Home-Based Parent-Child Therapy in Low-Income African American, Caucasian, and Latino Families: A Comparative Examination of Treatment Outcomes

This study examined parent and child treatment outcomes for a home-based Parent-Child Therapy (PCT) program for 66 children from families living in poverty. African American, Caucasian, and Latino families were examined to determine if an evidence-based program would produce similar results across different ethnic groups. The results showed that caregivers across the three ethnic groups reported improved child challenging behavior, increased positive parent-child interactions, improved parental expectations, higher levels of nurturing, and less reliance on verbal and corporal punishment as a form of discipline. Practical implications for these results are discussed

Women on walls: the female subject in modern graffiti art

Modern day wall art featuring women as subjects is usually painted by male artists, although women graffiti artists are challenging that male dominance and there are ample examples of their work on social media. The choice of women as subjects dates back to ancient Rome and Greece where idealized female images provided a template for desire, sexuality and goddess status. In modern times, wall artists present women as iconic subjects of power, renewal, and social commentary. Feminine graffiti appears to be idiosyncratic in its subject matter—the product of history, geography, culture and political discourse based on feminine power and influence. Although it is impossible to generalize stylistically about street artists, who are sui generis by their very nature–and wall art defies easy labelling–there are some patterns that are apparent when wandering city streets and encountering women subjects on walls. This photo-essay explores women who feature in wall art in open air galleries in Western Europe, South America and tropical Cuba and seeks to define female archetypes found in these examples. The historical antecedents to modern wall art are presented followed by specific examples of wall art featuring women; succinct interpretations are presented with each example. The journey takes us to Paris, Berlin and Venice, with a stopover in the small fishing town of Huanchaco, Peru, the colourful artistic hill city of Valparaiso, Chile and ends on the worn and tattered streets of tropical Havana, Cuba. In crossing the equator and cultural divide between Western Europe, South America and the Caribbean some surprising trends are suggested in this exploration of women on walls. Keywords: wall art, women in graffiti, city streets, tropical, female archetypes, Europe and South America graffit

Physicians’ Perspective From a Survey

Background: As a result of demographic changes, physicians are required to deliver needed services with limited resources. Research suggests that tablet PCs with access to patient data may streamline clinical workflow. A recent study found tablets with mobile electronic medical records (EMRs) can facilitate data retrieval and produce time savings across the clinical routine within hospital settings. However, the reasons for these time savings, including details on how tablets were being used, remain unclear. The same applies to physicians’ perceptions of this tool within an inpatient setting. Objective: This study examined physicians’ perception of tablets with EMRs in an inpatient setting. The rationale was to identify both subjective and objective factors that impacted the successful implementation and use of tablets running an EMR. Methods: We developed a 57-item survey questionnaire designed to examine users’ perception of and attitude toward tablets, which was administered to 14 participating physicians following 7 weeks of tablet use. Five participants volunteered to participate in a second study that investigated physicians’ patterns of tablet use within the EMR environment by digitally tracking and storing usage behavior. Statistical analyses of questionnaire results included mean values with their bootstrapped 95% confidence intervals and multivariate analysis of variance to identify predictors of tablet use. Results: Physicians reported high degrees of satisfaction with the tablets. There was a general consensus among physicians that tablet use streamlined clinical workflow through optimized data retrieval (rated 0.69, 0.23-1.15 points better than control) and improved communication with patients and other physicians (rated 0.85, 0.54-1.15 and 0.77, 0.38-1.15 points better than control, respectively). Age (F3,11=3.54, P=.04), occupational group (F1,11=7.17, P=.04), and attitude toward novel technologies (F1,11=10.54, P=.02) predicted physicians’ satisfaction with the devices and their motivation regarding their further use. Tracking data yielded that only a few of the available functions were used frequently. Conclusions: Although tablet PCs were consistently perceived as beneficial, several factors contributed to the fact that their full potential was not fully exploited. Training in functionality and providing a reliable infrastructure might foster successful tablet implementation

Individualized Template MRI Is a Valid and Reliable Alternative to Individual MRI for Spatial Tracking in Navigated TMS Studies in Healthy Subjects

Objectives: Navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation (nTMS) provides significant benefits over classic TMS. Yet, the acquisition of individual structural magnetic resonance images (MRIindividual) is a time-consuming, expensive, and not feasible prerequisite in all subjects for spatial tracking and anatomical guidance in nTMS studies. We hypothesize that spatial transformation can be used to adjust MRI templates to individual head shapes (MRIwarped) and that TMS parameters do not differ between nTMS using MRIindividual or MRIwarped. Materials and Methods: Twenty identical TMS sessions, each including four different navigation conditions, were conducted in 10 healthy subjects (one female, 27.4 ± 3.8 years), i.e., twice per subject by two researchers to additionally assess interrater reliabilities. MRIindividual were acquired for all subjects. MRIwarped were obtained through the spatial transformation of a template MRI following a 5-, 9-and 36-point head surface registration (MRIwarped_5, MRIwarped_9, MRIwarped_36). Stimulation hotspot locations, resting motor threshold (RMT), 500 μV motor threshold (500 μV-MT), and mean absolute motor evoked potential difference (MAD) of primary motor cortex (M1) examinations were compared between nTMS using either MRIwarped variants or MRIindividual and non-navigated TMS. Results: M1 hotspots were spatially consistent between MRIindividual and MRIwarped_36 (insignificant deviation by 4.79 ± 2.62 mm). MEP thresholds and variance were also equivalent between MRIindividual and MRIwarped_36 with mean differences of RMT by -0.05 ± 2.28% maximum stimulator output (%MSO; t (19) = -0.09, p = 0.923), 500 μV-MT by -0.15 ± 1.63%MSO (t (19) = -0.41, p = 0.686) and MAD by 70.5 ± 214.38 μV (t (19) = 1.47, p = 0.158). Intraclass correlations (ICC) of motor thresholds were between 0.88 and 0.97. Conclusions: NTMS examinations of M1 yield equivalent topographical and functional results using MRIindividual and MRIwarped if a sufficient number of registration points are used

A perspective on neuroscience data standardization with Neurodata Without Borders

Neuroscience research has evolved to generate increasingly large and complex experimental data sets, and advanced data science tools are taking on central roles in neuroscience research. Neurodata Without Borders (NWB), a standard language for neurophysiology data, has recently emerged as a powerful solution for data management, analysis, and sharing. We here discuss our efforts to implement NWB data science pipelines. We describe general principles and specific use cases that illustrate successes, challenges, and non-trivial decisions in software engineering. We hope that our experience can provide guidance for the neuroscience community and help bridge the gap between experimental neuroscience and data science.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figure

High quality protein microarray using in situ protein purification

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In the postgenomic era, high throughput protein expression and protein microarray technologies have progressed markedly permitting screening of therapeutic reagents and discovery of novel protein functions. Hexa-histidine is one of the most commonly used fusion tags for protein expression due to its small size and convenient purification via immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography (IMAC). This purification process has been adapted to the protein microarray format, but the quality of <it>in situ </it>His-tagged protein purification on slides has not been systematically evaluated. We established methods to determine the level of purification of such proteins on metal chelate-modified slide surfaces. Optimized <it>in situ </it>purification of His-tagged recombinant proteins has the potential to become the new gold standard for cost-effective generation of high-quality and high-density protein microarrays.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Two slide surfaces were examined, chelated Cu²⁺slides suspended on a polyethylene glycol (PEG) coating and chelated Ni²⁺slides immobilized on a support without PEG coating. Using PEG-coated chelated Cu²⁺slides, consistently higher purities of recombinant proteins were measured. An optimized wash buffer (PBST) composed of 10 mM phosphate buffer, 2.7 mM KCl, 140 mM NaCl and 0.05% Tween 20, pH 7.4, further improved protein purity levels. Using <it>Escherichia coli </it>cell lysates expressing 90 recombinant <it>Streptococcus pneumoniae </it>proteins, 73 proteins were successfully immobilized, and 66 proteins were <it>in situ </it>purified with greater than 90% purity. We identified several antigens among the <it>in situ</it>-purified proteins via assays with anti-<it>S. pneumoniae </it>rabbit antibodies and a human patient antiserum, as a demonstration project of large scale microarray-based immunoproteomics profiling. The methodology is compatible with higher throughput formats of <it>in vivo </it>protein expression, eliminates the need for resin-based purification and circumvents protein solubility and denaturation problems caused by buffer exchange steps and freeze-thaw cycles, which are associated with resin-based purification, intermittent protein storage and deposition on microarrays.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>An optimized platform for <it>in situ </it>protein purification on microarray slides using His-tagged recombinant proteins is a desirable tool for the screening of novel protein functions and protein-protein interactions. In the context of immunoproteomics, such protein microarrays are complimentary to approaches using non-recombinant methods to discover and characterize bacterial antigens.</p

Proteomic analysis of iron acquisition, metabolic and regulatory responses of \u3cem\u3eYersinia pestis\u3c/em\u3e to iron starvation

BACKGROUND: The Gram-negative bacterium Yersinia pestis is the causative agent of the bubonic plague. Efficient iron acquisition systems are critical to the ability of Y. pestis to infect, spread and grow in mammalian hosts, because iron is sequestered and is considered part of the innate host immune defence against invading pathogens. We used a proteomic approach to determine expression changes of iron uptake systems and intracellular consequences of iron deficiency in the Y. pestis strain KIM6+ at two physiologically relevant temperatures (26°C and 37°C). RESULTS: Differential protein display was performed for three Y. pestis subcellular fractions. Five characterized Y. pestis iron/siderophore acquisition systems (Ybt, Yfe, Yfu, Yiu and Hmu) and a putative iron/chelate outer membrane receptor (Y0850) were increased in abundance in iron-starved cells. The iron-sulfur (Fe-S) cluster assembly system Suf, adapted to oxidative stress and iron starvation in E. coli, was also more abundant, suggesting functional activity of Suf in Y. pestis under iron-limiting conditions. Metabolic and reactive oxygen-deactivating enzymes dependent on Fe-S clusters or other iron cofactors were decreased in abundance in iron-depleted cells. This data was consistent with lower activities of aconitase and catalase in iron-starved vs. iron-rich cells. In contrast, pyruvate oxidase B which metabolizes pyruvate via electron transfer to ubiquinone-8 for direct utilization in the respiratory chain was strongly increased in abundance and activity in iron-depleted cells. CONCLUSIONS: Many protein abundance differences were indicative of the important regulatory role of the ferric uptake regulator Fur. Iron deficiency seems to result in a coordinated shift from iron-utilizing to iron-independent biochemical pathways in the cytoplasm of Y. pestis. With growth temperature as an additional variable in proteomic comparisons of the Y. pestis fractions (26°C and 37°C), there was little evidence for temperature-specific adaptation processes to iron starvation

Proteomic analysis of iron acquisition, metabolic and regulatory responses of Yersinia pestis to iron starvation

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The Gram-negative bacterium <it>Yersinia pestis </it>is the causative agent of the bubonic plague. Efficient iron acquisition systems are critical to the ability of <it>Y. pestis </it>to infect, spread and grow in mammalian hosts, because iron is sequestered and is considered part of the innate host immune defence against invading pathogens. We used a proteomic approach to determine expression changes of iron uptake systems and intracellular consequences of iron deficiency in the <it>Y. pestis </it>strain KIM6+ at two physiologically relevant temperatures (26°C and 37°C).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Differential protein display was performed for three <it>Y. pestis </it>subcellular fractions. Five characterized <it>Y. pestis </it>iron/siderophore acquisition systems (Ybt, Yfe, Yfu, Yiu and Hmu) and a putative iron/chelate outer membrane receptor (Y0850) were increased in abundance in iron-starved cells. The iron-sulfur (Fe-S) cluster assembly system Suf, adapted to oxidative stress and iron starvation in <it>E. coli</it>, was also more abundant, suggesting functional activity of Suf in <it>Y. pestis </it>under iron-limiting conditions. Metabolic and reactive oxygen-deactivating enzymes dependent on Fe-S clusters or other iron cofactors were decreased in abundance in iron-depleted cells. This data was consistent with lower activities of aconitase and catalase in iron-starved <it>vs</it>. iron-rich cells. In contrast, pyruvate oxidase B which metabolizes pyruvate via electron transfer to ubiquinone-8 for direct utilization in the respiratory chain was strongly increased in abundance and activity in iron-depleted cells.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Many protein abundance differences were indicative of the important regulatory role of the ferric uptake regulator Fur. Iron deficiency seems to result in a coordinated shift from iron-utilizing to iron-independent biochemical pathways in the cytoplasm of <it>Y. pestis</it>. With growth temperature as an additional variable in proteomic comparisons of the <it>Y. pestis </it>fractions (26°C and 37°C), there was little evidence for temperature-specific adaptation processes to iron starvation.</p