New Alzheimer's Association report reveals 1 in 3 seniors dies with Alzheimer's or another dementia

2.3 Million Americans are “Long-Distance Caregivers” for people with Alzheimer’s; Costs for Long-Distance Caregivers are Almost Twice as High.According to the Alzheimer's Association 2013 Alzheimer's Disease Facts and Figures report released today, one in three seniors dies with Alzheimer’s or another dementia in the United States. The new report shows that while deaths from other major diseases, such as heart disease, HIV/AIDS and stroke, continue to experience significant declines, Alzheimer’s deaths continue to rise — increasing 68 percent from 2000-2010.��“Unfortunately, today there are no Alzheimer’s survivors. If you have Alzheimer's disease, you either die from it or diewith it,” said Harry Johns, president and CEO of the Alzheimer’s Association. “Now we know that 1 in 3 seniors dies with Alzheimer’s disease or another dementia. Urgent, meaningful��action is necessary, particularly as more and more people age into greater risk for developing a disease��that today has no cure and no way to slow or stop its progression.”Read more here.����������

Another strand to the DNA story

Review of the book: The third man of the double Helix by Maurice Wilkins. 10.1038/sj.embor.7400062

Acute dacryocystitis: another clinical manifestation of sporotrichosis

Sporotrichosis associated with exposure to domestic cats is hyperendemic in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A review of the clinical records at our institute revealed four patients with clinical signs of dacryocystitis and a positive conjunctival culture for Sporothrix who were diagnosed with Sporothrix dacryocystitis. Three patients were children (< 13 years of age) and one patient was an adult. Two patients reported contact with a cat that had sporotrichosis. Dacryocystitis was associated with nodular, ulcerated lesions on the face of one patient and with granulomatous conjunctivitis in two patients; however, this condition manifested as an isolated disease in another patient. All of the patients were cured of the fungal infections, but three patients had chronic dacryocystitis and one patient developed a cutaneous fistula. Sporotrichosis is usually a benign disease, but may cause severe complications when the eye and the adnexa are affected. Physicians, especially ophthalmologists in endemic areas, should be aware of the ophthalmological manifestations and complications of sporotrichosis.

Note on predation of the brood of Mischocyttarus injucundus (de Saussure) by another social wasp in Caxiuanã, Pará, Brazil, with new records of species for the Ferreira Penna Research Station (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Polistinae)

ABSTRACT Predation of the brood of Mischocyttarus injucundus by another polistine social wasp is reported from an Amazonian rainforest locality. This is the first report for the American tropics of naturally occurring predation by one social wasp on the brood of another. Three species are added to the list of the Ferreira Penna Research Station, raising known local richness to 81 species: Mischocyttarus filiformis (de Saussure, 1854), Mischocyttarus vaqueroi Zikán, 1949, and Parachartergus griseus (Fox, 1898).

Knowledge management: uncovering risky gaps underlying the criticisms and moving to another perspective

The comments related to the sustainability of knowledge management (KM) have shown signs that it possibly can be a discourse which determines a quick style, but otherwise have also allowed the building of a better understanding about the limits and weaknesses of the knowlege management. In addition to the criticisms, the conceptual bases of knowledge management have been undermined by a contradictory combination of paradigms; there are also contradictions between the theoretical perspective jubjacent to the knwoledge management and its operationality. As a way of minimizing the possibility that the knowledge management may be turned into an umbrella concept and fail, it is suggested that its approaches embody a more interpretative perspective, taking up the role of an instrument which enables and facilitates the processes and practices in building up knowledge and information, enhancing their focus on the support to the establishment of human competences in order to deal intelligently with the present overcharge of information resources and need for building up information in the organizations.

Another way of thinking about ADHD: the predictive role of early attachment deprivation in adolescents' level of symptoms.

PURPOSE: Attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most frequent disorders in childhood and adolescence. Both neurocognitive and environmental factors have been related to ADHD. The current study contributes to the documentation of the predictive relation between early attachment deprivation and ADHD. METHOD: Data were collected from 641 adopted adolescents (53.2 % girls) aged 11-16 years in five countries, using the DSM oriented scale for ADHD of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) (Achenbach and Rescorla, Manual for the ASEBA school-age forms and profiles. University of Vermont, Research Center for Children, Youth and Families, Burlington, 2001). The influence of attachment deprivation on ADHD symptoms was initially tested taking into consideration several key variables that have been reported as influencing ADHD at the adoptee level (age, gender, length of time in the adoptive family, parents' educational level and marital status), and at the level of the country of origin and country of adoption (poverty, quality of health services and values). The analyses were computed using the multilevel modeling technique. RESULTS: The results showed that an increase in the level of ADHD symptoms was predicted by the duration of exposure to early attachment deprivation, estimated from the age of adoption, after controlling for the influence of adoptee and country variables. The effect of the age of adoption was also demonstrated to be specific to the level of ADHD symptoms in comparison to both the externalizing and internalizing behavior scales of the CBCL. CONCLUSION: Deprivation of stable and sensitive care in infancy may have long-lasting consequences for children's development.

Oops! Another medication error : a literature review of contributing factors and methods to prevent medication errors

The purpose of this bachelor's thesis was to chart scientific research articles to present contributing factors to medication errors done by nurses in a hospital setting, and introduce methods to prevent medication errors. Additionally, international and Finnish research was combined and findings were reflected in relation to the Finnish health care system. Literature review was conducted out of 23 scientific articles. Data was searched systematically from CINAHL, MEDIC and MEDLINE databases, and also manually. Literature was analysed and the findings combined using inductive content analysis. Findings revealed that both organisational and individual factors contributed to medication errors. High workload, communication breakdowns, unsuitable working environment, distractions and interruptions, and similar medication products were identified as organisational factors. Individual factors included nurses' inability to follow protocol, inadequate knowledge of medications and personal qualities of the nurse. Developing and improving the physical environment, error reporting, and medication management protocols were emphasised as methods to prevent medication errors. Investing to the staff's competence and well-being was also identified as a prevention method. The number of Finnish articles was small, and therefore the applicability of the findings to Finland is difficult to assess. However, the findings seem to fit to the Finnish health care system relatively well. Further research is needed to identify those factors that contribute to medication errors in Finland. This is a necessity for the development of methods to prevent medication errors that fit in to the Finnish health care system.