Comparative Review of Mental Health Policies and Standards of Professional Practice in Ontario and Iran: Emphasis on a Cultural Framework

Mental health systems require well-defined government regulations, acts and policies as well as ethical codes created by professional organizations and standards of practice established by regulatory bodies. Cross-cultural review studies can help to identify similarities, differences and cultural variations in the policies and standards of regulatory bodies that exist in different jurisdictions. With an emphasis on cultural framework, this review aimed to compare the policies and standards of professional conduct established by the College of Psychologists of Ontario (CPO) and the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO) with those developed by the Psychology and Counseling Organization of Iran (PCOI). Data were collected from governmental documents, the organizational websites (CPO, CRPO and PCOI), and other relevant resources. The American Psychological Association’s Ethics Code (2017), the Canadian Code of Ethics for Psychologists (2017), documents from the Ontario Psychological Association (OPA) and the State Welfare Organization of Iran were also included in the analysis as complementary data where relevant. Results revealed that the standard of controlled acts (psychotherapy and communicating a diagnosis) and a quality assurance program for current members have not been included in the PCOI. Additionally, some standards (e.g., communicating client care, record-keeping and documentation) may have been detailed in the PCOI Code of Ethics. Some standards (e.g., referral and unnecessary treatment) may have been explained more thoroughly in the CPO’s document about Standards of Professional Conduct (2017). However, although not explicitly mentioned, CPO members follow related acts and regulations for these standards. Providing pro-bono may have been incorporated in the CRPO’s standards. In this review, cultural variations in administrating the standards under professional conduct and client-therapist relationships, as well as the standards of competency and clinical supervision were interpreted in detail. This research may help policy makers and field practitioners to improve the quality of mental health services. Implications for future studies are discussed

Kesadaran Mahasiswa dalam Bela Negara di Era Milenial

Kesadaran bela negara itu hakikatnya adalah kesediaan berbakti pada negara dan kesediaan berkorban membela negara. Tercakup di dalamnya adalah bersikap dan berbuat yang terbaik bagi bangsa dan negara. Wujud bela negara ialah cinta tanah air, kesadaran berbangsa dan bernegara, yakin akan kesaktian Pancasila, rela berkorban untuk bangsa dan negara, serta mempunyai kemampuan awal bela negara. Metode penelitian yang digunakan ialah angket dengan analisis kuantitatif pada nilai mean. Kesadaran bela negara pada mahasiswa diimplemtasikan pada membuang sampah pada tempat yang disediakan, perlindungan dan keamanan bagi masyarakat sudah baik, taat beragama dengan sudah melaksanakan dan menjalankan ibadah dan menjaga kerukunan hidup di antara sesama umat beragama dan kepercayaan terhadap Tuhan yang Maha Esa, sadar telah membina diri saya sendiri agar dapat mandiri kelak, dan bangga kepada perjuangan para pahlawan. Namun ada kesadaran bela negara pada mahasiswa masih kurang yaitu turut menjaga keamanan lingkungan kampus, tidak cukup mewakili kampus dalam kegiatan olah raga dan seni, masih mengedepankan kepentingan pribadi dibadingkan kepentingan bangsa dan negara, cenderung memilih tidak memilih (golput) pada pemilu mendatang, dan kurang berminat menjadi anggota menwa atau tentara

The effect of Salvia officinalis hydroalcoholic extract on PTZ-induced seizure threshold in Vincristine injected mice

and aims: Studies show that Vincristine is an anti-cancer drug which has neuropathic effects. Some studies have shown that Salvia officinalis has therapeutic effects on nervous system. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of Salvia officinalis hydroalcoholic extract and Vincristine on pentylenetetrazole (PTZ)-induced seizure threshould in mice. Methods: In this experimental study, 32 mice were randomly divided into 4 groups. The first group received normal saline, second group received Salvia officinalis hydroalcoholic extract (1 g/kg, i.p.), third group received Vincristine (10 µg/kg/day, i.v.) and finally the fourth group received hydroalcoholic extract of Salvia officinalis plus Vincristine. Then the seizure threshold was determined for each group after the injections. The data were analyzed using one way ANOVA followed by Tukey test. Results: The results of this study showed that hydroalcoholic extract of Salvia officinalis significantly increased the PTZ Induced seizure threshold (P<0.05). Simultaneous uses of Vincristine and Salvia officinalis extract caused a significant increase in seizure threshold in Vincristine group (P<0.05). Conclusion: Considering the existence of different types of ingredients in Salvia officinalis extract such as antioxidants, b-pinene and spathulenol, which have beneficial affects on the nervous system as well as their antioxidant effects, we can use this plant to reduce Vincristine induced neuropathic effects

The efficacy of 100 and 300 mg gabapentin in the treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a neuropathy due to the compression of the median nerve. It is shown that gabapentin in high doses is effective in treatment of CTS patients. In this study we evaluated the efficacy of low doses of gabapentin in treatment of CTS patients. Ninety patients with CTS were randomly assigned to groups A, B and C. Gabapentin was administered to group A with dose of 100 mg/day and to group B with dose of 300 mg/day for 2 months. Group C received no treatment. Before and after treatment, patients were evaluated using Visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain and parasthesia, Boston carpal tunnel questionnaire (BCTQ) including Symptom Severity Scale (SSS) and Functional Status Scale (FSS) to evaluate the efficacy of the treatment. The pinch and grip strength was also measured. There was significant improvement in VAS, grip strength, pinch strength, SSS, FSS and BCTQ score in all three groups (p < 0.05), but the changes in CMAP and SNAP was not significant. Groups A and B in comparison to group C had significantly better improvement in VAS, pinch strength, SSS, FSS and BCTQ total score (p < 0.05). There was significantly more improvement in pinch strength and SSS score in group B compared to group A (p < 0.05). Gabapentin in low doses is a useful drug in treatment of CTS symptoms with no side effects and intolerance. Gabapentin with dose of 300 mg/day is more effective than the dose of 100 mg/day. © 2015 by School of Pharmacy Shaheed Beheshti University of Medical Sciences and Health Services

Interference Alignment Using Reaction in Molecular Interference Channels

Interference alignment (IA) is a promising scheme to increase the throughput of the system with shared mediums. In this paper, we propose a novel IA scheme in molecular interference channels (IFCs) based on the choice of releasing/sampling times. To cancel the aligned interference signals and reduce the signal dependent noise, we use molecular reaction in the proposed IA scheme. We obtain the feasible region for the releasing/sampling times in the IA scheme using reaction. Further, we investigate the error performance of the proposed scheme. Our results show that the proposed IA scheme using reaction improves the performance significantly.Comment: 5 page

BENTUK DAN KOMPONEN MAKNA KOLOKASI LEKSIKAL BAHASA JEPANG DALAM BUKU MINNA NO NIHONGO SHOKYUU 1

Penelitian ini dilatarbelakangi oleh sedikitnya kolokasi yang ada dalam buku teks pelajaran Minna No Nihongo Shokyuu 1. Sehingga tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui kolokasi leksikal yang berstruktur adjektiva + nomina pada buku Minna No Nihongo Shokyuu 1. Sebagai pemelajar bahasa asing, khususnya dalam bahasa Jepang pasti menemui berbagai keunikan dalam mempelajarinya. Hal ini biasanya menyulitkan pemelajar bahasa Jepang yang masih awal sekali belajar. Khususnya dalam meyandingkan kata. Sanding kata ini biasanya disebut kolokasi. Kolokasi pada bahasa Jepang juga memiliki berbagai macam bentuknya. Oleh sebab itu penelitian ini menggunakan metode kualitatif deskriptif dengan desain penelitiannya adalah Library Research. Sumber datanya berupa buku teks pelajaran Minna No Nihongo Shyokyuu 1 dan juga kamus online maupun offline. Subjek dalam penelitian ini adalah kolokasi leksikal yang bersrtruktur adjektiva + nomina. Hasil dari penelitian ini adalah ditemukan sebanyak 89 kolokasi leksikal. Lalu ditemukan bahwa kolokasi leksikal berstruktur adjektiva + nomina yang berakhiran ‘na’ sejumlah 20 data lalu untuk kata sifat yang berakhiran ‘i’ ditemukan sejumlah 69 dat