Death talk: gender differences in talking about one's own impending death.

To access publisher's full text version of this article. Please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field.According to common practice based on a generally agreed interpretation of Icelandic law on the rights of patients, health care professionals cannot discuss prognosis and treatment with a patient's family without that patient's consent. This limitation poses ethical problems, because research has shown that, in the absence of insight and communication regarding a patient's impending death, patient's significant others may subsequently experience long-term psychological distress. It is also reportedly important for most dying patients to know that health care personnel are comfortable with talking about death and dying. There is only very limited information concerning gender differences regarding death talk in terminal care patients.This is a retrospective analysis of detailed prospective "field notes" from chaplain interviews of all patients aged 30-75 years receiving palliative care and/or with DNR (do not resuscitate) written on their charts who requested an interview with a hospital chaplain during a period of 3 years. After all study patients had died, these notes were analyzed to assess the prevalence of patient-initiated discussions regarding their own impending death and whether non-provocative evocation-type interventions had facilitated such communication.During the 3-year study period, 195 interviews (114 men, 81 women) were conducted. According to the field notes, 80% of women and 30% of men initiated death talk within the planned 30-minute interviews. After evoking interventions, 59% (67/114) of men and 91% (74/81) of women engaged in death talk. Even with these interventions, at the end of the first interview gender differences were still statistically significant (p = 0.001). By the end of the second interview gender difference was less, but still statistically significant (p = 0.001).Gender differences in terminal care communication may be radically reduced by using simple evocation methods that are relatively unpretentious, but require considerable clinical training.Men in terminal care are more reluctant than women to enter into discussion regarding their own impending death in clinical settings. Intervention based on non-provocative evocation methods may increase death talk in both genders, the relative increase being higher for men.National University Hospital Icelandic Centre for Research (RANNIS), Iceland Stockholm County Council, Health Services, Swede

Long-term health effects of the Eyjafjallajökull volcanic eruption: a prospective cohort study in 2010 and 2013.

To access publisher's full text version of this article, please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field or click on the hyperlink at the top of the page marked Files. This article is open access.To examine the long-term development of physical and mental health following exposure to a volcanic eruption.Population-based prospective cohort study.In spring 2010, the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull erupted. Data were collected at 2 time points: in 2010 and 2013.Adult residents in areas close to the Eyjafjallajökull volcano (N=1096), divided according to exposure levels, and a non-exposed sample (n=475), with 80% participation rate in 2013.Physical symptoms in the previous year (chronic) and previous month (recent), and psychological distress (General Health Questionnaire-12-item version, GHQ-12), perceived stress (Perceived Stress Scale, PSS-4) and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms (Primary Care PTSD, PC-PTSD).In the exposed group, certain symptoms were higher in 2013 than in 2010, for example, morning phlegm during winter (OR 2.14; 95% CI 1.49 to 3.06), skin rash/eczema (OR 2.86; 95% CI 1.76 to 4.65), back pain (OR 1.45; 95% CI 1.03 to 2.05) and insomnia (OR 1.53; 95% CI 1.01 to 2.30), in addition to a higher prevalence of regular use of certain medications (eg, for asthma (OR 2.80; 95% CI 1.01 to 7.77)). PTSD symptoms decreased between 2010 and 2013 (OR 0.33; 95% CI 0.17 to 0.61), while the prevalence of psychological distress and perceived stress remained similar. In 2013, the exposed group showed a higher prevalence of various respiratory symptoms than did the non-exposed group, such as wheezing without a cold (high exposure OR 2.35; 95% CI 1.27 to 4.47) and phlegm (high exposure OR 2.81; 95% CI 1.48 to 5.55), some symptoms reflecting the degree of exposure (eg, nocturnal chest tightness (medium exposed OR 3.09; 95% CI 1.21 to 10.46; high exposed OR 3.42; 95% CI 1.30 to 11.79)).The findings indicate that people exposed to a volcanic eruption, especially those most exposed, exhibit increased risk of certain symptoms 3-4 years after the eruption.The government in Iceland, Nordic Centre of Excellence for Resilience and Societal Security—NORDRESS, which is funded by the Nordic Societal Security Program (grant number 68825)

On the decomposition of Mars hyperspectral data by ICA and Bayesian positive source separation

International audienceThe surface of Mars is currently being imaged with an unprecedented combination of spectral and spatial resolution. This high resolution, and its spectral range, gives the ability to pinpoint chemical species on the surface and the atmosphere of Mars more accurately than before. The subject of this paper is to present a method to extract informations on these chemicals from hyperspectral images. A first approach, based on independent component analysis (ICA) [P. Comon, Independent component analysis, a new concept? Signal Process. 36 (3) (1994) 287-314], is able to extract artifacts and locations of CO2 and H2O ices. However, the main independence assumption and some basic properties (like the positivity of images and spectra) being unverified, the reliability of all the independent components (ICs) is weak. For improving the component extraction and consequently the endmember classification, a combination of spatial ICA with spectral Bayesian positive source separation (BPSS) [S. Moussaoui, D. Brie, A. Mohammad-Djafari, C. Carteret, Separation of non-negative mixture of non-negative sources using a Bayesian approach and MCMC sampling, IEEE Trans. Signal Process. 54 (11) (2006) 4133-4145] is proposed. To reduce the computational burden, the basic idea is to use spatial ICA yielding a rough classification of pixels, which allows selection of small, but relevant, number of pixels. Then, BPSS is applied for the estimation of the source spectra using the spectral mixtures provided by this reduced set of pixels. Finally, the abundances of the components are assessed on the whole pixels of the images. Results of this approach are shown and evaluated by comparison with available reference spectra

Economic shocks and health resilience: lessons from the Russian Federation

Background: Despite extensive research on determinants of health, there is much less information on factors protecting health among those exposed to economic shocks. Using longitudinal data from the Russian Federation in the post-Soviet period, we examined individual-level factors that enhance resilience of health to economic shocks. Methods: Logistic regression analysed factors associated with good self-assessed health (SAH) and health resilience, using pooled samples from the Russia Longitudinal Monitoring Survey-Higher School of Economics (1994–2012). Results: The general population consistently reported ‘average’ SAH, indicating almost invariant trends over the years. Male gender was the strongest predictor of good SAH and health resilience. Other factors positively associated with good SAH were age, higher education, employment, residing in rural areas, living in a larger and/or non-poor household. Among unemployed and those remaining unemployed, residing in rural areas, living in a larger and/or non-poor household remained the strongest predictors of good SAH and health resilience. These same factors were also important for males with recent job loss. Conclusions: Several factors predicting good SAH in the general population also influence health resilience factors among those remaining unemployed and experiencing a job loss. Such factors help to identify those most vulnerable and aid targeting assistance during economic crises

Earables for Detection of Bruxism: A Feasibility Study

Bruxism is a disorder characterised by teeth grinding and clenching, and many bruxism sufferers are not aware of this disorder until their dental health professional notices permanent teeth wear. Stress and anxiety are often listed among contributing factors impacting bruxism exacerbation, which may explain why the COVID-19 pandemic gave rise to a bruxism epidemic. It is essential to develop tools allowing for the early diagnosis of bruxism in an unobtrusive manner. This work explores the feasibility of detecting bruxism-related events using earables in a mimicked in-the-wild setting. Using inertial measurement unit for data collection, we utilise traditional machine learning for teeth grinding and clenching detection. We observe superior performance of models based on gyroscope data, achieving an 88% and 66% accuracy on grinding and clenching activities, respectively, in a controlled environment, and 76% and 73% on grinding and clenching, respectively, in an in-the-wild environment

A systematic review on health resilience to economic crises

Background The health effects of recent economic crises differ markedly by population group. The objective of this systematic review is to examine evidence from longitudinal studies on factors influencing resilience for any health outcome or health behaviour among the general population living in countries exposed to financial crises. Methods We systematically reviewed studies from six electronic databases (EMBASE, Global Health, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Scopus, Web of Science) which used quantitative longitudinal study designs and included: (i) exposure to an economic crisis; (ii) changes in health outcomes/behaviours over time; (iii) statistical tests of associations of health risk and/or protective factors with health outcomes/behaviours. The quality of the selected studies was appraised using the Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies. PRISMA reporting guidelines were followed. Results From 14,584 retrieved records, 22 studies met the eligibility criteria. These studies were conducted across 10 countries in Asia, Europe and North America over the past two decades. Ten socio-demographic factors that increased or protected against health risk were identified: gender, age, education, marital status, household size, employment/occupation, income/ financial constraints, personal beliefs, health status, area of residence, and social relations. These studies addressed physical health, mortality, suicide and suicide attempts, mental health, and health behaviours. Women’s mental health appeared more susceptible to crises than men’s. Lower income levels were associated with greater increases in cardiovascular disease, mortality and worse mental health. Employment status was associated with changes in mental health. Associations with age, marital status, and education were less consistent, although higher education was associated with healthier behaviours. Conclusions Despite widespread rhetoric about the importance of resilience, there was a dearth of studies which operationalised resilience factors. Future conceptual and empirical research is needed to develop the epidemiology of resilience

Implementera MultifunC

Author: Una Hauksdóttir Title: Implementera MultifunC Tutor: Olle Frödin MultifunC is a treatment method for teenagers with serious behavior problems. The teenagers are in the ages 14 to 18 years old and are treated in an institution. MultifunC is located in different places in Norway and Sweden. The method is in an implementation process at one of the institutions in Sweden. The aim of my study was to investigate how the social workers experience the implementation process. To investigate this I used qualitative interviews with 5 of the social workers at this institution. In my results I found that the social workers all agreed to some factors that where obstacles for the implementation process. The obstacles where lack of time, lack of personal, non functional facilities and lack of following-up. Despise of the many obstacles the social workers still are positive to the MultifunC and are willing to continue to carry on with the implementation process

Defining best practices in the management of geothermal exploration data

International audienceThe objective of this work is to define best practices in the management of geothermal exploration data. This study builds on a questionnaire to survey the geothermal data management practices in mature geothermal markets. The inquiry targeted public Regulatory entities with overview of geothermal resources as well as public and private developers. Topics covered in the questionnaire range from the country status to the database set up. The questionnaire focused on the specifications, usage and investments required for installing/maintaining information systems capable of managing exploration data. In addition, information on the different regulatory frameworks and company policies for managing/sharing exploration data has been gathered to identify the requirements imposed on the design of information systems. The responses were analyzed to identify commonalities in data management practices. They reveal that installing an Information System (IS) is the best practice to systematically and securely manage exploration data. They also provide recommendations with respect to the regulatory framework, data types, data collection methodologies, data storage, data quality control, data accessibility and dissemination, IS architecture, financial investments and human resources required to develop a state-of-the art IS. These results will guide the design of future technical assistance programs for beneficiaries of World Bank support to geothermal exploration activities and it is our belief that they will be beneficial for the geothermal sector at large

Bankernas agerande - Hur har bankernas agerande påverkats av förändringarna i förmånsrättslagen?

Förmånsrättslagen förändrades per den 1 januari 2004 genom lag 2003:535. Avsikten med lagförändringen var att företagsrekonstruktioner skulle underlättas, konkurserna skulle bli färre och likabehandlingen av fordringsägare vid konkurssituationer skulle öka. Dessutom skulle kreditgivare genomföra bättre kreditprövning och kredituppföljning. Företagsinteckning innebär att näringsidkarens egendom bildar en säkerhet för kredit utan att den behöver överlämnas till kreditgivaren. Förmånsrätten för företagsinteckning ändrades vid införandet av den nya lagen. Företagsinteckning omfattas idag av allmän förmånsrätt med 55 % och är inte lika mycket värd som säkerhet med den nya lagstiftningen jämfört med den tidigare, som omfattades av särskild förmånsrätt med 100%. Avsikten med denna uppsats var att undersöka hur förändringarna i förmånsrättslagen påverkar bankernas agerande vid kreditgivning när företagen har företagsinteckning som säkerhet. Har bankernas kreditpolicy, kreditgivning, krav på säkerhet och uppföljning av befintliga krediter påverkats av den nya lagen? För att kunna besvara frågeställningen har vi utfört intervjuer med olika banker. Genom intervjuerna att analysera dessa intervjuer har vi kommit fram till att bankernas agerande har påverkats avsevärt av lagförändringen. Exempelvis har lagförändringen inneburit att bankerna numera fokuserar mer på återbetalningsförmågan samt att uppföljningen av befintliga krediter är tätare nu än tidigare