A Kinematic Study of Prosodic Structure in Articulatory and Manual Gestures: Results from a Novel Method of Data Collection.

The primary goal of this work is to examine prosodic structure as expressed concurrently through articulatory and manual gestures. Specifically, we investigated the effects of phrase-level prominence (Experiment 1) and of prosodic boundaries (Experiments 2 and 3) on the kinematic properties of oral constriction and manual gestures. The hypothesis guiding this work is that prosodic structure will be similarly expressed in both modalities.

Interpersonal pathoplasticity and trajectories of change in routine adolescent and young adult residential substance abuse treatment.

Background: Partnerships between mental health care stakeholders provide a context for generalizable clinical research with implications for quality improvement. In the context of a partnership between an adolescent residential substance abuse disorder (SUD) treatment center and clinical researchers, stakeholders identified knowledge gaps (internal and the field broadly) with regard to patient interpersonal factors that influence working alliance and acute SUD residential treatment outcome trajectories.

Objective: To (a) examine interpersonal pathoplasticity and identify interpersonal subtypes in a naturalistic sample of adolescent and young-adult patients presenting for routine residential SUD treatment and (b) investigate the association between identified interpersonal subtypes and working alliance and acute treatment outcome trajectories.

A Social Work Response to the Affordable Care Act: Prevention and Early Intervention.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act represents a reinvestment in primary care, with a focus on prevention of illness and remediation of the impacts of chronic diseases through a behavioral health framework. Licensed social work professionals, specifically those trained in behavioral health, are a natural fit to help implement these new approaches. Though there are many evidence-based interventions that will be helpful, two that come from the field of substance abuse ought to be specifically beneficial: SAMHSA's SBIRT Model and Motivational Interviewing, developed by Miller and Rollnick.

Development of Optimized, Inhalable, Gemcitabine-Loaded Gelatin Nanocarriers for Lung Cancer.

Background: Aerosol delivery of chemotherapeutic nanocarriers represents a promising alternative for lung cancer therapy. This study optimized gemcitabine (Gem)-loaded gelatin nanocarriers (GNCs) cross-linked with genipin (Gem-GNCs) to evaluate their potential for nebulized lung cancer treatment.

Methods: Gem-GNCs were prepared by two-step desolvation and optimized through Taguchi design and characterized for physicochemical properties.

Physical activity-related differences in body mass index and patient-reported quality of life in socioculturally diverse endometrial cancer survivors.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe physical activity-related differences in body composition, quality of life, and behavioral variables among a socioculturally diverse sample of endometrial cancer survivors.

Methods: Ambulatory, English-speaking endometrial cancer survivors (6 months to 5 years post-treatment), who were residents of Bronx, NY, were recruited to complete questionnaires about physical activity (PA), quality of life (QoL), and psychosocial characteristics. Body weight and height were obtained from medical records to determine body mass index (BMI).

A Pilot Study: Testing of the Psychological Conditions Scale Among Hospital Nurses.

Objective: The aim of this study was to test the reliability and validity of the Psychological Conditions Scale (PCS), a measure of drivers of engagement in hospital-based nurses.

Background: Research suggests drivers of engagement are positive links to patient, employee, and hospital outcomes. Although this scale has been used in other occupations, it has not been tested in nursing.

A Multisurface Interpersonal Circumplex Assessment of Rejection Sensitivity.

Individuals high in rejection sensitivity (RS) are at risk for experiencing high levels of interpersonal distress, yet little is known about the interpersonal profiles associated with RS. This investigation examined the interpersonal problems, sensitivities, and values associated with RS in 2 samples: 763 multicultural undergraduate students (Study 1) and 365 community adults (Study 2). In Study 1, high anxious RS was associated with socially avoidant interpersonal problems, whereas low anxious RS was associated with vindictive interpersonal problems.

Feasibility of a physical activity intervention for obese, socioculturally diverse endometrial cancer survivors.

Purpose: Determine the feasibility of a 12-week physical activity intervention for obese, socioculturally diverse endometrial cancer survivors and to evaluate whether the intervention improves physical activity behavior, physical function, waist circumference, and quality of life.

Methods: Obese endometrial cancer survivors from Bronx, NY were assigned to either a 12-week physical activity intervention of behavioral counseling, physical activity and home-based walking (n=25), or wait-list control group (n=15). Mixed-design ANOVA (2 groups×2 time points) were analyzed to determine differences between the intervention and the control for the Yale Physical Activity Survey, six-minute walk test, 30-second chair stand test, waist circumference, and Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Endometrial questionnaire.

"Coming Out" of Prison: An Exploratory Study of LGBT Elders in the Criminal Justice System.

This two-phase qualitative study explores the experiences of 10 formerly incarcerated LGBT elders' experiences prior to, during, and after release from prison. A core theme of self and the social mirror emerged from the data that represented LGBT elders ongoing coming-out process of unearthing their "true selves" despite managing multiple stigmatized identities or social locations, such as being LGBT, elderly, HIV positive, formerly incarcerated, and a racial/ethnic minority. These findings further our awareness of an overlooked population of LGBT who are older and involved in the criminal justice system.

The Phonetics of Head and Body Movement in the Realization of American Sign Language Signs.

Background/aims: Because the primary articulators for sign languages are the hands, sign phonology and phonetics have focused mainly on them and treated other articulators as passive targets. However, there is abundant research on the role of nonmanual articulators in sign language grammar and prosody. The current study examines how hand and head/body movements are coordinated to realize phonetic targets.

Relative Weighting of Semantic and Syntactic Cues in Native and Non-Native Listeners' Recognition of English Sentences.

Objective: Non-native listeners do not recognize English sentences as effectively as native listeners, especially in noise. It is not entirely clear to what extent such group differences arise from differences in relative weight of semantic versus syntactic cues. This study quantified the use and weighting of these contextual cues via Boothroyd and Nittrouer's j and k factors.

Structural Properties, Order-Disorder Phenomena, and Phase Stability of Orotic Acid Crystal Forms.

Orotic acid (OTA) is reported to exist in the anhydrous (AH), monohydrate (Hy1), and dimethyl sulfoxide monosolvate (SDMSO) forms. In this study we investigate the (de)hydration/desolvation behavior, aiming at an understanding of the elusive structural features of anhydrous OTA by a combination of experimental and computational techniques, namely, thermal analytical methods, gravimetric moisture (de)sorption studies, water activity measurements, X-ray powder diffraction, spectroscopy (vibrational, solid-state NMR), crystal energy landscape, and chemical shift calculations. The Hy1 is a highly stable hydrate, which dissociates above 135 °C and loses only a small part of the water when stored over desiccants (25 °C) for more than one year.

Effortful Control, Rejection Sensitivity, and Borderline Personality Disorder Features in Adulthood.

This investigation examined the moderating role of effortful control (EC) in the association between rejection sensitivity (RS) and its subsequent interpersonal distress (IP-distress) on borderline personality disorder (BPD) features. In total, 625 multicultural undergraduates (Study 1) and 562 community international adults (Study 2) completed scales evaluating EC, RS, IP-distress, and BPD features; Study 2 participants also self-reported both anxious and angry expectations of rejection. In both samples, EC moderated the mediating effect of IP-distress in the link between RS and BPD-related psychopathology.

Mental state identification, borderline pathology, and the neglected role of childhood trauma.

Research evaluating mental state identification in individuals with borderline pathology has yielded inconsistent results; contradictory findings were hypothesized to be driven by moderating effects of childhood trauma. Participants were 105 ethnically diverse men and women who exhibited a range of borderline pathology measured by Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition (DSM-IV) criteria for borderline personality disorder. Mental state identification accuracy was measured using the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET).

Leveraging social networking sites for disease surveillance and public sensing: the case of the 2013 avian influenza A(H7N9) outbreak in China.

We conducted in-depth analysis on the use of a popular Chinese social networking and microblogging site, Sina Weibo, to monitor an avian influenza A(H7N9) outbreak in China and to assess the value of social networking sites in the surveillance of disease outbreaks that occur overseas. Two data sets were employed for our analysis: a line listing of confirmed cases obtained from conventional public health information channels and case information from Weibo posts. Our findings showed that the level of activity on Weibo corresponded with the number of new cases reported.

Meta-analysis of dropout from cognitive behavioral therapy: Magnitude, timing, and moderators.

Unlabelled: In this era of insistence on evidence-based treatments, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has emerged as a highly preferred choice for a spectrum of psychological disorders. Yet, it is by no means immune to some of the vagaries of client participation. Special concerns arise when clients drop out from treatment.

Association of the Single-Limb Hop Test With Isokinetic, Kinematic, and Kinetic Asymmetries in Patients After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction.

Background: Asymmetries persist after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR). Physical performance tests such as the single-limb hop test have been used extensively to assess return-to-sport criteria, as they reproduce dynamic athletic maneuvers.

Hypothesis: The single-limb hop is associated with muscle strength and kinematic and kinetic asymmetries in ACLR patients 6 to 9 months after surgery.

Hurricane Sandy, Disaster Preparedness, and the Recovery Model.

Objective: Hurricane Sandy was the second largest and costliest hurricane in U.S. history to affect multiple states and communities.

Validation of photoplethysmography as a method to detect heart rate during rest and exercise.

Despite their enhanced marketplace visibility, validity of wearable photoplethysmographic heart rate monitoring is scarce. Forty-seven healthy participants performed seven, 6-min exercise bouts and completed a valid skin type scale. Participants wore an Omron HR500U (OHR) and a Mio Alpha (MA), two commercial wearable photoplethysmographic heart rate monitors.

Assessing Interpersonal Subtypes in Depression.

The context-free diagnoses outlined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders might not provide enough information to represent the heterogeneity observed in depressed patients. Interpersonal factors have been linked to depression in a mutually influencing pathoplastic relationship where certain problems, like submissiveness, are related to symptom chronicity. This study evaluated interpersonal pathoplasticity in a range of depressive presentations.

Cutaneous lymphocyte antigen expression loss and PD1 positivity in early cutaneous lesions of rapidly progressive mycosis fungoides.

It's important to assess cases both clinically and pathologically for factors potentially predictive of an aggressive clinical course. We concluded that the relative immunosuppressive effects of PD1 may contribute to tumor progression while the lack of staining for cutaneous lymphocyte antigen may be an additional factor facilitating distant extracutaneous migration.

Attachment and mentalization in female patients with comorbid narcissistic and borderline personality disorder.

We investigated attachment representations and the capacity for mentalization in a sample of adult female borderline patients with and without comorbid narcissistic personality disorder (NPD). Participants were 22 borderline patients diagnosed with comorbid NPD (NPD/BPD) and 129 BPD patients without NPD (BPD) from 2 randomized clinical trials. Attachment and mentalization were assessed on the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI; George, Kaplan, & Main, 1996).

Interpersonal functioning in obsessive-compulsive personality disorder.

The core symptoms of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) often lead to interpersonal difficulties. However, little research has explored interpersonal functioning in OCPD. This study examined interpersonal problems, interpersonal sensitivities, empathy, and systemizing, the drive to analyze and derive underlying rules for systems, in a sample of 25 OCPD individuals, 25 individuals with comorbid OCPD and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and 25 healthy controls.