How women experience and cope with daily hassles after sexual abuse – a retrospective qualitative study

The impact of stress on health can depend on factors such as frequency, heightening of stress during a given period or the presence of one or a few repeated hassles of psychological importance. The aim of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of how adult women experience and cope with daily hassles after sexual abuse. Ten interviews were analysed using the grounded theory method. The theoretical model of ‘protecting armor in daily life’ emerged. The aftermath of sexual abuse related coping with daily stress can be understood as a three‐phase process: (1) avoiding and escaping—coping after experiencing sexual abuse; (2) accepting and disclosing—starting a process of recovery; and (3) reconciling and repossessing—living with the experience in the present. The model contributes to a deeper understanding of the everyday life of women who have experienced sexual abuse. Increased knowledge of coping behaviours that can be used to deal with daily hassles may also serve as a tool for health professionals, other helpers and family to help these women rebuild a good life.     

Echocardiographic assessment at rest and during stress in patients with intermittent claudication

Objective. Skeletal muscle perfusion during walking relies on complex interactions between cardiac activity and vascular control mechanisms, why cardiac dysfunction may contribute to intermittent claudication (IC) symptoms. The study aims were to describe cardiac function at rest and during stress in consecutive IC patients, to explore the relations between cardiac function parameters and treadmill performance, and to test the hypothesis that clinically silent myocardial ischemia during stress may contribute to IC limb symptomatology. Design. Patients with mild to severe IC (n?=?111, mean age 67 y, 52% females, mean treadmill distance 195 m) underwent standard echocardiography, dobutamine stress echocardiography (SE) and treadmill testing. The patient cohort was separated in two groups based on treadmill performance (HIGH and LOW performance). Results. Ten patients (9%) had regional wall motion abnormalities of which three had left ventricular ejection fraction <50% at standard echocardiography. A majority had lower than expected systolic- and diastolic ventricular volumes. LOW performers had smaller diastolic left ventricular volumes and lower global peak systolic velocity during dobutamine stress. No patient demonstrated significant cardiac dysfunction during dobutamine provocation that was not also evident at standard echocardiography. Conclusions. Most IC patients were without signs of ischemic heart disease or cardiac failure. The majority had small left ventricular volumes. The hypothesis that clinically silent myocardial ischemia impairing left ventricular function during stress may contribute to IC limb symptomatology was not supported.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01219842.     

Psychosocial reactions to upper extremity limb salvage: A case series

Study Design

Case series.

Stress Testing Versus CT Angiography in Patients With Diabetes and Suspected Coronary Artery Disease

Background

The optimal noninvasive test (NIT) for patients with diabetes and stable symptoms of coronary artery disease (CAD) is unknown.

Psychophysiological measures of stress in caregivers of individuals with autism spectrum disorder: a systematic review

Purpose: Parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often self-report heightened levels of stress and physical health problems. This paper reviewed studies assessing physiological measures of stress among parents of children with ASD.

Methods: Systematic database searches identified 15 studies meeting inclusion criteria. Studies were reviewed to determine: (a) control group characteristics; (b) caregiver and care recipient characteristics; (c) setting; (d) physiological measures employed; (e) physiological outcomes; and (f) stressor type. A measure of methodological quality was also applied.

Results: Salivary cortisol was the most common physiological measure employed. A pattern of blunted physiological activity emerged within the reviewed studies, though some studies reported normal or even higher physiological activity among this population.

Conclusions: Findings suggested dysfunction of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal-axis and autonomic nervous system for some, but not all, parents of children with ASD. Further research is warranted.     

Contribution to the rheological testing of pharmaceutical semisolids

Rheological behaviour of pharmaceutical semisolid preparations significantly affects manufacturing process, administration, stability, homogeneity of incorporated drug, accuracy of dosing, adhesion in the place of application, drug release, and resulting therapeutic effect of the product. We performed test of consistency by penetrometry, rotational, oscillation and creep tests, and squeeze and tack tests of model samples to introduce methods suitable for characterization and comparison of semisolids in practice. Penetrometry is a simple method allowing sorting the semisolids to low and high stress-resistant materials but deficient for rheological characterization of semisolids. Value of yield stress, generally considered to be appropriate feature of semisolids, is significantly influenced by the method of testing and the way of evaluation. The hysteresis loops of model semisolids revealed incomplete thixotropy, therefore, three-step thixotropy test was employed. Semisolids showed nonlinear response in the creep phase of tests and partial recovery of structure by storing energy in the recovery phase. Squeeze and tack tests seem to be convenient ways for comparison of semisolids. Our study can contribute to a better understanding of different flow behaviour of semisolids given by different physicochemical properties of excipients and can bring useful approaches to evaluation and comparison of semisolids in practice.     

Lycopene and resveratrol ameliorate zinc oxide nanoparticles-induced oxidative stress in Nile tilapia,Oreochromis niloticus

Industrial products contained nano-zinc oxide (ZnONP) can gain access to the aquaculture environment causing hazardous effects on the living biota. Therefore, this work was planned to examine the ameliorative effects of dietary supplementation of lycopene (LYC) and/or resveratrol (RES) against ZnONP toxicity in Nile tilapia. Five groups with 20 fish each were used; Control, received tap water only; ZnONP group, was intoxicated with ZnONP (50 mg/L); ZnONP-LYC group, was exposed to ZnONP and LYC (500 mg/ kg of the diet); ZnONP-RES group, was exposed to ZnONP and RES (50 mg/kg of the diet); ZnONP-LYC-RES group, was exposed to ZnONP and a combination of LYC and RES. The experiment was continued for 30 days. Fish blood and tissues were then assembled for determination of liver and kidney function and oxidative stress status in liver, kidney, and gills tissue. Results revealed a considerable elevation of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), cholesterol, urea, and creatinine with a noticeable lowering of total proteins and albumin serum levels in response to ZnONP intoxication. In addition, there were significant increase in malondialdehyde (MDA) and reduction in the reduced-glutathione (GSH) levels and superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities. However, treatment with LYC and/or RES ameliorated the ZnONP-inflicted oxidative stress which possibly attributed to their beneficial antioxidant activities.     

接受供精人工授精夫妇生育压力和生活质量研究

目的：调查接受供精人工授精（AID）夫妇的生育压力与生活质量，了解生育压力和生活质量的关系，为这些夫妇进行心理和生活质量干预时提供理论依据。方法：采用患者夫妇一般情况调查表、生育压力量表（FPI量表）和生活质量量表（FertiQoL量表）对北京大学第三医院2018年5—9月生殖中心门诊就诊的129对准备接受AID助孕的夫妇进行横断面调查，比较夫妇双方生育压力和生活质量的差异，分析生育压力和生活质量之间的关系。结果：接受AID的女性患者FPI总分为（159.00±17.52）分，FertiQoL总分为（62.27±9.26）分；男性配偶FPI总得分为（153.91±19.96）分，男性配偶FertiQoL总分为（65.12±11.62）分。女性FPI总分高于男性（t=2.436，P=0.016），女性无子女压力维度得分高于男性（t=3.145，P=0.002）。男性FertiQol总分高于女性（t=-2.881，P=0.005），女性情感反应维度得分高于男性（t=3.681，P=0.000），男性身心关系维度得分高于女性（t=-11.401，P=0.000）。Pearson 相关分析结果显示，接受AID助孕的女性FPI总分及性压力、夫妻关系、父母角色需求压力三个维度与其生活质量呈负相关（P＜0.05），接受AID男性配偶FPI总分和社会压力、性压力、夫妻关系维度、父母角色需求压力这4个维度与其生活质量呈负相关（P＜0.05）。多重线性回归显示，生育压力、居住地、文化程度是影响接受AID助孕女性患者生活质量的重要影响因素（F=3.485，R2=0.168，P＜0.05），生育压力、文化程度、家庭月收入是影响接受AID助孕男性配偶生活质量的重要影响因素（F=4.390，R2=0.203，P＜0.01）。结论：接受AID女性患者生育压力高于男性配偶，生活质量低于男性配偶；生育压力是影响AID夫妇生活质量的重要因素，夫妇双方生育压力越大，生活质量越低。     

Wnt/β-catenin links oxidative stress to podocyte injury and proteinuria

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