"Mãos de Conforto" (Hands of Comfort): A novel non-pharmacological intervention to ease agitation in elderly persons with dementia.

Behavioral symptoms associated with dementia, such as agitation, are frequent and associated with well-known negative consequences for patients, their carers, and their environment. Pharmacological treatments for agitation using sedatives and antipsychotics are known to have several undesirable side effects and modest efficacy. Non-pharmacological alternatives are recommended as first-line options for agitation in persons with dementia with few side effects, but there is limited evidence of efficacy. We developed a novel and simple non-pharmacological alternative for agitation in dementia residents based on a Brazilian intervention using warm water surgical gloves used in patients with COVID-19 in intensive care units during the pandemic. We coined it "Mãos de Conforto" - Hands of Comfort. We report a series of 7 cases in 3 residents with dementia who whore Hands of Comfort.

The European Portuguese Posthumous Dignity Therapy Schedule of Questions: Initial development and validation.

OBJECTIVE: Dignity therapy (DT) is a brief psychotherapeutic intervention with beneficial effects in the end-of-life experience. Since it provides a continuing bond between the bereaved and their loved ones, we speculated that it could be offered as a novel bereavement intervention following the patient's death. We aimed to develop, translate, and validate the Posthumous DT Schedule of Questions (p-DT-SQ), for administration with bereaved relatives or friends. METHOD: The original DT-SQ was adapted for application with bereaved relatives or friends. It was translated and back-translated to European Portuguese and revised by an expert committee. Content validity was assessed by the Content Validity Coefficient (CVC). The instrument was tested in a sample of 50 individuals from a large Senior Residence in Lisbon (10 elderly people and 40 healthcare professionals), who assessed face validity. RESULTS: The p-DT-SQ showed very good CVC (0.94) and face validity: it was considered clear, easy to understand, reasonable in length, and not difficult to answer. Participants felt comfortable answering the p-DT-SQ and felt it could positively affect the way themselves or others would remember their loved ones, allowing an understanding of the deceased's concerns, interests, and values. SIGNIFICANCE OF RESULTS: We created and validated an adapted version of the DT-SQ to be used posthumously by bereaved family and friends. The European Portuguese version of the p-DT-SQ is clear, comprehensible, and aligned with the fundamentals of DT. While our data suggest its beneficial effects for those who are bereft, future research is needed to examine the impact of p-DT-SQ for those who are grieving.

Maternal age, paternal age, and litter size interact to affect the offspring sex ratio of German Shepherd dogs.

Several factors influence mammalian sex ratio. In this study, the effects of parental age and litter size on the offspring sex ratio in dogs were evaluated in 602 puppies born from 101 German Shepherd litters from a breeding facility. The data was obtained from recordings of the kennel and Studbook from 1996 to 2016. A linear mixed-model analysis was performed using dam age, sire age and litter size as predictors of the percentage of males in litter. Dam age and litter size has direct effect on sex ratio. Dam age * sire age and dam age * litter size interactions are significant. When evaluating dam age by sire age, the expected male percentage in the litter is higher for old dams mated with young sires and young dams mated with old sires. Smaller percentage of males is expected for young dams mated with young sires and old dams mated with old sires. When evaluating dam age by litter size, the expected percentage of males in the litter is higher for young dams delivering big litters and old dams delivering small litters. Smaller percentage of males is expected for young dams delivering small litters and old dams delivering big litters. Dam aging increased proportion of males in litters. We concluded that offspring sex ratio is determined partially by the dam age, sire age and litter size interactions in German Shepherd dogs.