Exploration of experiences of counsellors and psychotherapists providing psychotherapy in second language

This research explored the experiences of bilingual therapists, whose first language was not English, conducting psychotherapy/counselling in English. Eight bilingual therapists/ counsellors who were originally from six different countries were interviewed using semi-structured interviews. All of the bilingual therapists had the experience of working in the United Kingdom in English as well as working in their own mother tongue. The findings were analysed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) and five clusters of themes were identified. The first cluster of themes was related to the emotions experienced, like ‘anxiety’ and ‘frustration’. The second group of themes was those pertaining to the relationship of the participants with their clients, like ‘avoidance of clarification’, ‘shift of attention’ and ‘delay in the pace of therapy’. The third array of themes described the professional identity of the participants as therapists/ counsellors, like fear of ‘the client’s judgment’, or feeling of ‘not being self’, and also the possibility of a ‘hierarchy of acceptance of languages in the United Kingdom’. The fourth collection of themes represented the support systems that were available to the participants when they had difficulties working in English as a second language. The prime source of support for the research participants was their supervisors. They also referred to ‘review with their clients’ and ‘help of a colleague’. The fifth cluster of themes was related to any reference to culture in their interviews. All eight participants believed that culture and language overlap to some degree and are hard to separate. The dissemination of this dissertation was to promote the awareness of bilingual therapists regarding the hardships of working in a second language, and to increase the awareness of supervisors, academic staff and regulating authorities like UKCP and BPS of the problems bilingual therapists might face in working in English as a second language. This study recommends the integration of short-term workshops in the accreditation process or curriculum of studies of such bilingual therapists about the potential hurdles they might face in fulfilling their job as a therapist. As some of the findings—like avoiding clarifications or pretending to comprehend—could be potentially harmful to clients and their therapists, a systematic review of the work of international students or bilingual therapists who have language-related issues seems advisable. Based on the findings of this research, some ideas for further studies are suggested. As most of the fear of being judged and the anxiety experienced by the participants were subjective experiences, a dyad study of both client and therapist experiences could investigate the similarities and discrepancies between the therapists’ perceptions and their clients’ experiences of them. Research into the experiences of the supervisors of such therapists could lead to a richer understanding of this phenomenon from another angle. Keywords: Second language in Psychotherapy, Bilingualism, Counselling, IPA, Cultural difference

VARIATIONS IN THE QUANTITY AND QUALITY OF PERSIAN WHEAT GENOTYPES UNDER NORMAL IRRIGATED AND RAIN-FED CONDITIONS

The importance of wheat in providing staple food for many populations is not disputed, but drought stress can significantly reduce the yield and quality of the grain. Thirty one genotypes of bread wheat were examined under normal irrigated and rain-fed conditions for their protein, Fe, Zn, Cu, Mn, P, Na and K grain concentrations. The experiment was conducted as a split-plot (irrigated and rain-fed as main plots and 31 cultivars as sub-plots) in a randomized complete block design with three replications in Sanandaj, Kurdistan, Iran, during the 2013-2014 cropping season. Based on a two-way Anova, we found large inter-genotype variations among the traits. Significant differences were also observed for the genotypes between normal irrigated and rain-fed conditions. Except for the grain protein concentration, which showed only a 1.93 % increase, the rain-fed conditions negatively affected each of the other traits significantly. Major effects were found for grain yield, number of grains per spike and grain Zn concentration, showing 43.09 %, 27.74 % and 23.88 % reductions, respectively. Negative correlations were observed between grain yield and grain protein, Fe, Zn, Cu, Mn, P and Na concentrations. Our data show that breeding for higher tonnage-yield during the past 80 years has brought success but at the cost of lower concentrations of protein and microelements in the wheat grains. Additional key words: Dryland cropping, grain quality, micronutrients, plant nutrition, PCA. ABSTRACT La importancia del trigo como alimento de la poblaci\uf3n es reconocida a nivel mundial, pero los d\ue9ficits h\ueddricos pueden reducir dr\ue1sticamente la cantidad y calidad del grano. Se evaluaron variables de producci\uf3n y contenidos de prote\uedna y minerales en 31genotipos de trigo bajo condiciones de riego y secano. El experimento se condujo bajo un arreglo en parcelas divididas (condici\uf3n de humedad en las parcelas principales y los genotipos en las sub-parcelas) en un dise\uf1o en bloques completos al azar con tres repeticiones en Sanandaj, Kurdistan, Iran, durante el ciclo de crecimiento 2013-2014. Se encontraron diferencias entre los genotipos y entre las condiciones de humedad para las diferentes variables. Con excepci\uf3n de la concentraci\uf3n de prote\uednas, la cual mostr\uf3 solamente un incremento de 1,93 %, la condici\uf3n de secano afect\uf3 negativamente las otras variables. Los principales efectos se produjeron en el rendimiento del grano, n\ufamero de granos por espiga, y concentraci\uf3n de Zn, con reducciones de 43,09, 27.74 and 23.88 %, respectivamente. Asimismo, hubo correlaciones negativas entre el rendimiento del grano y las concentraciones de prote\uedna, Fe, Zn, Cu, Mn, P y Na. Los resultados muestran que el mejoramiento gen\ue9tico para aumentar el rendimiento durante los \ufaltimos 80 a\uf1os ha sido exitoso pero a un costo de menores concentraciones de prote\uedna y micronutrientes en el grano de trigo. Palabras clave adicionales: Calidad del grano, cultivo de secano, micronutrientes, nutrici\uf3n vegetal, ACP. <br

Facilitators and barriers of adaptation to diabetes: experiences of Iranian patients

Background: Diabetes mellitus is one of the most challenging and burdensome chronic diseases of the 21st century and More than 1% of the Iranian urban population older than 20 years develops Type 2 diabetes each year. Living with diabetes mellitus has been described as a dynamic personal transitional adaptation, based on restructuring of the illness perceived experience and management of the self. Adaptation to Type 2 Diabetes mellitus is an integral part of diabetes care.This study explored the experiences of facilitators and barriers adaptation to Type 2 Diabetes by Iranian patients.Methods: This study was conducted by using qualitative content analysis. Data were collected via in-depth, semi-structured and face to face interviews with 15 patients with type2 diabetes.Results: Three themes emerged from collected data, including a) individual context with Beliefs, personal background, and previous experience subthemes. b) supportive system with Family, Society and Health organizations subthemes and c) self-comparison with comparison with other diabetes and comparison with other diseases subthemes.Conclusions: Identifying and managing Facilitators and Barriers adaptation to Type 2 Diabetes mellitus are an integral part of diabetes care. This study provides a better understanding of the factors from perspective of patients and it can be utilized by health care providers to adapt their health care and education contents to better meet the needs of people with diabetes. © 2014 Karimi Moonaghi et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd

Struggling towards diagnosis: Experiences of Iranian diabetes

Background: Healthcare-seeking behavior is one of the factors determining the uptake and outcome of healthcare. However, few studies have discussed how and why diabetics seek healthcare assistance before meeting a physician. Objectives: In this study, we explored the subjective experiences of healthcare-seeking behavior among Iranian patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Patients and Methods: A qualitative approach was adopted using a conventional content analysis of semi-structured interviews carried out in the Diabetes Association in Tabriz (Iran) with 15 participants suffering from type 2 diabetes. Participants were recruited by the purposeful sampling method. Results: Five themes emerged from the study: 1) warning by physical signs; 2) personal processing; 3) self-remedy and its outcomes; 4) seeking information, and; 5) diagnosis and verification of information by healthcare staff. Conclusions: Individual social context plays an important role in the decision-making process when seeking healthcare for diabetes. The results of this study can be utilized by healthcare providers to facilitate interventions to increase diabetics' active involvement in their healthcare, and encourage a wider knowledge of its symptoms and outcomes to facilitate appropriate healthcare-seeking and service use. © 2014, Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal

Genetic diversity of Xanthomonas citri subsp. Citri, causal agent of citrus canker.

A total of 25 samples of canker disease from different part of West Malaysia were isolated from three different hosts. After various diagnostic tests, the samples were identified as Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri (Xcc), and were also pathogenic to four tested citrus species. Molecular characterization using rep-PCR fingerprinting was carried out on the isolates. Cluster analysis using the combined banding patterns of ERIC and BOX-PCR clearly divided the isolates into different clusters according to their geographical origin, but not to their host species. A relatively high amount of genetic diversity was observed among isolates, as a group of isolates from a more restricted part of Malaysia separated from the rest with relatively low similarity, indicating that there might be distinct pathotypes of the bacterium present in Malaysia

Investigating the safety climate, safety competency and role overload as predictors of safe behavior of employees in the Bidboland Gas Refining Company

Background and Aims: Safety and safe behavior are the most important issues that anyone at any level in the workplace and life should pay attention to them. Neglecting security duties may cause irreparable damages. Therefore, the present study was aimed to investigate the safety climate, safety competence and overload role as the predictors of safe behavior of Bidboland Gas Refinery employees in Khuzestan province. Materials and Methods: The present study design is a correlational predictor. The statistical population included all operational staff employed by Bidboland Gas Refining Company in 2015. Study sample consisted of 273 persons selected through stratified random sampling. Participants were first divided into two groups of safe and unsafe employees using the Safe Behaviors Scale )Salleh, 2010(, and then Safety Climate Scale )Vinodkumar &amp; Bhasi, 2009(, Safety Competency Scale )Salleh, 2010( and Perceived Work Pressure Questionnaire )Seo, 2005( were used to measure the studied variables. Data were analyzed through discriminant analysis and using SPSS-16 software. All stages of this research were conducted ethically.Results: The results showed that safety climate (β=0.662), safety competence (β=0.558) and role overload (β=0.08) were able to predict the safe behavior and are capable of distinguishing safe employees from unsafe ones )p&lt;0.0001(.Conclusion: According to the results of the present study, it is suggested that organizational managers should consider the variables influencing safe behavior (safety climate, safety competence and role overload) in their workplace safety behavior development programs.Keywords: Safe Behavior, Safety Climate, Safety Competency, Role Overload

Kinetic, equilibrium and thermodynamic investigations of Ni(II), Cd(II), Cu(II) and Co(II) adsorption on barley straw ash

AbstractThis work reports the application of a straw ash from barley as a novel bioadsorbent for the removal of several heavy metals: Ni(II), Cd(II), Cu(II), and Co(II). Equilibrium and kinetic models for heavy metals sorption were developed by considering the effect of the contact time, initial heavy metal ion concentrations, effect of temperature, and initial pH. The adsorption of heavy metal ions have been studied in terms of pseudo-first- and -second-order kinetics, and the Freundlich, Langmuir and Langmuir–Freundlich isotherms models have also been used to the equilibrium adsorption data. The equilibrium data fitted well with the Langmuir–Freundlich model and showed the following affinity order of the material: Ni(II)>Cu(II)>Co(II)>Cd(II). The adsorption kinetics followed the mechanism of the pseudo-second-order equation for all systems studied, confirming chemical sorption as the rate-limiting step of adsorption mechanisms. The thermodynamic parameters (ΔG°, ΔH° and ΔS°) indicated that the adsorption of heavy metals ions were feasible, spontaneous and endothermic at 15–80°C

The Resistance of Fiber-reinforced Concrete with Steel Fibers and CFRP to Drop-weight Impact

In this paper, the effects of macro-synthetic steel fibers and bidirectional carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (CFRPs) on the impact resistance of concrete specimens were studied. 54 concrete cylindrical specimens with different compressive strengths (20, 30, and 40&nbsp;MPa) and with different fiber content ratios (0 %, 1 %, 1.5 %, and 2 %) were tested under impact loading. Half of these specimens were tested with the CFRP wrapping. The specimens were subjected to weight (46.7 and 66.8 kg) dropping at a height of 1.62&nbsp;m. The process of weight dropping was continued until 30 % weight loss in the specimens was observed and the number of weight droppings related to this loss was recorded. Results indicated that the impact resistance of the concrete specimens (corresponding to the number of weight droppings) increased by using steel fibers or CFRP wrapping, separately. However, the results demonstrated that the specimens wrapped with the CFRP sheets had much further impact resistance than the FRCs without wrapping. Finally, the results showed that the greater the compressive strengths of the concrete, the better the impact resistance