The COVID-19 pandemic imposed a psychological burden on people worldwide, including fear and anxiety. Older adults are considered more vulnerable during public health emergency crises. Therefore, the ...aim of the present study was to investigate the psychological response of older adults during the acute phase of the pandemic in Greece.
This cross-sectional study was part of a larger three-day online survey. A total of 103 participants over the age of 60 fulfilled inclusion criteria. The survey included sociodemographic questions and six psychometric scales: the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S), the Brief Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) depression scale, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7), the Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS), the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale (IUS-12), and the De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale (JGLS).
A significant proportion of the participants reported moderate to severe depressive symptoms (81.6%), moderate to severe anxiety symptoms (84.5%), as well as disrupted sleep (37.9%). Women reported significantly higher levels of COVID-19-related fear, more severe depressive symptoms and sleep disturbances, as well as higher levels of intolerance of uncertainty. Participants living alone showed higher levels of loneliness. Intolerance of uncertainty was shown to modulate levels of loneliness.
During the quarantine, attention was promptly drawn upon the risks related with older people's loneliness. Studies identifying factors that may contribute to loneliness during a public health emergency facilitate the implementation of supportive interventions. Preparedness to address and manage older people's loneliness may limit this deleterious emotional response during the pandemic, as well as at the post-COVID-19 phase.
Objective: Our aim was to investigate exposure to polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in a young urban population in a developing country, with focus on potentially highly exposed children working ...informally as scrap scavengers at a large municipal waste disposal site. We also set out to investigate whether hydroxylated metabolites, which not hitherto have been found retained in humans, could be detected. Methods: We assessed PBDEs in pooled serum samples obtained in 2002 from children 11-15 years of age, working and sometimes also living at the municipal waste disposal site in Managua, and in nonworking urban children. The influence of fish consumption was evaluated in the children and in groups of women 15-44 years of age who differed markedly in their fish consumption. Hydroxylated PBDEs were assessed as their methoxylated derivates. The chemical analyses were performed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, using authentic reference substances. Results: The children living and working at the waste disposal site showed very high levels of medium brominated diphenyl ethers. The levels observed in the referent children were comparable to contemporary observations in the United States. The exposure pattern was consistent with dust being the dominating source. The children with the highest PBDE levels also had the highest levels of hydroxylated metabolites. Conclusions: Unexpectedly, very high levels of PBDEs were found in children from an urban area in a developing country. Also, for the first time, hydroxylated PBDE metabolites were found to bioaccumulate in human serum.
Snake envenomation is a major neglected tropical disease, lacking data in many countries including Cyprus, a Mediterranean island inhabited by the medically important blunt-nosed viper (Macrovipera ...lebetina). Reviewing the 2013-2019 period, we present first-time epidemiological snakebite data in the Republic of Cyprus.
We obtained data on snake envenomation-related hospital admissions from the Ministry of Health, and population and rainfall data from the Statistical Service of Cyprus and Department of Meteorology websites. Human-viper conflict information was acquired from interviews with 12 representatives of Cypriot institutions.
Between 2013 and 2019, 288 snake envenomation cases were admitted to public hospitals, averaging 41 people annually. The minimum was 29 cases (2017) and the maximum was 58 (2015). Snake envenomation incidence increased from 4.55 per 100,000 population (2013) to 6.84 (2015), but remained low since 2017 (3.49 in 2019). Between 2000 and 2018, the deaths of one man (73 years), and indirectly, one woman (77 years), were related to snake envenomation. While 266 cases (92%) happened between April and October (the blunt-nosed viper activity period), most envenomations occurred in September (cumulative for 2013-2019), with 88 cases (31%). Snakebite incidence peaked in the 60-69 years age group (9.19 per 100,000 population), and was higher in males (6.85) than in females (2.82). Of all admitted patients, 242 (84%) were discharged within 4 days. Mean hospital stay duration was 2.65 days, with one case of 13 days. Most patients were admitted to the general hospitals in Paphos (51%), Limassol (30%) and Nicosia (11%), which provide secondary healthcare, with the last one providing tertiary healthcare.
Snakebite-related deaths are very rare in the Republic of Cyprus. Most envenomation cases happened in late summer (September). Short hospital stays indicate mostly non-severe clinical courses. The hospital admission data suggest that snake envenomation risk is highest in Paphos district. The statistical data hint at males and middle- to older-aged people being at highest risk, whereas from our interview data we assume that outdoor workers are at higher risk than other occupational groups.
Methoxylated polybrominated diphenyl ethers (MeO-PBDEs) and hydroxylated PBDEs (OH-PBDEs) have recently been identified in fish and wildlife from the Baltic Sea. Both OH-PBDEs and MeO-PBDEs are known ...natural products, while OH-PBDEs also may be metabolites of PBDEs. The aim of the present study was to determine if the red macroalga Ceramium tenuicorne could be a source for MeO- and OH-PBDEs in the Baltic environment. Blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) from the same area were also investigated for their content of MeO- and OH-PBDEs. Seven OH-PBDEs and four MeO-PBDEs were present both in the red macroalga and the blue mussels. The mussels also contained a monochlorinated OH-tetraBDE. One of the compounds, 6-methoxy-2,2‘,3,4,4‘,5-hexabromodiphenyl ether, has never been reported to occur in the environment. The identification was based on comparison of relative retention times with reference standards, on two gas chromatographic columns of different polarities, together with comparisons of full-scan electron capture negative ionization (ECNI) and electron ionization (EI) mass spectra. It is shown that MeO-PBDEs and OH-PBDEs are present in algae, but at this stage it could not be confirmed if the compounds are produced by the alga itself or by its associated microflora and/or microfauna.
Faeces from day 1–5 of orally administered 2,2′,4,4′-tetrabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-47) in rat have been analysed for hydroxylated metabolites. Six hydroxylated tetrabrominated diphenyl ethers, as ...well as three hydroxylated tribrominated diphenyl ethers found, were structurally identified. They were 2′-hydroxy-2,4,4′-tribromodiphenyl ether, 3′-hydroxy-2,4,4′-tribromodiphenyl ether, 4′-hydroxy-2,2′,4-tribromodiphenyl ether, 6-hydroxy-2,2′,4,4′-tetrabromodiphenyl ether, 2′-hydroxy-2,3′,4,4′-tetrabromodiphenyl ether, 3-hydroxy-2,2′,4,4′-tetrabromodiphenyl ether, 5-hydroxy-2,2′,4,4′-tetrabromodiphenyl ether, 4′-hydroxy-2,2′,4,5′-tetrabromodiphenyl ether and 4-hydroxy-2,2′,3,4′-tetrabromodiphenyl ether. The analysis was performed using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). The identification of the hydroxylated polybrominated diphenyl ether (OH-PBDE) metabolites in the rat faeces was supported by similar relative retention times (RRTs) versus 2,2′,3,4,4′,5-hexabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-138) on two columns of different polarities compared to the authentic references. The identification of the OH-PBDE metabolites was also supported by full scan electron ionisation mass spectra. Two of the identified OH-PBDE metabolites have identical structures as natural products, which previously have been isolated from marine sponges and an ascidian.
Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are ubiquitous environmental contaminants due to their use as flame retardants. Similarly to PCBs, the PBDEs are metabolized to hydroxylated metabolites ...(OH-PBDEs) in mammals. In the present study equimolar doses of seven environmentally relevant PBDE congeners were given intraperitoneally as a mixture to rats, and their blood plasma was analyzed for parent compounds and hydroxylated metabolites 1 and 5 days after dosing. Sixteen OH-PBDEs and two diOH-PBDEs were detected as PBDE metabolites in the rat plasma, a novel finding. Four OH-tetraBDEs were structurally identified by comparison (gas chromatography/mass spectrometry) with authentic reference standards. The position of the hydroxyl groups was suggested according to the mass spectrometric fragmentation patterns of the corresponding PBDE methyl ether derivatives. The OH-PBDE metabolites were dominated by hydroxyl groups in the meta- and para-positions. The results show that OH-PBDE congeners have an ability to be retained in rat blood, most likely by a mechanism similar to that of OH-PCBs. The results will be useful for determination of the origin of OH-PBDEs present in wildlife and in humans, since OH-PBDEs are also common natural products in marine environments.
Research shows that mental health-related stigma, stereotypes, and prejudices have a negative impact on the patients themselves as well as on their families and social entourage. Healthcare ...professionals, whose expertise and professional ethos are historically acknowledged by public opinion, are expected to play a major role in combating discrimination against psychiatric patients. In this study, we aimed to assess the attitudes of Greek healthcare professionals toward mental illness and people suffering from it.
It is a non-interventional, analytic study, in which 479 health workers from a tertiary hospital in Thessaloniki, Greece, participated. Every single hospital service -except the personnel of the Psychiatric Clinic- was included in our study: from the cleaning service to the administrative staff and the auxiliary staff such as stretcher carriers, food and nutrition services' staff, and social workers, the nursing staff, and finally the attending physicians, taking into consideration that the psychiatric patient, from the moment he/she enters the hospital, consecutively gets in contact with every work grade of the healthcare establishment. Participants' attitudes concerning mental illness have been evaluated using the Opinions about Mental Illness Scale (OMI), the Social Distance Scale (SDS), and the Level of Contact Report (LCR-12).
Despite the high level of familiarity as evaluated with LCR-12; mean score (μ): 8.82 ± 1.73, the employees displayed a rather poor willingness to interact with psychiatric patients (as measured with SDS; μ:11.68 ± 4.28), and endorsed significant prejudice toward individuals with mental disorders (assessed using OMI subscales; Social Discrimination μ: 22.99 ± 12.08, Social Restriction μ: 17.45 ± 9.07, Social Care μ: 21.04 ± 4.12, Social Integration μ: 16.38 ± 4.68, Etiology μ: 9.80 ± 4.95). Age and education stood out as the main determinants of participants' attitudes, with younger and highly educated participants to have shown a relatively refined profile.
These results are not significantly improved compared to those of previous decades in Greek healthcare professionals and call for critical reflection and targeted stigma-reduction efforts.
Methoxylated and hydroxylated polybrominated diphenyl ethers (MeO-PBDEs and OH-PBDEs) have recently been reported to be present in wildlife from Northern Europe. The structures of a majority of these ...compounds have however been unknown. In the present study, nine OH-PBDEs and six MeO-PBDEs were identified in Baltic Sea salmon (Salmo salar) blood. All OH- and MeO-PBDEs identified were substituted with four or five bromines, and five of these had one chlorine substituent. Fourteen of the OH- and MeO-PBDEs have the methoxy or hydroxy group substituted in the ortho position to the diphenyl ether bond. Identification was done by comparison of relative retention times of authentic reference standards with compounds present in salmon plasma on two gas chromatographic columns of different polarities. The identification was supported by comparisons of full-scan mass spectrometric data: electron ionization (EI) and electron capture negative ionization (ECNI). Nine of the 15 OH- and MeO-PBDEs identified have not previously been reported to occur in the environment. The structures of several identified OH- and MeO-PBDEs support natural origin. However, at least one of the OH-PBDEs may be a hydroxylated metabolite of anthropogenic polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE).
Introduction
Numerous studies reveal that mental health-related stigma, stereotypes, and prejudices negatively affect the patients, jeopardizing their health, prognosis, and social opportunities. ...Healthcare professionals, who are in the first line of combating mental disease, are expected to play a significant role in drastically changing discriminatory and stigmatizing attitudes toward psychiatric patients and in diminishing the existing healthcare and social disparities. In this study, we aimed to explore and highlight the views of Greek medical students—that is of the future physicians—toward mental illness and people suffering from it.
Materials and methods
It is a cross-sectional, observational study, in which 324 undergraduate students from the most populous Greek medical school of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, participated online, during the spring semester of 2022. The tools used were the Opinions about Mental Illness Scale (OMI) that assesses one’s viewpoints about mental illness, the Social Distance Scale (SDS) that captures the desired degree of social distancing from patients with mental disorders, and the Level of Contact Report (LCR-12) that estimates the level of familiarity with them.
Results
Participants displayed rather positive attitudes regarding the etiology of mental illness, social integration, and discrimination toward psychiatric patients as evaluated with the respective OMI subscales; Etiology mean score (μ):8.87 ± 4.68, Social Integration (μ):17.79 ± 5.42, Social Discrimination (μ):13.54 ± 11.17, and more clearly favorable opinions concerning the need for social provision or the enactment of restrictive measures as expressed with the relative OMI subscales; Social Care (μ):22.74 ± 4.56, Social Restriction (μ):13.27 ± 8.98, while claiming to be quite familiar with mental disorders and individuals experiencing them (as assessed with LCR; μ: 8.71 ± 2.16), and relatively willing to interact with them (as measured with SDS; μ:8.95 ± 4.23). Degree of familiarity with mental illness was directly proportional to the desire for contact with patients living with it, while the higher both were, the more improved most of the aforementioned OMI sectors were found to be. Female sex, clinical medical education, previous clinical psychiatric training, and living with or being a person with a mental disorder were the factors that defined a statistically refined profile in many of the aspects above.
Conclusion
Our findings are in accordance with many prior and recent studies, while showing improved opinions compared to those of previous research in Greek student and healthcare population. They are calling for vigilance, rather than complacency, as well as educational and social interventions, in order to enable current and future healthcare professionals to perform their function to its fullest extent. Implications of our results and further research suggestions are included.
Octreotide is the first synthetic peptide hormone, consisting of eight amino acids, that mimics the activity of somatostatin, a natural hormone in the body. During the past decades, advanced ...instrumentation and crystallographic software have established X-Ray Powder Diffraction (XRPD) as a valuable tool for extracting structural information from biological macromolecules. The latter was demonstrated by the successful structural determination of octreotide at a remarkably high d-spacing resolution (1.87 Å) (PDB code: 6vc1). This study focuses on the response of octreotide to different humidity levels and temperatures, with a particular focus on the stability of the polycrystalline sample. XRPD measurements were accomplished employing an Anton Paar MHC-trans humidity-temperature chamber installed within a laboratory X’Pert Pro diffractometer (Malvern Panalytical). The chamber is employed to control and maintain precise humidity and temperature levels of samples during XRPD data collection. Pawley analysis of the collected data sets revealed that the octreotide polycrystalline sample is remarkably stable, and no structural transitions were observed. The compound retains its orthorhombic symmetry (space group: P212121, a = 18.57744(4) Å, b = 30.17338(6) Å, c = 39.70590(9) Å, d ~ 2.35 Å). However, a characteristic structural evolution in terms of lattice parameters and volume of the unit cell is reported mainly upon controlled relative humidity variation. In addition, an improvement in the signal-to-noise ratio in the XRPD data under a cycle of dehydration/rehydration is reported. These results underline the importance of considering the impact of environmental factors, such as humidity and temperature, in the context of structure-based drug design, thereby contributing to the development of more effective and stable pharmaceutical products.
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