Early alliance, alliance ruptures, and symptom change in a nonrandomized trial of cognitive therapy for avoidant and obsessive-compulsive personality disorders.

Participants were 30 adult outpatients diagnosed with avoidant personality disorder or obsessive-compulsive personality disorder who enrolled in an open trial of cognitive therapy for personality disorders. Treatment consisted of up to 52 weekly sessions. Symptom evaluations were conducted at intake, at Sessions 17 and 34, and at the last session. Alliance variables were patients' first alliance rating and "rupture-repair" episodes, which are disruptions in the therapeutic relationship that can provide corrective experiences and facilitate change. Stronger early alliances and rupture-repair episodes predicted more improvement in symptoms of personality disorder and depression. This work points to potentially important areas to target in treatment development for these personality disorders. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cavitation-driven Deformable Microchambers Inspired by Fast Microscale Movements of Ferns

Annulus cells of fern sporangia spontaneously deform driven by water transpiration and cavitation, resulting in the peculiar macroscale catapult-like movement of the sporangium. Annulus cells' behavior, if artificially replicated, can inspire a novel class of fast actuators composed of annulus-mimicking units. However, the transpiration and cavitation-driven dynamics observed in annulus cells is never reproduced. Here, prismatic microcavities are assembled with a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microfilm to realize artificial microchambers that mimic the annulus cells, replicating for the first time their evaporation-driven collapse and their fast return triggered by the nucleation of bubbles. The microchambers, in turn, can be fabricated in adjacency, resulting in bending arrays driven by transpiration. Working with an artificial system allows this study to investigate the fluidic phenomena arising from the interplay of a soft, semi-permeable membrane with a micro-confined liquid bounded by rigid walls. First, the microchambers aspect ratio influences the membrane dynamics and the bubble shape (either spherical or non-spherical). Second, the growth rate of the bubble interplay with the membrane in the expansion dynamics. This study's results demonstrate the artificial replication of annulus cells' behavior, offering a plant-like solution to realize fast, microscale movements, and a novel tool to investigate complex fluidic mechanisms involving micro-confined cavitation.     

Treated municipal wastewater as option to the use of fresh water for the cultivation of valuable pastoral species Buffel grass (Cenchrus ciliaris L.)

The increasing aridity exacerbated by climatic changes is leading to loss of perennial herbaceous plants Cenchrus ciliaris, an apomictic, polyploid grass used as forage in hot and dry areas, and is currently under threat for the increased scarcity of water. In this study, treated municipal wastewater (TWW) was used to irrigate two ploidy levels of C. ciliaris for two consecutive years. The objectives were (1) to assess the possibility of using unconventional water for watering C. ciliaris and (2) to identify at what extent TWW irrigation affected growth and nutritive properties of C. ciliaris that differed for polyploidy level. TWW irrigation positively affected growth and physiological plant parameters. In leaves of TWW watered C. ciliaris, the concentration of N_t, P and K significantly increased. The tetraploid C. ciliaris showed a better growth and quality than the hexaploid ones, appearing the most suitable cultivar to be irrigated with TWW for feed uses. In short, TWW can be strategically used for irrigating forage species with the double output of ameliorating soil properties, recovering degraded area and improving the nutritive values of fodder species contributing to the promotion of a green and sustainable circular economy, more in climatically under pressure developing countries.