Feasibility of mobile mental wellness training for older adults

Mobile technology has been increasingly adopted in promotion of mental health among older people. This study assessed the feasibility of a mobile mental wellness training application for individual use and for group work from the perspectives of older adults and social care professionals. The older individuals recruited for the study were participants in a Circle of Friends group and family caregivers' peer support group offered by the communal senior services. The qualitative and quantitative results of interviews, questionnaires, observation, and application usage were reported. Seven older adults started using the application independently at home in parallel with the group activity. This study revealed new information regarding the barriers to the older adults' full adoption of such mobile technologies. The results indicated that there may be potential in the incorporation of mobile technologies in promotion of mental health of older people at group settings.     

Gastrointestinal findings in atopic children

36 children aged 0.13 to 13.05 years with severe manifestations of atopy were studied for circulating parietal cell antibodies (PCA), fasting serum gastrin and ferritin. Gastric acid secretion was measured using a pentagastrin test. In addition, 21 gastric and 28 jejunal biopsies were taken for evaluation of the mucosal morphology. In infants the gastric secretion studies were repeated after a three month hypoallergic diet.Maximal acid output (MAO) was significantly (P<0.01) diminished in atopic infants under one year of age. In this group one girl with transient PCA was achlorhydric and seven others were hypochlorhydric, as compared with controls of the same age. Acid secretion returned to normal in most children while on the elimination diet, and only two remained hypochlorhydric thereafter. The picture was more complex in the older children as some continued to exhibit hyposecretion in their second year of life, while others were even hyperchlorhydric. Epithelial degeneration, found in 13 out of the 21 samples, was the most striking feature in the gastric biopsies. Jejunal biopsies revealed increased eosinophilic infiltration of the lamina propria in 10 out of 28 diagnostic samples; two had slight and another two partial villous atrophy.It is concluded that in atopic children gastric hyposecretion and epithelial degeneration may promote the passage of unhandled food allergens through the jejunal mucosa, predisposing to more severe changes, as seen in cow's milk intolerance. Slight villous atrophy with eosinophilic infiltration and oedema of the lamina propria may cause mild absorption defects, growth and nutritional deficiencies in these children. Atopy should be considered as a possible aetiological factor in prolonged gastrointestinal disorders in infants.     

Cow's milk intolerance with melena

The clinical features, the results of gastric secretory function tests, and the duodenojejunal morphology of six infants (aged 0.42–1.23 years) with anemia and melena considered to be due to latent cow's milk intolerance (LCMI) were compared with the findings in nine infants (aged 0.19–0.87 years) with cow's milk-induced malabsorption (CMI). The infants with LCMI had a short period of breast feeding, normal weight gain without symptoms of malabsorption, and no atopic history. The maximal acid secretion was decreased (P<0.01) and the concentration of fasting serum gastrin raised (P<0.01) compared with the controls. Gastric biopsy revealed epithelial degeneration in three and erosion in one out of four samples.The duodenojejunal biopsy revealed slight changes in two samples, the others being normal. The number of eosinophils was increased in four out of six biopsies. Although the number of intraepithelial lymphocytes was increased in LCMI the rise was not as significant as in children with CMI (P<0.05).We conclude from our results that LCMI seems to be a separate clinical entity. The determination of fasting serum gastrin, maximal gastric acid secretion and intraepithelial lymphocytes on duodenojejunal biopsy appear to be helpful in making the diagnosis.     

Lymphatic abnormalities in Noonan's syndrome

Five boys who had Noonan's syndrome and lymphatic abnormalities are reported. The youngest boy had clinical lymphoedema and the other four showed dermal backflow after interdigital injection of Patent Blue indicating impairment of flow along the superficial lymphatics. One boy had severe bilateral chylothorax. The lymphographic findings in four of these boys are reported.     

Oral antipyretic therapy

The capacity of benorylate, an ester of acetylsalicylic acid and paracetamol, to reduce fever in children was compared with that of the components as such or as a combination. The series of cases studied consisted of 66 patients between the ages of 4 months and 12 years with rectal temperatures above 38.5 degrees C. Temperatures were recorded at 15 and 20 min and 1, 2, 4 and 6 hrs after the administration of the drug. The antipyretic effect of combined acetylsalicylic acid (11 mg/kg) and paracetamol (14 mg/kg) was superior to the effect of benorylate with a dose of 25 mg/kg and even of 50 mg/kg as well as better than the effect of either drug alone. Acetylsalicylic acid (10 mg/kg) and paracetamol (12.5 mg/kg) alone produced a significantly greater antipyretic effect than benorylate with a dose of 25 mg/kg. Given in a dose of 35--40 mg/kg, benorylate seems to have a significant antipyretic effect. However, this effect is clearly smaller than that of either of its components, acetylsalicylic acid or paracetamol. Therefore benorylate is probably not suitable to be used as a general antipyretic agent in children.     

Cerebrospinal fluid concentration and urinary excretion of cyclic adenosine-3′, 5′-monophosphate in various diseases of children

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) concentration and urinary excretion of cyclic adenosine-3′,5′-monophosphate (cAMP) were measured in children aged from 3 days to 15 years by the protein-binding method of Gilman (1970). The mean CSF cAMP concentration (22.4±0.6 (S.E.) nmol/l) of 24 “healthy” children tended to be lower (P<0.2) than that of adult patients who revealed no pathological findings on clinical examination. No difference in the results was found between the sexes. High cAMP concentrations were found in CSF of children suffering from cerebellar glioma, hypothalamic precocious puberty, bacterial meningitis, or Cushing's disease. The urinary excretion of cAMP varied from 0.2 to 5.3 in “healthy” and from 1.3 to 7.6 μmol/24 hrs in diseased children. Two children with pheochromocytoma showed a striking decrease in the rate of urinary excretion of the nucleotide after surgical treatment.     

Cholic acid,chenodeoxycholic acid,alpha-1-fetoprotein and alpha-1-antitrypsin serum concentrations in breast-fed infants with prolonged jaundice

Thirteen breast-fed one-month-old infants with prolonged jaundice not due to known causes were included in this study. All infants were investigated at one and twelve months of age. Serum concentrations of total (TB) and conjugated bilirubin (CB), aspartate (ASAT) and alanine aminotransferase (ALAT), alkaline phosphatase (AP), -1-antitrypsin (-1-AT), -1-fetoprotein (AFP) and the two primary bile acids; cholic (CA) and chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA) were determined at both ages. The Pi-phenotype of -1-AT was determined at the age of twelve months. The serum concentrations of TB, CB, AP and AFP were elevated at the age of one month but were normal at the age of twelve months. No changes in the serum concentrations of ASAT or ALAT were observed between one and twelve months of age, and the values were within the reference ranges. The serum concentrations of -1-AT were within the reference range at both ages. Two infants were heterozygous for MZ, and they had normal serum -1-AT concentrations. The serum concentrations of CA and CDCA were elevated at the age of one month and were still significantly elevated at the age of twelve months indicating that the infants had slight cholestasis at the age of one month, and that the cholestasis had largely subsided by the end of the first year of life.     

Accumulation and transfer of contaminants in killer whales (Orcinus orca) from Norway: indications for contaminant metabolism

Blubber tissue of one subadult and eight male adult killer whales was sampled in Northern Norway in order to assess the degree and type of contaminant exposure and transfer in the herring-killer whale link of the marine food web. A comprehensive selection of contaminants was targeted, with special attention to toxaphenes and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). In addition to assessing exposure and food chain transfer, selective accumulation and metabolism issues also were addressed. Average total polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) and pesticide levels were similar, approximately 25 microg/g lipid, and PBDEs were approximately 0.5 microg/g. This makes killer whales one of the most polluted arctic animals, with levels exceeding those in polar bears. Comparing the contamination of the killer whale's diet with the diet of high-arctic species such as white whales reveals six to more than 20 times higher levels in the killer whale diet. The difference in contaminant pattern between killer whales and their prey and the metabolic index calculated suggested that these cetaceans have a relatively high capacity to metabolize contaminants. Polychlorinated biphenyls, chlordanes, and dichlorodiphenyldichloro-ethylene (DDE) accumulate to some degree in killer whales, although toxaphenes and PBDEs might be partly broken down.     

Experience with non-ketotic hyperglycinaemia in Finland

The extent of hydroxylation of proline in collagen synthesized and secreted into the culture medium by skin fibroblasts derived from a patient with prolidase deficiency has been examined and found to be normal. It would seem likely that to a considerable extent the urinary proline-containing dipeptides apparent in this condition are derived from sources other than collagen.