The agglutination of formed elements in the blood of invertebrates.

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston University Includes bibliographical references.The purpose of this thesis is to discuss the role of invertebrate blood and body fluid cells in clot formation and related phenomena. Invertebrate blood physiology has been most extensively investigated in some crustaceans and in Limulus, a merostomatan. The insects have also been studied a good deal, and there has been some work on the annelids, mollusks, echinoderms, tunicates (ascidians), and others. The three most important hemostatic devices in vertebrates are (1) smooth muscle contraction, (2) blood cell agglutination, and (3) plasma coagulation. Among the mammalian blood cells only the platelets are important in clot formation, although the leukocytes may sometimes be involved. [TRUNCATED

TakeCARE, a Video Bystander Program to Help Prevent Sexual Violence on College Campuses: Results of Two Randomized, Controlled Trials

Objective: The present research reports on two randomized controlled trials evaluating TakeCARE, a video bystander program designed to help prevent sexual violence on college campuses. Method: In Study 1, students were recruited from psychology courses at two universities. In Study 2, first-year students were recruited from a required course at one university. In both studies, students were randomly assigned to view one of two videos: TakeCARE or a control video on study skills. Just before viewing the videos, students completed measures of bystander behavior toward friends and ratings of self-efficacy for performing such behaviors. The efficacy measure was administered again after the video, and both the bystander behavior measure and the efficacy measure were administered at either one (Study 1) or two (Study 2) months later. Results: In both studies, students who viewed TakeCARE, compared to students who viewed the control video, reported engaging in more bystander behavior toward friends and greater feelings of efficacy for performing such behavior. In Study 1, feelings of efficacy mediated effects of TakeCARE on bystander behavior; this result did not emerge in Study 2. Conclusions: This research demonstrates that TakeCARE, a video bystander program, can positively influence bystander behavior toward friends. Given its potential to be easily distributed to an entire campus community, TakeCARE might be an effective addition to campus efforts to prevent sexual violence

Measuring Teen Dating Violence Perpetration: A Comparison of Cumulative and Single Assessment Procedures

Teen dating violence (TDV) is a widespread and harmful public health concern. The measurement of TDV has undergone some debate, with some researchers suggesting current measurement methods are suboptimal. The current study evaluates the use of cumulative assessments, a measurement method used previously in research on mental health and TDV victimization, to measure TDV perpetration. We hypothesized prevalence of frequency estimates of TDV perpetration would be higher when measured with cumulative assessments compared to a single report. Additionally, we hypothesized TDV perpetration measured cumulatively would more strongly relate to criterion variables than TDV perpetration measured with a single report. A sample of court-referred adolescents (n = 147, 14-17 years old) was recruited and invited into the lab for a baseline assessment, where they completed demographic questions and measures of criterion variables, including externalizing symptoms, exposure to community violence, and attitudes about dating. Adolescents were invited back to the lab for a 3-month follow-up assessment, where they reported on their TDV perpetration across the past 3 months. Between baseline and the 3-month follow-up, participants were contacted for phone interviews every 2-weeks and reported on their TDV perpetration in the past 2-weeks. All six phone interviews were aggregated to form a cumulative measure of TDV across the 3-month period. Results indicated the cumulative assessments of TDV evidenced greater prevalence for physical and emotional TDV compared to single reports, and greater frequency for all types of TDV compared to single reports. Furthermore, overall TDV was more strongly related to externalizing symptoms when measured cumulatively rather than with a single assessment, and sexual TDV was more strongly related to exposure to community violence when measured cumulatively rather than with a single assessment. Findings from the current study highlight the potential benefits of utilizing cumulative assessments in the measurement of TDV perpetration

Yoga for generalized anxiety disorder: design of a randomized controlled clinical trial.

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is a common disorder associated with significant distress and interference. Although cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has been shown to be the most effective form of psychotherapy, few patients receive or have access to this intervention. Yoga therapy offers another promising, yet under-researched, intervention that is gaining increasing popularity in the general public, as an anxiety reduction intervention. The purpose of this innovative clinical trial protocol is to investigate the efficacy of a Kundalini Yoga intervention, relative to CBT and a control condition. Kundalini yoga and CBT are compared with each other in a noninferiority test and both treatments are compared to stress education training, an attention control intervention, in superiority tests. The sample will consist of 230 individuals with a primary DSM-5 diagnosis of GAD. This randomized controlled trial will compare yoga (N=95) to both CBT for GAD (N=95) and stress education (N=40), a commonly used control condition. All three treatments will be administered by two instructors in a group format over 12 weekly sessions with four to six patients per group. Groups will be randomized using permuted block randomization, which will be stratified by site. Treatment outcome will be evaluated bi-weekly and at 6month follow-up. Furthermore, potential mediators of treatment outcome will be investigated. Given the individual and economic burden associated with GAD, identifying accessible alternative behavioral treatments will have substantive public health implications.R01 AT007257 - NCCIH NIH HHS; R01 AT007258 - NCCIH NIH HH

TakeCARE, a Video to Promote Bystander Behavior on College Campuses: Replication and Extension

Previous research has demonstrated that college students who view TakeCARE, a video bystander program designed to encourage students to take action to prevent sexual and relationship violence (i.e., bystander behavior), display more bystander behavior relative to students who view a control video. The current study aimed to replicate and extend these findings by testing two different methods of administering TakeCARE and examining moderators of TakeCARE’s effects on bystander behavior. Students at four universities (n = 557) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: (a) view TakeCARE in a monitored computer lab, (b) view TakeCARE at their own convenience after receiving an email link to the video, or (c) view a video about study skills (control group). Participants completed measures of bystander behavior at baseline and at a 1-month follow-up. Participants in both TakeCARE conditions reported more bystander behavior at follow-up assessments, compared with participants in the control condition. The beneficial effect of TakeCARE did not differ significantly across administration methods. However, the effects of TakeCARE on bystander behavior were moderated by students’ perceptions of campus responsiveness to sexual violence, with more potent effects when students perceived their institution as responsive to reports of sexual violence

Does d-cycloserine facilitate the effects of homework compliance on social anxiety symptom reduction?

BACKGROUND: Prior studies examining the effect of d-cycloserine (DCS) on homework compliance and outcome in cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) have yielded mixed results. The aim of this study was to investigate whether DCS facilitates the effects of homework compliance on symptom reduction in a large-scale study for social anxiety disorder (SAD). METHODS: 169 participants with generalized SAD received DCS or pill placebo during 12-session exposure-based group CBT. Improvements in social anxiety were assessed by independent raters at each session using the Liebowitz social anxiety scale (LSAS). RESULTS: Controlling for LSAS at the previous session, and irrespective of treatment condition, greater homework compliance in the week prior related to lower LSAS at the next session. However, DCS did not moderate the effect of homework compliance and LSAS, LSAS on homework compliance, or the overall augmenting effect of DCS on homework compliance. Furthermore, LSAS levels were not predictive of homework compliance in the following week. CONCLUSION: The findings support the general benefits of homework compliance on outcome, but not a DCS-augmenting effect. The comparably small number of DCS-enhanced sessions in this study could be one reason for the failure to find a facilitating effect of DCS

Transport Out of the Antarctic Polar Vortex from a Three-dimensional Transport Model

[1] A three-dimensional chemical transport model is utilized to study the transport out of the Antarctic polar vortex during the southern hemisphere spring. On average, over five consecutive years between 1993 and 1997, horizontal transport out of the vortex into the midlatitude stratosphere is smaller than vertical transport into the troposphere. However, there is significant interannual variability in the magnitude of mass exchange, which is related to year-to-year fluctuations in planetary wave activity. In 1994 the net loss of the vortex tracer mass in September is similar to that in October. However, the relative mass flux entering the midlatitude stratosphere and the troposphere differ between the two months. The ratio of horizontal transport out of the vortex to vertical transport into the troposphere is about 3:7 in September and 5:5 in October, indicating the higher permeability of the vortex in October compared to September. The September mass flux into the troposphere is larger than in October, consistent with the fact that stronger diabatic cooling occurs in September than October over Antarctica. The estimated ozone change at southern midlatitudes due to the intrusion of ozone-depleted air from high latitudes during September–October 1994 is about −0.44% per decade, which could contribute up to 10% of observed ozone decline at southern midlatitudes in spring. This amount is an underestimate of the dilution effect from high latitudes during the spring season, as it does not include the vortex breakup in late spring

The Location and Appearance of Second Malignancies in Patients With Bilateral Retinoblastoma

Purpose. This paper describes the clinical history and radiographic appearance of second malignancies in patients with bilateral retinoblastoma