Change in subjective social status following HIV diagnosis and associated effects on mental and physical health among HIV-positive gay men in Australia

Objective: This study investigates the impact of HIV diagnosis on subjective social status and if changes are linked to health outcomes.

Design: Two measures of subjective social status, socio-economic and standing in the community were examined in 342 Australian HIV-positive gay men in 2014. Participants recalled ratings at diagnosis were compared with current ratings.

Main outcome measures: Self-reported mental (psychological distress, self-esteem, positive mental health and satisfaction with life) and physical health (self-rated health, CD4 count, viral load).

Results: Half of the participants reported improvements in subjective socio-economic status (59%) or standing in the community (52%) since diagnosis, yet one quarter reported socio-economic status (25%) or standing in the community had decreased (23%). Increases in either measure of subjective social status were linked to higher self-esteem, positive mental health, satisfaction with life and better self-rated health. Decreases in subjective social status, however, were strongly linked to poorer outcomes on all mental health measures. Decreases in standing in the community were also associated with poorer physical self-rated health.

Conclusion: Most participants reported their subjective social status were the same or better since diagnosis. Changes in subjective social status following diagnosis were strongly linked to mental health outcomes. Those who reported a decrease in subjective social status were particularly vulnerable to mental health problems.     

Because difficulty is not the same for everyone: the impact of complexity in working memory is associated with cannabinoid 1 receptor genetic variation in young adults

Individual differences in working memory ability are mainly revealed when a demanding challenge is imposed. Here, we have associated cannabinoid 1 (CB1) receptor genetic variation rs2180619 (AA, AG, GG), which is located in a potential CNR1 regulatory sequence, with performance in working memory. Two-hundred and nine Mexican-mestizo healthy young participants (89 women, 120 men, mean age: 23.26 years, SD?=?2.85) were challenged to solve a medium (2-back) vs. a high (3-back) difficulty N-back tasks. All subjects responded as expected, performance was better with the medium than the high demand task version, but no differences were found among genotypes while performing each working memory (WM) task. However, the cost of the level of complexity in N-back paradigm was double for GG subjects than for AA subjects. It is noteworthy that an additive-dosage allele relation was found for G allele in terms of cost of level of complexity. These genetic variation results support that the endocannabinoid system, evaluated by rs2180619 polymorphism, is involved in WM ability in humans.     

Manipulations of vasopressin alter aggression differently across testing conditions in monogamous and non‐monogamous Peromyscus mice

Differences in the distribution of arginine vasopressin (AVP) and a subtype of AVP receptors, the V_1a receptor, may explain dissimilarities in social behavior of monogamous and non‐monogamous rodents. Intracerebroventricular infusions of AVP and a V_1a antagonist were used in sexually naive males of two mouse species, the monogamous and highly aggressive California mouse (Peromyscus californicus) and the non‐monogamous and less aggressive white‐footed mouse (P. leucopus), to begin testing the interaction between the social system of a species and the effects of AVP on aggression. Two testing conditions, the resident‐intruder aggression test (R‐I) and the neutral arena aggression test, were used because they may differ in function and underlying biological mechanisms. In the R‐I test, administration of the antagonist lengthened attack latencies in California mice. In contrast, blocking V_1a receptors did not alter attack latencies in the R‐I test in white‐footed mice or in the neutral arena aggression test in both species. AVP also did not alter aggression in either species in either behavioral test. Overall, these results suggest that AVP may be more likely to be associated with offensive aggression as measured in the R‐I test than with neutral arena aggression and that the effects of AVP manipulations may differ between monogamous and non‐monogamous rodents. Aggress. Behav. 31:000–000, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Behavioral profile of L‐655,708, a selective ligand for the benzodiazepine site of GABA‐A receptors which contain the α5 subunit,in social encounters between male mice

GABA‐A receptor is a transmembrane hetero‐oligomeric protein which consists of five subunits, the combination of which confers unique pharmacological properties to the receptor. It is well‐known that the GABAergic system is involved in the modulation of aggression. However, the role of α5/GABA‐A receptors has not been explored. In this study, we examined the effect of L‐655,708 (0.625‐5 mg/kg), a selective ligand for the benzodiazepine site of GABA‐A receptors which contain the α5 subunit, on agonistic behavior elicited by isolation in male mice. Individually housed mice were exposed to an anosmic “standard opponent” 30 min after drug administration, and the encounters were videotaped and evaluated using an ethologically based analysis. L‐655,708 (5 mg/kg) exhibited an ethopharmacological profile characterized by a marked reduction of the time spent in offensive behavior (threat and attack) without affecting immobility, accompanied by a significant increase of avoidance/flee and nonsocial exploration behaviors, suggesting that the antiaggressive effect of the drug is unselective. Overall, this behavioral profile might indicate the existence of an anxiogenic‐like activity of L‐655,708 in mice. Aggr. Behav. 30:319–325, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

An Investigation of Irrational Beliefs and Death Anxiety as a Function of HIV Status

The present study investigated the relationship of irrational beliefs and death anxiety as a function of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status in homosexual and bisexual men. Recruited for this study were 101 HIV-seropositive participants (34 asymptomatic, 30 symptomatic, and 37 symptomatic and diagnosed with AIDS) and a contrast group (40 HIV-seronegative). In the primary analysis, HIV-negative participants in this study could not be differentiated from asymptomatic, symptomatic, and AIDS diagnosed HIV-infected participants on measures of death anxiety and irrational beliefs regardless of the status or severity of illness. In addition, irrational beliefs strongly predicted death anxiety for all participants. Results from post hoc analyses suggested that HIV status produced an interaction effect with level of total irrational beliefs and together predicted death anxiety. Even in these analyses, total irrational beliefs explained more of the variance of death anxiety than HIV status. These results are discussed within the context of the need for expanding cognitive-behavioral treatment options for HIV-infected individuals.     

脓毒症及其治疗策略的反思

脓毒症是各种严重创伤、烧伤、缺氧、再灌注损伤及外科大手术常见的并发症.目前脓毒症休克的临床病死率仍高达50%以上.对脓毒症发病机制的进一步深入认识和现行治疗措施的反思有助于改善其临床防治.     

Is there None Left to Say Anything?

Abstract. Remarks made by Lutheran leaders in Africa indicate that the churches have not been responding to the crisis of the HIV/AIDS pandemic sufficiently. In this essay I ask how the churches would be better prepared to act and also, more broadly, how the churches act to begin with. The dialogue between religion and science can assist us with both tasks as we consider the challenge of HIV/AIDS as a focus for this dialogue. First, analysis by social scientists can uncover what problems face any effort to motivate churches to act—and, for that matter, any individual member of a church group. I argue, further, that we can discover the difficulties associated with producing action by religious communities by looking not at abstract theological ideas but by investigating the way those ideas are conveyed in worship. I explore the worship patterns of Lutherans to show what sort of view is actually produced by the week‐to‐week messages of liturgical texts. I contend that a different approach both to worship and to action can be produced by reconsidering our views of reality as seen through the eyes of contemporary science.     

Time-course of hemispheric preference for processing contralateral relevant shapes: P1pc, N1pc, N2pc, N3pc

A most sensitive and specific electrophysiological indicator of selective processing of visual stimuli is the N2pc component. N2pc is a negative EEG potential peaking 250 ms after stimulus onset, recorded from posterior sites contralateral to relevant stimuli. Additional deflections preceding or following N2pc have been obtained in previous studies, possibly produced by specific stimulus features or specific prime-target sequences. To clarify the entire time-course of the contralateral- ipsilateral (C-I) difference recorded from the scalp above visual cortex in response to left-right pairs of targets and distracters, C-I differences were here compared between two types of stimuli and between stimuli that were or were not preceded by masked neutral primes. The C-I difference waveform consisted of several peaks, termed here P1pc (60-100 ms after target onset), N1pc (120-160 ms), N2pc (220-280 ms), and N3pc (360-400 ms). Being markedly enhanced when stimuli were preceded by the neutral primes, P1pc may indicate a response to stimulus change. Also, when stimuli were primed, N2pc reached its peak earlier, thereby tending to merge with N1pc. N3pc seemed to increase when target discrimination was difficult. N1pc, N2pc, and N3pc appear as three periods of one process. N3pc probably corresponds to L400 or SPCN as described in other studies. These observations suggest that the neurophysiological basis of stimulus-driven focusing of attention on target stimuli is a process that lasts for hundreds of milliseconds, with the relevant hemisphere being activated in an oscillating manner as long as required by the task.     

甲型H1N1流感大流行2周年记

2009年4月,墨西哥暴发甲型H1N1流感疫情,并迅速蔓延至全球。2009年6月11日,世界卫生组织宣布进入流感大流行,直到2010年8月10日世卫组织宣布世界步入流感大流行后期。自流感暴发已经2年过去了,回顾整个过程我们从中可以学到许多经验和教训,并随时准备应对将来可能发生的新的流感疫情。     

2009年-2011年广州市甲型H1N1流感监测定量研究

本文对广州市2009年7月～2011年1月的发热呼吸道监测数据进行了定量分析,并在此分析的基础上提出了相关政策建议,比如加强人群分类管理、加快疫苗研制、避免抗病毒药物的滥用、重视健康管理和健康教育以及遵循预防控制原则等。