Inverting the power dynamic: The process of first sessions of psychotherapy with therapists of color and non-Latino white patients.

The present study is the first to apply Trawalter, Richeson, and Shelton's (2009) stress and coping framework to qualitatively examine interracial interactions in initial sessions of psychotherapy. The sample included 22 dyads: 15 therapists of color administering various treatment modalities to 15 treatment-seeking non-Latino White (NLW) patients and a comparison group of 7 intraracial (NLW-NLW) dyads. In Phase 1, videorecordings of the first session of treatment were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis (TA) to describe patient and therapist behaviors.

Generation of ligand-receptor alliances by "SEA" module-mediated cleavage of membrane-associated mucin proteins.

A mechanism is described whereby one and the same gene can encode both a receptor protein as well as its specific ligand. Generation of this receptor-ligand partnership is effected by proteolytic cleavage within a specific module located in a membrane resident protein. It is postulated here that the "SEA" module, found in a number of heavily O-linked glycosylated membrane-associated proteins, serves as a site for proteolytic cleavage.

Human articular chondrocyte adhesion and proliferation on synthetic biodegradable polymer films.

The effect of polymer chemistry on adhesion, proliferation, and morphology of human articular cartilage (HAC) chondrocytes was evaluated on synthetic degradable polymer films and tissue culture polystyrene (TCPS) as a control. Two-dimensional surfaces of poly(glycolide) (PGA), poly(L-lactide) (L-PLA), poly(D,L-lactide) (D,L-PLA), 85:15 poly(D,L-lactide-co-glycolide) (D,L-PLGA), poly(epsilon-caprolactone) (PCL), 90:10 (D,L-lactide-co-caprolactone) (D,L-PLCL), 9:91 D,L-PLCL, 40:60 L-PLCL, 67:33 poly(glycolide-co-trimethylene carbonate) (PGTMC), and poly(dioxanone) (PDO) were made by spin-casting into uniform thin films. Adhesion kinetics were studied using TCPS and PCL films and revealed that the rate of chondrocyte adhesion began to level off after 6 h.

Electrically charged GTAM membranes stimulate osteogenesis in rabbit calvarial defects.

Bone neogenesis was studied in membrane-protected defects in a rabbit calvaria defect model using neutral, negatively, and positively charged titanium-reinforced GTAM membranes. Two standardized circular 8 mm wide and 1 mm deep defects were created in the calvaria of 36 rabbits leaving the inner cortex intact. The defects were subsequently covered with dome-shaped Ti-reinforced GTAM membranes stabilized with a titanium screw allowing the edges of the membranes to be closely approximated to the bone surface.

Staining of living presynaptic nerve terminals with selective fluorescent dyes.

Johnson et al. have recently shown that several positively charged, membrane-permeant fluorescent dyes can serve as vital stains for mitochondria in cultured cells. We report here that presynaptic nerve terminals, which are characteristically rich in mitochondria, can also be vitally stained with such dyes, and that this staining offers a resolution of structural detail not available with previous methods for visualizing terminals in living tissues.