The Effects of Social Labels on the Allocation of Resources to Equivalent Stimuli::Does One Rotten Apple Spoil the Whole Barrel?

The studies reported here examine how participants distribute resources to arbitrary stimuli in an equivalence class after one stimulus is given a social label. In Experiment 1, two 3-member equivalence classes were established with nonsense syllables (Class 1: A1 (ZID), B1 (YIM), C1 (FAP) and Class 2: A2 (VEK), B2 (RIX), C2 (KUD)) using matching-to-sample training. A social function was then assigned to B1 only, using the simple verbal statement "YIM is a Good person." Next, participants were instructed to allocate tokens to stimuli in whatever way they consider appropriate. In general, the percentage distribution of tokens allocated to Class 1 was greater than those allocated to Class 2. Participants were then informed that a mistake had been made “Sorry I have made a mistake. YIM was actually a bad person not a good person.” Participants wer

Rapid detection of the CYP2A6*12 hybrid allele by Pyrosequencing® technology

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Identification of <it>CYP2A6 </it>alleles associated with reduced enzyme activity is important in the study of inter-individual differences in drug metabolism. <it>CYP2A6*12 </it>is a hybrid allele that results from unequal crossover between <it>CYP2A6 </it>and <it>CYP2A7 </it>genes. The 5' regulatory region and exons 1–2 are derived from <it>CYP2A7</it>, and exons 3–9 are derived from <it>CYP2A6</it>. Conventional methods for detection of <it>CYP2A6*12 </it>consist of two-step PCR protocols that are laborious and unsuitable for high-throughput genotyping. We developed a rapid and accurate method to detect the <it>CYP2A6*12 </it>allele by Pyrosequencing technology.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A single set of PCR primers was designed to specifically amplify both the <it>CYP2A6*1 </it>wild-type allele and the <it>CYP2A6*12 </it>hybrid allele. An internal Pyrosequencing primer was used to generate allele-specific sequence information, which detected homozygous wild-type, heterozygous hybrid, and homozygous hybrid alleles. We first validated the assay on 104 DNA samples that were also genotyped by conventional two-step PCR and by cycle sequencing. <it>CYP2A6*12 </it>allele frequencies were then determined using the Pyrosequencing assay on 181 multi-ethnic DNA samples from subjects of African American, European Caucasian, Pacific Rim, and Hispanic descent. Finally, we streamlined the Pyrosequencing assay by integrating liquid handling robotics into the workflow.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Pyrosequencing results demonstrated 100% concordance with conventional two-step PCR and cycle sequencing methods. Allele frequency data showed slightly higher prevalence of the <it>CYP2A6*12 </it>allele in European Caucasians and Hispanics.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This Pyrosequencing assay proved to be a simple, rapid, and accurate alternative to conventional methods, which can be easily adapted to the needs of higher-throughput studies.</p

Review: The Newsletter and Journal of Dramaturgy, volume 18, issue 2

Contents include: Reconsidering Borders; Rebekka Kricheldorf\u27s The Ballad of the Pine Tree Killer: A generational battleground; Goethe-Institut Theater; What people in the community are saying about the Goethe-Institut; A Fundamental Resistance, An Interview with Neil Blackadder; The Greening of American Theatre, A Two-Part Special Feature; The Green Top Ten, Ten Ways Your Theatre Can Go Green; A Member of the Ensemble, The Devised Production of In the Belly of the Beast with Two Backs. Issue editors: D.J. Hopkins, Shelley Orrhttps://soundideas.pugetsound.edu/lmdareview/1037/thumbnail.jp

The unified protocol for transdiagnostic treatment of emotional disorders compared with diagnosis-specific protocols for anxiety disorders a randomized clinical trial

IMPORTANCE: Transdiagnostic interventions have been developed to address barriers to the dissemination of evidence-based psychological treatments, but only a few preliminary studies have compared these approaches with existing evidence-based psychological treatments. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders (UP) is at least as efficacious as single-disorder protocols (SDPs) in the treatment of anxiety disorders. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: From June 23, 2011, to March 5, 2015, a total of 223 patients at an outpatient treatment center with a principal diagnosis of panic disorder with or without agoraphobia, generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, or social anxiety disorder were randomly assigned by principal diagnosis to the UP, an SDP, or a waitlist control condition. Patients received up to 16 sessions of the UP or an SDP for 16 to 21 weeks. Outcomes were assessed at baseline, after treatment, and at 6-month follow-up. Analysis in this equivalence trial was based on intention to treat. INTERVENTIONS: The UP or SDPs. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Blinded evaluations of principal diagnosis clinical severity rating were used to evaluate an a priori hypothesis of equivalence between the UP and SDPs. RESULTS: Among the 223 patients (124 women and 99 men; mean [SD] age, 31.1 [11.0] years), 88 were randomized to receive the UP, 91 to receive an SDP, and 44 to the waitlist control condition. Patients were more likely to complete treatment with the UP than with SDPs (odds ratio, 3.11; 95% CI, 1.44-6.74). Both the UP (Cohen d, −0.93; 95% CI, −1.29 to −0.57) and SDPs (Cohen d, −1.08; 95% CI, −1.43 to −0.73) were superior to the waitlist control condition at acute outcome. Reductions in clinical severity rating from baseline to the end of treatment (β, 0.25; 95% CI, −0.26 to 0.75) and from baseline to the 6-month follow-up (β, 0.16; 95% CI, −0.39 to 0.70) indicated statistical equivalence between the UP and SDPs. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: The UP produces symptom reduction equivalent to criterion standard evidence-based psychological treatments for anxiety disorders with less attrition. Thus, it may be possible to use 1 protocol instead of multiple SDPs to more efficiently treat the most commonly occurring anxiety and depressive disorders.This study was funded by grant R01 MH090053 from the National Institute of Mental Health. (R01 MH090053 - National Institute of Mental Health)First author draf

The import and export of organic nitrogen species at a Scottish ombrotrophic peatland

Dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) contributes significantly to the overall nitrogen budget, but is not routinely measured in precipitation or stream water. In order to investigate the contribution of DON to the deposition and export of N, precipitation, stream and soil water samples were collected from an ombrotrophic peatland and analysed for DON over a 2-year period. In wet-only deposition DON contributed up to 10 % of the total dissolved nitrogen (TDN) and was the most dominant fraction in soil water (99 %) and stream water (75 %). NH4 + was the most dominate form of N in precipitation, with NO3 - contributing the least to precipitation, soil water and stream water. Precipitation and stream DON were qualitatively analysed by a two-dimensional gas chromatograph coupled to a nitrogen chemiluminescence detector (GC × GC-NCD) after trapping onto C18 solid phase extraction (SPE) cartridges. Ten unique compounds were detected and five identified as pyrrole, benzonitrile, dodecylamine, N-nitrosodipropylamine and decylamine. Five compounds were present in both precipitation and stream samples: pyrrole, benzonitrile and three unidentified compounds. The SPE-extraction efficiency for DON was very low (11 %), but with improvements DON speciation could become a valuable tool to provide information on its sources and pathways and inform chemical transport models

Effect of medication review and cognitive behaviour treatment by community pharmacists of patients discharged from the hospital on drug related problems and compliance: design of a randomized controlled trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Drug related problems (DRPs) are common among elderly patients who are discharged from the hospital and are using several drugs for their chronic diseases. Examples of drug related problems are contra-indications, interactions, adverse drug reactions and inefficacy of treatment. Causes of these problems include prescription errors and non-compliance with treatment. The aim of this study is to examine the effect of <it>medication review </it>and <it>cognitive behaviour therapy </it>of discharged patients by community pharmacists to minimize the occurrence of drug related problems.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>A randomized controlled trial will be performed. Community pharmacists will be randomized into a control group and an intervention group. 342 Patients, aged over 60 years, discharged from general and academic hospitals, using five or more prescription drugs for their chronic disease will be asked by their pharmacy to participate in the study.</p> <p>Patients randomized to the control group will receive usual care according to the Dutch Pharmacy Standard. The medication of patients randomised to the intervention group will be reviewed by the community pharmacist with use of the national guidelines for the treatment of diseases, when patients are discharged from the hospital. The Pharmaceutical Care network Europe Registration form will be used to record drug related problems. Trained pharmacy technicians will counsel patients at home at baseline and at 1,3,6,9 and 12 months, using Cognitive Behaviour Treatment according to the Theory of Planned Behaviour. The patient's attitude towards medication and patient's adherence will be subject of the cognitive behaviour treatment. The counselling methods that will be used are <it>motivational interviewing </it>and <it>problem solving treatment</it>. Patients adherence towards drug use will be determined with use of the Medication Adherence Report Scale Questionnaire. There will be a follow-up of 12 months.</p> <p>The two primary outcome measures are the difference in occurrence of DRPs between intervention and control group and adherence with drug use. Secondary endpoints are attitude towards drug use, incidence of Re-hospitalisations related to medicines, functional status of the patient, quality of life and the cost-effectiveness of this intervention.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>Combining both medication review and Cognitive Behaviour Treatment may decrease DRPs and may result in more compliance with drug use among patients discharged from the hospital and using 5 or more chronic drugs.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>Dutch Trial Register NTR1194</p

The FIRST-2MASS Red Quasar Survey II: An anomalously high fraction of LoBALs in searches for dust-reddened quasars

We present results on a survey to find extremely dust-reddened Type-1 Quasars. Combining the FIRST radio survey, the 2MASS Infrared Survey and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, we have selected a candidate list of 122 potential red quasars. With more than 80% spectroscopically identified objects, well over 50% are classified as dust-reddened Type 1 quasars, whose reddenings (E(B-V)) range from approximately 0.1 to 1.5 magnitudes. They lie well off the color selection windows usually used to detect quasars and many fall within the stellar locus, which would have made it impossible to find these objects with traditional color selection techniques. The reddenings found are much more consistent with obscuration happening in the host galaxy rather than stemming from the dust torus. We find an unusually high fraction of Broad Absorption Line (BAL) quasars at high redshift, all but one of them belonging to the Low Ionization BAL (LoBAL) class and many also showing absorption the metastable FeII line (FeLoBAL). The discovery of further examples of dust-reddened LoBAL quasars provides more support for the hypothesis that BAL quasars (at least LoBAL quasars) represent an early stage in the lifetime of the quasar. The fact that we see such a high fraction of BALs could indicate that the quasar is in a young phase in which quasar feedback from the BAL winds is suppressing star formation in the host galaxy.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

Disruption of Mouse Cenpj, a Regulator of Centriole Biogenesis, Phenocopies Seckel Syndrome

Disruption of the centromere protein J gene, CENPJ (CPAP, MCPH6, SCKL4), which is a highly conserved and ubiquitiously expressed centrosomal protein, has been associated with primary microcephaly and the microcephalic primordial dwarfism disorder Seckel syndrome. The mechanism by which disruption of CENPJ causes the proportionate, primordial growth failure that is characteristic of Seckel syndrome is unknown. By generating a hypomorphic allele of Cenpj, we have developed a mouse (Cenpjtm/tm) that recapitulates many of the clinical features of Seckel syndrome, including intrauterine dwarfism, microcephaly with memory impairment, ossification defects, and ocular and skeletal abnormalities, thus providing clear confirmation that specific mutations of CENPJ can cause Seckel syndrome. Immunohistochemistry revealed increased levels of DNA damage and apoptosis throughout Cenpjtm/tm embryos and adult mice showed an elevated frequency of micronucleus induction, suggesting that Cenpj-deficiency results in genomic instability. Notably, however, genomic instability was not the result of defective ATR-dependent DNA damage signaling, as is the case for the majority of genes associated with Seckel syndrome. Instead, Cenpjtm/tm embryonic fibroblasts exhibited irregular centriole and centrosome numbers and mono- and multipolar spindles, and many were near-tetraploid with numerical and structural chromosomal abnormalities when compared to passage-matched wild-type cells. Increased cell death due to mitotic failure during embryonic development is likely to contribute to the proportionate dwarfism that is associated with CENPJ-Seckel syndrome