Shying away: An observer-based microprocess analysis of experiential avoidance and resource activation in outpatients with generalized anxiety spectrum disorder

Despite long-standing calls for patient-focused research on individuals with generalized anxiety spectrum disorder there is little systematized knowledge about the in-session behaviors of these patients. The primary objective of this study was to describe of in-session trajectories of the patients' level of explication (as an indicator of an elaborated exposure of negative emotionality) and the patients' focus on their own resources and how these trajectories are associated with post-treatment outcome. In respect to GAD patients, a high level of explication might be seen as an indicator of successful exposure of avoided negative emotionality during therapy sessions. Observers made minute-by-minute ratings of 1100 minutes of video of 20 patients-therapists dyads. The results indicated that a higher level of explication generally observed at a later stage during the therapy sessions and the patients' focus on competencies at an early stage was highly associated with positive therapy outcome at assessment at post treatment, independent of pretreatment distress, rapid response of well-being and symptom reduction, as well as the therapists' professional experience and therapy lengths. These results will be discussed under the perspective of emotion regulation of patients and therapist's counterregulation. It is assumed that GAD-Patients are especially skilled in masking difficult emotions. Explication level and emotion regulation are important variables for this patient group but there's relation to outcome is different.

Racial disparities in CD4 counts at initial HIV-1 diagnosis: Analysis of the Adult Spectrum of HIV disease dataset and public health implications

Introduction. The HIV/AIDS disease burden disproportionately affects minority populations, specifically African Americans. While sexual risk behaviors play a role in the observed HIV burden, other factors including gender, age, socioeconomics, and barriers to healthcare access may also be contributory. The goal of this study was to determine how far down the HIV/AIDS disease process people of different ethnicities first present for healthcare. The study specifically analyzed the differences in CD4 cell counts at the initial HIV-1 diagnosis with respect to ethnicity. The study also analyzed racial differences in HIV/AIDS risk factors. ^ Methods. This is a retrospective study using data from the Adult Spectrum of HIV Disease (ASD), collected by the City of Houston Department of Health. The ASD database contains information on newly reported HIV cases in the Harris County District Hospitals between 1989 and 2000. Each patient had an initial and a follow-up report. The extracted variables of interest from the ASD data set were CD4 counts at the initial HIV diagnosis, race, gender, age at HIV diagnosis and behavioral risk factors. One-way ANOVA was used to examine differences in baseline CD4 counts at HIV diagnosis between racial/ethnic groups. Chi square was used to analyze racial differences in risk factors. ^ Results. The analyzed study sample was 4767. The study population was 47% Black, 37% White and 16% Hispanic [p<0.05]. The mean and median CD4 counts at diagnosis were 254 and 193 cells per ml, respectively. At the initial HIV diagnosis Blacks had the highest average CD4 counts (285), followed by Whites (233) and Hispanics (212) [p<0.001 ]. These statistical differences, however, were only observed with CD4 counts above 350 [p<0.001], even when adjusted for age at diagnosis and gender [p<0.05]. Looking at risk factors, Blacks were mostly affected by intravenous drug use (IVDU) and heterosexuality, whereas Whites and Hispanics were more affected by male homosexuality [ p<0.05]. ^ Conclusion. (1) There were statistical differences in CD4 counts with respect to ethnicity, but these differences only existed for CD4 counts above 350. These differences however do not appear to have clinical significance. Antithetically, Blacks had the highest CD4 counts followed by Whites and Hispanics. (2) 50% of this study group clinically had AIDS at their initial HIV diagnosis (median=193), irrespective of ethnicity. It was not clear from data analysis if these observations were due to failure of early HIV surveillance, HIV testing policies or healthcare access. More studies need to be done to address this question. (3) Homosexuality and bisexuality were the biggest risk factors for Whites and Hispanics, whereas for Blacks were mostly affected by heterosexuality and IVDU, implying a need for different public health intervention strategies for these racial groups. ^

Applied behavior analysis: What do teachers of students with autism spectrum disorder know?

With rising numbers of school-aged children with autism educated in mainstream classroomsand applied behavior analysis (ABA) considered the basis of best practice, teachers’ knowledgein this field has become a key concern for inclusion. Self-reported knowledge of ABA of specialneeds teachers (n=165) was measured and compared to their actual knowledge of ABAdemonstrated in accurate responses to a multiple-choice test. Findings reported here show thatteachers’ self-perceived knowledge exceeded actual knowledge and that actual knowledge ofABA was not

Analysis of the high-resolution ro-vibrational spectrum of DC3N in the far and mid infrared regions

Cyanoacetylene HC3N is a molecule of great astronomical importance and it has been observed in many interstellar environments. Its deuterated form DC3N has been detected in number of sources from external galaxies to Galactic interstellar clouds, star-forming regions and planetary atmospheres. All these detections relied on previous laboratory investigations, which however still lack some essential information concerning its infrared spectrum. In this project, high-resolution ro-vibrational spectra of DC3N have been recorded in two energy regions: 150 – 450 cm-1 and 1800 – 2800 cm-1. In the first window the ν7← GS, 2ν7 ← ν7, ν5 ← ν7, ν5+ν7 ← 2ν7, ν6+ν7 → 2v7, 4ν7 ← 2ν7 bands have been assigned, while in the second region the three stretching fundamental bands ν1, ν2, ν3 have been observed and analysed. The 150 – 450 cm-1 region spectra have been recorded at the AILES beamline at the SOLEIL synchrotron (France), the 1800 – 2800 cm-1 spectra at the Department of Industrial Chemistry “Toso Montanari” in Bologna. In total, 2299 transitions have been assigned. Such experimental transition, together with data previously recorded for DC3N, were included in a least-squares fitting procedure from which several spectroscopic parameters have been determined with high precision and accuracy. They include rotational, vibrational and resonance constants. The spectroscopic data of DC3N have been included in a line catalog for this molecule in order to assist future astronomical observations and data interpretation. A paper which includes this research work has been published (M. Melosso, L. Bizzocchi, A. Adamczyk, E. Cane, P. Caselli, L. Colzid, L. Dorea, B. M. Giulianob, J.-C. Guillemine, M-A. Martin-Drumel, O. Piralif, A. Pietropolli Charmet , D. Prudenzano, V. M. Rivillad, F. Tamassia, Extensive ro-vibrational analysis of deuterated-cyanoacetylene (DC3N) from millimeter wavelengths to the infrared domain, Jour. of Quant. Spectr. and Rad. Tran. 254, 107221, 2020).

Post Hoc Analysis Of The Patricia Randomized Trial Of The Efficacy Of Human Papillomavirus Type 16 (hpv-16)/hpv-18 As04-adjuvanted Vaccine Against Incident And Persistent Infection With Nonvaccine Oncogenic Hpv Types Using An Alternative Multiplex Type-specific Pcr Assay For Hpv Dna.

The efficacy of the human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV-16)/HPV-18 AS04-adjuvanted vaccine against cervical infections with HPV in the Papilloma Trial against Cancer in Young Adults (PATRICIA) was evaluated using a combination of the broad-spectrum L1-based SPF10 PCR-DNA enzyme immunoassay (DEIA)/line probe assay (LiPA25) system with type-specific PCRs for HPV-16 and -18. Broad-spectrum PCR assays may underestimate the presence of HPV genotypes present at relatively low concentrations in multiple infections, due to competition between genotypes. Therefore, samples were retrospectively reanalyzed using a testing algorithm incorporating the SPF10 PCR-DEIA/LiPA25 plus a novel E6-based multiplex type-specific PCR and reverse hybridization assay (MPTS12 RHA), which permits detection of a panel of nine oncogenic HPV genotypes (types 16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 45, 52, 58, and 59). For the vaccine against HPV types 16 and 18, there was no major impact on estimates of vaccine efficacy (VE) for incident or 6-month or 12-month persistent infections when the MPTS12 RHA was included in the testing algorithm versus estimates with the protocol-specified algorithm. However, the alternative testing algorithm showed greater sensitivity than the protocol-specified algorithm for detection of some nonvaccine oncogenic HPV types. More cases were gained in the control group than in the vaccine group, leading to higher point estimates of VE for 6-month and 12-month persistent infections for the nonvaccine oncogenic types included in the MPTS12 RHA assay (types 31, 33, 35, 45, 52, 58, and 59). This post hoc analysis indicates that the per-protocol testing algorithm used in PATRICIA underestimated the VE against some nonvaccine oncogenic HPV types and that the choice of the HPV DNA testing methodology is important for the evaluation of VE in clinical trials. (This study has been registered at ClinicalTrials.gov under registration no. NCT00122681.).

Sim-xl: A Powerful And User-friendly Tool For Peptide Cross-linking Analysis.

Chemical cross-linking has emerged as a powerful approach for the structural characterization of proteins and protein complexes. However, the correct identification of covalently linked (cross-linked or XL) peptides analyzed by tandem mass spectrometry is still an open challenge. Here we present SIM-XL, a software tool that can analyze data generated through commonly used cross-linkers (e.g., BS3/DSS). Our software introduces a new paradigm for search-space reduction, which ultimately accounts for its increase in speed and sensitivity. Moreover, our search engine is the first to capitalize on reporter ions for selecting tandem mass spectra derived from cross-linked peptides. It also makes available a 2D interaction map and a spectrum-annotation tool unmatched by any of its kind. We show SIM-XL to be more sensitive and faster than a competing tool when analyzing a data set obtained from the human HSP90. The software is freely available for academic use at http://patternlabforproteomics.org/sim-xl. A video demonstrating the tool is available at http://patternlabforproteomics.org/sim-xl/video. SIM-XL is the first tool to support XL data in the mzIdentML format; all data are thus available from the ProteomeXchange consortium (identifier PXD001677).

Validity and reliability of the Structured Clinical Interview for Mood Spectrum: Brazilian version (SCIMOODS-VB)

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to translate the Structured Clinical Interview for Mood Spectrum into Brazilian Portuguese, measuring its reliability, validity, and defining scores for bipolar disorders. METHOD: Questionnaire was translated (into Brazilian Portuguese) and back-translated into English. Sample consisted of 47 subjects with bipolar disorder, 47 with major depressive disorder, 18 with schizophrenia and 22 controls. Inter-rater reliability was tested in 20 subjects with bipolar disorder and MDD. Internal consistency was measured using the Kuder Richardson formula. Forward stepwise discriminant analysis was performed. Scores were compared between groups; manic (M), depressive (D) and total (T) threshold scores were calculated through receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. RESULTS: Kuder Richardson coefficients were between 0.86 and 0.94. Intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.96 (CI 95 % 0.93-0.97). Subjects with bipolar disorder had higher M and T, and similar D scores, when compared to major depressive disorder (ANOVA, p < 0.001). The sub-domains that best discriminated unipolar and bipolar subjects were manic energy and manic mood. M had the best area under the curve (0.909), and values of M equal to or greater than 30 yielded 91.5% sensitivity and 74.5% specificity. CONCLUSION: Structured Clinical Interview for Mood Spectrum has good reliability and validity. Cut-off of 30 best differentiates subjects with bipolar disorder vs. unipolar depression. A cutoff score of 30 or higher in the mania sub-domain is appropriate to help make a distinction between subjects with bipolar disorder and those with unipolar depression.

Extended-spectrum beta-lactamases among Enterobacteriaceae isolated in a public hospital in Brazil

Extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBL) in enterobacteria are recognized worldwide as a great hospital problem. In this study, 127 ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae isolated in one year from inpatients and Outpatients at a public teaching hospital at Sao Paulo, Brazil, were Submitted to analysis by PCR with specific primers for bla(SHV), bla(TEM) and bla(CTX-M) genes. From the 127 isolates, 96 (75.6%) Klebsiella pneumoniae, 12 (9.3%) Escherichia coli, 8 (6.2%) Morganella morganii, 3 (2.3%) Proteus mirabilis, 2 (1.6%) Klebsiella oxytoca, 2 (1.6%) Providencia rettgeri, 2 (1.6%) Providencia stuartti, 1 (0.8%) Enterobacter aerogenes and 1 (0.8%) Enterobacter cloacae were identified as ESBL producers. Bla(SHV), bla(TEM), and bla(CTX-M) were detected in 63%, 17.3% and 33.9% strains, respectively. Pulsed field get eletrophoresis genotyping of K. pneumoniae revealed four main molecular patterns and 29 unrelated profiles. PCR results showed a high variety of ESBL groups among strains, in nine different species. The results Suggest the spread of resistance genes among genetically different strains of ESBL-producing K. pneumoniae in some hospital wards, and also that some strongly related strains were identified in different hospital wards, Suggesting clonal spread in the institutional environment

NGC 7097: THE ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEUS AND ITS MIRROR, REVEALED BY PRINCIPAL COMPONENT ANALYSIS TOMOGRAPHY

Three-dimensional spectroscopy techniques are becoming more and more popular, producing an increasing number of large data cubes. The challenge of extracting information from these cubes requires the development of new techniques for data processing and analysis. We apply the recently developed technique of principal component analysis (PCA) tomography to a data cube from the center of the elliptical galaxy NGC 7097 and show that this technique is effective in decomposing the data into physically interpretable information. We find that the first five principal components of our data are associated with distinct physical characteristics. In particular, we detect a low-ionization nuclear-emitting region (LINER) with a weak broad component in the Balmer lines. Two images of the LINER are present in our data, one seen through a disk of gas and dust, and the other after scattering by free electrons and/or dust particles in the ionization cone. Furthermore, we extract the spectrum of the LINER, decontaminated from stellar and extended nebular emission, using only the technique of PCA tomography. We anticipate that the scattered image has polarized light due to its scattered nature.

High Prevalence of bla(CTX-M) Extended Spectrum Beta-Lactamase Genes in Klebsiella pneumoniae Isolates from a Tertiary Care Hospital: First report of bla(SHV-12), bla(SHV-31), bla(SHV-38), and bla(CTX-M-15) in Brazil

The aim of this study was to investigate the presence and prevalence of bla(TEM), bla(SHV), and bla(CTX-M) and bla(GES)-like genes, responsible for extended spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs) production in clinical isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae collected from a Brazilian tertiary care hospital. Sixty-five ESBL producing K. pneumoniae isolates, collected between 2005 and 2007, were screened by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Identification of bla genes was achieved by sequencing. Genotyping of ESBL producing K. pneumoniae was performed by the enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus-PCR with cluster analysis by the Dice coefficient. The presence of genes encoding ESBLs was confirmed in 59/65 (90.8%) isolates, comprising 20 bla(CTX-M-2), 14 bla(CTX-M-59), 12 bla(CTX-M-15), 9 bla(SHV-12), 1 bla(SHV-2), 1 bla(SHV-2a), 1 bla(SHV-5), and 1 bla(SHV-31) genes. The ESBL genes bla(SHV-12), bla(SHV-31), and bla(CTX-M-15), and the chromosome-encoded SHV-type beta-lactamase capable of hydrolyzing imipenem were detected in Brazil for the first time. The analysis of the enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus-PCR band patterns revealed a high rate of multiclonal bla(CTX-M) carrying K. pneumoniae isolates (70.8%), suggesting that dissemination of encoding plasmids is likely to be the major cause of the high prevalence of these genes among the K. pneumoniae isolates considered in this study.

Angular-planar CMB power spectrum

Gaussianity and statistical isotropy of the Universe are modern cosmology's minimal set of hypotheses. In this work we introduce a new statistical test to detect observational deviations from this minimal set. By defining the temperature correlation function over the whole celestial sphere, we are able to independently quantify both angular and planar dependence (modulations) of the CMB temperature power spectrum over different slices of this sphere. Given that planar dependence leads to further modulations of the usual angular power spectrum C(l), this test can potentially reveal richer structures in the morphology of the primordial temperature field. We have also constructed an unbiased estimator for this angular-planar power spectrum which naturally generalizes the estimator for the usual C(l)'s. With the help of a chi-square analysis, we have used this estimator to search for observational deviations of statistical isotropy in WMAP's 5 year release data set (ILC5), where we found only slight anomalies on the angular scales l = 7 and l = 8. Since this angular-planar statistic is model-independent, it is ideal to employ in searches of statistical anisotropy (e.g., contaminations from the galactic plane) and to characterize non-Gaussianities.

Crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of recombinant chlorocatechol 1,2-dioxygenase from Pseudomonas putida

Chlorocatechol 1,2-dioxygenase from the Gram-negative bacterium Pseudomonas putida (Pp 1,2-CCD) is considered to be an important biotechnological tool owing to its ability to process a broad spectrum of organic pollutants. In the current work, the crystallization, crystallographic characterization and phasing of the recombinant Pp 1,2-CCD enzyme are described. Reddish-brown crystals were obtained in the presence of polyethylene glycol and magnesium acetate by utilizing the vapour-diffusion technique in sitting drops. Crystal dehydration was the key step in obtaining data sets, which were collected on the D03B-MX2 beamline at the CNPEM/MCT - LNLS using a MAR CCD detector. Pp 1,2-CCD crystals belonged to space group P6(1)22 and the crystallographic structure of Pp 1,2-CCD has been solved by the MR-SAD technique using Fe atoms as scattering centres and the coordinates of 3-chlorocatechol 1,2-dioxygenase from Rhodococcus opacus (PDB entry 2boy) as the search model. The initial model, which contains three molecules in the asymmetric unit, has been refined to 3.4 A resolution.

Discrete approximation to the global spectrum of the tangent operator for flow past a circular cylinder

This paper deals with the calculation of the discrete approximation to the full spectrum for the tangent operator for the stability problem of the symmetric flow past a circular cylinder. It is also concerned with the localization of the Hopf bifurcation in laminar flow past a cylinder, when the stationary solution loses stability and often becomes periodic in time. The main problem is to determine the critical Reynolds number for which a pair of eigenvalues crosses the imaginary axis. We thus present a divergence-free method, based on a decoupling of the vector of velocities in the saddle-point system from the vector of pressures, allowing the computation of eigenvalues, from which we can deduce the fundamental frequency of the time-periodic solution. The calculation showed that stability is lost through a symmetry-breaking Hopf bifurcation and that the critical Reynolds number is in agreement with the value presented in reported computations. (c) 2007 IMACS. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.