Religiosity and mood in the last week of life: an explorative approach based on after-death proxy-interviews

The current contribution focuses on the role of religiousness on aspects of mood in the last week of life. After-death interviews with proxy respondents of deceased participants of the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam provided information on depressive mood and anxiety in the last week of life, as well as on a sense of peace with the approaching end of life. Furthermore, the proxy respondents were asked about serious physical symptoms in the last week of life, cognitive decline, salience of religion, and whether the deceased respondent had talked about religion. Other characteristics were derived from the last interviews with the respondents when still alive: depressive symptoms, religious affiliation, church-attendance, orthodoxy, salience of religion, and cosmic transcendence. None of the characteristics of religiousness were significantly associated with depressive mood or anxiety as estimated by the proxy-respondent. A sense of peace, however, was predicted by higher church-attendance, Protestant affiliation (as compared to no affiliation), and the proxy's estimate of the salience of religion. It is concluded that religiousness does not affect depressive mood or anxiety in the last week of life in the current sample. Possibly, religiousness supports a sense of peace, which may be a more existential facet of mood, and which is discussed as relevant in the last phase of life and in palliative care.     

Faith after an Earthquake: A Longitudinal Study of Religion and Perceived Health before and after the 2011 Christchurch New Zealand Earthquake

On 22 February 2011, Christchurch New Zealand (population 367,700) experienced a devastating earthquake, causing extensive damage and killing one hundred and eighty-five people. The earthquake and aftershocks occurred between the 2009 and 2011 waves of a longitudinal probability sample conducted in New Zealand, enabling us to examine how a natural disaster of this magnitude affected deeply held commitments and global ratings of personal health, depending on earthquake exposure. We first investigated whether the earthquake-affected were more likely to believe in God. Consistent with the Religious Comfort Hypothesis, religious faith increased among the earthquake-affected, despite an overall decline in religious faith elsewhere. This result offers the first population-level demonstration that secular people turn to religion at times of natural crisis. We then examined whether religious affiliation was associated with differences in subjective ratings of personal health. We found no evidence for superior buffering from having religious faith. Among those affected by the earthquake, however, a loss of faith was associated with significant subjective health declines. Those who lost faith elsewhere in the country did not experience similar health declines. Our findings suggest that religious conversion after a natural disaster is unlikely to improve subjective well-being, yet upholding faith might be an important step on the road to recovery.     

1590名农村中老年人生存质量调查分析(英文)

目的:采用SF-36量表中文版评价农村中老年人生存质量,并为提高农村中老年人的生存质量和健康水平提供科学依据和建议。方法:采用随机抽样的方法,采用面对面访谈的形式,记分方法参照国际生存质量评价计划(IQOLA)的制定标准,评价其生理和心理健康状况。结果:1590名农村中老年人男性生存质量得分高于女性。经济水平对农村中老年人的生理健康的影响大于对其心理健康的影响。配偶健在的农村中老年人的各维度得分均高于无配偶者。农村中老年人的各维度得分随教育水平的升高呈升高趋势。结论:农村中老年人的生存质量与年龄成负相关,同时也受文化程度和经济水平等多个因素的影响。因而,对农村中老年人这一弱势群体应该给予更多关注。     

Quality of Life in Rural Communities: Residents Living Near to Tembeling,Pahang and Muar Rivers,Malaysia

The main aim of this study is to identify the quality of life (QoL) among communities residing near the Tembeling, Pahang and Muar Rivers in Malaysia. This quantitative study used a constructed questionnaire as main tool to collect data on the QoL of river communities. A total of 240 villagers were selected as respondents. The results indicated that the dimensions of settlement, safety, involvement and social relationships, as well as education scored highest, while dimensions of physical environment, financial and job security yielded moderate scores. Dimensions of infrastructure facilities yielded a low mean score. Recommendations are provided, in the hope that our results may be useful for strategies that could enhance QoL of these river communities.     

Do All Dogs Go to Heaven? Investigating the Association between Demographic Characteristics and Beliefs about Animal Afterlife

The purpose of this research was to explore American’s beliefs about animal afterlife based on key demographic factors such as sex, race/ethnicity, age, geographic region, religion/faith, and pet ownership. We attained a large and diverse sample of respondents (n = 800) using Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, and attempted to make the data fairly representative of the United States population by applying post-stratification weights based on auxiliary statistics obtained from US Census data. Results of the study suggest that many people perceive animal lives as similarly sacred as human lives. Evidence also suggests that one’s membership in a particular demographic category may have considerable bearing on views about animal afterlife. The authors recommend veterinarians remain cognizant that some people extend their own views on issues such as spirituality to their pets and those beliefs and values can impact veterinary care and decision-making.     

肝癌术后患者心理弹性水平调查及与生存质量、应对方式和创伤后成长的相关性分析

摘要 目的：调查肝癌术后患者心理弹性水平现状,并探讨其与生存质量、应对方式和创伤后成长的相关性。方法：选取2018年11月-2021年3月我院收治的120例原发性肝癌术后住院患者,采用中文版Conner-Davidson心理弹性量表（CD-RICS）对患者心理弹性水平进行调查,另分别采用肝癌患者生活质量测定量表（QOL-LC）、医学应对方式问卷（MCMQ）、创伤后成长评定量表（PTGI）对患者进行问卷调查。采用Spearman法分析原发性肝癌术后患者心理弹性水平与生存质量、应对方式和创伤后成长的相关性。结果：肝癌术后患者心理弹性总分、乐观、自强、坚韧各维度评分均明显低于中国常模得分（P<0.05）;肝癌术后患者各生存质量维度评分均明显低于中国常模得分（P<0.05）;肝癌术后患者面对应对方式得分较中国常模得分低,回避和屈服应对方式得分较中国常模得分高（P<0.05）;肝癌术后患者创伤后成长总分、各维度评分均明显低于中国常模得分（P<0.05）。肝癌术后患者心理弹性总分与各生存质量维度得分呈正相关（P<0.05）。肝癌术后患者心理弹性总分与回避、屈服应对方式呈负相关,与面对应对方式得分呈正相关（P<0.05）。肝癌术后患者心理弹性总分与创伤后成长总分、各维度得分均呈正相关（P<0.05）。结论：肝癌术后患者具有较低的心理弹性水平,心理弹性水平与积极应对方式、生存质量和创伤后成长呈正相关,应采取针对性措施提高肝癌术后患者心理弹性水平,促进患者术后康复。     

Validity and reliability of a self-reported measure of medication adherence in patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus in Singapore

Diabet. Med. 29, e338-e344 (2012) ABSTRACT: Aims A reliable and valid measure is essential for the assessment of medication adherence. Until now, no patient-reported medication adherence measure has been validated in Singapore. The aim of this study was to validate a modified 4-item Morisky-Green-Levine Medication Adherence Scale in patients with Type?2 diabetes in Singapore. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted in a sample of outpatients with Type?2 diabetes in Singapore from September to December in 2009. Respondents completed either an English or Chinese version of the modified 4-item Morisky-Green-Levine Medication Adherence Scale. The scale scores ranged from 0 to 4, with higher scores indicating better medication adherence. Reliability was assessed using Cronbach's alpha. Content validity was assessed by expert review. Construct validity was examined using factor analysis and hypothesis testing. Results Of the 294 respondents who completed the modified Morisky-Green-Levine Medication Adherence Scale, 13.3, 21.4, 35.7 and 29.6% had a score of 0-1, 2, 3 and 4, respectively. The internal consistency of the scale was moderate (Cronbach's alpha?=?0.62). Principal component analysis showed that the four items loaded onto one factor (eigenvalue?=?1.95). Respondents with higher scores were older (P?相似文献   

Introducing weights to life cycle sustainability assessment—how do decision-makers weight sustainability dimensions?

Purpose

Decisions based on life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) pose a multi-criteria decision issue, as impacts on the three different sustainability dimensions have to be considered which themselves are often measured through several indicators. To support decision-making at companies, a method to interpret multi-criteria assessment and emerging trade-offs would be beneficial. This research aims at enabling decision-making within LCSA by introducing weights to the sustainability dimensions.

Methods

To derive weights, 54 decision-makers of different functions at a German automotive company were asked via limit conjoint analysis how they ranked the economic, environmental, and social performance of a vehicle component. Results were evaluated for the entire sample and by functional clusters. Additionally, sustainability respondents, i.e., respondents that dealt with sustainability in their daily business, were contrasted with non-sustainability respondents. As a last step, the impact of outliers was determined. From this analysis, practical implications for ensuring company-optimal decision-making in regard to product sustainability were derived.

Results and discussion

The results showed a large spread in weighting without clear clustering. On average, all sustainability dimensions were considered almost equally important: the economic dimension tallied at 33.5%, the environmental at 35.2%, and the social at 31.2%. Results were robust as adjusting for outliers changed weights on average by less than 10%. Results by function showed low consistency within clusters hinting that weighting was more of a personal than a functional issue. Sustainability respondents weighted the social before the environmental and economic dimension while non-sustainability respondents put the economic before the other two dimensions. Provided that the results of this research could be generalized, the retrieved weighting set was seen as a good way to introduce weights into an operationalized LCSA framework as it represented the quantification of the already existing decision process. Therefore, the acceptance of this weighting set within the respective company was expected to be increased.

Conclusions

It could be shown that conjoint analysis enabled decision-making within LCSA by introducing weights to solve a multi-criteria decision issue. Furthermore, implications for practitioners could be derived to ensure company-optimal decision-making related to product sustainability. Future research should look at expanding the sample size and geographical scope as well as investigating the weighting of indicators within sustainability dimensions and the drivers that influence personal decision-making in regard to weighting sustainability dimensions.

     

Development and Validation of the Chinese Version of the Multicultural Quality of Life Index (MQLI-Ch)

This study documents the validation study of the Multicultural Quality of Life Index, Chinese version (MQLI-Ch). This self-rated instrument is composed of ten items that correspond to multiple dimensions of the concept of quality of life. Each item is rated on a scale from 1 to 10, according to the subject’s culture-informed understanding of the concept. The MQLI-Ch was tested on 144 Chinese subjects (124 psychiatric patients and 20 professionals). It was found to be quite efficient (about 3 min to be completed) and easy to use. A Cronbach’s α of 0.94 demonstrated its internal consistency. The factor analysis of the ten items yielded one single factor, which accounted for 65.19% of the variance. The test–retest reliability correlation coefficient was 0.80. Its discriminant validity was documented by a highly significant difference (P < 0.001) between the mean scores of the two samples with presumed differences in quality of life. Thus, the MQLI-Ch showed high feasibility, internal structure, reliability and discriminant validity.     

Peer review of consultations in primary care: the use of audiovisual recordings.

A rating scale was designed to measure performance in interviewing techniques in primary care. Peer review of audiovisual recordings of their consultations showed that a group of experienced general practitioners achieved significantly higher scores on the rating scale compared with a group of similarly experienced general practitioners who did not observe their recordings. The higher scores were obtained at the expense of longer consultations. The traditional five-minute appointment system in general practice needs to be reconsidered if an improved interviewing technique results in a more favourable outcome.     

A religious upbringing reduces the influence of genetic factors on disinhibition: evidence for interaction between genotype and environment on personality.

Information on personality, on anxiety and depression and on several aspects of religion was collected in 1974 Dutch families consisting of adolescent and young adult twins and their parents. Analyses of these data showed that differences between individuals in religious upbringing, in religious affiliation and in participation in church activities are not influenced by genetic factors. The familial resemblance for different aspects of religion is high, but can be explained entirely by environmental influences common to family members. Shared genes do not contribute to familial resemblances in religion. The absence of genetic influences on variation in several dimensions of religion is in contrast to findings of genetic influences on a large number of other traits that were studied in these twin families. Differences in religious background are associated with differences in personality, especially in Sensation Seeking. Subjects with a religious upbringing, who are currently religious and who engage in church activities score lower on the scales of the Sensation Seeking Questionnaire. The most pronounced effect is on the Disinhibition scale. The resemblances between twins for the Disinhibition scale differ according to their religious upbringing. Receiving a religious upbringing seems to reduce the influence of genetic factors on Disinhibition, especially in males.     

Impact of the topology of global macroeconomic network on the spreading of economic crises

Throughout economic history, the global economy has experienced recurring crises. The persistent recurrence of such economic crises calls for an understanding of their generic features rather than treating them as singular events. The global economic system is a highly complex system and can best be viewed in terms of a network of interacting macroeconomic agents. In this regard, from the perspective of collective network dynamics, here we explore how the topology of the global macroeconomic network affects the patterns of spreading of economic crises. Using a simple toy model of crisis spreading, we demonstrate that an individual country's role in crisis spreading is not only dependent on its gross macroeconomic capacities, but also on its local and global connectivity profile in the context of the world economic network. We find that on one hand clustering of weak links at the regional scale can significantly aggravate the spread of crises, but on the other hand the current network structure at the global scale harbors higher tolerance of extreme crises compared to more "globalized" random networks. These results suggest that there can be a potential hidden cost in the ongoing globalization movement towards establishing less-constrained, trans-regional economic links between countries, by increasing vulnerability of the global economic system to extreme crises.     

A LONGITUDINAL INVESTIGATION OF SEASONAL VARIATION IN MOOD

A prospective panel study was conducted to measure seasonality of mood in a random community sample in Melbourne, Australia (N = 245). Based on research into the structure of human mood, it was predicted that a lowering of mood in winter relative to summer would be observed in positive affect (PA) and behavioral engagement (BE), but not negative affect (NA). These variables were measured across summer and winter for 3 years. Consistent with the majority of research in the Northern Hemisphere, analyses on the entire sample found evidence of a small prospective season effect on the BE scale (explaining 2.1% of variance in BE scores). Also, as expected, no season effect was seen on the NA scale. In the entire sample, the season effect was not significant for PA, but joint factor analysis of the BE, PA, and NA scales confirmed that the season effect seen in the BE scale was largely due to items that were pure measures of PA. Winter pattern seasonality was both reliable across measures and significantly more marked among the subgroup of respondents who self-identified winter pattern of mood on the Seasonal Pattern Assessment Questionnaire. (Chronobiology International, 18(5), 875-891, 2001)     

Seeking healing transnationally: Australians,John of God and Brazilian Spiritism

João de Deus (John of God) is a Brazilian faith healer who has become increasingly well‐known outside Brazil. In 2006 alone he was invited to conduct healing events in Germany, the United States of America and New Zealand. He returned to the United States of America and New Zealand in 2007, and in 2008 was once again in the United States of America. There are plans for him to come to Australia in the near future. This article is based on ethnographic research conducted in Brazil, New Zealand and Australia and on interviews with Australians in Sydney. Here, I explore the stories of Australian followers of John of God and their reasons for seeking his healing system. I argue that Western New Age and alternative medicine concepts of healing produce a disposition ( Bourdieu 1972 ) towards ‘traditional’ healing from exotic lands. I show that the reinstatement of a connection between healing and religion, the construction of context that gives meaning to illness, and empowerment through surrendering to a higher power are three important factors that help to explain why people shun Western medicine in favour of alternative practices.     

直肠癌切除术患者永久性与临时性造口术后生活质量变化及其与排便症状的相关性研究

摘要 目的：探讨直肠癌切除术患者永久性与临时性造口术后生活质量变化,并分析其生活质量与排便症状的相关性。方法：纳入我院2017年4月～2020年4月收治的直肠癌切除术患者110例,所有纳入者均行造口术。根据造口方式,分成永久性造口组（简称永久组,n=41）、临时性造口组（简称临时组,n=69）。记录两组造口并发症发生率,分别在患者术后1、3、6个月,采用简明生活质量量表（SF-36）评估其生活质量,采用排便症状量表评估患者排便症状的变化。经Pearson线性相关分析患者生活质量评分与排便症状评分的相关性。结果：临时组造口并发症发生率（8.90%）与永久组（12.20%）比较无差异（P＞0.05）。两组术后3、6个月SF-36各维度评分均高于术后1个月,术后6个月各评分高于术后3个月,且临时组术后3个月SF-36各维度评分高于永久组（P＜0.05）,但两组术后6个月各评分比较无差异（P＞0.05）。两组术后3、6个月大便症状各评分均低于术后1个月,术后6个月的排便急迫感、排便费力、里急后重评分及总分低于术后3个月,且临时组术后3个月的排便急迫感、排便费力、里急后重评分及总分低于永久组（P＜0.05）,但两组术后6个月排便症状各评分比较未见差异（P＞0.05）。Pearson线性相关分析显示,排便症状总分与机体疼痛、躯体功能、躯体角色受限、情感角色受限、心理健康、社会功能、总体健康评分呈负相关（P＜0.05）。结论：直肠癌切除术患者临时性造口能够进一步促进术后3个月生活质量、排便功能的改善,在术后6个月,永久性造口患者的生活质量、排便功能基本达到临时性造口患者的状态,且排便功能与生活质量具有相关性。     

Beyond the Hazard: The Role of Beliefs in Health Risk Perception

This article addresses how beliefs about health risks cluster and how these relate to perceptions of risk among Canadians. A principal components analysis conducted on items reflecting various beliefs from the Canadian National Health Risk Perception Survey extracted four underlying dimensions: Cancer Dread, Trust in Regulators, Environmental Concern, and Personal Agency. Factor scores were then used to investigate relationships between belief factors and the perceived health risk of various hazards with gender, education, income, and province of residence as covariates. Environmental and Therapeutic health risk perceptions were significantly higher in respondents with high Cancer Dread and high Environmental Concern, but lower in respondents with high Trust in Regulators. Environmental health risk perceptions were lower in respondents with high Personal Agency, whereas Social health risk perceptions were higher in respondents with high Cancer Dread and Personal Agency. Results suggest that information about health risk–related beliefs can be useful in improving our understanding of the public's perceived risk of health hazards.     

Long‐Lifetime Triboelectric Nanogenerator Operated in Conjunction Modes and Low Crest Factor

The high‐output triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) is indispensable for its practical applications toward industrial products. However, the electricity loss in simple parallel connection among all units and the typically high crest factor output seriously hamper the practical applications of TENG. Here, a rectified TENG is reported in parallel structure to solve the problem of electricity loss in simple parallel connection. The rotational contact–separation structure with phase difference between rectified TENGs addresses high crest factor output and extends service life of rotational TENG simultaneously. The current crest factor is dramatically decreased to 1.31 in multiple rectifier multiple TENG in parallel (MRM‐TENG), while that of TENG in simple parallel is higher than 6. Meanwhile, the current output can retain up to ≈93% of its initial performance after 7 200 000 rotations under 2.00 r s^?1 of 1000 h. Furthermore, the equivalent current can be in linear growth with low crest factor by making MRM‐TENG in parallel for distributed energy supply without electricity loss. This work may provide a new strategy for TENG in parallel to achieve a low crest factor output and long‐term cycling stability power generation in distributed energy harvesting for large‐scale power application.     

圈养马麝的个性分类

本研究在甘肃兴隆山国家级自然保护区马麝繁育场展开,分别于2012年7月和2013年8月,针对374只圈养马麝,采用基于量表的个性评价法进行评价调查。结果表明:可建立包含17个个性项目的圈养马麝个性量表,因子分析显示每个项目公因子方差和载荷均大于0. 4,各因子累计贡献率为60. 33%,表明此量表具有较好的结构效度。此外Cronbach’sα系数为0. 787,表明量表具有较高的内部一致性信度,量表设计合理;因子分析和聚类分析结果显示,可将圈养马麝划分为五大个性维度:侵略性、社会性、刻板性、温顺性、活跃性。研究发现,圈养马麝个性维度与野生个体的个性类型划分存在差异,主要是受圈养条件和人为干扰等影响。圈养马麝个性量表和五大个性维度的建立对指导马麝繁育管理具有重要实践价值,填补了马麝个性研究的空缺,并为进一步进行麝类动物个性研究奠定了基础。另外,此类个性层次研究方法具有较好区分度,可为其他动物个性的初期研究提供参考。     

Deciphering Depressive Mood in Relapsing-Remitting and Progressive Multiple Sclerosis and Its Consequence on Quality of Life

Background

Depressive mood and other emotional symptoms are common in multiple sclerosis (MS). The patient-reported outcome version of the “Echelle d’Humeur Dépressive” (EHD-PRO) aims to differentiate between two dimensions of depressive mood in people living with MS (PwMS).

Objectives

First, to compare EHD-PRO assessment and its two dimensions, lack of emotional control and emotional blunting, between a large sample of healthy controls (HCs) and two samples of PwMS, relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) and primary progressive MS (PPMS); and second, to analyse the relationships between EHD-PRO scores with neurological disability, cognitive function, fatigue and health-related quality of life (HR-QOL).

Results

Regardless of their phenotype, PwMS had significantly higher EHD-PRO scores than HCs. EHD-PRO scores did not differ between the two MS groups. EHD-PRO scores did not correlate with disability and fatigue scores, disease duration or cognitive z scores. In RRMS, the lack of emotional control was independently associated with a decrease in HR-QOL.

Conclusion

The EHD-PRO is able to easily detect depressive mood and to differentiate between two clinical dimensions, emotional blunting and lack of emotional control. The scale is sensitive and seems robust to confounding factors. Lack of emotional control seems to contribute significantly to altered HR-QOL in RRMS.