Search

人際經驗是個體發展自我形象與環境評估的關鍵因素。大部分尋求長期心理治療的個案，其困擾多與過去負面的人際經驗所帶來的關係議題有關。若個體在成長過程經常遭受拒絕，會發展出「世界不能控制、別人不可預測、不可信任」的觀點。因此，本研究旨在探討長期心理治療歷程，個案的他人表徵與自我概念之轉變，以及討論心理師在協助個案改變的相關促成與阻礙因素。本研究以質性研究方式進行，以六位長期心理治療取向為主的資深心理師作為研究對象，以一對一的方式與每位受訪者進行一次深度訪談。訪談內容著重探討個案他人表徵及自我概念的改變，並深入了解長期心理治療關係對於個案發展新的人際關係經驗之影響。以紮根理論的資料分析概念進行資料分析，透過逐字稿編碼，由訪談者的實務工作現場所呈現之資料建構出歸納式結論。研究結果發現：心理師所討論的個案改變包括三個面向：（1）治療前後期的他人表徵轉變，（2）治療前後期的自我概念轉變，以及（3）促進與阻礙個案人際經驗改變的因素。本研究據此提出結論：長期心理治療有助於個案創造正向的他人表徵與自我概念，並使個案有機會能夠體驗到正向的關係新經驗。 Interpersonal experience is the key factor for people to develop other-representation and to evaluate the environment. Most long-term psychotherapy clients’ issues stem from past negative experiences in interpersonal relationships. Individuals who have frequently experienced rejection during their growth process are susceptible to adopting the viewpoint that "the world is uncontrollable, and people are unpredictable and untrustworthy." Hence, the main purpose of this research is to explore the difference in other-representation, the transformation of self-concept during the long-term psychotherapy, and how counselors assist clients in changing their old pattern of other-representation and improving the self-concept. This is done to create new positive interpersonal relationship experiences. This study used semi-structured interviews to collect data from 6 counselors who primarily conducted long-term psychotherapy for clients. Each psychologist was individually interviewed once. The contents of the interviews focused on changes of other-representation, self-concept, and the influences of long-term counseling relationships on clients’ development of new interpersonal relationship experiences. After data collection, the verbatim transcription of each interview was analyzed in a phenomenological approach. The study aims to obtain the effectiveness of long-term psychotherapy on the change of clients’ interpersonal relationship experience. The main findings of this study were as follows: (1) changes in other-representation; (2) changes in self-concept; (3) the factors that promote or interfere with the changes of clients. This study suggests that long-term psychotherapy can be conducive to creating positive other-representation and self-concept, and developing satisfying relationship patterns. &nbsp

Germ cells in D. melanogaster are specified maternally shortly after fertilization and are transcriptionally quiescent until their zygotic genome is activated to sustain further development. To understand the molecular basis of this process, we analyzed the progressing transcriptomes of early male and female germ cells at the single-cell level between germline specification and coalescence with somatic gonadal cells. Our data comprehensively covered zygotic activation in the germline genome, and analyses on genes that exhibit germline-restricted expression revealed that polymerase pausing and differential RNA stability are important mechanisms that establish gene expression differences between the germline and soma. In addition, we observed an immediate bifurcation between the male and female germ cells as zygotic transcription begins. The main difference between the two sexes is an elevation in X chromosome expression in females relative to males signifying incomplete dosage compensation with a few select genes exhibiting even higher expression increases. These indicate that the male program is the default mode in the germline that is driven to female development with a second X chromosome.

Surface parameterizations have been widely applied in computer-aided design for the geometric processing tasks of surface registration, remeshing, texture mapping, and so on. In this paper, we present an efficient balanced energy minimization algorithm for the computation of simply connected open surface parameterizations with balanced angle and area distortions. The existence of a nontrivial accumulation function of the proposed algorithm is guaranteed under some mild conditions, and the limiting function is shown to be one-to-one. Comparisons of the proposed algorithm with angle- and area-preserving parameterizations show that the angular distortion is close to that of an angle-preserving parameterization while the area distortion is significantly improved. An application of the proposed algorithm involving surface remeshing, registration, and morphing to the Chinese virtual broadcasting technique is demonstrated.

Excessive blue light light-emitting diode (LED) exposure and consequent oxidative stress causes damage to retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells. Chitosan oligosaccharides (COSs) are the hydrolyzed products of chitin, which is abundant in the exoskeleton of crustaceans and cell walls of fungi. We investigated the protective effect of COSs on blue light LED-induced RPE cell damage. These cells were treated with various concentrations of COSs and then exposed to blue light LED. Our results confirmed that RPE cell apoptosis increased significantly with longer light exposure. Treatment with COSs significantly reduced apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner. These molecules also suppressed the production of reactive oxygen species and the expression of inflammation- and apoptosis-related proteins. Moreover, COSs stabilized the mitochondrial membrane potential of cells and down-regulated the NF-κB pathway. In this study, the protective effects of COSs on blue light LED-induced RPE cell damage, as well as the associated mechanisms, were demonstrated.

Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα), is a pathogenic cytokine in kidney disease that alters expression of claudins in tubular cells. Previously we showed that in LLC-PK1 cells TNFα caused a biphasic change in transepithelial resistance (TER) consisting of an early drop and recovery, followed by a late increase. However, the underlying mechanisms and the role of specific claudins in the TER effect remained incompletely understood. Here we sought to define how TNFα affects claudins 1, 4, and 7 in tubular cells and to correlate their changes with the TER effect. We show that TNFα elevates total and surface levels of Cldn-1, 4, and 7, and increases their mRNA expression through the ERK and JNK pathways. Further, JNK is also important for TNFα-induced changes in claudin-2 expression. Continuous monitoring of TER using Electric cell-substrate impedance sensing (ECIS) reveals that the two phases of the TNFα effect are differently regulated. Specifically, inhibition of the ERK or JNK pathways prevent the late TER increase, but not the early TER effect. Silencing experiments also show that Cldn-1 is necessary for the early TNFα-induced TER change, while all three claudins appear to contribute to the late TER increase. In summary, we define a central role for ERK and JNK in TNFα-induced altered claudin expression and barrier tightening. Together, our current and previous works show that the TNFα-induced early TER effect requires claudin-1, while claudin-2 decrease is a significant mediator of the late TER increase, and elevation in claudin-1, 4, and 7 contribute to a smaller extent. J. Cell. Physiol. 232: 2210-2220, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Coelomocytes are important cellular mediators of immunity in echinoderms. In the purple sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus) these cells can readily be divided into phagocytes, vibratile cells, red spherule cells, and colorless spherule cells based on their morphology. While some information has been reported about genes that are expressed in specific types of coelomocytes, a comprehensive analysis of the gene expression pattern in each cell type was not available. Using a density gradient coelomocytes from individual adult urchins were separated into three populations (phagocytes, a mixture of vibratile and colorless spherule cells, and red spherule cells), RNA was isolated, and next generation sequencing was employed to determine the transcriptome of each cell population. All three cell populations showed clear differences in their gene expression patterns, and the differences in transcript levels for selected genes that were found to be uniquely expressed in one cell type were confirmed by qRT-PCR using cDNA obtained from additional sea urchins. We now complemented this bulk population data with single-cell RNAseq to define coelomocyte identity and function based on their gene expression profiles. The new findings from this study will be discussed. This work was supported by the Chang Gung Memorial Hospital (CMRPD1C0242, CMRPD1F0421, and CORPD1F0051) and the Ministry of Science and Technology Taiwan (MOST 107-2320-B-182-002 and 108-2320-B-182 -018 -MY3)

PHD finger protein 7 ( Phf7 ) is a male germline specific gene in Drosophila melanogaster that can trigger the male germline sexual fate and regulate spermatogenesis, and its human homologue can rescue fecundity defects in male flies lacking this gene. These findings prompted us to investigate conservation of reproductive strategies through studying the evolutionary origin of this gene. We find that Phf7 is present only in select species including mammals and some insects, whereas the closely related G2/M-phase specific E3 ubiquitin protein ligase ( G2e3 ) is in the genome of most metazoans. Interestingly, phylogenetic analyses showed that vertebrate and insect Phf7 genes did not evolve from a common Phf7 ancestor but rather through independent duplication events from an ancestral G2e3 . This is an example of parallel evolution in which a male germline factor evolved at least twice from a pre-existing template to develop new regulatory mechanisms of spermatogenesis.

The evolutionary history of PHF7/G2E3 proteins.

Expression pattern of Phf7 in the adult rat testis by in situ hybridization.

Phylogenetic trees of PHF7 and G2E3 proteins.

PHD finger protein 7 (Phf7) is a male germline specific gene in Drosophila melanogaster that can trigger the male germline sexual fate and regulate spermatogenesis, and its human homologue can rescue fecundity defects in male flies lacking this gene. These findings prompted us to investigate conservation of reproductive strategies through studying the evolutionary origin of this gene. We find that Phf7 is present only in select species including mammals and some insects whereas the closely related G2/M-phase specific E3 ubiquitin protein ligase (G2e3) is in the genome of most metazoans. Interestingly, phylogenetic analyses showed that vertebrate and insect Phf7 genes did not evolve from a common Phf7 ancestor but rather through independent duplication events from an ancestral G2e3. This is an example of parallel evolution in which a male germline factor evolved at least twice from a pre-existing template to develop new regulatory mechanisms of spermatogenesis.

PHD finger protein 7 (Phf7) is a male germline specific gene in Drosophila melanogaster that can trigger the male germline sexual fate and regulate spermatogenesis, and its human homologue can rescue fecundity defects in male flies lacking this gene. These findings prompted us to investigate conservation of reproductive strategies through studying the evolutionary origin of this gene. We find that Phf7 is present only in select species including mammals and some insects whereas the closely related G2/M-phase specific E3 ubiquitin protein ligase (G2e3) is in the genome of most metazoans. Interestingly, phylogenetic analyses showed that vertebrate and insect Phf7 genes did not evolve from a common Phf7 ancestor but rather through independent duplication events from an ancestral G2e3. This is an example of parallel evolution in which a male germline factor evolved at least twice from a pre-existing template to develop new regulatory mechanisms of spermatogenesis.

Comparisons of Phf7 and G2e3 in different species.

The C-terminus of D. melanogaster PHF7 is required for the induction of female germline loss.

Coelomocytes are important cellular mediators of immunity in echinoderms. In the purple sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus) these cells can readily be divided into phagocytes, vibratile cells, red spherule cells, and colorless spherule cells based on their morphology. While some information has been reported about genes that are expressed in specific types of coelomocytes, a comprehensive analysis of the gene expression pattern in each cell type was not available. Using a density gradient coelomocytes from individual adult urchins were separated into three populations (phagocytes, a mixture of vibratile and colorless spherule cells, and red spherule cells), RNA was isolated, and next generation sequencing was employed to determine the transcriptome of each cell population. All three cell populations showed clear differences in their gene expression patterns, and the differences in transcript levels for selected genes that were found to be uniquely expressed in one cell type were confirmed by qRT-PCR using cDNA obtained from additional sea urchins. This bulk population data was then complemented by single-cell RNAseq to obtain information about suitable population and sub-population markers for subsequent studies of coelomocyte biology.

Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα), is a pathogenic cytokine in kidney disease that alters expression of claudins in tubular cells. Previously we showed that in LLC-PK

Segmentation of a fetal head from three-dimensional (3-D) ultrasound images is a critical step in the quantitative measurement of fetal craniofacial structure. However, two main issues complicate segmentation, including fuzzy boundaries and large variations in pose and shape among different ultrasound images. In this article, we propose a new registration-based method for automatically segmenting the fetal head from 3-D ultrasound images. The proposed method first detects the eyes based on Gabor features to identify the pose of the fetus image. Then, a reference model, which is constructed from a fetal phantom and contains prior knowledge of head shape, is aligned to the image via feature-based registration. Finally, 3-D snake deformation is utilized to improve the boundary fitness between the model and image. Four clinically useful parameters including inter-orbital diameter (IOD), bilateral orbital diameter (BOD), occipital frontal diameter (OFD) and bilateral parietal diameter (BPD) are measured based on the results of the eye detection and head segmentation. Ultrasound volumes from 11 subjects were used for validation of the method accuracy. Experimental results showed that the proposed method was able to overcome the aforementioned difficulties and achieve good agreement between automatic and manual measurements.

Polymerase chain reaction analysis in combination with denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) was used to determine changes in the composition of the bacterial community of a bioreactor during ammonia removal. A minimum of 13 bands were observed in the DGGE profile. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that phylum Proteobacteria was predominantly represented in the bacterial community of the bioreactor, followed by Firmicutes , Actinobacteria , and Flavobacteriaceae . However, the occurrence and predominance of specific bacterial species varied with the concentrations of NH 3 introduced into the bioreactor. The complexity of the bacterial species generally decreased with increasing inlet NH 3 concentration. Based on the characteristics of the identified species, there is a potential for nitrification, denitrification, nitrate reduction, nitrite reduction, and ammonia assimilation to occur simultaneously in the bioreactor. The strains identified in this study are potential candidate strains for the purification of waste gases containing high concentrations of NH 3 .

Methods to detect the presence of coliform bacteria in drinking water usually involve a series of complex cultivating steps that are time-consuming and subject to external influences. For this reason, the new 16S rRNA probe has been developed in this study as an alternative detector PCR-ELISA technique that does not involve the culture of bacteria and that is able to detect, identify, and quantify the representative coliform species present in water samples. Our results indicate that this technique is both rapid (detection time of 4 h) and accurate (1.4% error rate). The limit of detection (LOD) was 5 CFU/100 ml for total coliforms, which meets the standards set by most countries for drinking water. Our comparative study demonstrated that this PCR-ELISA method is superior to current conventional methods in terms of detection time, LOD, and accuracy.

We demonstrate a "collection development decision support tool" that mines digital archive usage data. We want to better understand the University of Southern California (USC) Digital Archive's collection structure by analyzing the objects' characteristics, by analyzing the relationships between viewed objects, and by understanding usage trends over time. By relying on implicit patterns of usage data, such as co-retrievals, rather than explicit data, such as hit counts, we believe we can make more informed decisions about where to expend our resources.