Contingency management and levodopa-carbidopa for cocaine treatment: A comparison of three behavioral targets.

New data support use of levodopa pharmacotherapy with behavioral contingency management (CM) as one efficacious combination in cocaine dependence disorder treatment. A potential mechanism of the combined treatment effects may be related to dopamine-induced enhancement of the saliency of contingently delivered reinforcers. Evidence to support this mechanism was sought by evaluating levodopa-enhancing effects across distinct CM conditions that varied in behavioral targets. A total of 136 treatment-seeking, cocaine dependent subjects participated in this 12-week, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of levodopa (vs. placebo) administered in combination with one of three behavioral CM conditions. In the CM-URINE condition, subjects received cash-valued vouchers contingent on cocaine-negative urine toxicology results. In the CM-ATTEND condition, the same voucher schedule was contingent on attending thrice weekly clinic visits. In the CM-MEDICATION condition, the same voucher schedule was contingent on Medication Event Monitoring Systems- and riboflavin-based evidence of pill-taking behavior. Primary outcomes associated with each CM target behavior were analyzed using generalized linear mixed models for repeated outcomes. CM responding in the CM-ATTEND and CM-MEDICATION conditions showed orderly effects, with each condition producing corresponding changes in targeted behaviors, regardless of medication condition. In contrast, CM responding in the CM-URINE condition was moderated by medication, with levodopa-treated subjects more likely to submit cocaine-negative urines. These findings specify the optimal target behavior for CM when used in combination with levodopa pharmacotherapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Business Continuity Management: A Standards-Based Approach

ABSTRACT

Business enterprises are increasingly realizing the importance of business continuity management (BCM). Availability BS 25999 Standard has facilitated a consistent methodology that organizations can follow in designing their BCM System. This paper intends to provide a conceptual understanding of BCM right from BCM Policy to BCM maturity by describing the steps involved in the implementation of BCM Standard – BS 25999 – to ensure business continuity in the event of an outage. The key BCM tasks have been categorized into three phases of business continuity – Pre-event Preparation, Event Management, and Post-event Continuity. This paper also highlights some of the challenges experienced by the author in carrying out Risk Assessment and Business Impact Analysis. The Business Continuity Maturity Model® of Virtual Corporation is provided (with their permission) as a tool to strengthen business continuity maturity or organizations.     

Shaping cocaine abstinence by successive approximation.

Cocaine-using methadone-maintenance patients were randomized to standard contingency management (abstinence group, n?=?49) or to a contingency designed to increase contact with reinforcers (shaping group, n?=?46). For 8 weeks, both groups earned escalating-value vouchers based on thrice-weekly urinalyses: The abstinence group earned vouchers for cocaine-negative urines only; the shaping group earned vouchers for each urine specimen with a 25% or more decrease in cocaine metabolite (first 3 weeks) and then for negative urines only (last 5 weeks). Cocaine use was lower in the shaping group, but only in the last 5 weeks, when the response requirement was identical. Thus, the shaping contingency appeared to better prepare patients for abstinence. A 2nd phase of the study showed that abstinence induced by escalating-value vouchers can be maintained by a nonescalating schedule, suggesting that contingency management can be practical as a maintenance treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Opioids and attachment in rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) abusive mothers.

This study investigated the role of the endogenous opioid system in maternal and affiliative behavior of group-living rhesus macaque (Macaca mularta) mothers with a history of abusive parenting. 18 mothers received an injection of the opioid antagonist naltrexone or saline for 5 days per wk for the first 4 wks of the infant's life. After treatment, mother-infant pairs were focally observed. Naltrexone did not significantly affect infant abuse or other measures of maternal behavior. Naltrexone increased the amount of grooming received by mothers from other group members and reduced the mothers' rate of displacement activities such as scratching, yawning, and self-grooming. These results concur with previous primate studies in suggesting that opioids mediate the rewarding effects of receiving grooming and affect anxiety-related behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A unified dynamic neural field model of goal directed eye movements

ABSTRACT

Primates heavily rely on their visual system, which exploits signals of graded precision based on the eccentricity of the target in the visual field. The interactions with the environment involve actively selecting and focusing on visual targets or regions of interest, instead of contemplating an omnidirectional visual flow. Eye-movements specifically allow foveating targets and track their motion. Once a target is brought within the central visual field, eye-movements are usually classified into catch-up saccades (jumping from one orientation or fixation to another) and smooth pursuit (continuously tracking a target with low velocity). Building on existing dynamic neural field equations, we introduce a novel model that incorporates internal projections to better estimate the current target location (associated to a peak of activity). Such estimate is then used to trigger an eye movement, leading to qualitatively different behaviours depending on the dynamics of the whole oculomotor system: (1) fixational eye-movements due to small variations in the weights of projections when the target is stationary, (2) interceptive and catch-up saccades when peaks build and relax on the neural field, (3) smooth pursuit when the peak stabilises near the centre of the field, the system reaching a fixed point attractor. Learning is nevertheless required for tracking a rapidly moving target, and the proposed model thus replicates recent results in the monkey, in which repeated exercise permits the maintenance of the target within in the central visual field at its current (here-and-now) location, despite the delays involved in transmitting retinal signals to the oculomotor neurons.     

电力系统旋转事故备用容量的配置研究

合理安排旋转事故备用容量是保证电力系统安全、经济运行的重要措施。随着电力系统的发展和电力技术的进步,现行的旋转事故备用容量配置原则亟须改进。文中对国内外旋转事故备用容量配置标准进行了系统梳理与分析,从系统频率响应对备用容量的需求出发,提出了旋转事故备用容量配置方案的设计原则、评价指标及评估方法,给出了建议的指标取值范围。最后,以某省规划网架为算例,仿真验证了研究方法的合理性。研究成果对完善电力系统规划、运行标准具有参考价值。     

A brief abstinence test for college student smokers: A feasibility study.

Cigarette smoking among college students is prevalent and correlated with other unhealthy behaviors. Reinforced abstinence (e.g., contingency management) has been demonstrated to be an effective method for reducing substance use in a variety of populations and across a variety of drugs, including cigarettes. Reinforced abstinence has seldom been used specifically targeting a college student population. A Brief Abstinence Test (BAT) has been used to effectively reduce cocaine use among methadone maintenance patients (Robles, Silverman, Preston, Cone, Katz, Bigelow, & Stitzer, 2000). However, no published studies have investigated the use of a BAT to reduce the use of cigarettes. The current study implemented a 3-week intervention (Baseline 1, BAT, and Baseline 2 weeks) for smoking abstinence among college students. Forty-two percent of the sample met abstention criteria during the BAT. Carbon monoxide and urinalysis scores decreased significantly from Baseline 1 to the BAT phase but did not differ significantly from BAT to Baseline 2. These results suggest that the BAT may have utility initiating abstinence in both clinical and research contexts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Do noncontingent vouchers increase drug use?

Data from 2 contingency management trials, targeting opiate or cocaine use, were used to investigate whether noncontingent vouchers inadvertently reinforce drug use. The control group in each trial received noncontingent vouchers matched in value and frequency to those received by experimental groups, but independent of urinalysis. Vouchers were offered thrice weekly for 8 weeks (opiates) or 12 weeks (cocaine). Both dose-response and temporal associations of noncontingent voucher receipt with drug-positive urines were assessed. Drug use was unrelated to frequency of noncontingent voucher delivery and noncontingent voucher receipt when being drug positive was unassociated with risk of subsequent drug use, with one exception: cocaine use in the cocaine study (relative risk = 1.05, 95% confidence interval: 1.01-1.09). Overall, results do not indicate a causal relationship between noncontingent voucher receipt and increased drug use. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Structural contingency theory and individual differences: Examination of external and internal person-team fit.

This article develops and tests a structurally based, integrated theory of person-team fit. The theory developed is an extension of structural contingency theory and considers issues of external fit simultaneously with its examination of internal fit at the team level. Results from 80 teams working on an interdependent team task indicate that divisional structures demand high levels of cognitive ability on the part of teammembers. However, the advantages of high cognitive ability in divisional structures are neutralized when there is poor external fit between the structure and the environment. Instead, emotional stability becomes a critical factor among teammembers when a divisional structure is out of alignment with its environment. Individual differences seem to play little or no role in functional structures, regardless of the degree of external fit. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)