Computerized diagnosis: implications for clinical education

The advent of the small computer as a basic clinical tool will have a significant impact on clinical practice and medical training. The application of probability theory to clinical diagnosis has led to the development of several practical diagnostic programs which run on small computers. Expert systems--interactive programs which function as 'electronic consultants'--have now been successfully developed for a number of clinical situations. Experience with two of these, INTERNIST/CADUCEUS and MYCIN, has provided insight into problems and prospects for expert systems in medicine. Less complex programs, particularly those employing clinical prediction rules, and expert system shells, seem well suited for clinical environments. Although computerized medical diagnosis holds great promise as an aid to clinicians, its success will largely be determined by the quality of the information that clinicians provide for analysis. A brief review of the status of bedside diagnosis reveals that data-gathering strategies and techniques must be better understood. In order to take full advantage of computer programs for diagnosis, basic diagnostic skills must be more heavily emphasized in clinical training.     

The implications of Project 2000 and the formation of links with higher education for the professional and academic needs of nurse teachers in the United Kingdom

A national study was conducted between 1991 and 1994 to explore and describe the changing role of the nurse teacher following the introduction of Project 2000 pre-registration nursing courses. Multiple methods were used to collect data from a wide variety of respondents (nurse teachers, midwife teachers, clinical nurses, health service managers and higher education lecturers). This paper presents the findings relating to the impact of Project 2000 and the move into higher education on the continuing educational needs of nurse teachers. Views on college strategies for staff development, the changing nature of teachers'academic and professional development needs and the problems of the conflicting demands experienced are reported. The research highlights the need for clinical credibility to be clearly defined in relation to nurse teachers and for educational institutions to place more emphasis on teachers'clinical development if the rhetoric of policy is to become a reality.     

Carers, ethics and dementia: a survey and review of the literature.

BACKGROUND: Much has been written on ethical issues in dementia, but usually from the point of view of the various professionals involved. Whilst there has been an increasing amount of interest in the psychosocial problems that face the carers of people with dementia, the ethical nature of some of these problems has largely been ignored. OBJECTIVE: To review the literature on ethical issues in dementia from the perspective of the main, non-professional carers of people with dementia. METHOD: A systematic literature search using Medline, Clinpsych and CINAHL databases between 1982 and 2000. A pilot study of carers. RESULTS: The lay perspective provides both a wide variety of issues and unique approaches. Although in the literature quantitative research answers some questions, it is qualitative research that deepens our understanding of the issues from the perspective of carers. CONCLUSION: It is particularly qualitative research that brings out the ethical issues for carers, which tend to be more varied than the ethical issues raised in the professional literature. Awareness of such issues could inform and shape the support given to carers.     

Adult adjustment of persons with severe/profound mental disabilities: A longitudinal study

The parents of 14 individuals with severe/profound mental disabilities were interviewed one and three years after their children graduated or aged out of high school. Two categories of information were sought concerning the adult adjustment of these individuals. General status variables included marital status, place of residence, agencies contacted concerning employment opportunities, financial resources, leisure activities, means of transportation, sources of help in resolving problems, and amount of postsecondary training. Employment variables included location of employment, wages, number of hours worked per week, and job benefits received. Results indicated that three years after exiting high school, all participants were very dependent upon others for housing, transportation, and financial assistance. Ten of the 14 individuals were employed 3 years after exiting high school, all in sheltered workshops.     

The Turner syndrome research registry: Creating equipoise between investigators and participants

To address knowledge gaps about Turner syndrome (TS) associated disease mechanisms, the Turner Syndrome Society of the United States created the Turner Syndrome Research Registry (TSRR), a patient‐powered registry for girls and women with TS. More than 600 participants, parents or guardians completed a 33‐item foundational survey that included questions about demographics, medical conditions, psychological conditions, sexuality, hormonal therapy, patient and provider knowledge about TS, and patient satisfaction. The TSRR platform is engineered to allow individuals living with rare conditions and investigators to work side‐by‐side. The purpose of this article is to introduce the concept, architecture, and currently available content of the TSRR, in anticipation of inviting proposals to utilize registry resources.     

Psychological Research with Pediatric Conditions: If We Specialize, Can We Generalize?

Considered threats to validity and generalizability of psychologicalresearch with pediatric populations and proposed ways to betterunderstand and manage these problems. Variation due to characteristicsof acute and chronic conditions (e.g., duration, severity, illnesscourse), settings and referral patterns, family environmentalcharacteristics, as well as investigators' decisions concerningcriteria and recruitment limit inferences concerning the impactof pediatric conditions on psychological development and generalizabilityof findings. These problems call for an expanded use of replication,cross-center, population-based, and theory-driven research.Scientific progress will be made by increasing dialogues andcollaboration among researchers concerning generalizabilityproblems and improving research training in epidemiologicalmethods, analysis of large-scale data sets, and meta-analysis.     

大学生性行为及性道德观发展研究

目的 了解当代大学生性行为及性道德观念的发展变化。方法 自制问卷，对全国9所高校的2000余名大学生进行调查，并用SPSS10．0对结果进行统计处理。结果 大学生性交行为发生率呈逐年上升趋势，且随年级上升而增加；大学生认可性交行为道德观的5个雏度，但各年级之间有差异；大学生边缘性行为和独自性行为发生率随年级显著上升，认可度也随年级增加而上升；大学生对同性性接触基本持排斥态度，但排斥态度则趋于下降。结论 大学生性行为和性道德随年级上升而明显变化，应加强学校教育和引导。     

A Contextual Family/Systems Approach to Pediatric Psychology: Introduction to the Special Issue

Introduced the special issue on "Family System in PediatricPsychology" by organizing the papers around a series of themesrelevant to understanding families in pediatric psychology.Themes reflect the relationships between parent and child adjustment,family subsystems, legacies and traditions, social support systems,family interventions, the constancy of change in families, thechallenges of conducting longitudinal research, the inclusionof fathers, and the importance of a competency framework inpediatric family psychology. The paper concludes with recommendationsfor pediatric family psychology, including suggestions for increasingdiversity, expanding methodological approaches, and enhancingfamily competence.     

Impact of Dissection after Drug-Coated Balloon Treatment of De Novo Coronary Lesions: Angiographic and Clinical Outcomes

PurposeDissection after plain balloon angioplasty is required to achieve adequate luminal area; however, it is associated with a high risk of vascular events. This study aimed to examine the relationship between non-flow limiting coronary dissections and subsequent lumen loss and long-term clinical outcomes following successful drug-coated balloon (DCB) treatment of de novo coronary lesions.Materials and MethodsA total of 227 patients with good distal flow (Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction flow grade 3) following DCB treatment were retrospectively enrolled and stratified according to the presence or absence of a non-flow limiting dissection. The primary endpoint was late lumen loss (LLL) at 6-month angiography, and the secondary endpoint was target vessel failure (TVF, a composite of cardiac death, target vessel myocardial infarction, target vessel revascularization, and target vessel thrombosis).ResultsThe cohort consisted of 95 patients with and 132 patients without a dissection. There were no between-group differences in LLL (90.8%) returning for angiography at 6 months (0.05±0.19 mm in non-dissection and 0.05±0.30 mm in dissection group, p=0.886) or in TVF (6.8% in non-dissection and 8.4% in dissection group, p=0.799) at a median follow-up of 3.4 years. In a multivariate analysis, the presence of dissection and its severity were not associated with LLL or TVF. Almost dissections (93.9%) were completely healed, and there was no newly developed dissection at 6-month angiography.ConclusionThe presence of a dissection following successful DCB treatment of a de novo coronary lesion may not be associated with an increased risk of LLL or TVF (Impact of Drug-coated Balloon Treatment in de Novo Coronary Lesion; {"type":"clinical-trial","attrs":{"text":"NCT04619277","term_id":"NCT04619277"}}NCT04619277).     

Social Representations of Drinking Water in Schoolchildren and Parents from Two Schools in Zapopan,Mexico

Childhood obesity and children being overweight has increased recently; although they are multi-causal problems, an unhealthy diet is a critical component. In Mexico, drinking water consumption in children from 9 to 18 years only reaches 30% of total fluid consumption. The aim of our study was to describe the social representations (SR) of drinking water in school-children and parents of two schools in Zapopan, Mexico. Associative free listing was used as an information gathering technique. Schoolchildren aged 8 to 12 years (n = 50) and parents (n = 23) from two elementary schools were selected by a convenience sampling from April to June 2015. A similarity analysis was performed using the co-occurrence index; with this, a similarity graph was obtained. Prototypical analysis was performed to explore the structure of the SR. Three dimensions were described in the children’s SR: a functional dimension related to health and nutrition, a practical dimension that describes the instruments used for its consumption, and a theoretical dimension that specifies the characteristics of water and its relationship with nature. In the parents’ SR, a functional dimension was also found; another dimension was described regarding the integral well-being that drinking water provides. A practical dimension describes the features related to its consumption. The investigation describes the structure of the water SR, which help to contextualize and explain the actions of schoolchildren and their parents regarding drinking water consumption.