The Role of Cognitive Distortions in the Longitudinal Relationship Between Problematic Drinking and Depressive Symptoms

This dissertation investigated the mechanisms by which problematic drinking contributes to depressive symptoms in two longitudinal, prospective, cohort-design studies. Distorted cognitive processes (dysfunctional attitudes, negatively-biased information processing, and rumination) were proposed as mediators in the relationship between problematic drinking and depressive symptoms over time. Study 1 (N = 1090) assessed participants’ levels of problematic drinking, dysfunctional attitudes, and depressive symptoms at three-month intervals for one year. Findings indicated that the social and occupational consequences of alcohol use (e.g., interpersonal conflict) significantly predicted depressive symptoms. The amount and frequency of alcohol consumption did not. Therefore, impairment, but not level of consumption, is predictive of psychopathology in the long-term. Longitudinal analyses found inconsistent evidence that dysfunctional attitudes mediated this relationship over time. Study 2 (N = 321) incorporated measures of ruminative thinking, biased information processing, and motivations behind drinking (e.g., drinking to cope), 8-12 weeks apart. There was no evidence of a significant predictive relationship between alcohol problems and depressive symptoms in this time frame. Rather, a third-variable relationship emerged, whereby cognitive variables predicted changes in both alcohol problems and depressive symptoms. Specifically, “drinking to cope” predicted drinking problems, negatively-biased information processing predicted both depressive symptoms and alcohol problems, and dysfunctional attitudes predicted depressive symptoms over time. Clinicians treating individuals with this comorbidity are encouraged to focus on and address the underlying distorted cognitive processes that contribute to the social and occupational consequences of their clients’ drinking patterns and help them actively manage their clinical impairment through cognitively-focused interventions

The Impact of Dialectical Behaviour Therapy on Aggression, Anger, and Hostility in a Forensic Psychiatric Population

Forensic psychiatric patients engage in more aggression than any other inpatient psychiatric population. Aggressive behaviour impedes rehabilitation, as aggressive individuals are often excluded from evidence-based therapies due to safety concerns. Dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) is a group-based cognitive-behavioural psychotherapy designed to target maladaptive behaviours, such as aggression, in individuals who are behaviourally and emotionally dysregulated. The present study assessed whether six months of DBT is effective in reducing aggression, anger, and hostility in a representative, medium-security, forensic psychiatric population compared to treatment as usual. Participants (N = 17) suffered from a range of psychotic, personality, substance use, and mood disorders. Results suggest that DBT shows promise in reducing aggression, anger, and hostility in this population, however this is little evidence that the skills taught in DBT are responsible for those changes. The implications and future directions of this research are discussed

FLORIDA AND THE FRESH STRAWBERRY INDUSTRY

Agribusiness,

Local spectroscopy and atomic imaging of tunneling current, forces and dissipation on graphite

Theory predicts that the currents in scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and the attractive forces measured in atomic force microscopy (AFM) are directly related. Atomic images obtained in an attractive AFM mode should therefore be redundant because they should be \emph{similar} to STM. Here, we show that while the distance dependence of current and force is similar for graphite, constant-height AFM- and STM images differ substantially depending on distance and bias voltage. We perform spectroscopy of the tunneling current, the frequency shift and the damping signal at high-symmetry lattice sites of the graphite (0001) surface. The dissipation signal is about twice as sensitive to distance as the frequency shift, explained by the Prandtl-Tomlinson model of atomic friction.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, accepted at Physical Review Letter

Review and synthesis of problems and directions for large scale geographic information system development

Problems and directions for large scale geographic information system development were reviewed and the general problems associated with automated geographic information systems and spatial data handling were addressed

The institutional and financial arrangements for industrial decentralisation

In a sense this paper provides a 'how to' of industrial decentralisation (ID)- the in­stitutions which should be approached by companies interested in ID, and the interrelationships among these institu­tions. The goal of this paper, however, is broader. It is to chronicle the institutional and financial changes which have been brought about by the reformulation of ID policy, and especially by the form­ation of the Development Bank of South­ern Africa (DBSA). Our object is to con­sider the implications of these changes. We are concerned both with the impact of the challeges on the private sector, and also with the extent to which they will contribute to the attainment of the objec­tives of Goverment policy. The paper consists of four sections. The first section contains a brief introduction to the political-economic framework of the ID policy. In the second we provide an overview of the institutional and finan­cial arrangements circa 1981. The over­view provides a basis both for tracing the changes which have occurred, and for suggesting why they were thought neces­sary. The final section contains our prognostications for the future of ID policy, especially as it affects the private sector.&nbsp

Modelling the consequences of interactions between tumour cells.

Classical models of tumorigenesis assume that the mutations which cause tumours to grow act in a cell-autonomous fashion. This is not necessarily true. Sometimes tumour cells may adopt genetic strategies that boost their own replication and which also influence other cells in the tumour, whether directly or as a side-effect. Tumour growth as a whole might be enhanced or retarded. We have used mathematical models to study two non-autonomous strategies that tumour cells may use. First, we have considered the production by tumour cells of an angiogenesis growth factor that benefits both the cell from which it originates and neighbouring cells. Second, we have analysed a situation in which tumour cells produce autocrine-only or paracrine-only growth factors to prevent programmed cell death. In the angiogenesis model, stable genetic polymorphisms are likely to occur between cells producing and not producing the growth factor. In the programmed cell death model, cells with autocrine growth factor production can spread throughout the tumour. Production of paracrine-only growth factor is never selected because it is 'altruistic' (that is of no benefit to the cell that makes the growth factor), despite being potentially beneficial to tumour growth as a whole. No polymorphisms can occur in the programmed cell death model. Production of angiogenesis and other growth factors in tumours may be under stable genetic, rather than epigenetic, control, with implications for therapies aimed at such targets. Many of the mutations observed in tumours may have non-autonomous effects

Mathematical modeling of cell population dynamics in the colonic crypt and in colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer is initiated in colonic crypts. A succession of genetic mutations or epigenetic changes can lead to homeostasis in the crypt being overcome, and subsequent unbounded growth. We consider the dynamics of a single colorectal crypt by using a compartmental approach [Tomlinson IPM, Bodmer WF (1995) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 92: 11130-11134], which accounts for populations of stem cells, differential cells, and transit cells. That original model made the simplifying assumptions that each cell popuation divides synchronously, but we relax these assumptions by adopting an age-structured approach that models asynchronous cell division, and by using a continuum model. We discuss two mechanims that could regulate the growth of cell numbers and maintain the equilibrium that is normally observed in the crypt. The first will always maintain an equilibrium for all parameter values, whereas the second can allow unbounded proliferation if the net per capita growth rates are large enough. Results show that an increase in cell renewal, which is equivalent to a failure of programmed cell death or of differentiation, can lead to the growth of cancers. The second model can be used to explain the long lag phases in tumor growth, during which news, higher equilibria are reached, before unlimited growth in cell number ensues

An exhaust sprayer for grasshopper destruction

Spraying with dieldrin mixtures before the insects reach the flying stage has given excellent results in controlling grasshopper plagues, and the Agriculture Protection Board is supplying dieldrin spraying material free of charge to farmers in the Eastern, North-Eastern and Northern Agricultural Areas

Machines on Genes: Enzymes that Make, Break and Move DNA and RNA

As the vital information repositories of the cell, the nucleic acids DNA and RNA pose many challenges as enzyme substrates. To produce, maintain and repair DNA and RNA, and to extract the genetic information that they encode, a battery of remarkable enzymes has evolved, which includes translocases, polymerases/replicases, helicases, nucleases, topoisomerases, transposases, recombinases, repair enzymes and ribosomes. An understanding of how these enzymes function is essential if we are to have a clear view of the molecular biology of the cell and aspire to manipulate genomes and gene expression to our advantage. To bring together scientists working in this fast-developing field, the Biochemical Society held a Focused Meeting, ‘Machines on Genes: Enzymes that Make, Break and Move DNA and RNA’, at Robinson College, University of Cambridge, U.K., in August 2009. The present article summarizes the research presented at this meeting and the reviews associated with the talks which are published in this issue of Biochemical Society Transactions