Differential effect of behavioural strategies on the management of conduct disorder among adolescents in correctional centres in Lagos State, Nigeria

Adolescent period is a significant phase in human development. Empirical evidences from diverse nations revealed that the period is characterized by a number of misbehaviours of which conduct disorder is paramount. Conduct disorder is a repetitive behaviour that violates the rights of others. It entails rule violation, aggression, hostility, and deceitfulness. There are adolescents in correctional centres in several nations of the world because of their engagement in conduct disorder. Several behavioural techniques have been adopted to ensure that conduct disorder is overcome. It, however, appears from literature that concentrated attempts have not been made to treat or determine the efficacy of behavioural techniques. This study examined the efficacy of two behavioural strategies to manage maladjusted behaviour in correctional centres in Lagos State, Nigeria. Participants for the study were 90 adolescents purposively selected from two special correctional centres in Lagos State. The research design utilized for the study was 3 x 2 factorial design. Conduct Disorder Scale by Gilliam was used to generate data. The result of the two hypotheses showed that significant difference existed between participants exposed to cognitive restructuring, behavioural rehearsal and control group (F (2, 87) = 46.622, p < 0.05) while there was no significant difference between participants exposed to cognitive restructuring and behavioural rehearsal groups (t = 0.313, df = 58, p = 0.756). From the study, the two behavioural methods could be employed to manage conduct disorder. Consequently, they are recommended as techniques for handling adolescents’ conduct disorde

Serum 25(OH)D concentrations during oral vitamin D supplementation.

<p>Data shown as mean ± SD, number of individuals, n; p-values calculated by Students-T-Test, effect size calculated by d_Cohen and 95% confidence intervals. Not applicable = n.a.</p

Baseline characteristics of the patients with oral and intramuscular vitamin D supplementation.

<p>Values given as mean and standard deviation; p-values calculated using Students-T-Test, n.s. = not significant, n.a. = not applicable.</p

Consort flow chart.

<p>I.m. vitamin D application.</p

Serum 25(OH)D concentration at the baseline and day 28.

<p>Serum 25(OH)D was determined at the baseline and day 28 upon oral and i.m. supplementation.</p

<i>Pepino mosaic virus</i> Infection of Tomato Affects Allergen Expression, but Not the Allergenic Potential of Fruits

<div><p>The plant pathogen <i>Pepino mosaic virus</i> (PepMV) is a major disease of greenhouse tomato crops worldwide. Plant pathogens can induce expression of defence- or pathogenesis-related proteins, including identified allergens. Therefore we hypothesised that PepMV infection results in the expression of allergens leading to a higher allergenic potential of tomato fruits. Transcript level analyses showed differential expression of 17 known and putative tomato fruit allergen encoding genes at early and late time points after PepMV inoculation, but no general induction was detected. Immunoblot analyses were conducted and IgEs from a serum pool of tomato allergic subjects reacted with 20 proteins, of which ten have not yet been described. In parallel, skin prick tests with a group of tomato allergic subjects did not show a general difference between PepMV infected and non-infected tomato fruits and basophil activation tests confirmed these results. In summary, PepMV infection of tomato plants can lead to long-lasting up-regulation of particular allergens in fruits, but the hypothesis that this results in a higher allergenic potential of the fruits proved invalid.</p></div

Basophil activation and degranulation tests of tomato allergic subjects with PepMV infected and non-infected fruits.

<p>Dose response curves of basophil activation (A) and degranulation (B) with tomato fruit protein extract from 4, 8 and 12 weeks post inoculation with PepMV (WPI). Basophil activation and degranulation is shown in %CD203c⁺ and %CD63⁺ cells normalised to positive controls. The mean of five tomato allergic subjects is shown. No statistical significant differences were found (Mann-Whitney U test, p = 0.05; n = 5).</p

2DE protein gels identify putative tomato allergens.

<p>Proteins were extracted from non-infected (A) and PepMV infected (B) tomato fruits at 10 WPI. Proteins detected in immunoblots with the sera from nine tomato allergic subjects and identified by mass spectrometry are marked with numbers and listed in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0065116#pone-0065116-t001" target="_blank">Table 1</a>. Arrows highlight PepMV coat protein identifications.</p

Factors influencing the severity of anaphylaxis

This dataset contains clinical symptoms of anaphylaxis, the Ring and Messmer as well as NIAID/FAAN severity grading systems scores for each case, and potentially clinically relevant co-factors of hypersensitivity reactions