Risk and protective factors associated with grandparent kinship caregivers' psychological distress in COVID-19: Kinship license status as a moderator.

COVID-19 and its related policy measures have increased the psychological distress of individuals, including grandparent kinship caregivers. Guided by the Resilience Model of Family Stress, Adjustment, and Adaptation, this study examines relationships between material hardship, parenting stress, social support, resilience and psychological distress of grandparent kinship caregivers during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the moderating role of kinship license status on these relationships. Kinship care licensing is a prerequisite to receiving financial assistance and other supporting services from the government.

Material hardship and child neglect risk amidst COVID-19 in grandparent-headed kinship families: The role of financial assistance.

Background: COVID-19 has exacerbated material hardship among grandparent-headed kinship families. Grandparent-headed kinship families receive financial assistance, which may mitigate material hardship and reduce child neglect risk.

Objective: This study aims to examine (1) the association between material hardship and child neglect risk; and (2) whether financial assistance moderates this association in a sample of kinship grandparent-headed families during COVID-19.

Effect of the rheological properties of the liquid carrier on the in vitro swallowing of solid oral dosage forms.

Solid oral dosage forms (SODF) are the most popular oral drug delivery forms, but they can be difficult to swallow, especially for patients suffering from swallowing disorders. This study investigated the dynamics of different combinations of liquid carriers and SODF during the oral phase of swallowing using an in vitro model. The rheological properties of the carriers were characterized using shear and extensional rheometry, and their effect on bolus velocity, bolus shape, post-swallow residues, and SODF position within the bolus was evaluated.

Custodial Grandparent's Job Loss During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Relationship With Parenting Stress and Mental Health.

Involuntary job loss during the COVID-19 pandemic adds challenges, especially for custodial grandparents that are taking care of grandchildren. Grandparents are relatively vulnerable, and they need more attention and support when facing the negative impacts of COVID-19. This study analyzed cross-sectional survey data collected from 234 custodial grandparents via Qualtrics Panels in June 2020 in the United States.

Understanding the Relationships between Parenting Stress and Mental Health with Grandparent Kinship Caregivers' Risky Parenting Behaviors in the Time of COVID-19.

Grandparent kinship caregivers may experience increased parenting stress and mental distress during the COVID-19 pandemic. It may lead to risky parenting behaviors, such as psychological aggression, corporal punishment, and neglectful behaviors towards their grandchildren. This study aims to examine (1) the relationships between parenting stress, mental health, and grandparent kinship caregivers' risky parenting practices, such as psychological aggression, corporal punishment, and neglectful behaviors towards their grandchildren during the COVID-19 pandemic, and (2) whether grandparent kinship caregivers' mental health is a potential mediator between parenting stress and caregivers' psychological aggression, corporal punishment, and neglectful behaviors.

Material hardship and parenting stress among grandparent kinship providers during the COVID-19 pandemic: The mediating role of grandparents' mental health.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the vulnerability of many families, including grandparent kinship families, to deal with a health/economic crisis. The fear of COVID-19 plus stay-at-home orders have increased individuals' psychological distress. Moreover, school closures and homeschooling further increased parenting stress among caregivers.

Children and youth in out-of-home care: What can predict an initial change in placement?

Background: A significant proportion of children placed in out of-home care experience placement disruptions in the United States. Placement instability has deleterious effects on children's well-being.

Objectives: (a) To measure the time-to-initial placement change in different types of settings, including non-relative foster homes, kinship care, residential treatment centers (RTC), group homes and other types of settings; and (b) To identify predictors of the initial placement change.

Development of a Non-invasive Device for Swallow Screening in Patients at Risk of Oropharyngeal Dysphagia: Results from a Prospective Exploratory Study.

Oropharyngeal dysphagia is prevalent in several at-risk populations, including post-stroke patients, patients in intensive care and the elderly. Dysphagia contributes to longer hospital stays and poor outcomes, including pneumonia. Early identification of dysphagia is recommended as part of the evaluation of at-risk patients, but available bedside screening tools perform inconsistently.

Abuse Characteristics and the Concordance of Child Protective Service Determinations and Adolescent Self-Reports of Abuse.

This study examines the concordance of abuse self-reported by adolescents at 18 years and child protective service (CPS) determinations and how abuse characteristics predict concordance. It includes 819 youths participating in 18-year interviews of the Longitudinal Study of Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN). Cross-tabulations revealed low correspondence between self-reports and CPS determinations of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse.

Predictors of substantiated re-reports in a sample of children with initial unsubstantiated reports.

Many children with unsubstantiated reports of child abuse and neglect repeatedly return to the child protection system, indicating that unsubstantiated reports may represent actual child maltreatment or risk for future maltreatment. Identifying patterns of re-reporting and predictors that may be associated with later substantiated re-reporting could help to identify children who are very likely to be maltreated. This knowledge may guide the development of policies and interventions to prevent further maltreatment and the risk for re-reports.

Child protection decisions to substantiate hospital child protection teams' reports of suspected maltreatment.

The present study focuses on the way child protection officers (CPOs) in Israel assess suspected abuse and neglect (SCAN) reports made by hospital child protection teams (CPTs), to determine whether the alleged maltreatment is substantiated. The study was conducted in six medical centers and included 358 reports investigated by CPOs for SCAN. A structured questionnaire was completed by hospital CPTs to capture all relevant information on each child referred to the CPTs.

Predicting the decisions of hospital based child protection teams to report to child protective services, police and community welfare services.

This study examines judgments made by hospital-based child protection teams (CPTs) when determining if there is reasonable suspicion that a child has been maltreated, and whether to report the case to a community welfare agency, to child protective services (CPS) and/or to the police. A prospective multi-center study of all 968 consecutive cases referred to CPTs during 2010-2011 in six medical centers in Israel. Centers were purposefully selected to represent the heterogeneity of medical centers in Israel in terms of size, geographical location and population characteristics.

Child abuse and neglect: reporting by health professionals and their need for training.

Background: For health professionals who interact professionally with children, adequate awareness and training regarding the clinical indicators of child abuse and neglect, as well as subsequent reporting and procedures, are essential.

Objectives: To study Israeli health professionals experiences with identification and reporting of suspected cases of child abuse and neglect, and their perceived training needs in this area.

Methods: The study group was a convenience sample comprising 95 Israeli health professionals (physicians, nurses, social workers, psychologists, etc.

Assessment of wrought ASTM F1058 cobalt alloy properties for permanent surgical implants.

The behavior of the ASTM F1058 wrought cobalt-chromium-nickel-molybdenum-iron alloy (commonly referred to as Elgiloy or Phynox) is evaluated in terms of mechanical properties, magnetic resonance imaging, corrosion resistance, and biocompatibility. The data found in the literature, the experimental corrosion and biocompatibility results presented in this article, and its long track record as an implant material demonstrate that the cobalt superalloy is an appropriate material for permanent surgical implants that require high yield strength and fatigue resistance combined with high elastic modulus, and that it can be safely imaged with magnetic resonance.

[Efficacy and safety of acarbose treatment of NIDDM].

An uncontrolled multicenter study of the efficacy and safety of treatment of diabetes with acarbose was conducted on 169 NIDDM patients in 12 medical centers in Israel. Acarbose was administered for 19 weeks, and the patients were followed for an additional 12 weeks. A substantial decrease in HbA1c levels from 8.

A study of the geometrical and mechanical properties of a self-expanding metallic stent--theory and experiment.

Stents are tubular devices that are used in cylindrical passages of the body following trauma or disease in order to keep the cross section of these passages open. A mathematical model of a self-expanding metallic stent has been developed with the aim of predicting various geometrical and mechanical properties of the stent. The model was developed with the main assumptions that the stent acts as a combination of a number of independent open-coiled helical springs with ends fixed against rotation, and that the springs undergo elastic deformations only.

Autosplenectomy complicating pneumococcal meningitis in an adult.

We present a rare complication of pneumococcal meningitis. A 56-year-old female patient with pneumococcal meningitis developed acute hyposplenism. Left-sided hypochondriacal pain accompanied by a marked thrombocytosis developed during the convalescent period.

Varicella-zoster virus immune status in CAPD and chronic hemodialysis patients.

Patients on chronic dialysis who are supposed to disclose an impairment of the immune potential, seldom show clinical viral illnesses. Since severe varicella-zoster virus (VZV) infection develops in immunocompromised patients, we have examined the proliferative activity to VZV in the blood lymphocytes of 16 patients on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) and compared it to healthy matched controls. The cellular in vitro response of these patients to specific VZV antigens was essentially normal.

Development of Hodgkin's disease in the course of liver cirrhosis and impaired monocyte function.

The monocyte function, as measured by phagocytosis and killing of Candida albicans and Candida pseudotropicalis by peripheral blood monocytes, was found impaired in a patient with cirrhosis of the liver on two separate determinations before the occurrence of bleeding from oesophageal varices. Unexpectedly, Hodgkin's disease was diagnosed in enlarged abdominal lymph nodes found on the occasion of an emergency portocaval shunt operation.

Allopurinol-induced toxic epidermal necrolysis.

An erythematous eruption with itching developed in an 84-year-old man 4 days after therapy with allopurinol was initiated. The diagnosis of toxic epidermal necrolysis, suspected when separation of the epidermis was noted, was confirmed by skin biopsy. This is the third reported case that can be attributed exclusively to allopurinol and the first patient who did not die.