The Relationship Between Vulnerable Attachment Style,Psychopathology, Drug Abuse,and Retention in Treatment Among Methadone Maintenance Treatment Patients

The relationship between vulnerable attachment style, psychopathology, drug abuse, and retention in treatment among patients in methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) was examined by the Vulnerable Attachment Style Questionnaire (VASQ), the Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90), and drug abuse urine tests. After six years, retention in treatment and repeated urine test results were studied. Patients with vulnerable attachment style (a high VASQ score) had higher rates of drug abuse and higher psychopathology levels compared to patients with secure attachment style, especially on the interpersonal sensitivity, anxiety, hostility, phobic anxiety, and paranoid ideation scales. Drug abstinence at baseline was related to retention in treatment and to higher rates of drug abstinence after six years in MMT, whereas a vulnerable attachment style could not predict drug abstinence and retention in treatment. Clinical Implications concerning treatment of drug abusing populations and methodological issues concerning the VASQ’s subscales are also discussed.     

Neural tissue engineering: Adrenal chromaffin cell attachment and viability on chitosan scaffolds

Abstract

This study introduces chitosan-based matrices as cell substrates for bovine chromaffin cell attachment in transplantation procedures. Chitosan ([1 → ] linked 2-amino-2-deoxy-β-O-glucopyranose), having structural similarity to glycosaminoglycans, was modified using several proteins (collagen, albumin and gelatin) to increase surface area and improve biocompatibility. In vitro, collagen-blended chitosan (CC) matrices were found to attach more readily to chromaffin cells than to gelatin- or albumin-blended matrices. Morphological evidence showed that the chromaffin cells attached to CC substrates integrated well with the hydrogel matrix and survived for at least two weeks, under in vivo culture conditions. The chromaffin cells within chitosan scaffolds also survived for at least two weeks in vitro and after subarachnoid grafting to rats. [Neural Res 1998; 20: 648–654]     

Painful transitions: a study of 1-year-old toddlers’ reactions to separation and reunion with their mothers after 1 month in childcare

ABSTRACT

In this paper, we present findings from the filmed observations of 12 1-year-old toddlers in 10 different Norwegian childcare centres during separations and reunions with their mothers. Separations and reunions are sensitive situations, especially around the age of one, when separation anxiety normally peaks. The observations were conducted when the toddlers were between 13 and 15 months old and had been attending childcare for 1 month. The video recordings were analysed in light of attachment theory, emphasizing expressions of protest, despair and detachment among the children. Findings indicate that all the toddlers struggled with separation anxiety in different phases during the observed transitions. Few employees present in the early mornings and late afternoons often made the transitions more difficult. Implications of the findings are discussed.     

Rapid Spread and Diversification of Respiratory Syncytial Virus Genotype ON1, Kenya

Respiratory syncytial virus genotype ON1, which is characterized by a 72-nt duplication in the attachment protein gene, has been detected in >10 countries since first identified in Ontario, Canada, in 2010. We describe 2 waves of genotype ON1 infections among children admitted to a rural hospital in Kenya during 2012. Phylogenetic analysis of attachment protein gene sequences showed multiple introductions of genotype ON1; variants distinct from the original Canadian viruses predominated in both infection waves. The genotype ON1 dominated over the other group A genotypes during the second wave, and some first wave ON1 variants reappeared in the second wave. An analysis of global genotype ON1 sequences determined that this genotype has become considerably diversified and has acquired signature coding mutations within immunogenic regions, and its most recent common ancestor dates to ≈2008–2009. Surveillance of genotype ON1 contributes to an understanding of the mechanisms of rapid emergence of respiratory viruses.     

Heparan sulphate,its derivatives and analogues share structural characteristics that can be exploited,particularly in inhibiting microbial attachment

Heparan sulphate (HS) and the related polysaccharide, heparin, exhibit conformational and charge arrangement properties, which provide a degree of redundancy allowing several seemingly distinct sequences to exhibit the same activity. This can also be mimicked by other sulphated polysaccharides, both in overall effect and in the details of interactions and structural consequences of interactions with proteins. Together, these provide a source of active compounds suitable for further development as potential drugs. These polysaccharides also possess considerable size, which bestows upon them an additional useful property: the capability of disrupting processes comprising many individual interactions, such as those characterising the attachment of microbial pathogens to host cells. The range of involvement of HS in microbial attachment is reviewed and examples, which include viral, bacterial and parasitic infections and which, in many cases, are now being investigated as potential targets for intervention, are identified.     

Roots and routes to resilience and its role in psychotherapy: a selective,attachment-informed review

Developmental research on resilience is summarised and illustrated with a case example. Self-reflection, positive relationships, and agency foster resilience in the face of adversity. Attachment and resilience are related categories. The different patterns of attachment – secure, insecure-organised and insecure-disorganised – are manifest in different patterns of resilience, depending on prevailing environmental conditions. However, the greater the environmental adversity, the less will the resilience factors emerge. Clients tend to present for psychotherapy when resilience strategies have failed. The therapeutic relationship has neurochemical and relational characteristic mirroring the secure mother–infant bond. These foster mentalising, stress innoculation, affect co-regulation, self-esteem, and agency, forming the basis for enduring and more flexible resilience strategies.