Articles

A literature search was conducted using PubMed and PsycINFO to locate cyberbullying research that was published during the last 4 years. In this narrative review, cyberbullying research is briefly summarized and critiqued. The review is focused on the varying definitions and characteristics of cyberbullies, victims and bystanders. Highly variable prevalence rates have been reported for cyberbullies, victims and bystanders as a function of age, gender, country, size of the social network and socioeconomic factors. In addition, the effects of cyberbullying are reviewed including the frequent suicide attempts along with risk factors/predictors of cyberbullying which include previous cyberbullying, excessive internet use and lack of empathy, anger, narcissism and authoritarian/permissive parenting. To reflect the recent literature, special attention is given to the studies on victims of bullying. Research on cyberbullies and on prevention/intervention programs for bullying is extremely limited despite the increasing prevalence of bullying and the rapidly accumulating literature. Methodological limitations include the primary focus on the prevalence of bullying and on the victims of bullying. Longitudinal, multivariate studies are needed to identify profiles on risk factors for bullying that can inform prevention programs.

Brain stem death is when a person has permanently lost the potential for consciousness and the capacity to breathe. When this happens, a machine called a ventilator keeps oxygen circulating through the person’s bloodstream - a person confirmed as being dead when their brain stem function is permanently lost [1].

Many pathologic disease can be considered as related to an Endogenous toxicological moves and in time dependent way (kinetics and dynamic of the process). In this work starting from the analysis of relevant literature involved with different disease and related to the endogenous local micro- environment some global conclusion useful as new tools for innovative pharmacological strategies will be submitted to the researcher. Physiology, pathology concept linked to the endogenous toxicological local micro-environment status as new research instruments. The same carcinogenesis process can be related also to endogenous agents that may have a major contribution in spontaneously process. (Reactive oxygen species (ROS), which are involved in multiple cellular processes by physiologically transporting signal as a second messenger or pathologically oxidizing DNA, lipids, and proteins).

Background: There is a huge gap in the U.S. health care system when it comes to the prevention of substance abuse and addiction, specifically involving adolescents. It has been determined through literature review that parents in Utah are not informed about/knowledgeable of/aware of the current usage of alcohol/drugs in the adolescent population in this area or the inherent risks involved with consumption/use/misuse/abuse/addiction. Aim: The overarching aim of the doctoral project was to prevent Utah County middle school students from harmful alcohol and drug consumption by involving parents in prevention efforts. The prevention goals of this project included: increased parental knowledge of the brain disease of addiction, warning signs of adolescent drug use, what to do if their child is already using, and increased parental self-efficacy on communicating with teens on this subject. Design: For parents to be productively involved, barriers were broken down through education. The DNP student completed a 15-minute presentation at five separate parent meetings that took place annually during middle school registration at Lehi Jr High. Population: The education was for parents, foster parents, guardians, etc. of first-year middle school students only; an estimated 420 participants were in attendance. Data collection and analysis: A pre-and post- combined self-efficacy and knowledge test was given to the attendees. Data was gathered from 117 appropriately completed tests and analyzed using a paired t-test. The results were studied to evaluate effectiveness of the program relating to parental self-efficacy and knowledge. Findings: The presentation ultimately increased parental self-efficacy and knowledge (p-value <0.01) which in turn increases protective factors and decreases risk factors associated with adolescent substance abuse. Conclusions: The DNP project was successful, and the results assisted in the refinement of the presentation for sharing on a mass level to all Jr. High schools in Utah County, Utah.

Stroke following coronary interventions is a devastating and most dreaded complication with signiβicant morbidity and mortality. Various factors have been ascribed for this complication including the technical errors [1]. A small percentage of strokes are iatrogenic, including those associated with invasive cardiac procedures. According to the literature, it is a rare complication of left heart catheterization [2]. Percutaneous coronary intervention is increasingly used to treat patients with diffuse atherosclerosis, acute coronary syndromes and even high-risk patients such as low ejection fraction [1]. The authors describe a patient who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention in the context of inferior infarction, which was complicated by ischemic stroke during cardic catheterization.

The problem of the alcohol misuse in Russia is well known; but there is a tendency to exaggerate it, which seems to be used to disguise shortages of the healthcare and public assistance. In this way, responsibility for the relatively low life expectancy is shifted onto the patients, who are supposed to drink excessively. In parallel, there is a tendency to exaggerate successes of the anti-alcohol campaign (1985-1989) and to trivialize the harm caused by the campaign e.g. mass consumption of surrogates [1]. The bias can be illustrated with the example of papers by Yuri Razvodovsky [2-5]. Yuri asked me per e-mail to write a “friendly” letter to the Editor referring to his article. An excerpt from the correspondence is presented here as documentary evidence (Figure 1). In reply, I cited the phrase: “The official statistical data do not support the claims that the… аnti-alcohol campaign contributed to the dramatic growth in fatal poisonings by non-beverage alcohol surrogates” [4] and commented that I witnessed mass poisonings with window cleaner in 1988. Considering the large scale of the window cleaner sales, it was knowingly tolerated by authorities. Poisonings with methanol and organochlorides (used e.g. in dry cleaning) were known to occur as well. Yuri replied that “there are two realities: one, which we both witnessed, and another-official statistics” (Figure 1). Obviously, Razvodovsky should have discussed in his articles the “realities we both witnessed”, i.e. common knowledge and observations, otherwise his papers are misleading. 

Alcohol abuse is a global health problem. Alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS) ranges from mild to severe symptoms that can lead to fatal delirium tremens requiring ICU admission and incurring high health care cost as high as $20,000 a month. The latest published reports suggest that phenobarbital is a promising therapeutic option for management of AWS as evidenced by less ICU admissions, length of stay in hospital, use of adjunctive agents, health care costs and attention from the nursing staff than that of patients treated with commonly used benzodiazepines such as lorazepam, diazepam, and chlordiazepoxide. Phenobarbital is beneficial for the treatment of AWS, both in the emergency and inpatient settings and both as monotherapy or in conjunction with benzodiazepines. It is safe for patients without severe hepatic impairment, has a better mechanism of action and longer half-life than benzodiazepines, and leads to less delirium and agitation. Powered randomized controlled trials with large populations are required, yet phenobarbital can be used to safely to treat AWS.

Objectives: As the cancer patients are at higher risk of premature deaths due to candidemia. So, the present study aims to evaluate the predictors of candidemia along with its outcomes among hospitalized adults and pediatric cancer patients. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted at a tertiary care cancer hospital in Lahore, Pakistan. The data was collected from the medical records of all the patients who were found positive for Candida species between 1st January 2017 and 31st June 2017. Data were analyzed by using Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 21.0. Armonk, NY: IBM Corp.) and Microsoft Excel (MS Office 2010). Results: Overall, 135 patients were detected with candidemia. Based on blood culture test results, it was found that out of 100 cultures positive for any microorganism there were 2 cases of candidemia. Multivariate analysis revealed that hematological malignancies (AOR: 2.1), and shock (AOR: 9.1) were significantly associated with high risk of mortalities during the index hospitalization, while risk of mortality among cancer patients suffering from Candida albican infection (AOR: 0.47) and those who were administered with antifungal agent after sensitivity report of the fungal culture (AOR: 0.2) was significantly less. Also, there was no significant association of empiric therapy of antifungal agent with the risk of mortality before a positive culture found (p>0.05). Conclusion: Although, no risk factor was found to be associated significantly with candidemia among cancer patients. But hematological malignancies, non-albican candidemia and shock were predictors of higher risk mortality during index hospitalization.

Background: The majority of aggregate econometric studies indicate that higher taxes and real prices on alcohol significantly reduce the alcohol consumption. Objectives: To estimate the effects of recent alcohol taxation and pricing policies on vodka sales per capita in Russia. Methods: Trends in the affordability of vodka, excise tax rates on vodka, real and minimum price of vodka and per capita vodka sales between 2010 and 2015, were compared. Results: A Pearson’s correlation analysis suggests a positive and statistically significant association between the affordability of vodka and per capita vodka sales. The association between vodka sales and excise tax rates on vodka, the real price of vodka and minimum price of vodka was negative. Conclusions: These findings indicate that pricing policy has potential to reduce binge drinking of vodka in Russia.

Nuclear Medicine is an integral part of modern healthcare. The use of radioactive nuclides tagged biomolecules, evaluating their distribution in human bodies by SPECT or PET systems, provides longitudinal sets of volumetric and quantitative images that can be used to diagnose a wide range of disease and/or assess response to disease specific treatments [1].