Therapist, Know Thyself: Self-Reflective Practice through Autoethnography

Typically, in a social work graduate program, students are taught human behavioral theories, methods and interventions, ethical practices, policy and cultural competence among other areas. The primary tool used by social workers are themselves. Therefore, it is important the social worker is competent. The academic curriculum ensures that professionally, they are. However, how much does a social work graduate program ensure the social worker is competent personally? Theorists and current literature express the importance of a therapist possessing selfawareness— that essentially to know oneself is to know others. In this autoethnography, I aimed to enlighten the importance of self-awareness by participating in the self-reflective practices of clinical supervision and self-reflective journal writing during my graduate year as a social work intern and student. I took this data and interwove it with personal history and knowledge from social work literature and education. Through the process, I discovered the importance of the therapeutic relationship and its ability to provide relational repair, along with personal issues such as insecure attachment surfacing in order to be acknowledged and begin to be healed. Ultimately, I experienced the reason why self-reflective practice is essential in being a competent therapist. Self-reflective work brings self-awareness. Self-awareness brings self-knowledge. And, self-knowledge enhances the therapeutic relationship and increases a therapist’s overall competence and confidence

The Impact of Social Policy on Alzheimer's Disease Patients and Their Family Caregivers

OBJECTIVES: Alzheimer's disease (AD), the most common form of dementia, the group of brain disorders that cause memory loss and decline in mental function over time is the third most expensive disease in the nation, after heart disease and cancer. Average lifetime costs per patient are $174,000 with annual estimates of$80 to $100 billion dollars in health care expenses and lost wages for the AD patient or their family caregivers. The research study was designed to describe social policy and its affects on the eligibility and determination of benefits for two community-dwelling patients with AD and their caregivers in Southwestern Pennsylvania. METHODS: Secondary data analysis was conducted from data drawn from a previous study, "The Process of Medication Taking." Data for this study included participant observations, interactive unstructured informal interviews, open-ended formal interviews and case description. Constant comparative analysis is used to determine similarities and differences between cases. RESULTS: Family caregivers aim to achieve quality care and services for the AD patient. To achieve this objective, the family and patient's traverse a pathway of social care needs. Along the way, the family and caregivers approach milestones. These landmarks include accessing social services, cultivating a social support network, maintaining continuity of care, and managing the health care needs beyond the diagnosis of AD. Along the pathway to achieving the objective of quality care and services, there appear barriers and setbacks such as social service eligibility, location to eligible services and lack of support by family and friends. PUBLIC HEALTH SIGNIFICANCE: The amount of AD patients has doubled since 1980 and is expected to continue to expand to 11.3 to 16 million people by the year 2050. Furthermore, much of the long-term care is being provided by the family caregivers. Programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security Disability Insurance do not cover all of the needs and financial obligations for patients and their families. Even after these public programs, families continue to remain financially responsible for the care of their family member. Therefore, policy focused on evaluating AD on the basis of diagnosis rather than social policy eligibility criteria, such as age, may be warranted to provide optimal benefits for patients and family caregivers

Eight Years Later: the Political Economic Implications of the Arab Spring in the Middle East

Keywords: Arab Spring, International Affairs, Middle East North Africa, Political Science Abstract The Arab Spring, though a disbursement of revolutionary events, had economic implications on Middle East North African (MENA) countries. The following scholars, Richards and Waterbury (2015), Benmamoun and Lehnert (2016), and Malik and Awadallah (2013), defend that a political transition to a democratic system both encourages and is an essential precondition for liberation, economically. Throughout the semester, students and faculty gathered research pertaining to regions affected by Arab Spring protests. The economic data researched was between 2009-2017, relating to a common question: did the protests and political revolutions of the Arab Spring (2011-present) have a positive or negative impact on the economies? The students researched and analyzed countries that represented the political implications of the Arab Spring through government coups, authoritarian survival, and democratic systems. Through this, the students found a broad range of economic implications due to the Arab Spring, which did not have uniformity. Through the analysis of Middle East North Africa (MENA) countries, different factors led to the different outcomes of the Arab Spring, which the students used to analyze and explain patterns presented from the research

Inhibition of organic anion transport in endothelial cells by hydrogen peroxide

ATP loss is a prominent feature of cellular injury induced by oxidants or ischemia. How reduction of cellular ATP levels contributes to lethal injury is still poorly understood. In this study we examined the ability of H2O2 to inhibit in a dose-dependent manner the extrusion of fluorescent organic anions from bovine pulmonary artery endothelial cells. Extrusion of fluorescent organic anions was inhibited by probenecid, suggesting an organic anion transporter was involved. In experiments in which ATP levels in endothelial cells were varied by treatment with different degrees of metabolic inhibition, it was determined that organic anion transport was ATP-dependent. H2O2-induced inhibition of organic anion transport correlated well with the oxidant's effect on cellular ATP levels. Thus H2O2-mediated inhibition of organic anion transport appears to be via depletion of ATP, a required substrate for the transport reaction. Inhibition of organic anion transport directly by probenecid or indirectly by metabolic inhibition with reduction of cellular ATP levels was correlated with similar reductions of short term viability. This supports the hypothesis that inhibition of organic anion transport after oxidant exposure or during ischemia results from depletion of ATP and may significantly contribute to cytotoxicity.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/29758/1/0000096.pd

The coordination of signaling during Fc receptor‐mediated phagocytosis

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/141562/1/jlb1093.pd

The Virgo interferometric gravitational antenna

Submitted to: Class. Quantum Grav.The interferometric gravitational wave detectors represent the ultimate evolution of the classical Michelson interferometer. In order to measure the signal produced by the passage of a gravitational wave, they aim to reach unprecedent sensitivities in measuring the relative displacements of the mirrors. One of them , the 3-km-long Virgo gravitational wave antenna, which will be particularly sensitive in the low frequency range (10-100 Hz), is presently in its commissioning phase. In this paper the various techniques developed in order to reach its target extreme performance are outlined

Systematic Review of Potential Health Risks Posed by Pharmaceutical, Occupational and Consumer Exposures to Metallic and Nanoscale Aluminum, Aluminum Oxides, Aluminum Hydroxide and Its Soluble Salts

Aluminum (Al) is a ubiquitous substance encountered both naturally (as the third most abundant element) and intentionally (used in water, foods, pharmaceuticals, and vaccines); it is also present in ambient and occupational airborne particulates. Existing data underscore the importance of Al physical and chemical forms in relation to its uptake, accumulation, and systemic bioavailability. The present review represents a systematic examination of the peer-reviewed literature on the adverse health effects of Al materials published since a previous critical evaluation compiled by Krewski et al. (2007). Challenges encountered in carrying out the present review reflected the experimental use of different physical and chemical Al forms, different routes of administration, and different target organs in relation to the magnitude, frequency, and duration of exposure. Wide variations in diet can result in Al intakes that are often higher than the World Health Organization provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI), which is based on studies with Al citrate. Comparing daily dietary Al exposures on the basis of “total Al”assumes that gastrointestinal bioavailability for all dietary Al forms is equivalent to that for Al citrate, an approach that requires validation. Current occupational exposure limits (OELs) for identical Al substances vary as much as 15-fold. The toxicity of different Al forms depends in large measure on their physical behavior and relative solubility in water. The toxicity of soluble Al forms depends upon the delivered dose of Al+ 3 to target tissues. Trivalent Al reacts with water to produce bidentate superoxide coordination spheres [Al(O2)(H2O4)+ 2 and Al(H2O)6 + 3] that after complexation with O2•−, generate Al superoxides [Al(O2•)](H2O5)]+ 2. Semireduced AlO2• radicals deplete mitochondrial Fe and promote generation of H2O2, O2 • − and OH•. Thus, it is the Al+ 3-induced formation of oxygen radicals that accounts for the oxidative damage that leads to intrinsic apoptosis. In contrast, the toxicity of the insoluble Al oxides depends primarily on their behavior as particulates. Aluminum has been held responsible for human morbidity and mortality, but there is no consistent and convincing evidence to associate the Al found in food and drinking water at the doses and chemical forms presently consumed by people living in North America and Western Europe with increased risk for Alzheimer\u27s disease (AD). Neither is there clear evidence to show use of Al-containing underarm antiperspirants or cosmetics increases the risk of AD or breast cancer. Metallic Al, its oxides, and common Al salts have not been shown to be either genotoxic or carcinogenic. Aluminum exposures during neonatal and pediatric parenteral nutrition (PN) can impair bone mineralization and delay neurological development. Adverse effects to vaccines with Al adjuvants have occurred; however, recent controlled trials found that the immunologic response to certain vaccines with Al adjuvants was no greater, and in some cases less than, that after identical vaccination without Al adjuvants. The scientific literature on the adverse health effects of Al is extensive. Health risk assessments for Al must take into account individual co-factors (e.g., age, renal function, diet, gastric pH). Conclusions from the current review point to the need for refinement of the PTWI, reduction of Al contamination in PN solutions, justification for routine addition of Al to vaccines, and harmonization of OELs for Al substances

STRUCTURAL AND FUNCTIONAL-ASPECTS OF CALCIUM HOMEOSTASIS IN EUKARYOTIC CELLS

The maintenance of a low cytosolic free-Ca2+ concentration, ([Ca2+]i) is a common feature of all eukaryotic cells. For this purpose a variety of mechanisms have developed during evolution to ensure the buffering of Ca2+ in the cytoplasm, its extrusion from the cell and/or its accumulation within organelles. Opening of plasma membrane channels or release of Ca2+ from intracellular pools leads to elevation of [Ca2+]i; as a result, Ca2+ binds to cytosolic proteins which translate the changes in [Ca2+]i into activation of a number of key cellular functions. The purpose of this review is to provide a comprehensive description of the structural and functional characteristics of the various components of [Ca2+]i homeostasis in eukaryotes