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The archetype of the self underlies the ego-complex at its root and source in the unconscious. None of these assigns to the self the role that I feel to be so essential in the syndrome. SP 50-52 sp In regard to the method of study of these processes of the archaic, unconscious psyche in psychosis, I find myself baffled as to how to set up anything like a scientific approach to the material. In this hypothesis the model is easy to visualize but difficult to understand in terms of experience; the self is seen in this case as the center of the total psychic organism, and the ego is subsumed within this totality as the center of the field of consciousness only, that is, of contents accessible to consciousness; between the two are the autonomous complexes, which are groupings of contents not accessible to ego-consciousness (Figure 1). Reconstitutive process in the psychopathology of the self1: The following paper by J.W. Perry is published with permission from the Annals of the New York Academy of the Sciences where it was first published in January 1962. The imagery I refer to is a whole class of symbolic representations of centrality and organization, of order and highest authority; I hope to demonstrate that in these we see representations of the self and processes that transform or reorganize the self in the unconscious psyche. [Extracted from the article]

Purpose: In an effort to address persistent inequities in maternal and infant health, policymakers and advocates have pushed to expand access to doula care. Several states, including California, now cover doula services through Medicaid. As coverage expands, research on the impact of doula care will likely increase. To develop best practices for research, it is critical to engage community doulas, clients, and other key stakeholders. Description: Our overarching goal was to build capacity for future doula- and client-centered research on community doula care. First, we established a Steering Committee with members from seven relevant stakeholder groups: community doulas, former or potential doula clients, clinicians, payers, advocates, researchers, and public health professionals. Second, we conducted a needs assessment to identify and understand stakeholders' needs and values for research on community doula care. Findings from the needs assessment informed our third step, conducting a research prioritization to develop a shared research agenda related to community doula care with the Steering Committee. We adapted the Research Prioritization by Affected Communities protocol to guide this process, which resulted in a final list of 21 priority research questions. Lastly, we offered a training to increase capacity among community doulas to engage in research on community doula care. Assessment: Our findings provide direction for those interested in conducting research on doula care, as well as policymakers and funders. Conclusion: The findings of our stakeholder-engaged process provide a roadmap that will lead to equity-oriented research centering clients, doulas, and their communities. Significance: What is Already Known on this Subject?: Doula care is often cited as a cost-effective intervention to improve maternal and infant health and health care experiences. However, research that focuses on the community-based model of doula care is limited. What this Study Adds?: This paper describes a stakeholder-engaged process that identified important understudied research questions about community doula care. Researchers can further refine these questions to conduct partnered research with multiple stakeholder groups, including community doulas, former or potential doula clients, clinicians, payers, advocates, and public health professionals. Further, this paper outlines best practices for research on community doula care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Well-Integrated Screening and Evaluation for Women Across the Nation (WISEWOMAN) program in California, named Heart of the Family, implements and evaluates the effectiveness of lifestyle interventions to improve nutrition and physical activity while reducing cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors among low-income, uninsured or underinsured Hispanic women aged 40–64 who participate in the Cancer Detection Programs: Every Woman Counts (CDP:EWP). This paper reports the study design and baseline findings of the California WISEWOMAN program. Methods: Heart of the Family, a within-site randomized controlled study at four community health centers in Los Angeles and San Diego, featured a unique set of strategies meeting the state population in implementing a California WISEWOMAN program. The program exclusively targeted Hispanic women who are at risk of developing CVD, provided lifestyle intervention using a validated intervention material in Spanish and English to motivate behavioral changes, and used bilingual (English and Spanish) community health workers (CHWs) to provide individually based face-to-face counseling. Women meeting enrollment criteria were randomly assigned either to an enhanced intervention group (EIG), who received lifestyle intervention, or usual care group (UCG), who received the usual care for elevated blood pressure or cholesterol. Results: A total of 1093 women enrolled between January 2006 and August 2006. Demographic and baseline CVD risk profiles are similar in both groups. Some notable characteristics of the California participants are lower smoking rate (5%), higher average body mass index (BMI) (31.9), and a significantly higher percentage with less than high school education (70%). Conclusions: With its unique study design and large number of enrolls, Heart of the Family will enable future public health efforts to better meet the health needs of Hispanic women by addressing education levels, economic considerations, and cultural and linguistic needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From 2004 to 2007 the California HealthCare Foundation's Step by Step: Local Coverage Expansion initiative supported insurance coverage expansions for uninsured children and adults in thirty California counties. In this paper we describe the initiative and its achievements as well as challenges for grantees. Also, we discuss the implications of the initiative's outcomes for expanding coverage locally and more broadly. Implementing new insurance programs is possible in the most difficult settings. Although there are real challenges to sustaining these expansions and limits to what they can accomplish in the face of major unmet needs, they may lay useful groundwork for broader expansions later. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims In order to increase the number of investigative teams and sites conducting research on pharmacological treatments for methamphetamine use disorders, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) established an infrastructure of clinical sites in areas where methamphetamine addiction is prevalent. This multi-site infrastructure would serve to run multiple Phases II and III protocols effectively and expeditiously. Methods NIDA collaborated with investigators from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) to set up the Methamphetamine Clinical Trials Group (MCTG). This paper describes the development process, as well as data from a test trial to assess the capability of research-naive sites to recruit research participants and conduct study procedures according to research protocol. Subsequent trials are also described. Results A total of 151 candidates signed consent; 65 individuals were enrolled and 35 (53.8%) completed the 12 weeks' behavioral trial. Self-reported substance use report (SUR) showed comparable use of methamphetamine across sites with the individual site means ranging from 59% (site 5) to 80% (site 3). Drug use as measured by urinalysis was greatly reduced at week 13 compared to the baseline measure; the average rate of methamphetamine-free urine samples across all participants in sites at week 13 was 53%. The highest percentage of methamphetamine-free samples was 85% at site 5; the lowest was at site 1 (40%). Addiction severity index (ASI) composite scores at baseline and protocol completion for all participants demonstrated improvement in all categories over time, except for the medical composite score. The largest composite score reduction in baseline-protocol completion was in the drug domain (0.23 versus 0.15). The changes in the ASI scores from baseline to week 13 were consistent across all five sites. Conclusions Outcomes of the behavioral trial indicated that the MCTG recruited well; collected study data accurately and reliably; and created a vehicle that can assess promising pharmacotherapies for methamphetamine addiction treatment medications. The MCTG strategy appears to be a feasible approach to increase NIDA's capacity to conduct clinical trials to evaluate potential pharmacotherapies for methamphetamine addiction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents abstracts of medical papers discusses during the 18th International Conference of the Society for medical Innovation and Technology on May 11-14, 2006 in California. They include "Non-invasive CyberKnife Ablation," "Endoluminal Fundoplication for GERD Past, Present and Future" and "New Tools for Endoluminal Resection of Flat GI Lesions."

With the introduction of minimally invasive techniques, surgeons must learn skills and procedures that are radically different from traditional open surgery. Traditional methods of surgical training that were adequate when techniques and instrumentation changed relatively slowly may not be as efficient or effective in training substantially new procedures. Virtual environments are a promising new medium for training. This paper describes a testbed developed at the San Francisco, Berkeley, and Santa Barbara campuses of the University of California for research in understanding, assessing, and training surgical skills. The testbed includes virtual environments for training perceptual motor skills, spatial skills, and critical steps of surgical procedures. Novel technical elements of the testbed include a four-DOF haptic interface, a fast collision detection algorithm for detecting contact between rigid and deformable objects, and parallel processing of physical modeling and rendering. The major technical challenge in surgical simulation to be investigated using the testbed is the development of accurate, real-time methods for modeling deformable tissue behavior. Several simulations have been implemented in the testbed, including environments for assessing performance of basic perceptual motor skills, training the use of an angled laparoscope, and teaching critical steps of the cholecystectomy, a common laparoscopic procedure. The major challenges of extending and integrating these tools for training are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Having a source where medical services are regularly received is an antecedent to securing high quality medical care: it facilitates access and indicates that the individual is not alienated from the health care delivery system. In this paper we develop models to characterize individuals, both children and adults, who claim a regular source of care. The models are estimated using a logit analysis (since the dependent variable is 0-1) applied to survey data on residents of East Palo Alto, California. These data indicate that in this low-income, predominately black population the most important factor influencing whether a child will have a regular source of medical care is whether the parents have a regular source. For adults, the anticipated need for care (as measured by health status), time in community, and sex were all found to be important. The type of individual least likely to have a regular source of care is a low-income, unmarried male who is in good health and is a recent arrival to the community. The individuals most likely to need easy access to medical care and continuity of care are most likely to have a regular source of care, and vice versa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of hormesis has been receiving greater interest in the biomedical and toxicological research communities over the past decade. Of particular importance has been how the hormesis concept may affect risk assessment practices, litigation, and regulation. This paper identifies and discusses what may be the first application of the hormesis concept in environmental assessment and litigation. This occurred in California within the context of an assessment of alleged continuing smelter contamination nearly a century ago. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Question: How can a library-based bioinformatics support program be implemented and expanded to continuously support the growing and changing needs of the research community? Setting: A program at a health sciences library serving a large academic medical center with a strong research focus is described. Methods: The bioinformatics service program was established at the Norris Medical Library in 2005. As part of program development, the library assessed users' bioinformatics needs, acquired additional funds, established and expanded service offerings, and explored additional roles in promoting on- campus collaboration. Results: Personnel and software have increased along with the number of registered software users and use of the provided services. Conclusion: With strategic efforts and persistent advocacy within the broader university environment, library-based bioinformatics service programs can become a key part of an institution's comprehensive solution to researchers' ever-increasing bioinformatics needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights research papers presented at the 45th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology in San Diego, California on December 6-9, 2003. Production strategy developed by researchers from Freiburg University Medical Center in Germany for individual idiotype vaccines; Results of a phase II study of gemtuzumab ozogamicin for the treatment of patients with acute myeloid leukemia; Murine model developed by researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Chicago for myelodysplastic syndrome.

Focuses on the 41st Annual Research in Medical Education RIME) Conference held in San Francisco, California from November 10-13, 2002. Agenda of the conference; Participants of the conference; Research papers presented during the conference.