Background: Measurement of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) competency is often resource intensive. A popular emerging alternative to independent observers’ ratings is using other perspectives for rating competency. Aims: This pilot study compared ratings of CBT competency from four perspectives – patient, therapist, supervisor and independent observer using the Cognitive Therapy Scale (CTS). Method: Patients (n = 12, 75% female, mean age 30.5 years) and therapists (n = 5, female, mean age 26.6 years) completed the CTS after therapy sessions, and clinical supervisor and independent observers rated recordings of the same session. Results: Analyses of variance revealed that therapist average CTS competency ratings were not different from supervisor ratings, and supervisor ratings were not different from independent observer ratings; however, therapist ratings were higher than independent observer ratings and patient ratings were higher than all other raters. Conclusions: Raters differed in competency ratings. Implications for potential use and adaptation of CBT competency measurement methods to enhance training and implementation are discussed.

For dry high speed cutting the oxidation resistance of the protective hard coating of the cutting tool surface is very important. Therefore the effects of heat treatment on a TiAlN based hard coating deposited by the combined cathodic arc unbalanced magnetron sputtering technique have been studied using cross sectional transmission electron microscopy (XTEM) and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX). The combination of these analytical techniques revealed the diffusion paths and preferences in diffusion of various coating and substrate elements in a physical vapour deposited (PVD) type coating after heat treatment. The structure comprises a ~2 µm thick TiAlCrYN coating on top of a 0.25 µm thick TiAlCrN base layer deposited on a stainless steel substrate. In the as-deposited sample Y was distributed in a fine layered structure (1.7 nm) throughout the coating. The coating was heat treated at temperatures between 600 °C and 900 °C in air for 10 hrs duration. With increasing temperature the microstructure changed gradually from interrupted columnar growth to a fully columnar structure at 900 °C as observed with XTEM. EDX analysis after heat treatment at 700 °C showed the presence of substrate elements Fe and Cr mainly at column boundaries in the base layer. In contrast no evidence of substrate elements could be observed in the TiAlCrYN coating, thus showing a sharp change in elemental composition concerning Cr and Fe between base layer and coating. This indicates that Y segregation in the TiAlCrYN coating along column boundaries inhibited column boundary diffusion of the substrate elements Cr and Fe. Energy dispersive X-ray distribution maps recorded after 800 °C annealing showed distinct segregation of Y along the column boundaries. The substrate elements, Fe and Cr, were observed through the coating along column boundaries up to 0.95 µm from the base layer/coating interface. After heat treatment at 900 °C the substrate elements had diffused from the substrate/coating interface to the coating surface. Y out-diffused, too and was concentrated adjacent to TiO2 crystals in the oxide layer.

Eotaxin is a member of the chemokine family of about 40 proteins that induce cell migration. Eotaxin binds the CC chemokine receptor CCR3 that is highly expressed by eosinophils, and it is considered important in the pathology of chronic respiratory disorders such as asthma. The high resolution structure of eotaxin is known. The 74 amino acid protein has two disulfide bridges and shows a typical chemokine fold comprised of a core of three antiparallel β-strands and an overlying α-helix. In this paper, we report the backbone dynamics of eotaxin determined through 15N-T1, T2, and {1H}-15N nuclear Overhauser effect heteronuclear multidimensional NMR experiments. This is the first extensive study of the dynamics of a chemokine derived from 600, 500, and 300 MHz NMR field strengths. From the T1, T2, and NOE relaxation data, parameters that describe the internal motions of eotaxin were derived using the Lipari–Szabo model free analysis. The most ordered regions of the protein correspond to the known secondary structure elements. However, surrounding the core, the regions known to be functionally important in chemokines show a range of motions on varying timescales. These include extensive subnanosecond to picosecond motions in the N-terminus, C-terminus, and the N-loop succeeding the disulfides. Analysis of rotational diffusion anisotropy of eotaxin and chemical exchange terms at multiple fields also allowed the confident identification of slow conformational exchange through the “30s” loop, disulfides, and adjacent residues. In addition, we show that these motions may be attenuated in the dimeric form of a synthetic eotaxin. The structure and dynamical basis for eotaxin receptor binding is discussed in light of the dynamics data.