Search

Background:E-learning modules can be a useful method for educating gatekeepers in suicide prevention and awareness. Aims:To review and provide an overview of e-learning modules on suicide prevention designed for gatekeepers and assess their effectiveness. Method:Two strategies were used. First, articles were systematically searched in databases of PubMed, Web of Science, and PsycINFO. Second, Google search was used to find e-learning modules on the Web. Results:The literature search resulted in 448 papers, of which none met the inclusion criteria of this study. The Google search resulted in 130 hits, of which 23 met the inclusion criteria of this review. Organizations that owned the modules were contacted, of which 13 responded and nine were included in this study. The effectiveness of two e-learning modules is currently being tested in a randomized controlled trial (RCT), one organization is planning to test the effectiveness of their module, and one organization has compared their face-to-face training with their online training. Furthermore, the included modules have different characteristics. Conclusion:There is a need for RCTs to study the effectiveness of online modules in this area and to understand which characteristics are essential to create effective e-learning modules to educate gatekeepers in suicide prevention.

Background:Quantitative studies in several European countries showed that 10–20% of older people have or have had a wish to die. Aims:To improve our understanding of why some older people develop a wish to die. Methods:In-depth interviews with people with a wish to die (n= 31) were carried out. Through open coding and inductive analysis, we developed a conceptual framework to describe the development of death wishes. Respondents were selected from two cohort studies. Results:The wish to die had either been triggered suddenly after traumatic life events or had developed gradually after a life full of adversity, as a consequence of aging or illness, or after recurring depression. The respondents were in a situation they considered unacceptable, yet they felt they had no control to change their situation and thus progressively “gave up” trying. Recurring themes included being widowed, feeling lonely, being a victim, being dependent, and wanting to be useful. Developing thoughts about death as a positive thing or a release from problems seemed to them like a way to reclaim control. Conclusions:People who wish to die originally develop thoughts about death as a positive solution to life events or to an adverse situation, and eventually reach a balance of the wish to live and to die.

Background:Death thoughts and wishes occur frequently among older people. In different European countries estimates of 10%–20% have been found. Aims:To determine the prevalence and associated factors of death thoughts and wishes among older people in The Netherlands. Methods:In The Netherlands 1794 people (58–98 years) were interviewed in 2005/2006 (Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam). Results:81.3% reported never having death thoughts/wishes; 15.3% reported having had such thoughts/wishes; 3.4% reported currently having a wish to die and/or a weakened wish to continue living. Of those with a current wish to die, 67% had depressive symptoms (vs. 32% of people with death thoughts/wishes ever and 9% of people who never had had death thoughts/wishes), and 20% suffered from a depressive disorder (vs. 5% if death thoughts/wishes ever; 0.3% if never death thoughts/wishes). In a multivariate analysis, a current wish to die was associated with having depressive symptoms, a depressive disorder, lower perceived mastery, financial problems, loneliness, small network, involuntary urine loss, being divorced, and having a speech impediment. Conclusions:Practical implications for health-care professionals are that they should be aware that in certain situations older people are more likely to develop a wish to die, and that a wish to die does not necessarily mean that someone has a depressive disorder. Nevertheless, it should serve as a trigger to investigate and to treat depression if present.

This work presents a new method to evaluate the effective diffusivity in porous solids, considering the mass-transfer mechanisms occurring in the pores and on the surface. The binary friction model was used to evaluate the effective gas-phase diffusivity and the Maxwell−Stefan surface diffusion equation to the transport of bound water. Different expressions for the effective diffusivity for porous solids were derived considering parallel diffusion, series diffusion, and the Clausius−Mossotti model. The numerical results were compared to experimental data obtained for Son clay. In the pore diffusivity, when both are present, capillary flow showed dominance over gas diffusion. For the entire moisture content range, only a combination of the models presented good agreement with experimental data, showing changes in the interdependence of mechanisms during the drying process.

The Taylor dispersion technique is used to determine the diffusion coefficients of the ternary systems glucose + water + dilute methanol, ethanol, or acetone at 25 °C and up to a glucose mole fraction of 0.065. The dispersion of the injected solutes is recorded by a differential refractometer and an ultraviolet−visible detector. The diffusion coefficients are calculated directly by fitting the theoretical dispersion equations to about six experimental curves simultaneously. The precision of the diffusion coefficients is dependent on the relative detector sensitivities of the components. The determination of the main-diffusion coefficients is more precise than of the cross-diffusion coefficient (±2% vs ±5−10%).

Objective: The aim of this research was to identify psychosocial characteristics which might predict future suicidal behavior in parasuicidal subjects in Europe.Method: The interview utilized for the survey (European Parasuicide Study Interview Schedule—EPSIS) was administered to 1269 parasuicides aged fifteen years and over, within one week of hospital admission after a suicide attempt, and is part of a longitudinal multicenter study. EPSIS included a brief medical questionnaire, scales rating depression, hopelessness, self-esteem, suicide intention, questions on sociodemographic characteristics, an interview on life events and social support, a description of the parasuicidal act, and an evaluation of factors precipitating the index parasuicide.Results: Physical illness proved to be very frequent among suicide attempters. One in two subjects suffered from an acute, chronic, or chronic disorder in relapse at the time of the parasuicide. Subjects with a physical illness were significantly more depressed, particularly subjects from the intermediate age band and ones affected by a chronic physical disease in relapse. Forty-two percent of patients with physical illness rated their somatic problem as a factor precipitating the attempt and 22 percent judged it to be major one. Furthermore, subjects with physical illnesses considered psychiatric symptoms and disorders to be relevant factors in triggering suicidal behavior, to a greater extent than non-sufferers. The importance of physical illness in contributing to suicidal behavior increased with advancing age.Conclusions: More careful attention to somatic conditions and their subjective implications would probably augment chances of effectively preventing suicide.

Two models presented here predict the kinetics of adsorption from solution. The adsorbate is considered to form a capillary separated phase inside the micropores. The transport in the adsorbed phase is modeled as capillary transport under the influences of gradients in capillary pressure. In model I the capillary separated phase is assumed to be continuous, while in model II it is assumed to be discontinuous. The effective adsorbed phase diffusion coefficient for this transport is directly related to the pore‐size distribution, which can be found from the sorption isotherm. In both models the overall apparent diffusion coefficients are compared with experimental data. Both models satisfactorily predict the dependency of the diffusion coefficient on carbon loading. Model I slightly underestimates the temperature dependency of the effective diffusion coefficient, while model II gives a good prediction of the influence of temperature on the rate of adsorption.