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Selected AbstractsPatterns of treatment response in chronic posttraumatic stress disorder: An application of latent growth mixture modelingJOURNAL OF TRAUMATIC STRESS, Issue 4 2005Peter Elliott This study attempts to differentiate groups of individuals who exhibit different patterns of recovery following treatment for chronic posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and describes these groups in terms of relevant characteristics at program intake. A sample of 2,219 Vietnam veterans who had completed a 12-week treatment program was followed up at 6, 12, and 24 months post admission using self-report measures. With change in PTSD symptoms over time as the focus, latent growth mixture modeling was used to assign individual veterans to subgroups. A three-group solution provided the best account of the data. Two groups showed moderate and consistent improvement over time although the larger group (n = 1,380) began treatment with more PTSD symptoms and improved more quickly over time. The smallest group (n = 87) showed a substantially different trajectory, with almost no net change in symptom levels over the 24-month period. The groups also varied significantly in terms of their characteristics, with symptom severity and improvements over time reflecting greater comorbidity and younger age. The results have both research and clinical implications. [source] Genetic and environmental influences on the transmission of parental depression to children's depression and conduct disturbance: an extended Children of Twins studyTHE JOURNAL OF CHILD PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHIATRY AND ALLIED DISCIPLINES, Issue 6 2010Judy L. Silberg Background:, Despite the increased risk of depression and conduct problems in children of depressed parents, the mechanism by which parental depression affects their children's behavioral and emotional functioning is not well understood. The present study was undertaken to determine whether parental depression represents a genuine environmental risk factor in children's psychopathology, or whether children's depression/conduct can be explained as a secondary consequence of the genetic liability transmitted from parents to their offspring. Methods:, Children of Twins (COT) data collected on 2,674 adult female and male twins, their spouses, and 2,940 of their children were used to address whether genetic and/or family environmental factors best account for the association between depression in parents and depression and conduct problems in their children. Data collected on juvenile twins from the Virginia Twin Study of Adolescent Behavioral Development (VTSABD) were also included to estimate child-specific genetic and environmental influences apart from those effects arising from the transmission of the parental depression itself. The fit of alternative Children of Twin models were evaluated using the statistical program Mx. Results:, The most compelling model for the association between parental and juvenile depression was a model of direct environmental risk. Both family environmental and genetic factors accounted for the association between parental depression and child conduct disturbance. Conclusions:, These findings illustrate how a genetically mediated behavior such as parental depression can have both an environmental and genetic impact on children's behavior. We find developmentally specific genetic factors underlying risk to juvenile and adult depression. A shared genetic liability influences both parental depression and juvenile conduct disturbance, implicating child conduct disturbance (CD) as an early indicator of genetic risk for depression in adulthood. In summary, our analyses demonstrate differences in the impact of parental depression on different forms of child psychopathology, and at various stages of development. [source] Procainamide and Survival in Ventricular Fibrillation Out-of-hospital Cardiac ArrestACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE, Issue 6 2010David T. Markel Abstract Objectives:, Procainamide is an antiarrhythmic drug of unproven efficacy in cardiac arrest. The association between procainamide and survival from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest was investigated to better determine the drug's potential role in resuscitation. Methods:, The authors conducted a 10-year study of all witnessed, out-of-hospital, ventricular fibrillation (VF) or pulseless ventricular tachycardia (VT) cardiac arrests treated by emergency medical services (EMS) in King County, Washington. Patients were considered eligible for procainamide if they received more than three defibrillation shocks and intravenous (IV) bolus lidocaine. Four logistic regression models were used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) describing the relationship between procainamide and survival. Results:, Of the 665 eligible patients, 176 received procainamide, and 489 did not. On average, procainamide recipients received more shocks and pharmacologic interventions and had lengthier resuscitations. Adjusted for their clinical and resuscitation characteristics, procainamide recipients had a lower likelihood of survival to hospital discharge (OR = 0.52; 95% CI = 0.36 to 0.75). Further adjustment for receipt of other cardiac medications during resuscitation negated this apparent adverse association (OR = 1.02; 95% CI = 0.66 to 1.57). Conclusions:, In this observational study of out-of-hospital VF and pulseless VT arrest, procainamide as second-line antiarrhythmic treatment was not associated with survival in models attempting to best account for confounding. The results suggest that procainamide, as administered in this investigation, does not have a large impact on outcome, but cannot eliminate the possibility of a smaller, clinically relevant effect on survival. ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE 2010; 17:617,623 © 2010 by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine [source] Inversion of earthquake focal mechanisms to obtain the seismotectonic stress IV,a new method free of choice among nodal planesGEOPHYSICAL JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL, Issue 3 2002Jacques Angelier Summary A new method is presented, to obtain the stress state that best accounts for a set of double couple focal mechanisms of earthquakes. This method is based on the slip shear stress component (SSSC) criterion. The sum of the SSSC values is maximized as a function of four unknowns that describe the reduced stress tensor, including the orientations of the principal stress axes and the ratio between the principal stress differences. This new method combines two advantages. First, no choice between the nodal planes of each focal mechanism is needed, because of the intrinsic properties of the SSSC. Secondly, the runtime is negligible regardless of the size of the data set, because the inverse problem is solved by analytical means so that the numerical aspects are reduced to a minimum. For these reasons, the SSSC-based inversion is easily included in a variety of processes for separating or refining the data. A typical set of focal mechanisms of earthquakes in Taiwan is processed to illustrate the application and potential of the new method. [source] When and How Regions Become Peaceful: Potential Theoretical Pathways to Peace,INTERNATIONAL STUDIES REVIEW, Issue 2 2005Benjamin Miller The objective of this essay is to address the following two puzzles. First, what best accounts for the transition from war to peace in different regions at different times? Second, what is the best explanation for variations in the level of regional peace that exists in different regions in a particular time period? Consider the differences that exist today in the Middle Eastern, South American, and Western European regions. A theoretical framework is proposed that is intended to integrate the regional and international perspectives on regional peace. It establishes linkages between different mechanisms that can lead to regional peace and the emergence of different levels of peace as well as presents three potential theoretical pathways to peace. An argument is made that the underlying cause of regional war propensity is the extent of the state-to-nation imbalance in a region. Accordingly, different peacemaking strategies produce different levels of peace based on their treatment of the state-to-nation problem. A distinction is made between the effects of different approaches to peacemaking and the conditions for their success. In effect, peacemaking strategies bring about the transition from war to peace only if certain conditions exist in the region. The advantages and disadvantages of the three mechanisms are illustrated through three case studies, each exemplifying a specific strategy and level of peace that have resulted from the presence of certain conditions in the region: the Middle East (a transition to cold peace in the 1990s), South America (the evolution of normal peace across the twentieth century), and Western Europe (the emergence of warm peace since the 1950s). [source] 2008 Malaysian Election: The End of Malaysia's Ethnic Nationalism?ASIAN POLITICS AND POLICY, Issue 1 2009Robert K. Arakaki The article proposes that there are three basic paradigms of nationalism: secular nationalism, ethnic nationalism, and theocratic nationalism. These paradigms form an integral part of the postcolonial state-building project. The article discusses how Malaysia selected the ethnic nationalism paradigm and how this directed the country's political development and the way it addressed the challenge of ethnic pluralism. It argues that ethnic nationalism best accounts for Malaysia's inability to achieve full democracy. The March 2008 election and the possibility of the collapse of ethnic nationalism and the transition to a more open democracy are explored. [source] | |||||||||||||