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Objective A family systems framework was used to examine the reciprocal influences of parents' romantic attachment security, marital adjustment, and the coparenting alliance. Background Research indicates that adult attachment strategies are predictive of adult romantic relationships, but there is less evidence linking adult romantic attachment to the ability to effectively coparent. Furthermore, much of the prior coparenting literature has focused on direct paths and has not accounted for mutual influence within parental dyads, despite an increased awareness of the interdependence among familial roles and a push to understand familywide dynamics. Method A community sample of 86 heterosexual couples with a residential child between 8 and 11 years of age completed the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale, the Dyadic Adjustment Scale, and the Coparenting Scale as part of a larger study on family processes in middle childhood. Multilevel models were conducted utilizing the actor-partner interdependence model. Results Compared to their low attachment anxiety counterparts, spouses with higher attachment anxiety and avoidance reported lower levels of marital adjustment, less coparenting cooperation, and more coparenting conflict. Findings indicated that marital adjustment mediates the relationship between romantic attachment style and perceptions of coparenting. Conclusion Results highlight the benefit of conceptualizing parental attachment, marital, and coparental subsystems within a systemic framework and suggest that a healthy marital relationship is an important intervening factor that helps explain links between attachment security and the coparenting alliance. Implications Findings underscore the importance of evaluating and treating multiple levels of the family system and suggest that therapeutic treatment of the marital relationship may be associated with a healthier coparenting dynamic.

Corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH) neuroendocrine neurones in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVH) drive adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) and thereby glucocorticoid release from pituitary corticotrophs and the adrenal cortex, respectively. Glucocorticoids suppress the ability of neuroendocrine corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH) neurones to synthesise and release ACTH secretogogues. Despite the importance of glucocorticoids as regulatory signals to CRH neurones in the extended time domain, how and where they act in this capacity is still not fully understood. Ascending catecholamine projections encode important cardiovascular, metabolic and other visceral information to the rat PVH and surrounding hypothalamus. These afferents have previously been implicated as targets for glucocorticoid action, including a role in the feedback regulation of PVH neuroendocrine neurones. To determine the contribution of these neurones to the long-term actions of corticosterone on CRH and vasopressin (AVP) gene expression in the PVH, we used an immunocytotoxin (a conjugate of the cytotoxin saporin and an antibody against dopamine-β-hydroxylase) that specifically ablates adrenergic and noradrenergic neurones. Lesions were administered to intact animals and to adrenalectomised animals with either no corticosterone or corticosterone replacement that provided levels above those required to normalise Crh expression. The ability of elevated levels of corticosterone to suppress Crh expression was abolished in animals lacking catecholaminergic innervation of the PVH. No effect was seen in the absence of corticosterone or in animals with intact adrenals. Furthermore, Avp expression, which is increased in CRH neurones following adrenalectomy, was suppressed in adrenalectomised catecholaminergic-lesioned animals. Interactions between corticosterone and catecholaminergic projections to the hypothalamus therefore make significant contributions to the regulation of Crh and Avp expression. However, the importance of catecholamine inputs is only apparent when circulating corticosterone concentrations are maintained either below or above those required to maintain the activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis that is seen in intact animals.

Among 68 students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, academic success was positively correlated with time management skills and freedom from financial stress. As a group, students with higher grade point averages reported fewer coping resources than did academically lower achieving students. Less academically successful students likely spend more time using coping mechanisms and therefore may have less time to study. Implications for professional practice and suggestions for future research are discussed. The purpose of the current study was to identify factors associated with academic success among a sample of college students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Of particular interest were students' resources for coping with stress and their descriptions of strategies used to manage their ADHD symptoms. First, however, we review the literature on ADHD and examine the obstacles faced by students with ADHD. It was once widely believed that ADHD was common only in childhood, with the symptoms gradually disappearing through adolescence. Although the prevalence of ADHD symptoms does decline with age among clinic-referred samples (Biederman et al., 1996; Cantwell, 1996), longitudinal studies indicate a continuance of the disorder beyond childhood for a significant proportion of those affected (Barkley, Fischer, Edelbrock, & Smallish, 1991; Cadoret & Stewart, 1991; Weiss & Hechtman, 1993). In fact, 30% to 80% of ADHD children still meet the full diagnostic criteria for the disorder in adolescence (Biederman, 1991; Klein & Mannuzza, 1991). Investigations of college students also provide evidence of continuing ADHD symptoms beyond childhood (Ramirez et al., 1997; Turnock, Rosen, & Kaminski, 1998). The attention-related demands of academic environments that cause difficulty for children with ADHD can also be a challenge for ADHD adults (e.g., Barkley, Murphy, & Kwasnik, 1996; Biederman et al., 1993; Mannuzza, Klein, Bessler, Malloy, & LaPadula, 1993; Turnock et al., 1998). Furthermore, recent discussions of the deficits in executive functions seen in ADHD (e.g., goal setting, organizing, time management) suggest that a college environment, which demands such skills, may pose new challenges for ADHD adults, even those who fared well in high school (Wolf, 2001). Throughout their schooling, and independent of differences in IQ, ADHD individuals tend to have more academic problems than other students (Hectman, 1991; Lambert, 1988). Problems include lower grades, more failed or repeated grades, and fewer years of education completed (Hechtman, Weiss, & Perlman, 1984; Mannuzza, Klein, Bessler, Malloy, & Hynes, 1997; Slomkowski, Klein, & Mannuzza, 1995; Wilson & Marcotte, 1996). In fact, Mannuzza et al. (1993) found that approximately 25% of ADHD participants (vs. 2% of controls) never completed high school. Although little is known about the prevalence or effect of ADHD in the university setting, clinicians suggest a positive educational outcome for a subset of ADHD college students (Hallowell & Ratey, 1994; Nadeau, 1994; Quinn, 1993). For example, in separate longitudinal studies, Mannuzza et al. (1997; 1993) found that 12% and 15% of their ADHD samples, respectively, had completed a bachelor's degree. Some investigators have hypothesized that academically successful ADHD college students are better able to cope with their symptoms than are their academically lower achieving peers (Faigel, 1995; Hallowell & Ratey, 1994; Kaplan & Schachter, 1991; Nadeau, 1994; Quinn, 1993). Although the use of symptom-specific coping strategies among ADHD students has not received empirical support (Turnock et al., 1998), it may be that academically successful ADHD students rely on a number of coping resources (i.e., factors that are present and available even before stressors occur that lessen the costs of dealing with stressors; Curlette, Aycock, Matheny, Puch, & Taylor, 1990) to prevent or endure stresses that overwhelm less-resilient ADHD individuals (Wheaton, 1983). …

Agmatine has been previously proposed to represent a novel neurotransmitter. One of the criteria required to test that hypothesis is that the exogenously administered chemical produces pharmacological effects similar to the physiological effects of the putative neurotransmitter. Since agmatine was first identified in brain, approximately sixty studies of the in vivo effects of exogenously administered agmatine have been reported. Despite the assertion that agmatine functions as a neuromodulator/neurotransmitter, the vast majority of experiments have administered agmatine through systemic (rather than central) routes of administration. Systemic delivery of agmatine for studies of centrally mediated phenomenona (e.g., pain, spinal cord injury, cardiovascular responses) relies on the presumption that agmatine (a polar compound) gains appreciable access to the CNS. The mechanism by which agmatine crosses the blood-brain barrier is not well understood. A number of studies have examined the in vivo effects of agmatine following central administration (e.g., intracerebroventricular and intrathecal). This paper summarizes and provides a comparison between the systemic versus central routes of administration for delivery of agmatine in experimental subjects.

Twenty-nine college women evidencing low body esteem, repeated dieting efforts, and other dysfunctional eating behaviors or attitudes were randomly assigned to group treatment or control conditions. At posttest and follow-up, participants who received the intervention reported significantly improved levels of self-esteem and body satisfaction, as well as reductions in their reliance on potentially dangerous methods of weight management compared with controls. They also reported fewer fears of negative evaluation by others and endorsed fewer stereotypes about thinness and attractiveness. Finally, participants in the treatment condition showed significantly reduced levels of perfectionism at posttest, but this change was not maintained at follow-up. Clinical implications and research recommendations are discussed.

The results of the synthesis of 11 different tritiated alkylxanthines by solid-phase catalytic isotope exchange are described. 3H-NMR analysis of the labelled compounds shows that in contrast to liquid-phase isotope exchange the tritium label is incorporated not only in the C-8 (H) position, but also in the alkyl groups. The fraction of radioactivity in an alkyl group depends on the nature and position of this group.

The possibility of chromatographic separation of different isotopic forms of tritiated nucleosides has been demonstrated. Using a reversed-phase column in 3–5% solutions of ethanol in water the labelled nucleosides eluted ahead of corresponding unlabelled analogs. Such isotope effects allow simultaneous fine purification of nucleosides and its fractionation according to molar specific activity value.

[G-3H]imipramine and [G-3H]desipramine with specific activities 110–160 and 80–100 kCi/mol, respectively were synthesized by high temperature solid-phase catalytic isotope exchange with gaseous tritium.

Tritiated dextran and inulin were prepared by both a catalytic solid state and a liquid phase isotope exchange with gaseous tritium. The liquid phase procedure is convenient for preparation of the polysaccharides with specific activities up to 5 mCi/g, while the solid state procedure allows specific activities up to 700 mCi/g.

Mannitol, galactitol and myo-inositol were labelled by a solid state isotope exchange with gaseous tritium. The labelled polyois were prepared with specific activities in the range 740–4440 TBq/mol (20–120 kCi/mol) after purification by HPLC.