Cognitive-behavioral treatment of panic disorder with agoraphobia

This paper reports a clinical case study on the effectiveness of Cognitive- Behavioral Treatment (CBT) in treating panic attack with agoraphobia in a local health psychology clinic. M.N., a 24 year old male, complained of nightmares, heart palpitations, sweating, tremors and fearful feelings for thepast one and a half years. He felt anxious about going to crowded places such as bus stations, night markets, supermarkets, and mosques and being left alone in any place which he was not familiar with. This case study adopted an ABC design whereby the subject was assessed at three different phases: pre-treatment, mid-treatment and post-treatment. Four standard assessment measures were administered: Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Anxiety Scale of Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). The subject responded well to 12 sessions of intervention employed in the study based on CBT model and this could be noticed by minimal score on the entire psychological test administered. The application of behavioral and cognitive strategies became more effective due to patient’s ability to understand and also due to his cooperative behavior. He responded well to imagery exposure and in-vivo gradual exposure and successfully went to shopping malls, used lifts at Kuala Lumpur Tower, went to night markets and used public transport

Pendataan Dan Pemetaan Olahraga Prestasi Koni Kabupaten Pidie Dari Tahun 2006 S/d 2012

Tumbuh kembangnya prestasi olahraga di suatu Provinsi berakar dari pembinaan prestasi Kabupaten/Kota, dalam hal ini potensi yang ada di daerah harus dikembangkan untuk menyokong prestasi olahraga di tingkat Provinsi dan Nasional. Oleh karena itu tiap-tiap Kabupaten/Kota harus melakukan pembinaan yang bagus, sehingga menghasilkan prestasi yang membanggakan. Oleh karena itu, kajian ini menarik untuk dilakukan penelitian. Adapun yang menjadi rumusan masalah dalam penelitian ini adalah bagaimanakah hasil pendataan dan pemetaan olahraga prestasi KONI Kabupaten Pidie dari tahun 2006 s/d 2012 ? Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui hasil pendataan dan pemetaan Olahraga prestasi KONI Kabupaten Pidie dari tahun 2006 s/d 2012. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah deskriptif dengan pendekatan kulitatif. Teknik pengumpulan data yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini meliputi observasi, wawancara dan dokumentasi. Hasil penelitian ini menujukan bahwa hasil pendataan KONI Kabupaten Pidie secara organisasi sudah berjalan sebagaimana mestinya dan hasil pemetaan olahraga prestasi KONI Kabupaten Pidie tergolong bagus, ini terbukti dari hasil PORDA XI tahun 2010 yang memiliki peningkatan dari PORDA X tahun 2006. Dari hasil yang didapatkan dilapangan, peneliti dapat menyarankan agar lebih ditingkatkan lagi pembinaan olahraga prestasi yang dimiliki KONI Kabupaten Pidie untuk menuju hasil yang lebih optimal lagi kedepan dalam menjalankan setiap program yang direncanakan

Mechanisms into the development of fatty liver disease: role of free fatty acids and alcohol

Background: Alcohol and Free fatty acids such as palmitate are known to promote liver injury. However less mechanistic information is available regarding omega fatty acids ratios with/out alcohol. In healthy populations omega 6/3 ratios are between 1:1 to 4:1, whereas high ratios (>15:1) are thought to correlate with the pathogenesis of fatty liver disease. This study aimed to investigate liver lipotoxicity and mitochondrial dysfunction due to imbalanced omega 6/3 ratios alone or in the presence of alcohol. Method: Human hepatoma cell line, VL-17A cells were treated with individual fatty acids (Palmitic (PA), Stearic (SA), Linoleic (LA), alpha-Linolenic (ALA), Arachidonic (AA) and Docosahexaenoic (DHA) acids) with various concentrations ranging between 0.5 μM to 300 μM and omega 6/3 ratios (1:1, 4:1, 15:1 and 25:1) with/out alcohol (100 mM) for 24, 48 and 72 h after which lipid accumulation and cell toxicity was assessed. Subsequent studies at 24 hr examined oxidative stress, mitochondrial function and lipogenic proteins. Results: PA treatment showed a detrimental effect on cell viability and lipid accumulation than SA after 48 h and 72 h (P0.05), sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1 (SREBP1) did not show any change. AA/DHA ratios also showed a significant decrease in ATP production (P<0.01), basal respiration, maximal respiration and spare mitochondrial capacity and this effect was greater with high ratios (P<0.001). Reactive oxygen species (ROS) production increased significantly, particularly with high AA/DHA ratios (15:1 and 25:1) (P<0.001) alone and in the presence of alcohol (P<0.01). Conclusion: The data suggests that lipid accumulation and toxicity occur with saturated and unsaturated fatty acids and high omega 6/3 ratios. The latter possibly due to the pro-inflammatory products of AA. This study confirms that high AA/DHA ratios with/out alcohol increase ROS production and high AA/DHA alone induce mitochondrial dysfunction and increase lipogenesis pathways by activating lipogenic factors causing steatosis and consequently promoting the development of fatty liver disease. Further work aims to elucidate the effect of fatty acid/alcohol on lipid synthetic and endocannabinoid pathways, which will further our understanding of fatty liver disease development

Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) Modulator Design using Multi-Port Network in Multilayer Microstrip-Slot Technology for Wireless Communication Applications

The design of the quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) modulator by using a multi-port network is proposed in this article for the use in wireless communication applications. The multi-port network is in the form of multilayer microstrip-slot technology. This multi-port network is composed of three 3-dB rectangular-shaped directional couplers with virtual stubs and an equal power division divider with in-phase characteristic. The design is performed by applying a full-wave electromagnetic simulation software, CST Microwave Studio (CST MWS). Keysight’s Advanced Design System (ADS) is applied in analyzing and evaluating the QPSK constellation of the proposed modulator. This comparatively small size of proposed design has been fabricated, and its wideband performance of 2 to 6 GHz is verified