Exposure to multiple career pathways by biomedical doctoral students at a public research university.

The Broadening Experiences in Scientific Experiences (BEST) program at Wayne State University was designed to increase doctoral students' awareness of multiple employment sectors beyond academia, improve their knowledge of transferable skills required to succeed in any career path, provide opportunities to explore diverse career paths, and gain in-depth knowledge about those paths using experiential learning opportunities. We devised a three-phase program that ranged from providing students with a broad introduction to multiple career opportunities to immersive experiential learning in a specific career sector. Importantly, program content was developed and delivered by alumni and industry experts in five employment sectors-business/industry, communication, government, law/regulatory affairs, and undergraduate/PUI teaching-in partnership with WSU faculty. This article provides data on two notable outcomes: doctoral students participate equally in BEST activities regardless of gender, race, and citizenship status, and student participation in BEST activities did not correlate with lower GRE ratings, lower GPA, or increased time-to-degree. Further, a "halo" effect of the program is evidenced by participation of students from all disciplines, not just the biomedical sciences. Centralizing BEST activities within the Graduate School will allow faculty and individual programs to save resources and time.

Examination of perceived spouse responses to patient well and pain behavior in patients with headache.

OBJECTIVES: Primary: to examine the association between perceived spouse responses to patient well behaviors and important patient variables (pain behavior, pain intensity, pain interference, and depressive symptoms). Secondary: to examine whether perceived spouse responses to patient pain behaviors are associated with important pain-related variables. METHODS: Sixty-four patients with headache and their spouses completed self-report questionnaire packets that included measures of pain intensity, pain behaviors, depression, marital satisfaction, and perceived spouse responses to pain and well behaviors. Separate regression models were used to predict each dependent variable. RESULTS: Patient reports of spouse negative responses to well behaviors were significantly associated with greater patient reported pain behavior and pain intensity, whereas perceptions of facilitative responses to well behaviors were not significantly related to any dependent variable. Patient reports of spouse solicitous responses to patient pain behaviors were associated with higher levels of pain behavior, depressive symptoms, pain intensity, and pain interference. DISCUSSION: Perceptions of spouse responses to patient well behaviors seem to have important associations with patient functioning, yet have received insufficient research attention. The Spouse Response Inventory (SRI) thus represents a valuable addition to available research instruments because it assesses spouse responses to well behaviors.

A randomized clinical trial of targeted cognitive behavioral treatment to reduce catastrophizing in chronic headache sufferers.

UNLABELLED: This randomized clinical trial (RCT) examined the efficacy of a cognitive-behavioral treatment (CBT) specifically targeted toward reducing pain catastrophizing for persons with chronic headache. Immediate treatment groups were compared with wait-list control groups. Differential treatment gains based on the order of presentation of 2 components of CBT (cognitive restructuring and cognitive/behavioral coping) and the role of catastrophizing in treatment outcome were examined. Thirty-four participants enrolled in a 10-week group treatment and 11 completed a wait-list self-monitoring period. Participants reported significant reductions in catastrophizing and anxiety and increased self-efficacy compared with wait-list control subjects, and these were maintained at follow-up. Although we did not find overall differences in the reduction of headache frequency or intensity compared with wait-list control subjects, calculation of clinical significance on headache indicators suggest that approximately 50% of treated participants showed meaningful changes in headache indices as well. Order of treatment modules was not related to gains during treatment or at follow-up; however, almost all changes occurred during the second half of treatment, suggesting that duration of treatment participation is important. PERSPECTIVE: Cognitive-behavioral treatment targeting reduction of catastrophizing for chronic headache pain reduced negative cognitive and affective variables associated with recurrent headache, increased headache management self-efficacy, and in half of the participants, produced clinically meaningful reductions in headache indicators. Length of treatment is an important factor to consider when providing CBT for chronic pain.

Optimism predicting daily pain medication use in adolescents with sickle cell disease.

This study examined the influence of optimism on pain medication use in adolescents with sickle cell disease (n=27; 18 females, 9 males). Participants completed a baseline measure of optimism and an average of 100 daily-diary assessments of pain severity and medication use. Results indicated that adolescents who experienced more severe pain used more analgesic and opioid medications. Optimism was a significant moderator of the relation between pain and opioid-medication use. At medium and high levels of optimism, pain was positively related to opioid use, but at low levels of optimism, the same relation was not present, suggesting that more optimistic adolescents are better able to match their medication use to their pain severity. Future research should examine how other psychosocial factors might influence pain medication use in adolescents and adults who experience pain, and clinicians should take into account psychosocial factors when working with pain populations.

Perceived spouse responses to pain: the level of agreement in couple dyads and the role of catastrophizing, marital satisfaction, and depression.

The primary objective of this study was to examine whether individuals with chronic pain ("participants") and their spouses agree on perceptions of solicitous, distracting, and punishing spouse responses to pain. The second aim was to examine the role of participant catastrophizing (a negative mental set about pain), participant and spouse marital satisfaction, and participant and spouse depression in participant perceptions of spouse responses, spouse perceptions of their responses, and agreement between participants and spouses. Individuals with chronic musculoskeletal pain and their spouses (N=108 couples) completed questionnaire packets. Examination of overall group averages (participants vs. spouses) indicated little or no differences between participant and spouse ratings. Examination of individual agreement in participant and spouse ratings indicated substantial disagreement. The proposed moderators predicted both participant and spouse perceptions and jointly made minor contributions to dyad agreement. Although neither participant nor spouse perceptions of spouse responses are necessarily a reflection of actual behavior, the lack of agreement in this study suggests it may not be valid to use only patient perceptions in research related to spouse responses.

Solution and solid-state variation of cupric phenanthroline complexes.

The 1:1 cupric-phenanthroline complexes, [Cu(5,6-Me2-phen)(MeCN)2(BF4)](BF4) (1), [Cu(o-phen)(MeCN)2(H2O)](BF4)2 (2), and [Cu(5-Cl-phen)(MeCN)2(BF4)](BF4) (3), have been prepared and characterized by X-ray crystallography. The structures of 1 and 3 are characterized by an equatorial plane about the copper center consisting of a phenanthroline ligand and two acetonitrile ligands. The copper units are connected by bridging counterions in the axial positions of the pseudo-octahedral metal centers to form one-dimensional solid-state linkages. The structure of 2 contains the same equatorial plane as 1 and 3, but an axial water ligand completes a square pyramidal geometry for each discrete metal unit. Although the solid-state structures vary for the three complexes, characterization through electronic spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry reveals similar behavior for all three complexes in solution.