Measuring coefficient of thermal expansion of materials of micrometre size using SEM/FIB microscope with in situ MEMS heating stage.

A new method is proposed to measure the linear coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of solid metals and ceramics of micron-sized dimensions. This approach uses a focused ion beam (FIB) to extract and transfer a slab of the sample, typically (15-20) ×10 × (3-5) µm onto a Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) in situ heating holder inside a scanning electron microscope (SEM). CTE is thereafter calculated by image correlating the change of length (ΔL) between the fiducial marks on the slab as a function of temperature, taking advantage of the temperature calibration of the MEMS heating holder and nanometre resolution of the scanning electron microscope.

AKR1B10 as a Potential Novel Serum Biomarker for Breast Cancer: A Pilot Study.

Background: Aldo-keto reductase 1B10 (AKR1B10) is a secretory protein that is upregulated in breast cancer.

Objective: This case-controlled pilot study evaluated the serum level of AKR1B10 in healthy women and patients with a localized or metastatic breast cancer.

Methods: AKR1B10 levels were measured by ELISA and IHC in several patient cohorts.

Modeling therapist responses with structured practice enhances facilitative interpersonal skills.

Objective: Facilitative interpersonal skills (FIS) video stimuli were used to develop and test a brief training component of observational modeling with repeated practice. Specifically, this study hypothesized that a brief training of video modeling therapeutic use of interpersonal skills, combined with repeated practice, would result in improved FIS responses (relative to control).

Method: Undergraduates (n = 101) with expressed interest in the helping professions were randomly assigned to Modeled Practice or Control conditions.

Mindfulness practice predicts interleukin-6 responses to a mindfulness-based alcohol relapse prevention intervention.

Chronic alcohol misuse can result in chronically elevated interleukin (IL)-6, a pro-inflammatory cytokine, in the bloodstream. Given that Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention (MBRP) has been shown to reduce alcohol misuse, MBRP might also be effective in reducing IL-6 concentrations. Past research has found, however, that IL-6 does not respond consistently to mindfulness-based interventions.

Mindfulness-based relapse prevention for alcohol dependence: Findings from a randomized controlled trial.

Objectives: To assess the effects of mindfulness-based relapse prevention for alcohol dependence (MBRP-A) intervention on drinking and related consequences.

Methods: 123 alcohol-dependent adults in early recovery, recruited from outpatient treatment programs, were randomly assigned to MBRP-A (intervention plus usual-care; N = 64) or Control (usual-care-alone; N = 59) group. MBRP-A consisted of eight-weekly sessions and home practice.

Brief Mindfulness-Based Interventions for Acute and Chronic Pain: A Systematic Review.

Objectives: Nonpharmacologic approaches have been characterized as the preferred means to treat chronic noncancer pain by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There is evidence that mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) are effective for pain management, yet the typical MBI may not be feasible across many clinical settings due to resource and time constraints. Brief MBIs (BMBIs) could prove to be more feasible and pragmatic for safe treatment of pain.

Lack of emotional clarity and diminished self-efficacy as core problems in functional dependency: A structural equation modeling analysis with a college student sample.

Background: High levels of functional dependency appear to be deleterious to psychological and physical health. The goal of this research was to identify factors responsible for the association between functional dependency and negative health outcomes.

Methods: Self-report data were collected from 149 undergraduate students.

Early psychotherapeutic empathy, alliance, and client outcome: Preliminary evidence of indirect effects.

The association between psychotherapeutic empathy and client outcome is well established, yet the mechanisms underlying this association remain poorly understood. We hypothesized that early experiences of empathy influence outcome through the working alliance. To test this hypothesis, we used archival data collected from 56 clients (mean [M] age = 19.

Working Alliance, Interpersonal Problems, and Depressive Symptoms in Tele-Interpersonal Psychotherapy for HIV-infected Rural Persons: Evidence for Indirect Effects.

Objective: Interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) has demonstrated efficacy for the treatment of depression, yet little is known about its therapeutic mechanisms. As a specific treatment, IPT has been shown to directly reduce depressive symptoms, although it is unclear whether these reductions occur via interpersonal changes. Within IPT, the potential role of the working alliance, a common factor, as a predictor of depression and interpersonal changes is also unclear.

Enhancing psychotherapy process with common factors feedback: A randomized, clinical trial.

Unlabelled: In this study, we developed and tested a common factors feedback (CFF) system. The CFF system was designed to provide ongoing feedback to clients and therapists about client ratings of three common factors: (a) outcome expectations, (b) empathy, and (c) the therapeutic alliance. We evaluated the CFF system using randomized, clinical trial (RCT) methodology.

A prospective study of therapist facilitative interpersonal skills as a predictor of treatment outcome.

Objective: This study examined whether therapists' facilitative interpersonal skills (FIS) would prospectively predict the outcomes of therapies that occurred more than one year later.

Method: Therapists were 44 clinical psychology trainees who completed the FIS performance task and a self-reported measure of social skills in the initial weeks of their training. In the FIS task, prospective therapists were presented with a standard set of videos portraying clients in therapy.

Mindfulness Therapy for Maladaptive Interpersonal Dependency: A Preliminary Randomized Controlled Trial.

Existing treatments for maladaptive interpersonal dependency and dependent personality disorder do not meet basic scientific standards for effectiveness. The present investigation tested the efficacy of a mindfulness-based approach: mindfulness therapy for maladaptive interpersonal dependency (MT-MID). Forty-eight participants who reported consistently high levels of maladaptive dependency (i.

Empathy from the client's perspective: A grounded theory analysis.

Unlabelled: Although empathy is one of most robust predictors of client outcome, there is little consensus about how best to conceptualize this construct.

Objective: The aim of the present research was to investigate clients' perceptions and in-session experiences of empathy.

Method: Semi-structured, video-assisted interpersonal process recall interviews were used to collect data from nine clients receiving individual psychotherapy at a university psychology clinic.

Development and Validation of a Six-Item Version of the Interpersonal Dependency Inventory.

The Interpersonal Dependency Inventory (IDI) is a frequently used, 48-item measure of maladaptive dependency. Our goal was to develop and psychometrically evaluate a very brief version of the IDI. An exploratory factor analysis of the IDI in Study 1 ( N = 838) yielded a six-item IDI (IDI-6), with three items loading on an emotional dependency factor (IDI-6-ED), and the other three items loading on a functional dependency factor (IDI-6-FD).

An investigation of client mood in the initial and final sessions of cognitive-behavioral therapy and psychodynamic-interpersonal therapy.

Objective: Our aim was to examine client mood in the initial and final sessions of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and psychodynamic-interpersonal therapy (PIT) and to determine how client mood is related to therapy outcomes.

Methods: Hierarchical linear modeling was applied to data from a clinical trial comparing CBT with PIT. In this trial, client mood was assessed before and after sessions with the Session Evaluation Questionnaire-Positivity Subscale (SEQ-P).

The early formation of the working alliance from the client's perspective: A qualitative study.

This research used qualitative methods and archival data to examine clients' perceptions of the early formation of the working alliance. Following their first and second sessions of individual psychotherapy, 54 clients responded to structured written assignments that were rooted in Bordin's (1979) model of the alliance. Analysis yielded 884 recording units, which were organized into 4 main clusters: (a) clients' initial misgivings about psychotherapy; (b) organization and meaning-making; (c) psychotherapist supportive activities; and (d) client appreciation of techniques.

Treatment expectations, alliance, session positivity, and outcome: an investigation of a three-path mediation model.

Objective: The aim of this study was to test a 3-path mediation model, in which the effect of treatment expectations on outcome is mediated first by the alliance and then by session positivity.

Method: Archival process and outcome data were used for this investigation. These data had been collected from 116 clients (70% female, 81% White, mean age = 24.

Factorial and predictive validity of the expectations about counseling-brief (EAC-B) with clients seeking counseling.

Our goals in this study were to define the factorial structure of treatment expectations for a sample of treatment-seeking clients and to understand the predictive validity of those expectations. A sample of 353 clients who were about to begin counseling at a university counseling center or at a psychology clinic completed the Expectations About Counseling-Brief form (EAC-B) and then completed measures of the working alliance, session quality, and symptom distress throughout the treatment. Principal components analysis resulted in a 3-factor solution of EAC-B treatment expectations, which accounted for 48.