The effects of observational feedback on treatment integrity in school-based behavioral consultation.

Evaluated the effects of performance feedback on levels of treatment integrity in school-based behavioral consultation. Three teachers employed in a residential treatment community were responsible for treatment implementation. Treatment integrity was defined as the percentage of 2-min intervals during which contingent teacher reinforcement for student on-task behavior was directly observed. Teacher and child behavior were monitored across baseline, traditional consultation, and consultation with performance feedback conditions in a multiple baseline design. Following a Problem Identification Interview and Problem Analysis Interview (J. R. Bergan, 1977), mean levels of treatment integrity for the 3 teachers ranged from 9% to 37%. The addition of a performance feedback package increased treatment integrity for all 3 teachers to levels ranging from 60% to 83%. The findings contribute to a growing literature supporting the need for direct assessment of treatment integrity in school-based consultation research and practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The development of an advanced filial therapy model.

This article presents an advanced filial therapy model. This model was developed and implemented by the author in an effort to provide parents with ongoing support and skill development after the completion of a standardized filial model called Child–Parent Relationship Therapy. The advanced filial therapy model is described, including an exploration of how it was developed and how it compares with basic filial therapy models. Examples from the author's clinical experience are provided to illustrate various components of this approach. Finally, implications for research and practice are considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influencing gender relations through child parent relationship therapy.

The experience of being male or female is constructed and performed through daily interactions within the greater social context. Therapy contributes to the construction of gender whether consciously addressed or not. This article begins to make visible the potential influence of play therapy on gender by exploring how Child Parent Relationship Therapy (CPRT) changes this dimension. Gender is conceptualized as a relational process affected by socialization practices and the dominant discourse. Attending to gender in CPRT is consistent with the purposes for which the model was developed and involves heightened practioner awareness of this dimension in therapy and how it is influenced by the model. Finally, suggestions are offered for therapists interested in more explicitly integrating gender in this approach. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Biomolecular Tuning of Electronic Transport Properties of Carbon Nanotubes via Antibody Functionalization

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are remarkable solid-state nanomaterials due to their unique electrical and mechanical properties. The electronic properties of nanotubes combined with biological molecules such as proteins could make miniature devices for biological sensing applications. In this paper, the noncovalent interaction of single-wall CNTs with antibodies is presented for its potential applications for detecting overexpressed cell surface receptors in breast cancer cells. The degree of binding of antibodies on CNTs was found to be more than 80% for an extended sampling area by confocal microscopy. The key to achieve such high degree of functionalization is due to the separation of CNTs using surfactants that leads to a high surface area to volume ratio and higher number of active sites for charge transfer that enhance binding. This paper also presents tuning of electronic transport properties of CNTs by monoclonal antibodies that are specific to insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor in breast cancer     

Fabrication and some applications of large-area silicon field emission arrays

A method of fabricating large-area arrays of sharply-pointed field emitters at densities up to 1·5 × 10⁵ per cm² from single crystal silicon wafers is described. The point emitters are formed by etch-undercutting a precision oxide pattern which is delineated on the silicon surface by projection photolithography. Observations indicate that emitters with very small tip dimensions in the 200Årange are formed. In the presence of an external electric field, such as produced by a voltage applied to a closely-spaced, planar anode, multiple-emitter arrays are shown to field-emit electrons uniformly over areas up to 3 cm dia. Two important applications currently being explored, are discussed: (1) High resistivity, p-Si has been utilized to develop experimental field emission photocathodes with which field emission imaging has been demonstrated. These photoemitters exhibit very high photo-sensitivities at visible and near i.r. wavelengths. For example, at 0·86 μm, the measured quantum efficiency is 25 per cent which is about five-times higher than the red-sensitive S-20 photocathode and comparable to the highest reported sensitivities of the III–V photosurfaces; (2) N-type emitter arrays show considerable promise as high current, cold cathodes and total emission currents of 1/4 A from 1 cm² areas of 100 Ω-cm n-type emitters have been obtained. Measurements were made under pulse conditions because of anode dissipation considerations.     

Measuring antidepressant prescribing practice in a health care system using administrative data: implications for quality measurement and improvement

BACKGROUND: Up to one in eight Americans experiences an episode of depression that requires treatment in his or her lifetime. The direct and indirect costs associated with major depression are high but may be reduced with appropriate treatment. To decrease the probability of relapse, guidelines specify that treatment with antidepressant medications should continue for at least 4 months after symptom remission and that adequate doses of antidepressants be used. A study was conducted in 1997-1999 to examine how different specifications in the construction of quality of care measures for depression treatment influence conclusions about the adequacy of antidepressant prescribing practices. METHODS: Subjects were all adult members of two United Healthcare plans who each had at least one outpatient or inpatient claim with a diagnosis of depression during the years 1993-1995 and were continuously enrolled for 12 months. Pharmacy claims data were used to construct measures of duration of treatment, dose, and type of antidepressant. The effects of two different definitions of a new episode (4-month versus 9-month clean period) and two different ways of identifying an episode of depression (one visit versus two visits with a code for depression) were examined on conclusions about adequacy of antidepressant prescribing practices (dose and duration). Whether antidepressant type was related to the likelihood that antidepressants were prescribed at therapeutic doses was also examined. RESULTS: Patients with two or more visits with depression diagnosis codes were significantly more likely to receive antidepressants than those with only one visit, and were more likely to receive therapeutic doses at each time period (1-5 months). The duration of the clean period was not related to conclusions about therapeutic dosing. Among persons receiving antidepressants, those receiving selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) were more likely to receive therapeutic doses and to continue treatment for at least 5 months than were those prescribed other classes of antidepressants. In multivariate analysis, being prescribed an SSRI versus another class of antidepressants was significantly associated with receiving both 1 month (OR = 7.3 [5.7-9.3]) and 5 months (OR = 2.0 [1.6-2.5]) of therapeutic treatment. DISCUSSION: Conclusions regarding the appropriateness of antidepressant prescribing can vary markedly, depending on how the quality measure is specified. Given that administrative data are and will continue to be used for both monitoring and quality improvement purposes in the short run, it is critical that we understand how variations in measurement specifications influence the conclusions that are drawn about treatment of depression in health plans.     

Human exposure assessment: a case study of 8 PAH contaminated soils using in vitro digestors and the juvenile swine model

In vitro digestors can be used to provide bioaccessibility values to help assess the risk from incidental human ingestion of contaminated soils. It has been suggested that these digestors may need to include a lipid sink to mimic human uptake processes. We compare the correspondence between in vivo polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) uptake for eight different PAH contaminated soils with PAH release in in vitro digestors in the presence and absence of a lipid sink. Lipid sinks were essential to the success of the in vitro digestors in predicting juvenile swine PAH uptake. In the presence of the lipid sink, results of the In Vitro Digestion model (IVD) closely corresponded with a slope of 0.85 (r(2) = 0.45, P < 0.07) to the in vivo results. The Relative Bioaccessibility Leaching Procedure (RBALP) results did not correspond to the in vivo study but did tightly reflect total soil PAH concentration. We conclude that the basis of this difference between digestors is that the RBALP used an aggressive extraction technique that maximized PAH release from soil. Systemic uptake in juvenile swine was not linked to soil PAH concentration but rather to the thermodynamic properties of the soil.     

Improving the description of salt bridge strength and geometry in a Generalized Born model

The Generalized Born (GB) solvent model is widely used in molecular dynamics simulations because it can be less computationally expensive and it samples conformational changes more efficiently than explicit solvent simulations. Meanwhile, great efforts have been made in the past to improve its precision and accuracy. Previous studies have shown that reducing intrinsic GB radii of some hydrogen atoms would improve AMBER GB-HCT solvent model's accuracy on salt bridges. Here we present our finding that similar correction also shows dramatic improvement for the AMBER GB-OBC solvent model. Potential of mean force and cluster analysis for small peptide replica exchange molecular dynamics simulations suggested that new radii GB simulation with ff99SB/GB-OBC corrected salt bridge strength and achieved significantly higher geometry similarity with TIP3P simulation. Improved performance in 60 ns HIV-1 protease GB simulation further validated this approach for large systems.     

A review of physical exercises recommended for VDT operators

This paper presents an evaluation of exercises that have been recommended for the prevention of musculoskeletal discomfort among VDT/office workers. 127 individual exercises were analysed for their suitability for performance in VDT workplaces. Additionally, each exercise was judged in terms of its safety and its compliance with principles of physiotherapy. Results showed that, in the majority of cases, the prepared instructions for the exercises were satisfactory and the exercises could be readily performed at the workstation. However, over a third of the exercises were conspicuous and potentially embarrassing to perform, and half would significantly disrupt the work routine. Additionally, a number of the exercises posed potential safety hazards, exacerbated biomechanical stresses common to VDT work, or were contraindicated for persons with certain health problems. These findings suggest a need for greater attention to both the practical and the therapeutic aspects of exercises promoted for VDT users.     

Nanotube-antibody biosensor arrays for the detection of circulating breast cancer cells

Recent reports have shown that nanoscale electronic devices can be used to detect a change in electrical properties when receptor proteins bind to their corresponding antibodies functionalized on the surface of the device, in extracts from as few as ten lysed tumor cells. We hypothesized that nanotube-antibody devices could sensitively and specifically detect entire live cancer cells. We report for the first time a single nanotube field effect transistor array, functionalized with IGF1R-specific and Her2-specific antibodies, which exhibits highly sensitive and selective sensing of live, intact MCF7 and BT474 human breast cancer cells in human blood. Those two cell lines both overexpress IGF1R and Her2, at different levels. Single or small bundle of nanotube devices that were functionalized with IGF1R-specific or Her2-specific antibodies showed 60% decreases in conductivity upon interaction with BT474 or MCF7 breast cancer cells in two μl drops of blood. Control experiments with non-specific antibodies or with MCF10A control breast cells produced a less than 5% decrease in electrical conductivity, illustrating the high sensitivity for whole cell binding by these single nanotube-antibody devices. We postulate that the free energy change due to multiple simultaneous cell-antibody binding events exerted stress along the nanotube surface, decreasing its electrical conductivity due to an increase in band gap. Because the free energy change upon cell-antibody binding, the stress exerted on the nanotube, and the change in conductivity are specific to a specific antigen-antibody interaction; these properties might be used as a fingerprint for the molecular sensing of circulating cancer cells. From optical microscopy observations during sensing, it appears that the binding of a single cell to a single nanotube field effect transistor produced the change in electrical conductivity. Thus we report a nanoscale oncometer with single cell sensitivity with a diameter 1000 times smaller than a cancer cell that functions in a drop of fresh blood.