Nothing to Fear but Fear Itself: A Mechanistic Test of Unconscious Exposure.

Background: While effective, exposure therapy can be distressing, which creates problems with treatment acceptance. Can exposure be effectively delivered unconsciously-and thus without causing phobic people to experience distress? No study has tested this hypothesis in a sufficiently rigorous experiment that selected between mechanisms for reducing fear unconsciously.

Methods: We conducted a psychophysiological experiment of an unconscious exposure intervention to discern its mechanism of therapeutic action.

A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of Transcendental Meditation as Treatment for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Veterans.

Preliminary studies have demonstrated the efficacy of Transcendental Meditation (TM) for treating posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The present study extended previous research with a pilot trial of TM as a treatment for PTSD via a single-blinded, randomized controlled design. veterans with PTSD (N = 40) were assigned to a TM intervention or treatment-as-usual (TAU) control group.

Does the MRI/fMRI Procedure Itself Confound the Results of Meditation Research? An Evaluation of Subjective and Neurophysiological Measures of TM Practitioners in a Simulated MRI Environment.

Early research into meditation, including Transcendental Meditation (TM), relied exclusively on EEG to measure brain activity during meditation practice. Since the advent of neural imaging, MRI, and later fMRI, have dominated this field. Unfortunately, the use of this technology rests on the questionable assumption that lying down in a confining tube while exposed to very loud sounds would not interfere with the meditation practice.

Mitral Valve Replacement With Sapien 3 Transcatheter Valve in Severe Mitral Annular Calcification.

Transcatheter valve implantation in the mitral position with severe calcific mitral stenosis has been described in patients who are at an increased risk for conventional mitral valve surgical procedures. We report the direct deployment of the Sapien 3 valve in the mitral position with severe mitral annular calcification through a sternotomy in an arrested heart in two cases.

Rapid and sustained symptom reduction following psilocybin treatment for anxiety and depression in patients with life-threatening cancer: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Clinically significant anxiety and depression are common in patients with cancer, and are associated with poor psychiatric and medical outcomes. Historical and recent research suggests a role for psilocybin to treat cancer-related anxiety and depression.

Methods: In this double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover trial, 29 patients with cancer-related anxiety and depression were randomly assigned and received treatment with single-dose psilocybin (0.

Patient-reported Anxiety: A Possible Predictor of Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease Health Care Use.

Background: Anxiety is linked with adverse health-related outcomes and increased health-seeking behaviors among patients with chronic illness. Yet, this relationship has received little attention in pediatric inflammatory bowel disease. The aim of this study was to examine whether anxiety symptoms predicted youth at increased risk for repeated disease relapse and greater gastrointestinal health care use over the subsequent 12 months.

Needs assessment: towards a more responsive Canadian Society of Nephrology Annual General Meeting (CSN AGM) program.

Background: A critical feature of any continuing medical education (CME) program is the inclusion of a needs assessment for its target audience. This assessment must identify both perceived and unperceived needs, so as to best capture the entire spectrum of learning opportunities for the group.

Objective: We describe the process developed by the Canadian Society of Nephrology (CSN) to enhance the educational effectiveness of its Annual General Meeting program.

Why the resistance to statistical innovations? A comment on Sharpe (2013).

Sharpe's (2013) article considered reasons for the apparent resistance of substantive researchers to the adoption of newer statistical methods recommended by quantitative methodologists, and possible ways to reduce that resistance, focusing on improved communication. The important point that Sharpe missed, however, is that because research methods vary radically from one subarea of psychology to another, a particular statistical innovation may be much better suited to some subareas than others. Although there may be some psychological or logistical explanations that account for resistance to innovation in general, to fully understand the resistance to any particular innovation, it is necessary to consider how that innovation impacts specific subareas of psychology.

Predictive value of grade point average (GPA), Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), internal examinations (Block) and National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) scores on Medical Council of Canada qualifying examination part I (MCCQE-1) scores.

Background: To determine whether the pre-medical Grade Point Average (GPA), Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), Internal examinations (Block) and National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) scores are correlated with and predict the Medical Council of Canada Qualifying Examination Part I (MCCQE-1) scores.

Methods: Data from 392 admitted students in the graduating classes of 2010-2013 at University of Manitoba (UofM), College of Medicine was considered. Pearson's correlation to assess the strength of the relationship, multiple linear regression to estimate MCCQE-1 score and stepwise linear regression to investigate the amount of variance were employed.

Performance of currently available risk models in a cohort of mechanically supported high-risk percutaneous coronary intervention--From the PROTECT II randomized trial.

Background: Procedural risk scores facilitate clinical decision making by using individual patient characteristics to estimate the risk of adverse events. The performance of PCI-based risk scores is not well-described among patients undergoing hemodynamically supported high risk PCI.

Methods And Results: A total of 427 patients with unprotected left main disease, last remaining vessel or three-vessel disease with severely reduced left ventricular function underwent supported high-risk PCI with an intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP, N = 211) or a left ventricular assist device (Impella 2.

Anxiety symptoms and disease severity in children and adolescents with Crohn disease.

Objectives: Children and adolescents diagnosed as having Crohn disease (CD), a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), have increased vulnerability for anxiety symptoms that may be related to disease-related processes. The aims of this article are 3-fold: to report the proportion of pediatric patients with CD whose self-reported anxiety symptoms are indicative of distress, to describe the constellation of anxiety symptoms, and to examine the relation between anxiety and disease symptoms.

Methods: Retrospective medical chart review was performed for 93 youths with CD (ages 9-18 years) who had completed the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Disorders during their gastroenterology visit.

From Agrobacterium to viral vectors: genome modification of plant cells by rare cutting restriction enzymes.

Researchers and biotechnologists require methods to accurately modify the genome of higher eukaryotic cells. Such modifications include, but are not limited to, site-specific mutagenesis, site-specific insertion of foreign DNA, and replacement and deletion of native sequences. Accurate genome modifications in plant species have been rather limited, with only a handful of plant species and genes being modified through the use of early genome-editing techniques.

Nimodipine-induced hypotension but not nitroglycerin-induced hypotension preserves long- and short-term memory in adult mice.

Background: Acute hypotension may be implicated in cognitive dysfunction. L-type calcium channel blockers in the setting of hypoxia are protective of learning and memory. We tested the hypothesis that hypotension induced by nimodipine (NIMO) and nicardipine (NICA) would be protective of long- and short-term memory compared to hypotension induced by nitroglycerin (NTG).

Anterior and posterior cingulate cortex volume in healthy adults: effects of aging and gender differences.

The cingulate cortex frequently shows gray matter loss with age as well as gender differences in structure and function, but little is known about whether individual cingulate Brodmann areas show gender-specific patterns of age-related volume decline. This study examined age-related changes, gender differences, and the interaction of age and gender in the relative volume of cingulate gray matter in areas 25, 24, 31, 23, and 29, over seven decades of adulthood. Participants included healthy, age-matched men and women, aged 20-87 (n=70).

L-Dopa improves Restless Legs Syndrome and periodic limb movements in sleep but not Attention-Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder in a double-blind trial in children.

Background: In a previous open-label study, dopaminergic agents improved Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) and Periodic Limb Movements in Sleep (PLMS), as well as Attention-Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in children with both disorders. We therefore conducted a double-blind placebo-controlled trial of L-DOPA in ADHD children with and without RLS/PLMS.

Methods: Two groups of patients (total n = 29), those with ADHD only or those with ADHD and RLS/PLMS, were randomized to L-DOPA or placebo therapy.

Conducting evaluation in contested terrain: challenges, methodology and approach in an American context.

Using case examples, the author describes circumstances under which violence and conflict, overt and covert, have impinged on his evaluation field work. When fear is pervasive, it constrains people's ability and willingness to participate in an evaluation and their candor if they do. It can also be dangerous.

Dorso- and ventro-lateral prefrontal volume and spatial working memory in schizotypal personality disorder.

Schizotypal personality disorder (SPD) individuals and borderline personality disorder (BPD) individuals have been reported to show neuropsychological impairments and abnormalities in brain structure. However, relationships between neuropsychological function and brain structure in these groups are not well understood. This study compared visual-spatial working memory (SWM) and its associations with dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) gray matter volume in 18 unmedicated SPD patients with no BPD traits, 18 unmedicated BPD patients with no SPD traits, and 16 healthy controls (HC).

Detecting role errors in the gene hierarchy of the NCI Thesaurus.

Gene terminologies are playing an increasingly important role in the ever-growing field of genomic research. While errors in large, complex terminologies are inevitable, gene terminologies are even more susceptible to them due to the rapid growth of genomic knowledge and the nature of its discovery. It is therefore very important to establish quality-assurance protocols for such genomic-knowledge repositories.

Transgenically enhanced expression of indole-3-acetic Acid confers hypervirulence to plant pathogens.

ABSTRACT Fusarium oxysporum and F. arthrosporioides, pathogenic on Orobanche aegyptiaca, were transformed with two genes of the indole-3-acetamide (IAM) pathway leading to indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) to attempt to enhance virulence. Transgenic F.

Updating the genomic component of the UMLS Semantic Network.

The UMLS Metathesaurus and the Semantic Network (SN) were created in the absence of a comprehensive curated genomics terminology and before the recent quantitative and qualitative explosion of genomic knowledge. In this paper we evaluate the internal consistency of the SN's categories relevant to genomics and propose changes to improve its ability to express genomic knowledge. We evaluate the completeness of the SN with respect to genomic concepts by extracting genomics vocabulary from leading texts and databases of genomic information and comparing the extracted vocabulary to the SN.

Automated comparative auditing of NCIT genomic roles using NCBI.

Biomedical research has identified many human genes and various knowledge about them. The National Cancer Institute Thesaurus (NCIT) represents such knowledge as concepts and roles (relationships). Due to the rapid advances in this field, it is to be expected that the NCIT's Gene hierarchy will contain role errors.

Feasibility of promoting smoking cessation in small worksites: an exploratory study.

The workplace is recognized as an appropriate site for smoking cessation efforts, but little is known about promoting cessation at smaller worksites. The goal of the present study was to identify strategies for promoting smoking cessation in worksites employing 10-100 workers. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 22 employers in small businesses in the manufacturing-labor and hospitality-service sectors; and eight focus groups were conducted with 59 smokers employed in these sectors.