Answering clients' questions.

Presents therapist guidelines for answering client questions in psychotherapy. Response recommendations are based on question type and whether the client's motives are overt or covert. Questions are categorized as: (1) genuine requests for information , (2) indirect requests for some type of gratification from the therapist, (3) questions that are really statements, (4) questions that are tests, and (5) questions that push the therapist's boundaries. The underlying dynamics of client questions are identified, including shame, anger, determining if the therapist cares, projective identification, and testing the therapist's limits and boundaries. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Answering young children's questions as a determinant of their subsequent question-asking behavior.

Investigated whether answering preschool children's questions increases the frequency with which they ask questions. Data suggest that answers serve a dual function as a discriminative cue and as a reinforcer to elicit and maintain well-established inquiry behavior patterns among young children interacting with an informative adult. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Redesigning an FKBP-ligand interface to generate chemical dimerizers with novel specificity

FKBP ligand homodimers can be used to activate signaling events inside cells and animals that have been engineered to express fusions between appropriate signaling domains and FKBP. However, use of these dimerizers in vivo is potentially limited by ligand binding to endogenous FKBP. We have designed ligands that bind specifically to a mutated FKBP over the wild-type protein by remodeling an FKBP-ligand interface to introduce a specificity binding pocket. A compound bearing an ethyl substituent in place of a carbonyl group exhibited sub-nanomolar affinity and 1,000-fold selectivity for a mutant FKBP with a compensating truncation of a phenylalanine residue. Structural and functional analysis of the new pocket showed that recognition is surprisingly relaxed, with the modified ligand only partially filling the engineered cavity. We incorporated the specificity pocket into a fusion protein containing FKBP and the intracellular domain of the Fas receptor. Cells expressing this modified chimeric protein potently underwent apoptosis in response to AP1903, a homodimer of the modified ligand, both in culture and when implanted into mice. Remodeled dimerizers such as AP1903 are ideal reagents for controlling the activities of cells that have been modified by gene therapy procedures, without interference from endogenous FKBP.     

Social justice in an accredited internship in professional psychology: Answering the call.

Calls from the psychological literature have highlighted a need for the integration of social justice training in APA-accredited internships in professional psychology. This article presents an example of how foundational principles of social justice can be integrated into predoctoral internships. The authors identified foundational principles of social justice from the literature and applied them to training, using the internship at the University of California San Diego's Psychological and Counseling Services as a case example. Ways in which these principles have shaped trainees, learning activities, and trainee perspectives are presented. Finally, recommendations for integration of these principles for teaching psychology trainees are underscored. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A novel soluble tissue factor variant with an altered factor VIIa binding interface

Tissue factor (TF) residues Lys20 and Asp58 form part of a binding epitope previously shown by alanine scanning to be critical for high affinity interactions with factor VIIa (FVIIa). To explore the possibility of enhancing the affinity of a TF-based antagonist for FVIIa, we created libraries in which residues at 20, 58, and adjacent positions were varied in constructs containing the soluble extracellular domain of TF (sTF) fused to the bacteriophage M13 tail coat protein. TF variants monovalently displayed on phage were then sorted on the basis of binding to FVIIa. Sorting of preliminary libraries, in which position 58 and/or 20 and surrounding residues were randomized, led to the selection of TF proteins of essentially wild-type sequence. Therefore, we devised a strategy wherein TF position 20 was held fixed as alanine and 5 specific residues near to, and including, position 58 were randomized to effectively obtain alternative sequences at this interface. The consensus sequence reached with this library included wild-type residues at positions 61, 62, 65, and 66 but exclusively tryptophan at position 58. Analyses of the soluble K20A,D58W (A20W58) TF protein indicated that it binds FVIIa with an affinity comparable with wild-type sTF but is defective as a cofactor for FVIIa-dependent factor X activation. Further experiments designed to elucidate the mechanism of binding suggest that the new binding interactions involve more than the simple addition of hydrophobic surface area.     

Phase formation at an interface between aluminum and an iron-nickel alloy

Electron-probe microanalysis has been applied to the compositions of single-phase intermetallide layers and two-phase reaction zones at the interfaces between liquid aluminum saturated with alloy components at 700°C and iron-nickel alloys having iron contents of 90, 75, 50, 25, 20, 15, and 10 mass %. Binary intermetallides (FeAl₃, Fe₂Al₇, NiAl₃, and NiAl₂) and a ternary intermetallide FeNiAl₉ are formed. All the binary compounds dissolve considerable amounts of the third element (Ni or Fe) and have appreciable homogeneity ranges. The dissolution of the Fe?Ni alloy in the pure liquid aluminum reduces the total thicknesses of the intermetallide layers growing between the alloy and the aluminum by a factor 3–5 by comparison with a saturated aluminum melt.     

Casting-chill interface heat transfer during solidification of an aluminum alloy

Unidirectional solidification tests on an aluminum alloy were conducted with a computer-controlled instrumented rig. The alloys employed in this study were poured into isolated ingot molds (made of recrystallized alumina and covered with ceramic fiber) placed on top of a steel plate, coated either with a graphite- or ceramic-based paint in order to avoid sticking of the material. Thermal evolution during the test was captured by type-K thermocouples placed at different positions in both the ingot and the plate. The bottom surface of the plate was either cooled with water or left to cool in air. The heat-transfer coefficients across the aluminum-steel interface were evaluated by means of a finite-difference model. It was concluded that the heat-transfer rate depends on the conditions at the interface, such as the type of coating used to protect the plate, and the solidification reactions occurring on the aluminum during its solidification.     

Determination of hepatotoxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids by on-line high performance liquid chromatography mass spectrometry with an electrospray interface

The present study describes the determination of two different types of hepatotoxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) and also distinguishing the hepatotoxic PAs from non-toxic ones by both in-source collision-induced dissociation high performance liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (CID-HPLC/MS) and HPLC/MS/MS (CID in the collision cell), using electrospray ionization. The mass spectra provided molecular ions and characteristic fragment ions, which could be used readily for a rapid identification of different types of PAs. Applications of both in-source CID-HPLC/MS and HPLC/MS/MS analytical methods were successful for the determination of PAs in blood samples obtained from rats dosed with PAs and in the PA-containing plant. The results demonstrated that the developed HPLC/MS methods with two different CID techniques provided a very simple and rapid analysis for an unequivocal diagnosis of PA poisoning and for definitive identification of PAs in plants or herbal medicines.