Exploring the Impact of Mental Health Education on Adolescents’ Perceptions About Mental Health and Mental Illness. Improving community health

The purpose of this study was to explore perceptions of mental health and mental illness as well as the perceptions towards people with mental illness among adolescents, and further to examine the impact that a mental health educational intervention has on these perceptions. The review of the literature revealed a small number of publications on mental health educational interventions among adolescents which aimed at increasing knowledge and affecting attitudes towards mental illness with positive results. Fifty nine pupils (13-16 years old) from two randomly selected secondary schools around Athens, Greece, participated in this study. These schools were randomly selected as the experimental group (n=28) which participated in the mental health educational intervention, and the comparison group (n=31), which did not receive any intervention. Data were collected using individual interviews with open-ended questions, drawings and a questionnaire (Opinions about Mental Illness - O.M.I. scale). The participants described mental health and mental illness before and after the intervention, using the same expressions for both terms. Among the experimental group, changes were seen within the same expressions after the intervention, although some descriptions did not change. However, after the intervention, participants in the experimental group did not confuse mental health with mental illness and they also included specific diagnostic examples or stated that mental illness can happen to anyone and it can be managed. Moreover, they expressed positive attitudes towards mentally ill people, which they had not done before the intervention. The analysis of the drawings before the intervention showed that mentally ill persons were drawn similarly in both groups. After the intervention, the drawings of the participants in the experimental group changed, including fewer negative elements, while the drawings of the comparison group did not change. Regarding the results on the O.M.I. scale, it was found that the score on the Social Discrimination factor significantly decreased from pre-test to post-test in both study groups. The experimental group had higher levels on Social Discrimination at pre-test compared to the comparison group, but this difference was not significant at post-test. No significant changes were found for the Social Restriction factor for either study group. Scores of the Social Care and Social Integration factors increased significantly only in the intervention group. Overall, the results of this study indicate that the mental health educational intervention had a positive impact on the perceptions about mental health and mental illness among adolescents, and (mental) health professionals can use these results for implementing similar interventions and further research.Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoituksena oli tutkia miten mielenterveys ja mielisairaudet mielletään sekä sitä, miten nuoret suhtautuvat ihmisiin, joilla on mielisairaus, ja tutkia lisäksi mielenterveyteen liittyvän opetuksen vaikutusta näihin käsityksiin. Kirjallisuuskatsauksesta ilmeni pieni määrä julkaisuja, jotka käsittelivät nuorille kohdennettua mielenterveyttä koskevaa opetusta, jolla pyrittiin vaikuttamaan mielisairauksien tuntemukseen ja asenteisiin positiivisin tuloksin. Tutkimukseen osallistui 59 oppilasta ikähaarukassa 13–16 kahdesta satunnaisesti valitusta peruskoulusta Ateenan (Kreikka) alueelta. Koulut oli valittu satunnaisesti tutkimusryhmäksi, joka muodostui 28 oppilaasta, jotka osallistuivat mielenterveysasioiden opetukseen, ja 31 osallistujan vertailuryhmästä, joka ei saanut opetusta mielenterveysasioista. Tietoa kerättiin yksittäisillä haastatteluilla, joihin sisältyi avoimia kysymyksiä, piirroksia ja kyselylomake. Osallistujat kuvasivat mielenterveyttä ja mielisairautta ennen opetusta ja sen jälkeen käyttäen molemmissa samoja ilmaisuja. Vaikka koeryhmässä nähtiin muutoksia samoissa ilmaisuissa opetuksen jälkeen, oli myös kuvauksia, jotka eivät olleet muuttuneet. Opetuksen jälkeen koeryhmään osallistuneet eivät kuitenkaan sekoittaneet keskenään mielenterveyttä ja mielisairautta ja he myös kertoivat erityisiä esimerkkejä diagnooseista tai totesivat mielisairautta voivan ilmetä kenellä tahansa ja että sitä voidaan hoitaa. Heidän asenteensa mielenterveyspotilaisiin oli positiivinen, toisin kuin ennen opetusta. Ennen opetusta tehtyjen piirustusten analyysistä ilmeni, että mielenterveyspotilaat kuvattiin samalla tavalla molemmissa ryhmissä. Opetuksen jälkeen koeryhmään osallistuneiden piirustukset muuttuivat ja niissä oli vähemmän negatiivisia elementtejä, mutta vertailuryhmän piirustuksissa ei sitä vastoin tapahtunut muutosta. O.M.I. mielipidemittarin tuloksista selvisi, että sosiaalisen syrjintätekijän (Social Discrimination factor) tulos kasvoi merkittävästi koetta edeltäneestä tilanteesta testin jälkeiseen tilanteeseen verrattuna molemmissa tutkimusryhmissä, kun taas koeryhmässä sosiaalisen syrjinnän tasot olivat korkeampia ennen koetta verrattuna vertailuryhmään, mutta tämä ero ei ollut tilastollisesti merkitsevä. Sosiaalisen rajoitustekijän (Social Restriction factor) osalta ei löytynyt merkittäviä muutoksia kummassakaan tutkimusryhmässä. Sosiaalista sopeutumista (Social Care and Social Integration factors) koskeva tulos kasvoi merkittävästi ainoastaan opetusta saaneessa ryhmässä. Yleisesti tämän tutkimuksen tulokset osoittavat, että mielenterveyteen liittyvä opetus vaikutti positiivisesti siihen, miten nuoret mieltävät mielenterveyden ja mielisairauden ja (mielen)terveysalan ammattilaiset voivat käyttää tuloksia toteuttaessaan vastaavia toimenpiteitä ja lisätutkimuksia.Ο σκοπός της παρούσας μελέτης ήταν να διερευνήσει τις αντιλήψεις των εφήβων για την ψυχική υγεία και την ψυχική νόσο, καθώς και για τα άτομα με ψυχική νόσο, και περαιτέρω να εξετάσει την επίδραση μίας παρέμβασης αγωγής ψυχικής υγείας σε αυτές τις αντιλήψεις. Η βιβλιογραφική ανασκόπηση εντόπισε ένα μικρό αριθμό δημοσιεύσεων σχετικά με παρεμβάσεις αγωγής ψυχικής υγείας σε έφηβους με στόχο να επηρεάσουν τις γνώσεις και τις στάσεις απέναντι στην ψυχική νόσο. Στην μελέτη αυτή συμμετείχαν 59 μαθητές ηλικίας 13-16 ετών από δύο τυχαία επιλεγμένα σχολεία της δευτεροβάθμιας εκπαίδευσης της Αθήνας. Η ομάδα παρέμβασης (28 μαθητές) συμμετείχε στην αγωγή ψυχικής υγείας, ενώ η ομάδα σύγκρισης (31 μαθητές) δεν συμμετείχε σε καμία παρέμβαση αγωγής υγείας. Τα δεδομένα συλλέχθηκαν μέσω ατομικών συνεντεύξεων με ανοιχτού τύπου ερωτήσεις, ζωγραφιές και ένα ερωτηματολόγιο (Κλίμακα για τις Στάσεις για την Ψυχική Ασθένεια – O.M.I. scale). Οι συμμετέχοντες περιέγραψαν την ψυχική υγεία και την ψυχική νόσο, πριν και μετά την παρέμβαση, χρησιμοποιώντας τις ίδιες εκφράσεις για τους δύο όρους. Μετά την παρέμβαση, μεταξύ των συμμετεχόντων της ομάδας παρέμβασης υπήρξαν αλλαγές στις περιγραφές, ενώ υπάρχουν και περιγραφές οι οποίες δεν άλλαξαν. Επιπλέον, η σύγχυση της ψυχικής υγείας με την ψυχική νόσο δεν υπάρχει στους συμμετέχοντες της ομάδας παρέμβασης, οι οποίοι επίσης ανέφεραν διαγνώσεις, ότι η ψυχική νόσος αφορά στον καθένα και μπορεί να αντιμετωπιστεί, εκφράζοντας θετικές στάσεις απέναντι στα άτομα με ψυχικές ασθένειες. Οι ψυχικά ασθενείς παρουσιάζονται αρχικά ομοίως στις ζωγραφιές και των δύο ομάδων. Μετά την παρέμβαση, οι ζωγραφιές των συμμετεχόντων στην ομάδα παρέμβασης είχαν αλλαγές, παρουσιάζοντας λιγότερα αρνητικά στοιχεία, ενώ οι ζωγραφιές της ομάδας σύγκρισης δεν άλλαξαν. Όσον αφορά στα αποτελέσματα της κλίμακας «O.M.I.», βρέθηκε ότι οι τιμές του παράγοντα Κοινωνική Διάκριση μειώθηκαν σημαντικά στην β’ φάση και στις δύο ομάδες. Δεν παρατηρήθηκαν σημαντικές αλλαγές για τον παράγοντα Κοινωνικός Περιορισμός και για τις δύο ομάδες μελέτης. Οι τιμές των παραγόντων Κοινωνική Φροντίδα και Κοινωνική Ενσωμάτωση είχαν σημαντική αύξηση μόνο στην ομάδα παρέμβασης. Συμπερασματικά, τα αποτελέσματα αυτής της μελέτης δείχνουν ότι η παρέμβαση αγωγής ψυχικής υγείας είχε θετικό αντίκτυπο στις αντιλήψεις σχετικά με την ψυχική υγεία και την ψυχική νόσο μεταξύ των εφήβων. Οι επαγγελματίες (ψυχικής) υγείας μπορούν να χρησιμοποιήσουν τα αποτελέσματα αυτά για την εφαρμογή παρόμοιων παρεμβάσεων και την εκπόνηση περαιτέρω μελετών.Siirretty Doriast

Theoretical Studies of dilute Bose-Einstein condensates in a double-well potential

In this Thesis we apply the Gross-Pitaevskii equation (GPE) to describe properties of a dilute, near zero temperature Bose gas for various confining geometries. We start by reviewing some basic information about the density, the chemical potential and elementary excitations of a dilute atomic condensate confined in a single harmonic trap for a Bose condensate with repulsive and attractive interactions and we also discuss the stability in the case of attractive interactions. We extend our study to a one and three dimensional double-well trap. We investigate the eigenenergy levels and show that the nonlinearity leads to triangular structures which appear either in the ground or excited states for the case of a Bose condensate with attractive or repulsive interactions respectively. We apply the eigenenergy level picture to analyse Josephson effects induced when the barrier IS moved at a constant velocity across the trapping potential or by the application of a time-dependent potential gradient. The GPE simulations are compared to the predictions of a nonlinear two state model. Above a critical velocity there is a transition to a superposition of ground and excited states which leads to sudden changes in the population difference. The direction of Josephson flow depends critically on the initial state of the system and we discuss the feasibility of experimental control of the atomic flow using phase-imprinting. The stability of a low temperature Bose-Einstein condensate with attract interactions in one and three dimensional double-well potentiate is discussed. The condensate is shown to collapse at a critical potential gradient which corresponds to a critical number of atoms in one of the two wells. Finally we investigate the stability and tunnelling effects in a multi-well system

CAM04-1: Admission control in self aware networks

The worldwide growth in broadband access and multimedia traffic has led to an increasing need for Quality- of-Service (QoS) in networks. Real time network applications require a stable, reliable, and predictable network that will guarantee packet delivery under QoS constraints. Network self- awareness through on-line measurement and adaptivity in response to user needs is one way to advance user QoS when overall network conditions can change, while admission control (AC) is an approach that has been commonly used to reduce traffic congestion and to satisfy users' QoS requests. The purpose of this paper is to describe a novel measurement-based admission control algorithm which bases its decision on different QoS metrics that users can specify. The self-observation and self- awareness capabilities of the network are exploited to collect data that allows an AC algorithm to decide whether to admit users based on their QoS needs, and the QoS impact they will have on other users. The approach we propose finds whether feasible paths exist for the projected incoming traffic, and estimates the impact that the newly accepted traffic will have on the QoS of pre-existing connections. The AC decision is then taken based on the outcome of this analysis

Performance evaluation of the Cognitive Packet Network in the presence of network worms

Reliable networks that provide good service quality are expected to become more crucial in every aspect of communication, especially as the information transferred between network users gets more complex and demanding and as malicious users try to deliberately degrade or altogether deny legitimate network service. The Cognitive Packet Network (CPN) routing protocol provides Quality of Service (QoS) driven routing and performs self-improvement in a distributed manner, by learning from the experience of special packets, which gather on-line QoS measurements and discover new routes. Although CPN is generally very resilient to network changes, it may suffer worse performance during node failures caused by network threats, such as network worms. Here we evaluate the performance of CPN in such crises and compare it with the Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) routing protocol, an industry standard and widely used in Internet Protocol networks. We also improve it by introducing a failure detection element that reduces packet loss and delay during failures. Our experiments were performed in a real networking testbed

CAM04-1: Admission control in self aware networks

The worldwide growth in broadband access and multimedia traffic has led to an increasing need for Quality- of-Service (QoS) in networks. Real time network applications require a stable, reliable, and predictable network that will guarantee packet delivery under QoS constraints. Network self- awareness through on-line measurement and adaptivity in response to user needs is one way to advance user QoS when overall network conditions can change, while admission control (AC) is an approach that has been commonly used to reduce traffic congestion and to satisfy users' QoS requests. The purpose of this paper is to describe a novel measurement-based admission control algorithm which bases its decision on different QoS metrics that users can specify. The self-observation and self- awareness capabilities of the network are exploited to collect data that allows an AC algorithm to decide whether to admit users based on their QoS needs, and the QoS impact they will have on other users. The approach we propose finds whether feasible paths exist for the projected incoming traffic, and estimates the impact that the newly accepted traffic will have on the QoS of pre-existing connections. The AC decision is then taken based on the outcome of this analysis

Strengthening the security of cognitive packet networks

Route selection in cognitive packet networks (CPNs) occurs continuously for active flows and is driven by the users' choice of a quality of service (QoS) goal. Because routing occurs concurrently to packet forwarding, CPN flows are able to better deal with unexpected variations in network status, while still achieving the desired QoS. Random neural networks (RNNs) play a key role in CPN routing and are responsible to the next-hop decision making of CPN packets. By using reinforcement learning, RNNs' weights are continuously updated based on expected QoS goals and information that is collected by packets as they travel on the network experiencing the current network conditions. CPN's QoS performance had been extensively investigated for a variety of operating conditions. Its dynamic and self-adaptive properties make them suitable for withstanding availability attacks, such as those caused by worm propagation and denial-of-service attacks. However, security weaknesses related to confidentiality and integrity attacks have not been previously examined. Here, we look at related network security threats and propose mechanisms that could enhance the resilience of CPN to confidentiality, integrity and availability attacks

Empowering mentally ill people: A new health promotion challenge?

During the past decades, psychiatric services have undegone a transition to community-based caresystems. People who are mentally ill need to regain power over their own lives, since they have been disempowered,due to, in some cases, many years of institutionalisation. Psychosocial rehabilitation services should aim towardsempowerment within the framework of the mental health promotion of each particular individual. This paper aimsto offer a review of the literature concerned with the empowerment of mentally ill people and to present the benefitsthat empowered people gain. Research has demonstrated that empowerment among mentally ill people offerslife satisfaction. Mentally ill people are in need of a rehabilitation model that encourages their empowerment, byemphasising the goals defined by them. Empowerment may refer to both outcome and process, that is, not only tothe outcome of the decisions an individual makes, but also to the essential feeling of being an active participant inthe decision-making process. Patient empowerment is a matter of self-determination, hence, it occurs when a patientfreely chooses his or her own path to recovery and well-being. It has been concluded that mentally ill people livingwithin the community should not be treated as mere passive objects of medical interventions. Thus, empowermentshould be a well-established part of mental health care and the base of psychosocial rehabilitation services. Nurses, inassociation with other health care professionals, should develop and implement adequate interventional programmes,which facilitate decision-making skills and promote self-esteem. Furthermore, empowerment sets new challenges forthe nurses’ education and it should, therefore, be the subject of studies in order to test the impact of empowermentinterventions and to develop future practice within the scope of the psychosocial rehabilitation of mentally ill people

Factors Influencing the Surface Functionalization of Citrate Stabilized Gold Nanoparticles with Cysteamine, 3-Mercaptopropionic Acid or l -Selenocystine for Sensor Applications

Thiols and selenides bind to the surface of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and thus provide suitable platforms for the fabrication of sensors. However, the co-existence of adsorbed citrate on the surface of the nanoparticles can influence their functionalization behavior and potentially their sensing performance measured by the extent of particle aggregation. In this study, the functionalization of purchased (7.3 ± 1.2 nm) and in-house prepared AuNPs (13.8 ± 1.2 nm), under the same experimental conditions with either cysteamine (Cys), 3-mercaptopropionic acid (3-MPA), or l-selenocystine (SeCyst) was investigated. 1H-NMR measurements showed distinct citrate signatures on the in-house synthesized citrate-stabilized AuNPs, while no citrate signals were detected on the purchased AuNPs other than evidence of the presence of α-ketoglutaric acid. Carboxylate-containing species attributed to either citrate or α-ketoglutaric acid were identified in all functionalized AuNPs. ATR-FTIR spectroscopy confirmed the functionalization of AuNPs with Cys and 3-MPA, and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy measurements suggested the formation of SeCyst functionalized AuNPs. Co-adsorption rather than displacement by the functionalizing agents and carboxylate-containing molecules was indicated, which for Cys and SeCyst functionalized AuNPs was also the aggregation limiting factor. In contrast, the behavior of 3-MPA functionalized AuNPs could be attributed to electrostatic repulsions between the functionalized groups