous version of the ambiguous figures task

Children until the age of five are only able to reverse an ambiguous figure when they are informed about the second interpretation. In two experiments, we examined whether children’s difficulties would extend to a continuous version of the ambiguous figures task. Children (Experiment 1: 66 3- to 5-year olds; Experiment 2: 54 4- to 9-year olds) and adult controls saw line drawings of animals gradually morph—through well-known ambiguous figures—into other animals. Results show a relatively late developing ability to recognize the target animal, with difficulties extending beyond preschool-age. This delay can neither be explained with improvements in theory of mind, inhibitory control, nor individual differences in eye movements. Even the best achieving children only started to approach adult level performance at the age of 9, suggesting a fundamentally different processing style in children and adults

The use of discrimination scaling tasks: a novel perspective on the development of spatial scaling in children

Spatial scaling is the ability to transform distance information between shapes of differing sizes. Research on the developmental trajectories of spatial scaling beyond the pre-school years has been limited by a lack of suitable scaling measures for older children. Here we developed an age-appropriate discrimination scaling task, and demonstrated that children (N = 386) achieve performance gains in spatial scaling skills between 5 and 8-years-of-age, after which no significant improvements were found. Furthermore, the results support the use of relative distance strategies for task completion. These findings contrast to localisation paradigms, where performance reaches a plateau by age 6 and mental transformation strategies are used for scaling. The finding that scaling skills continue to develop until 8 years highlight the potential of scaling interventions in the early primary school years. Such interventions may infer direct benefits on spatial thinking and indirect advantages for science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) achievement

Levels of depression in transgender people and its predictors: results of a large matched control study with transgender people accessing clinical services

Background: Depression is a serious disorder which significantly impacts wellbeing and quality of life. Studies exploring mental wellbeing in the transgender population are mostly limited by small, non-homogenous samples and lack of matched controls. This study aimed to address these limitations and explore depression rates in a large sample of transgender people, compared with matched controls from the general population, as well as factors predicting depression in those taking cross-sex hormone treatment (CHT) compared to those not. Methods: Transgender individuals (n=913) completed a measure of depression, measures which predict psychopathology (self-esteem, victimization, social support, interpersonal problems), and information regarding CHT use. Participants were matched by age and experienced gender with adults from the general population who had completed the measure of depression. Results: Individuals were categorized as having no, possible or probable depressive disorder. Transgender individuals not on CHT had a nearly four-fold increased risk of probable depressive disorder, compared to controls. Older age, lower self-esteem, poorer interpersonal function and less social support predicted depressive disorder. Use of CHT was associated with less depression. Limitations: Participants were attending a national gender identity service and therefore represent only a sub-group of transgender people. Due to the cross-sectional design, longitudinal research is required to fully confirm the finding that CHT use reduces depression. Conclusion: This study confirms that non-treated transgender individuals have an increased risk of a depressive disorder. Interventions offered alongside gender affirming treatment to develop interpersonal skills, increase self-esteem and improve social support may reduce depression and prepare individuals for a more successful transition