The efficacy of narrative therapy approaches with self-injurious clients

This study was undertaken to determine the efficacy of narrative therapy approaches with self-injurious clients. Self-injury is an issue gaining momentum, particularly among adolescent clients. Narrative therapy is a therapeutic technique that has gained popularity globally in the last several decades, due to its movement away from the expert mentality in mental health care. Both self-injury and narrative therapy are issues with limited research available. Fourteen clinicians trained in narrative therapy approaches were interviewed in a qualitative research design. The results of twelve of the interviews were utilized in the findings and two interviews were not included in the studies\u27 findings due to the ineligibility to the participant sample. Questions were asked to clinicians about the methods of self-injury within their client population, the demographics of the self-injuring clients, benefits of the narrative therapy approach, and narrative therapy efficacy and general comments. Major findings of this study indicate that narrative therapy is a beneficial and efficacious approach to treatment with self-injurious clients. Narrative therapy\u27s client centered, empowering, non-pathologizing stance suits a self-injuring client, who has often been the recipient of treatment modalities that treat the client as the problem

Promoting mathematical communication and community via Blackboard

Major changes in mathematics pedagogy include writing as pedagogy and the role of community in learning. The classroom community is naturally extended by the use of online discussion boards. In this paper several models for student use of online discussion boards that have been successfully used to promote mathematical discourse are presented. Structured and unstructured examples that are easily adaptable and transportable to a variety of mathematics classroom settings are offered. These assignments facilitate student engagement and interaction outside of the classroom. Assessment, utility, and transferability are offered. Although the authors use the discussion boards provided by Blackboard, this particular software package is not necessary

Scenario adjustment in stated preference research

AbstractPoorly designed stated preference (SP) studies are subject to a number of well-known biases, but many of these biases can be minimized when they are anticipated ex ante and accommodated in the study's design or during data analysis. We identify another source of potential bias, which we call “scenario adjustment,” where respondents assume that the substantive alternative(s) in an SP choice set, in their own particular case, will be different from what the survey instrument describes. We use an existing survey, developed to ascertain willingness to pay for private health-risk reduction programs, to demonstrate a strategy to control and correct for scenario adjustment in the estimation of willingness to pay. This strategy involves data from carefully worded follow-up questions, and ex post econometric controls, for each respondent's subjective departures from the intended choice scenario. Our research has important implications for the design of future SP surveys

Determining Gene Specific Chromatin Differences in \u3ci\u3eSulfolobus solfataricus\u3c/i\u3e: Expression of MerR Protein for Targeted-ChIP Antibody Production

In this project the repressor protein MerR from the Sulfolobus solfataricus mercury resistance operon was cloned into pET28b and transformed into Roetta 2 E.coli strains for overexpression and purification. Large quantities of recombinant MerR will be used for subsequent injection into a mammalian host for antibody production. These antibodies will be used in targeted-ChIP studies in which gene specific chromatin modification states will be analyzed. The overproduction of MerR is part of a larger project where future research could produce data on whether gene expression levels and chromatin modifiation states could be correlated at an individual gene level, possibly suggesting a novel epigenetic mechanism in Archaea

Determining Gene Specific Chromatin Differences in \u3ci\u3eSulfolobus solfataricus\u3c/i\u3e: Expression of MerR Protein for Targeted-ChIP Antibody Production

In this project the repressor protein MerR from the Sulfolobus solfataricus mercury resistance operon was cloned into pET28b and transformed into Roetta 2 E.coli strains for overexpression and purification. Large quantities of recombinant MerR will be used for subsequent injection into a mammalian host for antibody production. These antibodies will be used in targeted-ChIP studies in which gene specific chromatin modification states will be analyzed. The overproduction of MerR is part of a larger project where future research could produce data on whether gene expression levels and chromatin modifiation states could be correlated at an individual gene level, possibly suggesting a novel epigenetic mechanism in Archaea

The role of decompressive craniectomy in limited resource environments

Decompressive craniectomy (DC) is a neurosurgical procedure useful to prevent and manage the impact of high intracranial pressure (ICP) that leads to brain herniation and brain’s tissue ischemia. In well-resourced environment this procedure has been proposed as a last tier therapy when ICP is not controlled by medical therapies in the management of different neurosurgical emergencies like traumatic brain injury (TBI), stroke, infectious diseases, hydrocephalus, tumors, etc. The purpose of this narrative review is to discuss the role of DC in areas of low neurosurgical and neurocritical care resources. We performed a literature review with a specific search strategy in web repositories and some local and regional journals from Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). The most common publications include case reports, case series and observational studies describing the benefits of the procedure on different pathologies but with several types of biases due to the absence of robust studies or clinical registries analysis in these kinds of environments

Social Vulnerability of the People Exposed to Wildfires in U.S. West Coast States

Understanding of the vulnerability of populations exposed to wildfires is limited. We used an index from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to assess the social vulnerability of populations exposed to wildfire from 2000–2021 in California, Oregon, and Washington, which accounted for 90% of exposures in the western United States. The number of people exposed to fire from 2000–2010 to 2011–2021 increased substantially, with the largest increase, nearly 250%, for people with high social vulnerability. In Oregon and Washington, a higher percentage of exposed people were highly vulnerable (\u3e40%) than in California (~8%). Increased social vulnerability of populations in burned areas was the primary contributor to increased exposure of the highly vulnerable in California, whereas encroachment of wildfires on vulnerable populations was the primary contributor in Oregon and Washington. Our results emphasize the importance of integrating the vulnerability of at-risk populations in wildfire mitigation and adaptation plans

Social Vulnerability of the People Exposed to Wildfires in US West Coast States

Understanding of the vulnerability of populations exposed to wildfires is limited. We used an index from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to assess the social vulnerability of populations exposed to wildfire from 2000-2021 in California, Oregon, and Washington, which accounted for 90% of exposures in the western United States. The number of people exposed to fire from 2000-2010 to 2011-2021 increased substantially, with the largest increase, nearly 250%, for people with high social vulnerability. In Oregon and Washington, a higher percentage of exposed people were highly vulnerable (\u3e40%) than in California (~8%). Increased social vulnerability of populations in burned areas was the primary contributor to increased exposure of the highly vulnerable in California, whereas encroachment of wildfires on vulnerable populations was the primary contributor in Oregon and Washington. Our results emphasize the importance of integrating the vulnerability of at-risk populations in wildfire mitigation and adaptation plans

Characterization of skin sympathetic nerve activity in patients with cardiomyopathy and ventricular arrhythmia

Background Heightened sympathetic nerve activity is associated with occurrence of ventricular arrhythmia (VA). Objective To investigate the association of skin sympathetic nerve activity (SKNA) and VA occurrence. Methods We prospectively enrolled 65 patients with severe cardiomyopathy. Of these, 39 had recent sustained VA episodes (VA-1 group), 11 had intractable VA undergoing sedation with general anesthesia (VA-2 group), and 15 had no known history of VA (VA-Ctrl group). All patients had simultaneous SKNA and electrocardiogram recording. SKNA was assessed using an average value (aSKNA), a variable value (vSKNA), and the number of bursts of SKNA (bSKNA). Results The VA-1 group had higher aSKNA and vSKNA compared with the VA-Ctrl group (aSKNA: 1.41 ± 0.53 μV vs 0.98 ± 0.41 μV, P = .003; vSKNA: 0.52 ± 0.22 μV vs 0.30 ± 0.16 μV, P 15% reduction in aSKNA after therapy was associated with a lower subsequent VA event rate (hazard ratio, 0.222; 95% CI, 0.057–0.864; P = .03). Conclusion Patients with VA had increased SKNA as compared with control. Both SKNA and sustained VA could be suppressed by general anesthesia. The aSKNA at baseline was an independent predictor of VA recurrence