The effect of pet therapy on the stress and social anxiety levels of disabled children: A randomized controlled trial

Amaç: Evcil hayvan terapisi çocukların tedavi ve bakımında stres ve kaygı düzeyinin azaltılmasında etkili bir yöntemdir. Bu çalışmada evcil hayvan terapisinin bedensel engelli çocukların stres ve sosyal kaygı düzeylerine etkisinin belirlenmesi amaçlandı. Yöntem: Bu çalışma, ön test, son test ve izleme tasarımına sahip, tek kör, randomize kontrollü deneysel bir çalışmadır. Araştırma, Kasım 2019-Eylül 2020 tarihleri ​​arasında iki ayrı Özel Eğitim ve Rehabilitasyon Merkezinde, dahil edilme kriterlerini karşılayan 23'ü kontrol ve 21'i müdahale grubunda olmak üzere toplam 44 bedensel engelli çocuk ile gerçekleştirildi. Bu çalışmanın NCT numarası NCT04231799'dur. Araştırmanın verileri Kişisel Bilgi Formu (PIF), Algılanan Stres Ölçeği (PSS), Çocuklarda Sosyal Kaygı Ölçeği'nin Revize Edilmiş Versiyonu (SACS-R) ve kan basıncı ölçümleri aracılığıyla elde edildi. Müdahale grubuna evcil hayvan terapisi programı uygulandı. Rehabilitasyon merkezinde verilen standart eğitim dışında kontrol grubuna herhangi bir müdahale yapılmadı. Bulgular: Evcil hayvan terapisi programı müdahalesi sonrasında çocukların PSS ve SACS-R puan ortalamalarında azalma olduğu belirlendi. müdahale grubu ve bu azalma kontrol grubundaki bireylerle karşılaştırıldığında anlamlıydı.Objective: Pet therapy is an effective method in reducing stress and anxiety levels in the treatment and care of children. This study aimed to determine the effects of pet therapy on the stress and social anxiety levels of physically disabled children. Method: This study was a single-blind randomized controlled experimental study with a pre-test, post-test and follow-up design. The study was carried out between November 2019 and September 2020 in two separate Special Education and Rehabilitation Centers with a total of 44 physically disabled children, 23 in the control and 21 in the intervention group, who met the inclusion criteria. The NCT number of this study is NCT04231799. The data of the study were obtained through Personal Information Form (PIF), the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), the Social Anxiety in Children Scale-Revised Version (SACS-R) and blood pressure measurements. A pet therapy program was applied to the intervention group. Apart from the standard training given in the rehabilitation center, no intervention was made on the control group Results: After the pet therapy program intervention, it was found that there was a decrease in the mean PSS and SACS-R scores of the children in the intervention group, and this decrease was significant compared to the individuals in the control group (p[removed

A Framework to Assess the Impact of Recycled or Reused Metal Powder on Circular Additive Manufacturing

Additive manufacturing (AM), with its design advantages and economic and environmental benefits, facilitates the metal manufacturing industry in overcoming the changing world dynamics. Additionally, as access to raw materials has become more challenging in recent years, accompanied by an associated increase in raw material costs, researchers are investigating the effects of recycled or reused metal powder in AM on the particle properties of parts. However, the economic and environmental impacts of these effects on companies have not yet been thoroughly investigated. This study has developed a conceptual framework to delve into the impact of using recycled or reused metal powder on the printing quality and production performance of AM parts from a life cycle perspective.publishedVersio

Oil Prices and Firm Returns in an Emerging Market

This study examines the oil price effect on Turkish stock market as an emerging country on firm level data. After controlling short term interest rate, nominal exchange rate and crude oil price, we find that firms behave differently to a change in oil prices. The findings include these: i) variations in oil prices do not significantly affect Turkish firm returns. Out of 153, only 38 firms are affected significantly by oil price after controlling exchange rate and interest rate; ii) oil prices influence stock returns of Turkish firms, suggesting that under reaction and gradual information diffusion hypotheses may hold. iii) small and middle-sized firms are more affected negatively from oil price changes, where large-sized firms affected more positively. The empirical findings of this study have potential implications and offer significant insights for both practitioners and policy makers

Perception of Financial And Payment Terms Risks: The Analysis of Aegean Exporters

In recent years, the volume of international trade has increased enormously due to the effects of globalization and liberalization of trade. However, political and economic changes, changes in consumer demand, market structures, product and market life cycles, domestic and foreign competition and the degree of effects caused by these changes became more and more significant. Such changes force the firms making or intending to make business globally to implement dynamic strategies and action plans. Considering above mentioned points, this study aims to explore the risks perceived by the exporting firms about financial risk and payment terms within the context of international trade. The firms are analyzed depending on various criteria (i.e. export intensity, firm size, sectors, geographical locations, export activity, age of the firms, export experience). The results of the study indicates that risk perceptions of exporter firms operating in the Aegean Region of Turkey vary by operating in various sectors, sizes, geographical location, types of export activity, age. On the other hand export intensity and experience of exporters do not affect the risk perceptions of exporter firms significantly

Leaf rolling reduces photosynthetic loss in maize under severe drought

Effects of leaf rolling (LR) on maize photosynthesis under severe drought stress were studied in two cultivars with opposite drought responses, Batem 56-55 (drought tolerant) and Batem 51-52 (drought sensitive). Drought stress and artificial prevention of leaf rolling (PLR) were applied at grain filling stage for 30 days. LR in Batem 56-55 occurred later than in Batem 51-52. Leaf water potential (Ψleaf) did not change in Batem 56-55 but decreased in Batem 51-52 at LR. Maximum quantum yield of photosystem II (Fv/Fm), effective quantum yield of photosystem II (ΦPSII) and electron transport rate (ETR) of the cultivars decreased during LR more significantly in Batem 56-55 in comparison to Batem 51-52. The same was observed for the decrease in net photosynthetic rate (PN), stomatal conductance (gs), transpiration (E) and intracellular level of CO2 (Ci). Rubisco activity and content were reduced at LR, but were less affected in Batem 56-55 than in Batem 51-52. Ear and kernel weights also decreased at LR. All parameters at PLR were more reduced than those of LR. These results implied that LR was an important and necessary mechanism protecting photosynthesis and reducing yield loss under drought stress by maintaining the leaf hydration, preventing loss of the photosynthetic pigments, sustaining the activity of PSII, keeping the stomata open, and conserving the activity of Rubisco

An Environmental Decision Support System for Determining On-site or Off-site Additive Manufacturing of Spare Parts

Effective spare part management can increase the competitiveness of supply chains, but the intrinsic characteristics of spare parts (e.g., intermittent demands, dependence on suppliers) make their effective management complicated. In recent years, additive manufacturing (AM) has emerged as a possible way to overcome these issues and received significant research attention, especially the topic of supply chain configuration. AM enables the easy production of parts close to the point of use, thus favoring the decentralization of supply chains (i.e., on-site production), but while this topic has been studied extensively from an economic perspective, its environmental implications remain unexplored. The literature is limited merely to mentions of the reduced transportation emissions associated with on-site production strategies, without, for example, a lifecycle perspective in which the production phase is considered. It is common knowledge that different countries adopt different energy mixes, thus generating different carbon dioxide–equivalent emissions during the production phase. A lifecycle perspective therefore casts doubt on whether on-site production strategies are always environmentally preferable over strategies in which spare parts are produced far from the point of use and then shipped (i.e., off-site production or centralized supply chains). In this paper, we aim to resolve this doubt by developing a decision-support system that can assist managers and practitioners in determining the most environmentally friendly AM spare part production strategy, considering both the transportation and production phases.submittedVersio

Written information about individual medicines for consumers.

Medicines are the most common intervention in most health services. As with all treatments, those taking medicines need sufficient information: to enable them to take and use the medicines effectively, to understand the potential harms and benefits, and to allow them to make an informed decision about taking them. Written medicines information, such as a leaflet or provided via the Internet, is an intervention that may meet these purposes

Interventions to improve adherence to inhaled steroids for asthma.

BACKGROUND: Despite its proven efficacy in improving symptoms and reducing exacerbations, many patients with asthma are not fully adherent to their steroid inhaler. Suboptimal adherence leads to poorer clinical outcomes and increased health service utilisation, and has been identified as a contributing factor to a third of asthma deaths in the UK. Reasons for non-adherence vary, and a variety of interventions have been proposed to help people improve treatment adherence. OBJECTIVES: To assess the efficacy and safety of interventions intended to improve adherence to inhaled corticosteroids among people with asthma. SEARCH METHODS: We identified trials from the Cochrane Airways Trials Register, which contains studies identified through multiple electronic searches and handsearches of other sources. We also searched trial registries and reference lists of primary studies. We conducted the most recent searches on 18 November 2016. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included parallel and cluster randomised controlled trials of any duration conducted in any setting. We included studies reported as full-text articles, those published as abstracts only and unpublished data. We included trials of adults and children with asthma and a current prescription for an inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) (as monotherapy or in combination with a long-acting beta2-agonist (LABA)). Eligible trials compared an intervention primarily aimed at improving adherence to ICS versus usual care or an alternative intervention. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors screened the searches, extracted study characteristics and outcome data from included studies and assessed risk of bias. Primary outcomes were adherence to ICS, exacerbations requiring at least oral corticosteroids and asthma control. We graded results and presented evidence in 'Summary of findings' tables for each comparison.We analysed dichotomous data as odds ratios, and continuous data as mean differences or standardised mean differences, all using a random-effects model. We described skewed data narratively. We made no a priori assumptions about how trials would be categorised but conducted meta-analyses only if treatments, participants and the underlying clinical question were similar enough for pooling to make sense. MAIN RESULTS: We included 39 parallel randomised controlled trials (RCTs) involving adults and children with asthma, 28 of which (n = 16,303) contributed data to at least one meta-analysis. Follow-up ranged from two months to two years (median six months), and trials were conducted mainly in high-income countries. Most studies reported some measure of adherence to ICS and a variety of other outcomes such as quality of life and asthma control. Studies generally were at low or unclear risk of selection bias and at high risk of biases associated with blinding. We considered around half the studies to be at high risk for attrition bias and selective outcome reporting.We classified studies into four comparisons: adherence education versus control (20 studies); electronic trackers or reminders versus control (11 studies); simplified drug regimens versus usual drug regimens (four studies); and school-based directly observed therapy (three studies). Two studies are described separately.All pooled results for adherence education, electronic trackers or reminders and simplified regimens showed better adherence than controls. Analyses limited to studies using objective measures revealed that adherence education showed a benefit of 20 percentage points over control (95% confidence interval (CI) 7.52 to 32.74; five studies; low-quality evidence); electronic trackers or reminders led to better adherence of 19 percentage points (95% CI 14.47 to 25.26; six studies; moderate-quality evidence); and simplified regimens led to better adherence of 4 percentage points (95% CI 1.88 to 6.16; three studies; moderate-quality evidence). Our confidence in the evidence was reduced by risk of bias and inconsistency.Improvements in adherence were not consistently translated into observable benefit for clinical outcomes in our pooled analyses. None of the intervention types showed clear benefit for our primary clinical outcomes - exacerbations requiring an oral corticosteroid (OCS) (evidence of very low to low quality) and asthma control (evidence of low to moderate quality); nor for our secondary outcomes - unscheduled visits (evidence of very low to moderate quality) and quality of life (evidence of low to moderate quality). However, some individual studies reported observed benefits for OCS and use of healthcare services. Most school or work absence data were skewed and were difficult to interpret (evidence of low quality, when graded), and most studies did not specifically measure or report adverse events.Studies investigating the possible benefit of administering ICS at school did not measure adherence, exacerbations requiring OCS, asthma control or adverse events. One study showed fewer unscheduled visits, and another found no differences; data could not be combined. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Pooled results suggest that a variety of interventions can improve adherence. The clinical relevance of this improvement, highlighted by uncertain and inconsistent impact on clinical outcomes such as quality of life and asthma control, is less clear. We have low to moderate confidence in these findings owing to concerns about risk of bias and inconsistency. Future studies would benefit from predefining an evidence-based 'cut-off' for acceptable adherence and using objective adherence measures and validated tools and questionnaires. When possible, covert monitoring and some form of blinding or active control may help disentangle effects of the intervention from effects of inclusion in an adherence trial

T Cell Phenotype and T Cell Receptor Repertoire in Patients with Major Depressive Disorder

While a link between inflammation and the development of neuropsychiatric disorders, including major depressive disorder (MDD) is supported by a growing body of evidence, little is known about the contribution of aberrant adaptive immunity in this context. Here, we conducted in-depth characterization of T cell phenotype and T cell receptor (TCR) repertoire in MDD. For this cross- sectional case–control study, we recruited antidepressant-free patients with MDD without any somatic or psychiatric comorbidities (n = 20), who were individually matched for sex, age, body mass index, and smoking status to a non-depressed control subject (n = 20). T cell phenotype and repertoire were interrogated using a combination of flow cytometry, gene expression analysis, and next generation sequencing. T cells from MDD patients showed significantly lower surface expression of the chemokine receptors CXCR3 and CCR6, which are known to be central to T cell differentiation and trafficking. In addition, we observed a shift within the CD4+ T cell compartment characterized by a higher frequency of CD4+CD25highCD127low/− cells and higher FOXP3 mRNA expression in purified CD4+ T cells obtained from patients with MDD. Finally, flow cytometry-based TCR Vβ repertoire analysis indicated a less diverse CD4+ T cell repertoire in MDD, which was corroborated by next generation sequencing of the TCR β chain CDR3 region. Overall, these results suggest that T cell phenotype and TCR utilization are skewed on several levels in patients with MDD. Our study identifies putative cellular and molecular signatures of dysregulated adaptive immunity and reinforces the notion that T cells are a pathophysiologically relevant cell population in this disorder

Session-specific effects of the Metacognitive Group Training for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: significant results for thought control

The investigation of the session-specific effects is central for the understanding of psychological interventions. For the present study, we investigated the session-specific effects of the Metacognitive Group Training for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (MCT-OCD), which was revised based on data of a pilot study. Thirty-four outpatients with OCD participated in the MCT-OCD once a week over 8 weeks. Different metacognitive beliefs (e.g., thought control) and cognitive beliefs (e.g., intolerance of uncertainty), OC symptoms, as well as associated comorbid symptoms were assessed before and after each session. Linear mixed effects models showed that patients' obsessions and compulsions, thought control, the belief of being well informed about the disorder, and action fusion improved over the course of the training. The only session-specific effect emerged for thought control, which improved immediately after the respective module. We were able to replicate the findings of the pilot study and thus corroborate the session-specific effect of the module targeting thought control. Moreover, we generated information on the mode of action of the individual modules of the MCT-OCD that allows a more in-depth evaluation of the intervention. Notably, we were able to eliminate the adverse effects of the pilot version of the MCT-OCD.Trial Registration: German Clinical Trials Register (Deutsches Register Klinischer Studien [DRKS];DRKS-ID: DRKS00013539;registration date: 22/02/2018)