Neurocognitive Predictors of Drug Relapse

Worldwide, about 35 million people, that is 0.8% of the world’s adult population, use heroin and/or cocaine and more than 10-13% of these drug users are or will become drug dependent (UNODC, World Drug Report, 2012). Drug dependency is characterized as a chronic relapsing disorder (Leshner, 1997; McLellan et al., 2000). Substance dependent individuals often relapse, despite their efforts to stay abstinent (APA, 1994). Hence, the major goal of treatment facilities is to prevent treatment dropout and subsequent relapse. Unfortunately, about 50% of heroin and cocaine dependent patients already dropout in the first phase of clinical treatments, which is the detoxification phase. These dropout rates are consistent across several countries and remained steady over the years (the Netherlands: Franken and Hendriks, 1999; Switzerland: Hättenschwiler et al., 2000; United Kingdom: Gossop et al., 2002; Day and Strang, 2011). In addition, treatment dropout is associated with higher relapse rates (Gossop et al., 1987, 2002). There is ample room for improving these dropout and relapse rates of substance dependent patients. To improve treatment for these patients we first have to know the factors predicting relapse

The clinical relevance of attentional bias in substance use disorders

Individuals with substance use disorders typically show an attentional bias for substance-related cues: Those cues are able to grab and hold the attention, in preference to other cues in the environment. We discuss the theoretical context for this work before reviewing the measurement of attentional bias, and its relationship to motivational state and relapse to substance use after a period of abstinence. Finally, we discuss the implications of this research for the treatment of substance use disorders. We conclude that attentional bias is associated with subjective craving, and that moment-by-moment fluctuations in attentional bias may precede relapse to substance use. The evidence regarding the predictive relationship between attentional bias assessed in treatment contexts and subsequent relapse is inconsistent. Furthermore, there is currently insufficient evidence to endorse attentional bias modification as a treatment for substance use disorders. Clinical implications and suggestions for future research are highlighted

Multi-wavelength observations of 2HWC J1928+177: dark accelerator or new TeV gamma-ray binary?

2HWC J1928+177 is a Galactic TeV gamma-ray source detected by the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Observatory up to ~ 56 TeV. The HAWC source, later confirmed by H.E.S.S., still remains unidentified as a dark accelerator since there is no apparent supernova remnant or pulsar wind nebula detected in the lower energy bands. The radio pulsar PSR J1928+1746, coinciding with the HAWC source position, has no X-ray counterpart. Our SED modeling shows that inverse Compton scattering in the putative pulsar wind nebula can account for the TeV emission only if the unseen nebula is extended beyond r ~ 4 [arcmin]. Alternatively, TeV gamma rays may be produced by hadronic interactions between relativistic protons from an undetected supernova remnant associated with the radio pulsar and a nearby molecular cloud G52.9+0.1. NuSTAR and Chandra observations detected a variable X-ray point source within the HAWC error circle, potentially associated with a bright IR source. The X-ray spectra can be fitted with an absorbed power-law model with $N_{\rm H} = (9\pm3)\times10^{22}$ cm$^{-2}$ and $\Gamma_X = 1.6\pm0.3$ and exhibit long-term X-ray flux variability over the last decade. If the X-ray source, possibly associated with the IR source (likely an O star), is the counterpart of the HAWC source, it may be a new TeV gamma-ray binary powered by collisions between the pulsar wind and stellar wind. Follow-up X-ray observations are warranted to search for diffuse X-ray emission and determine the nature of the HAWC source.Comment: accepted to ApJ, 8 pages, 7 figure

21st Century Pedagogy using Wikipedia

When the era of Constructivismis laced with a broad range of Web2.0 tools, a new form of learning has evolved. Knowledge construction and deconstruction has become easier as the means to write and rewrite information has continued to evolve. Wikipedia is one of the most powerful instruments through which this digital revolution of knowledge creation, co-creation and access has been redefined. This paper is a treatise, exploring the ease with which Wikipedia can be assimilated within the curriculum and how even a secondary school student can add to the immense world of knowledge. Wikipedia is a free access, free content platform that offers every person the capability and easy-to-use tools to become a contributor of knowledge. Since its inception in 2001, the online encyclopaedia hasgrown with a burgeoning number of articles being added, modified and reviewed by contributors worldwide by the second. The very nature of the website is collaborative, thus enabling collective learning and cooperative exchange of information. Placing a student in this infinite space as a collaborative contributor of information, which is governed by the website’s stringent governance policies and is open to review and critique across the world, makes him or her a conscientious creator of verified knowledge which consolidates the learning at the highest taxonomic level of education. This curricular integration of Wikipedia could thus be the very essence of constructivism, making it a highly desirable and viable method of digitising any pedagogy

Observation of room temperature photoluminescence from asymmetric CuGaO2/ZnO/ZnMgO multiple quantum well structures

Asymmetric (CuGaO2/ZnO/ZnMgO) and symmetric (ZnMgO/ZnO/ZnMgO) multiple quantum well (MQW) structures were successfully fabricated using pulsed laser deposition (PLD) and their comparison were made. Efficient room temperature photoluminescent (PL) emission was observed from these MQWs and temperature dependent luminescence of asymmetric and symmetric MQWs can be explained using the existing theories. A systematic blue shift was observed in both MQWs with decrease in the confinement layer thickness which could be attributed to the quantum confinement effects. The PL emission from asymmetric and symmetric MQW structures were blue shifted compared to 150 nm thick ZnO thin film grown by PLD due to quantum confinement effects

Strategies for the Follow-up of Gravitational Wave Transients with the Cherenkov Telescope Array

The observation of the electromagnetic counterpart of gravitational-wave (GW) transient GW170817 demonstrated the potential in extracting astrophysical information from multimessenger discoveries. The forthcoming deployment of the first telescopes of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) observatory will coincide with Advanced LIGO/Virgo's next observing run, O3, enabling the monitoring of gamma-ray emission at E > 20 GeV, and thus particle acceleration, from GW sources. CTA will not be greatly limited by the precision of GW localization as it will be be capable of rapidly covering the GW error region with sufficient sensitivity. We examine the current status of GW searches and their follow-up effort, as well as the status of CTA, in order to identify some of the general strategies that will enhance CTA's contribution to multimessenger discoveries.Comment: 10 page

Placental thickness as a sonographic biomarker for gestational age among singleton pregnancies

Background: The aim of the study was to exploring the application of placental thickness as a sonographic marker for determining gestational age among singleton pregnant mothers.Methods: This longitudinal, observational study was conducted in obstetrics and gynecology department and department of Radiology, Sri Venkateshwaraa Medical College and Hospital, Ariyur, Puducherry, in antenatal mothers of 11-40 weeks of gestation from 2018 to 2019. The study included 278 normal singleton pregnant women. The details regarding the socio-demographic variables, relevant clinical history and examination, laboratory investigations and ultrasound report containing gestational age, placental thickness measured at the level of cord insertion were documented in a proforma. The sonographic measurements were made using a grey scale real time ultrasound machine Siemens ACUSON x400 with a convex 2-5 mhz probe.Results: The study included 278 pregnant women with a mean age of 25.8±44 years. Majority of them were home makers (n=155, 55.7%) and educated (n=257, 92.4%) and primigravida(n=117, 57.9%).The position of the placenta in majority of the participants was posterior placed (71.6%). The mean gestational age of the studied antenatal women was 28.3±7.2 weeks as per ultrasonogram. Majority of the participants were younger aged between 20 to 30 years of age and very few teenage pregnancies. There was a significant correlation between the gestational age and placental thickness (p<0.001). There was a significant (p<0.001) correlation between placental thickness and femur length (r=0.972).Conclusions: The placental thickness showed significant positive correlation with the gestational age as measured by ultrasonogram. Hence it can be used as a parameter in determining the gestational age

Effect of osmotic stress on seed germination and seedling characters of Mung bean [Vigna radiata (L.) Wildzek]

The Screening of osmotic stress was undertaken to investigate the effect of water stress and salinity stress on the seeds of mung bean (Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek) and its responses to drought tolerance at seedling stage. Water stress was simulated by non-ionic water-soluble polymer polyethylene glycol of molecular weight 6000 and salinity stress was induced with NaCl. The experiment demonstrated that osmotic stress caused by NaCl and PEG has a negative impact on the germination rate and seedling growth of Vigna radiata. Both NaCl and PEG inhibited germination and seedling growth in mung bean, but the effects of NaCl compared to PEG was less on germination and seedling growth