Psychologists’ dilemmas in career counselling practice

In this study, we explored main dilemmas psychologists face in career counselling in two main professional settings: employment and education. Participants included 24 experienced Portuguese psychologists, working in employment (n = 14) and educational (n = 10) settings. We used consensual qualitative research to conduct and analyse semi-structured interviews. Results revealed dilemmas’ in five domains: neutrality, assessment, dual loyalty, role boundaries, and confidentiality, with the typical dilemma in the domain of neutrality. Differences between groups were found in the domains of dual loyalty and role boundaries.Dans cette étude, nous avons exploré les principaux dilemmes rencontrés par les psychologues dans le conseil en orientation dans deux milieux professionnels centraux: le placement et l’éducation. Parmi les participants figuraient 24 psychologues portugais expérimentés travaillant dans des contextes de placement (n = 14) et d’éducation (n = 10). Nous avons utilisé la recherche qualitative consensuelle pour mener et analyser les entretiens semi-structurés. Les re´sultats ont révé lé des dilemmes dans cinq domaines: la neutralité, l’évaluation, la double loyauté, les limites du rôle, et la confidentialité, avec le dilemme typique dans le domaine de la neutralité. Les différences entre les groupes ont été identifiees dans les domaines de la double loyauté et les limites du rôle.In dieser Studie untersuchten wir die hauptsä chlichen Dilemmata, mit denen Psychologen in der Berufsberatung in zwei wesentlichen professionellen Einrichtungen konfrontiert sind: Beruf und Bildung. Zu den Teilnehmern geho ¨rten 24 erfahrene portugiesische Psychologen, die in Einrichtungen von Beruf (n = 14) und Bildung (n = 10) arbeiteten. Wir verwendeten einvernehmliche qualitative Forschung um semi-strukturierte Interviews durchzufu¨hren und zu analysieren. Die Ergebnisse zeigten Dilemmata in fünf Bereichen: Neutralität, Beurteilung, doppelte Loyalität, Rollengrenzen und Vertraulichkeit, mit dem typischen Dilemma in der Domäne der Neutralität. Unterschiede zwischen den Gruppen wurden in den Bereichen der doppelten Loyalität und Rollengrenzen gefunden

Blood pressure and cholesterol level checks as dynamic interrelated screening examinations

This study analysed the determinants of screening uptake for blood pressure and cholesterol level checks. Furthermore, it investigated the presence of possible spillover effects from one type of cardiovascular screening to another type of cardiovascular screening. A dynamic random effects bivariate panel probit model with initial conditions (Wooldridge-type estimator) was adopted for the estimation. The outcome variables were the participation in blood pressure and cholesterol level checks by individuals in a given year. The balanced panel sample of 21,138 observations was constructed from 1,626 individuals from the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) between 1996 and 2008. The analysis showed the significance of past screening behaviour for both cardiovascular screening examinations. For both cardiovascular screening examinations state dependence exist. The study also shows a significant spillover effect of the cholesterol level check on the blood pressure check and vice versa. Also a poorer health status led to a higher uptake for both types of screening examinations. Changes in recommendations have to consider the fact that taking part in one type of cardiovascular screening examination can influence the decision to take part in the other type of cardiovascular screening examination

Differential Geometry for Model Independent Analysis of Images and Other Non-Euclidean Data: Recent Developments

This article provides an exposition of recent methodologies for nonparametric analysis of digital observations on images and other non-Euclidean objects. Fr\'echet means of distributions on metric spaces, such as manifolds and stratified spaces, have played an important role in this endeavor. Apart from theoretical issues of uniqueness of the Fr\'echet minimizer and the asymptotic distribution of the sample Fr\'echet mean under uniqueness, applications to image analysis are highlighted. In addition, nonparametric Bayes theory is brought to bear on the problems of density estimation and classification on manifolds

Heterozygous Mutations of FREM1 Are Associated with an Increased Risk of Isolated Metopic Craniosynostosis in Humans and Mice

The premature fusion of the paired frontal bones results in metopic craniosynostosis (MC) and gives rise to the clinical phenotype of trigonocephaly. Deletions of chromosome 9p22.3 are well described as a cause of MC with variably penetrant midface hypoplasia. In order to identify the gene responsible for the trigonocephaly component of the 9p22.3 syndrome, a cohort of 109 patients were assessed by high-resolution arrays and MLPA for copy number variations (CNVs) involving 9p22. Five CNVs involving FREM1, all of which were de novo variants, were identified by array-based analyses. The remaining 104 patients with MC were then subjected to targeted FREM1 gene re-sequencing, which identified 3 further mutant alleles, one of which was de novo. Consistent with a pathogenic role, mouse Frem1 mRNA and protein expression was demonstrated in the metopic suture as well as in the pericranium and dura mater. Micro-computed tomography based analyses of the mouse posterior frontal (PF) suture, the human metopic suture equivalent, revealed advanced fusion in all mice homozygous for either of two different Frem1 mutant alleles, while heterozygotes exhibited variably penetrant PF suture anomalies. Gene dosage-related penetrance of midfacial hypoplasia was also evident in the Frem1 mutants. These data suggest that CNVs and mutations involving FREM1 can be identified in a significant percentage of people with MC with or without midface hypoplasia. Furthermore, we present Frem1 mutant mice as the first bona fide mouse model of human metopic craniosynostosis and a new model for midfacial hypoplasia