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Dominant Response (dominant + response)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Psychology	50%
Medical Sciences	50%

Selected Abstracts

Incarceration and drug use patterns among a cohort of injection drug users

ADDICTION, Issue 1 2009
Kora DeBeck
ABSTRACT Aims Drug law enforcement remains the dominant response to drug-related harm. However, the impact of incarceration on deterring drug use remains under-evaluated. We sought to explore the relationship between incarceration and patterns of drug use among people who inject drugs (IDU). Design Using generalized estimating equations (GEE), we examined the prevalence and correlates of injection cessation among participants in the Vancouver Injection Drug User Study followed over 9 years. In subanalyses, we used McNemar's tests and linear growth curve analyses to assess changes in drug use patterns before and after a period of incarceration among participants reporting incarceration and those not incarcerated. Findings Among 1603 IDU, 842 (53%) reported injection cessation for at least 6 months at some point during follow-up. In multivariate GEE analyses, recent incarceration was associated negatively with injection cessation [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 0.43, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.37,0.50], whereas the use of methadone was associated positively with cessation (AOR = 1.38, 95% CI 1.22,1.56). In subanalyses assessing longitudinal patterns of drug use among incarcerated individuals and those not incarcerated over the study period, linear growth curve analyses indicated that there were no statistically significant differences in patterns of drug use between the two groups (all P > 0.05). Conclusions These observational data suggest that incarceration does not reduce drug use among IDU. Incarceration may inhibit access to mechanisms that promote injection cessation among IDU. In contrast, results indicate that methadone use is associated positively with injection cessation, independent of previous frequency of drug use. [source]

Prednisolone Priming Enhances Th1 Response and Efficacy of Subsequent Lamivudine Therapy in Patients With Chronic Hepatitis B

HEPATOLOGY, Issue 3 2000
Yun-Fan Liaw M.D.
Asian lamivudine trial has shown that hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) seroconversion rate during 1 year of lamivudine therapy was only 16% but was 64% in the subgroup of patients with a pretherapy serum alanine transaminase (ALT) level over 5 times the upper limit of normal (ULN). To test whether ALT rebound following corticosteroid priming enhances response to lamivudine therapy, a pilot study was conducted in 30 patients with ALT levels less than 5× ULN (43-169; N < 36 U/L). They received 30 mg of prednisolone daily for 3 weeks, 15 mg daily for 1 week, no treatment for 2 weeks, and then 150 mg of lamivudine daily for 9 months. Complete response (CR) was defined as ALT normalization with HBV-DNA seroclearance and HBeAg seroconversion. Peripheral blood mononuclear cell proliferation and cytokine secretion in response to recombinant HBV core antigen were serially assayed in 7 patients during priming and after withdrawal of prednisolone. Clinical rebound with an ALT over 5× ULN was observed in 20 patients (67%). Of these 20, 12 (60%) showed CR as compared with 1 (10%) of the 10 patients without significant ALT rebound (P < .002). The HBeAg seroconversion sustained in 70% of the patients 3 to 6 months after the end of lamivudine therapy. Immunological assays revealed that the responders showed Th1 dominant response and higher stimulation index to prednisolone priming. No serious side effect was encountered. These results suggest that corticosteroid priming induced immune/ALT rebound greatly enhances response to lamivudine therapy in chronic hepatitis B. Confirmation by randomized controlled trial is needed. [source]

How specific is the relation between executive function and theory of mind?

INFANT AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT, Issue 2 2002
Contributions of inhibitory control, working memory
Abstract The relation between executive function (EF) and theory of mind (ToM) may involve specific processes of inhibition and/or working memory capacity contributing to ToM, or it might be a reflection of general intellectual ability. To differentiate these alternatives, we administered task batteries measuring inhibitory control (IC), working memory, and ToM, as well as measures of verbal and performance intelligence, to 47 typically developing preschool children. Inhibitory control tasks in which a dominant response needed to be suppressed while a subdominant response was activated (Conflict IC) significantly predicted performance on false belief tasks over and above working memory, the intelligence measures, a simple delay task (Delay IC), and age. In contrast, working memory, Delay IC, and intelligence were not significant in this analysis. Conflict IC, but not Delay IC, was related to working memory. Together, these findings suggest that the combination of inhibition and working memory (as reflected in Conflict IC tasks) may be central to the relation between EF and false belief understanding. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Interplay of genes and early mother,child relationship in the development of self-regulation from toddler to preschool age

THE JOURNAL OF CHILD PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHIATRY AND ALLIED DISCIPLINES, Issue 11 2009
Grazyna Kochanska
Background:, A broad capacity for deliberate self-regulation plays a key role in emotion regulation. This longitudinal investigation from infancy to preschool age examines genotype by environment (G × E) interaction in the development of self-regulation, using molecular measures of children's genotypes and observed measures of the quality of early mother,child relationship, as reflected in attachment organization in infancy. Methods:, In 89 children, we assessed the polymorphism in the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR, ss/sl vs. ll allele status), security of attachment to mothers at 15 months in the Strange Situation, and children's ability for self-regulation at 25, 38, and 52 months, using behavioral batteries of tasks that called for deliberately suppressing a dominant response and performing instead a sub-dominant response. Results:, There was a robust G × E interaction between genetic risk and the quality of early relationship. Among children who carried a short 5-HTTLPR allele (ss/sl,), those who were insecurely attached developed poor regulatory capacities, but those who were securely attached developed as good regulatory capacities as children who were homozygotic for the long allele (ll,). There was no effect of security for ll homozygotes. Conclusions:, Those findings, consistent with diathesis-stress model, bridge research on self-regulation in typically developing children with research on non-human primates and research on psychopathology. They also indicate that a secure attachment relationship can serve as a protective factor in the presence of risk conferred by a genotype. [source]