Detection of human metapneumovirus in respiratory secretions by reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction, indirect immunofluorescence, and virus isolation in human bronchial epithelial cells.

Over two winters in Newcastle upon Tyne, respiratory secretions, negative by immunofluorescence staining for other respiratory viruses, were tested for the presence of human metapneumovirus (HMPV) by RT-PCR. In the second winter, specimens were also tested by immunofluorescence staining with an anti-HMPV polyclonal rabbit antiserum and immunofluorescence positive specimens were inoculated into a line of human bronchiolar cells, 16HBE140. Overall, 55 of 549 (10%) specimens tested were positive for HMPV by RT-PCR. Of 162 specimens tested by both RT/PCR and immunofluorescence staining, 23 were positive by both techniques. Of five specimens positive by RT-PCR alone, only one was confirmed with a second set of primers. Of three specimens positive by immunofluorescence alone, only one was confirmed by virus culture. All four previously recognized sub-genotypes of the virus were identified by both RT-PCR and immunofluorescence staining. Sub-genotype A1 was prevalent in the first winter and B1 prevalent in the second. HMPV replication and virus isolation rates were higher in 16HBE140 cells than in monkey kidney cells and did not require exogenous trypsin. Low passage isolates of both sub-genotypes A2 and B1 replicated slowly reaching peak titers only 12 days after inoculation. In summary, single round RT/PCR and immunofluorescence staining with a polyclonal rabbit antiserum proved of equal sensitivity in the diagnosis of HMPV infection in respiratory secretions both detecting 96% of confirmed positive specimens. 16HBE40 cells provided a significant improvement on monkey kidney cells for the isolation and propagation of the virus.

Ascopyrone P, a novel antibacterial derived from fungi.

AIMS: To assess the antimicrobial efficacy of ascopyrone P (APP), a secondary metabolite formed by the fungi Anthracobia melaloma, Plicaria anthracina, Plic. leiocarpa and Peziza petersi belonging to the order Pezizales. METHODS AND RESULTS: In vitro testing using a well diffusion procedure showed that APP at a high concentration (approximately 5%) inhibited the growth of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Using an automated microbiology reader, growth curve analysis showed that 2000-4000 mg l(-1) APP caused total or significant bacterial inhibition after incubation for 24 h at 30 degrees C. Against certain yeast strains, 1000- 2000 mg l(-1) APP enhanced growth, although at higher concentrations inhibition of some yeasts was observed. Clostridium and fungal strains were not sensitive to 2000 mg l(-1) APP. No significant cidal effect was observed after 2 h against Listeria monocytogenes or Escherichia coli. Results were identical whether the APP samples tested had been produced enzymatically or chemically. CONCLUSIONS: At a level of 2000 mg l(-1), APP demonstrated growth inhibitory activity against a broad range of bacteria, but not yeasts or moulds. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: A possible application for this novel natural antimicrobial is in food preservation, to control the growth of Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria in raw and cooked foods. Effective dosage levels would be 500-4000 mg kg(-1), depending on food type. The efficacy, organoleptic and safety aspects of this compound in food still need to be assessed.

Pupillary and reaction time measures of sustained processing of negative information in depression.

BACKGROUND: Disruptions of emotional information processing (i.e., attention to, memory for, and interpretation of emotional information) have been implicated in the onset and maintenance of depression. The research presented here investigated cognitive and psychophysiological features of a particularly promising correlate of depression: sustained processing of negative information 4--5 sec after an emotional stimulus. METHODS: Pupil dilation data and reaction times were collected from 24 unmedicated depressed and 25 nondepressed adults in response to emotional processing tasks (lexical decision and valence identification) that employed idiosyncratically generated personally relevant and normed stimuli. Pupil dilation was used to index sustained cognitive processing devoted to stimuli. RESULTS: Consistent with predictions, depressed individuals were especially slow to name the emotionality of positive information, and displayed greater sustained processing (pupil dilation) than nondepressed individuals when their attention was directed toward emotional aspects of information. Contrary to predictions, depressed participants did not dilate more to negative than positive stimuli, compared to nondepressed participants. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest depressed individuals may not initially attend to emotional aspects of information but may continue to process them seconds after they have reacted to the information.

Correlates of distress in children at risk for affective disorder: exploring predictors in the offspring of depressed and nondepressed mothers.

BACKGROUND: Efforts to understand the correlates of psychological distress in children frequently examine possible correlates in samples of children who are selected for high levels of distress. The propose of this study was to compare distress correlates in a sample with depressed mothers, and thus at high-risk for distress, to a low-risk sample. METHODS: Examining data from part of a larger project, the association of children's depressive symptoms and internalizing and externalizing problems to maternal depression level, life stress, verbal ability, and the experience of a traumatic event were examined in a series of regression equations. RESULTS: Results indicated that children's depressive symptoms, rather than internalizing and externalizing problems, tended to be most consistently related to maternal variables, and also suggested that any experience of maternal depressive symptoms was associated with child problems. It was also found that child depressive symptoms were correlated with life events, but only for nondepressed mothers, and that at-risk children with higher levels of verbal ability were significantly less likely to report experiencing depressive symptoms and internalizing problems than were those with lower levels of verbal ability. LIMITATIONS: Because these data are preliminary, further research examining a broader array of variables is important. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest the need for different models of these processes in different populations of children.

Vulnerability to depression: cognitive reactivity and parental bonding in high-risk individuals.

Although various conceptual proposals have suggested that disruptions in childhood bonding processes may be linked to the origins of these cognitive structures, little research has tested these proposals. This study assessed the information processing of vulnerable individuals and its relationship to childhood bonding. Formerly depressed (vulnerable) and never depressed (nonvulnerable) individuals participated in a mood induction task followed by an attentional allocation task. Results indicated that vulnerable individuals uniquely diverted attention toward negative stimuli when they were in a negative mood. Furthermore, level of maternal caring was found to be associated with performance on this task for vulnerable individuals in this mood state. These data support the idea that cognitive variables form a pathway between troublesome parental-child/adolescent interactions and depression.

Cognitive reactivity and depressotypic information processing in children of depressed mothers.

Although high-risk research suggests that children of depressed mothers are at increased risk for psychological disorders, the mechanisms of this risk are not well understood. In the current study, the information processing of children of depressed mothers was compared with that of children whose mothers were not depressed. Half of each group received a priming induction designed to activate cognitive schemas prior to assessment. All children then completed a self-referent processing task that examined the recall of negative and positive information. Results indicate that when primed, at-risk children showed a less positive self-concept and more negative information processing than did the children in the other groups. These data may offer potential clues into the mechanisms of cognitive vulnerability in at-risk children.

Information processing and affective distress in osteoarthritis patients.

The relationship between affective distress and chronic illnesses is well recognized. Recent research has focused on depressive symptomatology among patients with chronic pain. The present study was conducted to (a) examine depressive information processing in osteoarthritis patients and (b) assess whether the presence of somatic items on a depression measure would affect the observed associations between information processing and affective distress in arthritis patients. A group of 40 osteoarthritis patients was assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory, and a non-self-report measure of depressive self-schemas. Results suggest that observed depressive cognitive structures appear to be better differentiated by a nonsomatic measure of affective distress and that individuals selectively process information to fit the parameters of their currently active self-schema.

One-year evaluation of cognitive-behavioral intervention in osteoarthritis.

We compared a cognitive-behavior modification and a traditional education intervention for adults with osteoarthritis (OA). Forty OA patients were randomly assigned to one of two groups: cognitive-behavior modification or didactic lectures. During ten weekly sessions, the cognitive-behavior group learned methods for coping with pain and the disabilities associated with OA. The traditional education group experienced a series of lectures from health care professionals. Prior to the interventions and following 2, 6, and 12 months, patients in both groups were evaluated with a general Quality of Well-being (QWB) scale, the Arthritis Impact Measurement Scales (AIMS), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and other measures. Although there were some differences between the two groups at 2-month follow-up, by the end of 1 year, physical and psychological functioning did not differ significantly between the two groups. In comparison to baseline, both groups demonstrated initial changes on QWB, depression, and the pain component of the AIMS. Improvements in depression remained through the 1-year follow-up. Multiple regression analysis demonstrated that the mobility and physical activity aspects of the AIMS were significant long-term predictors of outcome (1 year) for general quality-of-life measures. One-year outcomes for depression were significantly predicted from scores on social support and mobility measures from the AIMS. We conclude that cognitive-behavior modification and education produce similar effects on long-term physical and psychological functioning in OA patients.

Seasonal Migration of Meloidogyne chitwoodi and its Role in Potato Production.

Seasonal vertical migration of Meloidogyne chitwoodi through soil and its impact on potato production in Washington and Oregon was studied. Nematode eggs and second-stage juveniles (J2) were placed at various depths (0-180 cm) in tubes filled with soil and buried vertically or in holes dug in potato fields. Tubes were removed at intervals over a 12-month period and soil was bioassayed on tomato roots. Upward migration began in the spring after water had percolated through the tubes. Nematodes were detected in the top 5 cm of tubes within 1-2 months of burial, depending on depth of placement. Potatoes were grown in field plots for 4 or 5 months before the tubers were evaluated for infection. One hundred eggs and J2 per gram soil placed at 60 and 90 cm caused significant tuber damage at the Washington and Oregon sites, respectively. At the Washington site, inoculum placed at 90, 120, and 150 cm caused potato root infection without serious impact on tuber quality, but inoculum diluted 2-8 times and placed at 90 cm did not cause root or tuber infection. Nematode migration was dependent on soil texture; 9 days after placement at the bottoms of tubes, J2 had moved up 55 cm in sandy loam soil (Oregon) but only 15 cm in silt loam (Washington). Thus, the importance of M. chitwoodi which occur deep in a soil profile may depend on soil texture, population density, and length of the growing season.

Self-focused attention in clinical disorders: review and a conceptual model.

Working largely independently, numerous investigators have explored the role of self-focused attention in various clinical disorders. This article reviews research examining increased self-focused attention in these disorders. Results indicate that regardless of the particular disorder under investigation, a heightened degree of self-focused attention is found. Hence, as ordinarily conceptualized, self-focused attention has little discriminatory power among different psychological disorders. Using information processing constructs, a somewhat different model of self-focused attention is proposed, and it is suggested that certain deviations in this process constitute a psychopathological kind of attention. A meta-construct model of descriptive psychopathology is then outlined to examine how certain aspects of attention can be considered specific to certain disorders and others common to different disorders.

Negative and positive cognition in depressed and nondepressed chronic-pain patients.

Several studies have suggested that depressed pain patients evidence more cognitive distortion than nondepressed pain patients and healthy controls. Although these studies have generally supported notions relating cognitive distortion to depressive functioning, other aspects of dysfunctional cognition have not been assessed in the chronic-pain population. The present study examined negative and positive automatic thoughts and attributional style in depressed pain patients, nondepressed pain patients, and healthy controls. Depressed chronic-pain patients were found to exhibit significantly more negative automatic thoughts than nondepressed pain patients and healthy controls. Conversely, nondepressed chronic-pain patients reported significantly more positive automatic thoughts than did depressed patients and healthy controls. No significant differences were found for attributional style. These results suggest that different cognitive-behavioral interventions might be considered for depressed compared to nondepressed chronic-pain patients.

Self-focused attention, gender, gender role, and vulnerability to negative affect.

Research has independently shown that both gender and self-focused attention are linked to depression. In this article, we report a series of studies investigating the relation between these variables. Using a standard self-focusing manipulation, Study 1 suggested that women evidence a greater propensity to self-focus than men. We replicated these findings in Study 2. In Study 3, we conducted an experiment to determine if sex role in conjunction with experimentally increased self-focused attention would lead to more emotional distress after a negative event had occurred. Results suggested that feminine individuals who received a self-focusing manipulation responded with greater levels of self-focused attention and negative affect than did any other group. We interpreted findings in terms of a tendency to self-focus that might prime feminine people to experience depression, or alternately, as a lack of self-focusing that may insulate masculine individuals from the experience of depression.

Cognitive specificity in emotional distress.

Cognitive approaches to emotional distress posit that specific cognitive factors are critically linked to the etiology, course, or treatment of dysfunction. Although a number of empirical studies have assessed cognitive factors in emotional disorders such as depression and anxiety, research has yet to assess these variables simultaneously and with identical cognitive measures. Using depression and test anxiety as models of dysfunctional affective states, we examined cognitive specificity on measures of information processing, attributions, automatic thinking, and cognitive interference. Results indicated a pattern of specificity showing several differences and similarities in depression and anxiety. Specifically, "purely" depressed individuals showed evidence of selectively processing depressive information, making dysfunctional attributions, and engaging in more negative automatic thinking. "Purely" anxious individuals, on the other hand, showed evidence of selective anxious information processing and increased cognitive interference. Results are discussed in terms of a taxonomy for classifying depressive and anxious cognition.

MMPI subgroups and affective disorder in chronic pain patients.

Patients with chronic pain syndromes are commonly depressed. Chronic pain populations also contain distinct subgroups of personality profiles as defined by the MMPI. To assess the relevance of personality subtype to affective disorder we determined the relationship of psychiatric diagnoses defined by Research Diagnostic Criteria (RDC) to MMPI subgroups in a sample of hospitalized patients with predominantly chronic low back pain. RDC psychiatric diagnoses for the sample were major depression (44.2%), minor depression (19.2%), other psychiatric disorder (13.5%), and no mental disorder (21.6%). Patients satisfying RDC criteria for major depression were significantly associated with discrete MMPI personality subtypes. No other psychiatric diagnoses were significantly associated with distinct personality subgroups. No relationship was observed between personality profile and presence of demonstrable organic etiology for pain. These findings indicate that behavioral and pharmacological interventions directed at depression as well as pain are important in the treatment of chronic pain populations, especially in selected subgroups.

On the self-serving function of social anxiety: shyness as a self-handicapping strategy.

We tested the hypothesis that socially anxious or shy individuals use their anxiety symptoms as a strategy to control attributions made about their performances in social-evaluative settings (i.e., self-handicapping strategies). Specifically, we predicted that trait-socially anxious or shy persons would report more symptoms of social anxiety in an evaluative setting in which anxiety or shyness could serve as an excuse for poor performance than would individuals in (a) an evaluative setting in which shyness was precluded as an excuse or (b) a nonevaluative setting. Furthermore, we predicted that this self-protective pattern of symptom reporting would not occur for individuals who were not trait-socially anxious because these persons would not commonly use such symptoms as a self-handicapping strategy. Results supported these predictions for male subjects, but not for female subjects. Sex differences in the strategic use of shyness are discussed in relation to other research on sex differences in the etiology and correlates of social anxiety.

Self-awareness and self-confrontation: effects of self-focused attention on members of a clinical population.

Research in the area of self-awareness theory has indicated that self-focused attention consistently produces both an increase in perceived intensity of affect and enhanced accuracy of self-reports. The present studies consider these effects in relation to the technique of self-confrontation as used in psychotherapy. In the first study, members of two different clinical populations (alcoholics and general psychiatric patients) either were or were not made self-aware and then were asked to self-report on their psychiatric problems and their mood states. Results indicated that self-awareness did increase the negative mood states for the psychiatric patients, and it also apparently increased the accuracy with which both patient groups reported on their history of hospitalization. In the second study self-awareness once again exacerbated the reported negative affect of a group of depressed psychiatric patients and enhanced the accuracy with which they reported on their hospitalizations. Additional analyses indicated that although the psychiatric patients generally felt worse when self-aware, they were also more accurate in their self-reports, including descriptions of their problems. The effects of self-awareness on members of clinical population are discussed and related to self-confrontation techniques.

Factors in the self-deception questionnaire: associations with depression.

Disagreement presently exists over whether depressed or nondepressed persons exercise more cognitive distortion on material about the self. A negative correlation between the Self-Deception Questionnaire (SDQ, Sackeim & Gur, 1978, 1979) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI, Beck, 1967) has been cited as evidence that it is the nondepressed individuals who exercise more distortion (Sackeim, 1983). This negative correlation was replicated, and the SDQ was factor analyzed to determine which factors might account for the correlation with depression. The three largest factors, identified by content themes of relationships with parents, emotionality, and denial of tabooed activities, correlated reliably with the BDI. Discussion focused on whether these correlations reflect differences in self-deception that are associated with depression or differences in veridical responding between depressed and nondepressed subjects on those items in the SDQ. Suggestions for future research and possible therapeutic implications are also discussed.

"Company motivates the miserable": the impact of consensus information on help seeking for psychological problems.

Based on an attribution theory analysis, it was predicted that normal individuals (people who do not evidence a particular target problem) would be least motivated to seek help for a psychological problem when they believe that the problem is actuarially common (i.e., high consensus). Based on an analysis of how target problem people evaluate their psychological problem, however, it was predicted that such individuals (unlike normal individuals) should be maximally motivated to seek help when they believe that the problem is common. To test these predictions, target problem and normal individuals (high vs. average test anxious females) were given feedback that they possessed a problem (test anxiety). Individuals were then told that their problem was either common, uncommon, or given no consensus information. As predicted, the higher consensus information led to the least help-seeking behavior for the normal individuals and to the most help-seeking behavior for the target problem individuals.