Therapist-Guided Practical Skills in the Treatment of Complex Dissociation

The Contextual Trauma Therapy (CTT) model includes a collaborative relationship, client-guided conceptualization, and therapist-guided practical skills. This workshop will discuss the application of therapist-guided skills for complex dissociation: 1) promoting a safe and stabile therapeutic setting, 2) improving emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and experiential presence, 3) therapist modeling of skills in session, and 4) collaborating with clients to foster utilization of skills beyond sessions. Presenters will provide examples of applications of this CTT component, benefits when clients incorporate consistent practice of these skills, and challenges associated with encouraging clients to extend the use of these skills in their personal lives

Trauma-informed Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Dissociative Identity Disorder

Dissociative symptoms are regarded as forms of disconnection from external stimuli, internal experiences, and interpersonal relationships. The Contextual Trauma Treatment (CTT) model for survivors of prolonged childhood abuse integrates Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) treatment. DBT enhances capacities for skillful interactions with others, and identifying and tolerating emotional experiences through the use of didactically-taught skill-based groups that balance encouraging acceptance of difficulties with the recognition of the need for change. This presentation will provide an overview of CTT for conceptualizing dissociation in the context of family of origin environment and development, and describe how TRIP integrates trauma-informed and DBT-informed treatment

Callipeltosides A, B and C: Total Syntheses and Structural Confirmation.

Since their isolation almost 20 years ago, the callipeltosides have been of long standing interest to the synthetic community owing to their unique structural features and inherent biological activity. Herein we present our full research effort that has led to the synthesis of these molecules. Key aspects of our final strategy include 1) synthesis of the C1-C9 pyran core (5) using an AuCl3 -catalysed cyclisation; 2) formation of C10-C22 vinyl iodide (55) by sequential bidirectional Stille reactions and 3) diastereoselective union of these advanced fragments by means of an alkenylzinc addition (d.r.=91:9 at C9). The common callipeltoside aglycon (4) was completed in a further five steps. Following this, all three sugar fragments were appended to provide the entire callipeltoside family. In addition to this, D-configured callipeltose B was synthesised and appended to the callipeltoside aglycon. The (1) H NMR spectrum of this molecule was found to be significantly different to the natural isolate, further supporting our assignment of callipeltoside B (2).We thank Novartis for a research studentship (J.R.F) and also gratefully acknowledge the EPSRC (Award numbers: EP/F06985/1; EP/K009494/1; EP/K039520/1) for financial support (C.M.P., T.N.S., R.A.B., J.G. and D.M.S).This is the final version. It first appeared at http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/chem.20150187

Aptamer-based multiplexed proteomic technology for biomarker discovery

Interrogation of the human proteome in a highly multiplexed and efficient manner remains a coveted and challenging goal in biology. We present a new aptamer-based proteomic technology for biomarker discovery capable of simultaneously measuring thousands of proteins from small sample volumes (15 [mu]L of serum or plasma). Our current assay allows us to measure ~800 proteins with very low limits of detection (1 pM average), 7 logs of overall dynamic range, and 5% average coefficient of variation. This technology is enabled by a new generation of aptamers that contain chemically modified nucleotides, which greatly expand the physicochemical diversity of the large randomized nucleic acid libraries from which the aptamers are selected. Proteins in complex matrices such as plasma are measured with a process that transforms a signature of protein concentrations into a corresponding DNA aptamer concentration signature, which is then quantified with a DNA microarray. In essence, our assay takes advantage of the dual nature of aptamers as both folded binding entities with defined shapes and unique sequences recognizable by specific hybridization probes. To demonstrate the utility of our proteomics biomarker discovery technology, we applied it to a clinical study of chronic kidney disease (CKD). We identified two well known CKD biomarkers as well as an additional 58 potential CKD biomarkers. These results demonstrate the potential utility of our technology to discover unique protein signatures characteristic of various disease states. More generally, we describe a versatile and powerful tool that allows large-scale comparison of proteome profiles among discrete populations. This unbiased and highly multiplexed search engine will enable the discovery of novel biomarkers in a manner that is unencumbered by our incomplete knowledge of biology, thereby helping to advance the next generation of evidence-based medicine

Effects of dissipation on quantum phase transitions

We discuss the effect of dissipation on quantum phase transitions. In particular we concentrate on the Superconductor to Insulator and Quantum-Hall to Insulator transitions. By invoking a phenomenological parameter $\alpha$ to describe the coupling of the system to a continuum of degrees of freedom representing the dissipative bath, we obtain new phase diagrams for the quantum Hall and superconductor-insulator problems. Our main result is that, in two-dimensions, the metallic phases observed in finite magnetic fields (possibly also strictly zero field) are adiabatically deformable from one to the other. This is plausible, as there is no broken symmetry which differentiates them.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure

Air Pollution, Urgent Asthma Medical Visits and the Modifying Effect of Neighborhood Asthma Prevalence

Background: Social and environmental stressors, may modify associations between environmental pollutants and asthma symptoms. We examined if neighborhood asthma prevalence (higher: HAPN vs. lower: LAPN), a surrogate for underlying risk factors for asthma, modified the relationship between pollutants and urgent asthma visits. Methods: Through zip code, home addresses were linked to New York City Community Air Survey’s land use regression model for street-level, annual average nitrogen dioxide (NO2), particulate matter (PM2.5), elemental carbon (EC); summer average ozone (O3); winter average sulfur dioxide (SO2) concentrations. Poisson regression models were fit to estimate the association (prevalence ratio, PR) between pollutant exposures and seeking urgent asthma care. Results: All pollutants, except O3 were higher in HAPN than LAPN (P0.05). Conclusions: Relationships between modeled street-level pollutants and urgent asthma were stronger in LAPN compared to HAPN. Social stressors that may be more prevalent in HAPN than LAPN, could play a greater role in asthma exacerbations in HAPN versus pollutant exposure alone

Digital Signal Processing Research Program

Contains table of contents for Section 2, an introduction, reports on sixteen research projects and a list of publications.Bose CorporationMIT-Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Graduate Program in Oceanographic EngineeringAdvanced Research Projects Agency/U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research Grant N00014-93-1-0686Lockheed Sanders, Inc./U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research Contract N00014-91-C-0125U.S. Air Force - Office of Scientific Research Grant AFOSR-91-0034AT&T Laboratories Doctoral Support ProgramAdvanced Research Projects Agency/U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research Grant N00014-89-J-1489U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research Grant N00014-93-1-0686National Science Foundation FellowshipMaryland Procurement Office Contract MDA904-93-C-4180U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research Grant N00014-91-J-162

Digital Signal Processing Research Program

Contains table of contents for Section 2, an introduction, reports on twenty-two research projects and a list of publications.Sanders, a Lockheed-Martin Corporation Contract BZ4962U.S. Army Research Laboratory Contract DAAL01-96-2-0001U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research Grant N00014-93-1-0686National Science Foundation Grant MIP 95-02885U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research Grant N00014-96-1-0930National Defense Science and Engineering FellowshipU.S. Air Force - Office of Scientific Research Grant F49620-96-1-0072U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research Grant N00014-95-1-0362National Science Foundation Graduate Research FellowshipAT&T Bell Laboratories Graduate Research FellowshipU.S. Army Research Laboratory Contract DAAL01-96-2-0002National Science Foundation Graduate FellowshipU.S. Army Research Laboratory/Advanced Sensors Federated Lab Program Contract DAAL01-96-2-000

Association between Regulator of G Protein Signaling 9–2 and Body Weight

Regulator of G protein signaling 9–2 (RGS9–2) is a protein that is highly enriched in the striatum, a brain region that mediates motivation, movement and reward responses. We identified a naturally occurring 5 nucleotide deletion polymorphism in the human RGS9 gene and found that the mean body mass index (BMI) of individuals with the deletion was significantly higher than those without. A splicing reporter minigene assay demonstrated that the deletion had the potential to significantly decrease the levels of correctly spliced RGS9 gene product. We measured the weights of rats after virally transduced overexpression of RGS9–2 or the structurally related RGS proteins, RGS7, or RGS11, in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) and observed a reduction in body weight after overexpression of RGS9–2 but not RGS7 or 11. Conversely, we found that the RGS9 knockout mice were heavier than their wild-type littermates and had significantly higher percentages of abdominal fat. The constituent adipocytes were found to have a mean cross-sectional area that was more than double that of corresponding cells from wild-type mice. However, food intake and locomotion were not significantly different between the two strains. These studies with humans, rats and mice implicate RGS9–2 as a factor in regulating body weight.National Institute of Mental Health (U.S.) (R41MH78570 award)National Center for Research Resources (U.S.) (Rhode Island IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (RI-INBRE) Award P20RR016457-10