On Dixon and Wilson’s Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Pathological Gamblers

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Pathological Gamblers (Dixon & Wilson, 2014) is a treatment manual for applying acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) to disordered gambling. Utility of the manual will be gauged over time, as empirical data on the evaluation of ACT for disordered gambling were not available at the time of publication or at the time of review. The manual, while light on theory, allows for a behavioral and ACT-consistent conceptualization of disordered gambling, although such an analysis is not explicit. The present manuscript provides a brief review and reaction to the content with a supplemental conceptualization of disordered gambling in terms of escape, negative reinforcement, and experiential avoidance

A Brief Behavioral Intervention of Harm Reduction for Online Poker Players

Given the high rates of gambling in the United States and the growing population of problem and pathological (disordered) gamblers, there is a need for effective interventions which will eliminate or reduce disordered gambling, or, at minimum, reduce harm resulting from disordered gambling. High-risk populations for development of disordered gambling include college students and online poker players. This study sought to develop and test a brief behavioral intervention for decreasing monetary loss, time spent gambling, and risky betting for college-aged self-identified problem gamblers who play online poker. This study included four participants in a multiple baseline across participants. Post-intervention, all participants gambled fewer days overall, and three of four participants lost less money overall. The fourth participant was never at a net monetary los

Considering Contingencies of Gambling Research in Conjunction with the \u3ci\u3eBehavior Analyst Certification Board Professional and Ethical Compliance Code\u3c/i\u3e

The issues that are the focus of this paper can be exemplified in two questions relevant to danger and validity in behavioral gambling research: Is there danger of reinforcing problem gambling behavior in experiments where gambling is a dependent variable? And, do reliable laboratory effects represent something key in development or maintenance of gambling problems, or have some other applied pragmatic value? Behavior analytic research is performed in an ethical manner, and the concerns of the above questions are typically minimized. The persistence of the questions is discussed, as well as the value of research in relation to behavioral treatments. These issues are discussed in conjunction with the Behavior Analyst Certification Board Professional and Ethical Compliance Code

Exploration of Social Reinforcement for Gambling in Single Case Designs

Social reinforcement could be a variable that facilitates gambling behavior. Unfortunately, there are relatively few studies examining the impact that contingent social stimuli can have on betting behavior. Using simulated slot machine games and confederates, we investigated possible maintaining social contingencies for gambling with four recreational gamblers. Results indicated a small effect from a social positive reinforcement contingency for betting more credits than the previous trial. Four additional participants were recruited to replicate the effects of social positive reinforcement when structural aspects of the game were also changed, such as sound, win magnitude, and credit value. Lastly, one participant returned to the laboratory at a later time to examine the effects of different confederates providing social stimuli. This participant bet more in the presence of the confederate who had previously provided social positive reinforcement. Across the experiments, the social positive reinforcement contingency effect was replicated in five participants

Annotated Bibliography of Behavior Analytic Scholarship Outside of \u3ci\u3eAnalysis of Gambling Behavior\u3c/i\u3e: 2013-2015

Previous scholarly reviews have summarized behavior analytic gambling literature up to 2012 and have identified Analysis of Gambling Behavioras the primary journal for such scholarship. This article includes an annotated bibliography of behavioral literature centered on gambling and related issues published outside of Analysis of Gambling Behavior from 2013 to 2015

International Society of Sports Nutrition Position Stand: Probiotics.

Position statement: The International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) provides an objective and critical review of the mechanisms and use of probiotic supplementation to optimize the health, performance, and recovery of athletes. Based on the current available literature, the conclusions of the ISSN are as follows: 1)Probiotics are live microorganisms that, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host (FAO/WHO).2)Probiotic administration has been linked to a multitude of health benefits, with gut and immune health being the most researched applications.3)Despite the existence of shared, core mechanisms for probiotic function, health benefits of probiotics are strain- and dose-dependent.4)Athletes have varying gut microbiota compositions that appear to reflect the activity level of the host in comparison to sedentary people, with the differences linked primarily to the volume of exercise and amount of protein consumption. Whether differences in gut microbiota composition affect probiotic efficacy is unknown.5)The main function of the gut is to digest food and absorb nutrients. In athletic populations, certain probiotics strains can increase absorption of key nutrients such as amino acids from protein, and affect the pharmacology and physiological properties of multiple food components.6)Immune depression in athletes worsens with excessive training load, psychological stress, disturbed sleep, and environmental extremes, all of which can contribute to an increased risk of respiratory tract infections. In certain situations, including exposure to crowds, foreign travel and poor hygiene at home, and training or competition venues, athletes' exposure to pathogens may be elevated leading to increased rates of infections. Approximately 70% of the immune system is located in the gut and probiotic supplementation has been shown to promote a healthy immune response. In an athletic population, specific probiotic strains can reduce the number of episodes, severity and duration of upper respiratory tract infections.7)Intense, prolonged exercise, especially in the heat, has been shown to increase gut permeability which potentially can result in systemic toxemia. Specific probiotic strains can improve the integrity of the gut-barrier function in athletes.8)Administration of selected anti-inflammatory probiotic strains have been linked to improved recovery from muscle-damaging exercise.9)The minimal effective dose and method of administration (potency per serving, single vs. split dose, delivery form) of a specific probiotic strain depends on validation studies for this particular strain. Products that contain probiotics must include the genus, species, and strain of each live microorganism on its label as well as the total estimated quantity of each probiotic strain at the end of the product's shelf life, as measured by colony forming units (CFU) or live cells.10)Preclinical and early human research has shown potential probiotic benefits relevant to an athletic population that include improved body composition and lean body mass, normalizing age-related declines in testosterone levels, reductions in cortisol levels indicating improved responses to a physical or mental stressor, reduction of exercise-induced lactate, and increased neurotransmitter synthesis, cognition and mood. However, these potential benefits require validation in more rigorous human studies and in an athletic population

Hit-and-run epigenetic editing prevents senescence entry in primary breast cells from healthy donors

Aberrant promoter DNA hypermethylation is a hallmark of cancer; however, whether this is sufficient to drive cellular transformation is not clear. To investigate this question, we use a CRISPR-dCas9 epigenetic editing tool, where an inactive form of Cas9 is fused to DNA methyltransferase effectors. Using this system, here we show simultaneous de novo DNA methylation of genes commonly methylated in cancer, CDKN2A, RASSF1, HIC1 and PTEN in primary breast cells isolated from healthy human breast tissue. We find that promoter methylation is maintained in this system, even in the absence of the fusion construct, and this prevents cells from engaging senescence arrest. Our data show that the key driver of this phenotype is repression of CDKN2A transcript p16 where myoepithelial cells harbour cancer-like gene expression but do not exhibit anchorage-independent growth. This work demonstrates that hit-and-run epigenetic events can prevent senescence entry, which may facilitate tumour initiation

Medicine, science and intellectual history

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