Higher nicotine and carbon monoxide levels in menthol cigarette smokers with and without schizophrenia.

This study examined whether smoking menthol cigarettes was associated with increased biochemical measures of smoke intake. Expired carbon monoxide (CO) and serum nicotine and cotinine were measured in 89 smokers with schizophrenia and 53 control smokers immediately after smoking an afternoon cigarette. Serum nicotine levels (27 vs. 22 ng/ml, p = .010), serum cotinine levels (294 vs. 240 ng/ml, p = .041), and expired CO (25 vs. 21 ppm, p = .029) were higher in smokers of menthol compared with nonmenthol cigarettes, with no differences in 3-hydroxycotinine/cotinine ratios between groups when controlling for race. Backward stepwise linear regression models showed that, in addition to having a diagnosis of schizophrenia, smoking menthol cigarettes was a significant predictor of nicotine and cotinine levels. Individuals with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder smoked more generic or discount value brands (Basic, Doral, Monarch, USA, Wave, others) compared with control smokers (28% vs. 6%, p = .002) but did not smoke more brands with high nicotine delivery as estimated by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission method. Although rates of mentholated cigarette smoking were not higher in smokers with schizophrenia overall, they were significantly higher in non-Hispanic White people with schizophrenia compared with controls of the same ethnic/racial subgroup (51% vs. 28%, p<.0001). The higher exhaled CO in menthol smokers suggests that the higher nicotine levels are at least partly related to increased intake of smoke from menthol cigarettes, although menthol-mediated inhibition of nicotine metabolism also may be a factor. Menthol is an important cigarette additive that may help explain why some groups have lower quit rates and more smoking-caused disease.     

Women's sexuality: Behaviors, responses, and individual differences.

Classic and contemporary approaches to the assessment of female sexuality are discussed. General approaches, assessment strategies, and models of female sexuality are organized within the conceptual domains of sexual behaviors, sexual responses (desire, excitement, orgasm, and resolution), and individual differences, including general and sex-specific personality models. Where applicable, important trends and relationships are highlighted in the literature with both existing reports and previously unpublished data. The present conceptual overview highlights areas in sexual assessment and model building that are in need of further research and theoretical clarification. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Wundt's American doctoral students.

Using the student records in the archives at Karl Marx University in Leipzig, Germany, 33 American students have been identified who took their doctoral degrees with Wilhelm Wundt. Wundt served as major reader (Erstgutachter) for 16 students and as secondary reader (Zweitgutachter) for another 17. Many of these students are unknown to psychologists, even among historians of psychology. This article provides the 1st comprehensive catalog of these students and includes information on their dissertation work and subsequent careers. Wundt's effect on his American students is also discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Estrogen improves response accuracy and attenuates the disruptive effects of Δ?-THC in ovariectomized rats responding under a multiple schedule of repeated acquisition and performance.

Despite evidence of an interaction between cannabinoids and estrogen in the brain, little information is available regarding the consequences of this interaction on behavior. A within-subjects design was used to examine the effects of estrogen and Δ?-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ?-THC) on learning and memory in ovariectomized rats responding under a multiple schedule of repeated acquisition and performance. Treatment with low physiological levels of estrogen, delivered in Silastic capsules, improved response accuracy without affecting response rate during acquisition. Estrogen also attenuated the ability of Δ?-THC (0.56-3.2 mg/kg) to decrease response accuracy and rate during acquisition and response accuracy during performance. Results indicate that estrogen can improve accuracy during acquisition of a nonspatial operant task and can attenuate Δ?-THC-induced behavioral deficits. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Socioeconomic and drug use determinants of smoking status in an urban adult population of Black African descent

We examined the influence of socioeconomics and drug use on current smokers (N = 137) and nonsmokers (N = 143) from an urban adult population of Black African descent. Median participant age was 33 years (range = 20-59). Smokers consumed a median of eight cigarettes/day (range = 0-35). Interestingly, 86% smoked fewer than 15 cigarettes/day and only 8% smoked menthol cigarettes. Socioeconomic and drug use variables significantly associated with smoking status in univariate analyses were included in a multiple logistic regression model that controlled for gender and age. Compared with nonsmokers, smokers were less likely to be university educated, more likely to be divorced, separated, or widowed, more likely to be current alcohol users, and more likely to be current marijuana users. Unexpectedly, household income and employment status were not associated with smoking status. Among current alcohol users, smokers consumed three times the number of drinks per month that nonsmokers consumed (p<.001). Among current marijuana users, smokers consumed more than five times the number of joints per month that nonsmokers consumed (p<.001). Overall, lower education levels, divorce, and alcohol and marijuana use were significantly associated with increased likelihood of smoking among this population.     

FASTA barcodes: a simple method for the identification of yeast ORF deletions

A consortium of yeast geneticists have created -6000 individual ORF deletions, representing > 96% of the currently verified or predicted ORFs in S. cerevisiae. Importantly, molecular barcodes (each a unique 20 bp sequence termed either Uptag or Downtag) were used as identifiers for every ORF deletion. Microarray analyses of pooled yeast deletions has been used to identify thousands of genes involved in general fitness, haploinsufficiency, drug resistance and DNA damage repair. However, application of this powerful technology requires considerable expense, expertise and specialized equipment. While standard PCR techniques and specifically designed PCR primers can be used to confirm that a given ORF is in fact deleted, this procedure cannot be used to identify unknown deletions. In theory, every ORF deletion could be determined by barcode sequencing. However, neither a consolidated barcode database nor a reliable search engine is currently available for this purpose. To address this need, we have adapted a FASTA sequence program that utilizes the unique barcode database to allow users to identify individual ORF deletions, based upon simple sequencing reactions of PCR amplifications of either Uptag or Downtag barcodes. In silico and practical testing of this application reveals that it is an inexpensive, reliable and reproducible method for rapidly identifying unknown deletions. This approach allows laboratories to conduct small- or large-scale genetic screens with pooled yeast deletion strains and identify or verify any ORF deletion without the need for microarray technology.     

Analysis of biogenic amines in a single Drosophila larva brain by capillary electrophoresis with fast-scan cyclic voltammetry detection

Drosophila, the fruit fly, is a common model organism in biology; however, quantifying neurotransmitters in Drosophila is challenging because of the small size of the central nervous system (CNS). Here, we develop neurotransmitter quantification by capillary electrophoresis with fast-scan cyclic voltammetry (CE-FSCV) detection, which allows peak identification by both migration time and the cyclic voltammogram, in contrast to traditional amperometric detection which provides no chemical identification. Tissue content of biogenic amine neurotransmitters was determined in a single CNS dissected from a Drosophila larva. Low detection limits, 1 nM for dopamine and serotonin, 2.5 nM for tyramine, and 4 nM for octopamine, were achieved using field-amplified sample stacking by diluting the homogenized tissue with percholoric acid and acetonitrile. Two different strains of wild-type flies, Oregon R and Canton S, have similar dopamine and serotonin levels but different octopamine content. When flies are fed NSD-1015, which inhibits dopamine decarboxylase (Ddc) a synthesis enzyme in the dopamine and serotonin pathways, dopamine significantly decreases by 52%. A genetically altered driver line, Ddc-GAL4, had lower serotonin and dopamine content as did w(118) flies. When the Ddc-GAL4 line was used to produce flies overexpressing the serotonin synthesis enzyme tryptophan hydroxylase (Ddc-GAL4;UAS-Trh), the serotonin tissue content was greater than for Ddc-GAL4 but not significantly different than the wild-type. These results show that CE-FSCV is useful for monitoring the impact of genetic and pharmacological manipulations on the content of multiple neurotransmitters in a CNS from a Drosophila larva.     

More evidence for generalized poor performance in facial emotion perception in schizophrenia.

Previous studies showing that schizophrenic patients have a deficit in the ability to perceive facial expressions of emotion in others often have not used a differential deficit design and standardized measures of emotion perception. Using standardized and cross-validated measures in a differential deficit design, S. L. Kerr and J. M. Neale (see record 1993-29687-001) found no evidence for a deficit specific to emotion perception among unmedicated schizophrenic patients. The present study replicated and extended the findings of Kerr and Neale in a sample of medicated schizophrenic patients. Results showed that medicated patients performed more poorly than controls overall; however, they performed no worse on facial emotion perception tasks than on a matched control task. These findings support Kerr and Neale's conclusion that schizophrenic patients do not have a differential deficit in facial emotion perception ability. Future research should examine the nature of schizophrenic patients generalized poor performance on tests of facial emotion perception. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Schemas, sexuality, and romantic attachment.

One's self-views are powerful regulators of both cognitive processing and behavioral responding. Sexual self-schemas are cognitive generalizations about sexual aspects of the self. The bivariate sexual self-schema model, which posits independent effects of positive and negative components of women's sexual self-views, was tested. Three hundred eighteen female undergraduates completed anonymous questionnaires, including the Sexual Self-Schema Scale and assessments of sexual responses and romantic attachment patterns. Results extended knowledge of positive–negative schema group contrasts and distinguished the response patterns of the aschematic and co-schematic groups. As predicted, aschematics reported low levels of sexual desire, arousal, and anxiety, and weak romantic attachments, whereas co-schematics endorsed conflicting positive and negative responses to sexual–romantic cues. In addition, path analyses supported the bivariate model. Finally, findings are related to theories of attachment representations within the cognitive hierarchy of the self. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)