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Biomedical subjects

D M Donovan

Publications and source records attributed to D M Donovan.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1991

Combat-related PTSD and psychosocial adjustment problems among substance abusing veterans.

The purpose of this study were the following: a) to determine the prevalence of combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms among veterans seeking assistance at a Veterans Administration medical center substance abuse treatment facility, b) to examine the relative contribution of Vietnam war zone variables to PTSD symptom development, and c) to study psychosocial adjustment problems associated with Vietnam combat exposure and with PTSD symptoms among help-seeking substance abusing men. Of 489 male veterans presenting for treatment, 10.7% had significant Vietnam combat-related PTSD symptoms as measured by the Mississippi Scale for Combat-Related PTSD. Clinically significant PTSD symptoms occurred among 46% of the subsample of combat-exposed Vietnam veterans with substance abuse problems. Degree of combat exposure was the most important military stressor that distinguished Vietnam veterans with PTSD from those without PTSD, but the groups also differed on age of war zone duty, duration of war zone duty, and whether they were wounded. Veterans who served in Vietnam did not differ from veterans who had no war zone duty on various parameters of psychosocial adjustment. However, the subgroup of Vietnam veterans with PTSD symptoms reported significantly greater psychosocial adjustment problems than their counterparts who did not have PTSD. The deleterious effects associated with combat-related PTSD appeared to be confined to adjunctive psychiatric difficulties and unemployment and did not increase risk of arrests for antisocial conduct beyond that found for veterans without PTSD. Methodological and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1990

Predicting drinking outcome: demography, chronicity, coping, and aftercare.

The contribution of demographics (age, martial status), chronicity (previous alcohol hospitalizations, years of problem drinking), coping (temptation, cognitive coping), and early aftercare attendance, in predicting drinking outcomes was examined using hierarchical regression and discriminant analyses. Six-month followup data were available for 37 of 39 male alcoholics. Previous hospitalizations significantly predicted all drinking outcomes. Abstinence for the six-month followup was predicted by years of problem drinking and cognitive coping. Early aftercare attendance added significantly to the prediction of consumption, drinking days, and abstinence. Demographics were not significant predictors of outcome. The results support the continued utility of chronicity variables as predictors of outcome, underscore the importance of coping, and suggest that early aftercare attendance be monitored and investigated further.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1990

Regulation of the mouse alpha A-crystallin gene: isolation of a cDNA encoding a protein that binds to a cis sequence motif shared with the major histocompatibility complex class I gene and other genes.

We have shown by site-directed mutagenesis that the sequence between positions -69 and -40 of the mouse alpha A-crystallin gene is crucial for tissue-specific gene expression in a transfected mouse lens epithelial cell line transformed with the early region of simian virus 40. Gel retardation experiments with synthetic oligodeoxynucleotides revealed a mouse lens nuclear protein which bound specifically to the palindromic sequence 5'-GGGAAATCCC-3' at positions -66 to -57 in the alpha A-crystallin promoter. By screening a bacteriophage lambda gt11 expression library of the transformed lens cells, we isolated a 2.5-kilobase-pair cDNA encoding a fusion protein which bound to this sequence and to the regulatory element of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I gene. This cDNA hybridized to a 10-kilobase-pair polyadenylated RNA present in many different tissues, including lens. It encoded a protein, tentatively called alpha A-CRYBP1, containing at least two zinc fingers. alpha A-CRYBP1 is either homologous or very similar to the human nuclear proteins MBP-1 (Baldwin et al., Mol. Cell. Biol. 10:1406-1414, 1990), PRDII-BFI (Fan and Maniatis, Genes Dev. 4:29-42, 1990), and HIV-EP1 (Maekawa et al., J. Biol. Chem. 264:14591-14593, 1989), which bind to regulatory elements of the MHC class I, beta interferon, and human immunodeficiency virus genes, respectively. Our results suggest that the lens-specific alpha A-crystallin, MHC class I, beta interferon and other genes have a similar cis-acting DNA regulatory motif that shares alpha A-CRYBPI, MBP-1, PRDII-BF1, HIV-EP1, or other closely related proteins as trans-acting factors.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1990

Bad drivers: identification of a target group for alcohol-related prevention and early intervention.

Individuals arrested for driving while intoxicated (DWI) have been targeted for preventive intervention of alcohol-related problems. However, high rates of diagnosed alcoholism among DWI arrestees suggest a need to identify individuals at risk earlier in the developmental process. The present study investigates one such group, namely male "bad drivers" with a history of multiple nonalcohol-related driving convictions. Over 11% of a sample of 254 men identified as bad drivers during an index year received an initial DWI arrest over a subsequent 3-year follow-up period. This was over five times greater than the rate of initial DWI arrest among a representative sample of men from the general driving population over the same time period. The same high rate of subsequent DWI arrest among drivers having four or more driving offenses within the index year was replicated in a 1% probability sample of over 39,000 drivers from the general driving population. Those individuals from the original group of 254 bad drivers who received an initial DWI had significantly higher levels of drinking at the time of their original identification as bad drivers than did those who did not receive a DWI. The results were discussed in terms of early identification and preventive interventions within the population of bad drivers.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

The paraconscious.

A new concept, the paraconscious, is presented as the third complementary member of the conscious/unconscious paradigm. A form of cognition dating from early intrauterine existence to sometime in the first year of life, the nature of the paraconscious is determined by the incompleteness of developing cognitive structures, giving rise to a form of knowing that does not allow for the generation of voluntarily retrievable mental representations. The paraconscious provides a conceptual framework for the understanding of "conflict-free" psychic development, thereby linking such apparently disparate phenomena as Stoller's core gender identity and primary transsexualism, Bruch's primary anorexia nervosa, night terrors, and ubiquitous convictions such as the belief in telephathy and the survival of death by human consciousness. It has profound implications for the treatment (or nontreatment in the case of primary male transsexualism) of significant psychiatric syndromes and raises crucial questions about the nature of learning during the earliest moments of our cognitive existence, about the nonlinguistic transmission of information and about the origin of certain widely held beliefs.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

The Alcohol Dependence Scale: a validation study among inpatient alcoholics.

The present study investigated whether the degree of alcohol dependence, as operationalized by Skinner and Allen's Alcohol Dependence Scale (ADS), covaried with concurrent and predictive criteria in a sample of hospitalized alcoholics. As previously reported, the ADS was found to be unidimensional and internally consistent. However, compared to Skinner and Allen's findings, these inpatients had significantly lower ADS scores. Correlations with concurrent measures of cognitive functioning, psychiatric and physical symptoms tended to be smaller than, but in the same direction as, those previously reported using an outpatient sample. ADS scores did not significantly predict attrition from inpatient treatment, self-reported alcohol consumption over 9-month follow-up or duration of aftercare involvement. Patients who relapsed reported significantly higher ADS scores at admission, however, the magnitude of this relationship was modest (r = .16). In its present form, the ADS appears to have fair concurrent validity, but limited predictive utility within a sample of inpatient alcoholics.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Drinking-related locus of control and the drinking status of urban Native Americans.

Although promising, the available data concerning drinking-related locus of control have been almost entirely limited to treatment samples of white men. The major purpose of this study was to extend our understanding by comparing the drinking-related expectancies of three groups of Native Americans: problem drinkers, nonproblem drinkers and recovered alcoholics. Multivariate analyses were employed to control statistically for important sociodemographic differences between groups and included a test of the possibility that sex moderated the relationship between drinking status and drinking expectancies. As predicted, problem drinkers reported significantly less personal control of alcohol use than either nonproblem drinkers or recovered alcoholics. There were no significant differences between nonproblem drinkers and recovered alcoholics. Native American men were found to hold significantly more external orientations towards drinking than did women. The results were discussed in terms of comparisons with the available literature, and future research needs were identified. The findings provide indirect support for current treatment philosophies that seek to modify patient perceptions of the controllability of drinking behavior in a more internal direction.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Construction and characterization of a haploid strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae that completely lacks all genomic CYH2 sequences.

A diploid strain of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been constructed that has one copy of the ribosomal protein gene CYH2 completely deleted and replaced with the TRP1 gene using the method of Rothstein (1983). There are only small differences in growth rate and no detectable difference in steady state level of CYH2 mRNA between the diploid that is heterozygous for the CYH2 deletion and the parent diploid with two normal copies of this gene. This suggests that the diploid must partially compensate for the loss of one CYH2 gene. Tetrad dissection shows that haploid spores lacking the CYH2 gene cannot germinate. The lethality of this deletion can be rescued by a CYH2 cDNA on a low copy vector. Haploids which lack the genomic copy of the CYH2 gene, but contain a plasmid copy of the CYH2 cDNA are able to grow normally. These CYH2 deleted yeast haploids should be useful to analyze mutationally altered CYH2 genes and genes homologous to CYH2 from other organisms without interference from a genomic copy.

Fungal Proteins↗
PubMed1986

Alcoholic subtypes based on multiple assessment domains. Validation against treatment outcome.

Research in the area of subtype development within alcoholic populations has undergone a number of changes over the recent years. First, there has been a shift from subtype derivation based on a priori comparative approaches toward a more recent use of a posteriori correlational approaches such as cluster analysis. Second, there has been an increased multivariate focus in which multiple measures from a number of practically and/or theoretically relevant assessment domains are entered into the classificatory process. Third, there has been an increased emphasis on the external validation of derived clusters. The present chapter briefly reviews these issues, using examples of research from the Seattle Veterans Administration Medical Center to illustrate each of these shifts across a series of studies focusing on the development of alcoholic subtypes. Finally, the results of a recent subtype identification and validation study will be presented to illustrate the difficulties in and advantages of a multidomain cluster analytic strategy.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Transcriptional regulation of ribosomal proteins during a nutritional upshift in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The relative rates of synthesis of Saccharomyces cerevisiae ribosomal proteins increase coordinately during a nutritional upshift. We constructed a gene fusion which contained 528 base pairs of sequence upstream from and including the TATA box of ribosomal protein gene rp55-1 (S16A-1) fused to a CYC1-lacZ fusion. This fusion was integrated in single copy at the rp55-1 locus in the yeast genome. During a nutritional upshift, in which glucose was added to cells growing in an ethanol-based medium, we found that the increase in the relative rate of synthesis of the beta-galactosidase protein product followed the same kinetics as the change in relative rates of synthesis of several ribosomal proteins measured in the same experiment. This demonstrates that the nontranscribed sequences upstream from the rp55-1 gene, which are present in the fusion, are sufficient to mediate the change in rates of synthesis characteristic of ribosomal proteins under these conditions. The results also suggest that a change in transcription rates is mainly responsible for the increase in relative rates of synthesis of ribosomal proteins during a nutritional upshift in S. cerevisiae.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1985

Validation of the Luria-Nebraska Intellectual Processes Scale as a measure of intelligence in male alcoholics.

This study investigated the Luria-Nebraska Intellectual Processes Scale (IPS) as a predictor of Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) IQs among alcoholic inpatients. Strong correlations were found between the IPS and WAIS Verbal IQ and Full Scale IQ; however, the correlation with Performance IQ was only -.41. IQ estimates based on Prifitera and Ryan's (1981) regression equations derived on psychiatric inpatients differed significantly from obtained IQs in the current alcoholic sample. The importance of adequately assessing Performance IQ among patients with alcohol-related problems is discussed.

Adult↗