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Background. Extreme positive mood characterises (hypo)mania and is associated with increased severity of bipolar disorders. However, the lack of recognition and effective measurement of hypomanic extreme positive mood means it is underreported and poorly understood. As existing affect and hypomanic symptom scales do not specifically measure hypomanic-like affective states, this study begins validation of a new state measure – the Hypomanic Mood Scale. Methods. 468 students completed an online survey consisting of validated state and trait measures of affect and mood disorder symptoms, alongside the novel HMS. Analysis focused on establishing the construct validity, content validity and construct reliability of the HMS.Results. The HMS had a two-factor structure, ‘active-elated’ and ‘irritable-unstable’. The ‘active-elated’ factor was internally reliable, despite overall poor internal consistency of the HMS and poor reliability when hypomanic-like irritation items were included. HMS scores were associated with past and enduring tendencies to experience hypomania, when controlling for current anxiety and depression symptoms. HMS items did not distinguish from general positive mood items on an existing affect scale.Limitations. As a primarily female student sample was used, findings cannot be generalised to general or clinical populations.Conclusions. Findings provide a promising start to the development of a novel hypomanic-like mood scale. Further research should focus on refining the scale and improving internal consistency of the hypomanic-like irritation factor. Successful development and validation of this measure will be useful for future development of simple and accessible methods of self-monitoring mood and tracking risk for patients e.g., medical mobile applications.

Gang involvement poses serious risks to young people, including antisocial and criminal behaviour, sexual and criminal exploitation, and mental health problems. There is a need for research-informed development of preventive interventions.We conducted a qualitative investigation of young people’s responses to an educational virtual reality (VR) experience of an encounter with a gang. Young people (N=24 aged 13-15, 11 female, 13 male) underwent the VR experience before participating in semi-structured focus group discussions. Questions focused on virtual decision-making (motivations, thoughts, feelings, consequences) and user experiences of taking part. Results analysed using Thematic Analysis show how participants’ perceptions of the gang, themselves, and the context influenced virtual decisions. Social pressure from the gang competed with participants’ wish to stand by their morals and establish individual identity. The VR setting, through its escalating scenarios and plausible characters, created an ‘illusion of reality’ and sense of authentic decisions and emotions, yielding insights for real-life in a safe, virtual environment. Findings shed light on processes influencing adolescent decision-making in a virtual context of risk-taking, peer pressure and contact with a gang. Particularly, they highlight the potential for using VR in interventions with young people, given its engaging and realistic nature.

The present article reports on the variation of mental health resources across the globe and considers the merits or otherwise of the process of globalization in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), with a specific emphasis on Ethiopia. Although globalization has gained momentum in recent years, there is a concern that the globalization of Western mental health frameworks is problematic, as these concepts have been developed in a different context and do not accommodate the current diversity in understanding in LMIC countries. The importance of understanding the mental health frameworks of LMIC like Ethiopia, prior to considering if and how aspects of high-income countries (HIC) conceptualizations may be appropriately imported, is therefore reflected upon. Traditional approaches in managing mental health difficulties and possible reasons for the limited engagement with clinical psychology in Ethiopia are considered. Current developments within the fields of mental health and clinical psychology in Ethiopia are discussed, and the need to develop more local research in order to increase understanding and evaluate treatment interventions is recognized. Further consideration and debate by Ethiopian mental health professionals as well as those from HIC are recommended, to promote both reciprocal learning and new local discourses about mental health.

In the context of health services, decisions regarding priorities for social work intervention and, hence, the allocation of social work expertise and resources have traditionally been based on an interaction between social work knowledge, principles and skills, historical precedence, health policy, multidisciplinary team requirements, and manager opinion. In the current context of health services, traditional practices are questioned and it has become essential for social work as a profession to clarify its role, its choice of interventions, and to state clearly and strongly, on the basis of social work knowledge, its core priorities for practice and, hence, the allocation of resources. This paper presents the findings of an exploratory study, undertaken by joint university and practice collaboration, designed to develop a set of priorities for social work practice in health. The study was undertaken in the Hunter Health region of New South Wales, Australia, where social workers are employed acr...

Congestive heart failure is commonly treated with a low sodium diet and diuretic. The purpose of this treatment is the reduction of preload, or blood volume presented to the diseased cardiac muscle. The purpose of this study was to assess the roles of dietary sodium and furosemide on cardiac function, plasma electrolyte concentrations, and the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, in healthy canines. Twenty mixed-breed canines were allotted to one of four groups, Group I - Dogs fed low sodium diet (0.08% sodium), Group II - Dogs fed high sodium diet (1.0% sodium), Group III - Dogs fed low sodium (0.08%) and treated with furosemide (2 mg/kg orally (PO) every twelve hours (BID)), and Group IV - Dogs fed high sodium (1.0%) and furosemide ( 2 mg/kg PO BID). Cardiac function was assessed via echocardiography on days 0, 21,and 53. Plasma electrolyte concentrations were measured on days 0, 21, and 35. Activation of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system was evaluated on days 0, 21, 35, and 53. Low and high sodium diet with and without furosemide treatment did not alter cardiac function, plasma sodium, or plasma potassium concentrations. However, furosemide treatment combined with a low sodium diet resulted in the lowest plasma chloride concentrations, on days 21 and 35 (p

The new technology has eliminated many of the traditional crafts and it has expanded the need for highly trained personnel.The changes of the new technology have been identified and the author discusses steps that have been taken to alleviate them.

Background Anecdotal evidence suggests ultra-runners may not be consuming sufficient water through foods and fluids to maintenance euhydration, and present sub-optimal sodium intakes, throughout multi-stage ultra-marathon (MSUM) competitions in the heat. Subsequently, the aims were primarily to assess water and sodium intake habits of recreational ultra-runners during a five stage 225 km semi self-sufficient MSUM conducted in a hot ambient environment (Tmax range: 32°C to 40°C); simultaneously to monitor serum sodium concentration, and hydration status using multiple hydration assessment techniques. Methods Total daily, pre-stage, during running, and post-stage water and sodium ingestion of ultra-endurance runners (UER, n = 74) and control (CON, n = 12) through foods and fluids were recorded on Stages 1 to 4 by trained dietetic researchers using dietary recall interview technique, and analysed through dietary analysis software. Body mass (BM), hydration status, and serum sodium concentration were determined pre- and post-Stages 1 to 5. Results Water (overall mean (SD): total daily 7.7 (1.5) L/day, during running 732 (183) ml/h) and sodium (total daily 3.9 (1.3) g/day, during running 270 (151) mg/L) ingestion did not differ between stages in UER (p vs. CON). Exercise-induced BM loss was 2.4 (1.2)% (p p > 0.05 vs. CON pre-stage). Asymptomatic hyponatraemia (n = 8 UER, corresponding to 42% of sampled participants. Pre- and post-stage urine colour, urine osmolality and urine/plasma osmolality ratio increased (p p Conclusion Water intake habits of ultra-runners during MSUM conducted in hot ambient conditions appear to be sufficient to maintain baseline euhydration levels. However, fluid over-consumption behaviours were evident along competition, irrespective of running speed and gender. Normonatraemia was observed in the majority of ultra-runners throughout MSUM, despite sodium ingestion under benchmark recommendations.