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The physical resurrection of Jesus is one of the primary tenets of Christianity. In modern times this doctrine has been questioned with a variety of different approaches. One of those approaches is the assertion that because the Jews in Palestine during the first century were part of a polyphasic culture, the resurrection was only a culturally-approved conceptualization of visionary experiences outside of time and space. This article discusses this position and explains the complications of such an assertion. This includes first defining and elucidating the characteristics of a polyphasic culture and then examining first-century Judaism within that framework. This paper will further argue that the Jews in first-century Palestine distinguished between different types of extraordinary experiences and exhibited high degrees of skepticism when warranted, especially in regards to the resurrection of Christ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to bring more clarity to the complex discussion of religiosity and its effects on consumer attitudes toward corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives and socially responsible shopping. Drawing on the Hunt-Vitell theory of marketing ethics, we investigate how intrinsic religiosity indirectly affects retail selection through the mediating variable of attitudes toward CSR. We also investigate whether a retailer's corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate social irresponsibility (CSI) moderate the relationship between consumer attitudes toward CSR and retail selection. We find that intrinsic religiosity indirectly affects where consumers shop for groceries, clothing, shoes, electronics, and home goods, and we find that only CSI impacts the retail selection decision. Implications for macromarketing theory, marketing strategy, and public policy are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2015, multiple randomized clinical trials showed an unparalleled treatment benefit of stent-retriever thrombectomy as compared to standard medical therapy for the treatment of a large artery occlusion causing acute ischemic stroke. A short time later, the HERMES collaborators presented the patient-level pooled analysis of five randomized clinical trials, establishing class 1, level of evidence A for stent-retriever thrombectomy, in combination with intravenous thrombolysis when indicated to treat ischemic stroke. In the years following, evidence continues to mount for expanded use of this therapy for a broader category of patients. The enabling technology that changed the tide to support endovascular treatment of acute ischemic stroke is the stent-retriever. This review summarizes the history of intra-arterial treatment of stroke, introduces the biomechanics of embolus extraction with stent-retrievers, describes technical aspects of the intervention, provides a description of hemodynamic implications of stent-retriever embolectomy, and proposes future directions for a more comprehensive, multi-modal endovascular approach for the treatment of acute ischemic stroke. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Few longitudinal studies have investigated the functional outcomes of individuals with recent-onset psychotic illness in low- and middle-income countries. Aims: To investigate short-term functional remission and its predictors in a central Vietnamese sample. Methods: A naturalistic 6-month prospective cohort study recruited 79 patients of public health facilities who had experienced a first episode of schizophrenia or related illness in the past 18 months. Individuals and their family members were interviewed using standardised assessments of community functioning, symptoms, treatment, demographics and various psychosocial variables. Rates of functional remission (i.e. no or minimal impairment) were calculated based on rigorous, culturally appropriate criteria. Generalised estimating equations were used to explore predictors of remission. Results: Rates of global functional remission were 28% at baseline and 53% at follow-up. In individual functional domains, remission was least common for occupational activities, intermediate for relationships and relatively common for daily living activities. Global functional remission was significantly associated with absence of negative and cognitive symptoms, average or better household economic status and unimpaired premorbid functioning. Conclusion: Remission rates appeared similar to those seen in many international intervention studies. However, individuals from poor households had markedly unfavourable outcomes, suggesting the need for community-based interventions targeting low-socioeconomic status (SES) groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The near-death experience (NDE) most generally refers to a state of altered consciousness with various features that can occur during real or presumed near-death circumstances and/or life-threatening incidents. Some NDEs are associated with a nonfatal suicide attempt. This paper discusses how a belief by suicide attempters that their NDEs are a true portrayal of objective spiritual reality can at least in some cases be positively associated with a persistence or increase of suicidal ideation and on occasion lead to further suicide attempts, while also exploring why at other times such a belief may reduce the risk of suicide. The formulation of suicidal ideation associated with NDEs among some of those who did not initially try to kill themselves is also explored. Various examples related to NDEs and suicidal ideation are provided and discussed. Furthermore, this paper also offers some theoretical insights related to this matter and points out some specific therapeutic concerns based on this discussion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When people experience a near-death or life-threatening incident, they sometimes report an altered state of consciousness in which they have the perception of being out of or away from their physical body. During such an experience these individuals at times have the impression of encountering a spiritual personage who offers them a choice to stay or return to their physical life and/or attempts to motivate them to willingly do so, sometimes conflicting with a simultaneous desire to stay in that altered state of consciousness they perceive as the afterlife. This paper discusses how self-determination theory (SDT) is relevant to this process by meeting the experient’s three basic psychological needs for relatedness, competence, and autonomy, resulting in various degrees of effectiveness. It concludes with a postulation that by doing so it may foster a continuing intrinsic motivation to live life well, resulting in a greater overall condition of psychological wellbeing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Telehealth use has had widespread expansion and adoption over the past two years. This study aims to evaluate access to telehealth essentials (TE) using a novel metric. Methods: This single institute study surveyed outpatient surgical patients to determine their access to TE. Generalized linear mixed models were used to determine the relationship of demographic and county-level variables on access to four TE. Results: 138 patients were surveyed. Sixty-six (47.8%) were from Appalachian Kentucky. In the survey cohort, 122 (88.4%) had smart phones, 109 (80.7%) had devices with video messaging capabilities, 106 (80.9%) had cellular reception, and 112 (82.4%) had access to WiFi. Increasing age and Medicare insurance were the most consistent predictors of lack of access to TE. Conclusion: Rural Appalachian Kentucky has access to TE. Telehealth has the potential to decrease the healthcare inequity in rural populations, but incompletely address this inequity for the aging population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study related to the impact of cognitive remediation treatment on schizophrenics. It states that 70 patients in a day rehabilitation programme received either cognitive remediation or physical exercise and were evaluated for neurocognition and functional performance. It mentions that functional and neurocognitive outcomes were positive in schizophrenics who received cognitive remediation.

Objective: The present study was designed to investigate the clinical and social outcomes for a group of individuals (n == 181) discharged into supported accommodation from three long-stay facilities in Queensland. Method: Data were collected prospectively using a battery of standardized measures and individual interviews at 6 weeks pre-discharge and again at 6, 18, 36, and 84 months post-discharge. Results: While there was little functional gain at follow up, the clients, as a group, did not deteriorate. Sixty per cent of the clients were engaged in some form of structured community activity and the need for hospitalization decreased significantly in the follow-up period. The ongoing costs of the programme, while remaining high, were significantly less than inpatient alternatives. Conclusion: The provision of community accommodation with adequate clinical and non-clinical support is a suitable option for a large proportion of individuals with serious mental illness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study aimed to determine whether subjective dimensions of recovery such as empowerment are associated with self-report of more objective indicators such as level of participation in the community and income from employment. A secondary aim was to investigate the extent to which diagnosis or other consumer characteristics mediated any relationship between these variables. Methods: The Community Integration Measure, the Empowerment Scale, the Recovery Assessment Scale, and the Camberwell Assessment of Needs Short Appraisal Schedule were administered to a convenience sample of 161 consumers with severe mental illness. Results: The majority of participants had a primary diagnosis of schizophreniform, anxiety/depression or bipolar affective disorder. The Empowerment Scale was quite strongly correlated with the Recovery Assessment Scale and the Community Integration Measure. Participants with a diagnosis of bipolar affective disorder had significantly higher recovery and empowerment scores than participants with schizophrenia or depression. Both empowerment and recovery scores were significantly higher for people engaged in paid employment than for those receiving social security benefits. Conclusions: The measurement of subjective dimensions of recovery such as empowerment has validity in evaluation of global recovery for people with severe mental illness. A diagnosis of bipolar disorder is associated with higher scores on subjective and objective indicators of recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a branch exchange (BE) algorithm to solve network reconfiguration problems. The proposed technique involves a matrix manipulation approach, which has been devised by analysing the node-arc incidence matrix of the distribution network. A set of observations made on the network matrix permits the successful implementation of the BE technique by matrix manipulation. The approach presented here is simple and produces rapid results. Moreover, it can be implemented on large networks and can be used either as an exhaustive BE or as a heuristic BE. This method has been applied to 33 bus and 70 bus electrical distribution systems for the purpose of network reconfiguration for minimizing real power losses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: In Australia and comparable countries, case management has become the dominant process by which public mental health services provide outpatient clinical services to people with severe mental illness. There is recognition that caseload size impacts on service provision and that management of caseloads is an important dimension of overall service management. There has been little empirical investigation, however, of caseload and its management. The present study was undertaken in the context of an industrial agreement in Victoria, Australia that required services to introduce standardized approaches to caseload management. The aims of the present study were therefore to (i) investigate caseload size and approaches to caseload management in Victoria's mental health services; and (ii) determine whether caseload size and/or approach to caseload management is associated with work-related stress or case manager self-efficacy among community mental health professionals employed in Victoria's mental health services. Method: A total of 188 case managers responded to an online cross-sectional survey with both purpose-developed items investigating methods of case allocation and caseload monitoring, and standard measures of work-related stress and case manager personal efficacy. Results: The mean caseload size was 20 per full-time case manager. Both work-related stress scores and case manager personal efficacy scores were broadly comparable with those reported in previous studies. Higher caseloads were associated with higher levels of work-related stress and lower levels of case manager personal efficacy. Active monitoring of caseload was associated with lower scores for work-related stress and higher scores for case manager personal efficacy, regardless of size of caseload. Although caseloads were most frequently monitored by the case manager, there was evidence that monitoring by a supervisor was more beneficial than self-monitoring. Conclusion: Routine monitoring of caseload, especially by a workplace supervisor, may be effective in reducing work-related stress and enhancing case manager personal efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of recovery is now widely promoted as the guiding principle for the provision of mental health services in Australia and overseas. While there is increasing pressure on service providers to ensure that services are recovery oriented, the way in which recovery-based practice is operationalized at the coalface presents a number of challenges. These are discussed in the context of five key questions that address (i) the appropriateness of recovery as a focus for service delivery, (ii) the distinction between recovery as a process and an outcome, (iii) the assessment of recovery initiatives, (iv) the alignment of recovery with current service delivery models, and (v) the risks associated with recovery-based practice. It is argued that these questions provide a framework for a debate that must extend beyond patients and providers of mental health services to the broader public, whose attitudes will ultimately determine the possibilities and limits of recovery-oriented practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of this paper was to examine self-efficacy and perceived appropriateness among rural general practitioners (GPs) in regards to screening and intervention for physical, lifestyle and mental health issues. Method: Fifty GPs from 25 practices in eight rural Queensland towns completed a written survey designed for the study. Results: General practitioners rated opportunistic screening or assessment for smoking and for detection of relapse of mental disorders as the most appropriate, with even cardiovascular and diabetes risk falling behind these. Self-efficacy was highest for medical disorders for smoking assessment. It was significantly lower for alcohol, mental health issues, and addressing risks of physical disorder in people with mental disorders. Conclusions: High appropriateness ratings suggest that current strategies to boost self-efficacy of GPs in addressing mental health issues are timely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourette syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by motor and vocal tics—rapid, repetitive, stereotyped movements or vocalizations. Tourette syndrome typically has a prepubertal onset, and boys are more commonly affected than girls. Symptoms usually begin with transient bouts of simple motor tics. By age 10 years, most children are aware of nearly irresistible somatosensory urges that precede the tics. These urges likely reflect a defect in sensorimotor gating because they intrude into the child's conscious awareness and become a source of distraction and distress. A momentary sense of relief typically follows the completion of a tic. Over the course of hours, tics occur in bouts, with a regular intertic interval. Tics increase during periods of emotional excitement and fatigue. Tics can become ‘complex’ in nature and appear to be purposeful. Tics can be willfully suppressed for brief intervals and can be evoked by the mere mention of them. Tics typically diminish during periods of goal-directed behavior, especially those that involve both heightened attention and fine motor or vocal control, as occur in musical and athletic performances. Over the course of months, tics wax and wane. New tics appear, often in response to new sources of somatosensory irritation, such as the appearance of a persistent vocal tic (a cough) following a cold. Over the course of years, tic severity typically peaks between 8 and 12 years of age. By the end of the second decade of life, many individuals are virtually tic free. Less than 20% of cases continue to experience clinically impairing tics as adults. Tics rarely occur in isolation, and other coexisting conditions—such as behavioral disinhibition, hypersensitivity to a broad range of sensory stimuli, problems with visual motor integration, procedural learning difficulties, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, anxiety, and emotional instability—are often a greater source of impairment than the tics themselves. Emerging behavioral treatments of Tourette syndrome are based in part on an understanding of the moment-to-moment experience of somatosensory urges and motor response. With identification of specific genes of major effect and advances in our understanding of the neural circuitry of sensorimotor gating, habit formation, and procedural memory—together with insights from postmortem brain studies, in vivo brain imaging, and electro-physiologic recordings—we might be on the threshold of a deeper understanding of the phenomenology and natural history of Tourette syndrome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Comparatively few people with severe mental illness are employed despite evidence that many people within this group wish to obtain, can obtain and sustain employment, and that employment can contribute to recovery. This investigation aimed to: (i) describe the current policy and service environment within which people with severe mental illness receive employment services; (ii) identify evidence-based practices that improve employment outcomes for people with severe mental illness; (iii) determine the extent to which the current Australian policy environment is consistent with the implementation of evidence-based employment services for people with severe mental illness; and (iv) identify methods and priorities for enhancing employment services for Australians with severe mental illness through implementation of evidence-based practices. Method: Current Australian practices were identified, having reference to policy and legal documents, funding body requirements and anecdotal reports. Evidence-based employment services for people with severe mental illness were identified through examination of published reviews and the results of recent controlled trials. Results: Current policy settings support the provision of employment services for people with severe mental illness separate from clinical services. Recent studies have identified integration of clinical and employment services as a major factor in the effectiveness of employment services. This is usually achieved through co-location of employment and mental health services. Conclusions: Optimal evidence-based employment services are needed by Australians with severe mental illness. Providing optimal services is a challenge in the current policy environment. Service integration may be achieved through enhanced intersectoral links between employment and mental health service providers as well as by co-locating employment specialists within a mental health care setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This paper describes the first phase of a larger project that utilizes participatory action research to examine complex mental health needs across an extensive group of stakeholders in the community. Method: Within an objective qualitative analysis of focus group discussions the social ecological model is utilized to explore how integrative activities can be informed, planned and implemented across multiple elements and levels of a system. Seventy-one primary care workers, managers, policy-makers, consumers and carers from across the southern metropolitan and Gippsland regions of Victoria, Australia took part in seven focus groups. All groups responded to an identical set of focusing questions. Results: Participants produced an explanatory model describing the service system, as it relates to people with complex needs, across the levels of social ecological analysis. Qualitative themes analysis identified four priority areas to be addressed in order to improve the system's capacity for working with complexity. These included: (i) system fragmentation; (ii) integrative case management practices; (iii) community attitudes; and (iv) money and resources. Conclusions: The emergent themes provide clues as to how complexity is constructed and interpreted across the system of involved agencies and interest groups. The implications these findings have for the development and evaluation of this community capacity-building project were examined from the perspective of constructing interventions that address both top-down and bottom-up processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The overall system that has been implemented involves a web site which introduces the study and applications of robotics. The web site also acts as a platform to program and control the Gryphon robot found at the Faculty of Engineering, University of Mauritius. The system is based on the client/server model, with a suitable front-end for viewing and interactive sessions with web users and a back-end relational database for storing and retrieving relevant information at the server side. This paper describes the development of a web-based interface for undergraduate students to learn the basics of robotics. The advantage of this interface is that the students can study robotics, write their programs and run the robot remotely at any time and this flexible learning approach definitely contributes to distance education and e-learning through the World Wide Web. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To develop a self-report scale of subjective experiences of illness perceived to impact on employment functioning, as an alternative to a diagnostic perspective, for anticipating the vocational assistance needs of people with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorders.A repeated measures pilot study (n1 = 26, n2 = 21) of community residents with schizophrenia identified a set of work-related subjective experiences perceived to impact on employment functioning. Items with the best psychometric properties were applied in a 12 month longitudinal survey of urban residents with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder (n1 = 104; n2 = 94; n3 = 94).Construct validity, factor structure, responsiveness, internal consistency, stability, and criterion validity investigations produced favourable results. Work-related subjective experiences provide information about the intersection of the person, the disorder, and expectations of employment functioning, which suggest new opportunities for vocational professionals to explore and discuss individual assistance needs.Further psychometric investigations of test-retest reliability, discriminant and predictive validity, and research applications in supported employment and vocational rehabilitation, are recommended. Subject to adequate psychometric properties, the new measure promises to facilitate exploring: individuals’ specific subjective experiences; how each is perceived to contribute to employment restrictions; and the corresponding implications for specialized treatment, vocational interventions and workplace accommodations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to explore methods of determining an appropriate caseload for mental health case managers. Three caseload index methodologies are presented. Each method makes use of different data and has advantages and disadvantages. There is a trade-off between simplicity and ease of application and the comprehensive use of relevant information. Methods vary in their implications for service efficiency and equity in workload distribution. Caseload is a key issue in service planning and staff management. Factors that have the potential to contribute to caseload can be readily identified. However, there is likely to be disagreement as to the weight assigned to any factor and the approach taken may depend on the purpose and context of the caseload calculation. A great deal more research is required to provide an empirical basis for algorithms used in caseload calculation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been limited research in Australia examining the extent of generic and specialist work activities carried out by occupational therapists and social workers since the introduction of mental health reform. The aim of the project was to: (i) identify specific clinical work activities of occupational therapists and social workers; and (ii) identify whether they are performing a greater proportion of generic than specialist clinical or discipline specific core skills. A cross-sectional survey of 304 (response rate 76.6%) occupational therapists and social workers working in mental health was conducted. For the purposes of the study a new instrument was developed to cover broad categories of clinical work activities. The majority of the respondents were female, under the age of 30 years, who had worked in their current position less than 5 years. Generic work activities were the primary activities of the two professional groups, with nine of the 10 activities undertaken most frequently being generic in nature. Social work respondents performed more work activities while occupational therapists undertook more specialist clinical activities. Occupational therapists and social workers are required to have common competencies in addition to discipline-specific competencies in order to undertake broad-spectrum mental health service activities. This has implications for the skill mix, education and training and recruitment of staff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Explores practical issues in the mind-body problem through a discussion with philosopher D.M. Armstrong. Origin of the debate over the mind-body problem; Role of Australia in the mind-body debate; Fields of intersection opened by dialogues involving clinicians and philosophers.

Objective: To ascertain how recipients of a mental health service like to be referred, given recent debate about this topic. Method: A survey was conducted in an Australian regional mental health service. Results: The 125 respondents were participating in a variety of inpatient and outpatient programmes. “Client” was the preferred term by 34% of respondents, with 28% preferring “consumer”, 23% preferring “patient” and 15% preferring to be known as something other than these terms. Analysis of the data suggested that the term preferred depends to a large extent on the treatment setting and that age and gender of the person have little or no influence on term preference. Conclusions: The reform of mental health services has emphasised collaborative partnerships and carer and consumer involvement in all aspects of service delivery. It is increasingly important that service providers listen to the voice of recipients in a number of areas, including how recipients are described and addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of community staff regarding service process and quality, while a public mental health service integrated acute inpatient and continuing care components. Methods: The study employed a naturalistic successive measures design in which community mental health staff completed a questionnaire on three occasions during the integration process. Results: Staff perceived overall service quality to improve during the integration process with continuity of care being the area subject to greatest improvement. Conclusions: The integration of acute inpatient and continuing care services resulted in changes to service process and outcome, which were judged by staff to be beneficial, especially with respect to continuity of patient care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the usefulness of portfolio assessment for special educators to be used in conjunction with their teaching goals. Authentic tasks as the idea that only real school and real life activities should be included in the portfolio; Characteristics of portfolios; Advantages accruing from the use of portfolios. INSETS: Potential items to include in a literacy portfolio.;What are portfolios? Why portfolios?..

Focuses on a study which examines a three-dimensional audio communication system to be used in the cockpits of military aircrafts. Purpose of the signal display unit; Features of the system; Information on transfer functions; How localization accuracy is measured.

This article presents a system for incorporating CBM with portfolios to document the full range of learning opportunities in the classroom. Because of several important similarities between CBM and portfolios, student performance information can be very effectively organized and reported to parents and other teachers. While portfolios are student-driven and varied across different instructional programs, CBM is standardized and consistently interpretable. As a consequence, portfolios are useful in instructional planning and CBM is most useful in evaluating instructional plans: Neither is sufficient without the other. Specific steps are presented for combining these two forms of assessment and then a case is presented as an illustration of this combination. Finally, a research agenda is described. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study analyzed the recidivism rates for 55 youth who had been placed at a state juvenile correctional facility who had completed the Intensive Treatment Program for juvenile delinquents judged as having the most severe psychological and behavioral problems. Rates of recidivism for 55 youth were determined two years after completion of the program. Approximately one half of the subjects were successfully maintained in community placements two years post discharge. The strong ecological approach combined with cognitive behavioral training, individualized contracts and family therapy was deemed successful. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A letter to the editor about the profile of homeless people seen in the Gold Coast Hospital Emergency Department is presented.

Objective: To clarify the meaning of consumer and carer participation in mental health services, to identify reasons why consumer participation is important both to consumers and to services, and to discuss barriers to participation and ways of overcoming these barriers. Conclusions : Consumer and carer participation has been promoted as part of the National Mental Health Strategy and has the potential to empower consumers and their carers and to improve mental health services. Barriers to consumer participation include professional staff attitudes and resource allocation. Guidelines are provided to assist services to address these barriers and increase the level of consumer and carer participation in both clinical decision-making and service development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the relationships among teachers' use of Curriculum-Based Measurement to evaluate student progress, changes in the structure of instructions and student achievement. Relationship between teacher's accuracy in setting up student performance measurement and silent reading and achievement; Consistency and stability of student achievement and teacher behavior.