Veteran Cultural Competence Training: Initial Effectiveness and National-Level Implementation.

Objective: Because service professionals often lack cultural competence in working with veterans, veterans often perceive such professionals as "not understanding." The authors developed, evaluated, and implemented Veteran Cultural Competence Training (VCCT), combining educational and experiential components in an in-person training focused on building awareness, knowledge, and skills to better work with veterans.

Methods: Study 1 was a type 1 effectiveness-implementation hybrid trial examining VCCT effectiveness in a sample of social service professionals (N=41) compared with a matched comparison group (N=41) via the Multicultural Counseling Self-Efficacy Scale-Veteran Form (MCSE-V) instrument.

The endoplasmic reticulum stress response factor CHOP-10 protects against hypoxia-induced neuronal death.

Hypoxia-induced gene expression is a critical determinant of neuron survival after stroke. Understanding the cell autonomous genetic program controlling adaptive and pathological transcription could have important therapeutic implications. To identify the factors that modulate delayed neuronal apoptosis after hypoxic injury, we developed an in vitro culture model that recapitulates these divergent responses and characterized the sequence of gene expression changes using microarrays.

In-tube transfection improves the efficiency of gene transfer in primary neuronal cultures.

To facilitate genetic studies in primary neurons, we analyzed the efficiency of cationic lipid-mediated plasmid DNA transfection using adherent and acutely dissociated neuronal suspensions derived from embryonic mouse cortical tissue. Compared to transfections using adherent cultures, the in-tube procedure enhanced the delivery of a GFP reporter plasmid between four- to eightfold depending on the age of the harvested embryo. The procedure required relatively brief complex incubation times, and supported the transfection of cells expressing the neuronal markers NeuN and TuJ1 with improved uniformity in transfection events across the well surface.