Exploring the convergence between religious beliefs with psychological distress in medical students of Jahrom University of Medical Sciences in 2014

Introduction: The main purpose of psychological health is to prevent worries and to maintain psychological health. Strengthening religious beliefs at all stages of life is a preventive action in order to reduce psychological disorders. The aim of this study is to investigate the consistency between the religious beliefs and psychological distress in medical students in Jahrom University of Medical Sciences.Method: This analytical study was carried out on 751 students of Jahrom University of Medical Sciences in 2014. Data collection was performed by religious beliefs questionnaire and psychological distress questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics.Results: Results showed that there was no significant consistency between religious attitudes of students with severity indicators of psychological distress, stress (0.128), anxiety (0.726) and depression (0.128).Conclusion: The results of this study demonstrated that there was an inverse relationship between religious attitudes of students with psychological distress.As a result, it is suggested that a spirituality-based care program can reduce the students’ psychological distress.Keywords: Religious beliefs, psychological distress, medical student

Level Crossing Analysis of Growing surfaces

We investigate the average frequency of positive slope $\nu_{\alpha}^{+}$, crossing the height $\alpha = h- \bar h$ in the surface growing processes. The exact level crossing analysis of the random deposition model and the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang equation in the strong coupling limit before creation of singularities are given.Comment: 5 pages, two column, latex, three figure

GreenSeace

Imagine you are relaxing on the beautiful shores of Fiji. You are currently soaking up the sun with a pina colada in your hand. You feel your skin burning so you decide to cool off in the ocean. As you dive under you get wrapped in a sea of rubbish, everything from plastic bottles, bags and pharmaceutical packaging. You feel claustrophobic and wonder how the marine life survive in such poor conditions. We’ve come up with an idea that will aid in the reduction of water pollution. Clean water is essential for not only human kind, but for the thousands of species that live in the ocean. Many regulations and systems have been enforced to minimise pollution around the world, all working towards the same goal of making the planet cleaner and greener. Our idea is to create biodegradable pharmaceutical packaging by utilising ‘green plastic’. Green plastic is created by combining plant starch and soy protein, as an alternative to petroleum-based products. We plan to use sugarcane crops from the two-main islands in Fiji (Viti Levu and Vanualevu) to produce this environmentally sustainable product. The manufacture and disposal of green plastic involves environment-friendly processes. Environmental sustainability is crucial in rescuing the world and reducing the risk of climate change. This highlights the importance of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal of ‘Climate Action’. If we can arrest and decrease the pollution and waste currently going into our waterways, we can play an effective part in limiting the detrimental damage caused to the planet

Identification and treatment of the visual processing asymmetry in MS patients with optic neuritis: The Pulfrich phenomenon

BACKGROUND: The Pulfrich phenomenon (PF) is the illusory perception that an object moving linearly along a 2-D plane appears to instead follow an elliptical 3-D trajectory, a consequence of inter-eye asymmetry in the timing of visual object identification in the visual cortex; with optic neuritis as a common etiology. OBJECTIVE: We have designed an objective method to identify the presence and magnitude of the PF, in conjunction with a cooresponding strategy by which to abolish the effect; with monocular application of neutral density filters to the less affected fellow eye, in patients with MS and a history of optic neuropathy (e.g. related to acute optic neuritis or subclinical optic neuropathy). METHODS: Twenty-three MS patients with a history of acute unilateral or bilateral optic neuritis, and ten healthy control subjects (HC) were recruited to participate in a pilot study to assess our strategy. Subjects were asked to indicate whether a linearly moving pendulum ball followed a linear 2-D path versus an illusory 3-D elliptical object-motion trajectory, by reporting the ball's approximation to one of nine horizontally-oriented colored wires that were positioned parallel to one another and horizontal to the linear pendulum path. Perceived motion of the bob that moved along wires behind or in front (along the 'Z' plane) of the middle reference wire indicated an illusory elliptical trajectory of ball motion consistent with the PF. RESULTS: When the neutral density filter titration was applied to the fellow eye the severity of the PF decreased, eventually being fully abolished in all but one patient. The magnitude of neutral density filtering required correlated to the severity of the patient's initial PF magnitude (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: We ascertained the magnitude of the visual illusion associated with the PF, and the corresponding magnitude of neutral density filtering necessary to abolish it

Global Protection and the Health Impact of Migration Interception

In the fourth article in a six-part PLoS Medicine series on Migration & Health, Zachary Steel and colleagues discuss the interception phase of migration and the specific health risks and policy needs associated with this phase

A922 Sequential measurement of 1 hour creatinine clearance (1-CRCL) in critically ill patients at risk of acute kidney injury (AKI)

Meeting abstrac

Migration-related detention centers : The challenges of an ecological perspective with a focus on justice

Background: In recent years, border control and migration-related detention have become increasingly widespread practices affecting the lives of undocumented migrants, their families, and communities at large. In spite of the concern within academia, few studies have directly witnessed the life and experiences of people confined to migration-related detention centers. In the medical and psychological fields, a considerable body of research has demonstrated the pathogenic nature of detention in terms of mental health, showing an association between length of detention and severity of distress. Nevertheless, it was limited to the assessment of individuals’ clinical consequences, mainly focusing on asylum seekers. There currently exists a need to adopt an ecological perspective from which to study detained migrants’ experiences as context-dependent, and influenced by power inequalities. This paper addresses this gap. Discussion: Drawing upon advances in community psychology, we illustrate an ecological framework for the study of migration-related detention contexts, and their effects on the lives of detained migrants and all people exposed to them. Making use of existing literature, Kelly’s four principles (interdependence, cycling of resources, adaptation, succession) are analyzed at multiple ecological levels (personal, interpersonal, organizational, communal), highlighting implications for future research in this field. A focus on justice, as a key-dimension of analysis, is also discussed. Wellbeing is acknowledged as a multilevel, dynamic, and value-dependent phenomenon. Summary: In presenting this alternative framework, the potential for studying migration-related detention through an ecological lens is highlighted, pointing the way for future fields of study. We argue that ecological multilevel analyses, conceptualized in terms of interdependent systems and with a focus on justice, can enhance the comprehension of the dynamics at play in migration-related detention centers, providing an effective tool to address the multi-level challenges of doing research within them. Furthermore, they can contribute to the development of policies and practices concerned with health, equality, and human rights of all people exposed to migration-related detention. Consistent with these assumptions, empirical studies adopting such a framework are strongly encouraged. These studies should use mixed and multi-method culturally situated designs, based on the development of collaborative and empowering relationships with participants. Ethnographic approaches are recommended.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT