Intracerebroventricular Administration of Mineralocorticoid Receptor Antisense Oligonucleotides Attenuates Salt Appetite in the Rat

The anterior ventral third ventricle (AV3V) region of the brain contains high concentrations of mineralocorticoid receptors (MR) and glucocorticoid receptors (GR) that are important in the maintenance of body fluid and electrolyte balance as well as other physiological processes. Daily intracerebroventricular pulse injections of MR antisense oligonucleotides significantly suppressed deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA) induced salt appetite in a dose-related manner. Similar administration of GR antisense or scrambled/sense oligonucleotide into the third ventricle failed to inhibit salt appetite. Salt appetite aroused after adrenalectomy was not suppressed by MR antisense oligonucleotide treatments but was suppressed by an antisense oligonucleotide directed against the angiotensin II AT1 receptor subtype. Receptor binding analysis demonstrated that MR and GR oligonucleotide treatments each reduced their respective receptor subtypes. Finally, although GR antisense oligonucleotide treatment was ineffective in suppressing DOCA-induced salt appetite, this treatment did increase stress induced corticosterone release as well as delayed the recovery of corticosterone to basal levels after stress.     

Specificity in interest measurement: Basic Interest Scales and major field of study

The Basic Interest Scales (BISs) of the Strong Interest Inventory (SII; Harmon, Hansen, Borgen, & Hammer, 1994) have a 35-year history. The BISs are the specific content scales of the SII, as opposed to the SII general content scales, the General Occupational Themes (GOTs), which measure the six Holland (1997) RIASEC themes. Using 17,074 participants from the 1994 SII national norm group who majored in 24 different areas, this study examined the incremental value of the specific BISs over the general GOTs in explaining major field of education or training. Multivariately, discriminant function analyses were used to compare the ability of the set of the six GOTs and the set of the 25 BISs to predict the 24 major fields. Results showed substantial increases in explanatory power when the BISs were added to the GOTs. For 22 of the 24 fields, the addition of BISs to the GOTs added significantly to prediction of the major. These results showed that specific interest scales, such as the BISs, are highly useful in explaining specific criteria, such as choice of major field of education or training.     

Effects of depressed mood on drinking refusal self-efficacy: examining the specificity of drinking contexts

College students with elevated depressive symptoms are more likely to engage in risky drinking and experience alcohol-related negative consequences. Efforts to understand the association between depressed mood and alcohol use have begun to identify the role of cognitive-motivational processes. Drinking refusal self-efficacy is one such process that influences the decision to drink, but its relationship with depressed mood remains unclear. The current study sought to clarify the role of these processes using a depressed mood induction procedure in a sample of college student drinkers. Eighty-six students were randomized to a depressed or neutral mood induction and completed assessments of drinking refusal self-efficacy. Depressed mood significantly decreased self-efficacy in high-risk drinking contexts related to depression, whereas ratings of other high-risk contexts were unaffected. These findings suggest that the association between hazardous drinking and depressed mood may be due in part to the direct influence of mood state on one's self-efficacy to resist drinking in relevant contexts.     

The Impact of Cancer on Psychological and Social Outcomes

Cancer is now the biggest cause of mortality worldwide. Although the debilitating physical symptoms of cancer have long been known, the psychological and social impacts of cancer have become the subject of examination only relatively recently. The psychological outcomes that have been examined are primarily negative emotional variables, e.g., anxiety, but emerging research has focused on positive emotional variables, e.g., post‐traumatic growth, or cognitive outcomes. In this article, we provide a synthesis of reviews that have addressed the psychosocial impact of cancer. The framework for this synthesis is provided by a conceptualisation in which the presence of cancer impacts on psychosocial outcomes either directly or via mediating variables, including physical symptoms and treatment, and that this effect may be moderated by several variables, some characteristic of the person with cancer (demographic or personality‐related variables) and some characteristic of their environment (social support and medical variables). We also briefly examine the impact of cancer on the broader family unit following cancer diagnosis, treatment, survivorship and bereavement. We conclude that the heterogeneity of the cancer experience highlights the need for theoretically driven research and consistency in measurement approaches to determine mechanisms by which cancer exerts influence on psychosocial outcomes. This would allow development and delivery of targeted psychological interventions and a clearer delineation of the roles of the various parties, including clinical psychologists, family members and policymakers.