Surf Therapy Practice, Research, and Coalition Building: Future Directions

Articles in this Special Issue of the Global Journal of Community Psychology Practice on Surf Therapy Around the Globe have focused on theory development, practice considerations, empirical research, and coalition building in order to advance the field of surf therapy. In this concluding article, the Guest Editors highlight the ways in which the collective work in this Special Issue expands on the current literature in terms of theory, as well as processes and outcomes for different programs across a variety of populations across the globe. Suggestions for conducting future studies on surf therapy are provided in order to build an even stronger knowledge base in this area. Finally, initiatives set forth by the International Surf Therapy Organization are presented in order to foster coalition building, participant inclusion, social justice, research and evaluation, and public advocacy. Collectively, this article aims to summarize the work highlighted in this Special Issue and pave a path for surf therapy practice and research going forward

Introduction to the Special Issue on Surf Therapy Around the Globe

This Special Issue on Surf Therapy Around the Globe in the Global Journal of Community Psychology Practice is devoted to advancing the science and practice of surf therapy for diverse populations around the world. This introductory article provides a framework for this Special Issue. Surf therapy’s beginnings as a small group intervention that served a variety of marginalized populations over the past fifteen years is outlined. Next, a description of how surf therapy programs utilize four community psychology practice competencies – empowerment, mentorship, community inclusion and partnership, and health promotion – in the delivery of surf therapy is detailed. A brief overview of each article in this Special Issue is provided, linked to three practice competency categories – collaboration and coalition development, participatory research, and program evaluation. Finally, videos ancillary to three of the articles are introduced and a fourth video without an accompanying article is also outlined

Surf Therapy Practice, Research, and Coalition Building: Future Directions

Articles in this Special Issue of the Global Journal of Community Psychology Practice on Surf Therapy Around the Globe have focused on theory development, practice considerations, empirical research, and coalition building in order to advance the field of surf therapy. In this concluding article, the Guest Editors highlight the ways in which the collective work in this Special Issue expands on the current literature in terms of theory, as well as processes and outcomes for different programs across a variety of populations across the globe. Suggestions for conducting future studies on surf therapy are provided in order to build an even stronger knowledge base in this area. Finally, initiatives set forth by the International Surf Therapy Organization are presented in order to foster coalition building, participant inclusion, social justice, research and evaluation, and public advocacy. Collectively, this article aims to summarize the work highlighted in this Special Issue and pave a path for surf therapy practice and research going forward

Introduction to the Special Issue on Surf Therapy Around the Globe

This Special Issue on Surf Therapy Around the Globe in the Global Journal of Community Psychology Practice is devoted to advancing the science and practice of surf therapy for diverse populations around the world. This introductory article provides a framework for this Special Issue. Surf therapy’s beginnings as a small group intervention that served a variety of marginalized populations over the past fifteen years is outlined. Next, a description of how surf therapy programs utilize four community psychology practice competencies – empowerment, mentorship, community inclusion and partnership, and health promotion – in the delivery of surf therapy is detailed. A brief overview of each article in this Special Issue is provided, linked to three practice competency categories – collaboration and coalition development, participatory research, and program evaluation. Finally, videos ancillary to three of the articles are introduced and a fourth video without an accompanying article is also outlined

Telemedicine and international disaster response: Medical consultation to Armenia and Russia via a telemedicine spacebridge

The Telemedicine Spacebridge, a satellite mediated audio-video-fax link between four U.S. and two Armenian and Russian medical centers, permitted remote American consultants to assist Armenian and Russian physicians in the management of medical problems following the December 1988 earthquake in Armenia and the June 1989 gas explosion near Ufa. During 12 weeks of operations, 247 Armenian and Russian and 175 American medical professionals participated in 34 half-day clinical conferences. 209 patients were discussed, requiring expertise in 20 specialty areas. Telemedicine consultations resulted in altered diagnoses for 54, new diagnostic studies for 70, altered diagnostic processes for 47, and modified treatment plans for 47 of 185 Armenian patients presented. Simultaneous participation of several U.S. medical centers was judged beneficial; quality of data transmission was judged excellent. These results suggest that interactive consultation by remote specialists can provide valuable assistance to onsite physicians and favorably influence clinical decisions in the aftermath of major disasters

ASPM and CITK regulate spindle orientation by affecting the dynamics of astral microtubules.

Correct orientation of cell division is considered an important factor for the achievement of normal brain size, as mutations in genes that affect this process are among the leading causes of microcephaly. Abnormal spindle orientation is associated with reduction of the neuronal progenitor symmetric divisions, premature cell cycle exit, and reduced neurogenesis. This mechanism has been involved in microcephaly resulting from mutation of ASPM, the most frequently affected gene in autosomal recessive human primary microcephaly (MCPH), but it is presently unknown how ASPM regulates spindle orientation. In this report, we show that ASPM may control spindle positioning by interacting with citron kinase (CITK), a protein whose loss is also responsible for severe microcephaly in mammals. We show that the absence of CITK leads to abnormal spindle orientation in mammals and insects. In mouse cortical development, this phenotype correlates with increased production of basal progenitors. ASPM is required to recruit CITK at the spindle, and CITK overexpression rescues ASPM phenotype. ASPM and CITK affect the organization of astral microtubules (MT), and low doses of MT-stabilizing drug revert the spindle orientation phenotype produced by their knockdown. Finally, CITK regulates both astral-MT nucleation and stability. Our results provide a functional link between two established microcephaly proteins

Mutant Kras copy number defines metabolic reprogramming and therapeutic susceptibilities.

The RAS/MAPK (mitogen-activated protein kinase) signalling pathway is frequently deregulated in non-small-cell lung cancer, often through KRAS activating mutations. A single endogenous mutant Kras allele is sufficient to promote lung tumour formation in mice but malignant progression requires additional genetic alterations. We recently showed that advanced lung tumours from Kras(G12D/+);p53-null mice frequently exhibit Kras(G12D) allelic enrichment (Kras(G12D)/Kras(wild-type) > 1) (ref. 7), implying that mutant Kras copy gains are positively selected during progression. Here we show, through a comprehensive analysis of mutant Kras homozygous and heterozygous mouse embryonic fibroblasts and lung cancer cells, that these genotypes are phenotypically distinct. In particular, Kras(G12D/G12D) cells exhibit a glycolytic switch coupled to increased channelling of glucose-derived metabolites into the tricarboxylic acid cycle and glutathione biosynthesis, resulting in enhanced glutathione-mediated detoxification. This metabolic rewiring is recapitulated in mutant KRAS homozygous non-small-cell lung cancer cells and in vivo, in spontaneous advanced murine lung tumours (which display a high frequency of Kras(G12D) copy gain), but not in the corresponding early tumours (Kras(G12D) heterozygous). Finally, we demonstrate that mutant Kras copy gain creates unique metabolic dependences that can be exploited to selectively target these aggressive mutant Kras tumours. Our data demonstrate that mutant Kras lung tumours are not a single disease but rather a heterogeneous group comprising two classes of tumours with distinct metabolic profiles, prognosis and therapeutic susceptibility, which can be discriminated on the basis of their relative mutant allelic content. We also provide the first, to our knowledge, in vivo evidence of metabolic rewiring during lung cancer malignant progression.We thank T. Jacks (Kras^LSL-G12D), A. Berns (p53^Fx) and the NIH Mouse repository for mice. We also thank Sam Kleeman and Patricia Ogger for assistance with redox cell profiling and cell viability assays, respectively. We are very thankful to CRUK CI BRU staff for support with in vivo work and all the members of the Martins lab for critical comments and advice. This work was supported by the Medical Research Council.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available at http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v531/n7592/full/nature16967.html

A Measurement of the Product Branching Ratio f(b->Lambda_b).BR(Lambda_b->Lambda X) in Z0 Decays

The product branching ratio, f(b->Lambda_b).BR(Lambda_b->Lambda X), where Lambda_b denotes any weakly-decaying b-baryon, has been measured using the OPAL detector at LEP. Lambda_b are selected by the presence of energetic Lambda particles in bottom events tagged by the presence of displaced secondary vertices. A fit to the momenta of the Lambda particles separates signal from B meson and fragmentation backgrounds. The measured product branching ratio is f(b->Lambda_b).BR(Lambda_b->Lambda X) = (2.67+-0.38(stat)+0.67-0.60(sys))% Combined with a previous OPAL measurement, one obtains f(b->Lambda_b).BR(Lambda_b->Lambda X) = (3.50+-0.32(stat)+-0.35(sys))%.Comment: 16 pages, LaTeX, 3 eps figs included, submitted to the European Physical Journal