Updating von Uexküll: New directions in communication research.

The study of communication in all its forms has come a long way conceptually and methodologically in the last decade, and this is more true of auditory communication than of the other sensory modalities. In considering the issues involved in communication, it is clear that simple dyadic considerations leave out too many important issues. Background noise, eavesdropping, and deception represent important neglected factors driving the evolution of the mechanisms, development, and ecological adaptiveness of communicatory processes in natural environments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Clinical and research issues in breast cancer genetics

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women in the U.S. The risk factors for developing breast cancer include increasing age, a family history of breast cancer, and the lack of a child by age 30. A substantial fraction of breast cancer, however, occurs in women who have no identifiable risk factors. The diagnosis, pathology, treatment, and presymptomatic testing of cancer susceptibility genes are reviewed. Syndromes with an associated risk of breast cancer are described, such as hereditary breast-ovarian cancer syndrome, Li-Fraumeni syndrome, ataxia telangiectasia, and Cowden's disease. With the localization of the BRCA1 gene to chromosome 17q21 and the BRCA2 gene to chromosome 13q12, issues surrounding breast cancer susceptibility genetic testing are assuming an ever greater measure of importance. The sensitivity and specificity for molecular testing of cancer susceptibility genes, however, have not been well defined. The progress in presymptomatic genetic testing is further hampered by various factors such as the technical difficulty in distinguishing mutations from polymorphisms, the number of different mutations identified thus far and the possibility of false positive and false negative results. Laboratory quality assurance/quality control issues are of paramount importance to avoid misleading interpretations. Many issues surrounding genetic screening and testing, such as insurance and employment discrimination, privacy, and informed consent, are under active debate, and guidelines and standards are under active development. It is therefore important to proceed with caution, so that irreversible harm resulting from data misinterpretation can be avoided.     

New directions for research on the psychological maltreatment of children.

This article identifies several research directions for psychologists interested in studying the psychological maltreatment of children and youth. The field of child maltreatment in general has been criticized for its isolation from psychological theory and for compartmentalizing each of the various forms of maltreatment. In order to organize research on psychological maltreatment and on its relationship to other maltreatment forms, two conceptual perspectives are suggested: ecological and developmental. These perspectives are then used to discuss the following three research areas: definitional issues; ecological processes and child outcomes; and protective factors and child outcomes. Attention is also given to policy issues that emerge in our efforts to understand psychological maltreatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The directions in psychotherapy research.

Examined the feasibility of conducting large-scale collaborative research projects in psychotherapy by: (a) an analysis of existing empirical literature, (b) formulation of research designs that appeared promising, and (c) visiting scholars and research centers to sample opinions and test motivations for conducting such studies. It is concluded that the expectable returns from any of the large-scale, multifactorial projects thus far proposed do not justify the large investment of manpower and funds that would be required. On the basis of the literature review and interviews with prominent researchers, it is suggested that promising directions for therapy research include: (a) focusing on the mechanisms of change via experimental case studies, (b) avoiding further investment in process and outcome studies of traditional therapy, and (c) building new techniques rather than testing old ones. (19 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

New directions in psychoanalysis.

A number of significant developments augur well for the future of psychoanalysis, both as a method of therapy and as a branch of psychological science. The contributions of Heinz Kohut, together with the explanations for his clinical findings as made possible by developmental psychology, cybernetics, communication science, and neurophysiology are reviewed in the context of their significance for Freud's pioneering discoveries. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

超声在乳腺癌的癌前病变的应用价值研究

目的:探讨超声在乳腺癌的癌前病变的应用价值.方法:应用二维超声及彩色多普勒超声对近期超声检测的98例乳腺块者进行回顾性分析,将其分为良性组、恶性组以及癌前病变组,对患者的病灶形态、边缘、内部有无微小钙化,后方回声、内部有无动脉血流及阻力等进行对比统计,并进行统计学分析.结果:3组患者乳腺病变超声图像特征及检出率对比癌前病变组与良性组3项超声特征性指标(病灶形态不规则、内部有微小钙化、动脉RI>0.7)的检出率比较差异有统计学意义;癌前病变组与恶性组5项超声特征性指标的检出率比较差异有统计学意义.结论:超声作为一种无创性的检测手段对乳腺癌患者癌前病变的诊断具有十分有效的临床价值,值得临床大力推广.     

An integrative conceptual framework of disability: New directions for research.

Advances in research on disability and rehabilitation are essential to creating equal opportunity, economic self-sufficiency, and full participation for persons with disabilities. Historically, such initiatives have focused on separate and specific areas, including neuroscience, molecular biology and genetics, gerontology, engineering and physical sciences, and social and behavioral sciences. Research on persons with disabilities should examine the broader context and trends of society that affect the total environment of persons with disabilities. This article examines the various disability paradigms across time, assessing the relative contribution of the socioecological perspective in guiding research designed to improve the lives of persons with disabilities. The authors recommend new research directions that include a focus on life span issues, biomedicine, biotechnology, the efficacy and effectiveness of current interventions, an emphasis on consumer-driven investigations within a socioecological perspective of disability, and the implications for research and practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

New directions in touch.

Introduces the special issue on New Directions in Touch, which focuses on a number of critical topics concerning the sense of touch, with invited reviews written by some of the top researchers in the field today. Some of these are traditional topics that have seen impressive advances in recent years, while others are quite new. The intent in highlighting this work is to reflect the increasing excitement in recent years surrounding the exponential increase in highly innovative and diverse research devoted to the sense of touch. There are nine articles in the special issue, covering a wide assortment of topics related to human tactile and haptic sensing and its application, including sensation, perception, cognition and their underlying neural mechanisms, and how basic research on touch has been applied to the design of haptic interfaces for teleoperation and virtual environments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Helping hospitalized smokers quit: New directions for treatment and research.

To date, relatively little work has been done to develop or evaluate effective inpatient quit-smoking treatment programs. However, there is growing interest in programs that motivate and assist the hospitalized smoker to quit smoking and remain abstinent. This article represents the rationale for hospital-based smoking treatment programs and introduces a practical minimal-contact treatment model based on extensive studies of primary-care-based and self-help interventions, on a limited number of inpatient studies, and on several prominent theories of health behavior change. Recent controlled and exploratory studies of inpatient interventions are reviewed, including programs for the general medical population and programs for special patient groups such as patients hospitalized for cardiovascular disease, pulmonary disease, cancer, and drug or alcohol dependency. Major findings are summarized, and recommendations are given for future treatment and research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

乳腺癌新辅助化疗的临床研究

目的 评估新辅助化疗对乳腺癌的治疗作用.方法 两组采用不同的方法治疗,进行结果评估.结果 对照组肿瘤控制率42.86%(9/21),治疗组肿瘤控制率61.90%(13/21).结论 新辅助化疗是质量好的治疗方法,值得临床推广.     

New directions in myocardial perfusion imaging

In recent years, substantial progress has been made in the field of nuclear cardiology. Pharmacologic stress perfusion imaging with intravenous administration of dipyridamole or adenosine provides comparable sensitivity and specificity values for detection of coronary artery disease (CAD) as exercise imaging and has been employed successfully for risk stratification prior to peripheral vascular or aortic surgery and after myocardial infarction. Detection of myocardial viability can be enhanced utilizing reinjection of a second dose of thallium-201 (Tl-201) at rest after acquisition of redistribution images with the single photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT) technique. Imaging solely in the resting state with Tl-201 can also provide information concerning presence of viable myocardium in asynergic regions that are stunned or hibernating. New technetium-99m (Tc-99m) perfusion agents have emerged in the clinical setting and have provided excellent predictive value for detection of CAD in patients with chest pain and permit simultaneous assessment of function and regional blood flow. Tc-99m Sestamibi, one of these agents, is also a valid marker of viability when assessing myocardial salvage after coronary reperfusion in acute myocardial infarction.     

New directions in industrial-organizational psychology.

This article introduces our motivation for producing a special section on new areas of research for I-O psychology. We briefly review presentations that sparked conversations around how I-O psychology could be applied to new contexts or related disciplines. We then introduce the articles that appear in this special section. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

New directions in behavioral consultation.

The expanding application of behavioral technologies to alleviate the mental health and educational problems of children has increased the scope and social significance of behavior analysis during recent decades. Although behavioral technologies provide an empirical basis for assisting parents, teachers, and children, these procedures rarely include a method for implementation in service delivery. The pioneering work that placed behaviorism into a general case delivery model has led to the wide acceptance of a specific model for behavioral consultation. While Behavioral Consultation (BC) has become widely accepted as a particular process consisting of four interviews and plan implementation, it could be more broadly described as the provision of services and technologies that are based on behavioral research. The purpose of this special series is to examine the provision of behavior therapy and behavior modification in education using the broader conceptualization of behavioral consultation that diverges in some ways from BC. While BC has contributed to the work comprising this special series, each of the authors examines issues in the delivery of behavioral consultation that diverge in some way from BC. One goal in creating the miniseries was to initiate an examination of BC as a method, rather than the method, for providing behavior analysis in schools. The second goal of this special series was to serve as a catalyst for the examination of new methods for implementing behavioral consultation. The contributions of the various authors serve to illustrate the breadth of potential new directions for the conceptualization, investigation, and implementation of the broad class of behaviors belonging to response class of behavioral consultation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)