Informed consent: Therapists' beliefs and practices.

To assess the current status of informed consent among psychotherapists, a survey instrument was sent to 324 American Psychological Association members currently practicing therapy. 189 therapists returned completed surveys, yielding a response rate of 58%. Survey responses provided information on use, importance, reasons, communication, methods, and timing regarding 5 specific consent issues. These issues included confidentiality, risks, treatment length, treatment procedures, and alternatives. Results suggest similarity and variability in therapists' reported beliefs and practices. Therapists of a cognitive-behavioral orientation indicated they inform clients more often and consider the issues more important. These findings, along with the reasons given for not informing clients, highlight the complexity of applying ethical standards to practice contexts. Implications for practice and research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Experimental studies on the role of alkyl lysophospholipids in autologous bone marrow transplatation

The selective cytocidal effect of alkyl lysophospholipids against neoplastic cells while sparing normal cells make these ideal candidates for purging leukemic cells from bone marrows obtained during remission. To test the feasibility of such an approach, a murine model and an in vitro human cell model were developed. In the murine system a mixture of normal bone marrow cells and WEHI IIIB myelomonocytic leukemic cells was incubated with varying doses of 1-O-octadecyl-2-O-methyl-rac-glycero-3-phosphocholine (ET-Me) for 24 hr before being injected into tail veins of lethally irradiated Balb/c mice. At doses of 20 and 100 μg/ml, long-term survivors were noted. The additional steps of freezing and thawing following incubation resulted in significantly longer survival with doses of 10 to 50 μg/ml, but were toxic to marrow stem cells at 100 μg/ml. In the in vitro model, normal marrow progenitor cells and leukemic cells (the promyelocytic cell line HL60) were exposed to varying concentrations of ET-Me for 1 and 4 hr alone or mixed, and clonogenicity was assayed by colony formation in semisolid medium during 7–14 days’ incubation. At doses up to 100 μg/ml exposed for 4 hr normal progenitor cells were spared and HL60 colonies eliminated. Other phospholipids analogues were less effective in eliminating leukemic cells, but spared normal progenitor cells. A survey of fresh leukemic cells found varying degrees of sensitivity to ET-Me, indicating the need for testing a variety of compounds. These studies clearly indicated the potential usefulness of alkyl lysophospholipid compounds in selectively purging leukemic cells from remission marrows for autologous bone marrow transplantation.     

Dissertation while on internship: Obstacles and predictors of progress.

Dissertation status of intern applicants is an issue for training directors and students alike. Two major concerns are that students may fail to finish the dissertation after the internship and that they may be distracted during internship while also working on the dissertation. The dissertation status and progress of 1,025 psychology interns is described, as well as obstacles to and predictors of dissertation progress. While 20% of all interns start the year with their dissertations complete, students who start internship with completed proposals make more dissertation progress while on internship than those beginning at preproposal stages. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Implicit Sequence Learning: Effects of Level of Structure, Adult Age, and Extended Practice.

The influence of structure and age on sequence learning was investigated by testing 24 young and 24 older participants for 10 sessions in an alternating serial response time task in which pattern trials alternated with random trials. Individuals encountered lag-2 or lag-3 structure, and learning was measured by the difference (in response time and accuracy) between pattern and random trials. Both ages learned lag-2 structure, but the young learned more than the older participants. Only the young people learned lag-3 structure, and they did so more slowly and to a lesser degree than they learned lag-2 structure. These age deficits in higher order sequence learning after extended practice are consistent with simultaneity theory and with theories positing that age-related deficits in neuromodulation lead to less distinctive representations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)