Living with genital Pain: women's experience of treatment seeking

Female Genital Pain (FGP) is a sexual dysfunction that is difficult to diagnose and treat, which can make treatment seeking a distressing experience. In the present study the lived experience of women with genital pain as explored in order to develop a grounded model of treatment seeking for FGP. A constructivist lived experience perspective underpinned this research. Participants were 26 women with genital pain, specifically vaginismus (n=4) and (n=22). The average age of the participants was 27. Identified motivations for seeking treatment were the belief that they might have an infection, optimistic views about their health or an expectation that relationships include intercourse. Barriers occurred when they normalised or discounted their symptoms or held negative treatment beliefs. Unsurprisingly, the identified barriers were associated with delayed treatment seeking. The women described three agendas for their consultation with a health care professional (HCP) – validation of their symptoms, an informed HCP, and a strong HCP–patient alliance. Agendas that were met played a significant role in decreasing distress. Identified salient survivorship resources were a supportive HCP and personal agency. These resources encouraged consistent treatment seeking. The personal narratives that contributed to more consistent treatment seeking were personal agency, communion, redemption, creating meaning of suffering, positive sexual identity and positive resolution. Identities that were characterised by contamination and negative sexual self-schema were associated with no treatment seeking or delayed treatment seeking. The findings of this study allow HCPs and researchers to better understand the needs of women with genital pain. Furthermore, this research will help guide future research and the development of future initiatives to improve the treatment of genital pain conditions, thus improving the outcomes and quality of life for women with genital pain

Proceedings of the 30th Annual Meeting, Southern Soybean Disease Workers (March 3, 2003, Little Rock, Arkansas)

Contents Southern Soybean Disease Workers 2002 treasury report. James Bond United States Soybean Disease Loss Estimate for 2002. Compiled by Stephen R. Koenning Evaluation of Reduced Rates and Timing of Azoxystrobin on Frogeye Leaf Spot Cliff M Coker Effect of Fungicides on Soybean Disease, Yield and Seed Quality. RW Schneider, JD Siebert, CA Jones, and JL Griffin Effect of Fungicide Seed Treatment on Soybean Establishment. ML Rosso, C Boger, G Bates, C Rothrock, T Kirkpatrick, and J Rupe Influence of Soybean Cyst Nematode on Sudden Death Syndrome Development in Field Microplots in Arkansas. SL Giammaria, CB Boger, and JC Rupe Possible Mechanism for Resistance to Pythium spp. in the Soybean Cultivar Archer. GD Bates, CS Rothrock, and JC Rupe Late Season Diseases Have Major Impact on Soybean Crop in Mississippi in 2001 and 2002. GL Sciumbato and Alemu Mengistu Identification and Characterization of Soybean Germplasm with Resistance to Seed Infection by Phomopsis longicolla and Cercospora kikuchii. Eric W Jackson, P Fenn, and PK Miller Soybean Green Stem Caused by Selected Strains of BPMV. You-Keng Goh, Said A Ghabrial, John S Russin, and Jason P Bond Meloidogyne incognita, Moving on to Greener Pastures. Jonathan B Allen, Jason P Bond, and Michael E Schmidt Proceedings of the Southern Soybean Disease Workers are published annually by the Southern Soybean Disease Workers. Text, references, figures, and tables are reproduced as they were submitted by authors. The opinions expressed by the participants at this conference are their own and do not necessarily represent those of the Southern Soybean Workers. Mention of a trademark or proprietary products in this publication does not constitute a guarantee, warranty, or endorsement of that product by the Southern Soybean Disease Workers

The Medical Library as a Component of a Medical School Pipeline Program

The US is facing a shortage of physicians for minorities and patients in disadvantaged areas. Many medical schools have pipeline programs to promote the interest of minority students in medicine. The Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University established the Brody RISE program. Recruitment efforts targeted schools within Pitt County, NC. Students participate in interactive STEM activities and campus tours. Laupus Health Sciences Librarians developed interactive activities that engage critical thinking and teach anatomy and medical history. The organizers of the Brody RISE program continually evaluate and expand the program. Laupus Library continues to partner in these activities

The Medical Library as a Component of a Medical School Outreach Experience

The US is facing a shortage of physicians for minorities and patients in disadvantaged areas. Many medical schools have pipeline programs to promote the interest of minority students in medicine. The Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University established the Brody RISE program. Recruitment efforts targeted schools within Pitt County, NC. Students participate in interactive STEM activities and campus tours. Laupus Health Sciences Librarians developed interactive activities that engage critical thinking and teach anatomy and medical history. The organizers of the Brody RISE program continually evaluate and expand the program. Laupus Library continues to partner in these activities

Providing mental health first aid in the workplace: a Delphi consensus study

BACKGROUND: Mental health problems are common in the workplace, but workers affected by such problems are not always well supported by managers and co-workers. Guidelines exist for the public on how to provide mental health first aid, but not specifically on how to tailor one\u27s approach if the person of concern is a co-worker or employee. A Delphi consensus study was carried out to develop guidelines on additional considerations required when offering mental health first aid in a workplace context. METHODS: A systematic search of websites, books and journal articles was conducted to develop a questionnaire with 246 items containing actions that someone may use to offer mental health first aid to a co-worker or employee. Three panels of experts from English-speaking countries were recruited (23 consumers, 26 managers and 38 workplace mental health professionals), who independently rated the items over three rounds for inclusion in the guidelines. RESULTS: The retention rate of the expert panellists across the three rounds was 61.7 %. Of the 246 items, 201 items were agreed to be important or very important by at least 80 % of panellists. These 201 endorsed items included actions on how to approach and offer support to a co-worker, and additional considerations where the person assisting is a supervisor or manager, or is assisting in crisis situations such as acute distress. CONCLUSIONS: The guidelines outline strategies for a worker to use when they are concerned about the mental health of a co-worker or employee. They will be used to inform future tailoring of Mental Health First Aid training when it is delivered in workplace settings and could influence organisational policies and procedures

Constraints on the Universal CIV Mass Density at z~6 from Early IR Spectra Obtained with the Magellan FIRE Spectrograph

We present a new determination of the intergalactic CIV mass density at 4.3 < z < 6.3. Our constraints are derived from high signal-to-noise spectra of seven quasars at z > 5.8 obtained with the newly commissioned FIRE spectrograph on the Magellan Baade telescope, coupled with six observations of northern objects taken from the literature. We confirm the presence of a downturn in the CIV abundance at =5.66 by a factor of 4.1 relative to its value at =4.96, as measured in the same sightlines. In the FIRE sample, a strong system previously reported in the literature as CIV at z=5.82 is re-identified as MgII at z=2.78, leading to a substantial downward revision in $\Omega_{CIV}$ for these prior studies. Additionally we confirm the presence of at least two systems with low-ionization CII, SiII, and OI absorption but relatively weak signal from CIV. The latter systems systems may be of interest if the downward trend in $\Omega_{CIV}$ at high redshift is driven in part by ionization effects.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables. Submitted to Ap

Assisting Australians with mental health problems and financial difficulties: a Delphi study to develop guidelines for financial counsellors, financial institution staff, mental health professionals and carers

BACKGROUND: There is a strong association between mental health problems and financial difficulties. Therefore, people who work with those who have financial difficulties (financial counsellors and financial institution staff) need to have knowledge and helping skills relevant to mental health problems. Conversely, people who support those with mental health problems (mental health professionals and carers) may need to have knowledge and helping skills relevant to financial difficulties. The Delphi expert consensus method was used to develop guidelines for people who work with or support those with mental health problems and financial difficulties. METHODS: A systematic review of websites, books and journal articles was conducted to develop a questionnaire containing items about the knowledge, skills and actions relevant to working with or supporting someone with mental health problems and financial difficulties. These items were rated over three rounds by five Australian expert panels comprising of financial counsellors (n&thinsp;=&thinsp;33), financial institution staff (n&thinsp;=&thinsp;54), mental health professionals (n&thinsp;=&thinsp;31), consumers (n&thinsp;=&thinsp;20) and carers (n&thinsp;=&thinsp;24). RESULTS: A total of 897 items were rated, with 462 items endorsed by at least 80&nbsp;% of members of each of the expert panels. These endorsed statements were used to develop a set of guidelines for financial counsellors, financial institution staff, mental health professionals and carers about how to assist someone with mental health problems and financial difficulties. CONCLUSIONS: A diverse group of expert panel members were able to reach substantial consensus on the knowledge, skills and actions needed to work with and support people with mental health problems and financial difficulties. These guidelines can be used to inform policy and practice in the financial and mental health sectors

A Serendipitous Galaxy Cluster Survey with XMM: Expected Catalogue Properties and Scientific Applications

This paper describes a serendipitous galaxy cluster survey that we plan to conduct with the XMM X-ray satellite. We have modeled the expected properties of such a survey for three different cosmological models, using an extended Press-Schechter (Press & Schechter 1974) formalism, combined with a detailed characterization of the expected capabilities of the EPIC camera on board XMM. We estimate that, over the ten year design lifetime of XMM, the EPIC camera will image a total of ~800 square degrees in fields suitable for the serendipitous detection of clusters of galaxies. For the presently-favored low-density model with a cosmological constant, our simulations predict that this survey area would yield a catalogue of more than 8000 clusters, ranging from poor to very rich systems, with around 750 detections above z=1. A low-density open Universe yields similar numbers, though with a different redshift distribution, while a critical-density Universe gives considerably fewer clusters. This dependence of catalogue properties on cosmology means that the proposed survey will place strong constraints on the values of Omega-Matter and Omega-Lambda. The survey would also facilitate a variety of follow-up projects, including the quantification of evolution in the cluster X-ray luminosity-temperature relation, the study of high-redshift galaxies via gravitational lensing, follow-up observations of the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect and foreground analyses of cosmic microwave background maps.Comment: Accepted to ApJ. Minor changes, e.g. presentation of temperature errors as a figure (rather than as a table). Latex (20 pages, 6 figures, uses emulateapj.sty

Assisting an Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander person with gambling problems: a Delphi study

BACKGROUND: Gambling problems appear to be more prevalent in the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population than in the non-Indigenous population. Although gambling harms can be significant, treatment-seeking rates are low. The Delphi expert consensus method was used to develop a set of guidelines on how a family or community member can assist an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person with gambling problems. METHODS: Building on a previous systematic review of websites, books and journal articles a questionnaire was developed that contained items about the knowledge, skills and actions needed for supporting an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person with gambling problems. These items were rated over three rounds by an expert panel comprising professionals who provide treatment to or conduct research with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with gambling problems. RESULTS: A total of 22 experts rated 407 helping statements according to whether they thought the statements should be included in these guidelines. There were 225 helping statements that were endorsed by at least 90% of participants. These endorsed statements were used to develop the guidelines. CONCLUSION: Experts were able to reach substantial consensus on how someone can recognise the signs of gambling problems and support an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person to change