How Do Avalanche Dogs (and Their Handlers) Cope with Physical Exercise? Heart Rate Changes during Endurance in a Snowy Environment

This study aimed to assess the heart rate (HR) responses of avalanche SAR dogs and handlers under working field conditions. Thirteen SAR units (dogs and handlers) performed an exercise (Endurance) consisting of approximately 5.5 km of rough tracks through deep snow, at an altitude of 1991–2250 m.a.s.l. The exercise was repeated twice for each of the two different tracks. Both handlers and dogs were equipped with a global positioning satellite/heart rate (GPS/HR) system (Polar®). Multivariable models were used to evaluate the effects of environmental (i.e., gradient, altitude, track, and time) and intrinsic (i.e., speed, repetition, and breed) factors on changes from baseline HR (Δ%HR). The dog’s Δ%HR was greater in the flat and uphill compared with downhill, and increased progressively as the speed increased (p < 0.001). Moreover, it rose at altitudes above 2100 m.a.s.l. and peaked after 30 min of the Endurance activity (p < 0.01). These findings indicated that HR monitors could be a valuable tool to contribute to the evaluation of avalanche dogs’ fitness in their real working environment. In contrast, the lack of correlation between the dogs’ and handlers’ HR changes suggests that handlers might not perceive the physical conditions of their dog in real-time. Thus, implementing protocols to monitor avalanche SAR dogs’ fitness using a GPS/HR monitoring system could help handlers to tailor the training and workload and to detect the risk factors for physical distress of working dogs.

Pathological Mechanisms and Preventive Strategies of Oxaliplatin-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy

Oxaliplatin, which is widely used in treating cancers such as colorectal cancer, frequently causes peripheral neuropathy. It not only significantly reduces the patient's quality of life due to physical distress but may also result in a change or discontinuation of cancer treatment. Oxaliplatin-induced peripheral neuropathy (OIPN) is classified as acute or chronic depending on the onset time of side effects; however, the prevention and treatment of OIPN has not been established. As these peripheral neuropathies are side effects that occur due to treatment, the administration of effective prophylaxis can effectively prevent their onset. Although transient relief of symptoms such as pain and numbness enable the continuation of cancer treatment, it may result in the worsening of peripheral neuropathy. Thus, understanding the pathological mechanisms of OIPN and finding better preventative measures are important. This review focuses on animal models to address these issues, clarifies the pathological mechanisms of OIPN, and summarizes various approaches to solving OIPN, including targets for preventing OIPN.

A Qualitative Study of Adolescents’ Experiences of Distress and Well-Being during Intensive Mindfulness Practice

ObjectivesIn recent years mindfulness has gone mainstream, reaching many adolescents through school programs and smartphone applications. Yet there is little empirical understanding of what mindfulness practice is like for adolescents. This qualitative study sought to capture adolescents’ lived experiences as they embarked on a period of intensive mindfulness practice.MethodsThis multi-method qualitative study involved 23 self-selected youth (Mage = 16.35 years, SD = 1.58, 57% girls, 52% White) who participated in a six-day residential mindfulness retreat. Participants wrote reflections about their mindfulness practice each night of the retreat and discussed their experiences in focus groups immediately after the retreat. Data were analyzed using a two-cycle coding process to categorize common patterns of adolescents’ experiences into conceptually meaningful categories. ResultsAdolescents reported an array of experiences of distress from cognitive (83% of adolescents; e.g., self-loathing and rumination), to emotional (87% of adolescents; e.g., sadness), to physical distress (44% of adolescents; e.g., physical pain) during mindfulness training. They also described a range of well-being experiences from cognitive (87% of adolescents; e.g., self-inquiry and discovery), to emotional (65% of adolescents; e.g., acceptance), to social well-being (39% of adolescents; e.g., loving-kindness and connection). Experiences of distress and well-being were relatively balanced overall, yet girls and experienced meditators reported greater distress.ConclusionsThis study paints a descriptive picture of adolescents’ experiences during mindfulness practice and suggests that their experiences during mindfulness might reflect core developmental concerns. Implications for developmental science and adolescent-informed mindfulness training programs are discussed.

Sandwich Generation Caregiving Among Baby Boomer and Generation X Caregivers in the United States

Sandwich generation caregivers are generally those who care for both a child and an older adult. Baby Boomer and Generation X belong to this age cohort. Using data from the 2015-2018 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Caregiver Module, we compared the prevalence and characteristics of sandwich caregivers across these two generations. Data represent adults from 44 jurisdictions. We categorized caregivers into generations using their age at the time of the survey (N=34,777). Sandwich caregivers were classified as those who lived with a child (≤18 years) and provided care/assistance to a parent/grandparent with a long-term illness/disability during the past 30 days. Prevalence ratios (PR) from log-binomial regression models that included generation, sandwich caregiver status, sex, and race/ethnicity were used to compare weighted estimates. Six percent of Baby Boomers and 31% of Generation X were sandwich caregivers (p&lt;0.001). In adjusted models, sandwich caregivers had a lower prevalence of any chronic health condition (PR=0.77, p=0.01) and fair/poor health (PR=0.87, p=0.003) than other caregivers, but similar frequent mental and physical distress prevalence. Baby Boomer caregivers were more likely to report a chronic health condition, fair/poor health, and frequent physical distress than their Generation X counterparts, but less likely to report frequent mental distress. Sandwich caregivers in these generations appear to be in better health than other caregivers. Nonetheless, it is critical to support the needs of sandwich caregivers as they age, given their important role in meeting the needs of both children and older adults and the additional challenges created by the pandemic.

Sentiment Analysis and Deep Learning Based Cyber Bullying Detection in Twitter Dataset

When somebody, usually a teenager, abuses or harasses individual on the internet and other digital places, mainly on social networking platforms, this is termed as cyberbullying. Cyberbullying, like all types of bullying, produces psychological, emotional, and physical distress. Every individual's reaction to being bullied is diverse, but research has discovered certain common patterns. In a recent study, we introduced a technique called Hybrid Firefly Artificial Neural Networks (HFANN) to combat cyberbullying. Nevertheless, without considering the sentiment analysis features, accuracy of cyber bullying identification is lowered in this study. The Sentiment Analysis and Deep Learning based Cyber Bullying Detection (SADL-CDD) approach is used in the suggested research approach to address this issue. The punctuations, urls, html tags, and emoticons from the input tweet comments are removed first in this study project. Sentiment feature extraction is performed after pre-processing to improve classification accuracy. The Modified Fruit Fly Algorithm (MFFA) is used to choose the best features from the extracted features. Following feature selection, cyber bullying detection is carried out using a Hybrid Recurrent Residual Convolutional Neural Network (HRecRCNN). The experimental outcome of this study indicates the efficiency of the suggested approach. In comparison to current algorithms, the SADL-CDD method delivers improved classification performance with respect to reduced time complexity, greater precision, recall, f-measure, and accuracy.

Brace treatment for patients with scoliosis: State of the art

Background: Physiotherapy, brace applications or surgery are the treatment options utilised to manage patients with scoliosis. Many different brace applications are used, and the success rates of orthoses vary.Objectives: Brace applications can have detrimental impacts on the patient leading to physical discomfort, psychological discomfort, and in some instance the use of braces may even be painful. Therefore, future developments in this field should be aimed at improving the success rate and reducing physical distress experienced by the patient while using brace applications. The purpose of this article is to provide recommendations with respect to the most appropriate bracing approach in general.Method: A narrative review of the scientific literature was carried out to substantiate the statements made in this article.Results: The most important braces provided for the treatment of patients with scoliosis and the treatment results that can be achieved are presented and discussed, taking into account the most recent systematic reviews. A wide range of success rates have been found for the different brace applications.Conclusion: Given that brace application may impact the patient leading to physical discomfort and psychological distress, good quality management in brace application for patients with scoliosis is needed to ensure the best possible outcome and the least stressful management.Clinical implications: Safety in brace application for patients with scoliosis needs improvement. The use of standardised and reliable computer aided design (CAD) libraries and appropriate patient information based on published guidelines is suggested.

The COVID-19 Pandemic and nursing challenges: A review of the early literature

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has put health systems under unprecedented pressure, challenging their workforce, especially nurses. OBJECTIVE: The current paper presented a review of the early literature concerning emerging nursing challenges during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: A systematic search of the published literature between January and May 2020 was carried out in Medline, Science Direct, and Google Scholar to identify relevant quantitative and qualitative studies. RESULTS: Twenty-two original articles were retrieved, the majority of which were survey studies from China. Synthesis of the evidence resulted in four overarching themes including “being physically and mentally drained in the face of fear and uncertainty,” “shortage of personal protective equipment and usability issues,” “psychosomatic disturbances among nurses,” and “moderators to mitigate nurses’ challenges.” CONCLUSIONS: Providing care for demanding COVID-19 patients, nurses experienced a gruelling situation, during which a significant amount of psychological and physical distress was inflicted to them. However, receiving proper support from their organization and society could improve the condition substantially. Further research is required to explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on nurses, especially from Western countries.

SELF-EFFICIENCY AND ATTITUDE TO OWN GIFT AT TEENAGERS

Self-efficacy is considered in psychology as a predictor of success and high achievements. The study of self-efficacy, as well as factors related to it, self-reliance, activity and communication gifted teenagers is a relevant and underdeveloped topic. Our study involved 422 gifted adolescents aged 15-17 with mathematical, humanitarian, sports, leadership, and natural science talents. Methodological tools have been chosen methodology M. Madduks and D. Scheer in adaptation L.V. Boyarintseva and R.L. Krichevsky, and a questionnaire to study the attitude of adolescents to own giftedness. According to the results of the study, normative values for adolescence were obtained on self-efficacy scales. The factors characterizing the attitude of adolescents to giftedness were described: giftedness as a resource for achieving social success; the risk of social deprivation among peers; motivational-volitional regulation as a resource of high achievements; confidence in one's own giftedness; experience of competitions as a condition of high achievements; self-realization in a reference environment; risk of physical distress. Differences in self-efficacy were identified in adolescents with different types of giftedness. The practical significance of the results lies in the possibility of their use in the development and implementation of programs of psychological and pedagogical support of teenagers.

Interim Analysis of Attrition Rates in Palliative Care Study on Dignity Therapy

A routine threat to palliative care research is participants not completing studies. The purpose of this analysis was to quantify attrition rates mid-way through a palliative care study on Dignity Therapy and describe the reasons cited for attrition. Enrolled in the study were a total of 365 outpatients with cancer who were receiving outpatient specialty palliative care (mean age 66.7 ± 7.3 years, 56% female, 72% White, 22% Black, 6% other race/ethnicity). These participants completed an initial screening for cognitive status, performance status, physical distress, and spiritual distress. There were 76 eligible participants who did not complete the study (58% female, mean age 67.9 ± 7.3 years, 76% White, 17% Black, and 7% other race). Of those not completing the study, the average scores were 74.5 ± 11.7 on the Palliative Performance Scale and 28.3 ± 1.5 on the Mini-Mental Status Examination, whereas 22% had high spiritual distress scores and 45% had high physical distress scores. The most common reason for attrition was death/decline of health (47%), followed by patient withdrawal from the study (21%), and patient lost to follow-up (21%). The overall attrition rate was 24% and within the a priori projected attrition rate of 20%-30%. Considering the current historical context, this interim analysis is important because it will serve as baseline data on attrition prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Future research will compare these results with attrition throughout the rest of the study, allowing analysis of the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the study attrition.