Search

The Delaware Geography-Health Initiative is a Web- and GIS-based set of lesson units for teaching geographic concepts and research methods within the context of the state's high school geography standards. Each unit follows a research-based, inquiry-centered model addressing questions of health because of Delaware's high incidence of cancer, HIV/AIDS, and infant mortality. Topics focus on cancer and the environment, the geography of HIV/AIDS, the diffusion of West Nile fever, provision of emergency ambulance services, the location of the state's next hospital, infant mortality and the location of prenatal care, and identification of healthy places. Results from piloting and early formative assessments were used to modify the final product. Lessons learned in developing this project may assist those seeking to create GIS-based state-specific teaching units for geography and other related subjects. (Contains 3 tables and 5 figures.)

Recent literature has described how the capacity for concurrent self-assessment--ongoing moment-to-moment self-monitoring--is an important component of the professional competence of physicians. Self-monitoring refers to the ability to notice our own actions, curiosity to examine the effects of those actions, and willingness to use those observations to improve behavior and thinking in the future. Self-monitoring allows for the early recognition of cognitive biases, technical errors, and emotional reactions and may facilitate self-correction and development of therapeutic relationships. Cognitive neuroscience has begun to explore the brain functions associated with self-monitoring, and the structural and functional changes that occur during mental training to improve attentiveness, curiosity, and presence. This training involves cultivating habits of mind such as experiencing information as novel, thinking of "facts" as conditional, seeing situations from multiple perspectives, suspending categorization and judgment, and engaging in self-questioning. The resulting awareness is referred to as "mindfulness" and the associated moment-to-moment self-monitoring as "mindful practice"--in contrast to being on" automatic pilot" or "mindless" in one's behavior. This article is a preliminary exploration into the intersection of educational assessment, cognitive neuroscience, and mindful practice, with the hope of promoting ways of improving clinicians' capacity to self-monitor during clinical practice, and, by extension, improve the quality of care that they deliver. (Contains 3 tables.)

Research of positive psychology interventions (PPIs) has expanded dramatically in recent years, and many novel PPIs may be useful in couples therapy. The present work identifies, summarizes, and suggests adaptations of PPIs that may improve couples therapy outcomes. Each intervention is presented as part of a larger organizational framework that may help couples therapists determine how and when each intervention can be effectively applied. Finally, a case illustration demonstrates how these methods can complement traditional therapeutic approaches. Keywords: positive psychology; psychotherapy; relationships couples; strengths

Global shipping pattern is widely used to assess vessel-borne pollution risk and inform environmental policymaking. Due to ice retreat under climate change, new trans-Arctic navigation routes may become feasible and change the shipping and pollution pattern. Motivated by inconsistent conclusions on the economic feasibility of Arctic routes of the literature, this article performs modelling to examine the potential for general diversion pattern to the trans-Arctic routes of the global shipping traffic. While we find some trans-Arctic routes are economically feasible, the diversion potential of trans-Arctic routes may be overestimated. The sample in this work contains 522,691 shipping moves. Results show that a mere 83 moves would reduce distance and 45 would save sailing time through the Arctic; however, 20 moves would reduce shipping cost. Though few diversions may happen, we find that 20 economically feasible trans-Arctic diversions reduce GHG emissions. Their average fuel consumption reduction through the Arctic is 264 metric tons (MT) (reduced by 26%); the range is 125–328 MT. The average CO2e emission is 767 MT (reduced by 24%); the range is 359–954 MT. Most of these voyages are between North America and East Asia. Ship operators may consider making a diversion to achieve the GHG abatement goal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A response by Susan McDaniel to a letter to the editor about her article "Physician Self-Disclosure in Primary Care Visits: Enough About You, What About Me," published in the previous issue is presented.