The efficacy of methadone maintenance interventions in reducing illicit opiate use, HIV risk behavior and criminality: a meta-analysis.

Aims: To provide empirically based evaluation data regarding the efficacy of psychopharmacological interventions in opiate substance abuse, the present study employed meta-analytic statistical procedures to determine the effectiveness of methadone hydrochloride as a pharmacotherapeutic agent.

Design: Empirical research findings from 11 studies investigating the effect of methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) on illicit opiate use, and eight and 24 studies investigating the effect of MMT on HIV risk behaviors and criminal activities, respectively, by individuals in such treatment were addressed.

Findings: Results demonstrate a consistent, statistically significant relationship between MMT and the reduction of illicit opiate use, HIV risk behaviors and drug and property-related criminal behaviors.

Inducing positive mood without demand characteristics.

The possibility that a state of private self-awareness induced by a small mirror can facilitate the effect of procedures which induce a positive mood was investigated. Participants were 171 female and 60 male undergraduates who were randomly assigned to one of six conditions in a 2 (Mirror vs No-mirror) x 3 (Control vs Velten manipulation vs Music manipulation) design. As predicted, participants who experienced the Velten and Music manipulations in the presence of the mirror reported elevated mood relative to control participants.

History and systems of cognitive rehabilitation.

In a rapidly evolving field such as Cognitive Rehabilitation Therapy (CRT), it is important for practitioners to be fully acquainted with the history and efficacy of their discipline. This review traces the development of Cognitive Rehabilitation over the past century and describes the status of CRT today. The authors describe various methods of Cognitive Remediation that are in current use along with several developmental issues that have influenced the field over the years.

Journaling: an opportunity for reflection.

Journal entries of students in the "Bridge Program" provide a glimpse of the world in which they live. Although several students indicated that writing was not easy for them, they made attempts to regularly record thoughts and feelings about their experiences throughout the semester. Three themes seem to emerge: self-perception and expectations, mentor relationships and the research project, and lack of time to accomplish all that is needed.

Dissociation of hippocampal and striatal contributions to spatial navigation in the water maze.

Two experiments were conducted to compare the effects of fornix/fimbria and caudate-putamen lesions in Long-Evans hooded rats (Rattus norvegicus) trained on two water maze tasks that differed in the type of spatial localization required for optimum solution. In Experiment 1, the lesioned rats and surgical controls were trained on the standard place task in the water maze (Morris, 1981) and given two postacquisition tests (a platform removal probe and platform relocation test). In Experiment 2, rats with similar lesions and control rats were trained on a modified cue navigation task.

Theory application by school-based occupational therapists.

Objectives: Recent literature indicates that there is an inconsistent use of theory to guide clinical actions by occupational therapists, including those working in pediatrics. The purpose of this study was to describe school-based therapists' theory application by collecting information about what frames of reference they used and why.

Method: Of the 72 school-based therapists in the mid-Atlantic states who agreed to respond to a questionnaire, 51 (70.

Chemoattraction of anaerobic ruminal fungi zoospores to selected phenolic acids.

Three phenolic acids, p-coumaric acid, ferulic acid and syringic acid, were evaluated as chemoattractants for zoospores of two monocentric and two polycentric isolates of anaerobic, zoosporic ruminal fungi. Attraction of fungal zoospores to the acids was determined by a modification of the Palleroni method and fungal thallus forming units were counted after incubating capillary tubes in a chemotaxis chamber. Chemotactic response was expressed as relative taxis response (RTR), which is the ratio of accumulation of zoospores in test capillaries to that in control capillaries.

Stimulus complexity in reminiscence therapy and scores on the Beck Depression Inventory of a small group of nursing-home residents.

A pilot study of the efficacy of groups given single and multistimulus reminiscence therapy versus no treatment controls gave no significant effect in reducing depression in 12 nursing-home residents 68.5 yr. of age.

Radical Nature of Pathways to Alkene and Ester from Thermal Decomposition of Primary Alkyl Diacyl Peroxide.

Thermal decomposition of a primary alkyl diacyl peroxide 2 is investigated. Dependence of product yields on temperature, viscosity, and solvent polarity is examined in a variety of media. The excess of the alkene disproportionation product 4 and the presence of ester 3 and acid 5 is argued to demonstrate the existence of a discrete acyloxy-alkyl geminate radical pair.

Short-term cognitive-behavioral treatment of hypoactive sexual desire in an individual with a history of childhood sexual abuse.

The treatment offered individuals of childhood sexual abuse is often unnecessarily long-term and is typically based upon the victimization/recovery model. This paper presents a brief case study illustrating the successful short-term cognitive-behavioral treatment of a 28-year-old woman with hypoactive sexual desire who reported a history of repeated sexual molestations throughout her childhood.

Interviews with seven holders of endowed chairs in nursing.

Objective: To describe the activities of selected nurses holding endowed-chair positions and the development and funding of endowed chairs.

Design: Longitudinal, exploratory/descriptive. SAMPLE, SETTING, YEARS: Data were collected 1992-1995 from seven university nurses in five states.

The B form to Z form transition of poly(dG-m5dC) is sensitive to neutral solutes through an osmotic stress.

Several neutral solutes, ranging in size from methanol to a tetrasaccharide, stachyose, are shown to stabilize the left-handed Z form of the methylated polynucleotide poly(dG-m5dC). The action of these solutes is consistent with an osmotic stress, that is, with their effect on water chemical potentials coupled to a difference in the number of associated water molecules between the B and Z conformations. The apparent difference in hydration between the two forms is, however, dependent on the particular solute used to probe the reaction.

Narrative and psychological understanding.

NARRATIVE understanding is based in philosophical hermeneutics, a tradition regnant in Europe but only recently penetrating the American intellectual consciousness. Within this epistemology, there is only the text (communicated in language), which is itself about a text, and dialogue within and among these texts. There is no priori place to stand to make truth claims: there are only interpretations made from a particular historical and value-implicated stance.

Menopause in female rhesus monkeys.

Fifteen female rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatto), ranging in age from 8 to 34 years, were studied for one year to characterize the endocrine and menstrual changes associated with menopause in this species. Five monkeys were premenopausal; these younger monkeys, ages 8-11 years, menstruated and showed cyclic ovarian activity during the 12-month study period, as evidenced by menses and periodic elevations of serum estradiol (E) and luteinizing hormone (LH) concentrations. Four females, ages 24-26 years, were in transition to menopause.

Role of imagery and verbal labeling in the performance of paired associates tasks by persons with closed head injury.

The facilitating effects of visual imagery and verbal labeling strategies on learning and retention were examined with 60 survivors of closed-head injury. Because individuals without known neurological deficits use cognitive strategies when learning new materials, we expected that head-injured subjects could also be taught to use these strategies. Subjects were asked to memorize the verbal and visual paired associates stimulus items from the revised Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised (WMS-R).

Characterization of trihalomethane (THM)-induced renal dysfunction in the rat. II: Relative potency of THMs in promoting renal dysfunction.

Single non-lethal doses (3 mmol/kg) of chloroform (CHCl3), dichlorobromomethane (CHCl2Br), dibromochloromethane (CHClBr2), and bromoform (CHBr3) were administered by intraperitoneal injection to male Sprague-Dawley rats and proximal tubular secretion and reabsorption was assessed at varied times following treatment. Each of the trihalomethanes (THMs) at this dose inhibited proximal tubular secretion, as indicated by decreased in vitro renal cortical slice accumulation of organic anion p-aminohippuric acid (14C PAH). The time of maximal THM interference with 14C PAH uptake occurred at 8 h, with recovery being demonstrated by 48 h.

Characterization of trihalomethane (THM)-induced renal dysfunction in the rat. I: Effects of THM on glomerular filtration and renal concentrating ability.

Single non-lethal doses (3 mmol/kg) of chloroform (CHCl3), dichlorobromomethane (CHCl2Br), dibromochloromethane (CHClBr2), and bromoform (CHBr3) were administered by intraperitoneal injection to male Sprague-Dawley rats and glomerular filtration and renal concentrating ability were assessed at varied times (5-8 h, 21-24 h, and 45-58 h) following treatment. At this dose, each of the four trihalomethanes (THMs) elevated blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and reduced renal concentrating ability (as measured by H2O intake/output ratios, urinary total osmolality, and electrolyte levels). Three of the four THMs also significantly reduced glomerular filtration rate (GFR), with only CHCl3 failing to demonstrate an effect at 3 mmol/kg.

Placental lactogen binding sites in the pregnant rabbit choroid plexus.

Prolactin has direct effects on the CNS. The highest concentration of prolactin receptors resides within the choroid plexus where they probably function to transport prolactin from blood into CSF. Another member of the lactogen family of hormones, placental lactogen (PL), also affects CNS activity and may similarly employ the cerebroventricular system as an intermediary.

Transfer and generalization of cognitive skill after traumatic brain injury.

The authors discuss the principles of transfer and generalization of learning as they apply to rehabilitation after traumatic brain injury. A general model is provided that predicts the outcome of most rehabilitation therapies. Implications of the model for improving treatment are discussed.

Effect of monetary incentives on performance after traumatic brain injury.

Twenty-four clients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) were tested in 3 different memory paradigms to determine the effect of monetary incentives on performance. In each experiment, the rewards increased performance relative to a no reward condition. The results are interpreted in terms of the author's incentive-based model of cognitive retraining.

A comparison of metacognitive ratings of persons with traumatic brain injury and their family members.

Clients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) who were referred for neuropsychological testing were asked to provide self-ratings of their intellectual, social, memory, and academic skills. Their family members and relatives were asked to rate the clients on the same scales. The ratings were correlated with the client's neuropsychological test scores.