Radiation in medicine: Origins, risks and aspirations.

The use of radiation in medicine is now pervasive and routine. From their crude beginnings 100 years ago, diagnostic radiology, nuclear medicine and radiation therapy have all evolved into advanced techniques, and are regarded as essential tools across all branches and specialties of medicine. The inherent properties of ionizing radiation provide many benefits, but can also cause potential harm. Its use within medical practice thus involves an informed judgment regarding the risk/benefit ratio. This judgment requires not only medical knowledge, but also an understanding of radiation itself. This work provides a global perspective on radiation risks, exposure and mitigation strategies

Sources by Which Students Perceive Professional Counselors\u27 Effectiveness

Using qualitative research methods interviews were conducted with college students regarding the sources they used in generating perceptions of professional counselors. Respondents believed that word of mouth, media sources, and personal experiences were responsible for their understandings of professional counselors. The findings have applications for leaders in professional counseling organizations

Schizotypy in an online sample: Associations with functioning, wellbeing, and stigma toward psychological treatment

poster abstractBackground: Social functioning and positive attitudes toward treatment have been strongly linked with recovery in people with schizophrenia, yet less is known for schizotypy – traits that are associated with risk for schizophrenia. Previous studies of schizotypy have used primarily undergraduate or small community samples. The aim of the current study was to investigate correlates of schizotypy in a large online sample. We hypothesized that people with schizotypy traits would report lower functioning, well-being, and greater stigmatizing attitudes regarding treatment. Methods: In a sample (N=856) recruited using Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk), participants were dichotomized into non-schizotypy or schizotypy groups based on their endorsement of schizotypal traits on the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire – Brief Revised (SPQ-BR; schizotypy group n=101; non-schizotypy group n=431). Participants completed a demographic survey and several measures related to functioning, well-being, and stigma, including the Romantic Relationship Functioning Scale (RRFS), the Social Adjustment Scale – Self-Report: Screener (SAS-SR: Screener), the SPQ-BR, the Short Form-12 Health Survey (SF-12), and the Stigma Scale for Receiving Psychological Help (SSRPH). Independent-samples t-tests were conducted to compare schizotypy groups on these variables. Results: Those who reported high levels of schizotypy reported significantly poorer social functioning, t(122.74)=-10.66, p<.001; poorer romantic relationship functioning, t(129.01)=12.00, p<.001; poorer mental wellbeing ,t(132.58)=13.42, p=.001; and greater stigma toward receiving psychological treatment, t(137.06)=-3.89, p=.037. There was no significant difference in physical wellbeing. Discussion: These findings support the use of online samples and suggest schizotypy is associated with poorer functioning and wellbeing and increased stigma toward seeking treatment. Results support the emergence of deficits in key social domains among those at risk for developing greater psychosis symptoms. Given the links between these deficits and attitudes and poorer functioning in clinical samples, these findings suggest social functioning and help-seeking attitudes may be important targets of early intervention services

Sexuality and intimacy among people living with serious mental illnesses: Factors contributing to sexual activity

OBJECTIVE: Limited research has focused on sexuality for those diagnosed with a severe mental illness. We aimed to extend existing work by exploring relationships between mastery (perception of control of one's life and future), sexual self-esteem (perceptions of one's capacity to engage in healthy sexual behavior), sexual attitudes (permissive ideas about sexuality), and perceived importance of relationships/sexuality and number of sexual partners. METHOD: A secondary analysis of survey data from adult participants living with a severe mental illness (N = 401) in the Indiana Mental Health Services and HIV-Risk Study (Perry & Wright, 2006) was conducted. Analysis of covariance (controlling for marital status) compared those with 0 partners, 1 partner, or multiple partners over the past 3 months on the dependent variables of mastery, sexual self-esteem, sexual attitudes, and perceived importance. RESULTS: Participants with more permissive attitudes, greater perceived importance, and higher mastery were more likely to be sexually active with multiple partners. Self-esteem did not differentiate groups. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Given the key role of sexual satisfaction in quality of life and the high rates of sexual risk behavior in this population, it is important that clinicians systematically assess mastery, perceived importance, and attitudes about sexuality when working with consumers diagnosed with a severe mental illness. Individually tailoring existing interventions on the basis of consumers' levels of mastery, related to self-efficacy for implementing changes in life, could improve long-term outcomes for these programs. Future research should examine other constructs that may account for more variance in sexual activity, such as perceptions of risk, intentions for sexual safety, or romantic relationship functioning

Relationships and Client Protection Differences in the APA and ACA Ethical Codes

We present the results of a line-by-line comparison regarding relationship and client protection issues between the American Psychological Association (APA) and American Counseling Association (ACA) ethical codes. Out of 144 total differences in these ethical codes, 34 differences pertain specifically to the topics of relationships and client protection. Results from the study showed ACA to provide extensive requirements and prohibitions relating to the therapeutic relationship, compared to APA’s more general and principle-driven approach to this domain. Citing a few examples here, we note that ACA requires more extensive documentation of relationship boundary changes pertaining to romantic and/or sexual relationships, therapeutic role changes, and other redefinitions of relationships. Additionally, ACA and APA both limit the potential for multiple relationships, but ACA specifically prohibits counselors from terminating a therapeutic relationship in order to pursue a romantic relationship with someone closely related to their client. In sum regarding this domain, the ACA is more definitive, prescriptive, and limiting in what appears to be attempts at providing strengthened client protection. Similarly, the ACA is more detailed and narrow regarding client/counselor relationships and other therapeutic boundary establishments. The protections also are more fully extended to the counseling supervisor/supervisee relationship in the ACA code. In contrast, the APA is more general and/or silent in the domains which are spelled-out in detail by ACA. In the present study, we draw attention to the specific wording in the two documents and how these differences in words potentially impact clinical practice with both clients and supervisees. We also discuss how the results of the present study have implications for undergraduate students who are at the point of decision-making regarding which profession to select. Additionally, any psychologist who supervises counselors must ensure that all ethical standards—of both psychology and counseling—are upheld when counselors work under the licenses of a practicing psychologist. And finally, agencies who hire both licensed psychologist and licensed counselors must be aware of these significant differences in the APA and ACA ethical codes. We place the results of the present study into the larger context of the overall differences between the two codes

Coronary microvascular ischemia in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy - a pixel-wise quantitative cardiovascular magnetic resonance perfusion study.

BACKGROUND: Microvascular dysfunction in HCM has been associated with adverse clinical outcomes. Advances in quantitative cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) perfusion imaging now allow myocardial blood flow to be quantified at the pixel level. We applied these techniques to investigate the spectrum of microvascular dysfunction in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and to explore its relationship with fibrosis and wall thickness. METHODS: CMR perfusion imaging was undertaken during adenosine-induced hyperemia and again at rest in 35 patients together with late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) imaging. Myocardial blood flow (MBF) was quantified on a pixel-by-pixel basis from CMR perfusion images using a Fermi-constrained deconvolution algorithm. Regions-of-interest (ROI) in hypoperfused and hyperemic myocardium were identified from the MBF pixel maps. The myocardium was also divided into 16 AHA segments. RESULTS: Resting MBF was significantly higher in the endocardium than in the epicardium (mean ± SD: 1.25 ± 0.35 ml/g/min versus 1.20 ± 0.35 ml/g/min, P < 0.001), a pattern that reversed with stress (2.00 ± 0.76 ml/g/min versus 2.36 ± 0.83 ml/g/min, P < 0.001). ROI analysis revealed 11 (31%) patients with stress MBF lower than resting values (1.05 ± 0.39 ml/g/min versus 1.22 ± 0.36 ml/g/min, P = 0.021). There was a significant negative association between hyperemic MBF and wall thickness (β = −0.047 ml/g/min per mm, 95% CI: −0.057 to −0.038, P < 0.001) and a significantly lower probability of fibrosis in a segment with increasing hyperemic MBF (odds ratio per ml/g/min: 0.086, 95% CI: 0.078 to 0.095, P = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: Pixel-wise quantitative CMR perfusion imaging identifies a subgroup of patients with HCM that have localised severe microvascular dysfunction which may give rise to myocardial ischemia

Using Text-Analysis Computer Software and Thematic Analysis on the Same Qualitative Data: A Case Example

The acceptance and application of qualitative methods has been steadily increasing, and recent advances in computer analytic software programs have produced a rapidly evolving landscape of new methods and analytic tools. However, discussions regarding the use of these new computer-based methods alongside traditional qualitative methods remain sparse. The aim of this article is to present an example of using quantitative text analysis software, the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count program, alongside a traditional qualitative method, thematic analysis. Data included 46 transcribed life-narratives shared by individuals with schizophrenia. We present findings from both analyses and offer an example of a method that combines these 2 approaches. Results and examples provided are discussed in light of the potential to strengthen analyses by using these methods collaboratively. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved

Parenthood and severe mental illness: Relationships with recovery

Objective Parenting is an important life domain for many people, but little research examines the parenting experience and its role in recovery for those with a severe mental illness. The current study provides preliminary evidence of how these concepts are related in a sample of individuals living with severe mental illness attending a community mental health center. We also explored potential differences between mothers and fathers, which could help better tailor services to meet the needs of parents with severe mental illness. Methods Data were obtained during baseline interviews for a study testing an intervention designed to increase shared decision-making in psychiatric treatment. Participants (N = 167) were administered measures of patient activation, recovery, autonomy preference, hope, and trust in providers. We compared parents and non-parents and compared mothers and fathers using chi-square, t-tests, and, where appropriate, analysis of covariance. Results Parents had a significantly higher level of trust in their psychiatric care provider than non-parents. Contrary to hypotheses, parents were less active in their treatment and preferred less information-seeking autonomy than did non-parents, but did not differ on other recovery-related indices. No differences on recovery-related indices were detected between mothers and fathers. Secondary analyses revealed parents with minor children had more hope than parents of older children. Conclusions and Implications for Practice Although parents may have higher levels of trust in their physicians, our preliminary findings suggest that parents with severe mental illness may benefit from increased efforts to help them be more active and interested in information about their illnesses

A Qualitative Study of the Motivations and Affiliation Dynamics Involved with a Firefighting Career

We explored the experiences of full-time firefighters in the present phenomenological qualitative study, having conducted semi-structured interviews with 26 male full-time firefighters. Their personal constructs of motivation and affiliation were explored and, within the constructs of motivation, three themes emerged. First, firefighters were motivated by a love of the excitement firefighting provides. Second, firefighters reported that the work schedule, which allows them more time at home, was a motivation. Third (and most emphasized by the firefighters) was an altruistic motivation to help others. Under the construct of affiliation, the firefighters reported a strong sense of brotherhood with their shift-partners, and they extended this brotherhood to all firefighters and even other emergency workers. We relate these findings to the existing body of research regarding the relationship between motivation, affiliation and satisfaction of firefighters

Mental Health Service Providers: College Student Perceptions of Helper Effectiveness

Undergraduate perceptions of the overall effectiveness of six types of mental health service providers (MHSPs) were obtained with a survey. Although many mental health services are available to consumers in the United States, research has indicated that these services are underutilized. Perceptions have been linked to therapeutic outcomes and may potentially serve as barriers to treatment. The results of the present study illustrate a range of perceptions and highlight the value of educating future consumers and practitioners about the roles of various MHSPs in providing mental health services. Future research is proposed