Why behavior analysts should study emotion: the example of anxiety

Historically, anxiety has been a dominant subject in mainstream psychology but an incidental or even insignificant one in behavior analysis. We discuss several reasons for this discrepancy. We follow with a behavior-analytic conceptualization of anxiety that could just as easily be applied to emotion in general. Its primary points are (a) that languageable humans have an extraordinary capacity to derive relations between events and that it is a simple matter to show that neutral stimuli can acquire discriminative functions indirectly with no direct training; (b) that private events can readily acquire discriminative functions; (c) that anxiety disorders seem to occur with little apparent direct learning or that the amount of direct learning is extraordinarily out of proportion with the amount of responding; and (d) that the primary function of anxious behavior is experiential avoidance. We conclude that the most interesting aspects of anxiety disorders may occur as a function of derived rather than direct relations between public events and overt and private responses with avoidance functions. Implicit in this conclusion and explicit in the paper is the assertion that anxiety is a suitable subject for behavior-analytic study.     

Cytotoxic and anticancer activities of some 1-aryl-2-dimethylaminomethyl-2-propen-1-one hydrochlorides

A series of 1-aryl-2-dimethylaminomethyl-2-propen-1-one hydrochlorides demonstrated marked cytotoxicity towards approximately 55 human tumour cell lines from different neoplastic diseases. In general they were more potent than melphalan and displayed selective toxicity towards human leukemic cells. A representative compound, 1-phenyl-2-dimethyl-aminomethyl-2-propen-1-one hydrochloride (2a), had similar cytotoxicity as melphalan towards murine P388 and L1210 leukemic cells. In addition, 2a reduced the sizes of a number of human tumour xenografts including colon, prostatic and melanotic cancers passaged in athymic mice. Compound 2a showed excellent activity towards Ehrlich ascites carcinoma and B16F1 melanoma in mice which was enhanced using niosomes. One may conclude from the data generated that 1-aryl-2-dimethylaminomethyl-2-propen-1-one hydrochlorides are a novel series of cytotoxic and anticancer agents.     

Indications for laparotomy after hydrostatic reduction for intussusception

A criterion for successful hydrostatic reduction of intussusception is reflux into the terminal ileum. In our practice, absence of reflux into the terminal ileum is not an indication for laparotomy if the radiographic appearances suggest edema of the ileocecal valve. The aim of this study was to validate our approach. We reviewed the case notes of patients with a diagnosis of intussusception (n = 107; age 11.74 +/- 1.48 months; mean +/- SEM) treated from 1987 to 1991. Eleven required primary laparotomy for peritonitis. Ninety-six patients who had a contrast enema were studied. Edema of the ileocecal valve was defined as a persistent filling defect in the cecum after apparently complete hydrostatic reduction, without reflux of contrast into the distal small bowel. In 59 patients hydrostatic reduction was successful: 11 (18.6%) had edema of the ileocecal valve and no reflux contrast into the terminal ileum (group B). All improved clinically after the enema and needed no further treatment. In 37 patients hydrostatic reduction of the intussusception was unsuccessful and an operation was performed: 26 (70.3%) required manual reduction of the intussusception (group C) and 11 (29.7%) underwent bowel resection (group D). None of the patients with edema of ileocecal valve required further treatment or developed recurrent intussusception. In none of the patients who had an operation was the intussusception found to have been reduced by the contrast enema. There were no deaths.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Resolution of Holliday junctions by RuvC resolvase: cleavage specificity and DNA distortion

E. coli RuvC protein resolves Holliday junctions during genetic recombination and postreplication repair. Using small synthetic junctions, we show that junction recognition is structure-specific and occurs in the absence of metal cofactors. In the presence of Mg2+, Holliday junctions are resolved by the introduction of symmetrically related nicks at the 3' side of thymine residues. The nicked duplex products are repaired by the action of DNA ligase. Within the RuvC-Holliday junction complex, the DNA is distorted such that 2 of the 4 strands become hypersensitive to hydroxyl radical attack. The ionic requirements of binding, hydroxyl radical sensitivity, and strand cleavage indicate three distinct steps in the mechanism of RuvC-mediated Holliday junction resolution: structure-specific recognition, DNA distortion, and sequence-dependent cleavage.     

Isolated congenital ACTH deficiency: a cleavage enzyme defect?

The pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) gene encodes adrenocorticotrophin (ACTH) which is derived from precursors by proteolytic cleavage. Congenital, isolated ACTH deficiency is rare but may be familial and fatal. The aetiology is unknown though defects at both hypothalamus and adenohypophysis have been postulated. We have studied a female presenting with hypoglycaemia in the neonatal period. When studied at 6 weeks of age, ACTH was unmeasurable even after injection of corticotrophin releasing hormone (CRH1-41). ACTH precursors, quantitated by two-site immunoradiometric assay, were clearly measurable prior to treatment and were stimulated by CRH1-41 and suppressed by glucocorticoid administration. Concentrations of POMC, N-terminal pro-opiocortin (N-POC) and beta-endorphin (beta-EP) were within the normal adult range during glucocorticoid replacement therapy; ACTH and beta-lipotrophin remained undetectable. The secretion of glucagon, measured by radioimmunoassay, in response to hypoglycaemia was normal. By sequencing polymerase chain reaction products from the patient's genomic DNA, the entire coding region of the POMC gene was established to be normal. The results are compatible with a cleavage enzyme defect.     

The burdens of race and history on Black Americans' attitudes toward needle exchange policy to prevent HIV disease

We must enter the second decade of AIDS with the knowledge that existing public health efforts have failed to stop the disproportionate spread of HIV disease among Americans of African descent. This article presents the cold epidemiological facts which lay bare the moral tragedy that Black Americans are being killed by a disease which is almost totally preventable. This paper discusses the primary behavioral risk factors for HIV infection and the context in which HIV disease emerged in the 1980s. Additionally, we present results from cross-sectional surveys of selected black populations to demonstrate how AIDS knowledge deficits and attitudinal barriers have shaped the perceptions of Black Americans toward needle exchange programs as an HIV prevention strategy advocated by public health authorities. A model that may be utilized to educate the Black community and facilitate their involvement in the development of needle exchange policy is described.