Abstract
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Melanie Hagen, Beatrice Faust, Nina Kunzelmann, Ozan Y. Tektas, Johannes Kornhuber and Helge H.O. Müller
Factitious disorder, commonly called Munchhausen's syndrome, is a rare disorder that lacks evidence-based guidelines. Reporting clinical cases is important for sharing clinical…
Abstract
Factitious disorder, commonly called Munchhausen's syndrome, is a rare disorder that lacks evidence-based guidelines. Reporting clinical cases is important for sharing clinical experiences and treatment strategies. The symptoms and progression of the following case have not been previously reported in the literature. Here, we report a case involving a 41-year-old Caucasian with a suspected psychosomatic disorder. After intensive multi-professional diagnostics, we concluded that the patient had factitious disorder. The symptoms in this case changed rapidly during treatment, which posed a challenge. For factitious disorder, establishing interdisciplinary exchange is important. Symptoms that are normally treated by internists are most commonly described in the literature. This case demonstrates that psychiatrists are challenged by this diagnosis and should consider the possibility of factitious disorder when seeing patients diagnosed with somatoform disorders. The most important clinical conclusion was the importance of involving the patients' relatives in the treatment of patients with factitious disorder.
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Helge H.O. Müller, Mareen Reike, Simon Grosse-Holz, Mareike Röther, Caroline Lücke, Alexandra Philipsen, Johannes Kornhuber and Teja W. Grömer
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is effective in the treatment of treatment-resistant major depression. The fear of cognitive impairment after ECT often deters patients from…
Abstract
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is effective in the treatment of treatment-resistant major depression. The fear of cognitive impairment after ECT often deters patients from choosing this treatment option. There is little reliable information regarding the effects of ECT on overall cognitive performance, while short-term memory deficits are well known but not easy to measure within clinical routines. In this pilot study, we examined ECT recipients' pre- and post-treatment performances on a digital ascending number tapping test. We found that cognitive performance measures exhibited good reproducibility in individual patients and that ECT did not significantly alter cognitive performance up to 2 hours after this therapy was applied. Our results can help patients and physicians make decisions regarding the administration of ECT. Digital measurements are recommended, especially when screening for the most common side effects on cognitive performance and short-term memory.
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Helge H.O. Müller, Caroline Lücke, Matthias Englbrecht, Michael S. Wiesener, Teresa Siller, Kai Uwe Eckardt, Johannes Kornhuber and J. Manuel Maler
Kidney transplantation (KT) is the treatment of choice for end-stage chronic kidney disease (CKD) and is well known to improve the clinical outcome of patients. However, the…
Abstract
Purpose
Kidney transplantation (KT) is the treatment of choice for end-stage chronic kidney disease (CKD) and is well known to improve the clinical outcome of patients. However, the impact of KT on comorbid psychological symptoms, particularly depression and anxiety, is less clear, and recipients of living-donor (LD) organs may have a different psychological outcome from recipients of dead-donor (DD) organs.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 152 patients were included and analyzed using a cross-sectional design. Of these patients, 25 were pre-KT, 13 were post-KT with a LD transplant and 114 were post-KT with a DD transplant. The patients were tested for a variety of psychometric outcomes using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the 12-Item Short Form Health Survey (assessing physical and mental health-related quality of life), the Resilience Scale, the Coping Self-Questionnaire and the Social Support Questionnaire.
Findings
The mean age of the patients was 51.25 years and 40 per cent of the patients were female. As expected, the post-KT patients had significantly better scores on the physical component of the Short Form Health Survey than the pre-KT patients, and there were no significant differences between the two post-KT groups. There were no significant differences among the groups in any of the other psychometric outcome parameters tested, including anxiety, depression and the mental component of health-related quality of life.
Research limitations/implications
KT and the origin of the donor organ do not appear to have a significant impact on the psychological well-being of transplant patients with CKD. Although the diagnosis and early treatment of psychological symptoms, such as depression and anxiety, remain important for these patients, decisions regarding KT, including the mode of transplantation, should not be fundamentally influenced by concerns about psychological impairments at the population level.
Originality/value
CKD is a serious condition involving profound impairment of the physical and psychological well-being of patients. KT is considered the treatment of choice for most of these patients. KT has notable advantages over dialysis with regard to the long-term physical functioning of the renal and cardiovascular system and increases the life expectancy of patients. However, the data on the improvement of psychological impairments after KT are less conclusive.
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Caroline Lücke, Sylvia Braumandl, Bernhard Becker, Sebastian Moeller, Christina Custal, Alexandra Philipsen and Helge H.O. Müller
The levels of work-related stress and the incidence rates of subsequent related illnesses are increasing in our society, leading to high individual and socioeconomic burdens…
Abstract
Purpose
The levels of work-related stress and the incidence rates of subsequent related illnesses are increasing in our society, leading to high individual and socioeconomic burdens. Mindfulness training has been shown to be an effective method of improving stress resilience. This paper aims to investigate the efficacy of nature-based mindfulness training in professionals with high levels of work-related stress.
Design/methodology/approach
In this controlled pilot study, a total of 56 volunteers completed a nature-based mindfulness training progam and were compared to 8 participants (waitlist controls). Psychometric assessments were performed at baseline and after two and four months of training.
Findings
After two months of training, the scores for self-efficacy, sense of coherence, level of mindfulness and overall psychiatric symptom load had significantly improved in the intervention group, while the control group did not show any significant improvements. A comparison between the intervention and control groups showed a significant difference regarding the sense of coherence only.
Research limitations/implications
Since this was an exploratory study with a small control group, further studies are needed to verify our findings.
Practical implications
In conclusion, nature-based mindfulness training seems to be a promising tool for the improvement of resilience and overall psychological health in professionals.
Originality/value
This was the first study to systematically investigate effects of nature-based mindfulness training in people with high work-related stress.
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Latisha Reynolds, Amber Willenborg, Samantha McClellan, Rosalinda Hernandez Linares and Elizabeth Alison Sterner
This paper aims to present recently published resources on information literacy and library instruction providing an introductory overview and a selected annotated bibliography of…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to present recently published resources on information literacy and library instruction providing an introductory overview and a selected annotated bibliography of publications covering all library types.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper introduces and annotates English-language periodical articles, monographs, dissertations and other materials on library instruction and information literacy published in 2016.
Findings
The paper provides information about each source, describes the characteristics of current scholarship and highlights sources that contain unique or significant scholarly contributions.
Originality/value
The information may be used by librarians and interested parties as a quick reference to literature on library instruction and information literacy.
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Helene Slagstad and Helge Brattebø
The paper aims to discuss how life cycle assessment can be used in the early stage planning phase of new settlements.
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to discuss how life cycle assessment can be used in the early stage planning phase of new settlements.
Design/methodology/approach
By applying the life cycle methodology on the waste, water and wastewater system of a new carbon‐neutral settlement under planning in Norway, the authors discuss the pros and cons with applying this methodology in an early planning phase.
Findings
The LCA methodology enabled the authors to compare suggestions from interdisciplinary planning teams, relate them to the existing systems in Trondheim and provide quantitative results back to the decision‐makers, in this case the municipality. The environmental benefits of implementing alternative solutions in the waste, water and wastewater systems were found to be small.
Research limitations/implications
Data availability and uncertainty can be limitations in the early planning phase.
Practical implications
By applying this methodology, the life cycle environmental impact of different solutions can be assessed at an early planning stage.
Originality/value
Even if life cycle assessment has been used for years in the research community, there is too little experience with applying the methodology in the early planning phase of new projects. This paper discuss how life cycle assessment can be used to compare suggestions from interdisciplinary planning teams, relate them to existing systems and provide quantitative results back to the decision‐makers.
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Marius Kristiansen and Tor Helge Aas
Digital servitization research has focused on how manufacturing firms use digital technologies to change business models and offer smart services; less attention has been devoted…
Abstract
Purpose
Digital servitization research has focused on how manufacturing firms use digital technologies to change business models and offer smart services; less attention has been devoted to the degree to which external actors in the existing ecosystem accept these smart services. Therefore, the authors pose the following research question: How does a manufacturing firm introduce and gain acceptance of new smart services within an established ecosystem?
Design/methodology/approach
Building on servitization, ecosystem and legitimacy theories, this paper addresses the research question through an in-depth case study of a world-leading original equipment manufacturer that is currently developing and introducing new smart services in its existing ecosystem.
Findings
The findings suggest that external actors emphasize different types of legitimacy in deciding whether to accept a new smart service. The findings also show that the type of legitimacy required to gain acceptance changes throughout the development of the smart service, from the definition of the value proposition to the design and delivery of the service.
Practical implications
This study can assist smart service providers in identifying which type of legitimacy is important for each ecosystem actor and strengthening these types of legitimacy to gain acceptance from the ecosystem.
Originality/value
This study develops a framework to help describe the thresholds for acceptance of a smart service through the development phases, as well as to indicate the types of legitimacy that smart service providers must relate to when seeking to gain acceptance for their new offering.
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Helge Dohn, Quentin Gausset, Ole Mertz, Torsten Müller, Peter Oksen and Peter Triantafillou
In 1998 three Danish universities developed an interdisciplinary, problem‐oriented curriculum in order to strengthen capacity‐building capabilities in the area of environmental…
Abstract
In 1998 three Danish universities developed an interdisciplinary, problem‐oriented curriculum in order to strengthen capacity‐building capabilities in the area of environmental education, training and research at universities and research organisations in Malaysia and Thailand earmarked for environment and development assistance by the Danish government. The programme, which was partly implemented in developing countries as periods of fieldwork, represented important educational innovations. The purpose of this study was to evaluate these activities. The distinct principles forming the educational foundation of the programme were identified. These related to the curriculum organization, the learning tasks and the learning environment. The first step in a cogent evaluation process was to examine how the educational principles were oprerationalized into practical teaching/learning steps. In the next step, they formed the criteria for the evaluation. On the basis of quantitative and qualitative data it was shown that the programme fulfilled the stipulated accademic requirements.
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Helge F.R. Nuhn and Andreas Wald
– The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the antecedents of team turnover intentions in temporary organizations such as projects, programs, or temporary teams.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the antecedents of team turnover intentions in temporary organizations such as projects, programs, or temporary teams.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors systematically combine the findings from the literature on the antecedents of turnover intentions in permanent organizations (PO) with the characteristics of temporary organizations (TO) and develop a research model comprising personal factors, job-related factors, and organization-related factors.
Findings
A research model consisting of testable propositions that the authors derived from both specificities of TO and the antecedents of turnover intentions in PO.
Originality/value
The authors contribute to literature by identifying potential antecedents of turnover intentions that are specific to TOs and those that also exist in POs but are adapted to a temporary context. The research model allows future empirical research on turnover in TO to be conducted in a systematic way and supports the development of theory.