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Psychiatric Morbidity among Elderly People Living in Old Age Homes and in the Community: A Comparative Study
No full textBackground: Disorders such as depression, anxiety, cognitive and psychotic disorders have a high prevalence among elderly. There is some preliminary evidence that life in old age homes is perceived by inmates as more supportive, though the issue is not well studied. Aim: This project is directed towards studying and comparing the psychiatric morbidity and quality of life of elderly people residing in two unique settings: community and old age homes. Method: It is a cross-sectional study where the elderly subjects, 50 each in both the groups, were selected by simple random sampling technique and assessed on Mini Mental Status Examination (MMSE), Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in Elderly (IQCODE), Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) and Quality of life visual analogue scale. Result: On comparison using suitable statistical analysis, there was no significant difference in the total scores on MMSE, IQCODE and quality of life scale across the groups. Depression was present in 22% of people in the community and 36% of old age home inmates. Psychosis was present in 26% of people in the community and 20% of old age home inmates. Conclusion: The psychiatric morbidity is high in elderly irrespective of the setting in which they live
Immunization of Children in a Rural Area of North Kashmir, India: A KAP Study.
No full textBackground: Knowledge, attitude and practices about immunization among mothers of children aged 1-2 years was assessed. Method: 300 mothers were administered a semi-structured questionnaire at PHC Hajan from 1st march to 1st may 2011 to elicit the information about the knowledge, attitude and practices of the mothers regarding immunization. Results: 100% of mothers knew that vaccination is beneficial and protects their children from diseases. 39% knew OPV protects from polio while only 1% were aware of protective role of BCG. All mothers knew about immunization in pregnancy but 86% were unaware about its preventive role. 26% mothers believed that 3 doses of T.T (tetanus toxoid) are to be given during pregnancy. Whereas 98% of children were completely immunized, 93% completed on schedule. Eighty percent of mothers reported of fever following DPT. All mothers had received tetanus toxoid during pregnancy. Conclusion: Considering mothers' poor knowledge and good attitude, health education on immunization is emphasized to improve their practices
Minimization of Illness Absenteeism in Primary School Students Using Low-Cost Hygiene Interventions
No full textObjective: Safe water and hygiene intervention was evaluated to assess its impact on students’ health, hygiene practices and reduction in illness absenteeism in primary school students. Method: After evaluatingprimary schools of Amravati district; 50 students with high enteric illness absenteeism were selected for study. Families with problem of in-house water contamination were provided earthen pot with tap for water storage and soap for hand washing at school and home. Household drinking waters (before and after intervention) were analyzed for potability. Results: By adopting correct water storage (water container with tap), handling and hand washing practices found to improve health and reduction in 20% illness absenteeism in school. Promoting these interventions and improvement in water-behavioral practices prevented in-house-water contamination. Conclusion: These low cost intervention (water storage container with tap) promises to reducing school absenteeism by minimizing risk of transmission of enteric infections by promoting water and student hygiene
Morbidity following Surgical Management of Vulval Cancer.
No full textThe objective of this study was to know the complications following vulvectomy and inguinofemoral lymphadenectomy including the time taken to complete wound healing. 42 patients who were subjected to either radical or modified radical vulvectomy for primary and inguinofemoral lymphadenectomy (80 groins) for groin metastases were analysed retrospectively. The complications analysed were wound breakdown, wound cellulitis or infection, lymphocyst, limb edema and the time to wound healing. In a total of 80 inguinofemoral lymphadenectomies 55% had wound breakdown, 17.5% had wound infection/cellulitis, lymphocyst in 31%, limb edema in 36% and time taken for complete wound healing ranged from 10-134 (average 46 days). Overall post operative morbidity was 85%
Wilms Tumour with Intracardiac Extension.
No full textWilms tumour or nephroblastoma is the most common renal tumour of in children. It accounts for 6% of all pediatric tumours and is the second most frequent intrabdominal solid organ tumour in children. Inferior vena cava (IVC) involvement by Wilms tumour occurs in 4-10% of patients and right atrium thrombus extension in less than 1%. Using a multidisciplinary approach, overall survival is excellent in Wilms tumour. We are presenting this case because Wilms tumour with right atrial thrombus is relatively rare and continues to remain a challenge for treating physicians
Teoria della Mente in preadolescenti e adolescenti: Una valutazione multicomponenziale
No full textLa teoria della mente (ToM) è l’abilità di attribuire stati mentali a se stes-si e agli altri e utilizzare questa conoscenza per prevedere e spiegare le azioni e i comportamenti che ne conseguono (Premack e Woodruff, 1978).\ud
Evidenze empiriche nella letteratura della psicologia dello sviluppo (Wimmer e Perner, 1983; Perner e Wimmer, 1985), nel dominio delle neuro-scienze (Vogeley et al., 2001; Sebastian et al., 2012) e studi teorici (Nichols e Stich, 2003; Tirassa Bosco e Colle, 2006), hanno mostrato la natura comples-sa della ToM: tale abilità non sembra esser riducibile a una funzione cogniti-va unitaria, ma è possibile identificare al suo interno differenti componenti.\ud
In primo luogo, la ToM si articola in differenti livelli di complessità di ragionamento: ToM di I ordine, che si riferisce all'abilità di inferire pensieri e intenzioni di un'altra persona e la ToM di II ordine, che richiede l'abilità di gestire rappresentazioni mentali più complesse, ovvero di inferire cosa un'al-tra persona pensi di un terzo individuo. I dati in letteratura mostrano che i bambini sono in grado di risolvere compiti di ToM di I ordine a partire dall'e-tà di tre/quattro anni (Wimmer e Perner, 1983) e che a sette anni siano in gra-do di ragionare su credenze di II ordine (Perner e Wimmer, 1985).\ud
Inoltre, la ToM comprende le abilità di ragionamento su diversi tipi di stati mentali, come credenze e desideri (Bartsch e Wellman, 1989) che pos-sono essere relativi a se stessi (ToM in I persona) o agli altri (ToM in III per-sona) (Vogeley et al., 2001). Nichols e Stich (2003) affermano che la com-prensione della I e della III persona sono attività distinte mediate da processi cognitivi differenti e ricerche in campo neuroscientifico (Abu-Akel, 2003; Vogeley e Fink, 2003) supportano questa posizione, mostrando il coinvolgi-mento di circuiti differenti per la prospettiva della ToM in I e III persona.\ud
Le ricerche sulla ToM si sono concentrate tradizionalmente sui bambini in età prescolare e scolare e sono invece pochi gli studi sullo sviluppo di que-sta abilità in preadolescenza e adolescenza. Tuttavia, lo sviluppo della ToM in preadolescenza e adolescenza è una tematica di rilievo dal momento che questa fase dello sviluppo è caratterizzata da marcati cambiamenti compor-tamentali, ormonali e fisici (Coleman e Hendry, 1999) e dal miglioramento in processi cognitivi, come le funzioni esecutive, che sembrano essere correlate con lo sviluppo della ToM (Dumontheil et al., 2010).\ud
I pochi studi in letteratura su questo argomento mostrano che durante l'a-dolescenza le abilità di ragionamento in I e III persona migliorano con l'età (Hatcher et al., 1990) e che si assiste a un incremento delle abilità di conside-rare il punto di vista di un altro dall'infanzia all'adolescenza, sino a un ulterio-re perfezionamento nell'età adulta (Dumontheil et al., 2010).\ud
Il presente lavoro fornisce un assessment completo dei diversi aspetti che compongono la ToM in un campione di ragazzi preadolescenti e adolescenti, attraverso l’utilizzo dell’intervista semi-strutturata Theory of Mind Asses-sment Scale (Th.o.m.a.s.; Bosco et al, 2006; 2009a; 2009)
Biases in the relationship between dream threats and level of anxiety upon awakening
No full textObjectives:\ud
Controlling report length in dream content analysis comprises a significant methodological problem. Individual differences occur in report length which can influence category coding and rating scales. Differences are also found in dream content by sex and age. The aim of this study is to determine the bias of certain variables in dream content analysis when using rating scales, coding systems and questionnaires. As such, an evaluation was performed of the bias of these variables on the relationship between anxiety upon awakening, social threats (ST) and terrifying threats (TT) established in a previous study.\ud
Methods: The sample consisted of 215 dreams collected in dreamers' homes (63 belonged to men and 152 to women). The dreamer's level of anxiety upon awakening was assessed with the CEAD. The level of social and terrifying threats in the content of the dreams was also assessed. Other variables entered into the analysis were sex, age, dream length, number of hours before answering the questionnaire, number of hours' sleep and the frequency with which the dreamer suffers nightmares.\ud
Results:\ud
Use of the Mann Whitney U found significant differences by sex in the dreamer's nightmare frequency (z=-2.53 p=.011), in terrifying threats in the dream (z=-2.03 p= .042) and by dream time (z=-2.51 p=.012). The Spearman Rho correlation coefficient indicated a positive relationship between anxiety upon awakening and nightmare frequency (Rho=.26 p<.001). Social and terrifying threats were also positively correlated with word count and the number of dream characters (Rho=.37 p<.001, Rho=.17 p=.010). Both anxiety upon awakening and social and terrifying threats were negatively correlated with the age of the dreamer (RhoCEAD-AGE=-.20 p=.006, RhoST-AGE=-.30 p<.001, RhoTT-AGE=-.37 p<.001). Possible biases due to sex, age, word count and the number of characters were statistically controlled by means of partial correlation. Through the use of partial correlations, the significance between anxiety upon awakening, social threats and terrifying threats in the dream was observed to be maintained (rCEAD-TS=.17 p=.025, rCEAD-TT=.19 p=.011).\ud
Conclusion:\ud
The sex, age of the dreamer, the report word count and the number of dream characters must be controlled in research into dream content. In addition, after eliminating these biases, a significant relationship was confirmed between threats which appear in the dream and the dreamer's level of anxiety upon awakening
Only Friends, Despite the Rumors: Philosophy of Mind's Consciousness and Intentionality
No full textBeing evasive as it is, philosophers have often tried to do without consciousness. Despite this, it has played a key role in the endeavours of philosophy of mind, as witnessed by its reputation as a "mark of the mental" and works of philosophers like John Searle and Daniel Dennett. Intentionality has shared a similar role, such that one and the other have often been brought together in a symbiotic relationship (Searle 1990) or deemed coextensive (Crane 1998).\ud
Such promiscuity is not necessary. The revolution brought about by embodied and situated approaches seem to leave little place for such an association. Intentionality is seldom studied in the new paradigm, and when it is, new models of it are applicable to biological and robotic structures which, by most accounts, probably have no consciousness (Millikan 1984, Menary 2006). Menary (2009) also notes that the same could be said of scholastic accounts of intentionality. On the other hand, consciousness is being studied and various ways which do not involve intentionality or anything similar.\ud
I suggest that the association between these two notions has to do with the particular intellectual environment that prevailed in traditional philosophy of mind. Considerations about access and the good fortune of cognitivism, among other factors, made for a culture that emphasized the gap between behaviour on one hand and the the mental states that characterize us when we are in a disposition to cause behaviour on the other. In such conditions, concepts like intentionality and consciousness acted as bridge and allowed for a language which enabled accounts of the mind that remained somewhat comprehensive and unified, while leaving the gap unfilled. As they were covering the most problematic and elusive parts of our understanding of the mind, there was both enough similarity in the ways we used those concepts, and enough vagueness in how we accounted for their realization in physical systems, to make a rapprochement inevitable.\ud
When a new paradigm swept away the cognitivist conception of representation, some philosophers and cognitive scientists turned to more embodied and situated models of cognition. Representations in this paradigm (such as Millikan’s (1995) and Clark’s (1997)) are “action-oriented”, thus leaving no gap between action and representation – getting an account of the complex representations that we communicate in propositions is thus seen as a matter of empirical investigation. If there is no gap, concepts like intentionality and consciousness are called to play different roles in accounts of the mind – roles which do not permit any confusion.\ud
The poster will highlight relevant differences in the philosophical climate as they project themselves in accounts of representation (following Gallagher 2008), and make salient the link between this climate and the role of cognition in philosophy of mind
Turing Test, Chinese Room Argument, Symbol Grounding Problem. Meanings in Artificial Agents
No full textThe Turing Test (TT), the Chinese Room Argument (CRA), and the Symbol Grounding Problem (SGP) are about the question “can machines think?”. We propose to look at that question through the capability for Artificial Agents (AAs) to generate meaningful information like humans. We present TT, CRA and SGP as being about generation of human-like meanings and analyse the possibility for AAs to generate such meanings. We use for that the existing Meaning Generator System (MGS) where a system submitted to a constraint generates a meaning in order to satisfy its constraint. Such system approach allows comparing meaning generation in animals, humans and AAs. The comparison shows that in order to design AAs capable of generating human-like meanings, we need the possibility to transfer human constraints to AAs. That requirement raises concerns coming from the unknown natures of life and human consciousness which are at the root of human constraints. Corresponding implications for the TT, the CRA and the SGP are highlighted. The usage of the MGS shows that designing AAs capable of thinking and feeling like humans needs an understanding about the natures of life and human mind that we do not have today. Following an evolutionary approach, we propose as a first entry point an investigation about extending life to AAs in order to design AAs carrying a “stay alive” constraint.\ud
Ethical concerns are raised from the relations between human constraints and human values.\ud
Continuations are proposed
Successful Intra-peritoneal Antibiotic Therapy for Primary Abdominal Nocardiosis in an Immunocompetent Young Female Masquerading as Carcinoma Ovary
No full textNocardiosis is a common opportunistic infection in the immunocompromised and in patients with chronic debilitating diseases,e.g continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) patients. Primary abdominal nocardiosis is rare and is indeed a very rare infection in immunocompetent persons. Only two cases have been reported in immunocompetent patients so far and this may be third case to the best of our knowledge and first in India. About 11 cases have been reported in CAPD patients and AIDS patients.We report a case of Nocardiosis in an immunocompetent young female who presented with an abdomino-pelvic mass masquerading as carcinoma ovary.After initial resistance to various antibiotics, she responded to intraperitoneal and oral linezolid and oral ciprofloxacin