3,952 research outputs found
Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors and Non-Suicidal Self-Injury: A Comparison of Clinical Characteristics and Symptom Features
Body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs) and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) are recognized as distinct categories in the DSM-5. However, definitions and assessment of NSSI sometimes encompasses behaviors similar to BFRBs, and little data exist about their clinical differences. The current study examined clinical characteristics and symptom features associated with NSSI vs. BFRBs. The current sample included 1523 individuals who endorsed moderate to severe NSSI (n = 165) or BFRBs: hair pulling group (n = 102), skin picking group (n = 216), nail picking group (n = 253), nail biting group (n = 487), and cheek biting group (n = 300). Responders were asked to complete questionnaires on clinical features relevant for BFRBs and NSSI. NSSI and BFRBs had significant differences on several clinical features. Individuals in the NSSI group were more likely than individuals with BFRBs to report engaging in the behavior for social-affective reasons (i.e., to get out of doing something, or receive attention from others). Individuals in the NSSI group were also more likely to engage in the behavior to regulate tension and feelings of emptiness, and to experience relief during the act. In contrast, individuals in the BFRB groups were more likely to engage in the behavior automatically without reflective awareness, to reduce boredom, or to fix appearance. The NSSI group obtained significantly higher scores on questionnaires assessing stress, anxiety, depression, and harm avoidance. Overall, the results showed several notable differences between NSSI and BFRBs that are consistent with clinical literature and definitions of these problems in the DSM-5
Evaluating the Role of Approach-Avoidance Training on Action-Tendencies in Individuals with Skin-Picking Disorder: A Preliminary Randomized Experiment
Background and Aims: Pathological skin-picking (PSP) or excoriation disorder is a destructive behavior that affects 1-2% of the general population. The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate the effect of a computerized behavior modification task on action-tendencies (i.e., approach or avoidance) in adults with PSP. We aimed to modify these action-tendencies by having participants with PSP complete the Approach-Avoidance Training (AAT) task, using a joystick to simulate an approach (=pull) or avoidance (=push) response.
Method: Forty-five participants diagnosed with PSP were randomized to one of three training conditions: (1) Avoidance Training (AvT; n=15), (2) Approach Training (ApT; n=15), or (3) Placebo Training (PT; n=15). We hypothesized that after training, those in the AvT would have the greatest reduction in behavioral approach (i.e., their overall reaction time [RT] to approach pictures of irregular skin stimuli).
Results: Results of the pre-training assessment task revealed a positive correlation between behavioral approach to irregular skin stimuli and skin-picking severity as assessed by the Skin Picking Scale-Revised (SPS-R). After training, a lower behavioral approach and urges to pick were found in the AvT and PT groups, while those in the ApT reported higher behavioral approach and urges to pick. At two-week follow-up, no significant changes on the SPS-R were reported between groups.
Discussion: Our preliminary data suggest that the AAT is a promising avenue of research to develop as a cognitive intervention to address an excessive behavioral approach tendency that characterizes skin-picking problems
Health-related quality of life in KEYNOTE-010 : a phase II/III study of pembrolizumab versus docetaxel in patients with previously treated advanced, programmed death ligand 1-expressing NSCLC
Introduction: In the phase II/III KEYNOTE-010 study (ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01905657), pembrolizumab significantly prolonged overall survival over docetaxel in patients with previously treated, programmed death ligand 1-expressing (tumor proportion score >= 1%), advanced NSCLC. Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) results are reported here. Methods: Patients were randomized 1:1:1 to pembrolizumab 2 or 10 mg/kg every 3 weeks or docetaxel 75 mg/m(2) every 3 weeks. HRQoL was assessed using European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality of Life Questionnaire (QLC) Core 30 (C30), EORTC QLQ-Lung Cancer 13 (LC13), and EuroQoL-5D. Key analyses included mean baseline-to-week-12 change in global health status (GHS)/quality of life (QoL) score, functioning and symptom domains, and time to deterioration in a QLQ-LC13 composite endpoint of cough, dyspnea, and chest pain. Results: Patient reported outcomes compliance was high across all three instruments. Pembrolizumab was associated with better QLQ-C30 GHS/QoL scores from baseline to 12 weeks than docetaxel, regardless of pembrolizumab dose or tumor proportion score status (not significant). Compared with docetaxel, fewer pembrolizumab-treated patients had "deteriorated" status and more had "improved" status in GHS/QoL. Nominally significant improvement was reported in many EORTC symptom domains with pembrolizumab, and nominally significant worsening was reported with docetaxel. Significant prolongation in true time to deterioration for the QLQ-LC13 composite endpoint emerged for pembrolizumab 10 mg/kg compared to docetaxel (nominal two-sided p = 0.03), but not for the 2-mg/kg dose. Conclusions: These findings suggest that HRQoL and symptoms are maintained or improved to a greater degree with pembrolizumab than with docetaxel in this NSCLC patient population. (C) 2019 International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Quantum impurity solvers using a slave rotor representation
We introduce a representation of electron operators as a product of a
spin-carry ing fermion and of a phase variable dual to the total charge (slave
quantum rotor). Based on this representation, a new method is proposed for
solving multi-orbital Anderson quantum impurity models at finite interaction
strength U. It consists in a set of coupled integral equations for the
auxiliary field Green's functions, which can be derived from a controlled
saddle-point in the limit of a large number of field components. In contrast to
some finite-U extensions of the non-crossing approximation, the new method
provides a smooth interpolation between the atomic limit and the weak-coupling
limit, and does not display violation of causality at low-frequency. We
demonstrate that this impurity solver can be applied in the context of
Dynamical Mean-Field Theory, at or close to half-filling. Good agreement with
established results on the Mott transition is found, and large values of the
orbital degeneracy can be investigated at low computational cost.Comment: 18 pages, 15 figure
Magnolin targeting of ERK1/2 inhibits cell proliferation and colony growth by induction of cellular senescence in ovarian cancer cells
Ras/Raf/MEKs/ERKs and PI3âK/Akt/mTOR signaling pathways have key roles in cancer development and growth processes, as well as in cancer malignance and chemoresistance. In this study, we screened the therapeutic potential of magnolin using 15 human cancer cell lines and combined magnolin sensitivity with the CCLE mutaome analysis for relevant mutation information. The results showed that magnolin efficacy on cell proliferation inhibition were lower in TOVâ112D ovarian cancer cells than that in SKOV3 cells by G1 and G2/M cell cycle phase accumulation. Notably, magnolin suppressed colony growth of TOVâ112D cells in soft agar, whereas colony growth of SKOV3 cells in soft agar was not affected by magnolin treatment. Interestingly, phosphoâprotein profiles in the MAPK and PI3âK signaling pathways indicated that SKOV3 cells showed marked increase of Akt phosphorylation at Thr308 and Ser473 and very weak ERK1/2 phosphorylation levels by EGF stimulation. The phosphoâprotein profiles in TOVâ112D cells were the opposite of those of SKOV3 cells. Importantly, magnolin treatment suppressed phosphorylation of RSKs in TOVâ112D, but not in SKOV3 cells. Moreover, magnolin increased SAâÎČâgalactosidaseâpositive cells in a doseâdependent manner in TOVâ112D cells, but not in SKOV3 cells. Notably, oral administration of ShinâYi fraction 1, which contained magnolin approximately 53%, suppressed TOVâ112D cell growth in athymic nude mice by induction of p16Ink4a and p27Kip1. Taken together, targeting of ERK1 and ERK2 is suitable for the treatment of ovarian cancer cells that do not harbor the constitutive active P13âK mutation and the lossâofâfunction mutations of the p16 and/or p53 tumor suppressor proteins
Mott transition at large orbital degeneracy: dynamical mean-field theory
We study analytically the Mott transition of the N-orbital Hubbard model
using dynamical mean-field theory and a low-energy projection onto an effective
Kondo model. It is demonstrated that the critical interaction at which the
insulator appears (Uc1) and the one at which the metal becomes unstable (Uc2)
have different dependence on the number of orbitals as the latter becomes
large: Uc1 ~ \sqrt{N} while Uc2 ~ N. An exact analytical determination of the
critical coupling Uc2/N is obtained in the large-N limit. The metallic solution
close to this critical coupling has many similarities at low-energy with the
results of slave boson approximations, to which a comparison is made. We also
discuss how the critical temperature associated with the Mott critical endpoint
depends on the number of orbitals.Comment: 13 pages. Minor changes in V
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