Strike while the iron is hot: can stepped-care treatments resurrect relapsing smokers?

The efficacies of 2 group counseling step-up treatments for smoking cessation, cognitive-behavioral/skill training therapy (CBT) and motivational interviewing/supportive (MIS) therapy, were compared with brief intervention (BI) treatment in a sample of 677 smokers. Differential efficacy of the 2 step-up treatments was also tested in smokers at low and high risk for relapse (no smoking vs. any smoking during the first postquit week. respectively). All participants received 8 weeks of nicotine patch therapy. BI consisted of 3 brief individual cessation counseling sessions; CBT and MIS participants received BI treatment and 6 group counseling sessions. Neither CBT nor MIS treatment improved long-term abstinence rates relative to BI. Limited support was found for the hypothesis that high-risk smokers would benefit more from MIS than CBT. Other hypotheses were not supported.

Immittance and otoacoustic emissions in rhesus monkeys and humans.

The purpose of this study was to compare multifrequency tympanometry and otoacoustic emissions (OAEs) in rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) and humans. Tympanometry and OAEs can be recorded efficiently in Macaca mulatta to assess peripheral auditory function with results comparable to those in humans. Differences include (1) greater admittances and conductances in humans from 226 to 630 Hz, the frequency range validly assessed; (2) larger amplitude transient evoked OAEs (TEOAEs) and noise levels in humans; (3) larger amplitude monkey 2f(1)-f(2) distortion product OAEs (DPOAES) (f(2)s>2 kHz); (4) more prominent DPOAEs other than 2f(1)-f(2) in monkeys; (5) more narrowly tuned human f(2)/f(1) X 2f(1)-f(2) amplitude functions at the lower frequencies tested; and (6) lower 2f(1)-f(2) DPOAE thresholds at f(2)=0.5 kHz and > or = 8 kHz in monkeys.