The biobehavioral family model with a seminarian population: A systems perspective of clinical care.

Seminary students remain unstudied in the research literature despite their eminent role in caring for the wellbeing of congregants. This study aimed to conduct baseline analysis of their family of origin health, psychological health, and physiological heath by utilizing the Biobehavioral Family Model (BBFM) as a conceptual framework for understanding the associations between these constructs. Statistical analysis utilizing structural equation modeling provided support that the BBFM was a sound model for assessing the relationships between these constructs within a seminary sample.

A STUDY OF A DOSE CONSTRAINT FOR OCCUPATIONALLY EXPOSED WORKERS IN THE US NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS.

One of the most important issues in the nuclear power industry is the implementation of the 2007 Recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) published in ICRP Publication 103. These recommendations include the implementation of the concept of dose constraints for occupationally exposed workers at nuclear power plants (NPPs). When considering these changes from a cost-benefit standpoint, the implementation of dose constraints is still highly controversial.

Fortieth Lauriston S. Taylor Lecture: Radiation Protection and Regulatory Science.

It took about 30 y after Wilhelm Konrad Roentgen's discovery of x rays and Henri Becquerel's discovery of natural radioactivity for scientists in the civilized world to formulate recommendations on exposure to ionizing radiation. We know of these efforts today because the organizations that resulted from the concerns raised in 1928 at the Second International Congress of Radiology still play a role in radiation protection. The organizations are known today as the International Commission on Radiological Protection and, in the United States, the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP).

Multispecialty screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) training in an academic medical center: Resident training experience across specialties.

Background: The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has recently begun to fund programs that train medical residents on how to utilize an evidence-based validated system known as screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) for providing early detection and brief treatment of unhealthy substance use. This paper investigates training outcomes of multispecialty SBIRT training at one such program at Albany Medical Center (AMC), one of the initial SAMHSA grantees.

Methods: Training outcomes were measured across 3 domains of learning: trainee satisfaction, acquired knowledge, and perceived usefulness.

Residents' experience of screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) as a clinical tool following practical application: A mixed-methods study.

Background: Screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT), an evidence-based validated system for providing early detection and brief treatment of substance use disorders, has been widely used in the training of medical residents across specialties at a number of sites. This article investigates the effectiveness of SBIRT training during short-term follow-up at Albany Medical Center, one of the initial Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) grantees.

Methods: Training outcomes were measured by training satisfaction following opportunities to apply SBIRT skills in clinical work, the rate at which these techniques were applied in clinical work, and the degree to which residents felt that the SBIRT training provided skills that were applicable to their practice.

A novel algorithm for solving the true coincident counting issues in Monte Carlo simulations for radiation spectroscopy.

Coincident counts can be observed in experimental radiation spectroscopy. Accurate quantification of the radiation source requires the detection efficiency of the spectrometer, which is often experimentally determined. However, Monte Carlo analysis can be used to supplement experimental approaches to determine the detection efficiency a priori.

90Sr content in 90Y-labeled SIR-spheres and Zevalin.

Three different 90Y internally administered radionuclide therapies are currently used in both standard-of-care and clinical trial procedures atMD Anderson Cancer Center. TheraSphere and SIR-Spheres therapies utilize 90Y-labeled microspheres, while Zevalin is an 90Y-labeled radioimmunotherapeutic agent. Several publications have indicated radionuclidic impurities resulting from 90Y production methods.

Long-lived impurities of 90Y-labeled microspheres, TheraSphere and SIR-spheres, and the impact on patient dose and waste management.

Yittrium-90 microsphere brachytherapy procedures have increased in number due to their efficacy in treating some unresectable metastatic liver tumors. The discovery of long-lived impurities in two microsphere products, first reported between 2006 and 2007, has resulted in some radiation safety concerns. Since then, microsphere production processes have been refined, which reportedly lead to a reduction in detectable by-products.

Development of new two-dosimeter algorithm for effective dose in ICRP Publication 103.

The two-dosimeter method, which employs one dosimeter on the chest and the other on the back, determines the effective dose with sufficient accuracy for complex or unknown irradiation geometries. The two-dosimeter method, with a suitable algorithm, neither significantly overestimates (in most cases) nor seriously underestimates the effective dose, not even for extreme exposure geometries. Recently, however, the definition of the effective dose itself was changed in ICRP Publication 103; that is, the organ and tissue configuration employed in calculations of effective dose, along with the related tissue weighting factors, was significantly modified.

Meta-analysis of psychological assessment as a therapeutic intervention.

This study entails the use of meta-analytic techniques to calculate and analyze 18 independent and 52 nonindependent effect sizes across 17 published studies of psychological assessment as a therapeutic intervention. In this sample of studies, which involves 1,496 participants, a significant overall Cohen's d effect size of 0.423 (95% CI [0.

National survey of psychologists' training and practice in breaking bad news: a mixed methods study of the MUM effect.

Research on breaking bad news has involved undergraduates, medical students, and physicians. However, to date, no studies have examined how, or whether, psychologists are trained to break bad news, as well as their current practice of breaking bad news. This mixed methods study explored the training and practice of 329 licensed psychologists/APA members in breaking bad news, using the MUM effect as a theoretical backdrop.

How do we combine science and regulations for decision making following a terrorist incident involving radioactive materials?

Approaches to safety regulations-particularly radiation safety regulations-must be founded on the very best science possible. However, radiation safety regulations always lag behind the science for a number of reasons. First, the normal scientific process of peer-review, debate, and confirmation must ensure that the conclusions are indeed correct, the implications of the research are fully understood, and a consensus has been established.

Warren K. Sinclair Keynote Address: Current challenges in countering radiological terrorism.

Terrorism, although perhaps known by other names, is not a new phenomenon. It dates back to Roman times and perhaps even further in world history. Caleb Carr says terrorism "is simply the contemporary name given to, and the modern permutation of, warfare deliberately waged against civilians with the purpose of destroying their will to support either their leaders or policies.

External dosimetry and personnel monitoring.

The early history of our profession, as well as the discoveries that form its foundations, provide an interesting background on which to assess our progress in measuring exposure to ionizing radiation (i.e., dosimetry).

External dosimetry and personnel monitoring.

The early history of our profession, as well as the discoveries that form its foundations, provide an interesting background on which to assess our progress in measuring exposure to ionizing radiation (i.e., dosimetry).