987 research outputs found
Psychology Doctoral Students’ Perspectives on Addressing Spirituality and Religion with Clients: Associations with Personal Preferences and Training
Students (n = 543) in doctoral clinical and counseling psychology programs were surveyed about training experiences with regard to addressing the spiritual and religious beliefs and practices (SRBP) of their patients. About one fourth of the respondents indicated they had received no training related to patients’ SRBP. Another half had only read material on their own or discussed such issues with a supervisor. Nonetheless, respondents almost universally endorsed the idea that patients should be asked about spirituality and religiousness. Participants also rated the appropriateness of spiritual and religious queries that might be asked of patients. As expected, queries about the relevance of SRBP were rated as the most appropriate, whereas queries that implied a disrespectful or challenging tone were rated as the least appropriate. Participants’ personal SRBP and training that was specific to patients’ SRBP were weakly but significantly associated with appropriateness ratings. The results suggest that students are formulating ideas about how to ask patients about their spiritual and religious issues despite potentially inadequate formal instruction
Modeling the processes affecting larval haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus) survival on Georges Bank
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution February 2011The ultimate goal of early life studies of fish over the past century has been to better
understand recruitment variability. Recruitment is the single most important natural
event controlling year-class strength and biomass in fish populations. As evident in
Georges Bank haddock, Melanogrammus aeglefinus, there is a strong relationship
between recruitment success and processes occurring during the planktonic larval stage.
Spatially explicit coupled biological-physical individual-based models are ideal for
studying the processes of feeding, growth, and predation during the larval stage. This
thesis sought new insights into the mechanisms controlling the recruitment process in fish
populations by using recent advances in biological-physical modeling methods together
with laboratory and field data sets. Interactions between feeding, metabolism and
growth, vertical behavior, advection, predation, and the oceanic environment of larval
haddock were quantitatively investigated using individual-based models. A mechanistic
feeding model illustrated that species-specific behavioral characteristics of copepod prey
are critically important in determining food availability to the haddock larvae.
Experiments conducted with a one-dimensional vertical behavior model suggested that
larval haddock should focus on avoiding visual predation when they are small and
vulnerable and food is readily available. Coupled hydrodynamics, concentration-based
copepod species, and individual-based larval haddock models demonstrated that the
increased egg hatching rates and lower predation rates on larvae in 1998 contributed to its
larger year-class. Additionally, results from these coupled models imply that losses to
predation may be responsible for interannual variability in recruitment and larval
survival. The findings of this thesis can be used to better manage the haddock population
on Georges Bank by providing insights into how changes in the physical and biological
environment of haddock affect their survival and recruitment, and more generally about
the processes significant for larval fish survival.Financial support was provided by a WHOI Watson Fellowship, a WHOI Coastal
Ocean Institute Student Research Proposal Award, and GLOBEC grants NA17RJ1223
(NOAA) and OCE0815838 (NSF)
Barriers and Facilitators of Suicide Risk Assessment in Emergency Departments: A Qualitative Study of Provider Perspectives
Objective
To understand emergency department (ED) providers’ perspectives regarding the barriers and facilitators of suicide risk assessment and to use these perspectives to inform recommendations for best practices in ED suicide risk assessment. Methods
Ninety-two ED providers from two hospital systems in a Midwestern state responded to open-ended questions via an online survey that assessed their perspectives on the barriers and facilitators to assess suicide risk as well as their preferred assessment methods. Responses were analyzed using an inductive thematic analysis approach. Results
Qualitative analysis yielded six themes that impact suicide risk assessment. Time, privacy, collaboration and consultation with other professionals and integration of a standard screening protocol in routine care exemplified environmental and systemic themes. Patient engagement/participation in assessment and providers’ approach to communicating with patients and other providers also impacted the effectiveness of suicide risk assessment efforts. Conclusions
The findings inform feasible suicide risk assessment practices in EDs. Appropriately utilizing a collaborative, multidisciplinary approach to assess suicide-related concerns appears to be a promising approach to ameliorate the burden placed on ED providers and facilitate optimal patient care. Recommendations for clinical care, education, quality improvement and research are offered
Discrepancy between Parents and Children in Reporting of Distress and Impairment: Association with Critical Symptoms
Background: We examined discrepant parent–child reports of subjective distress and psychosocial impairment. Method: Parent–child pairs (N = 112 pairs) completed the Health Dynamics Inventory at intake for outpatient therapy. Results: Average parent scores were significantly higher than average child scores on distress, impairment, and externalizing symptoms, but not internalizing symptoms. There were significant associations between parent–child discrepancy (i.e. children who reported greater distress or impairment than parents or vice versa) and child endorsement of several notable symptoms (rapid mood swings, panic, nightmares, and suicidal ideation). Conclusion: Parents tended to report more externalizing symptoms, distress, and impairment than children reported; however, when children report more distress and impairment than parents, this may indicate serious psychological problems
Local deformations and chemical bonding in Fe-X (X = Si, Al, Ga, Ge) soft magnetic alloys
Dilute alloys based on ferromagnetic bcc iron modified by 3p (Al, Si) and 4p (Ga, Ge) elements are studied using the methods of the density-functional theory. It is shown that the local deformations and solution energies depend on the position of an alloying element in the periodic system. The nature of Fe-X chemical bonding varies from weak metallic in Fe-Ga to strong quasi-covalent in Fe-Si, which determines the values of local deformations in these alloys. The formation of pairs of impurity atoms in the position of the next-nearest neighbors leads to tetragonal lattice deformations, the value of which is highest for Si and Ge. The role of local deformations in the formation of unusual magnetic properties of Fe-X alloys is discussed. © 2013 Pleiades Publishing, Ltd
Partial policy iteration for L1-robust Markov decision processes
Robust Markov decision processes (MDPs) compute reliable solutions for dynamic decision problems with partially-known transition probabilities. Unfortunately, accounting for uncertainty in the transition probabilities significantly increases the computational complexity of solving robust MDPs, which limits their scalability. This paper describes new, efficient algorithms for solving the common class of robust MDPs with s- and sa-rectangular ambiguity sets defined by weighted L1 norms. We propose partial policy iteration, a new, efficient, flexible, and general policy iteration scheme for robust MDPs. We also propose fast methods for computing the robust Bellman operator in quasi-linear time, nearly matching the ordinary Bellman operator's linear complexity. Our experimental results indicate that the proposed methods are many orders of magnitude faster than the state-of-the-art approach, which uses linear programming solvers combined with a robust value iteration
Extracellular Matrix Proteins and Tumor Angiogenesis
Tumor development is a complex process that relies on interaction and communication
between a number of cellular compartments. Much of the mass of a solid tumor is comprised of
the stroma which is richly invested with extracellular matrix. Within this matrix are a host of
matricellular proteins that regulate the expression and function of a myriad of proteins that
regulate tumorigenic processes. One of the processes that is vital to tumor growth and
progression is angiogenesis, or the formation of new blood vessels from preexisting vasculature.
Within the extracellular matrix are structural proteins, a host of proteases, and resident pro- and
antiangiogenic factors that control tumor angiogenesis in a tightly regulated fashion. This paper discusses the role that the extracellular matrix and ECM proteins play in the regulation of tumor angiogenesis
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