From Traditional to Innovative Assessment: The Case of Depression

This article reviews various approaches to the assessment of depression in deaf people as based on current research. Studies comparing traditional paper and pencil instrumentation with American Sign Language (ASL) video tape approaches are presented. Results indicate that both approaches do work with deaf clients, depending on language proficiency in either English or ASL. Exploration of computerized technology is warranted

A Qualitative Investigation of Young Female Dancers\u27 Use of Imagery

Although dancers have noted using imagery to mentally rehearse a routine, understand and reinforce movement, inspire strong emotions and lower arousal levels (Pavlik & Nordin-Bates, 2016), this finding is specific to adult dancers, overlooking imagery use with young dancers. The present study qualitatively examined the 4 W\u27s of imagery use (Where, When, What and Why young dancers are imaging) with young female dancers 7-14 years of age. Furthermore, age differences between the four cohorts (7-8, 9-10, 11-12, 13-14) were also examined. Twenty-three female dancers (Mage = 10.43, SD = 2.19) from various dance styles participated in one of four focus groups discussions. Thematic analysis revealed findings similar to those identified in both the adult dance and children’s sport domains. There were findings, however, emerging from the current study specific to young female dancers. These findings, in addition to practical implications for both dance instructors and physical education teachers are provided

Comparison of Face-to-Face and Video-Mediated Communication with Deaf Individuals: Implications for Telepsychotherapy

Telecommunications and videoconference systems are increasingly replacing face-to-face communication (F2F). Video-mediated communication (VMC) offers the benefit of virtual F2F communication over long distances. The purpose of this study was to compare communication performance and perceptions for deaf individuals in F2F and VMC situations using a Map Task. Deaf participants were instructed by a deaf instructor using American Sign Language to mark routes. There were no significant differences in the length of sessions, almost all communication breakdown events, map task deviations, and overall outcomes. The results suggest that effective communication can occur in VMC situations. Research is needed to gauge the effectiveness of VMC conditions in the delivery of mental health services including telepsychotherapy to deaf individuals who may not have access to local signing mental health services providers

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Impact of Communication on Depressive Vulnerability in Deaf Individuals

Mode of communication and perceived communication with mother deserve attention within the mother-deaf child relationship. This study explored the impact of both factors on each other and on the vulnerability of young deaf college students for depressive symptoms using measures revised to meet the language needs of this population. Depression was negatively associated with perceived communication with mother. Mode of communication significantly related to perceived communication with mother, with oral subjects scoring highest. They were also least depressed. Further analysis revealed that subjects communicating with their mothers through signs only and vice versa scored as high for perceived maternal communication as did oral subjects. This suggests that a good match between mother and child in mode of communication positively impacts on the young deaf adult\u27s emotional health

Social Identity in Deaf Culture: A Comparison of Ideologies

The emergence of Deaf culture and recent developments in identity research fueled by cultural diversity has ignited exploration of identity development in deaf people. The issue of how individuals go through the process of developing identities related to being deaf is now receiving much attention. Two major theoretical models in the literature, specifically racial identity development models and bicultural/acculturation models are presented and then discussed in terms of how they might apply to deaf people. Subsequently, we describe two separate measures that have been developed to empirically test the application of these models to deaf populations. While research on both measures indicates good psychometric properties, ongoing reconceptualization of social identity models that may explain how deaf people develop identities related to Deaf and hearing societies continues to be necessary. It is hoped that these measures will lead to better understanding of the relationship between aspects of identity and healthy psychological adjustment in deaf people

Human Elastase 1: Evidence for Expression in the Skin and the Identification of a Frequent Frameshift Polymorphism

Human pancreatic elastase 1 is a serine protease which maps to the chromosomal region 12q13 close to a locus for an autosomal dominant skin disease, diffuse nonepidermolytic palmoplantar keratoderma, and was investigated as a possible candidate gene for this disorder. Expression of two elastase inhibitors, elafin and SLPI, has been related to several hyperproliferative skin conditions. elastase 1 is functionally silent in the human pancreas but elastase 1 expression at the mRNA level was detected in human cultured primary keratinocytes. Antibody staining localized the protein to the basal cell layer of the human epidermis at a number of sites including the palmoplanta. Sequencing of genomic DNA from individuals with/without the keratoderma revealed a sequence variant, which would result in a premature truncation of the protein. This sequence variant, however, did not segregate with the skin disease and, indeed, was found to occur at a relatively high frequency in the population. Individuals homozygous for the variant do not have any obvious skin abnormalities. Based on the analysis of the secondary structure of the translated putative protein, the truncation is unlikely to result in knock-out of the elastase, but may cause destabilization of the enzyme–inhibitor complex

Is liver transplantation using organs donated after cardiac death cost‐effective or does it decrease waitlist death by increasing recipient death?

AbstractObjectivesThe aim of this study was to evaluate the cost‐effectiveness in liver transplantation (LT) of utilizing organs donated after cardiac death (DCD) compared with organs donated after brain death (DBD).MethodsA Markov‐based decision analytic model was created to compare two LT waitlist strategies distinguished by organ type: (i) DBD organs only, and (ii) DBD and DCD organs. The model simulated outcomes for patients over 10 years with annual cycles through one of four health states: survival; ischaemic cholangiopathy; retransplantation, and death. Baseline values and ranges were determined from an extensive literature review. Sensitivity analyses tested model strength and parameter variability.ResultsOverall survival is decreased, and biliary complications and retransplantation are increased in recipients of DCD livers. Recipients of DBD livers gained 5.6 quality‐adjusted life years (QALYs) at a cost of US$69 000/QALY, whereas recipients on the DBD + DCD LT waitlist gained 6.0 QALYs at a cost of US$61 000/QALY. The DBD + DCD organ strategy was superior to the DBD organ‐only strategy.conclusionsThe extension of life and quality of life provided by DCD LT to patients on the waiting list who might otherwise not receive a liver transplant makes the continued use of DCD livers cost‐effective

Expression of Distinct Desmocollin Isoforms in Human Epidermis

Previous evidence suggested the presence of two distinct desmocollin isoforms in human epidermis. These isoforms have now been distinguished at the protein level using monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies against N-terminal fragments of desmosomal glycoprotein (DG) IV/V isolated from plantar callus and antibodies against a fusion protein containing the extracellular domain of DGII/III. Immune blotting of glycoprotein fractions from whole epidermis, plantar callus, psoriatic scales and cultured keratinocytes showed that intact DGIV/V and its proteolytic fragments consistently migrated faster than DGII/III during SDS-PAGE. The apparent Mr difference between the two isoforms was in the range 2-5 kD. DGIV/V was the predominant species in epidermal tissue but was much less prominent in cultured cells by immune-blotting and immune precipitation. This is consistent with the differentiation-related expression of desmocollins revealed by immunofluorescence. DGIV/V was strongly expressed in the upper spinous/granular layer of the epidermis whereas DGII/III was more prominent in the basal layers of he tissue. The DGIV/V monoclonal (LH50) recognized an N-terminal, Ca++-sensitive epitope, because its staining of unfixed epidermal tissue was makedly influenced by Ca++ levels. Ca++ inhibition was observed at concentrations as low as 50 μM, suggesting its possible physiologic significance. Ca++ inhibition of LH50 binding was also observed in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay system using denatured glycoproteins although higher concentrations were required. It remains to be seen whether direct effects of Ca++ on desmocollin conformation are involved in the regulations of keratinization by extracellular Ca++

Reliability and Validity of the Adapter COPE Scale with Deaf College Students

The purpose of the current study was to investigate the reliability and validity of the Adapted Coping Operations Preference Enquiry (COPE) Scale with deaf college students. The Adapted COPE identifies15 strategies for managing stresors. 117 deaf college students from Gallaudet University, between the ages of 18 and 25, participated in the present study. When used with this sample, the majority of the Adapted COPE subscales evidenced high or moderate internal consistency reliability, except for the Mental Disengagement and Active Coping subscales. To investigate structural validity, principle component analysis was conducted utilizing quartimax rotation. Initial analyses retained 17 factors and failed to replicate the intended subscale structure of the measure. Post-hoc t-tests indicated that responses to the Original COPE by hearing participants and the Adapted COPE by deaf participants were largely similar, except for the Substance Use subscale, with significantly higher mean scores in the deaf sample. This suggests that the psychometric analyses of the original COPE scale indicate a need for additional restructuring of the measure