Interventions targeting physical activity may be valuable as an adjunct to alcohol treatment, but have been relative untested. In the current study, alcohol dependent, physically sedentary patients were randomized to: a 12-week moderate-intensity, group aerobic exercise intervention (AE; n = 25) or a brief advice to exercise intervention (BA-E; n=23). Results showed that individuals in AE reported significantly fewer drinking and heavy drinking days, relative to BA-E during treatment. Furthermore adherence to AE strengthened the beneficial effect of intervention on alcohol use outcomes. While high levels of moderate-intensity exercise appeared to facilitate alcohol recovery regardless of intervention arm, attending the group-based AE intervention seemed to further enhance the positive effects of exercise on alcohol use. Study findings indicate that a moderate intensity, group aerobic exercise intervention is an efficacious adjunct to alcohol treatment. Improving adherence to the intervention may enhance its beneficial effects on alcohol use.

Aims Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) captures real-time reports in subjects’ natural environments. This experiment manipulated EMA frequency to estimate effects on abstinence and peri-cessation subjective experiences. Design In this randomized trial, subjects had an equal chance of being assigned to low-frequency (once) or high-frequency (6 times) daily EMA for 4 weeks (1 week pre- and 3 weeks post-cessation). Participants completed 6 office visits over 5 weeks and 6- and 12-week follow-up telephone interviews. Setting Community participants were recruited from central New Jersey, USA. Participants 110 adult daily smokers seeking to quit smoking were included in intent-to-treat analyses of tobacco abstinence; 94 were available for secondary analyses of peri-cessation subjective ratings. Measurements Primary outcomes were cessation (abstaining at least 24 hours within 2 weeks of attempting to quit) and prolonged abstinence (no relapse between weeks 2 and 12 post-quit). Secondary outcomes were mean levels and growth in ratings of cigarette craving, affect, and quitting motivation and self-efficacy. Findings EMA frequency was unrelated to cessation (Odds Ratio=1.37, 95% CI=0.60–3.10) or prolonged abstinence (Odds Ratio=1.04, 95% CI=0.45–2.39) in intent-to-treat analyses. High-frequency EMA was associated with lower craving (B=−.54, SE=.18, p=.004, anxiety (B=−.42, SE=.17, p=.015), anger (B=−.47, SE=.14, p=.001), hunger (B=−.39, SE=.17, p=0.25), and positive affect (B=−.43, SE=.20, p=.03). Conclusions In smokers trying to quit, more frequent ecological momentary assessment (EMA) self-monitoring results in lower craving, anxiety, anger, hunger, and positive affect. It is not clear whether this translates into higher rates of smoking abstinence.

Reasons for the decrease in abstinence in DT after treatment discontinuation and suggestions for future research are discussed.

The cytotoxic action of near-ultraviolet (UVA) radiation on cultured mammalian cells is dependent upon oxygen, suggesting that reactive oxygen species are involved in the cellular action of the radiation. Flavins are thought to be an important chromophore for photo-induced skin injury. Irradiation of riboflavin with UVA radiation is known to produce singlet oxygen, superoxide anions, and triplet-state riboflavin radicals, which, however, are immediately quenched by many constituents of the human skin. If the chemical produces a long-lived reactive oxygen species, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), after UVA radiation, its deleterious effect is not limited to its generation site. Thus, we investigated whether H2O2, is produced in UVA-irradiated riboflavin solution and whether it plays an important role in the cytotoxic action of the solution. The solution showed a marked cytotoxic effect when placed on human fibroblasts, and cytotoxicity was retained in the solution for at least 40 min after radiation. Most of the toxicity appeared to be derived from H2O2 produced in the solution, because the solution lost its cytotoxicity as a result of catalase treatment, and the resultant restoration of survival was almost complete. Under our conditions, two molecules of riboflavin were calculated to produce one molecule of H2O2 after UVA radiation.

The blood brain barrier (BBB) is formed by brain microvascular endothelial cells (BMECs) and tightly regulates the transport of molecules from blood to neural tissues. In vitro BBB models from human pluripotent stem cell (PSCs)-derived BMECs would be useful not only for the research on the BBB development and function but also for drug-screening for neurological diseases. However, little is known about the differentiation of human PSCs to BMECs. In the present study, human induced PSCs (iPSCs) were differentiated into endothelial cells (ECs), and further maturated to BMECs. Interestingly, C6 rat glioma cell-conditioned medium (C6CM), in addition to C6 co-culture, induced the differentiation of human iPSC-derived ECs (iPS-ECs) to BMEC-like cells, increase in the trans-endothelial electrical resistance, decreased in the dextran transport and up-regulation of gene expression of tight junction molecules in human iPS-ECs. Moreover, Wnt inhibitors attenuated the effects of C6CM. In summary, we have established a simple protocol of the generation of BMEC-like cells from human iPSCs, and have demonstrated that differentiation of iPS-ECs to BMEC-like cells is induced by C6CM-derived signals, including canonical Wnt signals.

Aims-This study tested the hypothesis that changes in momentary affect, abstinence motivation, and confidence would predict lapse risk over the next 12-24 hours using Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) data from smokers attempting to quit smoking.Method-103 adult, daily, treatment-seeking smokers recorded their momentary affect, motivation to quit, abstinence confidence, and smoking behaviors in near real time with multiple EMA reports per day using electronic diaries post-quit.Results-Multilevel models indicated that initial levels of negative affect were associated with smoking, even after controlling for earlier smoking status, and that short-term increases in negative affect predicted lapses up to 12, but not 24, hours later. Positive affect had significant effects on subsequent abstinence confidence, but not motivation to quit. High levels of motivation appeared to reduce increases in lapse risk that occur over hours while momentary changes in confidence did not predict lapse risk over 12 hours.Conclusion-Negative affect had short-lived effects on lapse risk, whereas higher levels of motivation protected against the risk of lapsing that accumulates over hours. An increase in positive affect was associated with greater confidence to quit, but such changes in confidence did not reduce short-term lapse risk, contrary to expectations. Relations observed among affect, cognitions, and lapse seem to depend critically on the timing of assessments.

Aerobic exercise is currently being studied as a relapse prevention strategy for individuals with alcohol use disorders. Negative affect and cravings predict relapse. The acute effects of moderate-intensity exercise have been shown to improve mood and reduce craving. The current study examined the acute effects of exercise on changes in mood, anxiety, and craving from pre- to post-exercise at each week of a 12-week moderate intensity exercise intervention with sedentary alcohol dependent adults. Twenty-six participants in the exercise condition of a larger randomized clinical trial (Brown et al., 2014) exercised in small groups at moderate intensity for 20 to 40 minutes per session. Participants rated mood, anxiety, and cravings in the present moment before and after each exercise session over the course of the 12-week intervention. Data analyses focused on effect size and interval estimation. Joinpoint analysis was used to model longitudinal trends. Increases in mood and decreases in anxiety and craving were apparent at every session. Effect size estimates revealed that average change from pre- to post-exercise was in the small to medium range with some individual sessions reaching the large range. Joinpoint analyses revealed that the pre-post exercise changes in mood increased, anxiety remained stable, and craving diminished across the 12 weeks. This study provides provisional support for a change in mood, anxiety and alcohol cravings for the role of exercise in the early recovery period for alcohol dependence. Acute single bouts of moderate-intensity exercise may help individuals with alcohol dependence manage mood, anxiety, and craving thereby reducing relapse risk, but further research is needed with a more rigorous study design.

Clinically, benzodiazepines are used in adult populations much more frequently than in children and adolescents. There may be a number of reasons for this disparity including a dearth of well controlled clinical studies and the issue of dependence associated with long term use. However, over a ten year span there has been nearly a three fold increase in the use patterns for these agents in the child population. In open studies much of the literature has indicated potentially useful results, but these findings have not been replicated when more refined methodological studies have been conducted. The lack of encouraging results in these later studies may be attributable to a number of factors such as modest sample sizes and less than optimal patient selection. Nonetheless, with increasing prescriptions being written for these agents it is not clear what is compelling clinicians to use them. In this paper we will review the available literature on benzodiazepine use in the child and adolescent population, focusing primarily on psychiatric applications.