A Discovery-Oriented Process Study of Enactment in Family Therapy: Development of the Family Therapy Enactment Rating Scale

With the effectiveness of psychotherapy now well-supported in both the individual and family literatures (Garfield & Bergin, 1994), we are entering an era where questions of how and why therapy works are of interest. More specifically, there has been support and encouragement by some researchers (Rice & Greenberg, 1984; Mahrer, 1988) for the use of discovery-oriented methodologies to explore clinical phenomena that have yet to be empirically validated. The following is a discovery-oriented study of enactment, a structural family therapy intervention. The theoretical goals of enactments, their relevance to clinical practice, as well as how they are actually implemented in family therapy sessions, are discussed. A methodological review of the discovery-oriented and task analysis literature is presented. Four phases of enactment are delineated: pre-enactment preparation, enactment initiation, enactment facilitation, and enactment conclusion. Observations of therapist interventions and client responses are presented. The Family Therapy Enactment Rating Scale, an observational measure, is described and reliability data are presented. Unfortunately, the overall reliability of the scale was found to be low. However, given the extensive observational data derived from this study, some tentative results and discussion of them are offered. Observational scale items, their reliability data, a tentative performance model of enactment, and implications of the findings are presented and discussed

Sociocultural Perspective on Autism Intervention

The landscape of the population in the United States is diversifying, as are the individuals who have a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. Autism spectrum disorder now affects one of out every 68 children. Although the diagnostic criteria do not differ, there are differences in time of diagnosis, treatment and acceptability of the diagnosis in various cultures, which is important for clinicians to understand. One approach to autism intervention is applied behavior analysis (ABA), which seeks to intervene on socially significant behavior. In addition, to using an approach such as ABA, which emphasis social significance, individuals may also use a cultural broker. The cultural broker can help to bridge the gap between parties and promote more effective treatment experience and thus help to ensure a more culturally sensitive approach to intervention

Measuring the Anisotropy Function of Iridium-192 using Gafchromic Film Dosimetry

Any radioactive source used in brachytherapy must be fully characterized according the TG-43 protocol in order to be approved by the FDA for clinical use. One of the parameters that must be characterized per the protocol is the anisotropy function. Iridium-192 is the most common and standard source to use in brachytherapy. The anisotropy of a specific iridium-192 brachytherapy seed has been analyzed using Gafchromic film dosimetry as part of the characterization needed for FDA approval

Communicating the Need to Communicate - Lessons Learned From Failure Point to a Need for Systems Perspectives

Failure investigation reports indicate that a systems perspective is needed to reduce failure in aerospace missions. The failures occurred not because of a technical problem but because not enough communication was occurring

Visual performance with two frequent replacement toric hydrogel contact lens designs

Many studies in the past have compared toric hydrogel lens designs with regard to vision, stability, and patient satisfaction. While each of these variables is important in the success of contact lens fitting, few studies in the literature have explored the relationship between lens design and visual performance, specifically as it relates to functional daily activities. This study was developed to identify whether or not a correlation exists between lens design and visual performance by comparing the prism ballasted Soflens 66 toric lens to the double slab-off Acuvue toric hydrogel lens. Eight subjects were fit with each lens to wear for one week, after which visual performance was assessed with the following tests: logMAR visual acuity, speed and accuracy of stereopsis, dynamic visual acuity, and accommodative facility. The subjects were also required to complete a questionnaire at the end of the week regarding the performance of each lens. It was found that due to the small sample size, there was no statistically significant difference between the two lenses with regard to many of the visual performance measurements. One question from the questionnaire pertaining to frequency of blur when shifting focus from near to far was determined to be statistically significant, showing the Acuvue toric lens design to be preferred by the subjects involved in the study. Without regard to statistical significance, it did appear that a relationship exists between lens design and visual performance, as subjects wearing the prism ballasted lens performed better than when wearing the double slab-off lens in many categories. To further validate these findings, future studies with larger sample sizes are therefore warranted

Sharing and Preserving Computational Analyses for Posterity with encapsulator

Open data and open-source software may be part of the solution to science's "reproducibility crisis", but they are insufficient to guarantee reproducibility. Requiring minimal end-user expertise, encapsulator creates a "time capsule" with reproducible code in a self-contained computational environment. encapsulator provides end-users with a fully-featured desktop environment for reproducible research.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figure

The Impact of Cyclin B1 on Tuberin Stabilization

Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC) is an autosomal dominant disorder caused by various mutations in either TSC1 or TSC2, genes that encode the proteins Hamartin and Tuberin respectively. Hamartomas (benign tumours), skin lesions, neurological symptoms, renal dysfunctions, and retinal malformations are often present in TSC patients with varying severity. Tuberin and Hamartin regulate protein synthesis through mTORC1 inhibition. Tuberin can also delay mitotic onset at the G2/M cell cycle transition by binding to Cyclin B1. Hamartin has been shown to stabilize Tuberin by inhibiting its ubiquitination by HERC1 and subsequent degradation. Preliminary data from our lab suggests that Cyclin B1 may also contribute to the stabilization of Tuberin levels during the G2/M transition. Phosphorylation status of the cytoplasmic retention sequence (CRS) of Cyclin B1 plays an important role in the formation of the Tuberin/Cyclin B1 complex. The unphosphorylated CRS form of Cyclin B1 (Cyclin B1 5xA) binds stronger to Tuberin compared to the phosphorylated form (Cyclin B1 5xE). My thesis investigates the role of Cyclin B1 in Tuberin stabilization and how CRS phosphorylation status impacts Tuberin/Cyclin B1 complex formation. HEK293-TSC1 null cells (IC2) will be transfected with varying concentrations of Cyclin 5xA DNA and the levels of the Tuberin protein will be quantified by Western blot techniques. The importance of each residue in the CRS region for the Tuberin/Cyclin B1 complex formation will also be evaluated using Immunoprecipitation studies. Understanding the role of Cyclin B1 in Tuberin stabilization will shed light on cell proliferation and growth mechanisms that underlie tumorigenic disorders

Canine olfactory ensheathing cells from the olfactory mucosa can be engineered to produce active chondroitinase ABC

A multitude of factors must be overcome following spinal cord injury (SCI) in order to achieve clinical improvement in patients. It is thought that by combining promising therapies these diverse factors could be combatted with the aim of producing an overall improvement in function. Chondroitin sulphate proteoglycans (CSPGs) present in the glial scar that forms following SCI present a significant block to axon regeneration. Digestion of CSPGs by chondroitinase ABC (ChABC) leads to axon regeneration, neuronal plasticity and functional improvement in preclinical models of SCI. However, the enzyme activity decays at body temperature within 24–72 h, limiting the translational potential of ChABC as a therapy. Olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) have shown huge promise as a cell transplant therapy in SCI. Their beneficial effects have been demonstrated in multiple small animal SCI models as well as in naturally occurring SCI in canine patients. In the present study, we have genetically modified canine OECs from the mucosa to constitutively produce enzymatically active ChABC. We have developed a lentiviral vector that can deliver a mammalian modified version of the ChABC gene to mammalian cells, including OECs. Enzyme production was quantified using the Morgan-Elson assay that detects the breakdown products of CSPG digestion in cell supernatants. We confirmed our findings by immunolabelling cell supernatant samples using Western blotting. OECs normal cell function was unaffected by genetic modification as demonstrated by normal microscopic morphology and the presence of the low affinity neurotrophin receptor (p75NGF) following viral transduction. We have developed the means to allow production of active ChABC in combination with a promising cell transplant therapy for SCI repair

Suppression of Exosomal PD-L1 Induces Systemic Anti-tumor Immunity and Memory.

PD-L1 on the surface of tumor cells binds its receptor PD-1 on effector T cells, thereby suppressing their activity. Antibody blockade of PD-L1 can activate an anti-tumor immune response leading to durable remissions in a subset of cancer patients. Here, we describe an alternative mechanism of PD-L1 activity involving its secretion in tumor-derived exosomes. Removal of exosomal PD-L1 inhibits tumor growth, even in models resistant to anti-PD-L1 antibodies. Exosomal PD-L1 from the tumor suppresses T cell activation in the draining lymph node. Systemically introduced exosomal PD-L1 rescues growth of tumors unable to secrete their own. Exposure to exosomal PD-L1-deficient tumor cells suppresses growth of wild-type tumor cells injected at a distant site, simultaneously or months later. Anti-PD-L1 antibodies work additively, not redundantly, with exosomal PD-L1 blockade to suppress tumor growth. Together, these findings show that exosomal PD-L1 represents an unexplored therapeutic target, which could overcome resistance to current antibody approaches