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PLEXUS is a student-organized publication that showcases artwork by medical students, physicians, faculty, patients, and others in the medical community. True to its name, PLEXUS aspires to connect those who seek to heal and to be healed through the unifying language of art. This year we continued to expand our presence in the UCI medical community and beyond.For our 19th edition of PLEXUS, we chose the theme of “Synergy” - a theme that implies collaboration, teamwork, and a merging of perspectives. In the interdisciplinary field of medicine, patients and their team of healthcare providers come to the table with unique beliefs, experiences, and insights that inform their decisions and attitudes. While the journal submission and publication process is run by medical students, we believe that the medical humanities is a creative space  open to everyone in the medical community. This year we included wonderful submissions from students in the UCI School of Nursing, as well as graduate students from the biological sciences. It is in seeing and hearing from others’ perspectives that we broaden our horizons and improve ourselves.Every year we are amazed by the emotions, reflections, stories, richness, and creativity of the submissions. We thank all of our submitters for their time and thought. Additionally, please find our performing arts pieces on our website, www.uciplexus.org. Previous publications and submissions are also available online.Winners of the PLEXUS medical student competitions were made possible by the Program in Medical Humanities & Arts.Congratulations to this year’s winners:Writing competition: 1st: Melinda Schneider, MS2 “Mouse Brains and Microtomes”; 2nd: Leigh Goodrich, MS4 “One Million and One”; 3rd: Nazin Sedehi, MS2 “To my class with Love”Visual competition: 1st: Soe Thein, MS3 “Nurture”; 2nd: Kimberly Watanabe, MS3 “Black Diamond Healer”; 3rd: Stephanie Noh, MS2 “Field of Psammoma Bodies”Performing arts competition: 1st: Jovauna Currey, Resident “The Synergy of the Patient/Physician Relationship”; 2nd: Alex Miner, Resident “Squeeze”; 3rd: Nathan Calixto & Chris Gabriel, MS3s “Tears in Heaven” by Eric Clapton.Thank you to our superb editors, staff, and faculty for their support in making this 19th edition possible. We would like to give special thanks to our faculty advisor, Dr. Johanna Shapiro and Dr. Ellena Peterson, Associate Dean of Admissions & Outreach - this book would not have been possible without your continuous support and guidance. We hope you enjoy PLEXUS 2018 – Synergy. Plexus Editors-In-Chief: Celia Cheung, Joanna TurkiewiczProject HX - Editor-In-Chief: Thalia NguyenCreative Writing & Visual Arts Team: Yvonne Lu, Julie Ferris, Shreya Aiyar, Arnie Shah, Julia Tran, Sarah O’Dell, Priyanka Sharma, Ava RungeDesign Team: Priyanka Sharma, Christina Kong, Nazin SedehiDigital And Social Media Editor: Christine PhamPerforming Arts Chair: Melinda SchneiderTo contribute to PLEXUS or to request a PLEXUS exhibit at your event, please visit www.uciplexus.orgFollow us at www.facebook.com/uciplexus Contest winners1st place winner:  Melinda Schneider2nd place winner: Leigh Goodrich3rd place winner: Nazin Sedehi

The purpose of this paper was to examine the longitudinal effects of psychological sense of control and control-related coping strategies on breast cancer outcomes. Utilizing the California Cancer Registry, follow-up data on cancer recurrence and all-cause mortality were obtained for 54 of 58 women originally diagnosed with breast cancer in 1992 to 1994. Relationships between cancer outcomes and psychological control and mood at 4 and 8 months post-diagnosis were examined. Results of the study showed that a greater sense of control at 8 months was associated with less cancer recurrence, while higher desire for control at both 4 and 8 months was associated with greater likelihood of recurrence. Utilization of an accepting mode of control appeared to mitigate the negative effects of desire for control on recurrence. No significant relationships were observed between mood and mortality or recurrence. These findings suggest the potential value of examining psychological control and control-related coping on cancer outcomes in future epidemiological and clinical studies.

Although the quest for active control and mastery can be seen as a central thread that ties together important aspects of human experience, we are frequently confronted with the reality that much of what is encountered in life lies outside our active instrumental control. Control must involve finding healthy and life-affirming ways to exercise personal mastery, and identifying constructive ways to respond to the lack of control that pervades the human condition. In this article we explore a number of professional areas in which physicians may experience significant feelings of loss or lack of personal control-difficult encounters with patients, dealing with patient nonadherence, end-of-life care, confronting the uncertainty and ambiguity that are frequently a part of illness, as well as institutional and systemic factors that can result in loss of various forms of autonomy and control over decision-making. We then consider maladaptive ways in which physicians sometimes attempt to address such losses of control and suggest that personal stress and burnout and difficulty developing effective therapeutic relationships with patients may be the consequence, in part, of these efforts. Finally, we discuss an empirically derived, multidimensional theoretical model for better understanding control dynamics, and identifying more optimal strategies physicians can employ in their efforts to gain and regain a sense of control in caring for patients.

This article examines how three literary narratives portraying the psychological effects of illness deal with issues of control in the doctor-patient-family relationship. Specifically explored are how patient, physician, and family members cope with the feelings of vulnerability and loss of control brought on by illness; and how each seeks to gain and maintain a sense of control in this coping process. Suggestions are offered for uses of these narratives in medical education. By exploring themes of control in the doctor-patient relationship, physicians develop greater insight and empathy that in turn can lead to improved outcomes for both patient and doctor.

Twenty-five new psychiatric outpatient were clinically evaluated and were routinely administered a brief psychological screening battery which included measures of symptoms, personality, and cognitive function. Included in this assessment procedure were the Gottschalk-Gleser Content Analysis Scales on which scores were derived from five-minute speech samples by means of an artificial intelligence-based computer program. Intercorrelations of these content analysis measures with scores obtained from the MMPI-2, SCL90, and other measures confirmed previously published construct validation findings. The use of this computerized content analysis procedure for initial, rapid diagnostic neuropsychiatric appraisal is supported by this research.

This study assessed the impact of a 3-mo. meditation retreat on 15 respondents' self-perceived masculinity and femininity. As hypothesized, male and female subjects, who on pretest perceived themselves to be more stereotypically feminine than normative samples, on posttest reported a significant shift to even greater endorsement of feminine adjectives and less endorsement of masculine adjectives.

This article begins by examining psychology's contributions to understanding the positive consequences of control for individual mental and physical health. Person-environment control mismatches and the negative personal, interpersonal, and societal consequences of seeking and having control are then discussed. As corrections to mismatches and negative consequences, three methods of analyses are provided. First, definitional and conceptual precision is offered, including a more careful matching of control-related interventions to multidimensional, individual-specific control profiles. Second, therapeutic assessment and interventions are placed within a biopsychosocial model of control. Finally, philosophy of science and paradigmatic issues underlying control theories are highlighted, particularly as they affect psychology's role in examining values toward which control efforts should be directed. These topics are important for people's personal and collective well-being.

The context of meditation, so far isolated and neglected in Western scientific psychology, should be restored and examined for a wider understanding of meditation as an instrument of control and self-regulation. Context need not be a complicating factor in research on meditation as a psychotherapeutic tool. It allows the inclusion of the religious dimension to enhance the medical and psychological applications of meditation in the management of stress and pain, controlling the immune system and reducing dependence on medical remedies.

In order to more precisely investigate the nature of control and self-control issues for adult children of alcoholics (ACA), a group of ACAs was compared to a group of sex and age matched healthy normals and a sex matched group of college students on the Shapiro Control Inventory (SCI). The SCI provides a profile that is both general domain (positive sense of control, desire/efforts for control, agency of control, and mode of control) and domain specific (body, mind, interpersonal, self, career, environment). Analysis of variance and subsequent planned comparisons on the SCI showed significant differences between the ACA and the two comparison groups in general domain sense of control, in three of the four general domain mode quadrants, and in the domain specific areas of body, mind, interpersonal, and career. Individual areas where ACA subjects felt most out of control were weight, significant other, and family of origin; 89.5% felt concern with self-concept, stress, and relationship with significant other. Although a small subset of ACAs had a strikingly high 'in control' profile, most did not. Finally, the sense of control profile of ACAs is compared with two clinical populations--borderline and depression--and is shown to fall midway between the clinical and normative groups. Guidelines and suggestions for further research are offered., INTRODUCTION The past 25 years have sun a plethora of literature dealing with the importance of control and self-control for clinical problems (1-3). During that time, it has become increasingly [...]

To investigate control and self-control issues for patients with eating disorders, 10 individuals diagnosed with anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa were compared to two sex-matched groups of 9 and 50 adults on the Shapiro Control Inventory. Analysis of variance and subsequent planned comparisons showed significant differences indicative of pathology between the eating-disordered group and one or both comparison groups on the general domain sense of control scale and the positive sense of control scale. Three of the four mode scales and the domain-specific sense of control scale were also in the expected direction. Several clinically relevant individual items also supported this trend. The discussion notes the clinical importance of refining how control is measured for eating-disordered populations.

Discusses visions of self-control from the Western and Eastern traditions and suggests that neither vision represents a true reality. Precision nirvana as conceptualized here consists of applying ordinary awareness in self-management strategies, applying altered states in meditative strategies, and being able to know which mode of awareness is called for. (Author/BEF)

The findings of a small pilot study, in which the perception of 16 obstetrician/gynocologists regarding their patients' degree of self-control as it related to medical problems, are analyzed. Findings suggested the physicians exhibited confusion about the concept of self-control and its applicability to patient care. (Author/MLW)

Three groups representing different phases of the developmental lifecycle - 12 senior citizens, 67 young adults, and 14 healthy middle-aged normal adults - were assessed using a multidimensional control inventory. Senior citizens had a healthy over-all sense of control comparable to those of the other two groups and a significantly lower (healthier) negative sense of control. They also were significantly more likely to endorse acceptance as a way of addressing areas of concern and to complement self as a source of control with a sense of control coming from others (including God, belief in a higher power).