Implementation and Evaluation of Educational Workshops to Increase Primary Care Provider and Medical Student Comfort in Psychiatric Care.

OBJECTIVE: Mental health treatment is often initiated in primary care settings, but many primary care providers (PCPs), residents, and medical students report discomfort in managing psychiatric conditions. This study evaluated the effect of an educational workshop that featured an evidence-based psychopharmacology clinical decision support tool (CDST) on trainee confidence and willingness to treat psychiatric conditions. METHODS: Participants completed pre- and post-workshop surveys. Nine months after the workshop, a subset of trainees participated in a focus group. RESULTS: Of the participants, 62.5% of the obstetrics-gynecology (OB-GYN) resident physicians (10/16) and 100% of the medical students (18/18) completed both pre- and post-surveys. Following the workshop, OB-GYN resident physicians reported significantly improved confidence in treating psychiatric disorders (p < 0.001), sense of having psychiatric support tools (p < 0.001), and knowledge of treating psychiatric disorders (p = 0.021). Medical students reported significantly improved confidence in treating psychiatric disorders (p < 0.001), willingness to devise treatment plans for psychiatric disorders (p = 0.024), sense of having psychiatric support tools (p < 0.001), knowledge of treating psychiatric disorders (p < 0.001), and comfort in presenting a psychiatric treatment plan to an attending (p = 0.003). Most focus group participants (93.75%; 15/16) reported that they continued to use the CDST, and it increased their confidence in formulating psychiatric treatment plans. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that educational workshops that introduce high-quality psychopharmacology CDSTs may be an effective method for improving provider comfort in treating psychiatric disorders.

The effects of blood in self-injurious cutting: Positive and negative affect regulation.

OBJECTIVE: Seeing one's own blood may be a factor in affect regulation in nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI). This study examined changes in a negative (NA) and positive affect (PA) in response to a finger prick eliciting a small drop of participants' blood. METHODS: Two groups (NSSI; N = 56 and Control; N = 70) of undergraduate students were randomly assigned to receive a finger prick and look at blood, receive a finger prick and not look at blood, or receive a sham finger prick. Following a mood induction, participants completed the PANAS three times: Time 1 (pre mood-induction, baseline), Time 2 (post-mood induction), and Time 3 (post-finger prick condition), and a Pain Severity Scale. RESULTS: A significant three-way interaction revealed that the NSSI: Blood Group had an increased positive effect between Time 2 and Time 3. CONCLUSION: Blood serves an important function in NSSI and requires additional research to fully understand the relationship.

Thermodynamics, Kinetics, and Activation energy Studies of the sorption of chromium(III) and chromium(VI) to a Mn3O4 nanomaterial.

In this study, a manganese oxide, Mn3O4 was used to remove chromium(III) and chromium(VI) from aqueous solutions. The Mn3O4 nanomaterial was synthesized through a precipitation method, and was characterized using XRD, which confirmed the material had a crystal structure similar to hausmannite. In addition, using Scherrer's equation it was determined that the nanomaterial had an average grain size of 19.5 ± 1.10 nm. A study of the effects of pH on the binding of chromium(III) and chromium(VI) showed that the optimum binding pH was 4 and 3 respectively. Batch isotherm studies were performed to determine the binding capacity of chromium(III), which was determined to be 18.7 mg/g, 41.7 mg/g, and 54.4 mg/g respectively for 4°C, 21°C, and 45°C. Chromium(VI) on the other hand had lower binding capacities of 2.5 mg/g, 4.3 mg/g, and 5.8 mg/g for 4°C, 21°C, 45°C, respectively. Thermodynamic studies performed indicated the sorption process was for the most part controlled by physisorption. The ΔG for the sorption of chromium(III) and Chromium(VI) ranged from -0.9 to -13 kJ/mol, indicating a spontaneous reaction was occurring. The enthalpy indicated a endothermic reaction was occurring during the binding and show ΔH values of 70.6 and 19.1 kJ.mol for chromium(III) and Chromium(VI), respectively. In addition, ΔS for the reaction had positive values of 267 and 73 J/mol for chromium(III) and chromium(VI) which indicate a spontaneous reaction. In addition, the sorption process was found to follow pseudo second order kinetic and the activation energy studies indicated the binding process occurred through chemisorption.

Academic stress as a risk factor for dental caries.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the associations between dental caries classified according to the index for decayed, missing and filled teeth (DMFT) and stimulated salivary flow, salivary capacity for oxidation reduction and academic stress in undergraduate dental surgery students aged 18-22 years. METHODS: This research was performed at three time-points: March 2010, September 2010 and March 2011. The sample was composed of 73 students, including 15 male and 58 female subjects. Data were obtained using the DMFT index to detect incident dental caries, the RD test Showa for salivary capacity for oxidation reduction, the Sisco academic stress inventory, and sterile polyethylene to stimulate salivary flow. RESULTS: Logistic regression analysis showed that: subjects with stimulated salivary flow of <1 ml/min are at increased risk for developing caries compared with those with stimulated salivary flow of ≥1 ml/min; those with moderate or high levels of academic stress are at greater risk for developing carious lesions than those with low academic stress; women are at greater risk for developing carious lesions than men, and, of the subjects studied, younger students were more likely to develop caries. CONCLUSIONS: Moderate to high levels of academic stress, younger age and lower salivary flow rate represent risk factors for the development of dental caries in students.