Building a model for prevention practice: Depression as an example.

Preventing mental illness has become increasingly emphasized as a priority for psychologists. Unfortunately, clinicians who want to incorporate prevention activities into their practice have few available models to guide how they might accomplish such a task. Using the literature on the prevention of depression, the authors make specific recommendations to clinicians who are interested in expanding their practice by offering preventive interventions in addition to their usual treatment activities. Topics discussed include choosing target populations for the intervention, using a theoretical orientation to guide the intervention, selecting specific ingredients to include in the intervention, deciding among different intervention modalities, and obtaining financial reimbursement for prevention work. Prevention work can be a novel solution to help meet the unsatisfied needs of patients, clinicians, and society. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The GIFT Program for Major Depression: Integrating Group, Individual, and Family Treatment.

Traditional models of psychotherapy for depression have focused primarily on modification of a single area of functioning (e.g., cognition or behavior). The Group, Individual, and Family Treatment (GIFT) program is an integrative psychotherapy program designed to build on current cognitive and behavioral theory and technology, with modifications intended to create a more transportable and cost-effective version of existing group treatment. The authors describe the emotional fitness model of mental health that underlies the GIFT program. They then describe how GIFT structurally integrates group, individual, and family-based interventions. The authors explain how GIFT uses cognitive, behavioral, and acceptance-based strategies. They then present data from an open, uncontrolled trial. Thirteen of 20 (65%) patients initially presenting for treatment of major depression completed the GIFT program. Symptom reduction, as measured by the Beck Depression Inventory-II, was comparable to other group treatments for depression (pretreatment-posttreatment effect size, d = 1.95). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ethylene Production and Peroxidase Activity in Aphid-Infested Barley

The purpose of this work was to investigate whether ethylene is involved in the oxidative and defensive responses of barley to the aphids Schizaphis graminum (biotype C) and Rhopalophum padi. The effect of aphid infestation on ethylene production was measured in two barley cultivars (Frontera and Aramir) that differ in their susceptibility to aphids. Ethylene evolution was higher in plants infested for 16 hr than in plants infested for 4 hr in both cultivars. Under aphid infestation, the production of ethylene was higher in cv. Frontera than in Aramir, the more aphid susceptible cultivar. Ethylene production also increases with the degree of infestation. Maximum ethylene evolution was detected after 16 hr when plants were infested with 10 or more aphids. Comparing the two species of aphids, Schizaphis graminum induced more ethylene evolution than Rhopalosiphum padi. Infestation with S. graminum increased hydrogen peroxide content and total soluble peroxidase activity in cv. Frontera, with a maximum level of H₂O₂ observed after 20 min of infestation and the maximum in soluble peroxidase activity after 30 min of infestation. When noninfested barley seedlings from cv. Frontera were exposed to ethylene, an increase in hydrogen peroxide and in total peroxidase activity was detected at levels similar to those of infested plants from cv. Frontera. When noninfested plants were treated with 40 ppm of ethylene, the maximum levels of H₂O₂ and soluble peroxidase activity were at 10 and 40 min, respectively. Ethylene also increased the activity of both cell-wall-bound peroxidases types (ionically and covalently bound), comparable with infestation. These results suggest that ethylene is involved in the oxidative responses of barley plants induced by infestation.     

Effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral treatment for panic disorder versus treatment as usual in a managed care setting: 2-year follow-up.

Eighty clients meeting criteria for panic disorder and receiving either panic control therapy (PCT; M. G. Craske, E. Meadows, & D. H. Barlow, 1994) or treatment as usual (TAU) in a managed care setting were assessed 1 and 2 years following acute treatment. PCT was provided by therapists with little or no previous exposure to cognitive-behavioral therapies. Analyses of the full intent-to-treat sample revealed no significant differences between the treatments across the follow-up period. However, when treatment completer status was added as a moderator, those receiving PCT showed lower levels of panic severity and phobic avoidance and a greater likelihood of achieving and maintaining clinically significant change. Benzodiazepine use during follow-up was associated with greater panic severity for those clients who received PCT, but no such relationship was found for TAU clients. Results are discussed in relation to the dissemination and effectiveness of PCT as well as evidence-based psychotherapies more generally. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Secondary regulatory sites in rat liver cholesterol biosynthesis: Role of 5-pyrophosphomevalonate decarboxylase

The activity of 5-pyrophosphomevalonate decarboxylase in 43,000 g supernatant fractions from livers and kidneys of male adult rats has been determined. Enzyme activity in liver is significantly increased when rats are fed a diet containing 3% cholestyramine (268% of control rats) and decreased when fed a diet containing 2% cholesterol (25% of control rats). No circadian rhythm of enzyme activity is found in liver or kidneys. These results show that variations in hepatic cholesterogenesis affect the activity of 5-pyrophosphomevalonate decarboxylase in a similar way as other enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of cholesterol.     

Guess who's coming to therapy? Getting comfortable with conversations about race and ethnicity in psychotherapy.

Despite the fact that clinical psychology training programs now typically offer course work in multicultural issues, many professional psychologists may continue to feel unsure about how and when to incorporate multicultural awareness into their everyday clinical work. Having open discussions with clients regarding issues of race and ethnicity is one way to actively include a multicultural element into psychotherapy, as well as to strengthen the therapeutic alliance and promote better treatment outcome. The authors make several recommendations designed to provoke thought and stimulate conversation about race and ethnicity in the context of psychotherapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intestinal obstruction caused by peritoneal carcinomatosis due to signet ring cell carcinoma of the breast

The signet ring variant of lobular mammary carcinoma is aggressive and metastasis to serosal surfaces. We report a 46 years old woman presenting with an intestinal obstruction due to a peritoneal carcinomatosis secondary to a signet ring cell carcinoma of the breast. After surgery, the patient received chemotherapy (5-fluorouracil, adriamycin, cyclophosphamide and tamoxifen). A satisfactory response, with regression of peritoneal carcinomatosis and a good quality of life, was achieved. The patient is alive after 2 years of diagnosis.