Compulsive reduction

SAM is a representative method of the surface analysis aimed at below the micron area. The micro structure of the native oxide film might be able to observe by means of SAM method. However, the severe electron beam-induced damage might be arisen on a silicon oxide film by the high electron current density of primary electron beam (3-7). The silicon oxide is reduced to the elemental silicon due to Joule s heat in an ultra high vacuum analyzer chamber of SAM equipment. The conditions to reduce the reduction of the silicon oxide film due to the electron beam-induced damage have been preferred by the investigations on the compulsive reduction of the silicon oxide film. 

In order to find out the region of reduced electron beam-induced damage, the investigations on the compulsive reduction of the silicon oxide film were performed by using thermally grown silicon oxide film as a reference sample. The electron beam-induced damage were evaluated as a function of LVV spectra intensity ratio for the elemental silicon and the silicon oxide. 

It could be concluded from the above-mentioned experiments on the compulsive reduction of silicon oxide that the conditions of the long irradiation time and the low current is the preferable analytical conditions to reduce the reduction of the oxide film by the electron beam-induced damage. 

Figure 4. The investigations of compulsive reduction were performed by the thermally grown silicon oxide. The products of electron current and irradiation time were kept constant to 6.1x10" coulomb in respective measurements. The reduce damage regions (a) and (c) were found on both sides of the damage region (b).

Szeszko, P.R., Robinson, D., Alvir, J.M., Bilder, R.M., Lencz, T., Ashtari, M., Wu, H., and Bogerts, B. (1999) Orbital frontal and amygdala volume reductions in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Arch Gen Psychiatry 56 913-919. 

In a recent report, the mean CY-BOCS score at initial assessment (23 6.5) did not differ between child and adolescent OCD subjects. It should be noted that although the CY-BOCS is an anchored ordinal scale, it is not linear and lacks sensitivity to change when symptoms are severely impairing. For example, time occupied is scored as 4 when more than 8 hours/day are spent in either obsessions or compulsions, while 4 hours/day would rate a score of 3—i.e., a 50% decrease in time lowers this item score by one point (out of 5 ordinal scores). It is for this reason that a decrease in CY-BOCS score of more than 25% is considered clinically significant improvement and a number of controlled studies have used a 25% reduction to define a positive response. The CY-BOCS remains the gold standard for both baseline evaluation as well as for monitoring effects of treatment. 

One of the clinician s most important tasks is thus to identify the principal sources of distress and impairment and to prioritize the targets for pharmacological intervention. Although tic reduction may be the first priority in some cases, in other cases it may be a child s ADHD, depression, or compulsions that may have the first claim on the clinician s interventional efforts. Even when the tics are not themselves the initial target of treatment, the TS-related nature of the child s depression, ADHD, or obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) may have important implications for the choice of agents, therapeutic response, or possible side effects. 

Tollefson et al. (1994] reported an American multicenter investigation of fixed-dose fluoxetine in the treatment of OCD. Three hundred fifty-five outpatients participated in two randomized, double-blind, parallel, 13-week trials, receiving fluoxetine or placebo. Fluoxetine (20 mg, 40 mg, and 60 mg] was significantly superior to placebo on the Y-BOCS total score and other efficacy measures. However, a trend was noted suggesting greater efficacy of the 60 mg/day dose. The authors reported few side effects, and most patients (79.2%] completed the study. Similarly to CMl, fluoxetine led to a significant reduction in OCD severity, regarding both obsessions and compulsions. 

The effects of a short-term tryptophan depletion were examined in 15 patients with OCD who had responded to treatment with various SRIs such as CMI, fluvoxamine, and fluoxetine. These patients underwent tryptophan depletion under double-blind, placebo-controlled conditions. Reduction of tryptophan had no significant effects on either obsessions or compulsions, but mean depression ratings were significantly increased during tryptophan depletion [Barr et al. 1994]. 

A particularly important set of beliefs is the idea that a given substance is addictive. Once a behavioral pattern is conceptualized as an addiction, with the concomitant causal beliefs, it may change dramatically. An especially important belief is that addiction is, if not irresistible, at least very hard to resist, almost amounting to compulsive desire. Hence, to the causal beliefs about the effects of drug taking on the addict s body and socioeconomic status, we must add causa) beliefs about the effect of addiction on his will—specifically, on the ability to quit. Two opposite beliefs about this effect may have the same impact on behavior. Some addicts use their (usually self-deceptive) belief that they can quit at any time as an excuse for not quitting. Others use their (equally self-deceptive) belief that they are unable to quit as an excuse for not quitting. The belief that one is addicted may reinforce the addiction by the mechanism of dissonance reduction ... 

In three children (two aged 9 years and one aged 10 years) who took paroxetine 10-20 mg/day for the treatment of childhood obsessive-compulsive disorder, symptoms of mania, including overactivity, pressure of speech, irritability, and antisocial behavior, occurred within 3 weeks of starting paroxetine and remitted after paroxetine withdrawal or dosage reduction (7). Symptoms of mania are rare in childhood, suggesting that the elevated mood in these cases was a direct effect of the paroxetine. 

In 23 patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder who had not responded to a 6-month course of fluvoxamine (300 mg/day), olanzapine (5 mg/day) was added in an open comparison (28). There was a significant reduction in the mean score on the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale concomitant schizotypal personality disorder was the only factor significantly associated with a response. The most common adverse effects were mild to moderate weight gain and sedation. 

As well as having an anti-oxidant" and anti-inflammatory effect, DMAE taken orally has been claimed to have many properties an anti-aging effect, improvement of memory and intelligence, increased synthesis of acetylcholine, amelioration of depressive states, improvement in motor coordination, improvement in compulsive, impulsive, hyperactive or antisocial behavior, reduction of chronic fatigue and improvement in the quality of sleep, aid in giving up alcohol and tobacco, reduction of headaches, improved ability to concentrate, improvement in schizophrenia, improved muscle tone, and overall higher energy levels. 

The ratios of NAc/tCr and NAc/(tCr-i-Cho) in the right and left thalami have been measured in 11 treatment-naive, non-depressed obsessive-compulsive disorder outpatients (8 to 15 year old) and 11 control subjects. A significant reduction in the ratios of NAc/tCr and NAc/(tCr+Cho) were observed in the right and left medial thalami in patients compared to control. 

Reduction of tics and obsessive-compulsive behaviors (reviewed by Muller-Vahl 2003)... 

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is one of the ten leading causes of disability. Patients with OCD experience significant impairment in their quality of life (QOL), with reductions in social, family, and occupational functioning." OCD affects far more individuals than was thought in the past. Because of the nature and potential severity of signs and symptoms and the resultant negative effects on QOL, OCD is considered a major medical condition. Clinicians should be able to identify OCD and nnderstand the current treatment options. 

Goals of therapy for OCD include reduction in the frequency of obsessive thoughts and in the time spent performing compulsive acts and reduction in the degree of anxiety. Treatment for OCD may not completely eliminate obsessions or compulsions, but patients may feel remarkably improved with partial resolution of their symptoms. Treatment should provide the patient with an optimal level of psychosocial and occupational functioning and an overall improved QOL. Efforts should be made to minimize adverse drug events and prevent drug interactions. 

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