Exploring the Sources and Experiences of Joy in Caregiving: Insights From Formal Caregivers in Long-Term Care.

Objectives: To explore and understand the sources and experiences of joy in caregiving among formal caregivers in Canadian long-term care (LTC).

Design: A qualitative study with interpretative descriptive design.

Setting And Participants: The participants consisted of 20 formal caregivers from a large public LTC home in British Columbia, Canada, focusing on those with at least 6 months of direct caregiving experience.

A look at the emerging trends of large language models in ophthalmology.

Purpose Of Review: As the surge in large language models (LLMs) and generative artificial intelligence (AI) applications in ophthalmology continue to expand, this review seeks to update physicians of the current progress, to catalyze further work to harness its capabilities to enhance healthcare delivery in ophthalmology.

Recent Findings: Generative AI applications have shown promising performance in Ophthalmology. Beyond native LLMs and question-answering based tasks, there has been increasing work in employing novel LLM techniques and exploring wider use case applications.

Mindfulness-based family psychoeducation intervention for caregivers of young adults with first-episode psychosis: results at 9-month follow-up.

Objectives: To investigate the effects of a mindfulness-based family psychoeducation (MBFPE) intervention on caregivers and the young adults with first-episode psychosis in mental health care.

Methods: Sixty-five caregivers were randomly assigned to the MBFPE program (n = 33) or an ordinary family psychoeducation (FPE) program (n = 32). Eighteen young adults in recovery (YAIR) also participated in the study.

Cybersecurity in the generative artificial intelligence era.

Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) are algorithms capable of generating original content. The ability of GenAI to learn and generate novel outputs alike human cognition has taken the world by storm and ushered in a new era. In this review, we explore the role of GenAI in healthcare, including clinical, operational, and research applications, and delve into the cybersecurity risks of this technology.

Barriers and facilitators of abdominal aortic aneurysm screening in London: A cross-sectional survey.

Objectives: The aim of this research was to identify patient barriers and facilitators of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) screening in London.

Methods: A survey was distributed to 4211 adults, who had been invited for AAA screening in 2023. Barriers and facilitators were identified by comparing responses between attenders and non-attenders, using univariate logistic regression.

Allogeneic Umbilical Cord Plasma Eyedrops for the Treatment of Recalcitrant Dry Eye Disease Patients.

Background: Dry eye disease is a significant disease in Singapore. While there have been studies using allogenic cord serum for the treatment of dry eye disease, treatment of dry eyes with allogenic umbilical cord plasma drops has yet to be started in Singapore.

Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness of umbilical cord plasma eyedrops for the treatment of recalcitrant dry eyes in a local Singaporean context.

Investigating the Impact of COVID-19 Infection on Dry Eye Parameters.

Purpose: This study aims to compare dry eye parameters before and after COVID-19 infection in dry eye patients.

Methods: We included 44 dry eye patients (88 eyes) from our existing dry eye cohort, with 22 belonging to the post-COVID-19 group due to a prior COVID-19 infection and the other 22 forming the non-COVID-19 group as they had no history of COVID-19. We examined and compared the dry eye parameters of the post-COVID-19 group, including the ocular surface disease index (OSDI), Schirmer's test results (ST), non-invasive Keratography tear break-up time (NIKBUT), lipid layer thickness (LLT), Meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD), and the grading of papillae and follicles, both before and after the COVID-19 infection.

Podiatric assessment in children and adults with epidermolysis bullosa: are foot and ankle patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) able to measure the severity of podiatric involvement among EB patients?

Epidermolysis bullosa (EB) represents a group of rare genetic skin fragility disorders characterized by (muco) cutaneous blistering upon minimal mechanical trauma. Ninety percent of EB patients experience podiatric symptoms which may affect physical functioning and emotional well-being. To date, an EB-specific podiatric assessment has not been outlined to guide clinicians in the assessment of EB podiatric involvement.

The Effects of a Mindfulness-Based Family Psychoeducation Intervention for the Caregivers of Young Adults with First-Episode Psychosis: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objective: In this study, we investigated the effects of a mindfulness-based family psychoeducation (MBFPE) program on the mental-health outcomes of both caregivers and young adults with first-episode psychosis with an onset in the past three years through a multi-site randomized controlled trial. We also studied the outcomes of three potential mediating effects of interpersonal mindfulness, expressed emotions, and non-attachment on the program.

Method: We randomly assigned 65 caregivers of young adults with psychosis to MBFPE ( = 33) or an ordinary family psychoeducation (FPE) program ( = 32); among them, 18 young adults in recovery also participated in the evaluation of outcomes.

Bridge centrality network structure of negative symptoms in people with schizophrenia.

Negative symptoms are complex psychopathology. Although evidence generally supported the NIMH five consensus domains, research seldom examined measurement invariance of this model, and domain-specific correspondence across multiple scales. This study aimed to examine the interrelationship between negative symptom domains captured by different rating scales, and to examine the domain-specific correspondence across multiple scales.

Latent structure of self-report negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia: A preliminary study.

Introduction: Negative symptoms are associated with poor outcomes and functioning. Latent structure of negative symptoms is important for identifying potential intervention targets for novel treatments. Self-report instruments have been developed to measure negative symptoms.

The benefits of emotionally salient cues on event-based prospective memory in bipolar patients and schizophrenia patients.

Prospective memory (PM) refers to the ability to remember to carry out a delayed intention in the future. Evidence suggests that emotionally salient cues can enhance PM functions in healthy population, but whether the benefit exists in schizophrenia and bipolar patients remains unclear. This study aimed to examine and compare the potential enhancement effect of emotional PM cues in schizophrenia patients and bipolar patients.

Guidance on the clinical understanding and use of long-acting injectable antipsychotics in Schizophrenia: Hong Kong Consensus Statements.

Aims: There is increasing evidence showing the importance of long-acting injectable antipsychotics in the management of schizophrenia, especially in terms of improving patient medication compliance. A panel of experienced clinicians in Hong Kong mapped out a set of consensus statements with an aim to facilitate the understanding and use of long-acting injectable antipsychotics among local physicians.

Methods: Eight discussion areas regarding long-acting injectable antipsychotics were selected by the chairman of the consensus group.

Consensus statements on the clinical usage and characteristics of aripiprazole for Hong Kong.

Aripiprazole, a dopamine partial agonist, is a second-generation anti-psychotic that is widely used for the treatment of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. A group of psychiatric experts in Hong Kong developed a set of consensus statements, aiming to facilitate the understanding of clinical properties and usages of aripiprazole among local physicians. Of note, because aripiprazole long-acting injectable has been available locally not long before the establishment of the consensus panel, which limited the discussion on its use in the local context, the consensus statements were focused primarily on oral aripiprazole.

Early Abdominal Ectopic Pregnancy Masquerading as a Missed Miscarriage.

A 43-year-old lady, gravida 2 para 0, presented to our emergency department with complaints of vaginal bleeding and lower abdominal pain. Her urine pregnancy test was positive. She was unable to recall her last menstrual period.

Impaired olfactory identification and hedonic judgment in schizophrenia patients with prominent negative symptoms.

Evidence suggests that schizophrenia patients have olfactory dysfunctions, but the relationship between olfactory identification, hedonic judgement, and negative symptomatology remains unclear. Few studies have investigated whether co-activation of pleasant and unpleasant emotions are more prevalent in schizophrenia patients. Thirty schizophrenia outpatients with prominent negative symptoms (PNS), 30 outpatients without PNS, and 30 controls completed the University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test, and were asked to identify the odourants and to rate their emotions.

A Brief Mindfulness-Based Family Psychoeducation Intervention for Chinese Young Adults With First Episode Psychosis: A Study Protocol.

Family psychoeducation (FPE) has been recommended as a major component in the treatment of psychosis. Many previous studies have implemented an intensive program design that often only emphasized improvements in patients' illness outcomes but the benefits for caregivers were limited. There have been calls for a time-limited but cost-effective FPE program to mitigate the looming reality of the suffering of people with psychosis and their families.

Following Instructions in Patients With Schizophrenia: The Benefits of Actions at Encoding and Recall.

The ability to follow spoken instructions is important to everyday functioning but has seldom been studied in patients with schizophrenia (SZ). Recent evidence suggests that action-based processing may facilitate the ability to follow instructions, which relies largely on working memory. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that SZ patients may also benefit from action-based advantages in following instructions.

Streptococcus pyogenes aortic aneurysm infection: forgotten but not gone.

Historically, Streptococcus pyogenes was a common cause of endocarditis and infected aortic aneurysm. Today, endovascular infections due to this organism have become exceedingly rare. We report the first case of aortic aneurysm infection due to S.

Body dissatisfaction, maternal appraisal, and depressive symptoms in Hong Kong adolescents.

Body dissatisfaction, its risk factors and association with depressed mood have been well investigated in the West. However, more studies are needed to examine further the relation between body dissatisfaction and depressive symptoms and the factors influencing body dissatisfaction in non-Western cultures. The present study examined in a sample of Hong Kong Chinese adolescents the relation between body dissatisfaction and depressive symptoms, and the relation of maternal appraisal of their adolescent's figure to the adolescent's body dissatisfaction and depressive symptoms.

Neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio predicts medium-term survival following elective major vascular surgery: a cross-sectional study.

Background: The systemic nature of atherosclerosis compromises medium-term survival following major vascular surgery. Neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is a simple index of systemic inflammatory burden which correlates with survival following percutaneous coronary intervention.

Methods: Patients undergoing elective major vascular surgery in 2 tertiary vascular units were identified from prospectively maintained databases.

The association between adolescents' depressive symptoms, maternal negative affect, and family relationships in Hong Kong: cross-sectional and longitudinal findings.

This study investigated the bidirectional relationships of adolescents' and maternal mood, and the moderating effect by gender and perceived family relationships on these relationships. Data were obtained from 626 adolescent-mother dyads and follow-up data were collected one year later from a subset. Adolescents reported their depressive symptoms, and their mothers reported their negative affect.

Factor structure of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale in Hong Kong adolescents.

We present data from the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D; Radloff, 1977) for 2 samples of Hong Kong community adolescents (combined N = 1,385). The 4 positive affect items related poorly to the remainder of the scale. Using 16 items, the data were consistent with 2 models with highly correlated factors: (a) a 2-factor model, 1 of which merged somatic and affective items, and (b) a 3-factor model separating somatic, depressed, and interpersonal items.