A new kind of normal: qualitative accounts of Multifamily Group Therapy for acquired brain injury.

Acquired brain injuries (ABI) can have a major impact on social participation, causing increased social isolation and emotional distress for people with the injury and their family members. Multifamily Group Therapy (MFGT) provides information, resources, problem-solving strategies and opportunities for social networking for families where one member has an illness. By qualitatively examining the experience of group participation from the perspectives of both individuals with ABI and their family members, the present study aimed to elucidate the processes underlying and factors influencing success of facilitated MFG programmes with families impacted by ABI.

Self-concept and self-esteem after acquired brain injury: a control group comparison.

Primary Objective: This study examined the multidimensional self-concept, global self-esteem and psychological adjustment of individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) as compared with healthy controls.

Research Design: Group comparison on self-report questionnaires.

Methods And Procedures: Forty-one individuals who had sustained a TBI were compared with an age- and gender-matched sample of 41 trauma-free control participants on the Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale, the Tennessee Self Concept Scale (second edition) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scales (HADS).

Impact of a family-focused intervention on self-concept after acquired brain injury.

The present study examined the impact of a family inclusive intervention on the multidimensional self-concept of individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Forty one individuals with TBI and a matched control group completed the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale: Second Edition (TSCS: 2), the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSE), the Family Assessment Device (FAD), and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) on two occasions: at immediate contact (pre-group, T1) and post-group (3 months after initial contact, T2). Controls did not attend the intervention.

Caregiver causal attributions in youth psychosis.

Aim: Caregiver causal attributions influence patient and caregiver reactions to psychosis. The current study describes common caregiver causal attributions about psychosis onset in youth, including a subset of first-episode psychosis patients, and the patient and caregiver characteristics that influence these attributions. It also examines if caregiver views are affected by contact with youth mental health services.

Optical imaging and analysis of human vaginal coating by drug delivery gels.

Objective: We used a new optical imaging technique to compare human intravaginal coating distributions of Conceptrol (Advanced Care Products, Brunswick, NJ) and Advantage (Columbia Laboratories, Aventuna, FL). These gels are surrogates for future microbicidal gels, differing in molecular structures and biophysical properties.

Methods: For each protocol, a 3-mL gel bolus was inserted to the posterior fornix while the woman was in the supine position.

Ectopic pregnancy in a preexisting hydrosalpinx during a spontaneous pregnancy.

Objective: To discuss the possible role of abnormal embryo migration as a cause of ectopic pregnancy during IVF with hydrosalpinges.

Design: Case report.

Setting: University-based reproductive endocrinology and fertility clinic.

Multiple-family group treatment for English- and Vietnamese-speaking families living with schizophrenia.

Objective: This study, which was the first evaluation in Australia of multiple-family group treatment, explored the effectiveness of this approach for a newly arrived non-English speaking migrant group, first-generation Vietnamese families, and for English-speaking families.

Methods: Thirty-four pairs of English-speaking consumers and family members and 25 Vietnamese-speaking pairs were randomly assigned to a multiple-family group or a control group. All consumers had a diagnosis of schizophrenia.

Relationship between pre-embryo pronuclear morphology (zygote score) and standard day 2 or 3 embryo morphology with regard to assisted reproductive technique outcomes.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that pregnancy rates are low if grade Z1 pre-embryos are not available for transfer and to determine if pronuclear morphology is a better predictor of pregnancy than traditional embryo morphology.

Design: Prospective clinical study.

Setting: Academic human reproduction laboratory.

Redefining the relationship between sperm deoxyribonucleic acid fragmentation as measured by the sperm chromatin structure assay and outcomes of assisted reproductive techniques.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that couples with sperm chromatin structure assay (SCSA) DNA fragmentation index (DFI) values >27% would not achieve pregnancy with assisted reproductive techniques (ART) and to investigate how DFI and high DNA stainability (HDS), as measured by the SCSA, affect fertilization, cleavage, implantation, and pregnancy rates in IVF cycles.

Design: Prospective clinical study.

Setting: Academic human reproduction laboratory.

Mullerian agenesis and thrombocytopenia absent radius syndrome: a case report and review of syndromes associated with Mullerian agenesis.

Unlabelled: Mullerian agenesis, commonly referred to as Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser syndrome (MRKHS), is a congenital defect that is most commonly associated with renal and spinal malformations. It is very rare for Mullerian agenesis to be accompanied by malformations of the extremities. In this report, we describe a 22-year-old woman with Mullerian agenesis and thrombocytopenia absent radius syndrome (TARS).

Abdominal myomectomy after failed uterine artery embolization.

Objective: Report a case of a difficult myomectomy after a failed uterine artery embolization (UAE).

Design: Case report.

Setting: A university medical center.

Successful pregnancies in patients with estrogenic anovulation after low-dose human chorionic gonadotropin therapy alone following hMG for controlled ovarian hyperstimulation.

Objective: To demonstrate that folliculogenesis can be sustained with 200 IU human chorionic gonadotropins (hCG) after FSH-priming and result in pregnancy in women with estrogenic ovulatory dysfunction and risk factors for severe ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS).

Case Report: Three women with infertility associated with estrogenic ovulatory dysfunction and hyperinsulinemia who appeared to be at high risk for severe OHSS during gonadotropin therapy.

Interventions: After 10 days of receiving either 150 IU hMG or recombinant FSH, patients were switched to 200 IU hCG/day alone for 2-3 days.

Management of uterine leiomyomata: what do we really know?

Objective: To systematically review the literature on the surgical and nonsurgical management of uterine leiomyomata.

Data Sources: Published literature in English on the management of uterine leiomyomata published from 1975 through 2000 was identified in MEDLINE, CINAHL, CancerLit, EMBASE, HealthSTAR, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Search terms included "leiomyomata," "fibroids," "hysterectomy," and "myomectomy.