Bostonia: The Boston University Alumni Magazine. Volume 20

Founded in 1900, Bostonia magazine is Boston University's main alumni publication, which covers alumni and student life, as well as university activities, events, and programs

Psychometrics of the personal questionnaire : a client-generated outcome measure

We present a range of evidence for the reliability and validity of data generated by the Personal Questionnaire (PQ), a client-generated individualized outcome measure, using five data sets from three countries. Overall pre-therapy mean internal consistency (alpha) across clients was .80; within-client alphas averaged .77; clients typically had one or two items that did not vary with the other items. Analyses of temporal structure indicated high levels of between client variance (58%), moderate pre-therapy test-retest correlations (r =.57), and high session-to-session lag-1 autocorrelations (.82). Scores on the PQ provided clear evidence of convergence with a range of outcome measures (within-client r = .41). Mean pre-post effects were large (d = 1.25). The results support a revised caseness cut-off of 3.25 and a reliable change interval of 1.67. We conclude that PQ data meet criteria for evidence-based, norm-referenced measurement of client psychological distress for supporting psychotherapy practice and research

Nondestructive Method for Mapping Metal Contact Diffusion in In2O3 Thin-Film Transistors

The channel width-to-length ratio is an important transistor parameter for integrated circuit design. Contact diffusion into the channel during fabrication or operation alters the channel width and this important parameter. A novel methodology combining atomic force microscopy and scanning Kelvin probe microscopy (SKPM) with self-consistent modeling is developed for the nondestructive detection of contact diffusion on active devices. Scans of the surface potential are modeled using physically based Technology Computer Aided Design (TCAD) simulations when the transistor terminals are grounded and under biased conditions. The simulations also incorporate the tip geometry to investigate its effect on the measurements due to electrostatic tip–sample interactions. The method is particularly useful for semiconductor– and metal–semiconductor interfaces where the potential contrast resulting from dopant diffusion is below that usually detectable with scanning probe microscopy

A randomised controlled trial of the effects of albendazole in pregnancy on maternal responses to mycobacterial antigens and infant responses to bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) immunisation [ISRCTN32849447]

Background: Maternal schistosomiasis and filariasis have been shown to influence infant responses to neonatal bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) immunisation but the effects of maternal hookworm, and of de-worming in pregnancy, are unknown. Methods: In Entebbe, Uganda, we conducted a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of a single dose of 400 mg of albendazole in the second trimester of pregnancy. Neonates received BCG. Interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) and interleukin (IL)-5 responses to a mycobacterial antigen (crude culture filtrate proteins (CFP) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis) were measured in a whole blood assay. We analysed results for binary variables using χ2 tests and logistic regression. We analysed continuous variables using Wilcoxon's tests. Results: Maternal hookworm was associated with reduced maternal IFN-γ responses to CFP (adjusted odds ratio for IFN-γ > median response: 0.14 (95% confidence interval 0.02–0.83, p = 0.021). Conversely, maternal hookworm was associated with subsequent increased IFN-γ responses in their one-year-old infants (adjusted OR 17.65 (1.20–258.66; p = 0.013)). Maternal albendazole tended to reduce these effects. Conclusion: Untreated hookworm infection in pregnancy was associated with reduced maternal IFN-γ responses to mycobacterial antigens, but increased responses in their infants one year after BCG immunisation. The mechanisms of these effects, and their implications for protective immunity remain, to be determined. </p

Patient focused registries can improve health, care, and science.

Eugene Nelson and colleagues call for registries of care data to be transformed into patient centred interactive learning systemsThis work is supported by funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (Grants: #71211 and 72313), the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (Grant #OCONNO04Q10), and the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America Quality of Care Initiative (Grant #3372). TSM was funded by the Multidisciplinary Clinical Research Center for Musculoskeletal Diseases at Dartmouth (P60 AR-062799, A. Tosteson, PI), sponsored by the National Institute for Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases of the National Institutes of Health. EE was funded by The Swedish Research Council for Health, Work Life and Welfare (#2014-4238). MDW is supported by a Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator award (WT09789).This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from BMJ Group via https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.i331

Nocardia kroppenstedtii sp. nov., a novel actinomycete isolated from a lung transplant patient with a pulmonary infection

An actinomycete, strain N1286T, isolated from a lung transplant patient with a pulmonary infection, was provisionally assigned to the genus Nocardia. The strain had chemotaxonomic and morphological properties typical of members of the genus Nocardia and formed a distinct phyletic line in the Nocardia 16S rRNA gene tree. It was most closely related to Nocardia farcinica DSM 43665T (99.8% gene similarity) but was distinguished from the latter by a low level of DNA:DNA relatedness. These strains were also distinguished by a broad range of phenotypic properties. On the basis of these data, it is proposed that isolate N1286T (=DSM 45810T = NCTC 13617T) should be classified as the type strain of a new Nocardia species for which the name Nocardia kroppenstedtii is proposed