Death in the Scottish curriculum: Denying or confronting?

The important role of schools in supporting children experiencing bereavement is established, yet less is known about how school curricula include death as part of life and this limits our understanding of the systemic structures that shape children's knowledge and experience of death. To address this gap, this paper discusses an analysis of the Scottish curriculum to explore the extent to which death features in compulsory education for children aged 3 to 15 years. The findings show that whilst death is present across the curricula, certain types of 'knowing' death are promoted, largely situated across religious teaching, which may limit children's engagement with the multiple and complex ways in which death features across individual, social, physical, and relational domains. By integrating the concepts of death systems and death ambivalence, the paper develops new knowledge on the interplay between curricula and sense making around death in children's lives that has practical utility.

Comparación del perfil físico entre 3x3 y 5x5 en baloncesto formativo / A comparison between the physical profile of 3x3 and 5x5 tasks in formative basketball

El objetivo del estudio fue comparar las demandas físicas a partir de variables de distancia, velocidad y aceleración en baloncesto entre dos juegos reducidos, 3x3 y 5x5, mediante tecnología GPS. Diez mujeres (15 ±1,0 años) participaron en el estudio, durante dos sesiones de entrenamiento. Se aplicaron las reglas de las competiciones 3 contra 3 en una sola canasta y a media cancha. Las jugadoras participaron en dos juegos (5x5 y 3x3) durante 5 minutos cada uno. Las jugadoras fueron organizadas en función de su puesto específico. Las variables utilizadas para analizar los datos registrados se agruparon en: indicadores físicos globales (distancia total o DT, velocidad media o DT/min, Player Load o PL y Velocidad máxima o Vmax), distancia recorrida en diferentes rangos de velocidad y distancia recorrida en diferentes rangos de aceleración. El análisis de datos mostró valores más altos en el 3x3, existiendo diferencias significativas en las variables DT, DT/min y PL, distancia recorrida en el rango de >1,0 m/s-1 y en la mayoría de los rangos de aceleración. La interpretación de los resultados sugiere que el espacio afectó en la demanda física de las jugadoras (AU)

The aim of the study was to compare the physical requirements taking into account the variables of distance, velocity and acceleration in basketball between two small-sided games, 3x3 and 5x5, using GPS technology. Ten women (15 ±1.0 years) participated in the study, during two training sessions. The rules of 3v3 competitions were applied in a single basket half-court. The players participated in two games (5x5 and 3x3) during 5 minutes each. The players were organized according to their specific position. The variables used to analyze the recorded data were grouped into: global physical indicators (total distance or DT, average speed or DTmin, Player Load or PL and maximum speed or Vmax), traversed distance in different ranges of speed and traversed distance in different ranges of acceleration. The data-analysis showed higher values in the 3x3, being significant differences in the variables DT, DT/min and PL, traversed distance in the range of 1.0 m/s-1 and in most of the ranges of acceleration. The interpretation of the results suggests that space affected the physical demand of the players (AU)

Study of duodenal bacterial communities by 16S rRNA gene analysis in adults with active celiac disease vs non-celiac disease controls.

AIMS: Several studies have suggested that abnormalities in the small-intestinal microbiota might be involved in the development or the pathogenesis of celiac disease (CD). The objective of this study was to characterize and compare the composition of the duodenal microbiota between CD patients and non-CD controls. METHOD AND RESULTS: Bacterial communities were identified by pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA extracted from duodenal biopsies. The sequences analysis showed that the majority of the reads were classified within two phyla: Firmicutes and Proteobacteria. Bacterial richness and diversity were higher in non-CD controls than in untreated CD patients, but the differences were not statistically significant. The principal coordinates analysis revealed that bacterial communities of non-CD controls and untreated CD patients were dispersed without forming a clear group according to diagnosis of CD. CONCLUSIONS: There are no statistically significant differences in the upper small intestinal composition of bacterial communities between untreated CD patients and non-CD controls. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: This pyrosequencing analysis reveals a global picture of the duodenal microbiota that could be useful in future trials investigating the role of the microbiota in CD.

A linkage disequilibrium perspective on the genetic mosaic of speciation in two hybridizing Mediterranean white oaks.

We analyzed the genetic mosaic of speciation in two hybridizing Mediterranean white oaks from the Iberian Peninsula (Quercus faginea Lamb. and Quercus pyrenaica Willd.). The two species show ecological divergence in flowering phenology, leaf morphology and composition, and in their basic or acidic soil preferences. Ninety expressed sequence tag-simple sequence repeats (EST-SSRs) and eight nuclear SSRs were genotyped in 96 trees from each species. Genotyping was designed in two steps. First, we used 69 markers evenly distributed over the 12 linkage groups (LGs) of the oak linkage map to confirm the species genetic identity of the sampled genotypes, and searched for differentiation outliers. Then, we genotyped 29 additional markers from the chromosome bins containing the outliers and repeated the multilocus scans. We found one or two additional outliers within four saturated bins, thus confirming that outliers are organized into clusters. Linkage disequilibrium (LD) was extensive; even for loosely linked and for independent markers. Consequently, score tests for association between two-marker haplotypes and the 'species trait' showed a broad genomic divergence, although substantial variation across the genome and within LGs was also observed. We discuss the influence of several confounding effects on neutrality tests and review the evolutionary processes leading to extensive LD. Finally, we examine how LD analyses within regions that contain outlier clusters and quantitative trait loci can help to identify regions of divergence and/or genomic hitchhiking in the light of predictions from ecological speciation theory.

Personality traits in early phases of panic disorder: implications on the presence of agoraphobia, clinical severity and short-term outcome.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the relations between personality traits using the Big Five model and presence of agoraphobia, clinical severity and short-term outcome in an unbiased clinical sample of never-treated panic disorder patients. METHOD: Panic disorder (PD) patients (n = 103) in the first stages of their illness were evaluated using the Neuroticism-Extraversion-Openness Five Factor Inventory of Personality (NEO-FFI) and were compared with a sample of healthy subjects. Severity was assessed by the Panic Disorder Severity Scale and the Clinical Global Impression Scales. Patients were evaluated after 8 weeks of naturalistic pharmacologic treatment with Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors. RESULTS: Panic disorder patients show more neuroticism than healthy subjects. Patients suffering from agoraphobia are more introverted than controls. Extraversion, in addition to gender and distress, during panic attacks allows to correctly classifying 72% of the cases of agoraphobia. CONCLUSION: Low scores in extraversion contribute to explain the presence of agoraphobia in panic disorder. Personality traits are neither related to clinical severity nor to short-term response to pharmacological treatment.

Microsatellite-based high density linkage map in oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.).

A microsatellite-based high-density linkage map for oil palm (Elaeis guinensis Jacq.) was constructed from a cross between two heterozygous parents, a tenera palm from the La Me population (LM2T) and a dura palm from the Deli population (DA10D). A set of 390 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers was developed in oil palm from microsatellite-enriched libraries and evaluated for polymorphism along with 21 coconut SSRs. A dense and genome-wide microsatellite framework as well as saturating amplified fragments length polymorphisms (AFLPs) allowed the construction of a linkage map consisting of 255 microsatellites, 688 AFLPs and the locus of the Sh gene, which controls the presence or absence of a shell in the oil palm fruit. An AFLP marker E-Agg/M-CAA132 was mapped at 4.7 cM from the Sh locus. The 944 genetic markers were distributed on 16 linkage groups (LGs) and covered 1,743 cM. Our linkage map is the first in oil palm to have 16 independent linkage groups corresponding to the plant's 16 homologous chromosome pairs. It is also the only high-density linkage map with as many microsatellite markers in an Arecaceae species and represents an important step towards quantitative trait loci analysis and physical mapping in the E. guineensis species.

Provision of services for people with schizophrenia in five European regions.

BACKGROUND: An increasing diversity of public, voluntary sector and private providers offer services for the mentally ill in the ongoing process of psychiatric reform. Good service description is one important prerequisite for mental health service research. Aims 1) To describe service provision for the mentally ill in five European centres using the European Service Mapping Schedule (ESMS); and 2) to discuss the use of the instrument in describing service provision. METHODS: All services providing care for people with severe mental illness in five European catchment areas (in Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Copenhagen, Denmark; London, UK; Santander, Spain; Verona, Italy) were identified through various sources. The identified services were classified, and service provision was quantified in accordance with the ESMS manual. Descriptive information was obtained. RESULTS: We identified from 10 to 45 different services for catchment areas of between 50,000 (Copenhagen) and 560,000 (Santander) population run by three to 16 providers. They varied in aims, staffing and functioning. Hospital and non-hospital residential services, community-based services, and social support agencies were available in all sites. There was substantial variation across centres in the range, number and activities of services. Collecting comparable data sets on all service types, particularly for day and structured activity services and outpatient and community services required substantial effort. CONCLUSION: Operationalised description of mental health services across Europe is possible but requires further refinement.

Esquizofrenia: morbilidad, curso evolutivo y factores condicionantes / Schizophrenia: morbility, course and conditioning factors

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Quality of life in patients with schizophrenia in five European countries: the EPSILON study.

OBJECTIVE: To compare subjective quality of life (QOL) and objective QOL indicators in patients with schizophrenia from five European sites: Amsterdam, Copenhagen, London, Santander and Verona. METHOD: A representative sample of 404 patients with schizophrenia, in contact with mental health services, was randomly selected and evaluated with the Lancashire Quality of Life Profile (EU). RESULTS: The level of satisfaction in certain domains, religion, family and social relations appears to be associated with local style of living and culture while work, finances, and safety were more independent from local variations. In addition to the severity of symptoms, frequency of contacts with family, friendship and age appear as predictors of QOL, all of them influenced by the characteristics of the surroundings. CONCLUSION: The centres participating in the study presented differences in subjective measures of QOL, objective indicators and also in service provision and styles of living.

Effects of long-term treatment with antipsychotics on serum leptin levels.

BACKGROUND: Abnormal regulation of the adipocyte-derived hormone leptin could play a role in body weight gain induced by antipsychotics. AIMS: To study the effects of long-term antipsychotic treatment on leptin levels in patients with schizophrenia. METHOD: Serum leptin levels were determined in 59 out-patients with chronic schizophrenia and in the same number of healthy subjects controlled by gender, age and body mass index. RESULTS: Leptin levels did not differ between patients and controls. Leptin levels in patients with schizophrenia correlated with weight gain, even after controlling for current weight, but did not show any association with clinical variables. Antipsychotic class tended to exert different effects over leptin levels (among atypicals, olanzapine induced a greater increase). CONCLUSIONS: Elevation of leptin levels induced by chronic antipsychotic treatment can be attributed to weight gain, but other mechanisms could be involved.

Diagnostic Accuracy in the First 5 min of a Psychiatric Interview. Impact of the information given by patients.

BACKGROUND: There is little if any research on the explicit contents delivered by patients in the first minutes of a psychiatric interview. METHODS: In order to study the impact of the first minutes of a psychiatric interview on final diagnosis, we gathered information from the speech during the first 5 min in 162 new psychiatric patients with a checklist including symptoms extracted from the SCAN interview. RESULTS: The area reported most frequently was life events (51.2%). The average of psychiatric symptoms cited was 2.3. An initial suspected diagnosis was done in 126 patients, and in 73 patients (57.9% of those with a suspected diagnosis, 45.1% of the total sample) the initial diagnosis was coincident with the final diagnosis. The initial clinical impression was more accurate in adjustment and 'neurotic' disorders, and less in mood disorders. Those patients who cited more symptoms received a less accurate initial diagnosis. CONCLUSION: Psychiatric patients spontaneously report a low number of symptoms. The accuracy of psychiatric diagnosis in the first minutes of an interview is unacceptably low. However, the role of short psychiatric interviewing as a screening method deserves to be further investigated.

Construction of a linkage map of the Rennell Island Tall coconut type (Cocos nucifera L.) and QTL analysis for yield characters.

AFLP and SSR DNA markers were used to construct a linkage map in the coconut (Cocos nucifera L.; 2n = 32) type Rennell Island Tall (RIT). A total of 227 markers were arranged into 16 linkage groups. The total genome length corresponded to 1971 cM for the RIT map, with 5-23 markers per linkage group. QTL analysis for yield characters in two consecutive sampling periods identified nine loci. Three and two QTLs were detected for number of bunches and one and three QTLs for number of nuts. The correlation of trait values between characters and evaluation periods is partially reflected in identical QTLs. The QTLs represent characters that are important in coconut breeding. The cosegregation of markers with these QTLs provides an opportunity for marker-assisted selection in coconut breeding programmes.

[Spanish version of the new World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule II (WHO-DAS-II): initial phase of development and pilot study. Cantabria disability work group]. / Versión en lengua española de un nuevo cuestionario de evaluación de discapacidades de la OMS (WHO-DAS-II): fase inicial de desarrollo y estudio piloto. Grupo Cantabria en Discapacidades.

The aim of the present paper is to present the initial phases of the development of the Spanish version of the "World Health Organization Disablement Assessment Schedule II" WHO-DAS-II and also to describe the quantitative and qualitative methodological strategies used in the elaboration process of an instrument: i) compatible with the new International Classification of Functioning and Disability -ICIDH-2- of the World Health Organisation; ii) with criteria of cross-cultural applicability and; iii) to allow us to assess the disability in all its dimensions.

Higher levels of serum copper in schizophrenic patients treated with depot neuroleptics.

The findings of previous research on the status of trace elements in patients with schizophrenia have been controversial. We studied 62 outpatients with a DSM-IV diagnosis of schizophrenia, and compared them with sex- and age-matched healthy controls. Serum copper levels were significantly higher in schizophrenic patients (mean 117.4 microg/dl; S.D. 23.4) than in healthy controls (105.6+/-27.9). Those patients on treatment with depot neuroleptics had higher copper levels. Zinc levels did not differ between patients and healthy controls. Altered levels of trace elements in schizophrenic patients may be a consequence of antipsychotic treatment.

[Referral of patients with mental disorders from primary care to mental health units]. / Derivación de los pacientes con enfermedad mental desde Atención Primaria a Salud Mental.

INTRODUCTION: Most part of the patients suffering from mental disorders are treated by non-psychiatrist physicians, mainly by general practitioners (GPs). The aim of this study has been to analyse the factors influencing the referral of patients with mental illness to psychiatric services. METHODS: Using data of referrals from two Primary Care Centres (population: 28.039) to a Mental Health Unit in one year period, we analysed clinical records, information provided with the referral, and the opinion of GPs about mental illness. RESULTS: Out of the 486 referrals, the 153 patients without previous consultations were included in the analysis. Men, and those with higher educational status were referred more frequently. A 34% of the referrals included information about psychopathological symptoms, and 70% included clinical diagnosis. Primary care physicians specialised in family medicine included more data regarding psychopathological symptoms, and included a specific request more often than GPs without specialised training. Diagnostic accuracy (61%) were lower for adjustment and personality disorders, and in those patients with an urgent referral. Patients with an urgent referral did not present different clinical features, nor different severity than those with an ordinary referral. CONCLUSIONS: Management of patients with mental disorders in PHC should be improved with guidelines about treatment and referral. Different levels of care should be co-ordinated.

Determinants of smoking behaviour in outpatients with schizophrenia.

The present study is an assessment of the rate and severity of tobacco consumption in outpatients with schizophrenia, and the determinants of smoking behaviour. Sixty-four patients, assessed by the Item Group Checklist section of the SCAN interview and fitting DSM-IV criteria, were evaluated with CGI and the PANSS scales. In addition, they completed STAI (Spielberger), EPQ (Eysenck), and TPQ (Cloninger) questionnaires. Tobacco dependence was assessed by the Fagerström test. One hundred and thirty-seven consecutive outpatients were psychiatric controls. Forty-one out of 64 patients with schizophrenia (64.1%) were current smokers, this rate being significantly higher than in other psychiatric patients and general population. The severity of cigarette consumption in smokers was greater (mean of 22.4 cigarettes/day) than in the general population, but it was not different from that of other psychiatric patients. For patients with schizophrenia, no one variable (except male sex) was different between smokers and non-smokers, but the number of cigarettes/day correlated with state anxiety, trait anxiety, and neuroticism. In the multivariate analysis, the only variable that remained significant was neuroticism. The relationship between clinical features and severity of smoking behaviour may be linked to non-specific variables such as neuroticism and anxiety, but not to psychotic symptoms.

Versión en lengua española de un nuevo cuestionario de evaluación de discapacidades de la OMS (WHO-DAS-II): fase inicial de desarrollo y estudio piloto / Spanish version of the new World Health Organization Disablement Assessment Schedule II (WHO-DAS-II): Initial phase of development and pilot study

El objetivo del presente trabajo es presentar las fases iniciales del desarrollo de la versión en lengua española del Cuestionario de Evaluación de Discapacidades de la OMS -WHO-DAS-II ('World Health Organization Disablement Assessment Schedule II'), así como realizar una descripción de las estrategias metodológicas, tanto cualitativas como cuantitativas, utilizadas para garantizar que dicho instrumento sea: i) compatible con el nuevo sistema de Clasificación de discapacidades de la OMS (Clasificación Internacional del Funcionamiento y de la Discapacidad- CIDDM-2); ii) aplicable transculturalmente, y; iii) adecuado para evaluar la discapacidad de un modo fiable y en todas sus dimensiones (AU)

La discapacidad: modelos interpretativos y su influencia en el nuevo sistema de clasificación de discapacidades de la Organización Mundial de la Salud (CIDDM-2) / Disability: Interpretative Models and their Influence in the New Classification System of Disabilities from the World Health Organisation (ICIDH-2)

Este artículo presenta los aspectos esenciales relativos a los modelos de discapacidad más significativos desarrollados hasta la fecha, así como su impacto sobre el proceso de revisión del sistema de Clasificación Internacional de Deficiencias, Discapacidades y Minusvalías -CIDDM- desarrollado por la Organización Mundial de la Salud. Se revisan, fundamentalmente, los modelos "Médico-Biológico" y "Social" para de esta forma introducir los modelos "Universal" y "Bio-Psico-Social" adoptados en dicho proceso de revisión. Este artículo describe, además, la estructura, contenidos y nuevas conceptualizaciones de la nueva Clasificación Internacional de Deficiencias, Discapacidades y Minusvalías de la OMS, que ha pasado a denominarse, al menos de forma provisional, Clasificación Internacional del Funcionamiento y la Discapacidad, -CIDDM-2. (AU)

Derivación de los pacientes con enfermedad mental desde Atención Primaria a Salud Mental / Referral of patients with mental disorders from Primary Care to Mental Health Units

Introducción. La mayor parte de los pacientes con trastornos mentales se encuentran en contacto con médicos no psiquiatras, fundamentalmente con los médicos de atención primaria (AP). El objetivo de este trabajo ha sido evaluar los factores relacionados con la derivación de estos pacientes desde AP a los servicios especializados. Metodología. Se analizaron de las derivaciones realizadas durante un año desde dos centros de AP (población de referencia: 28.039 habitantes) hacia una Unidad de Salud Mental. Se estudiaron los datos de la historia psiquiátrica, del volante de derivación, y las opiniones de los médicos remitentes. Resultados. De las 486 interconsultas solicitadas inicialmente, se incluyeron en el estudio los 153 pacientes sin historia previa. Los pacientes varones y con estudios universitarios eran remitidos con una frecuencia superior a la esperada. Un 34 por ciento de los volantes incluían datos sobre la exploración psiquiátrica y un 70 por ciento incluían juicio diagnóstico. Los médicos de familia incluían en el volante más datos acerca de la exploración psiquiátrica y realizaban una petición concreta con más frecuencia que los médicos generalistas. La precisión diagnóstica (61 por ciento) era menor en los trastornos de adaptación y de personalidad, además de en aquellos pacientes remitidos con carácter preferente. Estos últimos no presentaban ni una clínica diferente ni una severidad superior a los ordinarios. Conclusiones. El manejo de los pacientes con enfermedad mental en AP debe ser mejorado a través de guías de tratamiento y derivación, y mediante una mejor coordinación entre los diferentes niveles asistenciales (AU)