Accounting for HIV Risk Among Men on Methadone

This study explores accounts and reasons for engaging in HIV risk-taking behaviors reported by heterosexual men in methadone treatment programs in the Harlem section of New York City. A convenience sample of 62 men who reported having abused their female partners in the past 12 months participated in 10 focus groups. Data analysis revealed four types of HIV risky accounts, which we labeled nihilistic, hedonistic, fatalistic, and normative. The accounts were rarely found in isolation, but were delivered in rich “performative” constellations. We conclude that normative accounts in particular have important implications for HIV prevention. They show that the (hetero)sexual act is interactive “hard work” to say the least, and condoms have no role interrupting it. In the end, the risks of losing masculine face before a female partner are very much prioritized over long-run HIV risks.     

On the requirement of nitric oxide signaling in the amygdala for consolidation of inhibitory avoidance memory

Evidence suggests that the NO/sGC/PKG pathway plays a key role in memory processing but the actual participation of this signaling cascade in the amygdala during memory consolidation remains unknown. Here, we show that when infused in the amygdala immediately after inhibitory avoidance training, but not later, the NO synthase inhibitor L-NNA hindered long-term memory retention without affecting locomotion, exploratory behavior, anxiety state or retrieval of the avoidance response. The amnesic effect of L-NNA was not state-dependent and was mimicked by the soluble guanylyl cyclase inhibitor LY83583 and the PKG inhibitor KT-5823. On the contrary, post-training intra-amygdala infusion of the NOS substrate L-Arg, the NO-releasing compound SNAP or the non-hydrolysable analog of cGMP 8Br-cGMP increased memory retention in a dose-dependent manner. Co-infusion of 8Br-cGMP reversed the amnesic effect of L-NNA and LY83583 but not that of KT-5823. Our data indicate that the NO-induced activation of PKG in the amygdala is a necessary step for consolidation of inhibitory avoidance memory.     

Critical role of the 65-kDa isoform of glutamic acid decarboxylase in consolidation and generalization of Pavlovian fear memory

Evidence suggests that plasticity of the amygdalar and hippocampal GABAergic system is critical for fear memory formation. In this study we investigated in wild-type and genetically manipulated mice the role of the activity-dependent 65-kDa isozyme of glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD65) in the consolidation and generalization of conditioned fear. First, we demonstrate a transient reduction of GAD65 gene expression in the dorsal hippocampus (6 h post training) and in the basolateral complex of the amygdala (24 h post training) during distinct phases of fear memory consolidation. Second, we show that targeted ablation of the GAD65 gene in Gad65(-/-) mice results in a pronounced context-independent, intramodal generalization of auditory fear memory during long-term (24 h or 14 d) but not short-term (30 min) memory retrieval. The temporal specificity of both gene regulation and memory deficits in Gad65 mutant mice suggests that GAD65-mediated GABA synthesis is critical for the consolidation of stimulus-specific fear memory. This function appears to involve a modulation of neural activity patterns in the amygdalo-hippocampal pathway as indicated by a reduction in theta frequency synchronization between the amygdala and hippocampus of Gad65(-/-) mice during the expression of generalized fear memory.     

Virtual Reality Exposure in the Treatment of Panic Disorder With Agoraphobia: A Case Study

In this work we present a case example of the use of virtual reality exposure for the treatment of panic disorder with agoraphobia. The assessment protocol and procedure (including a baseline period) and the cognitive-behavioral treatment program are described. The clinical measures were categorized into target behaviors, panic and agoraphobia measures, global functioning, and general psychopathology measures. The patient’s expectations and satisfaction with regard to the virtual treatment were also assessed. The results showed an important reduction in all clinical measures after treatment with virtual exposure and the patient reached the therapeutic goals established during the pretreatment assessment. The patient also reported a good acceptance of virtual exposure. The goals achieved in the virtual environment generalized to real agoraphobic situations and to other real situations not treated. Three-, 6-, and 12-month follow-up assessments were conducted and long-term therapeutic gains were maintained.     

Job stress and burnout in residential child care workers in Spain

The aim of this study is to identify the variables related to stress and burnout syndrome among child residential care workers, as well as the most problematic areas of their work. A random sample of 257 professionals working in the Residential Child Care sector in Spain was studied by means of the TBQ questionnaire (Teachers' Burnout Questionnaire), adapted to child care workers. The results enabled us to detect the principal sources of job dissatisfaction, as well as revealing a greater incidence of stress than of burnout. Certain personal and work variables displayed relevant relationships with these measures.     

Psychometric properties of the d2 selective attention test in a sample of premature and born-at-term babies

The psychometric properties of the d2 Selective Attention Test are analyzed in two samples of premature ( n = 63) and born-at-term ( n = 78) children. The reliability coefficients (internal consistency) reached values of around .90. Principal components analysis revealed a three-factor structure, which accounts for 58% of the variance, and thus coincides with the number of factors presented in the manual of the Spanish adaptation of the test but not with their composition. Results suggest that the d2 test has adequate psychometric properties both for the global sample and for each sub-sample.     

BOLD activation varies parametrically with corner angle throughout human retinotopic cortex

The Alternating Brightness Star (ABS) is an illusion that provides insight into the relationship between brightness perception and corner angle. Recent psychophysical studies of this illusion have shown that corner salience varies parametrically with corner angle, with sharp angles leading to strong illusory percepts and shallow angles leading to weak percepts. It is hypothesized that the illusory effects arise because of an interaction between surface corners and the shape of visual receptive fields: sharp surface corners may create hotspots of high local contrast due to processing by center-surround and other early receptive fields. If this hypothesis is correct, early visual neurons should respond powerfully to sharp corners and curved portions of surface edges. Indeed, the primary role of early visual neurons may be to localize the discontinuities along the edges of surfaces. If so, all early visual areas should show greater BOLD responses to sharp corners than to shallow corners. On the other hand, if corner processing is exclusively constrained to certain areas of the brain, only those specific areas will show greater responses to sharp vs shallow corners. To address this we explored the BOLD correlates of the ABS illusion in the human visual cortex using fMRI. We found that BOLD signal varies parametrically with corner angle throughout the visual cortex, offering the first neurophysiological correlates of the ABS illusion. This finding provides a neurophysiological basis for the previously reported psychophysical data that showed that corner salience varied parametrically with corner angle. We propose that all early visual areas localize discontinuities along the edges of surfaces, and that specific cortical corner-processing circuits further establish the specific nature of those discontinuities, such as their orientation.     

Understanding Undergraduate Plagiarism in the Context of Students’ Academic Experience

Journal of Academic Ethics - Previous research has shown that student plagiarism is the product of interplay between individual and situational factors. The present study examined the relationship...     

Acquired stimulus control of drug-induced changes in aggressive display in Betta splendens

Male Siamese fighting fish exhibit stereotyped aggression reactions to their mirror reflections. When distinctive neutral stimuli (flickering colored lights) were repeatedly associated with drug-potentiated aggression (morphine sulfate) and drug-depressed aggression (phenergan), the stimuli came to exert specific stimulus control over aggressive display even after the drugs were discontinued.