Entrapment of anaerobic thermophilic and hyperthermophilic marine micro-organisms in a gellan/xanthan matrix.

AIMS: The aims of this study were (i) to develop a protocol for the entrapment of anaerobic (hyper)thermophilic marine micro-organisms; (ii) to test the use of the chosen polymers in a range of physical and chemical conditions and (iii) to validate the method with batch cultures. METHODS AND RESULTS: The best conditions for immobilization were obtained at 80°C with gellan and xanthan gums. After 5-week incubation, beads showed a good resistance to all tested conditions except those simultaneously including high temperature (100°C), low NaCl (<0∙5 mol l(-1) ) and extreme pH (4/8). To confirm the method efficiency, batch cultures with immobilized Thermosipho sp. strain AT1272 and Thermococcus kodakarensis strain KOD1 showed an absence of detrimental effect on cell viability and a good growth within and outside the beads. CONCLUSION: This suggests that entrapment in a gellan-xanthan matrix could be employed for the culture of anaerobic (hyper)thermophilic marine micro-organisms. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: (Hyper)thermophilic marine micro-organisms possess a high biotechnological potential. Generally microbial cells are grown as free-cell cultures. The use of immobilized cells may offer several advantages such as protection against phage attack, high cell biomass and better production rate of desired metabolites.

Evaluation of a cancer exercise program: patient and physician beliefs.

OBJECTIVE: Participation in an exercise intervention during cancer treatment diminishes the side effects associated with cancer therapies, although such benefits vary according to the disease and the patient characteristics. A structured exercise program providing an individualized fitness program tailored to the patients' illness, treatment, and fitness level would address this variability. However, the need, desired components, and anticipated barriers of such a program have not been systematically explored from either the point of view of cancer patients or treating oncologists. METHODS: Sixty-six cancer patients and 18 medical and radiation oncologists were surveyed on the above variables. RESULTS: Cancer patients and oncologists alike perceived a need for a structured exercise program during and after medical treatment for cancer. Among cancer patients, the most commonly preferred feature was access to consultation with an exercise specialist who could take into account the patient's previous exercise and medical history. Over a third of patients reported interest in a hospital-based fitness program. Oncologists were in favor of appropriate supervision of patients during exercise, and noted insufficient time to discuss exercise in their practice. Respondents noted time and parking as barriers to participation. CONCLUSION: Overall, results support the need for a supervised exercise program during active treatment for cancer and highlight the desired features of such a program.

Social disadvantage, mental illness and predictors of legal involvement.

The following study evaluates the complex association between legal involvement and mental illness. It describes a population of consumers of community mental health programs, comparing those with legal involvement to those without legal involvement, on a number of demographic, clinical and social indicators. It is a secondary analysis of data collected in studies making up the Community Mental Health Evaluation Initiative (CMHEI) in the province of Ontario, Canada. Legal involvement was a significant issue among community mental health program consumers; about one in five consumers had at least some contact with the legal system in the preceding nine months. Legally involved consumers were more likely to be in receipt of social assistance and be unstably housed than those legally uninvolved. However, there were no significant differences between legally involved and uninvolved consumers with respect to severity of symptomatology, current medication use or number of hospitalization days in the past 9 months. A predictive model compared the differential impact of clinical and social determinants upon legal involvement. Analyses failed to uncover a significant relationship between severity of psychiatric symptomatology and legal involvement. Significant predictors of legal involvement included gender, race, drug use as well as housing instability, and receipt of social assistance. Legal involvement was attributable to factors other than the severity of mental illness; these results challenge assumptions that the most symptomatically severe consumers are most at risk of legal involvement. Accordingly, the rate of legal involvement in a sample of community mental health program users must be considered in a broad context, with particular emphasis on social disadvantage.

The burden of conditions not attributable to mental disorders.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to extend previous findings on the relationship of V code conditions to use of psychiatric services and treatment outcome. METHOD: The group under study involved 2,542 outpatients from three community mental health centers in Nova Scotia, Canada. From this group, three subgroups of patients were compared: 1) patients with V code conditions, 2) patients with DSM-III-R mental disorders, and 3) patients with both V code conditions and mental disorders. RESULTS: The majority of patients (61.8%) were diagnosed with V code conditions, and a substantial minority (19.6%) had V code conditions as the sole diagnoses. Patients with V code conditions without mental disorders were similar to patients with mental disorders in consumption of treatment resources and treatment outcome. CONCLUSIONS: Strategies for improving the efficiency of mental health services to patients with V code conditions need to be developed.

Community integration and quality of life: a comparison of persons with psychiatric disabilities in housing programs and community residents who are neighbors.

Fifty-one persons with psychiatric disabilities in housing programs in the Ottawa-Carleton area were compared with a matched sample of 51 community residents on several aspects of community integration and subjective quality of life. Matching criteria included sex and location (i.e., living within one square block). Results showed persons with psychiatric disabilities reporting lower levels of social contact with neighbours and general life satisfaction than community residents. Both groups showed similar levels of physical presence and sense of community in the neighbourhood. Implications of the findings for planning and improving community mental health services are discussed.

Family-focused case management: a case study of an innovative demonstration program.

Using results from a formative evaluation, the paper describes family-focused case management (FFCM). FFCM is an innovative community mental health service designed to support both consumers/survivors and their families. The formative evaluation used a multi-informant, multi-method approach to describe FFCM services and assess their quality. Focus groups with program stakeholders produced a "program-logic model" and identified minimum standards for FFCM. Service activities and outcomes defined in the program-logic model were typical of those offered to consumers/survivors in intensive case management programs, but were supplemented with support being offered to their families. Monitoring of service activities showed that the case manager had regular contact with families and offered them a mix of direct and indirect services that corresponded, in most cases, to defined program standards. Interviews with 14 family members and 8 consumers/survivors receiving FFCM services revealed high levels of satisfaction with most aspects of the program. Overall, evaluation findings suggest that intensive case management can be expanded to include providing support to families. Future directions for developing FFCM are discussed.

Transport mechanisms of small molecules through polyamide 12/montmorillonite nanocomposites.

The aim of this work is to study the transport of small molecules through the hybrid systems polyamide 12 (PA12)/organo-modified montmorillonite (Cloisite 30B, C30B) prepared by melt blending, using two blending conditions. The transport mechanisms were investigated by using three probe molecules: nitrogen, water, and toluene. While a barrier effect appears clearly with nitrogen, this effect changes with the amount of fillers for water and disappears for toluene. The reduction of permeability for nitrogen is mainly due to the increase of tortuosity. For water and toluene, the permeation kinetics reveals many concomitant phenomena responsible for the permeation behavior. Despite the tortuosity effect, the toluene permeability of nanocomposites increases with C30B fraction. The water and toluene molecules interact differently with fillers according to their hydrophilic/hydrophobic character. Moreover, the plasticization effect of water and toluene in the matrix, involving a concentration-dependent diffusion coefficient, is correctly described by the law D = D(0)e(gammaC). On the basis of Nielsen's tortuosity concept, we suggest a new approach for relative permeability modeling, not only based on the geometrical parameters (aspect ratio, orientation, recovery) but also including phenomenological parameters deduced from structural characterization and permeation kinetics.

Use of mental health resources in the treatment of adult out-patients with no diagnosable mental disorders.

Comparisons of adult out-patients diagnosed with V-code conditions and those with mental disorders were conducted in a number of areas related to patient and treatment characteristics. Data were collected from three community mental health centres over a 6-year period (n = 7,220) in a semi-rural region of Nova Scotia, Canada. V-code patients represented approximately one-third of the psychiatric out-patient admission in these centres. Comparisons of the two patient groups indicated that V-code patients were of a higher socio-economic status than patients diagnosed with mental disorders. The difficulties of patients with V-code conditions appeared to be less severe than those of patients with mental disorders. However, patients with V-code conditions consumed comparable treatment resources to patients with mental disorders. Both groups of patients were evaluated by their therapists as experiencing similar levels of improvement during the course of treatment. The implications of these findings for more efficient use of resources in community mental health centres are discussed.

Public attitudes and intentions regarding tenants of community mental health residences who are neighbours.

A mail survey was conducted on a representative sample of 345 households in Winnipeg to examine public attitudes and behavioural intentions regarding tenants of community mental health residences who are neighbours. Vignette methodology was used to investigate the effects of mental illness labels (living in a community mental health residence vs. a normal residence), behavioural presentation (reflecting mild vs. severe disability), and sex of neighbours. Results showed behavioural presentation superseding labelling associated with tenancy in community mental health facilities in determining public attitudes toward and behavioural intentions regarding neighbouring. The study extends previous research by suggesting high levels of receptiveness on the part of community residents to having tenants as neighbours. Implications of the findings for improving the neighbourhood integration of tenants in community mental health residences are discussed.

Quid pro quo: fee for services delivered in a psychology training clinic.

The present study evaluated the use of a sliding-fee scale at a training clinic for doctoral students in clinical psychology. A chart review of 209 individual therapy clients and a follow-up telephone interview of 87 of these clients were conducted. Results of the chart review revealed a client group of relatively low income, with only a very small number receiving social assistance or a disability pension. The follow-up survey found that the large majority of clients were satisfied with the fees charged. Service use (i.e., frequency and number of sessions), client satisfaction with services, and treatment outcome did not vary with out-of-pocket costs incurred by clients. Overall, findings suggest that training clinics can charge fees without affecting services, although future research needs to examine the extent that fee charging by training clinics may be an obstacle to service access for the poorest segments of the population.