Response-dependent point loss and response force as disrupting operations on behavioral resistance to change in humans.

Behavioral momentum theory (BMT) provides a theoretical and methodological framework for understanding how differentially maintained operant responding resists disruption. A common way to test operant resistance involves contingencies with suppressive effects, such as extinction or prefeeding. Other contingencies with known suppressive effects, such as response-cost procedures arranged as point-loss or increases in response force, remain untested as disruptive events within the BMT framework.

Resistance to change as function of different physical-effort requirements in humans.

The effects of different physical-effort requirements on behavioral resistance to change were examined with undergraduate students engaging in a computer task for points exchangeable for money. In Baseline, button pressing was maintained on a multiple variable interval (VI) 45-s VI 45-s schedule of reinforcement with two physical-effort requirements: 10 N in the Low-Effort Component and 50 N in the High-Effort Component. In Test, button pressing was disrupted by a multiple extinction (EXT) EXT schedule plus anagrams as a concurrent task for five participants.

Characteristics of a hepatitis C patient cohort at a specialized tertiary care facility: Identifying criteria to improve the allocation of public health resources.

Objectives: Our objective was to analyze, in a population treated for hepatitis C infection at a tertiary care treatment unit, the prevalence of comorbidities and extrahepatic manifestations, the range and degree of the clinical complexity and the associations between advanced liver disease and clinical variables.

Methods: Medical records from chronically infected hepatitis C patients seen at a dedicated treatment facility for complex cases in the Infectious Diseases Division of Hospital das Clínicas in Brazil were analyzed. Clinical complexity was defined as the presence of one or more of the following conditions: advanced liver disease (Metavir score F3 or F4 and/or clinical manifestations or ultrasound/endoscopy findings consistent with cirrhosis) or hepatocellular carcinoma and/or 3 or more extrahepatic manifestations and/or comorbidities concomitantly.

COMPARISON OF METHODS TO IDENTIFY Neisseria meningitidis IN ASYMPTOMATIC CARRIERS.

Neisseria meningitidis is a cause of several life-threatening diseases and can be a normal commensal in the upper respiratory tract of healthy carriers. The carrier rate is not well established especially because there is no standard method for the isolation of N. meningitidis.

Spontaneous reporting of adverse events following pandemic influenza A (H1N1) immunization in a reference center in the State of São Paulo, Brazil.

Introduction: This paper describes adverse events (AEs) temporally associated to the pandemic influenza A (H1N1) vaccine observed in a reference center in São Paulo, Brazil, during a 2010 mass vaccination campaign.

Methods: A retrospective study involving persons who sought medical care for AEs following influenza vaccination. Data were retrieved from medical records, vaccine AE notification forms, and a computerized system for immunobiological registration.

Active assessment of adverse events following yellow fever vaccination of persons aged 60 years and more.

Introduction: Older age has been associated to serious adverse events (AE) following yellow fever (YF) vaccination in passive surveillance studies, but few prospective studies involving seniors have been published.

Results: A total of 906 persons were evaluated; 78 were not vaccinated and 828 received the vaccine; 700 (84.7%) were interviewed after vaccination: 593 (84.

Immunogenicity and reactogenicity of 2009 influenza A (H1N1) inactivated monovalent non-adjuvanted vaccine in elderly and immunocompromised patients.

Background: Immunosuppressed individuals present serious morbidity and mortality from influenza, therefore it is important to understand the safety and immunogenicity of influenza vaccination among them.

Methods: This multicenter cohort study evaluated the immunogenicity and reactogenicity of an inactivated, monovalent, non-adjuvanted pandemic (H1N1) 2009 vaccine among the elderly, HIV-infected, rheumatoid arthritis (RA), cancer, kidney transplant, and juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) patients. Participants were included during routine clinical visits, and vaccinated according to conventional influenza vaccination schedules.