Mechanisms of Change in Brief Couple Therapy for Depression

The goal of the present study was to investigate potential mechanisms of previously documented treatment effects for a brief, 5-session, problem-focused couple therapy for depression in a sample of 35 depressed women and their nondepressed husbands. The primary treatment effects were reducing women’s depressive symptoms and their husbands’ psychological distress and depression-specific burden. Secondarily, treatment resulted in increased relationship satisfaction for both partners. Given these significant treatment changes observed in 5 sessions, we sought to examine the mechanisms of change by testing the following three factors as potential mediators: (a) negative behaviors and attitudes toward depression, (b) support provision, and (c) empathic communication towards the depressed female partners. Women’s depression and husbands’ depression-specific burden were alleviated by positive changes in their illness-related attitudes and behaviors. Improvements in women’s marital satisfaction were also mediated by positive change in their illness-related attitudes and behaviors, along with perceptions of increased positivity and support from their husbands. Findings highlight the importance of targeting specific treatment agents in a brief couple therapy for depression such as psychoeducation about depression and support-building to increase partners’ understanding and acceptance of the illness, and teaching communication skills to reduce negative behaviors and criticism that are replaced by more empathic communication towards the depressed individual.     

A Probabilistic and Individualized Approach for Predicting Treatment Gains: An Extension and Application to Anxiety Disordered Youth

The objective of this study was to extend the probability of treatment benefit method by adding treatment condition as a stratifying variable, and illustrate this extension of the methodology using the Child and Adolescent Anxiety Multimodal Study data. The probability of treatment benefit method produces a simple and practical way to predict individualized treatment benefit based on pretreatment patient characteristics. Two pretreatment patient characteristics were selected in the production of the probability of treatment benefit charts: baseline anxiety severity, measured by the Pediatric Anxiety Rating Scale, and treatment condition (cognitive-behavioral therapy, sertraline, their combination, and placebo). We produced two charts as exemplars which provide individualized and probabilistic information for treatment response and outcome to treatments for child anxiety. We discuss the implications of the use of the probability of treatment benefit method, particularly with regard to patient-centered outcomes and individualized decision-making in psychology and psychiatry.     

Collaborative Measurement Development as a Tool in CBPR: Measurement Development and Adaptation within the Cultures of Communities

This paper describes the processes we engaged into develop a measurement protocol used to assess the outcomes in a community based suicide and alcohol abuse prevention project with two Alaska Native communities. While the literature on community-based participatory research (CBPR) is substantial regarding the importance of collaborations, few studies have reported on this collaboration in the process of developing measures to assess CBPR projects. We first tell a story of the processes around the standard issues of doing cross-cultural work on measurement development related to areas of equivalence. A second story is provided that highlights how community differences within the same cultural group can affect both the process and content of culturally relevant measurement selection, adaptation, and development.     

Unraveling Brain Functional Connectivity of encoding and retrieval in the context of education

Human memory is an enigmatic component of cognition which many researchers have attempted to comprehend. Accumulating studies on functional connectivity see brain as a complex dynamic unit with positively and negatively correlated networks in perfect coherence during a task. We aimed to examine coherence of network connectivity during visual memory encoding and retrieval in the context of education. School Educated (SE) and College Educated (CE) healthy volunteers (n = 60) were recruited and assessed for visual encoding and retrieval. Functional connectivity using seed to voxel based connectivity analysis of the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) was evaluated. We noticed that there were reciprocal dynamic changes in both dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) region and PCC regions during working memory encoding and retrieval. In agreement with the previous studies, there were more positively correlated regions during retrieval compared to encoding. The default mode network (DMN) networks showed greater negative correlations during more attentive task of visual encoding. In tune with the recent studies on cognitive reserve we also found that number of years of education was a significant factor influencing working memory connectivity. SE had higher positive correlation to DLPFC region and lower negative correlation to DMN in comparison with CE during encoding and retrieval.     

13例脐尿管囊肿的诊断分析

脐尿管囊肿是一种少见畸形,为探讨其病因、临床表现及诊治方法,对2010年1月～2013年12月于我院诊断为脐尿管囊肿的13例患者进行回顾性分析。结果显示,脐尿管囊肿主要发现于男性患儿,可表现为腹痛、脐部或膀胱不适等合并症,常伴有发热,也可无明显临床表现,由单纯查体发现。B超和CT是推荐检查方法,确诊需依靠组织病理学检查。手术切除是治疗该病的首选方法,临床效果满意。随着技术的发展,治疗脐尿管囊肿可优先选择腹腔镜切除术。     

阿卡波糖、二甲双胍联合胰岛素类似物治疗肥胖糖尿病短期疗效

观察阿卡波糖、二甲双胍联合胰岛素类似物治疗肥胖2型糖尿病的短期疗效。将60例符合标准患者随机分为观察组和对照组各30例,均给予重组甘精胰岛素联合赖脯胰岛素强化治疗控制血糖,观察组同时给予阿卡波糖及二甲双胍口服,出院时进行疗效评价。观察组血糖达标时间、胰岛素用量少于对照组,餐时胰岛素停用比例大于对照组,差异有统计学意义（P＜0．05）;两组患者出院时体重较入院时均有所下降,观察组较对照组体重变化更明显（P＜0．01）。阿卡波糖、二甲双胍联合胰岛素类似物治疗方案,可作为初诊肥胖2型糖尿病治疗的理想方法之一。     

晚期乳腺癌原发灶局部处理的若干问题

乳腺癌仍然是严重威胁女性健康的重大疾病。每年新发乳腺癌患者中约有6％为Ⅳ期乳腺癌,而这类患者5年生存率小于20％,局部处理（外科、放疗）可以根除局部病灶及微小转移灶,以延缓或者缓解症状,但是否可以带来生存获益尚无定论。本文对Ⅳ期乳腺癌原发灶的局部处理等方面的若干问题作一综述。     

手术治疗单一局部复发或远处转移病灶乳腺癌的临床观察

探索手术治疗单一局部复发或唯一远处转移病灶乳腺癌的临床价值。收集2006年6月至2013年6月湖南省人民医院乳甲外科收治的64例局部复发或术后远处转移乳腺癌患者,其中28例为单发病灶病例。根据是否采取了包含手术的综合治疗,将其分为手术组与非手术组。回顾性分析两组的临床资料和随访数据,分析手术治疗局部复发或远处转移乳腺癌有无临床意义。结果28例都采取了含化疗的综合治疗,8例局部单发病灶与9例远处单一脏器转移病例进行了手术治疗。手术组的局部缓解率与控制率明显优于非手术组,均为100％。两组无进展生存时间（PFS）和总生存时间（（）S）比较,手术组明显长于非手术组;但在单一远处脏器转移手术组中0S没有优势。2年生存率方面手术组与非手术组比较有统计学意义。对于术后单一局部复发病灶或唯一远处脏器转移的乳腺癌患者,采取含手术的综合治疗方案能带来明显的PFS优势,若有手术机会和条件成熟,手术仍是不应放弃的有效治疗方法。     

难治性丙型肝炎研究新进展

随着聚乙二醇化干扰素(IFN)的普及应用和慢性丙型肝炎规范化治疗的开展,其治愈率不断提高.但疗效不佳的慢性丙型肝炎患者不断积累,难治性慢性丙型肝炎患者成为临床医生必须面对的挑战.难治性丙型肝炎患者应当分为两类,第一类为“难治疗”性慢性丙型肝炎患者,该类患者由于宿主条件限制,不能耐受IFN联合利巴韦林(RBV)的标准治疗,如儿童和老年人、慢性肾功能衰竭患者等.第二类为“难治愈”性慢性丙型肝炎患者,该类患者可以耐受标准治疗方案,但按照应答指导的治疗原则(RGT)治疗后,效果仍然不佳或复发.本文就近年关于难治性丙型肝炎的研究进展,从难治性丙型肝炎的定义、机制、治疗诸方面作一综述.     

食管裂孔疝的外科治疗进展

食管裂孔疝即腹腔内脏器经食管裂孔疝入胸腔,并引发烧心、反酸等消化道及其他非消化道症状。按其解剖及临床表现可分为四型。通过病史采集、体格检查及一系列客观检查可以明确食管裂孔疝的诊断、分型及疾病进展程度。食管裂孔滑动疝并发反流、食管裂孔旁疝合并明显症状、混合型及多器官型食管裂孔疝或内科治疗效果不佳的通常应优先考虑手术治疗,以消除疝形成的因素,控制胃食管反流。食管裂孔疝手术目前通常采取腹腔镜下疝修补、补片加强及胃底折叠术,同时也存在食管延长、胃固定等其他替代术式。围手术期通过积极地控制风险因素,有助于降低各类术中、术后并发症风险及复发率。对复发、儿童及肥胖等特殊患者,也应视患者条件积极实施手术治疗。随着研究的进一步深入,食管裂孔疝手术在手术入路、补片材料、复发及并发症控制、日间手术模式应用等方面将取得更大的进展。