The state of affirmative mental health care for Transgender and Gender Non-Confirming people: an analysis of current research, debates, and standards of care.

Following the growth in visibility of Transgender and Gender Non-Confirming-identified people (TGNC) in popular culture and media, along with the increase in number of health clinics focusing on working with this population, and the development of a special interest in health professionals in TGNC-related issues, flourishing scientific literature and updated guidelines to help Mental Health Professionals (MHPs) work affirmatively with transgender individuals is pertinent. Despite the increased attention toward TGNC individuals, this population is still faced with political, economic, legal, and medical obstacles affecting their mental health and access to health care. Moreover, MHPs still report having limited training and experience in TGNC-affirmative care.

Psychological expert witness testimony and judicial decision making trends.

Despite the establishment of the Daubert standard in 1993, the evidentiary criteria are rarely used as a basis for admissibility of expert witness testimony in the behavioral sciences. Ever since the promulgation of Frye and the Federal Rules of Evidence, controversy has surrounded the admissibility of expert testimony in courtrooms. There appears to be no existing uniform application of standards governing the admissibility of psychological expert witness testimony.

Effect of gender on cardiovascular risk stratification with ECG gated SPECT left ventricular volume indices and ejection fraction.

Background: Optimal gender-specific risk prediction using ECG-gated SPECT left ventricular (LV) volumes and ejection fraction (EF) remains undefined despite reported gender differences in baseline LV function.

Methods: ECG-gated SPECT studies of 891 consecutively referred patients (43% women) were evaluated for LV end-systolic and diastolic volume indices (ESVI, EDVI) and EF. Effects of gender on prediction of hard cardiac events (HCE) and the combined endpoint of all-cause mortality or non-fatal infarction (ACMMI) were evaluated.

Combined corrections for attenuation, depth-dependent blur, and motion in cardiac SPECT: a multicenter trial.

Background: The diagnostic accuracy of cardiac single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) is limited by image-degrading factors, such as heart or subject motion, depth-dependent blurring caused by the collimator, and photon scatter and attenuation. We developed correction approaches for motion, depth-dependent blur, and attenuation and performed a multicenter validation.

Methods And Results: Motion was corrected both transversely and axially with a cross-correlation technique.