Depressive Realism and Attributional Style: Implications for Individuals at Risk for Depression

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, Michael T.; Fresco, David M.

2007-01-01

Prior research has found that depressed individuals are more realistic in their interpretations of certain events than nondepressed individuals. However, the implications of this finding for the etiology of depressive disorders have never been clarified. The current investigation sought to remedy this situation by exploring realism in the context…

The effect of acute maximal exercise on postexercise hemodynamics and central arterial stiffness in obese and normal-weight individuals.

Science.gov (United States)

Bunsawat, Kanokwan; Ranadive, Sushant M; Lane-Cordova, Abbi D; Yan, Huimin; Kappus, Rebecca M; Fernhall, Bo; Baynard, Tracy

2017-04-01

Central arterial stiffness is associated with incident hypertension and negative cardiovascular outcomes. Obese individuals have higher central blood pressure (BP) and central arterial stiffness than their normal-weight counterparts, but it is unclear whether obesity also affects hemodynamics and central arterial stiffness after maximal exercise. We evaluated central hemodynamics and arterial stiffness during recovery from acute maximal aerobic exercise in obese and normal-weight individuals. Forty-six normal-weight and twenty-one obese individuals underwent measurements of central BP and central arterial stiffness at rest and 15 and 30 min following acute maximal exercise. Central BP and normalized augmentation index (AIx@75) were derived from radial artery applanation tonometry, and central arterial stiffness was obtained via carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cPWV) and corrected for central mean arterial pressure (cPWV/cMAP). Central arterial stiffness increased in obese individuals but decreased in normal-weight individuals following acute maximal exercise, after adjusting for fitness. Obese individuals also exhibited an overall higher central BP ( P  <   0.05), with no exercise effect. The increase in heart rate was greater in obese versus normal-weight individuals following exercise ( P  <   0.05), but there was no group differences or exercise effect for AIx@75 In conclusion, obese (but not normal-weight) individuals increased central arterial stiffness following acute maximal exercise. An assessment of arterial stiffness response to acute exercise may serve as a useful detection tool for subclinical vascular dysfunction. © 2017 The Authors. Physiological Reports published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of The Physiological Society and the American Physiological Society.

Reference intervals of spinal mobility measures in normal individuals: the mobility study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ramiro, Sofia; van Tubergen, Astrid; Stolwijk, Carmen; van der Heijde, Desiree; Royston, Patrick; Landewe, Robert

2015-01-01

Objectives To establish reference intervals (RIs) for spinal mobility measures as recommended for patients with axial spondyloarthritis, and to determine the effect of age, height and gender on spinal mobility, in normal individuals. Methods A cross-sectional study (MOBILITY) was conducted among

Evaluation of four methods for separation of lymphocytes from normal individuals and patients with cancer and tuberculosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Patrick, C C; Graber, C D; Loadholt, C B

1976-01-01

An optimal technique was sought for lymphocyte recovery from normal and chronic diseased individuals. Lymphocytes were separated by four techniques: Plasmagel, Ficoll--Hypaque, a commercial semiautomatic method, and simple centrifugation using blood drawn from ten normal individuals, ten cancer patients, and ten tuberculosis patients. The lymphocyte mixture obtained after using each method was analyzed for percent recovery, amount if contamination by erythrocytes and neutrophils, and percent viability. The results show that the semiautomatic method yielded the best percent recovery of lymphocytes for normal individuals, while the simple centrifugation method contributed the highest percent recovery for cancer and tuberculosis patients. The Ficoll-Hypaque method gave the lowest erythrocyte contamination for all three types of individuals tested, while the Plasmagel method gave the lowest neutrophil contamination for all three types of individuals. The simple centrifugation method yielded all viable lymphocytes and thus gave the highest percent viability.

Which markers of subclinical organ damage to measure in individuals with high normal blood pressure?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sehestedt, Thomas; Jeppesen, Jørgen; Hansen, Tine W

2009-01-01

plaques or urine albumin/creatinine ratio of at least the 90th percentile did not produce significantly worse results. Seventy-five percent of individuals with three or more traditional risk factors had SOD. CONCLUSION: In healthy individuals with high normal BP, measuring two of pulse wave velocities......OBJECTIVE: Medical treatment of healthy individuals with high normal blood pressure (BP) is recommended if there is subclinical organ damage (SOD). We examined which markers of SOD to use based on their supplementary prognostic value. METHODS: In a population sample of 1968 individuals, aged 41, 51......, 61 and 71 years, without diabetes, prior stroke or myocardial infarction, not receiving any cardiovascular, antidiabetic or lipid-lowering medications, we measured urine albumin/creatinine ratio, carotid atherosclerotic plaques, carotid/femoral pulse wave velocity and left ventricular mass index...

Effects of low dose irradiation on NK activity of normal individuals and patients with cancer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tian Hailin; Su Liaoyuan

1994-10-01

Effects of low dose irradiation on NK activity of lymphocytes and on K 562 cells were studied. The NK activity was determined by means of 3 H-TdR release assay. While 3 H-TdR incorporation was used to reflect functional changes of K 562 cells after low dose irradiation. 21 patients with cancer and 10 normal individuals were detected. The results indicated that the NK activity of lymphocytes in normal individuals increased significantly after 10 and 50 cGy γ-ray irradiation, while in patients with cancer the NK activity of lymphocytes increased only at the dose of 50 cGy irradiation. The increase of NK activity in normal individuals was higher than that in patients with cancer after same doses of irradiation. When K 562 cells were irradiated by 10 cGy γ-rays, the 3 H-TdR incorporation value increased. After exposed to over 50 cGy the stimulating effect disappeared

Survival of human diploid skin fibroblasts from normal individuals after X-irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Little, J.B.; Nove, J.; Strong, L.C.; Nichols, W.W.

1988-01-01

The cytotoxic effect of X-rays was measured by a colony formation assay in multiple experiments with fibroblast cell strains derived from 24 presumably normal individuals, received as 65 different coded and blinded samples. Each strain was received on two or more occasions at different times and bearing different codes. The means and standard deviations of the survival curve parameters for the 24 strains were: D 0 = 123 +- 23; D 10 = 273 +- 42 cGy. The D 0 ranged from 89 to 175 and the D 10 from 196 to 372 cGy. The degree of interexperimental variation, though generally minimal, differed considerably among cell strains. There was no systematic effect of passage level, cloning efficiency, serum lot, age or sex of the donor on X-ray survival. These results confirm that the intrinsic radiosensitivity varies significantly among skin fibroblasts isolated from clinically normal individuals, apparently owing to as yet unidentified genetic factors. (Author)

Holiday Weight Management by Successful Weight Losers and Normal Weight Individuals

Science.gov (United States)

Phelan, Suzanne; Wing, Rena R.; Raynor, Hollie A.; Dibello, Julia; Nedeau, Kim; Peng, Wanfeng

2008-01-01

This study compared weight control strategies during the winter holidays among successful weight losers (SWL) in the National Weight Control Registry and normal weight individuals (NW) with no history of obesity. SWL (n = 178) had lost a mean of 34.9 kg and had kept greater than or equal to 13.6 kg off for a mean of 5.9 years. NW (n = 101) had a…

Comparison between β-thalassemia minor and normal individuals using the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Zangiabadi, Nasser; Yarahmadi, Fahimeh; Darekordi, Ali; Shabani, Mohammad; Dadgar, Mehrak Memaran

2013-01-01

The present study aimed at investigating and comparing patients suffering from β-thalassemia (β-thal) minor with normal individuals in regard to their performances in the short version of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) test. Patients with β-thal minor are carriers of β-thal genes. They have mild microcytic and hypochromic anemia and are usually asymptomatic. In this cross-sectional study, a total of 60 individuals were divided into two equal groups of β-thal minor and normal subjects; they were then studied by the WAIS subscales. The mean performance scores of the normal group in the subtests of arithmetic and vocabulary (p <0.01) and picture completion (p <0.05) were higher than those of the thalassemia group. The mean performance score and ability of the normal group on the verbal scale was higher in comparison to the thalassemia group (p <0.05), while on the non verbal scale, there was no significant difference between the two groups. It can be concluded that β-thal minor negatively influences verbal fluency, reasoning and conceptualization, and sequencing tasks, perceptual skill, prediction of social situations and abstract thinking.

Eating disorder symptomatology in normal-weight vs. obese individuals with binge eating disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Goldschmidt, Andrea B; Le Grange, Daniel; Powers, Pauline; Crow, Scott J; Hill, Laura L; Peterson, Carol B; Crosby, Ross D; Mitchell, Jim E

2011-07-01

Although normal-weight individuals comprise a substantial minority of the binge eating disorder (BED) population, little is known about their clinical presentation. This study sought to investigate the nature and severity of eating disturbances in normal-weight adults with BED. We compared 281 normal-weight (n = 86) and obese (n = 195) treatment-seeking adults with BED (mean age = 31.0; s.d. = 10.8) on a range of current and past eating disorder symptoms using ANOVA and χ(2) analyses. After controlling for age and sex, normal-weight participants reported more frequent use of a range of healthy and unhealthy weight control behaviors compared to their obese peers, including eating fewer meals and snacks per day; exercising and skipping meals more frequently in the past month; and avoiding certain foods for weight control. They also endorsed more frequent attempts at dieting in the past year, and feeling more frequently distressed about their binge eating, at a trend level. There were no group differences in binge eating frequency in the past month, age at onset of binge eating, overvaluation of shape/weight, or likelihood of having used certain weight control behaviors (e.g., vomiting, laxative use) or having sought treatment for an eating disorder in the past. Based on our findings, normal-weight individuals appear to be a behaviorally distinct subset of the BED population with significantly greater usage of both healthy and unhealthy weight control behaviors compared to their obese peers. These results refute the notion that distress and impairment in BED are simply a result of comorbid obesity.

The Orthopedically Disabled Child: Psychological Implications with an Individual Basis. July 1984 Revision.

Science.gov (United States)

Sigmon, Scott B.

This study describes the implications of the Individual Psychology of Alfred Adler and field theory associated with Kurt Lewin in understanding orthopedically disabled children and points out that orthopedically disabled youngsters have a remarkable range of individual differences both in type of disability as well as level of adjustment.…

Recreational football practice attenuates postprandial lipaemia in normal and overweight individuals

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Paul, Darren J; Bangsbo, Jens; Nassis, George P

2018-01-01

INTRODUCTION: The aim of the present study was to examine the effects of playing football on postprandial lipaemia in normal and overweight individuals. METHODS: Fifteen (7 normal weight, age = 32.3 ± 6.0 years, BMI = 22.8 ± 3.4 kg/m2 and 8 overweight, age = 33.3 ± 5.5 years, BMI = 29.2 ± 3.2 kg/m2......, mean ± SD) recreational football players were recruited. On the evening of day 1, participants played a 60-min 9-a-side football match (FOOT) or rested (control; CON) in a randomised counterbalanced cross-over design. Activity profile, heart rate and rate of perceived exertion were recorded. The next...

The Best and the Rest: Revisiting the Norm of Normality of Individual Performance

Science.gov (United States)

O'Boyle, Ernest, Jr.; Aguinis, Herman

2012-01-01

We revisit a long-held assumption in human resource management, organizational behavior, and industrial and organizational psychology that individual performance follows a Gaussian (normal) distribution. We conducted 5 studies involving 198 samples including 633,263 researchers, entertainers, politicians, and amateur and professional athletes.…

Estrogen and progesterone signalling in the normal breast and its implications for cancer development.

Science.gov (United States)

Hilton, Heidi N; Clarke, Christine L; Graham, J Dinny

2018-05-05

The ovarian hormones estrogen and progesterone are master regulators of the development and function of a broad spectrum of human tissues, including the breast, reproductive and cardiovascular systems, brain and bone. Acting through the nuclear estrogen (ER) and progesterone receptors (PR), both play complex and essential coordinated roles in the extensive development of the lobular alveolar epithelial structures of the normal breast during puberty, the normal menstrual cycle and pregnancy. The past decade has seen major advances in understanding the mechanisms of action of estrogen and progesterone in the normal breast and in the delineation of the complex hierarchy of cell types regulated by ovarian hormones in this tissue. There is evidence for a role for both ER and PR in driving breast cancer, and both are favourable prognostic markers with respect to outcome. In this review, we summarize current knowledge of the mechanisms of action of ER and PR in the normal breast, and implications for the development and management of breast cancer. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Eating frequency is higher in weight loss maintainers and normal-weight individuals than in overweight individuals.

Science.gov (United States)

Bachman, Jessica L; Phelan, Suzanne; Wing, Rena R; Raynor, Hollie A

2011-11-01

Eating frequency has been negatively related to body mass index (BMI). The relationship between eating frequency and weight loss maintenance is unknown. This secondary analysis examined eating frequency (self-reported meals and snacks consumed per day) in weight loss maintainers (WLM) who had reduced from overweight/obese to normal weight, normal weight (NW) individuals, and overweight (OW) individuals. Data collected July 2006 to March 2007 in Providence, RI, included three 24-hour dietary recalls (2 weekdays, 1 weekend day) analyzed using Nutrient Data System for Research software from 257 adults (WLM n=96, 83.3% women aged 50.0±11.8 years with BMI 22.1±1.7; NW n=80, 95.0% women aged 46.1±11.5 years with BMI 21.1±1.4; OW n=81, 53.1% women aged 51.4±9.0 years with BMI 34.2±4.1) with plausible intakes. Participant-defined meals and snacks were ≥50 kcal and separated by more than 1 hour. Self-reported physical activity was highest in WLM followed by NW, and then OW (3,097±2,572 kcal/week, 2,062±1,286 kcal/week, and 785±901 kcal/week, respectively; Pmeals consumed (2.7±0.4 meals/day). Eating frequency, particularly in regard to a pattern of three meals and two snacks per day, may be important in weight loss maintenance. Copyright © 2011 American Dietetic Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Decreased Serum Hepatocyte Growth Factor (HGF in Individuals with Bipolar Disorder Normalizes after Zinc and Anti-oxidant Therapy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A.J. Russo

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Aim To assess serum HGF concentration in individuals with bipolar disorder and investigate the efficacy of zinc therapy on these levels. Subjects and Methods Serum from 35 individuals diagnosed with bipolar disorder and 19 age and gender similar controls were tested for HGF concentration using ELISAs, and copper and zinc plasma levels using inductively-coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. Results HGF serum levels of individuals with bipolar disorder were significantly lower than age and gender similar controls ( P = 0.0021. HGF serum concentration was significantly lower in Bipolar patients pre-therapy ( P = 0.0009 and HGF levels normalized post-therapy. Zinc levels in these same individuals also normalized ( P = 0.0046 and patient's perceived severity of Bipolar symptoms significantly decreased after therapy ( P = 0.0003. We also found a significant direct correlation between Zinc and HGF serum concentration in the bipolar patients ( P = 0.04. Discussion These results suggest an association between low HGF levels and bipolar disorder and also demonstrate that zinc therapy may be associated with the normalization of HGF levels and decrease in severity of disease.

Inhibition of platelet aggregation by tartrazine and a pyrazolone analogue in normal and allergic individuals.

Science.gov (United States)

Gallagher, J S; Splansky, G L; Bernstein, I L

1980-11-01

The effect of tartrazine (T) (yellow dye No. 5) and one of its metabolites an aminopyrazolone analogue (1-sulphophenyl-3-carboxy-5-hydroxypyrazole, SCHP) upon collagen-induced platelet aggregation (C-PA) was investigated in fourteen atopic patients and fourteen normal subjects. Both T and SCHP inhibited C-PA in atopic patients at significantly lower doses than in normal volunteers. The mean inhibitory concentrations of SCHP were similar to aspirin in both atopic and normal individuals. Although the precise mechanism by which these chemicals block C-PA has not been elucidated, this in vitro system may be a useful method of assessing non-immune mechanisms involved in reactions to tartrazine.

Alveolus-capillary permeability on both normal and HIV seroreactive individuals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José Carlos Carriel

2007-11-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to evaluate the alveolus-capillary permeability by the lung clearance rate of 99mTc-DTPA(Technetium99m-diethylene triamine penta-acetate, (LCR-DTPA, both in normal and in asymptomatic HIV seroreactive patients. Thirty individuals were studied, 21 seronegative normal volunteers and 9 HIV seroreactive patients presenting normal chest radiography and no respiratory infection symptoms. LCR-DTPA was determined by inhaling 99mTc-DTPA and obtaining images in a gamma camera. The 99mTc-DTPA clearance rate in normal individuals was 0.99±0.15%.min-1 and in patients 2.31±1.25%.min-1. There was a significant statistical difference between the two groups (pA integridade funcional da barreira alvéolo-capilar pode ser alterada por diversas condições patológicas e por outros fatores como a irritação do epitélio alveolar, provocada pelo fumo etc, levando a um aumento da permeabilidade alvéolo-capilar. O objetivo deste trabalho foi verificar a permeabilidade do epitélio pulmonar através da determinação da taxa de depuração pulmonar do aerossol de 99mTc-DTPA (LCR-DTPA em indivíduos normais e em pacientes assintomáticos HIV sororreativos. Foram estudados 30 indivíduos, sendo 21 voluntários normais e 9 HIV sororreativos sem sintomas de infecção oportunista, com radiografias de tórax normais ou sem sinais sugestivos de infecção pulmonar. A LCR-DTPA foi determinada após inalação de 99mTc-DTPA sob a forma de aerossóis e contagem externa da radiação, em função do tempo, em gama câmara. A LCR-DTPA dos controles foi de 0.99±0.15 %.min-1 e nos pacientes sororreativos,de 2.31±1.15%.min-1 houve diferença significativa entre os dois grupos (p< 0.05. Dois pacientes tiveram LCR-DTPA acima de 4,3%.min-1, estes desenvolveram um mês após o exame. Observou-se que os pacientes sororreativos por Imunodeficiência Adquirida (SIDA, sem sintomas específicos para pneumocistose que posteriormente desenvolveram a doença, a

Assessment of retinal sensitivity using a time-saving strategy in normal individuals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suzumura H

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Hirotaka Suzumura,1 Keiji Yoshikawa,2 Shiro Mizoue,3 Ryoko Hyodo,4 Tairo Kimura5 1Eye Department, Nakano General Hospital, Tokyo, 2Yoshikawa Eye Clinic, Tokyo, 3Department of Ophthalmology, Ehime University, Ehime, 4Eye Department, Minami Matsuyama Hospital, Ehime, 5Ueno Eye Clinic, Tokyo, JapanBackground: The purpose of this study was to compare retinal sensitivities in normal individuals obtained using the Swedish Interactive Threshold Algorithm Standard (SITA-S on the Humphrey field analyzer with those obtained using the Dynamic strategy on the Octopus.Methods: Prior to visual field examinations, the background luminance, stimulus size, and exposure time with the Octopus 101 were conformed to the Humphrey field analyzer II settings. Volunteers over 20 years of age without apparent ophthalmic abnormalities were examined with the SITA-S central 30-2 program followed by the Dynamic 32 program. Eye with corrected visual acuity ≥0.8, refraction ≥ −6.0 diopters, and fields with satisfactory levels of reliability in SITA-S and Dynamic were selected.Results: Sixty-seven eyes from 67 normal individuals of mean age 51.3 ± 16.3 (range 22–76 years satisfied the selection criteria and were analyzed. Mean retinal sensitivity was significantly (P < 0.0001 higher with SITA-S (29.0 ± 2.4 dB than with Dynamic (26.8 ± 2.1 dB. Changes in retinal sensitivity with increasing age were significantly (P = 0.0003 greater with Dynamic (−0.09 ± 0.04 dB/year; 95% confidence interval [CI] −0.10 to −0.08 dB/year than with SITA-S (−0.07 ± 0.04 dB/year, 95% CI −0.08 to −0.06 dB/year. When classifying the visual field into three areas (central, mid-peripheral, and peripheral, retinal sensitivities with SITA-S were significantly higher in all areas than with Dynamic (P < 0.0001 for all three areas.Conclusion: Differences in Dynamic and SITA-S strategies may contribute to the differences in retinal sensitivities observed in normal individuals

The Implications of the Individualism/Communitarian Debate for Civic Education: Observations and Prejudices.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Duane E.

This paper evaluates how civic education in the United States currently is impacted by the competing theories of individualism ("liberalism") and communitarianism. Each theory's intellectual history and meaning is explained briefly. The implications of the "debate between the defenders of liberalism and their communitarian critics…

Individual radiation sensitivity: implications in medical practice

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gisone, P.; Dubner, D.; Perez, M.D.R.; Michelin, S.; Di Giogio, M. [Autoridad Regulatoria Nuclear, Buenos Aires (Argentina); Bourguignon, M. [Direction Generale de la Surete Nucleaire et de la Radioprotection, Paris (France)

2006-07-01

Important advances in radiotherapy and nuclear medicine towards better treatment modalities and safer applications have taken place in recent years. Progress in medical imaging, better tumour targeting and optimization of radiation delivery have allowed for dose escalation and improved patient outcome. However, the tolerance of normal tissues constitutes the limiting factor for dose escalation in therapeutical uses of ionizing radiation (IR). Patients vary considerably in their normal tissue response to IR even after similar treatments. As many as 5% of cancer patients develop severe effects to external radiation therapy in normal tissues within the treatment field: they may include acute effects such as erythema and desquamation of the exposed skin and mucosa that appear during or directly after radiotherapy, late effects developed months or years later, such as fibrosis and telangiectasia and cancer induction. Several patient and treatment related factors are known to influence the variability of side effects, however up to a 70% of the total variance of normal tissue radiation response remained unexplained. Thus, individual sensitivity to IR, i.e. hypersensitivity to carcinogenic risks (stochastic effects) and hypersensitivity to deterministic effects, is becoming an important issue in oncology and raises questions regarding the underlying mechanisms. The mechanisms of DNA repair, the signalling pathways involved in radiation sensitivity and non-targeted effects are key aspects, essential to understanding radiation effects at genetic level. Moreover, human genetic diseases that combine higher incidence of cancer and hypersensitivity to IR are associated with defects in cell response to DNA damage. Therefore, much interest has raised during the last years in the developing of predictive tests capable to detect in advance such hypersensitive conditions. The goal of this presentation is to review the possible mechanisms involved in genetic and epigenetic

Individual radiation sensitivity: implications in medical practice

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gisone, P.; Dubner, D.; Perez, M.D.R.; Michelin, S.; Di Giogio, M.; Bourguignon, M.

2006-01-01

Important advances in radiotherapy and nuclear medicine towards better treatment modalities and safer applications have taken place in recent years. Progress in medical imaging, better tumour targeting and optimization of radiation delivery have allowed for dose escalation and improved patient outcome. However, the tolerance of normal tissues constitutes the limiting factor for dose escalation in therapeutical uses of ionizing radiation (IR). Patients vary considerably in their normal tissue response to IR even after similar treatments. As many as 5% of cancer patients develop severe effects to external radiation therapy in normal tissues within the treatment field: they may include acute effects such as erythema and desquamation of the exposed skin and mucosa that appear during or directly after radiotherapy, late effects developed months or years later, such as fibrosis and telangiectasia and cancer induction. Several patient and treatment related factors are known to influence the variability of side effects, however up to a 70% of the total variance of normal tissue radiation response remained unexplained. Thus, individual sensitivity to IR, i.e. hypersensitivity to carcinogenic risks (stochastic effects) and hypersensitivity to deterministic effects, is becoming an important issue in oncology and raises questions regarding the underlying mechanisms. The mechanisms of DNA repair, the signalling pathways involved in radiation sensitivity and non-targeted effects are key aspects, essential to understanding radiation effects at genetic level. Moreover, human genetic diseases that combine higher incidence of cancer and hypersensitivity to IR are associated with defects in cell response to DNA damage. Therefore, much interest has raised during the last years in the developing of predictive tests capable to detect in advance such hypersensitive conditions. The goal of this presentation is to review the possible mechanisms involved in genetic and epigenetic

Are Prescription Stimulants "Smart Pills"? The Epidemiology and Cognitive Neuroscience of Prescription Stimulant Use by Normal Healthy Individuals

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, M. Elizabeth; Farah, Martha J.

2011-01-01

Use of prescription stimulants by normal healthy individuals to enhance cognition is said to be on the rise. Who is using these medications for cognitive enhancement, and how prevalent is this practice? Do prescription stimulants in fact enhance cognition for normal healthy people? We review the epidemiological and cognitive neuroscience…

Prognostic implications of genetic aberrations in acute myelogenous leukemia with normal cytogenetics.

Science.gov (United States)

Ghanem, Hady; Tank, Niki; Tabbara, Imad A

2012-01-01

Acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) is a genetically heterogeneous disease in which somatic mutations, that disturb cellular growth, proliferation, and differentiation, accumulate in hematopoietic progenitor cells. Cytogenetic findings, at diagnosis, have been proven to be one of the most important prognostic indicators in AML. About half of the patients with AML are found to have "normal" cytogenetic analysis by standard culture techniques. These patients are considered as an intermediate risk group. Cytogenetically normal AML (CN-AML) is the largest cytogenetic risk group, and the variation in clinical outcome of patients in this group is greater than in any other cytogenetic group. Besides mutation testing, age and presenting white blood cell count are important predictors of overall survival, suggesting that other factors independent of cytogenetic abnormalities, contribute to the outcome of patients with AML. The expanding knowledge at the genetic and molecular levels is helping define several subgroups of patients with CN-AML with variable prognosis. In this review, we describe the clinical and prognostic characteristics of CN-AML patients as a group, as well as the various molecular and genetic aberrations detected in these patients and their clinical and prognostic implications. Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

On the Comparison of Cognitive Function in Substance Abusers and Addicts under Methadone Treatment with Normal Individuals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

reza mohammadzadeghan

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Objective: This study was an attempt to compare cognitive functioning in substance abusers and addicts under methadone treatment with normal individuals. Method: The current study was a causal-comparative one. The statistical population of this research consisted of all male substance abusers who had referred to addiction treatment centers of Khoy city in 2013. The total of 40 addicts under methadone treatment, 40 active drug users, and 40 non-addicts were selected as the participants of this study via convenience sampling method. Wisconsin Card Sorting Test and Wechsler Memory Scale were administered to the three groups for data collection purposes. Results: The results showed that the substance abusers’ scores in Wisconsin card sorting test and Wechsler memory scale were significantly different from those of addicts under methadone treatment and normal individuals. In the same way, there was a significant difference between addicts under methadone treatment and normal individuals in terms of cognitive function however, there was no significant difference between these two groups in terms of perseveration error. Conclusion: It can be concluded that chronic use of psychoactive substances causes damage to multiple brain regions such as prefrontal cortex and hippocampus and, thereby, it leads to cognitive malfunctioning in these areas.

Effect of Clopidogrel on Platelet CD Markers in Normal Individuals and in Patients with Untreated Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saboor, M.; Moinuddin, M.; Ilyas, S.

2015-01-01

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of clopidogrel response in patients with untreated type 2 diabetes mellitus as compared with normal individuals. One hundred and seven subjects i.e. 32 normal and 75 patients with untreated type 2 diabetes mellitus were enrolled in this study. In the first step, normal subjects as well as diabetic patients were selected and tested for various laboratory parameters and platelets flow cytometry. In the second step, an antiplatelet drug (clopidogrel) was administered for 10 days to each individual enrolled in the study. After 10 days blood samples were collected for platelets flow cytometry. CD41 and CD61 did not show any change after the administration of clopidogrel in resting and activated platelets. CD63 and CD62p positivity was increased in normal and in diabetic patients' platelets after activation with ADP before clopidogrel. It was decreased in normal resting and ADP stimulated platelets after clopidogrel treatment. CD63 and CD62p positivity in resting and ADP stimulated patients platelets was also decreased after clopidogrel treatment. The change was, however, not as marked as in normal subjects. (author)

A comparision of Brain-Behavioral Systems in patients with multiple sclerosis and normal individuals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

kobra Moradi

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Background: The aim of this study was to compare   Brain-Behavioral Systems in patient with multiple sclerocis (MS and normal individuals. Materials and Methods: This research was a post facto comparative study, subjects included  healthy persons and all patients with MS, which in summer and autumn 2013 referred to neurologists in the Lorestan province. Of the population using as samples, 117 cases (75 patients and 42 normal subjects were selected, then Gray- Wilson Personality Questionnaire was completed for them. To analyze the data, multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA test  was used to compare the two groups. Results: The results showed, in BAS scales, people with MS had significantly lower scores than normal subjects Conclusion: What comes from findings indicates that a low score in behavioral activation as a pathological factors in chronic diseases such as MS is concerned and is in need of psychological treatment.

Does low-dose CCK-8 injection produce abdominal pain in 'truly normal' individuals?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ramsay, S.; Webb, B.; Hille, N.

1999-01-01

Full text: The development of abdominal pain following cholecystokinin (CCK) injection is not specific for biliary disease. Patients can develop abdominal pain with CCK during hepatobiliary studies and have normal gallbladder function. Does this non-biliary pain indicate pathology? High doses of CCK induce pain in functional bowel syndromes, but may also produce pain in normals. Pain is less common at lower CCK doses, and hence may be more significant. This study aimed to determine the rate at which the low dose of CCK used in hepatobiliary scans causes abdominal pain and other side-effects in 'truly normal' individuals. Some preliminary results of CCK-induced pain in gastro-oesophageal reflux (GOR) patients are also discussed. Six 'truly normal' subjects were studied. 'Truly normal' was defined as: no current history of abdominal pain; no biliary or gallbladder disease; no significant GIT pathology; not currently on medication designed to be pharmacologically active in the GIT. Each patient was given an intravenous dose of 0.01 μg-kg -1 of CCK8 over 3 min, and side-effects were recorded for 30 min. No subject had abdominal pain. Two developed nausea, 1 moderate and 1 mild. An identical dose of CCK was given to 2 patients with endoscopically proven GOR. Anti-reflux medication had been ceased for 12 h. After CCK, 1 patient developed typical 'reflux' pain and 1 was asymptomatic. In conclusion, none of our 'truly normal' patients had abdominal pain with low-dose CCK. This suggests that patients developing pain following injection of this dose of CCK are indeed abnormal. The literature infers these patients may have irritable bowel syndrome; however, this hypothesis is complicated by our preliminary results indicating that CCK can reproduce pain in some patients with GOR

Individual differences in emotional complexity: their psychological implications.

Science.gov (United States)

Kang, Sun-Mee; Shaver, Phillip R

2004-08-01

Two studies explored the nature and psychological implications of individual differences in emotional complexity, defined as having emotional experiences that are broad in range and well differentiated. Emotional complexity was predicted to be associated with private self-consciousness, openness to experience, empathic tendencies, cognitive complexity, ability to differentiate among named emotions, range of emotions experienced daily, and interpersonal adaptability. The Range and Differentiation of Emotional Experience Scale (RDEES) was developed to test these hypotheses. In Study 1 (N=1,129) students completed questionnaire packets containing the RDEES and various outcome measures. Study 2 (N=95) included the RDEES and non-self-report measures such as peer reports, complexity of representations of the emotion domain, and level of ego development measured by a sentence completion test. Results supported all of the hypotheses, providing extensive evidence for the RDEES's construct validity. Findings were discussed in terms of the role of emotional complexity in ego maturity and interpersonal adaptability.

A Comparison of Adaptive Behaviors among Mentally Retarded and Normal Individuals: A guide to Prevention and Treatment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leyla Sadros

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Objectives: Because of the importance of adaptive behaviors in socialand domestic lives, this study aimed at a comparison of various domainsof adaptive behaviors, between mentally retarded and normalindividuals.Methods: A number of 246 normal and 74 mentally retarded individuals(7-18 years of age, mean: 12±3.5 years, participated this study inTehran, Iran. Their adaptive behaviors scores, were obtained using"Adaptive Behavioral Scale, Residential & Community" (ABS-RC: 2,consisting of 18 domains of behavior. The scale was first translatedinto Persian by the professionals and then retranslated into English byanother translator, to ensure content non-distortion.Results: The following domains were significantly lower in mentallyretarded than in normal individuals: independent functioning, economicactivity, language development, number & time, prevocational/vocational activity, self direction, responsibility, socialization,disturbing interpersonal behavior, domestic activity, social engagement,conformity and trustworthiness. No significant difference was documentedin the physical development, stereotype & hyperactive behaviors,sexual behavior as well as self abuse behavior domains, betweenthe two groups.Conclusions: As mentally deficient subjects did worse than normalones in terms of many adaptive behavioral domains, it implies that theadaptive behavioral issues in such people might need a great deal ofattention and intervention. For these retarded people to function betterin their social and residential environment, it would be necessary todevelop their adaptive behaviors. This study may shed light on theimportance of attention to the adaptive behavioral domains of mentallyretarded people and also indicates the necessity of preventive measures,even for normal individuals.

Remnant Cholesterol and Myocardial Infarction in Normal Weight, Overweight, and Obese Individuals from the Copenhagen General Population Study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Varbo, Anette; Freiberg, Jacob J; Nordestgaard, Børge G

2018-01-01

BACKGROUND: We tested whether high remnant cholesterol is associated with high myocardial infarction risk, independent of whether an individual is normal weight, overweight, or obese. METHODS: A total of 106216 individuals from the Copenhagen General Population Study were followed for up to 11......) of obese). RESULTS: Median calculated remnant cholesterol was 0.40 mmol/L [interquartile range (IQR), 0.30-0.55 mmol/L] [15 mg/dL (12-21 mg/dL)] for underweight, 0.50 mmol/L (IQR, 0.37-0.71 mmol....../L) [19 mg/dL (14-27 mg/dL)] for normal weight, 0.70 mmol/L (IQR, 0.49-1.00 mmol/L) [27 mg/dL (19-39 mg/dL)] for overweight, and 0.85 mmol/L (IQR, 0.61-1.20 mmol/L) [(33 mg/dL (24-46 mg/dL)] for obese individuals. On continuous scales, remnant cholesterol was positively correlated with BMI until reaching...

Digital Twins in Health Care : Ethical Implications of an Emerging Engineering Paradigm

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bruynseels, K.R.C.; Santoni De Sio, F.; van den Hoven, M.J.

2018-01-01

Personalized medicine uses fine grained information on individual persons, to pinpoint deviations from the normal. ‘Digital Twins’ in engineering provide a conceptual framework to analyze these emerging data-driven health care practices, as well as their conceptual and ethical implications for

Patterns of brain structural connectivity differentiate normal weight from overweight subjects.

Science.gov (United States)

Gupta, Arpana; Mayer, Emeran A; Sanmiguel, Claudia P; Van Horn, John D; Woodworth, Davis; Ellingson, Benjamin M; Fling, Connor; Love, Aubrey; Tillisch, Kirsten; Labus, Jennifer S

2015-01-01

Alterations in the hedonic component of ingestive behaviors have been implicated as a possible risk factor in the pathophysiology of overweight and obese individuals. Neuroimaging evidence from individuals with increasing body mass index suggests structural, functional, and neurochemical alterations in the extended reward network and associated networks. To apply a multivariate pattern analysis to distinguish normal weight and overweight subjects based on gray and white-matter measurements. Structural images (N = 120, overweight N = 63) and diffusion tensor images (DTI) (N = 60, overweight N = 30) were obtained from healthy control subjects. For the total sample the mean age for the overweight group (females = 32, males = 31) was 28.77 years (SD = 9.76) and for the normal weight group (females = 32, males = 25) was 27.13 years (SD = 9.62). Regional segmentation and parcellation of the brain images was performed using Freesurfer. Deterministic tractography was performed to measure the normalized fiber density between regions. A multivariate pattern analysis approach was used to examine whether brain measures can distinguish overweight from normal weight individuals. 1. White-matter classification: The classification algorithm, based on 2 signatures with 17 regional connections, achieved 97% accuracy in discriminating overweight individuals from normal weight individuals. For both brain signatures, greater connectivity as indexed by increased fiber density was observed in overweight compared to normal weight between the reward network regions and regions of the executive control, emotional arousal, and somatosensory networks. In contrast, the opposite pattern (decreased fiber density) was found between ventromedial prefrontal cortex and the anterior insula, and between thalamus and executive control network regions. 2. Gray-matter classification: The classification algorithm, based on 2 signatures with 42 morphological features, achieved 69

Patterns of brain structural connectivity differentiate normal weight from overweight subjects

Science.gov (United States)

Gupta, Arpana; Mayer, Emeran A.; Sanmiguel, Claudia P.; Van Horn, John D.; Woodworth, Davis; Ellingson, Benjamin M.; Fling, Connor; Love, Aubrey; Tillisch, Kirsten; Labus, Jennifer S.

2015-01-01

Background Alterations in the hedonic component of ingestive behaviors have been implicated as a possible risk factor in the pathophysiology of overweight and obese individuals. Neuroimaging evidence from individuals with increasing body mass index suggests structural, functional, and neurochemical alterations in the extended reward network and associated networks. Aim To apply a multivariate pattern analysis to distinguish normal weight and overweight subjects based on gray and white-matter measurements. Methods Structural images (N = 120, overweight N = 63) and diffusion tensor images (DTI) (N = 60, overweight N = 30) were obtained from healthy control subjects. For the total sample the mean age for the overweight group (females = 32, males = 31) was 28.77 years (SD = 9.76) and for the normal weight group (females = 32, males = 25) was 27.13 years (SD = 9.62). Regional segmentation and parcellation of the brain images was performed using Freesurfer. Deterministic tractography was performed to measure the normalized fiber density between regions. A multivariate pattern analysis approach was used to examine whether brain measures can distinguish overweight from normal weight individuals. Results 1. White-matter classification: The classification algorithm, based on 2 signatures with 17 regional connections, achieved 97% accuracy in discriminating overweight individuals from normal weight individuals. For both brain signatures, greater connectivity as indexed by increased fiber density was observed in overweight compared to normal weight between the reward network regions and regions of the executive control, emotional arousal, and somatosensory networks. In contrast, the opposite pattern (decreased fiber density) was found between ventromedial prefrontal cortex and the anterior insula, and between thalamus and executive control network regions. 2. Gray-matter classification: The classification algorithm, based on 2 signatures with 42

Normal human gait patterns in Peruvian individuals: an exploratory assessment using VICON motion capture system

Science.gov (United States)

Dongo, R.; Moscoso, M.; Callupe, R.; Pajaya, J.; Elías, D.

2017-11-01

Gait analysis is of clinical relevance for clinicians. However, normal gait patterns used in foreign literature could be different from local individuals. The aim of this study was to determine the normal gait patterns and parameters of Peruvian individuals in order to have a local referent for clinical assessments and making diagnosis and treatment Peruvian people with lower motor neuron injuries. A descriptive study with 34 subjects was conducted to assess their gait cycle. VICON® cameras were used to capture body movements. For the analyses, we calculated spatiotemporal gait parameters and average angles of displacement of the hip, knee, and ankle joints with their respective 95% confidence intervals. The results showed gait speed was 0.58m/s, cadence was 102.1steps/min, and the angular displacement of the hip, knee and ankle joints were all lower than those described in the literature. In the graphs, gait cycles were close to those reported in previous studies, but the parameters of speed, cadence and angles of displacements are lower than the ones shown in the literature. These results could be used as a better reference pattern in the clinical setting.

Raman Spectroscopy of DNA Packaging in Individual Human Sperm Cells distinguishes Normal from Abnormal Cells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Huser, T; Orme, C; Hollars, C; Corzett, M; Balhorn, R

2009-03-09

Healthy human males produce sperm cells of which about 25-40% have abnormal head shapes. Increases in the percentage of sperm exhibiting aberrant sperm head morphologies have been correlated with male infertility, and biochemical studies of pooled sperm have suggested that sperm with abnormal shape may contain DNA that has not been properly repackaged by protamine during spermatid development. We have used micro-Raman spectroscopy to obtain Raman spectra from individual human sperm cells and examined how differences in the Raman spectra of sperm chromatin correlate with cell shape. We show that Raman spectra of individual sperm cells contain vibrational marker modes that can be used to assess the efficiency of DNA-packaging for each cell. Raman spectra obtained from sperm cells with normal shape provide evidence that DNA in these sperm is very efficiently packaged. We find, however, that the relative protein content per cell and DNA packaging efficiencies are distributed over a relatively wide range for sperm cells with both normal and abnormal shape. These findings indicate that single cell Raman spectroscopy should be a valuable tool in assessing the quality of sperm cells for in-vitro fertilization.

Age-Related Change in Vestibular Ganglion Cell Populations in Individuals With Presbycusis and Normal Hearing.

Science.gov (United States)

Gluth, Michael B; Nelson, Erik G

2017-04-01

We sought to establish that the decline of vestibular ganglion cell counts uniquely correlates with spiral ganglion cell counts, cochlear hair cell counts, and hearing phenotype in individuals with presbycusis. The relationship between aging in the vestibular system and aging in the cochlea is a topic of ongoing investigation. Histopathologic age-related changes the vestibular system may mirror what is seen in the cochlea, but correlations with hearing phenotype and the impact of presbycusis are not well understood. Vestibular ganglion cells, spiral ganglion cells, and cochlear hair cells were counted in specimens from individuals with presbycusis and normal hearing. These were taken from within a large collection of processed human temporal bones. Correlations between histopathology and hearing phenotype were investigated. Vestibular ganglion cell counts were positively correlated with spiral ganglion cell counts and cochlear hair cell counts and were negatively correlated with hearing phenotype. There was no statistical evidence on linear regression to suggest that the relationship between age and cell populations differed significantly according to whether presbycusis was present or not. Superior vestibular ganglion cells were more negatively correlated with age than inferior ganglion cells. No difference in vestibular ganglion cells was noted based on sex. Vestibular ganglion cell counts progressively deteriorate with age, and this loss correlates closely with changes in the cochlea, as well as hearing phenotype. However, these correlations do not appear to be unique in individuals with presbycusis as compared with those with normal hearing.

Mediastinal and extrapleural fat hypertrophy in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis on high-resolution CT: comparison with normal individuals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Son, Kyu Ri; Lee, Hyun Ju; Lim, Kun Young; Lee, Chang Hyun; Goo, Jin Mo; Im, Jung Gi

2004-01-01

We wished to compare the amount of mediastinal and extrapleural fat on high resolution CT for patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) with that of normal individuals, and we wished to evaluate the correlation between the amount of fat and the degree of pulmonary fibrosis. We selected a group of 25 patients with radiologically and clinically diagnosed IPF and we also selected another group of 25 age and gender-matched patients having no abnormalities on pulmonary function testing as well as HRCT as controls from our radiologic database search (mean age: 59 years, M:F= 11:14). We measured the area of mediastinal and extrapleural fat at the levels of the aortic arch and at the origin of the right pulmonary artery and right inferior pulmonary vein on three sections of HRCT by using software (Rapidia; 3DMED, Seoul, Korea). The total amount of fat was calculated by summing up the areas of the mediastinal and extrapleural fat, which is corrected by the body mass index; we also evaluated statistical differences between the two groups. At same sections of CT, the ratio (%) of the honeycombing area to the total areas of the lung was calculated. We evaluated the relationship between the amount of extrapleural or mediastinal fat with the ratio (%) of the honeycombing area. The total amount of fat in patients with IPF and normal individuals were 67.24±19.03 cm 2 and 32.55±11.91 cm 2 , respectively. The fat amount corrected by body mass index was 280.48±74.43 mm 2 /kg/m 2 in the IPF patients and 137.06±41.76 mm 2 /kg/m 2 in normal individuals. The differences between two groups for the total amount of fat and fat amount, as corrected for by the body mass index, were statistically significant (p<0.0001). The ratio (%) of the honeycombing area and the total amount of fat showed a moderate correlation (rho= 0.43, p=0.032). Patients with IPF have a larger amount of mediastinal and extrapleural fat than normal individuals. The hypertrophy of mediastinal and extrapleural

Mediastinal and extrapleural fat hypertrophy in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis on high-resolution CT: comparison with normal individuals

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Son, Kyu Ri; Lee, Hyun Ju; Lim, Kun Young; Lee, Chang Hyun; Goo, Jin Mo; Im, Jung Gi [College of Medicine, Seoul National Univ., Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2004-12-01

We wished to compare the amount of mediastinal and extrapleural fat on high resolution CT for patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) with that of normal individuals, and we wished to evaluate the correlation between the amount of fat and the degree of pulmonary fibrosis. We selected a group of 25 patients with radiologically and clinically diagnosed IPF and we also selected another group of 25 age and gender-matched patients having no abnormalities on pulmonary function testing as well as HRCT as controls from our radiologic database search (mean age: 59 years, M:F= 11:14). We measured the area of mediastinal and extrapleural fat at the levels of the aortic arch and at the origin of the right pulmonary artery and right inferior pulmonary vein on three sections of HRCT by using software (Rapidia; 3DMED, Seoul, Korea). The total amount of fat was calculated by summing up the areas of the mediastinal and extrapleural fat, which is corrected by the body mass index; we also evaluated statistical differences between the two groups. At same sections of CT, the ratio (%) of the honeycombing area to the total areas of the lung was calculated. We evaluated the relationship between the amount of extrapleural or mediastinal fat with the ratio (%) of the honeycombing area. The total amount of fat in patients with IPF and normal individuals were 67.24{+-}19.03 cm{sup 2} and 32.55{+-}11.91 cm{sup 2}, respectively. The fat amount corrected by body mass index was 280.48{+-}74.43 mm{sup 2}/kg/m{sup 2} in the IPF patients and 137.06{+-}41.76 mm{sup 2}/kg/m{sup 2} in normal individuals. The differences between two groups for the total amount of fat and fat amount, as corrected for by the body mass index, were statistically significant (p<0.0001). The ratio (%) of the honeycombing area and the total amount of fat showed a moderate correlation (rho= 0.43, p=0.032). Patients with IPF have a larger amount of mediastinal and extrapleural fat than normal individuals. The

Individual differences in normal body temperature: longitudinal big data analysis of patient records.

Science.gov (United States)

Obermeyer, Ziad; Samra, Jasmeet K; Mullainathan, Sendhil

2017-12-13

To estimate individual level body temperature and to correlate it with other measures of physiology and health. Observational cohort study. Outpatient clinics of a large academic hospital, 2009-14. 35 488 patients who neither received a diagnosis for infections nor were prescribed antibiotics, in whom temperature was expected to be within normal limits. Baseline temperatures at individual level, estimated using random effects regression and controlling for ambient conditions at the time of measurement, body site, and time factors. Baseline temperatures were correlated with demographics, medical comorbidities, vital signs, and subsequent one year mortality. In a diverse cohort of 35 488 patients (mean age 52.9 years, 64% women, 41% non-white race) with 243 506 temperature measurements, mean temperature was 36.6°C (95% range 35.7-37.3°C, 99% range 35.3-37.7°C). Several demographic factors were linked to individual level temperature, with older people the coolest (-0.021°C for every decade, Pdata) was linked to 8.4% higher one year mortality (P=0.014). Individuals' baseline temperatures showed meaningful variation that was not due solely to measurement error or environmental factors. Baseline temperatures correlated with demographics, comorbid conditions, and physiology, but these factors explained only a small part of individual temperature variation. Unexplained variation in baseline temperature, however, strongly predicted mortality. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Individual variation in cone photoreceptor density in house sparrows: implications for between-individual differences in visual resolution and chromatic contrast.

Science.gov (United States)

Ensminger, Amanda L; Fernández-Juricic, Esteban

2014-01-01

Between-individual variation has been documented in a wide variety of taxa, especially for behavioral characteristics; however, intra-population variation in sensory systems has not received similar attention in wild animals. We measured a key trait of the visual system, the density of retinal cone photoreceptors, in a wild population of house sparrows (Passer domesticus). We tested whether individuals differed from each other in cone densities given within-individual variation across the retina and across eyes. We further tested whether the existing variation could lead to individual differences in two aspects of perception: visual resolution and chromatic contrast. We found consistent between-individual variation in the densities of all five types of avian cones, involved in chromatic and achromatic vision. Using perceptual modeling, we found that this degree of variation translated into significant between-individual differences in visual resolution and the chromatic contrast of a plumage signal that has been associated with mate choice and agonistic interactions. However, there was no evidence for a relationship between individual visual resolution and chromatic contrast. The implication is that some birds may have the sensory potential to perform "better" in certain visual tasks, but not necessarily in both resolution and contrast simultaneously. Overall, our findings (a) highlight the need to consider multiple individuals when characterizing sensory traits of a species, and (b) provide some mechanistic basis for between-individual variation in different behaviors (i.e., animal personalities) and for testing the predictions of several widely accepted hypotheses (e.g., honest signaling).

Light to Moderate Alcohol Consumption Is Protective for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Normal Weight and Overweight Individuals but Not the Obese

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patricia A. Metcalf

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Objective. To examine the association between alcohol consumption and risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM overall and by body mass index. Methods. Cross-sectional study of employed individuals. Daily alcohol intakes were calculated from a self-administered food frequency questionnaire by 5,512 Maori, Pacific Island, and European workers (3,992 men, 1520 women aged 40 years and above. Results. There were 170 new cases of T2DM. Compared to the group with no alcohol consumption and adjusting for age, sex, and ethnicity, the group consuming alcohol had relative risks of T2DM of 0.23 (95% CI: 0.08, 0.65 in normal weight individuals, 0.38 (0.18, 0.81 in overweight individuals, and 0.99 (0.59, 1.67 in obese individuals. After further adjusting for total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, triglycerides, smoking habit, physical activity, socioeconomic status, body mass index, and hypertension, the relative risks of T2DM were 0.16 (0.05, 0.50 in normal weight individuals, 0.43 (0.19, 0.97 in overweight individuals, and 0.92 (0.52, 1.60 in overweight individuals. Across the categories of alcohol consumption, there was an approximate U-shaped relationship for new cases of T2DM. There was no significant association between alcohol consumption and IGT. Conclusions. Alcohol consumption was protective against diagnosis of T2DM in normal and overweight individuals but not in the obese.

Morphological analysis of the cervical spinal canal, dural tube and spinal cord in normal individuals using CT myelography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Inoue, H.; Ohmori, K.; Takatsu, T.; Teramoto, T.; Ishida, Y.; Suzuki, K.

1996-01-01

To verify the conventional concept of ''developmental stenosis of the cervical spinal canal'', we performed a morphological analysis of the relations of the cervical spinal canal, dural tube and spinal cord in normal individuals. The sagittal diameter, area and circularity of the three structures, and the dispersion of each parameter, were examined on axial sections of CT myelograms of 36 normal subjects. The spinal canal was narrowest at C4, followed by C5, while the spinal cord was largest at C4/5. The area and circularity of the cervical spinal cord were not significantly correlated with any parameter of the spinal canal nor with the sagittal diameter and area of the dural tube at any level examined, and the spinal cord showed less individual variation than the bony canal. Compression of the spinal cord might be expected whenever the sagittal diameter of the spinal canal is below the lower limit of normal, that is about 12 mm on plain radiographs. Thus, we concluded that the concept of ''developmental stenosis of the cervical spinal canal'' was reasonable and acceptable. (orig.). With 2 figs., 3 tabs

Can nitric oxide induce migraine in normal individuals?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olesen, Jes; Ashina, Messoud

2015-01-01

INTRODUCTION: For many years, scientists have debated the possibility that an individual "migraine threshold" determines the likelihood with which individuals may express migraine attacks. DISCUSSION: Recent discoveries provided evidence for both genetic and environmental influences on individual...

Evaluating the normal individual cardiac function in different imaging phases post exercise and rest by gated SPECT myocardial perfusion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hua, W.; Li, S.J.; Liu, J.Z.; Li, X.F.; Jin, C.R.; Hu, G.; Wang, J.

2007-01-01

Full text: Objectives: To evaluate the normal individual cardiac function in the different imaging phases post-exercise and rest by GSPECT. Methods: 46 normal individuals underwent exercise/rest GSPECT using 99mTc-MIBI by 2- day program. Sequential imaging was started 15, 35 and 120 minutes after exercise and rest imaging was performed the following day. The left ventricular EF and EDV, ESV values were calculated with the Cedars-Sinai program. Results: The EF values of post- exercise at 15, 35, and 120m was 64.48±7.43%, 65.02±7.66%, and 60.98±7.28% respectively, and the rest EF value was 61.46±7.23%. The post exercise EF at 15m and 35m was higher than EF at post- exercise 120m and rest, but there is a significant difference only between post exercise 35m and rest (P< 0.05), and all post exercise EF did not increase at least 5% from EF at-rest. The EDV and ESV values did not have statistically significant differences at 15, 35,120m post-exercise and rest. The heart rate at 15,35m post- exercise was higher significantly than at rest. Conclusions: The different imaging phases after exercise with 99mTc-MIBI GSPECT affects LVEF in normal individuals, the 35m post- exercise EF is highest. (author)

The comparison of quadriceps muscle strength between sprint runner and normal un-trained individuals (Determined by Kin-Com

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Talebian Moghaddam S "

2002-08-01

Full Text Available Introduction: It is suggested that quadriceps muscle has an important role in stability & mobility of Knee joint in athletics and normal individuals; therefore, the purpose of this study was evaluation of the strength in Power Athletics (PA and Normal Un-trained Individuals (NUI groups. Methods and Materials: 31 Females (20 NUI & 11 PA participated in this study. For measuring the strength, each individual performed 5 continuous concentric-eccentric maximal contraction at angular velocities of 90°/s, 135°/s. Twenty five percent of each individual (Maximum Voluntary Isometric Contraction MVIC was determined and used as Pre-load force. Results: Averages concentric & eccentric torques were greater in PA group in comparison with NUI group. The significant difference (P<0.02 existed between PA and NUI groups. Average concentric torques of quadriceps muscle decreased (with increasing of speed from 90°/s to 135°/s and average eccentric torques increased. Average eccentric torques were greater (P<0.01 in PA & NUI groups in comparison with average concentric torques. Conclusion: PA group strength was greater in comparison with NUI group. This is possibly due to the type of muscle fibers in this group have (greater type II fibers. Accordingly, it is critical to consider the role of eccentric exercise in PA group for preventing sport injury.

Radiation-induced normal tissue damage: implications for radiotherapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prasanna, Pataje G.

2014-01-01

Radiotherapy is an important treatment modality for many malignancies, either alone or as a part of combined modality treatment. However, despite technological advances in physical treatment delivery, patients suffer adverse effects from radiation therapy due to normal tissue damage. These side effects may be acute, occurring during or within weeks after therapy, or intermediate to late, occurring months to years after therapy. Minimizing normal tissue damage from radiotherapy will allow enhancement of tumor killing and improve tumor control and patients quality of life. Understanding mechanisms through which radiation toxicity develops in normal tissue will facilitate the development of next generation radiation effect modulators. Translation of these agents to the clinic will also require an understanding of the impact of these protectors and mitigators on tumor radiation response. In addition, normal tissues vary in radiobiologically important ways, including organ sensitivity to radiation, cellular turnover rate, and differences in mechanisms of injury manifestation and damage response. Therefore, successful development of radiation modulators may require multiple approaches to address organ/site-specific needs. These may include treatments that modify cellular damage and death processes, inflammation, alteration of normal flora, wound healing, tissue regeneration and others, specifically to counter cancer site-specific adverse effects. Further, an understanding of mechanisms of normal tissue damage will allow development of predictive biomarkers; however harmonization of such assays is critical. This is a necessary step towards patient-specific treatment customization. Examples of important adverse effects of radiotherapy either alone or in conjunction with chemotherapy, and important limitations in the current approaches of using radioprotectors for improving therapeutic outcome will be highlighted. (author)

Greenhouse gas implications of fleet electrification based on big data-informed individual travel patterns.

Science.gov (United States)

Cai, Hua; Xu, Ming

2013-08-20

Environmental implications of fleet electrification highly depend on the adoption and utilization of electric vehicles at the individual level. Past research has been constrained by using aggregated data to assume all vehicles with the same travel pattern as the aggregated average. This neglects the inherent heterogeneity of individual travel behaviors and may lead to unrealistic estimation of environmental impacts of fleet electrification. Using "big data" mining techniques, this research examines real-time vehicle trajectory data for 10,375 taxis in Beijing in one week to characterize the travel patterns of individual taxis. We then evaluate the impact of adopting plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) in the taxi fleet on life cycle greenhouse gas emissions based on the characterized individual travel patterns. The results indicate that 1) the largest gasoline displacement (1.1 million gallons per year) can be achieved by adopting PHEVs with modest electric range (approximately 80 miles) with current battery cost, limited public charging infrastructure, and no government subsidy; 2) reducing battery cost has the largest impact on increasing the electrification rate of vehicle mileage traveled (VMT), thus increasing gasoline displacement, followed by diversified charging opportunities; 3) government subsidies can be more effective to increase the VMT electrification rate and gasoline displacement if targeted to PHEVs with modest electric ranges (80 to 120 miles); and 4) while taxi fleet electrification can increase greenhouse gas emissions by up to 115 kiloton CO2-eq per year with the current grid in Beijing, emission reduction of up to 36.5 kiloton CO2-eq per year can be achieved if the fuel cycle emission factor of electricity can be reduced to 168.7 g/km. Although the results are based on a specific public fleet, this study demonstrates the benefit of using large-scale individual-based trajectory data (big data) to better understand environmental implications

The Study and Comparison of Irrational Beliefs in Addicted and Normal People

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hasan Aminpoor

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Irrational beliefs have some destructive and serious effects on individuals’ behavior at home, work environment, and in social environment also implicate emotional deep effects (depression, grief, self teasing, self reproaching, and contrition. The main aim of present study was the comparison of irrational beliefs in addicted and normal people. Method: the research method was causal comparative research and taking into account the subject importance and its role in individuals tendency toward addiction a sample of 120 persons (60 addicted people and 60 normal ones was selected based on available samplingand similar in order of age and the Joens irrational beliefs questionnaire was administered among selected sample. In order to analyze data, independent samples t test, and ANOVA were run. Results: There was significant difference between the mean score of irrational beliefs with consideration of group (addicted and normal group, also, in addicted people there was significant difference between the mean score of irrational beliefs with consideration of education level, and economical status. Conclusion: The mean score of irrational beliefs in addicted people is more than normal ones. Taking into consideration that individuals can change their behaviors and feelings through changing their beliefs, so one must replace irrational beliefs with rational ones based on educational qualifications.

Individual differences in normal body temperature: longitudinal big data analysis of patient records

Science.gov (United States)

Samra, Jasmeet K; Mullainathan, Sendhil

2017-01-01

Abstract Objective To estimate individual level body temperature and to correlate it with other measures of physiology and health. Design Observational cohort study. Setting Outpatient clinics of a large academic hospital, 2009-14. Participants 35 488 patients who neither received a diagnosis for infections nor were prescribed antibiotics, in whom temperature was expected to be within normal limits. Main outcome measures Baseline temperatures at individual level, estimated using random effects regression and controlling for ambient conditions at the time of measurement, body site, and time factors. Baseline temperatures were correlated with demographics, medical comorbidities, vital signs, and subsequent one year mortality. Results In a diverse cohort of 35 488 patients (mean age 52.9 years, 64% women, 41% non-white race) with 243 506 temperature measurements, mean temperature was 36.6°C (95% range 35.7-37.3°C, 99% range 35.3-37.7°C). Several demographic factors were linked to individual level temperature, with older people the coolest (–0.021°C for every decade, Ptemperature (eg, hypothyroidism: –0.013°C, P=0.01) or higher temperature (eg, cancer: 0.020, Pbody mass index: 0.002 per m/kg2, Ptemperature variation. Despite this, unexplained temperature variation was a significant predictor of subsequent mortality: controlling for all measured factors, an increase of 0.149°C (1 SD of individual temperature in the data) was linked to 8.4% higher one year mortality (P=0.014). Conclusions Individuals’ baseline temperatures showed meaningful variation that was not due solely to measurement error or environmental factors. Baseline temperatures correlated with demographics, comorbid conditions, and physiology, but these factors explained only a small part of individual temperature variation. Unexplained variation in baseline temperature, however, strongly predicted mortality. PMID:29237616

Reliability of digital photography for assessing lower extremity alignment in individuals with flatfeet and normal feet types.

Science.gov (United States)

Ashnagar, Zinat; Hadian, Mohammad Reza; Olyaei, Gholamreza; Talebian Moghadam, Saeed; Rezasoltani, Asghar; Saeedi, Hassan; Yekaninejad, Mir Saeed; Mahmoodi, Rahimeh

2017-07-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the intratester reliability of digital photographic method for quantifying static lower extremity alignment in individuals with flatfeet and normal feet types. Thirteen females with flexible flatfeet and nine females with normal feet types were recruited from university communities. Reflective markers were attached over the participant's body landmarks. Frontal and sagittal plane photographs were taken while the participants were in a standardized standing position. The markers were removed and after 30 min the same procedure was repeated. Pelvic angle, quadriceps angle, tibiofemoral angle, genu recurvatum, femur length and tibia length were measured from photographs using the Image j software. All measured variables demonstrated good to excellent intratester reliability using digital photography in both flatfeet (ICC: 0.79-0.93) and normal feet type (ICC: 0.84-0.97) groups. The findings of the current study indicate that digital photography is a highly reliable method of measurement for assessing lower extremity alignment in both flatfeet and normal feet type groups. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Normal personality characteristics in schizophrenia: a review of the literature involving the FFM.

Science.gov (United States)

Dinzeo, Thomas J; Docherty, Nancy M

2007-05-01

Schizophrenia is generally viewed as a disruption of normal functioning because of an underlying core illness. A number of theorists have speculated that this core illness may unilaterally disrupt normal personality functioning. However, recent data suggests that the relationship may be more complex and reciprocal than previously conceptualized. Furthermore, basic personality characteristics appear to be associated with numerous clinical phenomena. This article reviews the empirical literature pertaining to normal personality characteristics [structured around the five-factor model (FFM) of personality] in individuals with schizophrenia. Evidence suggests that certain personality characteristics may be uniquely related to the etiology of psychosis, as well as symptom severity, occupational functioning, cigarette smoking, substance use and violent behavior, social isolation, and suicidality in patients with schizophrenia. The implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Prognostic implications of normal exercise thallium 201 images

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wahl, J.M.; Hakki, A.H.; Iskandrian, A.S.

1985-01-01

A study was made of 455 patients (mean age, 51 years) in whom exercise thallium 201 scintigrams performed for suspected coronary artery disease were normal. Of those, 322 (71%) had typical or atypical angina pectoris and 68% achieved 85% or more maximal predicted heart rate. The exercise ECGs were abnormal in 68 patients (15%), normal in 229 (50%), and inconclusive in 158 (35%). Ventricular arrhythmias occurred during exercise in 194 patients (43%). After a mean follow-up period of 14 months, four patients had had cardiac events, sudden cardiac death in one and nonfatal myocardial infarctions in three. None of the four patients had abnormal exercise ECGs. Two had typical and two had atypical angina pectoris. Normal exercise thallium 201 images identify patients at a low risk for future cardiac events (0.8% per year), patients with abnormal exercise ECGs but normal thallium images have good prognoses, and exercise thallium 201 imaging is a better prognostic predictor than treadmill exercise testing alone, because of the high incidence of inconclusive exercise ECGs and the good prognosis in patients with abnormal exercise ECGs

Fourier phase analysis on equilibrium gated radionuclide ventriculography: range of phase spread and cut-off limits in normal individuals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ramaiah, Vijayaraghavan L.; Harish, B.; Sunil, H.V.; Selvakumar, Job; Ravi Kishore, A.G.; Nair, Gopinathan

2011-01-01

To define the range of phase spread on equilibrium gated radionuclide ventriculography (ERNV) in normal individuals and derive the cut-off limit for the parameters to detect cardiac dyssynchrony. ERNV was carried out in 30 individuals (age 53±23 years, 25 males and 5 females) who had no history of cardiovascular disease. They all had normal left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF 55-70%) as determined by echocardiography, were in sinus rhythm, with normal QRS duration (≤120 msec) and normal coronary angiography. First harmonic phase analysis was performed on scintigraphic data acquired in best septal view. Left and right ventricular standard deviation (LVSD and RVSD, respectively) and interventricular mechanical delay (IVMD), the absolute difference of mean phase angles of right and left ventricle, were computed and expressed in milliseconds. Mean + 3 standard deviation (SD) was used to derive the cut-off limits. Average LVEF and duration of cardiac cycle in the study group were 62.5%±5.44% and 868.9±114.5 msec, respectively. The observations of LVSD, RVSD and right and left ventricular mean phase angles were shown to be normally distributed by Shapiro-Wilk test. Cut-off limits for LVSD, RVSD and IVMD were calculated to be 80 msec, 85 msec and 75 msec, respectively. Fourier phase analysis on ERNV is an effective tool for the evaluation of synchronicity of cardiac contraction. The cut-off limits of parameters of dyssynchrony can be used to separate heart failure patients with cardiac dyssynchrony from those without. ERNV can be used to select patients for cardiac resynchronization therapy. (author)

Sleep extension normalizes ERP of waking auditory sensory gating in healthy habitually short sleeping individuals.

Science.gov (United States)

Gumenyuk, Valentina; Korzyukov, Oleg; Roth, Thomas; Bowyer, Susan M; Drake, Christopher L

2013-01-01

Chronic sleep loss has been associated with increased daytime sleepiness, as well as impairments in memory and attentional processes. In the present study, we evaluated the neuronal changes of a pre-attentive process of wake auditory sensory gating, measured by brain event-related potential (ERP)--P50 in eight normal sleepers (NS) (habitual total sleep time (TST) 7 h 32 m) vs. eight chronic short sleeping individuals (SS) (habitual TST ≤6 h). To evaluate the effect of sleep extension on sensory gating, the extended sleep condition was performed in chronic short sleeping individuals. Thus, one week of time in bed (6 h 11 m) corresponding to habitual short sleep (hSS), and one week of extended time (∼ 8 h 25 m) in bed corresponding to extended sleep (eSS), were counterbalanced in the SS group. The gating ERP assessment was performed on the last day after each sleep condition week (normal sleep and habitual short and extended sleep), and was separated by one week with habitual total sleep time and monitored by a sleep diary. We found that amplitude of gating was lower in SS group compared to that in NS group (0.3 µV vs. 1.2 µV, at Cz electrode respectively). The results of the group × laterality interaction showed that the reduction of gating amplitude in the SS group was due to lower amplitude over the left hemisphere and central-midline sites relative to that in the NS group. After sleep extension the amplitude of gating increased in chronic short sleeping individuals relative to their habitual short sleep condition. The sleep condition × frontality interaction analysis confirmed that sleep extension significantly increased the amplitude of gating over frontal and central brain areas compared to parietal brain areas.

Sleep extension normalizes ERP of waking auditory sensory gating in healthy habitually short sleeping individuals.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Valentina Gumenyuk

Full Text Available Chronic sleep loss has been associated with increased daytime sleepiness, as well as impairments in memory and attentional processes. In the present study, we evaluated the neuronal changes of a pre-attentive process of wake auditory sensory gating, measured by brain event-related potential (ERP--P50 in eight normal sleepers (NS (habitual total sleep time (TST 7 h 32 m vs. eight chronic short sleeping individuals (SS (habitual TST ≤6 h. To evaluate the effect of sleep extension on sensory gating, the extended sleep condition was performed in chronic short sleeping individuals. Thus, one week of time in bed (6 h 11 m corresponding to habitual short sleep (hSS, and one week of extended time (∼ 8 h 25 m in bed corresponding to extended sleep (eSS, were counterbalanced in the SS group. The gating ERP assessment was performed on the last day after each sleep condition week (normal sleep and habitual short and extended sleep, and was separated by one week with habitual total sleep time and monitored by a sleep diary. We found that amplitude of gating was lower in SS group compared to that in NS group (0.3 µV vs. 1.2 µV, at Cz electrode respectively. The results of the group × laterality interaction showed that the reduction of gating amplitude in the SS group was due to lower amplitude over the left hemisphere and central-midline sites relative to that in the NS group. After sleep extension the amplitude of gating increased in chronic short sleeping individuals relative to their habitual short sleep condition. The sleep condition × frontality interaction analysis confirmed that sleep extension significantly increased the amplitude of gating over frontal and central brain areas compared to parietal brain areas.

Effect of Exogenous Cues on Covert Spatial Orienting in Deaf and Normal Hearing Individuals.

Science.gov (United States)

Prasad, Seema Gorur; Patil, Gouri Shanker; Mishra, Ramesh Kumar

2015-01-01

Deaf individuals have been known to process visual stimuli better at the periphery compared to the normal hearing population. However, very few studies have examined attention orienting in the oculomotor domain in the deaf, particularly when targets appear at variable eccentricity. In this study, we examined if the visual perceptual processing advantage reported in the deaf people also modulates spatial attentional orienting with eye movement responses. We used a spatial cueing task with cued and uncued targets that appeared at two different eccentricities and explored attentional facilitation and inhibition. We elicited both a saccadic and a manual response. The deaf showed a higher cueing effect for the ocular responses than the normal hearing participants. However, there was no group difference for the manual responses. There was also higher facilitation at the periphery for both saccadic and manual responses, irrespective of groups. These results suggest that, owing to their superior visual processing ability, the deaf may orient attention faster to targets. We discuss the results in terms of previous studies on cueing and attentional orienting in deaf.

Polymorphisms in promoter sequences of MDM2, p53, and p16INK4a genes in normal Japanese individuals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yasuhito Ohsaka

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Research has been conducted to identify sequence polymorphisms of gene promoter regions in patients and control subjects, including normal individuals, and to determine the influence of these polymorphisms on transcriptional regulation in cells that express wild-type or mutant p53. In this study we isolated genomic DNA from whole blood of healthy Japanese individuals and sequenced the promoter regions of the MDM2, p53, and p16INK4a genes. We identified polymorphisms comprising 3 nucleotide substitutions at exon 1 and intron 1 regions of the MDM2 gene and 1 nucleotide insertion at a poly(C nucleotide position in the p53 gene. The Japanese individuals also exhibited p16INK4a polymorphisms at several positions, including position -191. Reporter gene analysis by using luciferase revealed that the polymorphisms of MDM2, p53, and p16INK4a differentially altered luciferase activities in several cell lines, including the Colo320DM, U251, and T98G cell lines expressing mutant p53. Our results indicate that the promoter sequences of these genes differ among normal Japanese individuals and that polymorphisms can alter gene transcription activity.

Oral health needs in individuals with trisomy 18 and trisomy 13: Implications for dental professionals.

Science.gov (United States)

Bruns, Deborah; Martinez, Alyssa; Campbell, Emily All

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine oral health needs and dental care in individuals with trisomy 18 and trisomy 13 (full, mosaic, partial and other, mixed types). Primary feeding method was also examined. Data was collected from a parent-completed, mixed method survey (TRIS Survey). Mean age in months was 120.2 (range 38 to 394 months) and 133 (range 36 to 405 months), respectively, for trisomy 18 and trisomy 13 individuals. Results indicated the majority of individuals received routine dental care from their family dentist. Approximately 80% in both groups needed some form of specialized dental care. Close to 25% and 30% of trisomy 18 and trisomy 13 individuals, respectively, required hospital admission for specialized dental care. Responses indicated the presence of excessive plaque and tooth decay across the groups with a higher incidence for individuals with trisomy 13. Although not the primary form of intake, over half of the individuals received oral feedings. Implications for dental care and management are provided along with the need for additional research to confirm or disconfirm this study's findings. © 2015 Special Care Dentistry Association and Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Effect of anaerobic bout using wingate cycle ergometer on pressure pain threshold in normal individuals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ajit Dabholkar

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Published studies reveal that incremental graded and short term anaerobic exercise lead to an increase in beta-endorphin levels, the extent correlating with the lactate concentration. Beta- endorphin can be released into the circulation from the pituitary gland or can project into areas of the brain through nerve fibers. Exercise of sufficient intensity and duration has been demonstrated to increase circulating Beta-endorphin levels. Thus, our study investigates the effect of anaerobic activity on pressure pain threshold (PPT in normal individuals. Materials and Methods: Normal individuals (N = 30 between the age group of 20-30 years were recruited for this study. The subjects performed an anaerobic bout on Monark Wingate cycle egometer. A pre and post assessment of PPT was evaluated. Data Analysis: Graphpad Instat 3 software program was used for statistical analysis. A paired't' test was done to analyse the level of statistical significance between the pre and post PPT. Results: Study revealed that post anaerobic bout there was statistical significant difference between pre and post PPT in quadriceps, Mean 14.41,95% CI[12.95,15.87], Mean 16.73,95% CI[15.06,18.40] & (P value 0.0411 and gastrocnemius,Mean 13.56, 95% CI[12.18,14.93], Mean 15.55,95% CI[13.94,17.16] & (P value <0.0001. Conclusion: The study emphasizes the influence of pain modulation after an anaerobic bout.

Learning styles: individualizing computer-based learning environments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tim Musson

1995-12-01

Full Text Available While the need to adapt teaching to the needs of a student is generally acknowledged (see Corno and Snow, 1986, for a wide review of the literature, little is known about the impact of individual learner-differences on the quality of learning attained within computer-based learning environments (CBLEs. What evidence there is appears to support the notion that individual differences have implications for the degree of success or failure experienced by students (Ford and Ford, 1992 and by trainee end-users of software packages (Bostrom et al, 1990. The problem is to identify the way in which specific individual characteristics of a student interact with particular features of a CBLE, and how the interaction affects the quality of the resultant learning. Teaching in a CBLE is likely to require a subset of teaching strategies different from that subset appropriate to more traditional environments, and the use of a machine may elicit different behaviours from those normally arising in a classroom context.

Visual determinants of reduced performance on the Stroop color-word test in normal aging individuals.

Science.gov (United States)

van Boxtel, M P; ten Tusscher, M P; Metsemakers, J F; Willems, B; Jolles, J

2001-10-01

It is unknown to what extent the performance on the Stroop color-word test is affected by reduced visual function in older individuals. We tested the impact of common deficiencies in visual function (reduced distant and close acuity, reduced contrast sensitivity, and color weakness) on Stroop performance among 821 normal individuals aged 53 and older. After adjustment for age, sex, and educational level, low contrast sensitivity was associated with more time needed on card I (word naming), red/green color weakness with slower card 2 performance (color naming), and reduced distant acuity with slower performance on card 3 (interference). Half of the age-related variance in speed performance was shared with visual function. The actual impact of reduced visual function may be underestimated in this study when some of this age-related variance in Stroop performance is mediated by visual function decrements. It is suggested that reduced visual function has differential effects on Stroop performance which need to be accounted for when the Stroop test is used both in research and in clinical settings. Stroop performance measured from older individuals with unknown visual status should be interpreted with caution.

Normality in Analytical Psychology

Science.gov (United States)

Myers, Steve

2013-01-01

Although C.G. Jung’s interest in normality wavered throughout his career, it was one of the areas he identified in later life as worthy of further research. He began his career using a definition of normality which would have been the target of Foucault’s criticism, had Foucault chosen to review Jung’s work. However, Jung then evolved his thinking to a standpoint that was more aligned to Foucault’s own. Thereafter, the post Jungian concept of normality has remained relatively undeveloped by comparison with psychoanalysis and mainstream psychology. Jung’s disjecta membra on the subject suggest that, in contemporary analytical psychology, too much focus is placed on the process of individuation to the neglect of applications that consider collective processes. Also, there is potential for useful research and development into the nature of conflict between individuals and societies, and how normal people typically develop in relation to the spectrum between individuation and collectivity. PMID:25379262

Normality in Analytical Psychology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Steve Myers

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Although C.G. Jung’s interest in normality wavered throughout his career, it was one of the areas he identified in later life as worthy of further research. He began his career using a definition of normality which would have been the target of Foucault’s criticism, had Foucault chosen to review Jung’s work. However, Jung then evolved his thinking to a standpoint that was more aligned to Foucault’s own. Thereafter, the post Jungian concept of normality has remained relatively undeveloped by comparison with psychoanalysis and mainstream psychology. Jung’s disjecta membra on the subject suggest that, in contemporary analytical psychology, too much focus is placed on the process of individuation to the neglect of applications that consider collective processes. Also, there is potential for useful research and development into the nature of conflict between individuals and societies, and how normal people typically develop in relation to the spectrum between individuation and collectivity.

Prediction of Kinematic and Kinetic Performance in a Drop Vertical Jump with Individual Anthropometric Factors in Adolescent Female Athletes: Implications for Cadaveric Investigations

Science.gov (United States)

Bates, Nathaniel A.; Myer, Gregory D.; Hewett, Timothy E.

2014-01-01

Anterior cruciate ligament injuries are common, expensive to repair, and often debilitate athletic careers. Robotic manipulators have evaluated knee ligament biomechanics in cadaveric specimens, but face limitations such as accounting for variation in bony geometry between specimens that may influence dynamic motion pathways. This study examined individual anthropometric measures for significant linear relationships with in vivo kinematic and kinetic performance and determined their implications for robotic studies. Anthropometrics and 3D motion during a 31 cm drop vertical jump task were collected in high school female basketball players. Anthropometric measures demonstrated differential statistical significance in linear regression models relative to kinematic variables (P-range 0.20) relative to peak flexion moment, peak adduction moment, flexion moment range, abduction moment range, and internal rotation moment range. The current findings indicate that anthropometric measures are less associated with kinematics than with kinetics. Relative to the robotic manipulation of cadaveric limbs, the results do not support the need to normalize kinematic rotations relative to specimen dimensions. PMID:25266933

Prediction of kinematic and kinetic performance in a drop vertical jump with individual anthropometric factors in adolescent female athletes: implications for cadaveric investigations.

Science.gov (United States)

Bates, Nathaniel A; Myer, Gregory D; Hewett, Timothy E

2015-04-01

Anterior cruciate ligament injuries are common, expensive to repair, and often debilitate athletic careers. Robotic manipulators have evaluated knee ligament biomechanics in cadaveric specimens, but face limitations such as accounting for variation in bony geometry between specimens that may influence dynamic motion pathways. This study examined individual anthropometric measures for significant linear relationships with in vivo kinematic and kinetic performance and determined their implications for robotic studies. Anthropometrics and 3D motion during a 31 cm drop vertical jump task were collected in high school female basketball players. Anthropometric measures demonstrated differential statistical significance in linear regression models relative to kinematic variables (p-range 0.20) relative to peak flexion moment, peak adduction moment, flexion moment range, abduction moment range, and internal rotation moment range. The current findings indicate that anthropometric measures are less associated with kinematics than with kinetics. Relative to the robotic manipulation of cadaveric limbs, the results do not support the need to normalize kinematic rotations relative to specimen dimensions.

Spirometry and volumetric capnography in lung function assessment of obese and normal-weight individuals without asthma.

Science.gov (United States)

Ferreira, Mariana S; Mendes, Roberto T; Marson, Fernando A L; Zambon, Mariana P; Antonio, Maria A R G M; Paschoal, Ilma A; Toro, Adyléia A D C; Severino, Silvana D; Ribeiro, Maria A G O; Ribeiro, José D

To analyze and compare lung function of obese and healthy, normal-weight children and adolescents, without asthma, through spirometry and volumetric capnography. Cross-sectional study including 77 subjects (38 obese) aged 5-17 years. All subjects underwent spirometry and volumetric capnography. The evaluations were repeated in obese subjects after the use of a bronchodilator. At the spirometry assessment, obese individuals, when compared with the control group, showed lower values of forced expiratory volume in the first second by forced vital capacity (FEV 1 /FVC) and expiratory flows at 75% and between 25 and 75% of the FVC (p11 years (p<0.05). Even without the diagnosis of asthma by clinical criteria and without response to bronchodilator use, obese individuals showed lower FEV 1 /FVC values and forced expiratory flow, indicating the presence of an obstructive process. Volumetric capnography showed that obese individuals had higher alveolar tidal volume, with no alterations in ventilation homogeneity, suggesting flow alterations, without affecting lung volumes. Copyright © 2017 Sociedade Brasileira de Pediatria. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

Cortical and Sensory Causes of Individual Differences in Selective Attention Ability Among Listeners With Normal Hearing Thresholds.

Science.gov (United States)

Shinn-Cunningham, Barbara

2017-10-17

This review provides clinicians with an overview of recent findings relevant to understanding why listeners with normal hearing thresholds (NHTs) sometimes suffer from communication difficulties in noisy settings. The results from neuroscience and psychoacoustics are reviewed. In noisy settings, listeners focus their attention by engaging cortical brain networks to suppress unimportant sounds; they then can analyze and understand an important sound, such as speech, amidst competing sounds. Differences in the efficacy of top-down control of attention can affect communication abilities. In addition, subclinical deficits in sensory fidelity can disrupt the ability to perceptually segregate sound sources, interfering with selective attention, even in listeners with NHTs. Studies of variability in control of attention and in sensory coding fidelity may help to isolate and identify some of the causes of communication disorders in individuals presenting at the clinic with "normal hearing." How well an individual with NHTs can understand speech amidst competing sounds depends not only on the sound being audible but also on the integrity of cortical control networks and the fidelity of the representation of suprathreshold sound. Understanding the root cause of difficulties experienced by listeners with NHTs ultimately can lead to new, targeted interventions that address specific deficits affecting communication in noise. http://cred.pubs.asha.org/article.aspx?articleid=2601617.

Morning cortisol is lower in obese individuals with normal glucose tolerance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Praveen EP

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Edavan P Praveen1, Jaya Prakash Sahoo1, Bindu Kulshreshtha2, Madan L Khurana3, Nandita Gupta1, Sada Nand Dwivedi3, Guresh Kumar3, Ariachery C Ammini11Department of Endocrinology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, 2Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, 3Department of Biostatistics, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, IndiaBackground: There is no consensus on the role of cortisol in the pathogenesis of obesity and metabolic syndrome (MS. This cross-sectional study aimed to analyze the relationship of morning plasma cortisol and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH levels with body mass index (BMI and glucose tolerance.Subjects and methods: The sample frame was the “Offspring of individuals with diabetes study” database. A total of 358 offspring of individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM and 287 individuals without a known family history of T2DM were recruited for the study. Subjects who were ≥10 years of age were selected from the database for analysis. Subjects with T2DM were excluded. All participants underwent a 75 g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT, and blood samples were collected at 0, 30, 60, and 120 minutes for glucose, insulin and C-peptide. Plasma cortisol, ACTH, and lipid profile were estimated from the fasting sample.Results: Four hundred and ninety-five participants (305 males [62%] and 190 females [38%] were included in the analysis. ACTH and cortisol levels were higher in normal-weight subjects than in overweight/obese subjects. Both ACTH and cortisol increased as fasting plasma glucose increased. Cortisol levels were significantly lower in offspring of T2DM subjects with MS than in offspring of T2DM subjects without MS. When adjusted for BMI, the significance was marginal. In males, cortisol levels were negatively correlated with early insulin secretion during OGTT (insulinogenic index [0–30] and positively with waist circumference and serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. In females, fasting

Reduced interhemispheric interaction in non-autistic individuals with normal but high levels of autism traits.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Keefe, Natalie; Lindell, Annukka K

2013-11-01

People with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show superior performance for tasks requiring detail-focused processing. Atypical neural connectivity and reduced interhemispheric communication are posited to underlie this cognitive advantage. Given recent conceptualization of autism as a continuum, we sought to investigate whether people with normal but high levels of autism like traits (AQ) also exhibit reduced hemispheric interaction. Sixty right-handed participants completed the AQ questionnaire (Baron-Cohen, Wheelwright, Skinner, Martin, & Clubley, 2001) and a lateralised letter matching task that assessed unilateral and bilateral performance in response to simple (physical) and complex (identity) matches. Whereas people with low self-rated AQ scores showed a bilateral advantage for the more complex task, indicating normal interhemispheric interaction, people in the high AQ group failed to show a bilateral gain for the computationally demanding stimuli. This finding of disrupted interhemispheric interaction converges with a dimensional conceptualisation of ASD, suggesting that the structural anomalies of ASD extend to non-autistic individuals with high levels of autism traits. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Genomic individuality and its biological implications.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, J

1996-06-01

It is a widely accepted fundamental concept that all somatic genomes of a human individual are identical to each other. The theoretical basis of this concept is that all of these somatic genomes are the descendants of the genome of a single fertilized cell as well as the simple replicated products of asexual reproduction, thus not forming any new recombined genomes. The question here is whether such a concept might only represent one side of somatic genome biology and, even worse, whether it has perhaps already led to a very prevalent misconception that within the organism body, there exists no variability among individual somatic genomes. A hypothesis, called genomic individuality, is proposed, simply saying that every individual somatic genome, perhaps with rare exceptions, has its own unique or individual 'genetic identity' or 'fingerprint', which is characterized by its distinctive sequences or patterns of deoxyribonucleic acid molecules, or both. Thus, no two somatic genomes can be identical to each other in every or all aspects, and consequently, there must be a great deal of genomic variation present within the body of any multicellular organism. The concept or hypothesis of genomic individuality would not only provide a more complete understanding of genome biology, but also suggest a new insight into the studies of the biology of cells and organisms.

Acute aerobic exercise differentially alters acylated ghrelin and perceived fullness in normal-weight and obese individuals.

Science.gov (United States)

Heden, Timothy D; Liu, Ying; Park, Youngmin; Dellsperger, Kevin C; Kanaley, Jill A

2013-09-01

Adiposity alters acylated ghrelin concentrations, but it is unknown whether adiposity alters the effect of exercise and feeding on acylated ghrelin responses. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine whether adiposity [normal-weight (NW) vs. obese (Ob)] influences the effect of exercise and feeding on acylated ghrelin, hunger, and fullness. Fourteen NW and 14 Ob individuals completed two trials in a randomized counterbalanced fashion, including a prior exercise trial (EX) and a no exercise trial (NoEX). During the EX trial, the participants performed 1 h of treadmill walking (55-60% peak O2 uptake) during the evening, 12 h before a 4-h standardized mixed meal test. Frequent blood samples were taken and analyzed for acylated ghrelin, and a visual analog scale was used to assess perceived hunger and fullness. In NW individuals, EX, compared with NoEX, reduced fasting acylated ghrelin concentrations by 18% (P = 0.03), and, in response to feeding, the change in acylated ghrelin (P = 0.02) was attenuated by 39%, but perceived hunger and fullness were unaltered. In Ob individuals, despite no changes in fasting or postprandial acylated ghrelin concentrations with EX, postprandial fullness was attenuated by 46% compared with NoEX (P = 0.05). In summary, exercise performed the night before a meal suppresses acylated ghrelin concentrations in NW individuals without altering perceived hunger or fullness. In Ob individuals, despite no changes in acylated ghrelin concentrations, EX reduced the fullness response to the test meal. Acylated ghrelin and perceived fullness responses are differently altered by acute aerobic exercise in NW and Ob individuals.

Strong Bayesian evidence for the normal neutrino hierarchy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Simpson, Fergus; Jimenez, Raul; Verde, Licia [ICCUB, University of Barcelona (UB-IEEC), Marti i Franques 1, Barcelona, 08028 (Spain); Pena-Garay, Carlos, E-mail: fergus2@gmail.com, E-mail: raul.jimenez@icc.ub.edu, E-mail: penagaray@gmail.com, E-mail: liciaverde@icc.ub.edu [I2SysBio, CSIC-UVEG, P.O. 22085, Valencia, 46071 (Spain)

2017-06-01

The configuration of the three neutrino masses can take two forms, known as the normal and inverted hierarchies. We compute the Bayesian evidence associated with these two hierarchies. Previous studies found a mild preference for the normal hierarchy, and this was driven by the asymmetric manner in which cosmological data has confined the available parameter space. Here we identify the presence of a second asymmetry, which is imposed by data from neutrino oscillations. By combining constraints on the squared-mass splittings [1] with the limit on the sum of neutrino masses of Σ m {sub ν} < 0.13 eV [2], and using a minimally informative prior on the masses, we infer odds of 42:1 in favour of the normal hierarchy, which is classified as 'strong' in the Jeffreys' scale. We explore how these odds may evolve in light of higher precision cosmological data, and discuss the implications of this finding with regards to the nature of neutrinos. Finally the individual masses are inferred to be m {sub 1}=3.80{sup +26.2}{sub -3.73}meV; m {sub 2}=8.8{sup +18}{sub -1.2}meV; m {sub 3}=50.4{sup +5.8}{sub -1.2}meV (95% credible intervals).

Behavioral Repertoire Influences the Rate and Nature of Learning in Climbing: Implications for Individualized Learning Design in Preparation for Extreme Sports Participation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dominic Orth

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Extreme climbing where participants perform while knowing that a simple mistake could result in death requires a skill set normally acquired in non-extreme environments. In the ecological dynamics approach to perception and action, skill acquisition involves a process where the existing repertoire of behavioral capabilities (or coordination repertoire of a learner are destabilized and re-organized through practice—this process can expand the individuals affordance boundaries allowing the individual to explore new environments. Change in coordination repertoire has been observed in bi-manual coordination and postural regulation tasks, where individuals begin practice using one mode of coordination before transitioning to another, more effective, coordination mode during practice. However, individuals may also improve through practice without qualitatively reorganizing movement system components—they do not find a new mode of coordination. To explain these individual differences during learning (i.e., whether or not a new action is discovered, a key candidate is the existing coordination repertoire present prior to practice. In this study, the learning dynamics of body configuration patterns organized with respect to an indoor climbing surface were observed and the existing repertoire of coordination evaluated prior to and after practice. Specifically, performance outcomes and movement patterns of eight beginners were observed across 42 trials of practice over a 7-week period. A pre- and post-test scanning procedure was used to determine existing patterns of movement coordination and the emergence of new movement patterns after the practice period. Data suggested the presence of different learning dynamics by examining trial-to-trial performance in terms of jerk (an indicator of climbing fluency, at the individual level of analysis. The different learning dynamics (identified qualitatively included: continuous improvement, sudden improvement

Mobility scooter driving ability in visually impaired individuals.

Science.gov (United States)

Cordes, Christina; Heutink, Joost; Brookhuis, Karel A; Brouwer, Wiebo H; Melis-Dankers, Bart J M

2018-06-01

To investigate how well visually impaired individuals can learn to use mobility scooters and which parts of the driving task deserve special attention. A mobility scooter driving skill test was developed to compare driving skills (e.g. reverse driving, turning) between 48 visually impaired (very low visual acuity = 14, low visual acuity = 10, peripheral field defects = 11, multiple visual impairments = 13) and 37 normal-sighted controls without any prior experience with mobility scooters. Performance on this test was rated on a three-point scale. Furthermore, the number of extra repetitions on the different elements were noted. Results showed that visually impaired participants were able to gain sufficient driving skills to be able to use mobility scooters. Participants with visual field defects combined with low visual acuity showed most problems learning different skills and needed more training. Reverse driving and stopping seemed to be most difficult. The present findings suggest that visually impaired individuals are able to learn to drive mobility scooters. Mobility scooter allocators should be aware that these individuals might need more training on certain elements of the driving task. Implications for rehabilitation Visual impairments do not necessarily lead to an inability to acquire mobility scooter driving skills. Individuals with peripheral field defects (especially in combination with reduced visual acuity) need more driving ability training compared to normal-sighted people - especially to accomplish reversing. Individual assessment of visually impaired people is recommended, since participants in this study showed a wide variation in ability to learn driving a mobility scooter.

Age Effects on Cortical Thickness in Cognitively Normal Elderly Individuals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sona Hurtz

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Background/Aims: Atrophy in both grey and white matter is found in normal aging. The prefrontal cortex and the frontal lobe white matter are thought to be the most affected regions. Our aim was to examine the effects of normal aging on cortical grey matter using a 3D quantitative cortical mapping method. Methods: We analyzed 1.5-tesla brain magnetic resonance imaging data from 44 cognitively normal elderly subjects using cortical pattern matching and cortical thickness analyses. Linear regression analysis was used to study the effect of age on cortical thickness. 3D map-wide correction for multiple comparisons was conducted with permutation analyses using a threshold of p Results: We found a significant negative association between age and cortical thickness in the right hemisphere (pcorrected = 0.009 and a trend level association in the left hemisphere (pcorrected = 0.081. Age-related changes were greatest in the sensorimotor, bilateral dorsal anterior cingulate and supplementary motor cortices, and the right posterior middle and inferior frontal gyri. Age effects greater in the medial than lateral visual association cortices were also seen bilaterally. Conclusion: Our novel method further validates that normal aging results in diffuse cortical thinning that is most pronounced in the frontal and visual association cortices.

Temporal and speech processing skills in normal hearing individuals exposed to occupational noise.

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, U Ajith; Ameenudin, Syed; Sangamanatha, A V

2012-01-01

Prolonged exposure to high levels of occupational noise can cause damage to hair cells in the cochlea and result in permanent noise-induced cochlear hearing loss. Consequences of cochlear hearing loss on speech perception and psychophysical abilities have been well documented. Primary goal of this research was to explore temporal processing and speech perception Skills in individuals who are exposed to occupational noise of more than 80 dBA and not yet incurred clinically significant threshold shifts. Contribution of temporal processing skills to speech perception in adverse listening situation was also evaluated. A total of 118 participants took part in this research. Participants comprised three groups of train drivers in the age range of 30-40 (n= 13), 41 50 ( = 13), 41-50 (n = 9), and 51-60 (n = 6) years and their non-noise-exposed counterparts (n = 30 in each age group). Participants of all the groups including the train drivers had hearing sensitivity within 25 dB HL in the octave frequencies between 250 and 8 kHz. Temporal processing was evaluated using gap detection, modulation detection, and duration pattern tests. Speech recognition was tested in presence multi-talker babble at -5dB SNR. Differences between experimental and control groups were analyzed using ANOVA and independent sample t-tests. Results showed a trend of reduced temporal processing skills in individuals with noise exposure. These deficits were observed despite normal peripheral hearing sensitivity. Speech recognition scores in the presence of noise were also significantly poor in noise-exposed group. Furthermore, poor temporal processing skills partially accounted for the speech recognition difficulties exhibited by the noise-exposed individuals. These results suggest that noise can cause significant distortions in the processing of suprathreshold temporal cues which may add to difficulties in hearing in adverse listening conditions.

Temporal and speech processing skills in normal hearing individuals exposed to occupational noise

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

U Ajith Kumar

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Prolonged exposure to high levels of occupational noise can cause damage to hair cells in the cochlea and result in permanent noise-induced cochlear hearing loss. Consequences of cochlear hearing loss on speech perception and psychophysical abilities have been well documented. Primary goal of this research was to explore temporal processing and speech perception Skills in individuals who are exposed to occupational noise of more than 80 dBA and not yet incurred clinically significant threshold shifts. Contribution of temporal processing skills to speech perception in adverse listening situation was also evaluated. A total of 118 participants took part in this research. Participants comprised three groups of train drivers in the age range of 30-40 (n= 13, 41 50 ( = 13, 41-50 (n = 9, and 51-60 (n = 6 years and their non-noise-exposed counterparts (n = 30 in each age group. Participants of all the groups including the train drivers had hearing sensitivity within 25 dB HL in the octave frequencies between 250 and 8 kHz. Temporal processing was evaluated using gap detection, modulation detection, and duration pattern tests. Speech recognition was tested in presence multi-talker babble at -5dB SNR. Differences between experimental and control groups were analyzed using ANOVA and independent sample t-tests. Results showed a trend of reduced temporal processing skills in individuals with noise exposure. These deficits were observed despite normal peripheral hearing sensitivity. Speech recognition scores in the presence of noise were also significantly poor in noise-exposed group. Furthermore, poor temporal processing skills partially accounted for the speech recognition difficulties exhibited by the noise-exposed individuals. These results suggest that noise can cause significant distortions in the processing of suprathreshold temporal cues which may add to difficulties in hearing in adverse listening conditions.

The impact and implications of undocumented immigration on individual and collective health in the United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Hilfinger Messias, DeAnne K; McEwen, Marylyn Morris; Clark, Lauren

2015-01-01

A nation of immigrants, the United States currently has more foreign-born residents than any other country; approximately 28% of these foreign-born residents are undocumented immigrants--individuals who either entered or are currently residing in the country without valid immigration or residency documents. The complex and constantly changing social, political, and economic context of undocumented migration has profound effects on individuals, families, and communities. The lack of demographic and epidemiologic data on undocumented immigrants is a major public health challenge. In this article, we identify multiple dimensions of vulnerability among undocumented persons; examine how undocumentedness impacts health and health care access and utilization; and consider the professional, practice, and policy issues and implications for nurses. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Quantum-holographic and classical Hopfield-like associative nnets: implications for modeling two cognitive modes of consciousness

Science.gov (United States)

Rakovic, D.; Dugic, M.

2005-05-01

Quantum bases of consciousness are considered with psychosomatic implications of three front lines of psychosomatic medicine (hesychastic spirituality, holistic Eastern medicine, and symptomatic Western medicine), as well as cognitive implications of two modes of individual consciousness (quantum-coherent transitional and altered states, and classically reduced normal states) alongside with conditions of transformations of one mode into another (considering consciousness quantum-coherence/classical-decoherence acupuncture system/nervous system interaction, direct and reverse, with and without threshold limits, respectively) - by using theoretical methods of associative neural networks and quantum neural holography combined with quantum decoherence theory.

Ethical implications for clinical practice and future research in "at risk" individuals.

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Fiza; Mirzakhanian, Heline; Fusar-Poli, Paolo; de la Fuente-Sandoval, Camilo; Cadenhead, Kristin S

2012-01-01

The last 15 years have witnessed a shift in schizophrenia research with increasing interest in earlier stages of illness with the hope of early intervention and ultimately prevention of psychotic illness. Large-scale longitudinal studies have identified clinical and biological risk factors associated with increased risk of psychotic conversion, which together with symptomatic and demographic risk factors may improve the power of prediction algorithms for psychotic transition. Despite these advances, 45-70% of at risk subjects in most samples do not convert to frank psychosis, but continue to function well below their age matched counterparts. The issue is of utmost importance in light of the upcoming DSM-V and the possible inclusion of the attenuated psychotic symptoms syndrome (APSS) diagnosis, with clinical and ethical implications. Clinical considerations include feasibility of reliably diagnosing the at risk state in non-academic medical centers, variable psychotic conversion rates, a non-uniform definition of conversion and extensive debate about treatment for individuals with an ill-defined outcome. On the ethical side, diagnosing APSS could lead to unnecessary prescribing of antipsychotics with long-term deleterious consequences, slow research by providing a false sense of comfort in the diagnosis, and have psychosocial implications for those who receive a diagnosis. Thus it may be prudent to engage at risk populations early and to use broad-spectrum treatments with low risk benefit ratios to relieve functional impairments, while simultaneously studying all subsets of the at risk population.

Transformation of correlation coefficients between normal and lognormal distribution and implications for nuclear applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Žerovnik, Gašper; Trkov, Andrej; Smith, Donald L.; Capote, Roberto

2013-01-01

Inherently positive parameters with large relative uncertainties (typically ≳30%) are often considered to be governed by the lognormal distribution. This assumption has the practical benefit of avoiding the possibility of sampling negative values in stochastic applications. Furthermore, it is typically assumed that the correlation coefficients for comparable multivariate normal and lognormal distributions are equivalent. However, this ideal situation is approached only in the linear approximation which happens to be applicable just for small uncertainties. This paper derives and discusses the proper transformation of correlation coefficients between both distributions for the most general case which is applicable for arbitrary uncertainties. It is seen that for lognormal distributions with large relative uncertainties strong anti-correlations (negative correlations) are mathematically forbidden. This is due to the asymmetry that is an inherent feature of these distributions. Some implications of these results for practical nuclear applications are discussed and they are illustrated with examples in this paper. Finally, modifications to the ENDF-6 format used for representing uncertainties in evaluated nuclear data libraries are suggested, as needed to deal with this issue

Transformation of correlation coefficients between normal and lognormal distribution and implications for nuclear applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Žerovnik, Gašper, E-mail: gasper.zerovnik@ijs.si [Jožef Stefan Institute, Jamova cesta 39, SI-1000 Ljubljana (Slovenia); Trkov, Andrej, E-mail: andrej.trkov@ijs.si [Jožef Stefan Institute, Jamova cesta 39, SI-1000 Ljubljana (Slovenia); Smith, Donald L., E-mail: donald.l.smith@anl.gov [Argonne National Laboratory, 1710 Avenida del Mundo, Coronado, CA 92118-3073 (United States); Capote, Roberto, E-mail: roberto.capotenoy@iaea.org [NAPC–Nuclear Data Section, International Atomic Energy Agency, PO Box 100, Vienna-A-1400 (Austria)

2013-11-01

Inherently positive parameters with large relative uncertainties (typically ≳30%) are often considered to be governed by the lognormal distribution. This assumption has the practical benefit of avoiding the possibility of sampling negative values in stochastic applications. Furthermore, it is typically assumed that the correlation coefficients for comparable multivariate normal and lognormal distributions are equivalent. However, this ideal situation is approached only in the linear approximation which happens to be applicable just for small uncertainties. This paper derives and discusses the proper transformation of correlation coefficients between both distributions for the most general case which is applicable for arbitrary uncertainties. It is seen that for lognormal distributions with large relative uncertainties strong anti-correlations (negative correlations) are mathematically forbidden. This is due to the asymmetry that is an inherent feature of these distributions. Some implications of these results for practical nuclear applications are discussed and they are illustrated with examples in this paper. Finally, modifications to the ENDF-6 format used for representing uncertainties in evaluated nuclear data libraries are suggested, as needed to deal with this issue.

EFFECTIVENESS OF LAND BASED ENDURANCE TRAINING VERSUS AQUATIC BASED ENDURANCE TRAINING ON IMPROVING ENDURANCE IN NORMAL INDIVIDUALS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sabitha Eunice Regima

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Background: Recently the exercises and fitness professionals have adopted water as an alternative medium for delivering programs to improve fitness and health. When exercise on dry land our skeletal muscular, cardiovascular, respiratory and other body systems are greatly affected by the forces of gravity. When exercise in water, the effects created by the gravitational pull on the body are attenuated. Therefore the aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of land based endurance training and aquatic based endurance training for enhancing endurance in normal individuals. Methods: An experimental study design with 30 subjects healthy individuals between 20-30 years of both sexes currently were divided equally into 2 groups. Group A underwent land based exercises while Group B underwent aquatic based exercises. The outcome measures consist of RPP (rate pressure product, REC HR (recovery heart rate, RHR (resting heart rate and 6MWD (6 minute walking distance was measured before (pre-training and after four weeks of endurance training. Results: In this study, the mean improvement between the 2 groups of land and aquatic based endurance exercises were tested for significance using a dependent t test. The calculated t value were 43.550, 4.583, 16, 5.870 for RPP, REC HR, RHR, 6MWD for group A respectively. For group B 25.922, 12.762, 27.495,19.236 for RPP, REC HR, RHR, 6MWD for group A respectively with p<0.05. This clearly indicated that both land based exercises and aquatic based exercises will improve cardiovascular endurance significantly and there is no significant difference between land based exercises and aquatic based exercises for enhancing endurance in normal individuals. Conclusion: It is concluded that both land based and aquatic based endurance exercises methods produce equivalent, if not same effect on the enhancement of aerobic endurance. There was no significant difference between these two exercising mediums. Nonetheless

The complexity and implications of yeast prion domains

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-01

Prions are infectious proteins with altered conformations converted from otherwise normal host proteins. While there is only one known mammalian prion protein, PrP, a handful of prion proteins have been identified in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Yeast prion proteins usually have a defined region called prion domain (PrD) essential for prion properties, which are typically rich in glutamine (Q) and asparagine (N). Despite sharing several common features, individual yeast PrDs are generally intricate and divergent in their compositional characteristics, which potentially implicates their prion phenotypes, such as prion-mediated transcriptional regulations. PMID:22156731

Germline Variants in Targeted Tumor Sequencing Using Matched Normal DNA.

Science.gov (United States)

Schrader, Kasmintan A; Cheng, Donavan T; Joseph, Vijai; Prasad, Meera; Walsh, Michael; Zehir, Ahmet; Ni, Ai; Thomas, Tinu; Benayed, Ryma; Ashraf, Asad; Lincoln, Annie; Arcila, Maria; Stadler, Zsofia; Solit, David; Hyman, David M; Hyman, David; Zhang, Liying; Klimstra, David; Ladanyi, Marc; Offit, Kenneth; Berger, Michael; Robson, Mark

2016-01-01

Tumor genetic sequencing identifies potentially targetable genetic alterations with therapeutic implications. Analysis has concentrated on detecting tumor-specific variants, but recognition of germline variants may prove valuable as well. To estimate the burden of germline variants identified through routine clinical tumor sequencing. Patients with advanced cancer diagnoses eligible for studies of targeted agents at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center are offered tumor-normal sequencing with MSK-IMPACT, a 341-gene panel. We surveyed the germline variants seen in 187 overlapping genes with Mendelian disease associations in 1566 patients who had undergone tumor profiling between March and October 2014. The number of presumed pathogenic germline variants (PPGVs) and variants of uncertain significance per person in 187 genes associated with single-gene disorders and the proportions of individuals with PPGVs in clinically relevant gene subsets, in genes consistent with known tumor phenotypes, and in genes with evidence of second somatic hits in their tumors. The mean age of the 1566 patients was 58 years, and 54% were women. Presumed pathogenic germline variants in known Mendelian disease-associated genes were identified in 246 of 1566 patients (15.7%; 95% CI, 14.0%-17.6%), including 198 individuals with mutations in genes associated with cancer susceptibility. Germline findings in cancer susceptibility genes were concordant with the individual's cancer type in only 81 of 198 cases (40.9%; 95% CI, 34.3%-47.9%). In individuals with PPGVs retained in the tumor, somatic alteration of the other allele was seen in 39 of 182 cases (21.4%; 95% CI, 16.1%-28.0%), of which 13 cases did not show a known correlation of the germline mutation and a known syndrome. Mutations in non-cancer-related Mendelian disease genes were seen in 55 of 1566 cases (3.5%; 95% CI, 27.1%-45.4%). Almost every individual had more than 1 variant of uncertain significance (1565 of 1566 patients; 99

Effect of AGE and Sex on thyroid hormone levels in normal egyptian individuals using RIA technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abdel-Aziz, S.M.; El-Seify, S.; Megahed, Y.M.; El-Arab, A.

1993-01-01

This work aims to estimate total serum levels of thyroid hormones, namely triiodothyronine (T 3 ) and thyroxine (T 4 ) as well as the pituitary thyrotropin (TSH) in different categories of normal egyptian individuals classified according to age and sex. Radioimmunoassay (RIA) and immunoradiometritassay (IRMA) techniques were used. Results of this study indicate that T 3 and T 4 concentrations decreased significantly with advancing age. This decrement was statistically significant in both sexes and could be attributed to the decline in TBG concentration in the elderly. TSH level was not influenced by sex, however, a slight decrease was observed in the elderly perhaps due to decreased TSH receptors and or cyclic AMP activity. 3 figs., 2 tabs

The construction of normal expectations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Quitzau, Maj-Britt; Røpke, Inge

2008-01-01

The gradual upward changes of standards in normal everyday life have significant environmental implications, and it is therefore important to study how these changes come about. The intention of the article is to analyze the social construction of normal expectations through a case study. The case...... concerns the present boom in bathroom renovations in Denmark, which offers an excellent opportunity to study the interplay between a wide variety of consumption drivers and social changes pointing toward long-term changes of normal expectations regarding bathroom standards. The study is problemoriented...... and transdisciplinary and draws on a wide range of sociological, anthropological, and economic theories. The empirical basis comprises a combination of statistics, a review of magazine and media coverage, visits to exhibitions, and qualitative interviews. A variety of consumption drivers are identified. Among...

Significance of genetic predisposition and genomic instability for individual sensitivity to radiation. Implications for radiation protection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heller, H.

2001-01-01

At its closed-door meeting on 20/21 January 2000 the Radiation Protection Committee dedicated much of its attention to the significance of genetic predisposition and genetic instability for individual radiation sensitivity and to the implication of this for radiation protection. The statements and contributions to the closing plenary discussion touched on many aspects of ethics, personal rights, occupational medicine and insurance issues relating to this subject, all of which extend far beyond the purely technical issues of radiation protection. The present volume contains the lecture manuscripts of the meeting as well as a summarising assessment by the Radiation Protection Committee [de

Individual variation in resisting temptation: implications for addiction

Science.gov (United States)

Saunders, Benjamin T.; Robinson, Terry E.

2013-01-01

When exposed to the sights, sounds, smells and/or places that have been associated with rewards, such as food or drugs, some individuals have difficulty resisting the temptation to seek out and consume them. Others have less difficulty restraining themselves. Thus, Pavlovian reward cues may motivate maladaptive patterns of behavior to a greater extent in some individuals than in others. We are just beginning to understand the factors underlying individual differences in the extent to which reward cues acquire powerful motivational properties, and therefore, the ability to act as incentive stimuli. Here we review converging evidence from studies in both human and non-human animals suggesting that a subset of individuals are more “cue reactive”, in that certain reward cues are more likely to attract these individuals to them and motivate actions to get them. We suggest that those individuals for whom Pavlovian reward cues become especially powerful incentives may be more vulnerable to impulse control disorders, such as binge eating and addiction. PMID:23438893

Personal monitoring of 218Po and 214Po radionuclide deposition onto individuals under normal environmental exposure conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eatough, J.P.; Worley, A.; Moss, G.R.

1999-01-01

Personal dosemeters have been utilized to monitor the deposition of the radon decay products 218 Po and 214 Po onto individuals under normal environmental exposure conditions. Each detector consists of TASTRAK alpha-sensitive plastic incorporated into an ordinary working wristwatch. Subsequent analysis provides energy discrimination of the detected alpha-particle decays, and allows events from the individual radon decay products 218 Po and 214 Po, attached to the detector surface, to be uniquely identified. Assuming similar deposition onto skin and detector surfaces, the activity per unit area of deposited radionuclides can be determined for exposed skin. Forty-one personal dosemeters were issued to volunteers selected through the hospital medical physics departments at Reading, Northampton, Exeter and Plymouth. Each volunteer was also issued with a personal radon dosemeter to determine their individual radon exposure. The volunteers wore the two dosemeters simultaneously and continuously for a period of around one month. Correlations were observed between the radon exposure of the individual and the activity per unit area of 218 Po and 214 Po on the detector surface. From these correlations it can be estimated that at the UK average radon exposure of 20 Bq m -3 , the number of decays/cm 2 /year on continuously exposed skin surface is between 3500 and 28 000 for 218 Po, and between 7000 and 21 000 for 214 Po. These results can be combined with theoretical modelling of the dose distribution in the skin to yield the alpha-particle radiation dose to any identified target cells. (author)

Normal intestinal flora of wild Nile crocodiles (Crocodylus niloticus in the Okavango Delta, Botswana

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C.J. Lovely

2008-05-01

Full Text Available Bacterial and fungal cultures were performed from cloacal swabs collected from 29 wild Nile crocodiles, captured in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. Sixteen species of bacteria and 6 fungal species were cultured. Individual crocodiles yielded 1-4 bacterial species, and 0-2 fungal species. The most commonly isolated bacteria were Microbacterium, Enterococcus faecalis, Aeromonas hydrophila, and Escherichia coli. No salmonellae were cultured. The most commonly occurring fungus was Cladosporium. Several of the bacterial and fungal species isolated have been implicated in cases of septicaemia in crocodilians. Knowledge of the normal intestinal flora will contribute towards the development of a crocodile-specific probiotic for use in farmed crocodiles.

Implication of new CEC recommendations for individual monitoring for external radiation doses to the skin and the extremities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Christensen, P.; Julius, H.W.; Marshall, T.O.

1991-01-01

A drafting group consisting of the above authors has assisted the CEC in revising the CEC document Technical Recommendations for Monitoring the Exposure to Individuals to External Radiation, EUR 5287, published in 1975. The paper highlights sections of the revised version relating particularly to irradiation of the skin and the extremities and focusses on problems connected to exposure to weakly penetrating radiations. Concepts of individual monitoring for external radiation exposures to the skin of the whole body and to the extremities are discussed and guidance is given as regards dose quantities and dosemeter calibration procedures. A method of quantifying the overall accuracy of the dose measurements as a result of the various uncertainty components connected with the dosimetry system is suggested and requirements on the accuracy of the dose measurements complying with the ICRP requirements on overall accuracy for individual monitoring are specified. Moreover, implications of the accuracy requirements for the design and type testing of the dosemeter are discussed. (author)

Individual variation in resisting temptation: implications for addiction.

Science.gov (United States)

Saunders, Benjamin T; Robinson, Terry E

2013-11-01

When exposed to the sights, sounds, smells and/or places that have been associated with rewards, such as food or drugs, some individuals have difficulty resisting the temptation to seek out and consume them. Others have less difficulty restraining themselves. Thus, Pavlovian reward cues may motivate maladaptive patterns of behavior to a greater extent in some individuals than in others. We are just beginning to understand the factors underlying individual differences in the extent to which reward cues acquire powerful motivational properties, and therefore, the ability to act as incentive stimuli. Here we review converging evidence from studies in both human and non-human animals suggesting that a subset of individuals are more "cue reactive", in that certain reward cues are more likely to attract these individuals to them and motivate actions to get them. We suggest that those individuals for whom Pavlovian reward cues become especially powerful incentives may be more vulnerable to impulse control disorders, such as binge eating and addiction. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Gut microbiota and glucometabolic alterations in response to recurrent partial sleep deprivation in normal-weight young individuals.

Science.gov (United States)

Benedict, Christian; Vogel, Heike; Jonas, Wenke; Woting, Anni; Blaut, Michael; Schürmann, Annette; Cedernaes, Jonathan

2016-12-01

Changes to the microbial community in the human gut have been proposed to promote metabolic disturbances that also occur after short periods of sleep loss (including insulin resistance). However, whether sleep loss affects the gut microbiota remains unknown. In a randomized within-subject crossover study utilizing a standardized in-lab protocol (with fixed meal times and exercise schedules), we studied nine normal-weight men at two occasions: after two nights of partial sleep deprivation (PSD; sleep opportunity 02:45-07:00 h), and after two nights of normal sleep (NS; sleep opportunity 22:30-07:00 h). Fecal samples were collected within 24 h before, and after two in-lab nights, of either NS or PSD. In addition, participants underwent an oral glucose tolerance test following each sleep intervention. Microbiota composition analysis (V4 16S rRNA gene sequencing) revealed that after two days of PSD vs. after two days of NS, individuals exhibited an increased Firmicutes:Bacteroidetes ratio, higher abundances of the families Coriobacteriaceae and Erysipelotrichaceae, and lower abundance of Tenericutes (all P < 0.05) - previously all associated with metabolic perturbations in animal or human models. However, no PSD vs. NS effect on beta diversity or on fecal short-chain fatty acid concentrations was found. Fasting and postprandial insulin sensitivity decreased after PSD vs. NS (all P < 0.05). Our findings demonstrate that short-term sleep loss induces subtle effects on human microbiota. To what extent the observed changes to the microbial community contribute to metabolic consequences of sleep loss warrants further investigations in larger and more prolonged sleep studies, to also assess how sleep loss impacts the microbiota in individuals who already are metabolically compromised.

Individual, employment and psychosocial factors influencing walking to work: Implications for intervention design.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emma J Adams

Full Text Available Promoting walking for the journey to and from work (commuter walking is a potential strategy for increasing physical activity. Understanding the factors influencing commuter walking is important for identifying target groups and designing effective interventions. This study aimed to examine individual, employment-related and psychosocial factors associated with commuter walking and to discuss the implications for targeting and future design of interventions.1,544 employees completed a baseline survey as part of the 'Walking Works' intervention project (33.4% male; 36.3% aged <30 years. Multivariate logistic regression was used to examine the associations of individual (age, ethnic group, educational qualifications, number of children <16 and car ownership, employment-related (distance lived from work, free car parking at work, working hours, working pattern and occupation and psychosocial factors (perceived behavioural control, intention, social norms and social support from work colleagues with commuter walking.Almost half of respondents (n = 587, 49% were classified as commuter walkers. Those who were aged <30 years, did not have a car, had no free car parking at work, were confident of including some walking or intended to walk to or from work on a regular basis, and had support from colleagues for walking were more likely to be commuter walkers. Those who perceived they lived too far away from work to walk, thought walking was less convenient than using a car for commuting, did not have time to walk, needed a car for work or had always travelled the same way were less likely to be commuter walkers.A number of individual, employment-related and psychosocial factors were associated with commuter walking. Target groups for interventions to promote walking to and from work may include those in older age groups and those who own or have access to a car. Multi-level interventions targeting individual level behaviour change, social support within

Food addiction spectrum: a theoretical model from normality to eating and overeating disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Piccinni, Armando; Marazziti, Donatella; Vanelli, Federica; Franceschini, Caterina; Baroni, Stefano; Costanzo, Davide; Cremone, Ivan Mirko; Veltri, Antonello; Dell'Osso, Liliana

2015-01-01

The authors comment on the recently proposed food addiction spectrum that represents a theoretical model to understand the continuum between several conditions ranging from normality to pathological states, including eating disorders and obesity, as well as why some individuals show a peculiar attachment to food that can become an addiction. Further, they review the possible neurobiological underpinnings of these conditions that include dopaminergic neurotransmission and circuits that have long been implicated in drug addiction. The aim of this article is also that at stimulating a debate regarding the possible model of a food (or eating) addiction spectrum that may be helpful towards the search of novel therapeutic approaches to different pathological states related to disturbed feeding or overeating.

DNA double-strand break repair of blood lymphocytes and normal tissues analysed in a preclinical mouse model: implications for radiosensitivity testing.

Science.gov (United States)

Rübe, Claudia E; Grudzenski, Saskia; Kühne, Martin; Dong, Xiaorong; Rief, Nicole; Löbrich, Markus; Rübe, Christian

2008-10-15

Radiotherapy is an effective cancer treatment, but a few patients suffer severe radiation toxicities in neighboring normal tissues. There is increasing evidence that the variable susceptibility to radiation toxicities is caused by the individual genetic predisposition, by subtle mutations, or polymorphisms in genes involved in cellular responses to ionizing radiation. Double-strand breaks (DSB) are the most deleterious form of radiation-induced DNA damage, and DSB repair deficiencies lead to pronounced radiosensitivity. Using a preclinical mouse model, the highly sensitive gammaH2AX-foci approach was tested to verify even subtle, genetically determined DSB repair deficiencies known to be associated with increased normal tissue radiosensitivity. By enumerating gammaH2AX-foci in blood lymphocytes and normal tissues (brain, lung, heart, and intestine), the induction and repair of DSBs after irradiation with therapeutic doses (0.1-2 Gy) was investigated in repair-proficient and repair-deficient mouse strains in vivo and blood samples irradiated ex vivo. gammaH2AX-foci analysis allowed to verify the different DSB repair deficiencies; even slight impairments caused by single polymorphisms were detected similarly in both blood lymphocytes and solid tissues, indicating that DSB repair measured in lymphocytes is valid for different and complex organs. Moreover, gammaH2AX-foci analysis of blood samples irradiated ex vivo was found to reflect repair kinetics measured in vivo and, thus, give reliable information about the individual DSB repair capacity. gammaH2AX analysis of blood and tissue samples allows to detect even minor genetically defined DSB repair deficiencies, affecting normal tissue radiosensitivity. Future studies will have to evaluate the clinical potential to identify patients more susceptible to radiation toxicities before radiotherapy.

Adenosine deaminase organic effect in normal and abnormal cerebrospinal fluid

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hamad, A.M.; Samarai, M.A.

2007-01-01

To study the effect of the organic substances on adenosine deaminase (ADA) activity in normal and abnormal cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Various concentrations of 2-mercaptopurine, Ame-tycine, Adenosine analogues (Guanine, Thymine) and ATP were tested to see their effect on ADA activity in normal and abnormal CSF. ADA activity in normal and abnormal CSF was remarkably decreased with the increasing of concentrations of substances tested. These effects may have important therapeutic implications. (author)

Radiogenomics: predicting clinical normal tissue radiosensitivity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Alsner, Jan

2006-01-01

Studies on the genetic basis of normal tissue radiosensitivity, or  'radiogenomics', aims at predicting clinical radiosensitivity and optimize treatment from individual genetic profiles. Several studies have now reported links between variations in certain genes related to the biological response...... to radiation injury and risk of normal tissue morbidity in cancer patients treated with radiotherapy. However, after these initial association studies including few genes, we are still far from being able to predict clinical radiosensitivity on an individual level. Recent data from our own studies on risk...

Individual, employment and psychosocial factors influencing walking to work: Implications for intervention design.

Science.gov (United States)

Adams, Emma J; Esliger, Dale W; Taylor, Ian M; Sherar, Lauren B

2017-01-01

Promoting walking for the journey to and from work (commuter walking) is a potential strategy for increasing physical activity. Understanding the factors influencing commuter walking is important for identifying target groups and designing effective interventions. This study aimed to examine individual, employment-related and psychosocial factors associated with commuter walking and to discuss the implications for targeting and future design of interventions. 1,544 employees completed a baseline survey as part of the 'Walking Works' intervention project (33.4% male; 36.3% aged employment-related (distance lived from work, free car parking at work, working hours, working pattern and occupation) and psychosocial factors (perceived behavioural control, intention, social norms and social support from work colleagues) with commuter walking. Almost half of respondents (n = 587, 49%) were classified as commuter walkers. Those who were aged work, were confident of including some walking or intended to walk to or from work on a regular basis, and had support from colleagues for walking were more likely to be commuter walkers. Those who perceived they lived too far away from work to walk, thought walking was less convenient than using a car for commuting, did not have time to walk, needed a car for work or had always travelled the same way were less likely to be commuter walkers. A number of individual, employment-related and psychosocial factors were associated with commuter walking. Target groups for interventions to promote walking to and from work may include those in older age groups and those who own or have access to a car. Multi-level interventions targeting individual level behaviour change, social support within the workplace and organisational level travel policies may be required in order to promote commuter walking.

Serum killing of Ureaplasma parvum shows serovar-determined susceptibility for normal individuals and common variable immuno-deficiency patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Beeton, Michael L; Daha, Mohamed R; El-Shanawany, Tariq; Jolles, Stephen R; Kotecha, Sailesh; Spiller, O Brad

2012-02-01

Many Gram-negative bacteria, unlike Gram-positive, are directly lysed by complement. Ureaplasma can cause septic arthritis and meningitis in immunocompromised individuals and induce premature birth. Ureaplasma has no cell wall, cannot be Gram-stain classified and its serum susceptibility is unknown. Survival of Ureaplasma serovars (SV) 1, 3, 6 and 14 (collectively Ureaplasma parvum) were measured following incubation with normal or immunoglobulin-deficient patient serum (relative to heat-inactivated controls). Blocking monoclonal anti-C1q antibody and depletion of calcium, immunoglobulins, or lectins were used to determine the complement pathway responsible for killing. Eighty-three percent of normal sera killed SV1, 67% killed SV6 and 25% killed SV14; greater killing correlating to strong immunoblot identification of anti-Ureaplasma antibodies; killing was abrogated following ProteinA removal of IgG1. All normal sera killed SV3 in a C1q-dependent fashion, irrespective of immunoblot identification of anti-Ureaplasma antibodies; SV3 killing was unaffected by total IgG removal by ProteinG, where complement activity was retained. Only one of four common variable immunodeficient (CVID) patient sera failed to kill SV3, despite profound IgM and IgG deficiency for all; however, killing of SV3 and SV1 was restored with therapeutic intravenous immunoglobulin therapy. Only the classical complement pathway mediated Ureaplasma-cidal activity, sometimes in the absence of observable immunoblot reactive bands. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Analysis of the genetic phylogeny of multifocal prostate cancer identifies multiple independent clonal expansions in neoplastic and morphologically normal prostate tissue.

Science.gov (United States)

Cooper, Colin S; Eeles, Rosalind; Wedge, David C; Van Loo, Peter; Gundem, Gunes; Alexandrov, Ludmil B; Kremeyer, Barbara; Butler, Adam; Lynch, Andrew G; Camacho, Niedzica; Massie, Charlie E; Kay, Jonathan; Luxton, Hayley J; Edwards, Sandra; Kote-Jarai, ZSofia; Dennis, Nening; Merson, Sue; Leongamornlert, Daniel; Zamora, Jorge; Corbishley, Cathy; Thomas, Sarah; Nik-Zainal, Serena; O'Meara, Sarah; Matthews, Lucy; Clark, Jeremy; Hurst, Rachel; Mithen, Richard; Bristow, Robert G; Boutros, Paul C; Fraser, Michael; Cooke, Susanna; Raine, Keiran; Jones, David; Menzies, Andrew; Stebbings, Lucy; Hinton, Jon; Teague, Jon; McLaren, Stuart; Mudie, Laura; Hardy, Claire; Anderson, Elizabeth; Joseph, Olivia; Goody, Victoria; Robinson, Ben; Maddison, Mark; Gamble, Stephen; Greenman, Christopher; Berney, Dan; Hazell, Steven; Livni, Naomi; Fisher, Cyril; Ogden, Christopher; Kumar, Pardeep; Thompson, Alan; Woodhouse, Christopher; Nicol, David; Mayer, Erik; Dudderidge, Tim; Shah, Nimish C; Gnanapragasam, Vincent; Voet, Thierry; Campbell, Peter; Futreal, Andrew; Easton, Douglas; Warren, Anne Y; Foster, Christopher S; Stratton, Michael R; Whitaker, Hayley C; McDermott, Ultan; Brewer, Daniel S; Neal, David E

2015-04-01

Genome-wide DNA sequencing was used to decrypt the phylogeny of multiple samples from distinct areas of cancer and morphologically normal tissue taken from the prostates of three men. Mutations were present at high levels in morphologically normal tissue distant from the cancer, reflecting clonal expansions, and the underlying mutational processes at work in morphologically normal tissue were also at work in cancer. Our observations demonstrate the existence of ongoing abnormal mutational processes, consistent with field effects, underlying carcinogenesis. This mechanism gives rise to extensive branching evolution and cancer clone mixing, as exemplified by the coexistence of multiple cancer lineages harboring distinct ERG fusions within a single cancer nodule. Subsets of mutations were shared either by morphologically normal and malignant tissues or between different ERG lineages, indicating earlier or separate clonal cell expansions. Our observations inform on the origin of multifocal disease and have implications for prostate cancer therapy in individual cases.

Implications of social structure

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brask, Josefine Bohr

Social systems in nature are characterised by heterogeneous social structures. The pattern of social interactions or associations between individuals within populations (i.e. their social network) is typically non-random. Such structuring may have important implications for the expression...... and evolution of behaviour, and for individual fitness. In this thesis I investigated implications of social structure for fitness and behaviour, with focus on three main areas: social structure & fitness, social structure & communication, and social structure & cooperation. These areas were investigated......, we investigate empirically the role of the social environment of individuals for their communication patterns. Our study species is a song bird, the black-capped chickadee (Poecile atricapillus). The results suggest that individual communication in this species is influenced by features of the local...

The embodied and relational nature of the mind: implications for clinical interventions in aging individuals and populations.

Science.gov (United States)

Rejeski, W Jack; Gauvin, Lise

2013-01-01

Considerable research over the past decade has garnered support for the notion that the mind is both embodied and relational. Jointly, these terms imply that the brain, physical attributes of the self, and features of our interpersonal relationships and of the environments in which we live jointly regulate energy and information flow; they codetermine how we think, feel, and behave both individually and collectively. In addition to direct experience, evidence supports the view that stimuli embedded within past memories trigger multimodal simulations throughout the body and brain to literally recreate lived experience. In this paper, we review empirical support for the concept of an embodied and relational mind and then reflect on the implications of this perspective for clinical interventions in aging individuals and populations. Data suggest that environmental influences literally "get under the skin" with aging; that musculoskeletal and visceral sensations become more prominent in activities of the mind due to aging biological systems and chronic disease. We argue that conceiving the mind as embodied and relational will grow scientific inquiry in aging, transform how we think about the self-system and well-being, and lead us to rethink health promotion interventions aimed at aging individuals and populations.

Ethics and "normal birth".

Science.gov (United States)

Lyerly, Anne Drapkin

2012-12-01

The concept of "normal birth" has been promoted as ideal by several international organizations, although debate about its meaning is ongoing. In this article, I examine the concept of normalcy to explore its ethical implications and raise a trio of concerns. First, in its emphasis on nonuse of technology as a goal, the concept of normalcy may marginalize women for whom medical intervention is necessary or beneficial. Second, in its emphasis on birth as a socially meaningful event, the mantra of normalcy may unintentionally avert attention to meaning in medically complicated births. Third, the emphasis on birth as a normal and healthy event may be a contributor to the long-standing tolerance for the dearth of evidence guiding the treatment of illness during pregnancy and the failure to responsibly and productively engage pregnant women in health research. Given these concerns, it is worth debating not just what "normal birth" means, but whether the term as an ideal earns its keep. © 2012, Copyright the Authors Journal compilation © 2012, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A rare case of persistent metopic suture in an elderly individual: Incidental autopsy finding with clinical implications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S Vikram

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Metopic suture is a dense fibrous joint extending from the nasion to the bregma. Normally, closure of this suture takes place between 1-8 years of age. Failure of this closure beyond 8 years leads to persistent metopic suture. A rare case of persistent metopic suture in a 60-year-old male is documented, who committed suicide by alleged consumption of organophosphorous compound at District Govt. Wenlock Hospital, Mangalore, Karnataka, India. Metopic suture may mimic skull fracture and may mislead an inexperienced forensic expert. Neurosurgeon should also be aware of this anatomical variation while performing frontal craniotomy, as the persistent metopic suture may mimic vertical fracture of the skull. Hence, in this case report, the clinical and medico-legal implications of the persistent metopic sutures have been discussed.

Explicit Memory among Individuals with Mild and Moderate Intellectual Disability: Educational Implications

Science.gov (United States)

Lifshitz, Hefziba; Shtein, Sarit; Weiss, Itzhak; Svisrsky, Naama

2011-01-01

We previously reported a meta-analysis of explicit memory studies in populations with intellectual disability (ID). The current study discusses the educational implications of this meta-analysis. The main factors at the core of these implications can be divided into two categories: those related to task characteristics (e.g., depth of processing,…

Individual loss reserving with the Multivariate Skew Normal model

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pigeon, M.; Antonio, K.; Denuit, M.

2011-01-01

In general insurance, the evaluation of future cash ows and solvency capital has become increasingly important. To assist in this process, the present paper proposes an individual discrete-time loss re- serving model describing the occurrence, the reporting delay, the timeto the first payment, and

Performance, fatigue and stress in open-plan offices: The effects of noise and restoration on hearing impaired and normal hearing individuals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Helena Jahncke

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Hearing impaired and normal hearing individuals were compared in two within-participant office noise conditions (high noise: 60 L Aeq and low noise: 30 L Aeq . Performance, subjective fatigue, and physiological stress were tested during working on a simulated open-plan office. We also tested two between-participants restoration conditions following the work period with high noise (nature movie or continued office noise. Participants with a hearing impairment (N = 20 were matched with normal hearing participants (N = 18 and undertook one practice session and two counterbalanced experimental sessions. In each experimental session they worked for two hours with basic memory and attention tasks. We also measured physiological stress indicators (cortisol and catecholamines and self-reports of mood and fatigue. The hearing impaired participants were more affected by high noise than the normal hearing participants, as shown by impaired performance for tasks that involve recall of semantic information. The hearing impaired participants were also more fatigued by high noise exposure than participants with normal hearing, and they tended to have higher stress hormone levels during the high noise compared to the low noise condition. Restoration with a movie increased performance and motivation for the normal hearing participants, while rest with continued noise did not. For the hearing impaired participants, continued noise during rest increased motivation and performance, while the movie did not. In summary, the impact of noise and restorative conditions varied with the hearing characteristics of the participants. The small sample size does however encourage caution when interpreting the results.

Gut microbiota and glucometabolic alterations in response to recurrent partial sleep deprivation in normal-weight young individuals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christian Benedict

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Objective: Changes to the microbial community in the human gut have been proposed to promote metabolic disturbances that also occur after short periods of sleep loss (including insulin resistance. However, whether sleep loss affects the gut microbiota remains unknown. Methods: In a randomized within-subject crossover study utilizing a standardized in-lab protocol (with fixed meal times and exercise schedules, we studied nine normal-weight men at two occasions: after two nights of partial sleep deprivation (PSD; sleep opportunity 02:45–07:00 h, and after two nights of normal sleep (NS; sleep opportunity 22:30–07:00 h. Fecal samples were collected within 24 h before, and after two in-lab nights, of either NS or PSD. In addition, participants underwent an oral glucose tolerance test following each sleep intervention. Results: Microbiota composition analysis (V4 16S rRNA gene sequencing revealed that after two days of PSD vs. after two days of NS, individuals exhibited an increased Firmicutes:Bacteroidetes ratio, higher abundances of the families Coriobacteriaceae and Erysipelotrichaceae, and lower abundance of Tenericutes (all P < 0.05 – previously all associated with metabolic perturbations in animal or human models. However, no PSD vs. NS effect on beta diversity or on fecal short-chain fatty acid concentrations was found. Fasting and postprandial insulin sensitivity decreased after PSD vs. NS (all P < 0.05. Discussion: Our findings demonstrate that short-term sleep loss induces subtle effects on human microbiota. To what extent the observed changes to the microbial community contribute to metabolic consequences of sleep loss warrants further investigations in larger and more prolonged sleep studies, to also assess how sleep loss impacts the microbiota in individuals who already are metabolically compromised. Author Video: Author Video Watch what authors say about their articles Keywords: Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Insulin resistance

Regional frontal gray matter volume associated with executive function capacity as a risk factor for vehicle crashes in normal aging adults.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hiroyuki Sakai

Full Text Available Although low executive functioning is a risk factor for vehicle crashes among elderly drivers, the neural basis of individual differences in this cognitive ability remains largely unknown. Here we aimed to examine regional frontal gray matter volume associated with executive functioning in normal aging individuals, using voxel-based morphometry (VBM. To this end, 39 community-dwelling elderly volunteers who drove a car on a daily basis participated in structural magnetic resonance imaging, and completed two questionnaires concerning executive functioning and risky driving tendencies in daily living. Consequently, we found that participants with low executive function capacity were prone to risky driving. Furthermore, VBM analysis revealed that lower executive function capacity was associated with smaller gray matter volume in the supplementary motor area (SMA. Thus, the current data suggest that SMA volume is a reliable predictor of individual differences in executive function capacity as a risk factor for vehicle crashes among elderly persons. The implication of our results is that regional frontal gray matter volume might underlie the variation in driving tendencies among elderly drivers. Therefore, detailed driving behavior assessments might be able to detect early neurodegenerative changes in the frontal lobe in normal aging adults.

Individual loss reserving with the Multivariate Skew Normal distribution

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pigeon, M.; Antonio, K.; Denuit, M.

2012-01-01

The evaluation of future cash flows and solvency capital recently gained importance in general insurance. To assist in this process, our paper proposes a novel loss reserving model, designed for individual claims in discrete time. We model the occurrence of claims, as well as their reporting delay,

Individual loss reserving with the multivariate skew normal framework

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pigeon, M.; Antonio, K.; Denuit, M.

2013-01-01

The evaluation of future cash flows and solvency capital recently gained importance in general insurance. To assist in this process, our paper proposes a novel loss reserving model, designed for individual claims developing in discrete time. We model the occurrence of claims, as well as their

Assessment of Oral Conditions and Quality of Life in Morbid Obese and Normal Weight Individuals: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joselene Martinelli Yamashita

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to identify the impact of oral disease on the quality of life of morbid obese and normal weight individuals. Cohort was composed of 100 morbid-obese and 50 normal-weight subjects. Dental caries, community periodontal index, gingival bleeding on probing (BOP, calculus, probing pocket depth, clinical attachment level, dental wear, stimulated salivary flow, and salivary pH were used to evaluate oral diseases. Socioeconomic and the oral impacts on daily performances (OIDP questionnaires showed the quality of life in both groups. Unpaired Student, Fisher's Exact, Chi-Square, Mann-Whitney, and Multiple Regression tests were used (p<0.05. Obese showed lower socio-economic level than control group, but no differences were found considering OIDP. No significant differences were observed between groups considering the number of absent teeth, bruxism, difficult mastication, calculus, initial caries lesion, and caries. However, saliva flow was low, and the salivary pH was changed in the obese group. Enamel wear was lower and dentine wear was higher in obese. More BOP, insertion loss, and periodontal pocket, especially the deeper ones, were found in obese subjects. The regression model showed gender, smoking, salivary pH, socio-economic level, periodontal pocket, and periodontal insertion loss significantly associated to obesity. However, both OIDP and BOP did not show significant contribution to the model. The quality of life of morbid obese was more negatively influenced by oral disease and socio-economic factors than in normal weight subjects.

Appropriate slice location to assess maximal cross-sectional area of individual rotator cuff muscles in normal adults and athletes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yanagisawa, Osamu; Dohi, Michiko; Okuwaki, Toru; Tawara, Noriyuki; Takahashi, Hideyuki; Niitsu, Mamoru

2009-01-01

We investigated appropriate slice locations for magnetic resonance (MR) imaging evaluation of the maximal cross-sectional area (CSA) of individual rotator cuff (RC) muscles in normal adults and athletes. We used a 1.5-tesla MR system with body-array and spine coils to obtain oblique sagittal T 1 -weighted shoulder images of 29 normal adults (16 men, 13 women); 6 national-level competitive swimmers (4 men, 2 women); 10 collegiate-level female badminton players; and 7 collegiate-level male rowers. We calculated the supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres minor, and subscapularis CSAs at the 0-1 locations on the scapula (dividing scapula width into 11 locations), 0 representing the medial border of the scapula and 1, the glenoid fossa surface. We evaluated the differences in CSAs at relative locations on the scapula for each muscle in normal adults, swimmers, badminton players, and rowers using a one-way analysis of variance followed by the Tukey test (P<0.05). The supraspinatus CSAs were maximal at 0.7 for all groups. The infraspinatus CSAs were maximal at 0.5 for normal men and women and badminton players, 0.4- and 0.5 locations for swimmers, and 0.4 for rowers. The teres minor CSAs were maximal at 0.9 for all groups except the swimmers (1 location). The subscapularis CSAs were maximal at 0.7 in men, swimmers, and badminton players and 0.6 in women and rowers. The appropriate slice locations for evaluating maximal CSAs are slightly lateral to the center of the scapula for the supraspinatus and subscapularis, at approximately the center of the scapula for the infraspinatus, and near the glenoid fossa for the teres minor. These slice locations should be clinically useful for morphological and/or function-related assessments of shoulder RC muscles. (author)

Entrepreneurial alertness: Study of the Influence of Individual Characteristics and Entrepreneurship

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hilka Pelizza Vier Machado

2016-01-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT This research tried to understand which statistical variables associated to the individual and the company influence the entrepreneurial alertness. The sample was constituted by 180 entrepreneurs. The entrepreneurial alertness was measured in agreement with the model of Tang, Kacmar and Busenitz (2012. Descriptive statistical tests and normality exam were developed; as well as checked the validity and reliability of the scale through Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA. In order to identify the factors that influenced the alertness we developed multiple linear regression and the ANOVA test to determine possible differences among groups (gender, education. The results showed the negative influence of the educational level and the size of enterprises on alertness level; as well as the negative relationship between age and entrepreneurial experience, furthermore, shows that alert level is not determined by gender difference. One of the main implications of this research is to present factors that can potentiate the effects of the entrepreneurial alertness, enlarging the possibilities of identification of opportunities for individuals.

''Identical'' bands in normally-deformed nuclei

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garrett, J.D.; Baktash, C.; Yu, C.H.

1990-01-01

Gamma-ray transitions energies in neighboring odd- and even-mass nuclei for normally-deformed nuclear configurations are analyzed in a manner similar to recent analyses for superdeformed states. The moment of inertia is shown to depend on pair correlations and the aligned angular momentum of the odd nucleon. The implications of this analysis for ''identical'' super-deformed bands are discussed. 26 refs., 9 figs

Digital Twins in Health Care: Ethical Implications of an Emerging Engineering Paradigm.

Science.gov (United States)

Bruynseels, Koen; Santoni de Sio, Filippo; van den Hoven, Jeroen

2018-01-01

Personalized medicine uses fine grained information on individual persons, to pinpoint deviations from the normal. 'Digital Twins' in engineering provide a conceptual framework to analyze these emerging data-driven health care practices, as well as their conceptual and ethical implications for therapy, preventative care and human enhancement. Digital Twins stand for a specific engineering paradigm, where individual physical artifacts are paired with digital models that dynamically reflects the status of those artifacts. When applied to persons, Digital Twins are an emerging technology that builds on in silico representations of an individual that dynamically reflect molecular status, physiological status and life style over time. We use Digital Twins as the hypothesis that one would be in the possession of very detailed bio-physical and lifestyle information of a person over time. This perspective redefines the concept of 'normality' or 'health,' as a set of patterns that are regular for a particular individual , against the backdrop of patterns observed in the population. This perspective also will impact what is considered therapy and what is enhancement, as can be illustrated with the cases of the 'asymptomatic ill' and life extension via anti-aging medicine. These changes are the consequence of how meaning is derived, in case measurement data is available. Moral distinctions namely may be based on patterns found in these data and the meanings that are grafted on these patterns. Ethical and societal implications of Digital Twins are explored. Digital Twins imply a data-driven approach to health care. This approach has the potential to deliver significant societal benefits, and can function as a social equalizer, by allowing for effective equalizing enhancement interventions. It can as well though be a driver for inequality, given the fact that a Digital Twin might not be an accessible technology for everyone, and given the fact that patterns identified across a

Self-monitoring practices, attitudes, and needs of individuals with bipolar disorder: implications for the design of technologies to manage mental health.

Science.gov (United States)

Murnane, Elizabeth L; Cosley, Dan; Chang, Pamara; Guha, Shion; Frank, Ellen; Gay, Geri; Matthews, Mark

2016-05-01

To understand self-monitoring strategies used independently of clinical treatment by individuals with bipolar disorder (BD), in order to recommend technology design principles to support mental health management. Participants with BD (N = 552) were recruited through the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, the International Bipolar Foundation, and WeSearchTogether.org to complete a survey of closed- and open-ended questions. In this study, we focus on descriptive results and qualitative analyses. Individuals reported primarily self-monitoring items related to their bipolar disorder (mood, sleep, finances, exercise, and social interactions), with an increasing trend towards the use of digital tracking methods observed. Most participants reported having positive experiences with technology-based tracking because it enables self-reflection and agency regarding health management and also enhances lines of communication with treatment teams. Reported challenges stem from poor usability or difficulty interpreting self-tracked data. Two major implications for technology-based self-monitoring emerged from our results. First, technologies can be designed to be more condition-oriented, intuitive, and proactive. Second, more automated forms of digital symptom tracking and intervention are desired, and our results suggest the feasibility of detecting and predicting emotional states from patterns of technology usage. However, we also uncovered tension points, namely that technology designed to support mental health can also be a disruptor. This study provides increased understanding of self-monitoring practices, attitudes, and needs of individuals with bipolar disorder. This knowledge bears implications for clinical researchers and practitioners seeking insight into how individuals independently self-manage their condition as well as for researchers designing monitoring technologies to support mental health management. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University

The importance of body image concerns in overweight and normal weight individuals with binge eating disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Yiu, Angelina; Murray, Susan M; Arlt, Jean M; Eneva, Kalina T; Chen, Eunice Y

2017-09-01

Body image concerns in binge eating disorder (BED) have been examined almost exclusively in overweight individuals with BED. The current study extends past research by including overweight and normal weight BED and non-BED groups to assess the multifactorial construct of body image using subscales of the Eating Disorder Examination 16.0 (EDE-16.0) and a Body Comparison Task. Independent of weight status and when controlling for age and race, women with BED are distinguished from those without BED by significantly greater overvaluation of shape and weight on the EDE-16.0 and significantly reduced weight satisfaction after a Body Comparison Task. Both BED diagnosis and weight status were independently associated with Weight Concern and Shape Concern subscales on the EDE-16.0. Taken together, these data provide further support for the consideration of body image concerns in the diagnostic criteria for BED. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Everyday listeners' impressions of speech produced by individuals with adductor spasmodic dysphonia.

Science.gov (United States)

Nagle, Kathleen F; Eadie, Tanya L; Yorkston, Kathryn M

2015-01-01

Individuals with adductor spasmodic dysphonia (ADSD) have reported that unfamiliar communication partners appear to judge them as sneaky, nervous or not intelligent, apparently based on the quality of their speech; however, there is minimal research into the actual everyday perspective of listening to ADSD speech. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impressions of listeners hearing ADSD speech for the first time using a mixed-methods design. Everyday listeners were interviewed following sessions in which they made ratings of ADSD speech. A semi-structured interview approach was used and data were analyzed using thematic content analysis. Three major themes emerged: (1) everyday listeners make judgments about speakers with ADSD; (2) ADSD speech does not sound normal to everyday listeners; and (3) rating overall severity is difficult for everyday listeners. Participants described ADSD speech similarly to existing literature; however, some listeners inaccurately extrapolated speaker attributes based solely on speech samples. Listeners may draw erroneous conclusions about individuals with ADSD and these biases may affect the communicative success of these individuals. Results have implications for counseling individuals with ADSD, as well as the need for education and awareness about ADSD. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Prostaglandin E2 stimulates normal bronchial epithelial cell growth through induction of c-Jun and PDK1, a kinase implicated in oncogenesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, Yu; Wang, Ye; Wang, Ke

2015-12-18

Cyclooxygenase-2-derived prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), a bioactive eicosanoid, has been implicated in many biological processes including reproduction, inflammation and tumor growth. We previously showed that PGE2 stimulated lung cancer cell growth and progression through PGE2 receptor EP2/EP4-mediated kinase signaling pathways. However, the role of PGE2 in controlling lung airway epithelial cell phenotype remains unknown. We evaluated the effects of c-Jun and 3-phosphoinositede dependent protein kinase-1 (PDK1) in mediating epithelial cell hyperplasia induced by PGE2. The bronchial epithelial cell lines BEAS-2B and HBEc14-KT were cultured and then treated with PGE2. PDK1 small interfering RNA (siRNA) and a PDK1 inhibitor, an antagonist of the PGE2 receptor subtype EP4 and EP4 siRNA, c-Jun siRNA, and overexpressions of c-Jun and PDK1 have been used to evaluate the effects on cell proliferation. We demonstrated that PGE2 increased normal bronchial epithelial cell proliferation through induction of PDK1, an ankyrin repeat-containing Ser/Thr kinase implicated in the induction of apoptosis and the suppression of tumor growth. PDK1 siRNA and a PDK1 inhibitor blocked the effects of PGE2 on normal cell growth. The PGE2-induced PDK1 expression was blocked by an antagonist of the PGE2 receptor subtype EP4 and by EP4 siRNA. In addition, we showed that induction of PDK1 by PGE2 was associated with induction of the transcription factor, c-Jun protein. Silencing of c-Jun using siRNA and point mutations of c-Jun sites in the PDK1 gene promoter resulted in blockade of PDK1 expression and promoter activity induced by PGE2. In contrast, overexpression of c-Jun induced PDK1 gene promoter activity and expression followed increased cell proliferation. PGE2 increases normal bronchial epithelial cell proliferation through increased PDK1 gene expression that is dependent on EP4 and induction of c-Jun. Therewith, our data suggest a new role of c-Jun and PDK1 in mediating epithelial cell

Establishing the proteome of normal human cerebrospinal fluid.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Steven E Schutzer

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Knowledge of the entire protein content, the proteome, of normal human cerebrospinal fluid (CSF would enable insights into neurologic and psychiatric disorders. Until now technologic hurdles and access to true normal samples hindered attaining this goal.We applied immunoaffinity separation and high sensitivity and resolution liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry to examine CSF from healthy normal individuals. 2630 proteins in CSF from normal subjects were identified, of which 56% were CSF-specific, not found in the much larger set of 3654 proteins we have identified in plasma. We also examined CSF from groups of subjects previously examined by others as surrogates for normals where neurologic symptoms warranted a lumbar puncture but where clinical laboratory were reported as normal. We found statistically significant differences between their CSF proteins and our non-neurological normals. We also examined CSF from 10 volunteer subjects who had lumbar punctures at least 4 weeks apart and found that there was little variability in CSF proteins in an individual as compared to subject to subject.Our results represent the most comprehensive characterization of true normal CSF to date. This normal CSF proteome establishes a comparative standard and basis for investigations into a variety of diseases with neurological and psychiatric features.

40 CFR 35.918 - Individual systems.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Individual systems. 35.918 Section 35... Individual systems. (a) For references to individual systems, the following definitions apply: (1) Individual... a function of individual systems where cost-effective. (2) Principal residence. Normally the voting...

Incidental white matter lesions identified on magnetic resonance images of normal Japanese individuals; Correlation with age and hypertension

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Oyama, Hirofumi; Kida, Yoshihisa; Tanaka, Takayuki; Iwakoshi, Takanori; Niwa, Masahiro; Kobayashi, Tatsuya [Komaki City Hospital, Hokkaido (Japan)

1994-05-01

Incidental white matter high-intensity lesions are frequently seen on T[sub 2]-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) images of the brain in older people. The incidence increases with advancing age or hypertension. Brain MR images of 59 normal individuals were examined to analyze this phenomenon. The total number of white matter high-intensity lesions correlated significantly with age (p=0.004) or systolic blood pressure (p=0.03). The 60- to 69-year-old group demonstrated a very close correlation of white matter lesions with systolic (p=0.02) and diastolic blood pressure (p=0.01), in contrast to the 50- to 59-year-old group. Hypertensive subjects in their 60s are thought to develop more white matter lesions than subjects in their 50s. (author).

Normalizing difference: Emotional intelligence and diversity management competence in healthcare managers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adebukola E. Oyewunmi

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Purpose: Diversity is synonymous with difference. The diverse workforce presents an array of complexities which necessitates the deployment of specific managerial competencies. Empirical evidences have indicated the role of emotional intelligence in the enhancement of abilities. Thus, this study investigated the relationship between emotional intelligence and diversity management competency amongst healthcare managers in Southwest Nigeria.  Design: The descriptive survey method was adopted for the study. A total of 360 respondents completed the structured questionnaire titled Emotional Intelligence and Diversity Management Competency Questionnaire (EIDMCQ. Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics such as, Multiple Regression Analyses and Pearson Product Moment Correlation Statistical methods.  Findings: A positive correlation was found between emotional intelligence and diversity management competency. Gender, ethnicity, and age, did not moderate the relationship between emotional intelligence and diversity management competency.  Practical Implications: As difference is the reality of modern organizations, it is important to conceptualize it as normal and positive. Emotional intelligence is recommended as a critical tool to normalize the individual perceptions of difference. The re-assessment of the functions of managers must be followed by total commitment to capacity building in emotional intelligence, as well as the re-engineering of organizational and national cultures to promote equal opportunities, inclusion and diversity leveraging.  Originality/value: This study pioneers research on emotional intelligence and diversity management competency in Nigeria’s public healthcare sector. It conceptualizes diversity management on an individual- managerial level. Practical interventions are provided to enhance the application of specific competencies to optimize a diverse workplace.

Determination of hemispheric emotional valence in individual subjects: a new approach with research and therapeutic implications.

Science.gov (United States)

Schiffer, Fredric; Teicher, Martin H; Anderson, Carl; Tomoda, Akemi; Polcari, Ann; Navalta, Carryl P; Andersen, Susan L

2007-03-06

Much has been theorized about the emotional properties of the hemispheres. Our review of the dominant hypotheses put forth by Schore, Joseph, Davidson, and Harmon-Jones on hemispheric emotional valences (HEV) shows that none are supported by robust data. Instead, we propose that individual's hemispheres are organized to have differing HEVs that can be lateralized in either direction. Probe auditory evoked potentials (AEP) recorded during a neutral and an upsetting memory were used to assess HEV in 28 (20 F) right-handed subjects who were either victims of childhood maltreatment (N = 12) or healthy controls. In a sub-population, we determined HEV by emotional response to lateral visual field stimulation (LVFS), in which vision is limited to one, then the other hemifield. We compare a number of morphometric and functional brain measures between individuals who have right-negative versus left-negative HEV. Using AEPs to determine HEV, we found 62% of controls and 67% of maltreated subjects had right negative HEV. There was a strong interaction between HEV-laterality and gender, which together accounted for 60% of individual variability in total grey matter volume (GMV). HEV-laterality was associated with differences in hippocampal volume, amygdala/hippocampal ratios, and measures of verbal, visual and global memory. HEV-laterality was associated also with different constellations of symptoms comparing maltreated subjects to controls. Emotional response to LVFS provided a convenient and complementary measure of HEV-laterality that correlated significantly with the HEVs determined by AEPs. Our findings suggest that HEV-laterality, like handedness or gender, is an important individual difference with significant implications for brain and behavioral research, and for guiding lateralized treatments such as rTMS.

Comparative Investigation of Normal Modes and Molecular Dynamics of Hepatitis C NS5B Protein

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Asafi, M S; Tekpinar, M; Yildirim, A

2016-01-01

Understanding dynamics of proteins has many practical implications in terms of finding a cure for many protein related diseases. Normal mode analysis and molecular dynamics methods are widely used physics-based computational methods for investigating dynamics of proteins. In this work, we studied dynamics of Hepatitis C NS5B protein with molecular dynamics and normal mode analysis. Principal components obtained from a 100 nanoseconds molecular dynamics simulation show good overlaps with normal modes calculated with a coarse-grained elastic network model. Coarse-grained normal mode analysis takes at least an order of magnitude shorter time. Encouraged by this good overlaps and short computation times, we analyzed further low frequency normal modes of Hepatitis C NS5B. Motion directions and average spatial fluctuations have been analyzed in detail. Finally, biological implications of these motions in drug design efforts against Hepatitis C infections have been elaborated. (paper)

Auditory Selective Attention in Cerebral-Palsied Individuals.

Science.gov (United States)

Laraway, Lee Ann

1985-01-01

To examine differences between auditory selective attention abilities of normal and cerebral-palsied individuals, 23 cerebral-palsied and 23 normal subjects (5-21) were asked to repeat a series of 30 items in presence of intermittent white noise. Results indicated that cerebral-palsied individuals perform significantly more poorly when the…

Naltrexone ameliorates functional network abnormalities in alcohol‐dependent individuals

Science.gov (United States)

Baek, Kwangyeol; Tait, Roger; Elliott, Rebecca; Ersche, Karen D.; Flechais, Remy; McGonigle, John; Murphy, Anna; Nestor, Liam J.; Orban, Csaba; Passetti, Filippo; Paterson, Louise M.; Rabiner, Ilan; Reed, Laurence; Smith, Dana; Suckling, John; Taylor, Eleanor M.; Bullmore, Edward T.; Lingford‐Hughes, Anne R.; Deakin, Bill; Nutt, David J.; Sahakian, Barbara J.; Robbins, Trevor W.; Voon, Valerie

2017-01-01

Abstract Naltrexone, an opioid receptor antagonist, is commonly used as a relapse prevention medication in alcohol and opiate addiction, but its efficacy and the mechanisms underpinning its clinical usefulness are not well characterized. In the current study, we examined the effects of 50‐mg naltrexone compared with placebo on neural network changes associated with substance dependence in 21 alcohol and 36 poly‐drug‐dependent individuals compared with 36 healthy volunteers. Graph theoretic and network‐based statistical analysis of resting‐state functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data revealed that alcohol‐dependent subjects had reduced functional connectivity of a dispersed network compared with both poly‐drug‐dependent and healthy subjects. Higher local efficiency was observed in both patient groups, indicating clustered and segregated network topology and information processing. Naltrexone normalized heightened local efficiency of the neural network in alcohol‐dependent individuals, to the same levels as healthy volunteers. Naltrexone failed to have an effect on the local efficiency in abstinent poly‐substance‐dependent individuals. Across groups, local efficiency was associated with substance, but no alcohol exposure implicating local efficiency as a potential premorbid risk factor in alcohol use disorders that can be ameliorated by naltrexone. These findings suggest one possible mechanism for the clinical effects of naltrexone, namely, the amelioration of disrupted network topology. PMID:28247526

Psycho acoustical Measures in Individuals with Congenital Visual Impairment.

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Kaushlendra; Thomas, Teenu; Bhat, Jayashree S; Ranjan, Rajesh

2017-12-01

In congenital visual impaired individuals one modality is impaired (visual modality) this impairment is compensated by other sensory modalities. There is evidence that visual impaired performed better in different auditory task like localization, auditory memory, verbal memory, auditory attention, and other behavioural tasks when compare to normal sighted individuals. The current study was aimed to compare the temporal resolution, frequency resolution and speech perception in noise ability in individuals with congenital visual impaired and normal sighted. Temporal resolution, frequency resolution, and speech perception in noise were measured using MDT, GDT, DDT, SRDT, and SNR50 respectively. Twelve congenital visual impaired participants with age range of 18 to 40 years were taken and equal in number with normal sighted participants. All the participants had normal hearing sensitivity with normal middle ear functioning. Individual with visual impairment showed superior threshold in MDT, SRDT and SNR50 as compared to normal sighted individuals. This may be due to complexity of the tasks; MDT, SRDT and SNR50 are complex tasks than GDT and DDT. Visual impairment showed superior performance in auditory processing and speech perception with complex auditory perceptual tasks.

A comparative study of deficit pattern in theory of mind and emotion regulation methods in evaluating patients with bipolar disorder and normal individuals

OpenAIRE

Ali Fakhari; Khalegh Minashiri; Abolfazl Fallahi; Mohammad Taher Panah

2013-01-01

BACKGROUND: This study compared patterns of deficit in "theory of mind" and "emotion regulation" in patientswith bipolar disorder and normal individuals. METHODS: In this causal-comparative study, subjects were 20 patients with bipolar disorder and 20 normalindividuals. Patients were selected via convenience sampling method among hospitalized patients at Razi hospital ofTabriz, Iran. The data was collected through two scales: Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test and Emotion RegulationQuestionnai...

Distributive justice and cognitive enhancement in lower, normal intelligence.

Science.gov (United States)

Dunlop, Mikael; Savulescu, Julian

2014-01-01

There exists a significant disparity within society between individuals in terms of intelligence. While intelligence varies naturally throughout society, the extent to which this impacts on the life opportunities it affords to each individual is greatly undervalued. Intelligence appears to have a prominent effect over a broad range of social and economic life outcomes. Many key determinants of well-being correlate highly with the results of IQ tests, and other measures of intelligence, and an IQ of 75 is generally accepted as the most important threshold in modern life. The ability to enhance our cognitive capacities offers an exciting opportunity to correct disabling natural variation and inequality in intelligence. Pharmaceutical cognitive enhancers, such as modafinil and methylphenidate, have been shown to have the capacity to enhance cognition in normal, healthy individuals. Perhaps of most relevance is the presence of an 'inverted U effect' for most pharmaceutical cognitive enhancers, whereby the degree of enhancement increases as intelligence levels deviate further below the mean. Although enhancement, including cognitive enhancement, has been much debated recently, we argue that there are egalitarian reasons to enhance individuals with low but normal intelligence. Under egalitarianism, cognitive enhancement has the potential to reduce opportunity inequality and contribute to relative income and welfare equality in the lower, normal intelligence subgroup. Cognitive enhancement use is justifiable under prioritarianism through various means of distribution; selective access to the lower, normal intelligence subgroup, universal access, or paradoxically through access primarily to the average and above average intelligence subgroups. Similarly, an aggregate increase in social well-being is achieved through similar means of distribution under utilitarianism. In addition, the use of cognitive enhancement within the lower, normal intelligence subgroup negates, or at

Normal Movement Selectivity in Autism

OpenAIRE

Dinstein, Ilan; Thomas, Cibu; Humphreys, Kate; Minshew, Nancy; Behrmann, Marlene; Heeger, David J.

2010-01-01

It has been proposed that individuals with autism have difficulties understanding the goals and intentions of others because of a fundamental dysfunction in the mirror neuron system. Here, however, we show that individuals with autism exhibited not only normal fMRI responses in mirror system areas during observation and execution of hand movements, but also exhibited typical movement-selective adaptation (repetition suppression) when observing or executing the same movement repeatedly. Moveme...

Determination of hemispheric emotional valence in individual subjects: A new approach with research and therapeutic implications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Polcari Ann

2007-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Much has been theorized about the emotional properties of the hemispheres. Our review of the dominant hypotheses put forth by Schore, Joseph, Davidson, and Harmon-Jones on hemispheric emotional valences (HEV shows that none are supported by robust data. Instead, we propose that individual's hemispheres are organized to have differing HEVs that can be lateralized in either direction. Methods Probe auditory evoked potentials (AEP recorded during a neutral and an upsetting memory were used to assess HEV in 28 (20 F right-handed subjects who were either victims of childhood maltreatment (N = 12 or healthy controls. In a sub-population, we determined HEV by emotional response to lateral visual field stimulation (LVFS, in which vision is limited to one, then the other hemifield. We compare a number of morphometric and functional brain measures between individuals who have right-negative versus left-negative HEV. Results Using AEPs to determine HEV, we found 62% of controls and 67% of maltreated subjects had right negative HEV. There was a strong interaction between HEV-laterality and gender, which together accounted for 60% of individual variability in total grey matter volume (GMV. HEV-laterality was associated with differences in hippocampal volume, amygdala/hippocampal ratios, and measures of verbal, visual and global memory. HEV-laterality was associated also with different constellations of symptoms comparing maltreated subjects to controls. Emotional response to LVFS provided a convenient and complementary measure of HEV-laterality that correlated significantly with the HEVs determined by AEPs. Conclusion Our findings suggest that HEV-laterality, like handedness or gender, is an important individual difference with significant implications for brain and behavioral research, and for guiding lateralized treatments such as rTMS.

The experience of weight management in normal weight adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Hernandez, Cheri Ann; Hernandez, David A; Wellington, Christine M; Kidd, Art

2016-11-01

No prior research has been done with normal weight persons specific to their experience of weight management. The purpose of this research was to discover the experience of weight management in normal weight individuals. Glaserian grounded theory was used. Qualitative data (focus group) and quantitative data (food diary, study questionnaire, and anthropometric measures) were collected. Weight management was an ongoing process of trying to focus on living (family, work, and social), while maintaining their normal weight targets through five consciously and unconsciously used strategies. Despite maintaining normal weights, the nutritional composition of foods eaten was grossly inadequate. These five strategies can be used to develop new weight management strategies that could be integrated into existing weight management programs, or could be developed into novel weight management interventions. Surprisingly, normal weight individuals require dietary assessment and nutrition education to prevent future negative health consequences. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Sour ageusia in two individuals implicates ion channels of the ASIC and PKD families in human sour taste perception at the anterior tongue.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Taufiqul Huque

2009-10-01

Full Text Available The perception of sour taste in humans is incompletely understood at the receptor cell level. We report here on two patients with an acquired sour ageusia. Each patient was unresponsive to sour stimuli, but both showed normal responses to bitter, sweet, and salty stimuli.Lingual fungiform papillae, containing taste cells, were obtained by biopsy from the two patients, and from three sour-normal individuals, and analyzed by RT-PCR. The following transcripts were undetectable in the patients, even after 50 cycles of amplification, but readily detectable in the sour-normal subjects: acid sensing ion channels (ASICs 1a, 1beta, 2a, 2b, and 3; and polycystic kidney disease (PKD channels PKD1L3 and PKD2L1. Patients and sour-normals expressed the taste-related phospholipase C-beta2, the delta-subunit of epithelial sodium channel (ENaC and the bitter receptor T2R14, as well as beta-actin. Genomic analysis of one patient, using buccal tissue, did not show absence of the genes for ASIC1a and PKD2L1. Immunohistochemistry of fungiform papillae from sour-normal subjects revealed labeling of taste bud cells by antibodies to ASICs 1a and 1beta, PKD2L1, phospholipase C-beta2, and delta-ENaC. An antibody to PKD1L3 labeled tissue outside taste bud cells.These data suggest a role for ASICs and PKDs in human sour perception. This is the first report of sour ageusia in humans, and the very existence of such individuals ("natural knockouts" suggests a cell lineage for sour that is independent of the other taste modalities.

"Differently normal" and "normally different": negotiations of female embodiment in women's accounts of 'atypical' sex development.

Science.gov (United States)

Guntram, Lisa

2013-12-01

During recent decades numerous feminist scholars have scrutinized the two-sex model and questioned its status in Western societies and medicine. Along the same line, increased attention has been paid to individuals' experiences of atypical sex development, also known as intersex or 'disorders of sex development' (DSD). Yet research on individuals' experiences of finding out about their atypical sex development in adolescence has been scarce. Against this backdrop, the present article analyses 23 in-depth interviews with women who in their teens found out about their atypical sex development. The interviews were conducted during 2009-2012 and the interviewees were all Swedish. Drawing on feminist research on female embodiment and social scientific studies on diagnosis, I examine how the women make sense of their bodies and situations. First, I aim to explore how the women construe normality as they negotiate female embodiment. Second, I aim to investigate how the divergent manners in which these negotiations are expressed can be further understood via the women's different access to a diagnosis. Through a thematic and interpretative analysis, I outline two negotiation strategies: the "differently normal" and the "normally different" strategy. In the former, the women present themselves as just slightly different from 'normal' women. In the latter, they stress that everyone is different in some manner and thereby claim normalcy. The analysis shows that access to diagnosis corresponds to the ways in which the women present themselves as "differently normal" and "normally different", thus shedding light on the complex role of diagnosis in their negotiations of female embodiment. It also reveals that the women make use of what they do have and how alignments with and work on norms interplay as normality is construed. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Oral epithelial stem cells – implications in normal development and cancer metastasis

Science.gov (United States)

Papagerakis, Silvana; Pannone, Giuseppe; Zheng, Li; About, Imad; Taqi, Nawar; Nguyen, Nghia P.T.; Matossian, Margarite; McAlpin, Blake; Santoro, Angela; McHugh, Jonathan; Prince, Mark E.; Papagerakis, Petros

2014-01-01

Oral mucosa is continuously exposed to environmental forces and has to be constantly renewed. Accordingly, the oral mucosa epithelium contains a large reservoir of epithelial stem cells necessary for tissue homeostasis. Despite considerable scientific advances in stem cell behavior in a number of tissues, fewer studies have been devoted to the stem cells in the oral epithelium. Most of oral mucosa stem cells studies are focused on identifying cancer stem cells (CSC) in oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCCs) among other head and neck cancers. OSCCs are the most prevalent epithelial tumors of the head and neck region, marked by their aggressiveness and invasiveness. Due to their highly tumorigenic properties, it has been suggested that CSC may be the critical population of cancer cells in the development of OSCC metastasis. This review presents a brief overview of epithelium stem cells with implications in oral health, and the clinical implications of the CSC concept in OSCC metastatic dissemination. PMID:24803391

A statistical analysis of count normalization methods used in positron-emission tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Holmes, T.J.; Ficke, D.C.; Snyder, D.L.

1984-01-01

As part of the Positron-Emission Tomography (PET) reconstruction process, annihilation counts are normalized for photon absorption, detector efficiency and detector-pair duty-cycle. Several normalization methods of time-of-flight and conventional systems are analyzed mathematically for count bias and variance. The results of the study have some implications on hardware and software complexity and on image noise and distortion

Variability of individual normal tissue radiation sensitivity. An international empirical evaluation of endogenous and exogenous

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zimmermann, J.S.; Kumpf, L.; Kimmig, B.

1998-01-01

Background: The variability of normal-tissue response is of major concern for radiation therapy. Multiple endogenous and exogenous factors are qualitatively known to alter the acute and late tissue response. Which of them are regarded most important by the European radiation oncologists and what is, empirically, their quantitative influence on the acute or late tissue tolerance? Methods: In August 1997, we sent a questionnaire to 255 European radiation oncology departments. Among others, the questionnaire asked for endogenous and exogenous factors modifying the tissue response to radiation therapy and their quantitative influence on the acute and late radiation morbidity (TD5/5). Fifty-five questionnaires (21.5%) were answered. Results: Empirically, the most important endogenous factors to modify the acute tissue tolerance are (a) metabolic/other diseases with macro- or microangiopathia (17 answers [a]/32% mean decrease of tissue tolerance), (b) collagen diseases (9 a/37%) and (c) immune diseases (5 a/53%). As endogenous response modifiers for the TD5/5 are recognized (a) metabolic or other diseases leading to marcro- or microangiopathia (15 a/31%), (b) collagen diseases (11 a/38%) and (c) immune diseases (2 a/50%). Inflammations from any reason are assumed to alter the acute tissue tolerance by (6 a/26%) and the TD5/5 by (10 a/24%). Exogenous modifiers of the acute tissue response mentioned are (a) smoking (34 a/44%), (b) alcohol (23 a/45%), (c) nutrition/diets (16 a/45%), (d) hygiene (9 a/26%) and (e) medical therapies (10 a/37%). Exogenous factors assumed to influence the TD5/5 are (a) smoking (22 a/40%), (b) alcohol (15 a/38%), (c) nutrition/diets (9 a/48%), (d) hygiene (5 a/34%) and (e) medical therapies (10 a/30%). Conclusions: Exogenous factors are regarded more important by number and extent on the acute and late tissue response than endogenous modifiers. Both may have an important influence on the individual expression of normal tissue response. (orig

CEBPG transcription factor correlates with antioxidant and DNA repair genes in normal bronchial epithelial cells but not in individuals with bronchogenic carcinoma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mullins, D'Anna N; Crawford, Erin L; Khuder, Sadik A; Hernandez, Dawn-Alita; Yoon, Youngsook; Willey, James C

2005-01-01

Cigarette smoking is the primary cause of bronchogenic carcinoma (BC), yet only 10–15% of heavy smokers develop BC and it is likely that this variation in risk is, in part, genetically determined. We previously reported a set of antioxidant genes for which transcript abundance was lower in normal bronchial epithelial cells (NBEC) of BC individuals compared to non-BC individuals. In unpublished studies of the same NBEC samples, transcript abundance values for several DNA repair genes were correlated with these antioxidant genes. From these data, we hypothesized that antioxidant and DNA repair genes are co-regulated by one or more transcription factors and that inter-individual variation in expression and/or function of one or more of these transcription factors is responsible for inter-individual variation in risk for BC. The putative transcription factor recognition sites common to six of the antioxidant genes were identified through in silico DNA sequence analysis. The transcript abundance values of these transcription factors (n = 6) and an expanded group of antioxidant and DNA repair genes (n = 16) were measured simultaneously by quantitative PCR in NBEC of 24 non-BC and 25 BC individuals. CEBPG transcription factor was significantly (p < 0.01) correlated with eight of the antioxidant or DNA repair genes in non-BC individuals but not in BC individuals. In BC individuals the correlation with CEBPG was significantly (p < 0.01) lower than that of non-BC individuals for four of the genes (XRCC1, ERCC5, GSTP1, and SOD1) and the difference was nearly significant for GPX1. The only other transcription factor correlated with any of these five target genes in non-BC individuals was E2F1. E2F1 was correlated with GSTP1 among non-BC individuals, but in contrast to CEBPG, there was no significant difference in this correlation in non-BC individuals compared to BC individuals. We conclude that CEBPG is the transcription factor primarily responsible for regulating

Spike persistence and normalization in benign epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes - Implications for management.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Hunmin; Kim, Soo Yeon; Lim, Byung Chan; Hwang, Hee; Chae, Jong-Hee; Choi, Jieun; Kim, Ki Joong; Dlugos, Dennis J

2018-05-10

This study was performed 1) to determine the timing of spike normalization in patients with benign epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes (BECTS); 2) to identify relationships between age of seizure onset, age of spike normalization, years of spike persistence and treatment; and 3) to assess final outcomes between groups of patients with or without spikes at the time of medication tapering. Retrospective analysis of BECTS patients confirmed by clinical data, including age of onset, seizure semiology and serial electroencephalography (EEG) from diagnosis to remission. Age at spike normalization, years of spike persistence, and time of treatment onset to spike normalization were assessed. Final seizure and EEG outcome were compared between the groups with or without spikes at the time of AED tapering. One hundred and thirty-four patients were included. Mean age at seizure onset was 7.52 ± 2.11 years. Mean age at spike normalization was 11.89 ± 2.11 (range: 6.3-16.8) years. Mean time of treatment onset to spike normalization was 4.11 ± 2.13 (range: 0.24-10.08) years. Younger age of seizure onset was correlated with longer duration of spike persistence (r = -0.41, p < 0.001). In treated patients, spikes persisted for 4.1 ± 1.95 years, compared with 2.9 ± 1.97 years in untreated patients. No patients had recurrent seizures after AED was discontinued, regardless of the presence/absence of spikes at time of AED tapering. Years of spike persistence was longer in early onset BECTS patients. Treatment with AEDs did not shorten years of spike persistence. Persistence of spikes at time of treatment withdrawal was not associated with seizure recurrence. Copyright © 2018 The Japanese Society of Child Neurology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Spatial selective auditory attention in the presence of reverberant energy: individual differences in normal-hearing listeners.

Science.gov (United States)

Ruggles, Dorea; Shinn-Cunningham, Barbara

2011-06-01

Listeners can selectively attend to a desired target by directing attention to known target source features, such as location or pitch. Reverberation, however, reduces the reliability of the cues that allow a target source to be segregated and selected from a sound mixture. Given this, it is likely that reverberant energy interferes with selective auditory attention. Anecdotal reports suggest that the ability to focus spatial auditory attention degrades even with early aging, yet there is little evidence that middle-aged listeners have behavioral deficits on tasks requiring selective auditory attention. The current study was designed to look for individual differences in selective attention ability and to see if any such differences correlate with age. Normal-hearing adults, ranging in age from 18 to 55 years, were asked to report a stream of digits located directly ahead in a simulated rectangular room. Simultaneous, competing masker digit streams were simulated at locations 15° left and right of center. The level of reverberation was varied to alter task difficulty by interfering with localization cues (increasing localization blur). Overall, performance was best in the anechoic condition and worst in the high-reverberation condition. Listeners nearly always reported a digit from one of the three competing streams, showing that reverberation did not render the digits unintelligible. Importantly, inter-subject differences were extremely large. These differences, however, were not significantly correlated with age, memory span, or hearing status. These results show that listeners with audiometrically normal pure tone thresholds differ in their ability to selectively attend to a desired source, a task important in everyday communication. Further work is necessary to determine if these differences arise from differences in peripheral auditory function or in more central function.

Are cancer cells really softer than normal cells?

Science.gov (United States)

Alibert, Charlotte; Goud, Bruno; Manneville, Jean-Baptiste

2017-05-01

Solid tumours are often first diagnosed by palpation, suggesting that the tumour is more rigid than its surrounding environment. Paradoxically, individual cancer cells appear to be softer than their healthy counterparts. In this review, we first list the physiological reasons indicating that cancer cells may be more deformable than normal cells. Next, we describe the biophysical tools that have been developed in recent years to characterise and model cancer cell mechanics. By reviewing the experimental studies that compared the mechanics of individual normal and cancer cells, we argue that cancer cells can indeed be considered as softer than normal cells. We then focus on the intracellular elements that could be responsible for the softening of cancer cells. Finally, we ask whether the mechanical differences between normal and cancer cells can be used as diagnostic or prognostic markers of cancer progression. © 2017 Société Française des Microscopies and Société de Biologie Cellulaire de France. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Comparison of Spiritual Intelligence and Mental Health in Addicts and Normal Individuals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M Raghibi

2010-09-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Substance abuse is a chronic phenomenon that affects mental and physical health and results in a lot of social, domestic and economic trauma. Methods: The samples included 80 addicts and 80 healthy individuals. The addicts were selected randomly from private and state remedy and rehabilitation centers of Zahedan city. Healthy individuals were matched with addicts in respect to age and sex and also selected randomly. Then, participants were assessed with The Spiritual Intelligence Self‐Report Inventory-24(SISI and General Health Questionnaire (GHQ. The data was analyzed with Pearson correlation coefficient and t test for independent groups. Results: There were significant differences in SISI scores and GHQ scores. Addicts scored lower in two scales. There was a significant positive correlation between SISI scores and GHQ scores and subscales of GHQ (P< 0.01 in two groups. Substance abuse affects mental and physical health. Individuals with lesser spiritual intelligence levels are more prone to addiction and maybe with higher levels of spiritual intelligence, we can prevent individuals from addiction.

Normal Weight Dyslipidemia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ipsen, David Hojland; Tveden-Nyborg, Pernille; Lykkesfeldt, Jens

2016-01-01

Objective: The liver coordinates lipid metabolism and may play a vital role in the development of dyslipidemia, even in the absence of obesity. Normal weight dyslipidemia (NWD) and patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) who do not have obesity constitute a unique subset...... of individuals characterized by dyslipidemia and metabolic deterioration. This review examined the available literature on the role of the liver in dyslipidemia and the metabolic characteristics of patients with NAFLD who do not have obesity. Methods: PubMed was searched using the following keywords: nonobese......, dyslipidemia, NAFLD, NWD, liver, and metabolically obese/unhealthy normal weight. Additionally, article bibliographies were screened, and relevant citations were retrieved. Studies were excluded if they had not measured relevant biomarkers of dyslipidemia. Results: NWD and NAFLD without obesity share a similar...

TNF signaling inhibition in the CNS: implications for normal brain function and neurodegenerative disease

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tansey Malú G

2008-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract The role of tumor necrosis factor (TNF as an immune mediator has long been appreciated but its function in the brain is still unclear. TNF receptor 1 (TNFR1 is expressed in most cell types, and can be activated by binding of either soluble TNF (solTNF or transmembrane TNF (tmTNF, with a preference for solTNF; whereas TNFR2 is expressed primarily by microglia and endothelial cells and is preferentially activated by tmTNF. Elevation of solTNF is a hallmark of acute and chronic neuroinflammation as well as a number of neurodegenerative conditions including ischemic stroke, Alzheimer's (AD, Parkinson's (PD, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, and multiple sclerosis (MS. The presence of this potent inflammatory factor at sites of injury implicates it as a mediator of neuronal damage and disease pathogenesis, making TNF an attractive target for therapeutic development to treat acute and chronic neurodegenerative conditions. However, new and old observations from animal models and clinical trials reviewed here suggest solTNF and tmTNF exert different functions under normal and pathological conditions in the CNS. A potential role for TNF in synaptic scaling and hippocampal neurogenesis demonstrated by recent studies suggest additional in-depth mechanistic studies are warranted to delineate the distinct functions of the two TNF ligands in different parts of the brain prior to large-scale development of anti-TNF therapies in the CNS. If inactivation of TNF-dependent inflammation in the brain is warranted by additional pre-clinical studies, selective targeting of TNFR1-mediated signaling while sparing TNFR2 activation may lessen adverse effects of anti-TNF therapies in the CNS.

Individual and societal consequences of hypoglycemia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dømgaard, Mikala; Bagger, Malene; Rhee, Nicolai Alexander

2015-01-01

BACKGROUND: Hypoglycemia and fear of hypoglycemia threaten individuals' ability to work and drive. We studied the effect of hypoglycemia on the individual and society, with a focus on possible implications of new European union legislation on patients' continued ability to drive. METHODS: A cross......-sectional survey of Danish Diabetes Association members was conducted to investigate individual and societal consequences of hypoglycemia. RESULTS: A total of 3117/9951 individuals with type 1 diabetes (T1DM) (32.2%) or type 2 diabetes (T2DM) (67.8%) completed the survey. The calculated incidence rates of self...

Effects of organophosphorus flame retardant TDCPP on normal human corneal epithelial cells: Implications for human health.

Science.gov (United States)

Xiang, Ping; Liu, Rong-Yan; Li, Chao; Gao, Peng; Cui, Xin-Yi; Ma, Lena Q

2017-11-01

Tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TDCPP) is one of the most detected organophosphorus flame retardants (OPFRs) in the environment, especially in indoor dust. Continuous daily exposure to TDCPP-containing dust may adversely impact human cornea. However, its detrimental effects on human corneal epithelium are largely unknown. In this study, we investigated the cell apoptosis in normal human corneal epithelial cells (HCECs) after TDCPP exposure and elucidated the underlying molecular mechanisms. Our data indicated a dose-dependent decrease of cell viability after TDCPP exposure with LC 50 at 202 μg/mL. A concentration-dependent apoptotic sign was observed in HCECs after exposing to ≥2 μg/mL TDCPP. Endoplasmic reticulum stress induction was evidenced by up-regulation of its biomarker genes (ATF-4, CHOP, BiP, and XBP1). Furthermore, alternation of Bcl-2/Bax expression, mitochondrial membrane potential loss, cellular ATP content decrease, and caspase-3 and -9 activity increase were observed after exposing to 2 or 20 μg/mL TDCPP. Taken together, the data implicated the involvement of endoplasmic reticulum stress in TDCPP-induced HCEC apoptosis, probably mediated by mitochondrial apoptotic pathway. Our findings showed TDCPP exposure induced toxicity to human cornea. Due to TDCPP's presence at high levels in indoor dust, further study is warranted to evaluate its health risk on human corneas. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Self-rated driving habits among older adults with clinically-defined mild cognitive impairment, clinically-defined dementia, and normal cognition.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Connor, Melissa L; Edwards, Jerri D; Bannon, Yvonne

2013-12-01

Older adults with clinically-defined dementia may report reducing their driving more than cognitively normal controls. However, it is unclear how these groups compare to individuals with clinically-defined mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in terms of driving behaviors. The current study investigated self-reported driving habits among adults age 60 and older with clinical MCI (n=41), clinical mild dementia (n=40), and normal cognition (n=43). Participants reported their driving status, driving frequency (days per week), and how often they avoided accessing the community, making left turns, driving at night, driving in unfamiliar areas, driving on high-traffic roads, and driving in bad weather. After adjusting for education, a MANCOVA revealed that participants with MCI and dementia avoided unfamiliar areas and high-traffic roads significantly more than normal participants. Participants with dementia also avoided left turns and accessing the community more than those with normal cognition and MCI (pdriving variables did not significantly differ between groups. Thus, older adults with clinically-defined MCI, as well as those with dementia, avoided some complex driving situations more than cognitively intact adults. However, all diagnostic groups had similar rates of driving cessation and frequency. Future research should examine the safety implications of such findings. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cochlear nucleus neuron analysis in individuals with presbycusis.

Science.gov (United States)

Hinojosa, Raul; Nelson, Erik G

2011-12-01

The aim of this study was to analyze the cochlear nucleus neuron population in individuals with normal hearing and presbycusis. Retrospective study of archival human temporal bone and brain stem tissues. Using strict inclusion criteria, the temporal bones and cochlear nuclei from six normal hearing individuals and four individuals with presbycusis were selected for analysis. The spiral ganglion cell population, the cochlear nucleus neuron population, and the cell body size of the neurons were quantified in these cases. A relationship was not observed between age and the spiral ganglion cell population in the normal hearing group. Presbycusis subjects exhibited a reduced spiral ganglion cell population. The mean cochlear nucleus neuron population was observed to be significantly higher in the presbycusis group (mean ± standard deviation: 114,170 ± 10,570) compared to the normal hearing group (91,470 ± 9,510) (P = .019). This difference was predominantly the result of greater multipolar and granule cell neuron populations. Only the fusiform neuron type exhibited a significantly different mean cell body cross-sectional area between the normal hearing group (242 ± 27) and the presbycusis group (300 ± 37) (P = .033). This investigation is the first time, to our knowledge, that the populations of the eight neuron types in the cochlear nucleus have been quantified in both normal hearing individuals and individuals with presbycusis. The data support the concept that presbycusis is not an effect of aging alone but instead may be a condition that predisposes one to hearing loss with advancing age and is characterized by a congenitally elevated cochlear nucleus neuron population. Copyright © 2011 The American Laryngological, Rhinological, and Otological Society, Inc.

Acute high-intensity interval exercise induces comparable levels of circulating cell-free DNA and Interleukin-6 in obese and normal-weight individuals.

Science.gov (United States)

Ferrandi, Peter J; Fico, Brandon G; Whitehurst, Michael; Zourdos, Michael C; Bao, Fanchen; Dodge, Katelyn M; Rodriguez, Alexandra L; Pena, Gabriel; Huang, Chun-Jung

2018-06-01

Obesity is associated with lipid aggregation in adipocytes and macrophage infiltration, leading to increased oxidative stress and inflammation. Increased cell-free DNA (cfDNA) concentrations have been observed in clinical conditions of systemic inflammation. While the beneficial effects of regular physical activity on the release of circulating cfDNA still remain unknown, acute intense exercise has been shown to increase inflammatory cytokines and cfDNA concentrations in normal-weight individuals. Therefore, the primary purpose of this study was to examine the effect of acute high-intensity interval Exercise (HIIE) on plasma cfDNA and interleukin-6 (IL-6) responses in obese and normal-weight subjects. Fourteen male subjects (7 obese and 7 normal-weight) participated in an acute HIIE protocol (30 min, 4x4min @ 80% - 90% of VO 2max ) on a treadmill. Between HIIE intervals, subjects performed 3 min of active recovery at 50-60% VO 2max . Blood samples were collected prior to, immediately following exercise, and one hour into recovery for measurements of plasma cfDNA and IL-6. Our results demonstrated a significant elevation in plasma cfDNA immediately following acute HIIE in both obese and normal-weight subjects. A comparable elevation in the concentration of plasma IL-6 was also found between two groups in response to acute HIIE. Furthermore, the level of plasma cfDNA was not correlated with IL-6 either at baseline or in response to acute HIIE. These findings may support the utilization of HIIE as a time-efficient exercise protocol to understand the obesity-associated cfDNA and inflammatory responses. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Comparison of SUVs normalized by lean body mass determined by CT with those normalized by lean body mass estimated by predictive equations in normal tissues

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Woo Hyoung; Kim, Chang Guhn; Kim, Dae Weung [Wonkwang Univ. School of Medicine, Iksan (Korea, Republic of)

2012-09-15

Standardized uptake values (SUVs)normalized by lean body mass (LBM)determined by CT were compared with those normalized by LBM estimated using predictive equations (PEs)in normal liver, spleen, and aorta using {sup 18}F FDG PET/CT. Fluorine 18 fluorodeoxyglucose (F FDG)positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT)was conducted on 453 patients. LBM determined by CT was defined in 3 ways (LBM{sup CT1}-3). Five PEs were used for comparison (LBM{sup PE1}-5). Tissue SUV normalized by LBM (SUL) was calculated using LBM from each method (SUL{sup CT1}-3, SUL{sup PE1}-5). Agreement between methods was assessed by Bland Altman analysis. Percentage difference and percentage error were also calculated. For all liver SUL{sup CTS} vs. liver SUL{sup PES} except liver SUL{sup PE3}, the range of biases, SDs of percentage difference and percentage errors were -0.17-0.24 SUL, 6.15-10.17%, and 25.07-38.91%, respectively. For liver SUL{sup CTs} vs. liver SUL{sup PE3}, the corresponding figures were 0.47-0.69 SUL, 10.90-11.25%, and 50.85-51.55%, respectively, showing the largest percentage errors and positive biases. Irrespective of magnitudes of the biases, large percentage errors of 25.07-51.55% were observed between liver SUL{sup CT1}-3 and liver SUL{sup PE1}-5. The results of spleen and aorta SUL{sup CTs} and SUL{sup PEs} comparison were almost identical to those for liver. The present study demonstrated substantial errors in individual SUL{sup PEs} compared with SUL{sup CTs} as a reference value. Normalization of SUV by LBM determined by CT rather than PEs may be a useful approach to reduce errors in individual SUL{sup PEs}.

Comparison of SUVs normalized by lean body mass determined by CT with those normalized by lean body mass estimated by predictive equations in normal tissues

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Woo Hyoung; Kim, Chang Guhn; Kim, Dae Weung

2012-01-01

Standardized uptake values (SUVs)normalized by lean body mass (LBM)determined by CT were compared with those normalized by LBM estimated using predictive equations (PEs)in normal liver, spleen, and aorta using 18 F FDG PET/CT. Fluorine 18 fluorodeoxyglucose (F FDG)positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT)was conducted on 453 patients. LBM determined by CT was defined in 3 ways (LBM CT1 -3). Five PEs were used for comparison (LBM PE1 -5). Tissue SUV normalized by LBM (SUL) was calculated using LBM from each method (SUL CT1 -3, SUL PE1 -5). Agreement between methods was assessed by Bland Altman analysis. Percentage difference and percentage error were also calculated. For all liver SUL CTS vs. liver SUL PES except liver SUL PE3 , the range of biases, SDs of percentage difference and percentage errors were -0.17-0.24 SUL, 6.15-10.17%, and 25.07-38.91%, respectively. For liver SUL CTs vs. liver SUL PE3 , the corresponding figures were 0.47-0.69 SUL, 10.90-11.25%, and 50.85-51.55%, respectively, showing the largest percentage errors and positive biases. Irrespective of magnitudes of the biases, large percentage errors of 25.07-51.55% were observed between liver SUL CT1 -3 and liver SUL PE1 -5. The results of spleen and aorta SUL CTs and SUL PEs comparison were almost identical to those for liver. The present study demonstrated substantial errors in individual SUL PEs compared with SUL CTs as a reference value. Normalization of SUV by LBM determined by CT rather than PEs may be a useful approach to reduce errors in individual SUL PEs

The thoracic paraspinal shadow: normal appearances.

Science.gov (United States)

Lien, H H; Kolbenstvedt, A

1982-01-01

The width of the right and left thoracic paraspinal shadows were measured at all levels in 200 presumably normal individuals. The paraspinal shadow could be identified in nearly all cases on the left side and in approximately one-third on the right. The range of variation was greater on the left side than one the right. The left paraspinal shadow was wider at the upper levels and in individuals above 40 years of age.

The implications of autoantibodies to a single islet antigen in relatives with normal glucose tolerance: development of other autoantibodies and progression to type 1 diabetes.

Science.gov (United States)

Bingley, Polly J; Boulware, David C; Krischer, Jeffrey P

2016-03-01

Autoantibodies directed at single islet autoantigens are associated with lower overall risk of type 1 diabetes than multiple autoantibodies, but individuals with one autoantibody may progress to higher risk categories. We examined the characteristics of this progression in relatives followed prospectively in the TrialNet Pathway to Prevention. The study population comprised 983 relatives who were single autoantibody positive with normal baseline glucose tolerance (median age 16.2 years). Samples were screened for antibodies to GAD, insulinoma-associated antigen 2 (IA-2) and insulin, and all positive samples tested for antibodies to zinc transporter 8 and islet cell antibodies. Antibodies to at least one additional islet autoantigen appeared in 118 of 983 relatives (overall 5 year risk 22%, 95% CI [17.9, 26.1]). At baseline, antibodies to GAD alone (68%) were more frequent than antibodies to insulin (26%) or IA-2 (6%), but all were associated with a similar risk of developing additional autoantibodies. Risk was associated with younger age (p = 0.002) and HLA class II genotype, but was similar in high and intermediate genetic risk groups (p = 0.65). Relatives who became multiple autoantibody positive during the follow-up had increased risk of developing diabetes comparable with the risk in relatives with multiple autoantibodies at study entry. Progression of islet autoimmunity in single autoantibody positive relatives in late childhood/adult life is associated with a predominance of autoantibodies to GAD and a distinct HLA risk profile. This heterogeneity in type 1 diabetes autoimmunity has potentially important implications for disease prevention.

Individualizing Medicare.

Science.gov (United States)

Chollet, D J

1999-05-01

Despite the enactment of significant changes to the Medicare program in 1997, Medicare's Hospital Insurance trust fund is projected to be exhausted just as the baby boom enters retirement. To address Medicare's financial difficulties, a number of reform proposals have been offered, including several to individualize Medicare financing and benefits. These proposals would attempt to increase Medicare revenues and reduce Medicare expenditures by having individuals bear risk--investment market risk before retirement and insurance market risk after retirement. Many fundamental aspects of these proposals have yet to be worked out, including how to guarantee a baseline level of saving for health insurance after retirement, how retirees might finance unanticipated health insurance price increases after retirement, the potential implications for Medicaid of inadequate individual saving, and whether the administrative cost of making the system fair and adequate ultimately would eliminate any rate-of-return advantages from allowing workers to invest their Medicare contributions in corporate stocks and bonds.

An experimental study on the normal stress of magnetorheological fluids

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jiang, Jile; Tian, Yu; Ren, Dongxue; Meng, Yonggang

2011-01-01

The dependence of the normal stress on the shear rate and magnetic field strength in the shear flow of magnetorheological (MR) fluids has been studied experimentally. An obvious normal stress could be observed when the applied magnetic field was higher than a critical value. The normal stress increases considerably with increase of the shear rate and magnetic field, and decreases suddenly and significantly upon the onset of shear thickening in MR fluids. The ratio of shear stress to normal stress, an analogue of the friction coefficient, increases with increase of the shear rate, but decreases with increase of the applied magnetic field. Along with the shear stress, the normal stress in MR fluids could provide a more comprehensive understanding of the MR effect, and the evolution of the particle structure in shear flow, and may have important implications for preparing high performance magnetostrictive elastomers with high force output along the magnetic field direction

X-ray emssion from normal galaxies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Speybroeck, L. van; Bechtold, J.

1981-01-01

A summary of results obtained with the Einstein Observatory is presented. There are two general categories of normal galaxy investigation being pursued - detailed studies of nearby galaxies where individual sources can be detected and possibly correlated with galactic morphology, and shorter observations of many more distant objects to determine the total luminosity distribution of normal galaxies. The principal examples of the first type are the CFA study of M31 and the Columbia study of the Large Magellanic Cloud. The Columbia normal galaxy survey is the principal example of the second type, although there also are smaller CFA programs concentrating on early galaxies and peculiar galaxies, and MIT has observed some members of the local group. (Auth.)

Implications of the simultaneous occurrence of glycolysis and gluconeogenesis in hepatocytes from normal and hyperthyroid rats

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Phillips, J.W.; Berry, M.N.

2001-01-01

The mammalian liver has the capability for both glycolysis and gluconeogenesis. In the fasting state, metabolites such as lactate and glycerol, generated in the peripheral tissues, are taken up by the liver and converted to glucose. However, hepatocytes from fasted animals are also capable of substantial rates of glycolysis. It is generally assumed that glycolysis and gluconeogenesis do not occur simultaneously in the same cell, but rather the metabolic conditions that facilitate flux through one pathway impair flow in the opposite direction. The actual direction of flow at any given moment is thought to be determined by regulatory mechanisms that control flux through the enzymatic steps specific to glycolysis and gluconeogenesis. The rates of glycolysis from [6- 3 H]glucose and gluconeogenesis from [U- 14 C]glycerol were determined in isolated hepatocytes from fasted normal and hyperthyroid rats. We observed that glycolysis from glucose and glucose synthesis from glycerol occurred simultaneously at substantial rates in hepatocytes from normal rats and that gluconeogenesis, but not glycolysis, was increased twofold in hepatocytes from thyroid treated rats. In the hyperthyroid state, the rate of glycolysis from glucose was approximately equal to the rate of glucose formation from glycerol. Hence, metabolism and ATP turnover were stimulated without substantially altering steady-state concentrations of glucose. The concomitant operation of hepatic glycolysis and gluconeogenesis may be a mechanism that accounts in part for the calorigenic effect of thyroid hormone. Since hepatocyles are generally impermeable to phosphorylated metabolites, our observations suggest that glycolysis, and phosphorylation of glycerol take place in the same cells, and that the occurrence of simultaneous glycolysis and gluconeogenesis is an indication of channelling within the hepatocyte cytoplasm of individual hepatocytes

Higher Levels of Albuminuria within the Normal Range Predict Incident Hypertension

OpenAIRE

Forman, John P.; Fisher, Naomi D.L.; Schopick, Emily L.; Curhan, Gary C.

2008-01-01

Higher levels of albumin excretion within the normal range are associated with cardiovascular disease in high-risk individuals. Whether incremental increases in urinary albumin excretion, even within the normal range, are associated with the development of hypertension in low-risk individuals is unknown. This study included 1065 postmenopausal women from the first Nurses’ Health Study and 1114 premenopausal women from the second Nurses’ Health Study who had an albumin/creatinine ratio

CT and MRI normal findings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moeller, T.B.; Reif, E.

1998-01-01

This book gives answers to questions frequently heard especially from trainees and doctors not specialising in the field of radiology: Is that a normal finding? How do I decide? What are the objective criteria? The information presented is three-fold. The normal findings of the usual CT and MRI examinations are shown with high-quality pictures serving as a reference, with inscribed important additional information on measures, angles and other criteria describing the normal conditions. These criteria are further explained and evaluated in accompanying texts which also teach the systematic approach for individual picture analysis, and include a check list of major aspects, as a didactic guide for learning. The book is primarily intended for students, radiographers, radiology trainees and doctors from other medical fields, but radiology specialists will also find useful details of help in special cases. (orig./CB) [de

Natural autoantibodies and complement promote the uptake of a self antigen, human thyroglobulin, by B cells and the proliferation of thyroglobulin-reactive CD4(+) T cells in healthy individuals

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, C H; Leslie, R G; Jepsen, B S

2001-01-01

Serum from normal individuals contains substantial amounts of natural antibodies (NA) capable of recognizing self antigens. However, the physiological implications of this autoreactivity remain unclear. We have examined the role of self-reactive NA and complement in mediating the uptake of human...... cells are prerequisites for the proliferation of Tg-reactive CD4(+) T cells, suggesting a novel role for natural autoantibodies and complement in the regulation of autoreactivity under physiological conditions....

Forced Normalization: Antagonism Between Epilepsy and Psychosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Kawakami, Yasuhiko; Itoh, Yasuhiko

2017-05-01

The antagonism between epilepsy and psychosis has been discussed for a long time. Landolt coined the term "forced normalization" in the 1950s to describe psychotic episodes associated with the remission of seizures and disappearance of epileptiform activity on electroencephalograms in individuals with epilepsy. Since then, neurologists and psychiatrists have been intrigued by this phenomenon. However, although collaborative clinical studies and basic experimental researches have been performed, the mechanism of forced normalization remains unknown. In this review article, we present a historical overview of the concept of forced normalization, and discuss potential pathogenic mechanisms and clinical diagnosis. We also discuss the role of dopamine, which appears to be a key factor in the mechanism of forced normalization. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Normalization of similarity-based individual brain networks from gray matter MRI and its association with neurodevelopment in infants with intrauterine growth restriction.

Science.gov (United States)

Batalle, Dafnis; Muñoz-Moreno, Emma; Figueras, Francesc; Bargallo, Nuria; Eixarch, Elisenda; Gratacos, Eduard

2013-12-01

Obtaining individual biomarkers for the prediction of altered neurological outcome is a challenge of modern medicine and neuroscience. Connectomics based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) stands as a good candidate to exhaustively extract information from MRI by integrating the information obtained in a few network features that can be used as individual biomarkers of neurological outcome. However, this approach typically requires the use of diffusion and/or functional MRI to extract individual brain networks, which require high acquisition times and present an extreme sensitivity to motion artifacts, critical problems when scanning fetuses and infants. Extraction of individual networks based on morphological similarity from gray matter is a new approach that benefits from the power of graph theory analysis to describe gray matter morphology as a large-scale morphological network from a typical clinical anatomic acquisition such as T1-weighted MRI. In the present paper we propose a methodology to normalize these large-scale morphological networks to a brain network with standardized size based on a parcellation scheme. The proposed methodology was applied to reconstruct individual brain networks of 63 one-year-old infants, 41 infants with intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) and 22 controls, showing altered network features in the IUGR group, and their association with neurodevelopmental outcome at two years of age by means of ordinal regression analysis of the network features obtained with Bayley Scale for Infant and Toddler Development, third edition. Although it must be more widely assessed, this methodology stands as a good candidate for the development of biomarkers for altered neurodevelopment in the pediatric population. © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Confirming the diversity of the brain after normalization: an approach based on identity authentication.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fanglin Chen

Full Text Available During the development of neuroimaging, numerous analyses were performed to identify population differences, such as studies on age, gender, and diseases. Researchers first normalized the brain image and then identified features that represent key differences between groups. In these studies, the question of whether normalization (a pre-processing step widely used in neuroimaging studies reduces the diversity of brains was largely ignored. There are a few studies that identify the differences between individuals after normalization. In the current study, we analyzed brain diversity on an individual level, both qualitatively and quantitatively. The main idea was to utilize brain images for identity authentication. First, the brain images were normalized and registered. Then, a pixel-level matching method was developed to compute the identity difference between different images for matching. Finally, by analyzing the performance of the proposed brain recognition strategy, the individual differences in brain images were evaluated. Experimental results on a 150-subject database showed that the proposed approach could achieve a 100% identification ratio, which indicated distinct differences between individuals after normalization. Thus, the results proved that after the normalization stage, brain images retain their main distinguishing information and features. Based on this result, we suggest that diversity (individual differences should be considered when conducting group analysis, and that this approach may facilitate group pattern classification.

Sample normalization methods in quantitative metabolomics.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Yiman; Li, Liang

2016-01-22

To reveal metabolomic changes caused by a biological event in quantitative metabolomics, it is critical to use an analytical tool that can perform accurate and precise quantification to examine the true concentration differences of individual metabolites found in different samples. A number of steps are involved in metabolomic analysis including pre-analytical work (e.g., sample collection and storage), analytical work (e.g., sample analysis) and data analysis (e.g., feature extraction and quantification). Each one of them can influence the quantitative results significantly and thus should be performed with great care. Among them, the total sample amount or concentration of metabolites can be significantly different from one sample to another. Thus, it is critical to reduce or eliminate the effect of total sample amount variation on quantification of individual metabolites. In this review, we describe the importance of sample normalization in the analytical workflow with a focus on mass spectrometry (MS)-based platforms, discuss a number of methods recently reported in the literature and comment on their applicability in real world metabolomics applications. Sample normalization has been sometimes ignored in metabolomics, partially due to the lack of a convenient means of performing sample normalization. We show that several methods are now available and sample normalization should be performed in quantitative metabolomics where the analyzed samples have significant variations in total sample amounts. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Comparative polymorphism of BAT-26 between healthy individuals and cancer patients and its cancer risk implication for local Chinese.

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Yanying; Liu, Li; Sun, Yi; Chen, Jie; Wang, Jianrong; Zhu, Changle; Lai, Rensheng; Xie, Ling

2016-07-30

BAT-26 is one of the representative markers for microsatellite instability evaluation and presents different polymorphisms in different ethnic populations. The current knowledge of its comparative polymorphism between healthy individuals and cancer patients in the Chinese population is insufficient. This study aims to analyze germline polymorphic variations of BAT-26 between healthy individuals and cancer patients in Chinese from Jiangsu province and the associated cancer risk implications. The various BAT-26 alleles and their percentages in cervical cells from 500 healthy women were assessed by direct sequencing. Twenty of these samples were also analyzed by fragment analysis. BAT-26 of blood DNA from 24 healthy individuals and 247 cancer patients was analyzed by fragment analysis. Compared with the sequencing results, 122.6-122.9 bp, 123.4-123.8 bp and 124.1-124.8 bp corresponded to the A25, A26 and A27 alleles, respectively. The 524 healthy individuals showed 4.58%, 92.18% and 3.24% of A25, A26 and A27, respectively. The variant alleles A18, A24, A28, A29 and A32 were only found in cancer patients, accounting for 0.81%, 0.40%, 0.40%, 0.40% and 0.40%, respectively; the A25, A26 and A27 alleles in cancer patients accounted for 6.48%, 77.33% and 13.77%. Healthy individuals had a stable BAT-26 profile within the quasimonomorphic variation range (QMVR), but cancer patients harbored variant alleles outside QMVR and showed a trend from quasimonomorph to polymonomorph, suggesting that variant alleles of BAT-26 in germline cells may be regarded as a potential marker of higher cancer risk in the Chinese population from Jiangsu province.

The embodied and relational nature of the mind: implications for clinical interventions in aging individuals and populations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rejeski WJ

2013-06-01

Full Text Available W Jack Rejeski,1 Lise Gauvin2 1Department of Health and Exercise Science and Department of Geriatric Medicine, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, USA; 2Research Center of the University of Montréal Hospital Center, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada Abstract: Considerable research over the past decade has garnered support for the notion that the mind is both embodied and relational. Jointly, these terms imply that the brain, physical attributes of the self, and features of our interpersonal relationships and of the environments in which we live jointly regulate energy and information flow; they codetermine how we think, feel, and behave both individually and collectively. In addition to direct experience, evidence supports the view that stimuli embedded within past memories trigger multimodal simulations throughout the body and brain to literally recreate lived experience. In this paper, we review empirical support for the concept of an embodied and relational mind and then reflect on the implications of this perspective for clinical interventions in aging individuals and populations. Data suggest that environmental influences literally “get under the skin” with aging; that musculoskeletal and visceral sensations become more prominent in activities of the mind due to aging biological systems and chronic disease. We argue that conceiving the mind as embodied and relational will grow scientific inquiry in aging, transform how we think about the self-system and well-being, and lead us to rethink health promotion interventions aimed at aging individuals and populations. Keywords: behavior change, gerontology, disablement, well-being, embodiment

Electrophysiological indices of visual food cue-reactivity. Differences in obese, overweight and normal weight women.

Science.gov (United States)

Hume, David John; Howells, Fleur Margaret; Rauch, H G Laurie; Kroff, Jacolene; Lambert, Estelle Victoria

2015-02-01

Heightened food cue-reactivity in overweight and obese individuals has been related to aberrant functioning of neural circuitry implicated in motivational behaviours and reward-seeking. Here we explore the neurophysiology of visual food cue-reactivity in overweight and obese women, as compared with normal weight women, by assessing differences in cortical arousal and attentional processing elicited by food and neutral image inserts in a Stroop task with record of EEG spectral band power and ERP responses. Results show excess right frontal (F8) and left central (C3) relative beta band activity in overweight women during food task performance (indicative of pronounced early visual cue-reactivity) and blunted prefrontal (Fp1 and Fp2) theta band activity in obese women during office task performance (suggestive of executive dysfunction). Moreover, as compared to normal weight women, food images elicited greater right parietal (P4) ERP P200 amplitude in overweight women (denoting pronounced early attentional processing) and shorter right parietal (P4) ERP P300 latency in obese women (signifying enhanced and efficient maintained attentional processing). Differential measures of cortical arousal and attentional processing showed significant correlations with self-reported eating behaviour and body shape dissatisfaction, as well as with objectively assessed percent fat mass. The findings of the present study suggest that heightened food cue-reactivity can be neurophysiologically measured, that different neural circuits are implicated in the pathogenesis of overweight and obesity, and that EEG techniques may serve useful in the identification of endophenotypic markers associated with an increased risk of externally mediated food consumption. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

>From individual choice to group decision-making

Science.gov (United States)

Galam, Serge; Zucker, Jean-Daniel

2000-12-01

Some universal features are independent of both the social nature of the individuals making the decision and the nature of the decision itself. On this basis a simple magnet like model is built. Pair interactions are introduced to measure the degree of exchange among individuals while discussing. An external uniform field is included to account for a possible pressure from outside. Individual biases with respect to the issue at stake are also included using local random fields. A unique postulate of minimum conflict is assumed. The model is then solved with emphasis on its psycho-sociological implications. Counter-intuitive results are obtained. At this stage no new physical technicality is involved. Instead the full psycho-sociological implications of the model are drawn. Few cases are then detailed to enlight them. In addition, several numerical experiments based on our model are shown to give both an insight on the dynamics of the model and suggest further research directions.

Mental Health Stigma: Society, Individuals, and the Profession

OpenAIRE

Ahmedani, Brian K.

2011-01-01

Mental health stigma operates in society, is internalized by individuals, and is attributed by health professionals. This ethics-laden issue acts as a barrier to individuals who may seek or engage in treatment services. The dimensions, theory, and epistemology of mental health stigma have several implications for the social work profession.

"I Treat Him as a Normal Patient": Unveiling the Normalization Coping Strategy Among Formal Caregivers of Persons With Dementia and Its Implications for Person-Centered Care.

Science.gov (United States)

Bentwich, Miriam Ethel; Dickman, Nomy; Oberman, Amitai; Bokek-Cohen, Ya'arit

2017-11-01

Currently, 47 million people have dementia, worldwide, often requiring paid care by formal caregivers. Research regarding family caregivers suggests normalization as a model for coping with negative emotional outcomes in caring for a person with dementia (PWD). The study aims to explore whether normalization coping mechanism exists among formal caregivers, reveal differences in its application among cross-cultural caregivers, and examine how this coping mechanism may be related to implementing person-centered care for PWDs. Content analysis of interviews with 20 formal caregivers from three cultural groups (Jews born in Israel [JI], Arabs born in Israel [AI], Russian immigrants [RI]), attending to PWDs. We extracted five normalization modes, revealing AI caregivers had substantially more utterances of normalization expressions than their colleagues. The normalization modes most commonly expressed by AI caregivers relate to the personhood of PWDs. These normalization modes may enhance formal caregivers' ability to employ person-centered care.

Objective and quantitative equilibriometric evaluation of individual locomotor behaviour in schizophrenia: Translational and clinical implications.

Science.gov (United States)

Haralanov, Svetlozar; Haralanova, Evelina; Milushev, Emil; Shkodrova, Diana; Claussen, Claus-Frenz

2018-04-17

Psychiatry is the only medical specialty that lacks clinically applicable biomarkers for objective evaluation of the existing pathology at a single-patient level. On the basis of an original translational equilibriometric method for evaluation of movement patterns, we have introduced in the everyday clinical practice of psychiatry an easy-to-perform computerized objective quantification of the individual locomotor behaviour during execution of the Unterberger stepping test. For the last 20 years, we have gradually collected a large database of more than 1000 schizophrenic patients, their relatives, and matched psychiatric, neurological, and healthy controls via cross-sectional and longitudinal investigations. Comparative analyses revealed transdiagnostic locomotor similarities among schizophrenic patients, high-risk schizotaxic individuals, and neurological patients with multiple sclerosis and cerebellar ataxia, thus suggesting common underlying brain mechanisms. In parallel, intradiagnostic dissimilarities were revealed, which allow to separate out subclinical locomotor subgroups within the diagnostic categories. Prototypical qualitative (dysmetric and ataxic) locomotor abnormalities in schizophrenic patients were differentiated from 2 atypical quantitative ones, manifested as either hypolocomotion or hyperlocomotion. Theoretical analyses suggested that these 3 subtypes of locomotor abnormalities could be conceived as objectively measurable biomarkers of 3 schizophrenic subgroups with dissimilar brain mechanisms, which require different treatment strategies. Analogies with the prominent role of locomotor measures in some well-known animal models of mental disorders advocate for a promising objective translational research in the so far over-subjective field of psychiatry. Distinctions among prototypical, atypical, and diagnostic biomarkers, as well as between neuromotor and psychomotor locomotor abnormalities, are discussed. Conclusions are drawn about the

TP53 mutations in clinically normal mucosa adjacent to oral carcinomas

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thode, Christenze; Bilde, Anders; von Buchwald, Christian

2010-01-01

BACKGROUND: The tumour-suppressor protein p53 often accumulates in histologically normal epithelium adjacent to oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC). We investigated whether this was associated with mutations in TP53, the gene for p53, and might implicate impending malignancy. METHODS: Specimens...... products were separated by denatured gradient gel electrophoresis. Fragments with a deviant DGEE pattern were sequenced. RESULTS: TP53 mutations were found in six of 18 tumours. Fourteen specimens contained histologically normal mucosa adjacent to the tumour; 13 of these showed small clusters of p53...

Reproducibility of isometric shoulder protraction and retraction strength measurements in normal subjects and individuals with winged scapula.

Science.gov (United States)

Oh, Jae-Seop; Kang, Min-Hyeok; Dvir, Zeevi

2016-11-01

The strength of the shoulder protractors and retractors may be compromised in individuals with winged scapula (IwWS). However, no standard approach to measuring the strength of these muscles has been described. The aim of this study was to study the intra-rater and inter-rater reproducibility of a fixed-base isometric dynamometer and to describe cutoff scores for clinically meaningful change for protraction and retraction isometric strength. Twice during a week, 20 normal subjects and 20 IwWS were tested by 2 independent raters. IwWS were significantly weaker (P isometric strength. Excellent intra-rater and inter-rater correlations were obtained in most combinations, leading to low cutoff scores for meaningful change expressed in terms of the smallest real difference. When it is properly used, the technique described in this paper is recommended as an effective clinical tool for the quantitative assessment of protraction and retraction isometric strength, both for status determination and for monitoring of change in IwWS during and after rehabilitation. Copyright © 2016 Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery Board of Trustees. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Multiple Epstein-Barr virus infections in healthy individuals

Science.gov (United States)

Walling, Dennis M.; Brown, Abigail L.; Etienne, Wiguins; Keitel, Wendy A.; Ling, Paul D.; Butel, J. S. (Principal Investigator)

2003-01-01

We employed a newly developed genotyping technique with direct representational detection of LMP-1 gene sequences to study the molecular epidemiology of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection in healthy individuals. Infections with up to five different EBV genotypes were found in two of nine individuals studied. These results support the hypothesis that multiple EBV infections of healthy individuals are common. The implications for the development of an EBV vaccine are discussed.

Mental Health Stigma: Society, Individuals, and the Profession

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmedani, Brian K.

2011-01-01

Mental health stigma operates in society, is internalized by individuals, and is attributed by health professionals. This ethics-laden issue acts as a barrier to individuals who may seek or engage in treatment services. The dimensions, theory, and epistemology of mental health stigma have several implications for the social work profession. PMID:22211117

Trace element determinations in brain tissues from normal and clinically demented individuals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saiki, Mitiko; Genezini, Frederico A.; Leite, Renata E.P.; Grinberg, Lea T.; Ferretti, Renata E.L.; Suemoto, Claudia; Pasqualucci, Carlos A.; Jacob-Filho, Wilson

2013-01-01

Studies on trace element levels in human brains under normal and pathological conditions have indicated a possible correlation between some trace element concentrations and neurodegenerative diseases. In this study, analysis of brain tissues was carried out to investigate if there are any differences in elemental concentrations between brain tissues from a normal population above 50 years of age presenting Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) equal to zero (CDR=0) and that cognitively affected population ( CDR=3). The tissues were dissected, ground, freeze-dried and then analyzed by instrumental neutron activation analysis. Samples and elemental standards were irradiated in a neutron flux at the IEA-R1 nuclear research reactor for Br, Fe, K, Na, Rb, Se and Zn determinations. The induced gamma ray activities were measured using a hyperpure Ge detector coupled to a gamma ray spectrometer. The one-way ANOVA test (p< 0.05) was used to compare the results. All the elements determined in the hippocampus brain region presented differences between the groups presenting CDR=0 and CDR=3. In the case of frontal region only the elements Na, Rb and Zn showed differences between these two groups. These findings proved the correlation between elemental levels present in brain tissues neurodegenerative diseases. Biological standard reference materials SRM 1566b Oyster Tissue and SRM 1577b Bovine Liver analyzed for quality control indicated good accuracy and precision of the results. (author)

Is the assumption of normality or log-normality for continuous response data critical for benchmark dose estimation?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shao, Kan; Gift, Jeffrey S.; Setzer, R. Woodrow

2013-01-01

Continuous responses (e.g. body weight) are widely used in risk assessment for determining the benchmark dose (BMD) which is used to derive a U.S. EPA reference dose. One critical question that is not often addressed in dose–response assessments is whether to model the continuous data as normally or log-normally distributed. Additionally, if lognormality is assumed, and only summarized response data (i.e., mean ± standard deviation) are available as is usual in the peer-reviewed literature, the BMD can only be approximated. In this study, using the “hybrid” method and relative deviation approach, we first evaluate six representative continuous dose–response datasets reporting individual animal responses to investigate the impact on BMD/BMDL estimates of (1) the distribution assumption and (2) the use of summarized versus individual animal data when a log-normal distribution is assumed. We also conduct simulation studies evaluating model fits to various known distributions to investigate whether the distribution assumption has influence on BMD/BMDL estimates. Our results indicate that BMDs estimated using the hybrid method are more sensitive to the distribution assumption than counterpart BMDs estimated using the relative deviation approach. The choice of distribution assumption has limited impact on the BMD/BMDL estimates when the within dose-group variance is small, while the lognormality assumption is a better choice for relative deviation method when data are more skewed because of its appropriateness in describing the relationship between mean and standard deviation. Additionally, the results suggest that the use of summarized data versus individual response data to characterize log-normal distributions has minimal impact on BMD estimates. - Highlights: • We investigate to what extent the distribution assumption can affect BMD estimates. • Both real data analysis and simulation study are conducted. • BMDs estimated using hybrid method are more

Is the assumption of normality or log-normality for continuous response data critical for benchmark dose estimation?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shao, Kan, E-mail: Shao.Kan@epa.gov [ORISE Postdoctoral Fellow, National Center for Environmental Assessment, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC (United States); Gift, Jeffrey S. [National Center for Environmental Assessment, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC (United States); Setzer, R. Woodrow [National Center for Computational Toxicology, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC (United States)

2013-11-01

Continuous responses (e.g. body weight) are widely used in risk assessment for determining the benchmark dose (BMD) which is used to derive a U.S. EPA reference dose. One critical question that is not often addressed in dose–response assessments is whether to model the continuous data as normally or log-normally distributed. Additionally, if lognormality is assumed, and only summarized response data (i.e., mean ± standard deviation) are available as is usual in the peer-reviewed literature, the BMD can only be approximated. In this study, using the “hybrid” method and relative deviation approach, we first evaluate six representative continuous dose–response datasets reporting individual animal responses to investigate the impact on BMD/BMDL estimates of (1) the distribution assumption and (2) the use of summarized versus individual animal data when a log-normal distribution is assumed. We also conduct simulation studies evaluating model fits to various known distributions to investigate whether the distribution assumption has influence on BMD/BMDL estimates. Our results indicate that BMDs estimated using the hybrid method are more sensitive to the distribution assumption than counterpart BMDs estimated using the relative deviation approach. The choice of distribution assumption has limited impact on the BMD/BMDL estimates when the within dose-group variance is small, while the lognormality assumption is a better choice for relative deviation method when data are more skewed because of its appropriateness in describing the relationship between mean and standard deviation. Additionally, the results suggest that the use of summarized data versus individual response data to characterize log-normal distributions has minimal impact on BMD estimates. - Highlights: • We investigate to what extent the distribution assumption can affect BMD estimates. • Both real data analysis and simulation study are conducted. • BMDs estimated using hybrid method are more

Spinal cord normalization in multiple sclerosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Oh, Jiwon; Seigo, Michaela; Saidha, Shiv; Sotirchos, Elias; Zackowski, Kathy; Chen, Min; Prince, Jerry; Diener-West, Marie; Calabresi, Peter A; Reich, Daniel S

2014-01-01

Spinal cord (SC) pathology is common in multiple sclerosis (MS), and measures of SC-atrophy are increasingly utilized. Normalization reduces biological variation of structural measurements unrelated to disease, but optimal parameters for SC volume (SCV)-normalization remain unclear. Using a variety of normalization factors and clinical measures, we assessed the effect of SCV normalization on detecting group differences and clarifying clinical-radiological correlations in MS. 3T cervical SC-MRI was performed in 133 MS cases and 11 healthy controls (HC). Clinical assessment included expanded disability status scale (EDSS), MS functional composite (MSFC), quantitative hip-flexion strength ("strength"), and vibration sensation threshold ("vibration"). SCV between C3 and C4 was measured and normalized individually by subject height, SC-length, and intracranial volume (ICV). There were group differences in raw-SCV and after normalization by height and length (MS vs. HC; progressive vs. relapsing MS-subtypes, P normalization by length (EDSS:r = -.43; MSFC:r = .33; strength:r = .38; vibration:r = -.40), and height (EDSS:r = -.26; MSFC:r = .28; strength:r = .22; vibration:r = -.29), but diminished with normalization by ICV (EDSS:r = -.23; MSFC:r = -.10; strength:r = .23; vibration:r = -.35). In relapsing MS, normalization by length allowed statistical detection of correlations that were not apparent with raw-SCV. SCV-normalization by length improves the ability to detect group differences, strengthens clinical-radiological correlations, and is particularly relevant in settings of subtle disease-related SC-atrophy in MS. SCV-normalization by length may enhance the clinical utility of measures of SC-atrophy. Copyright © 2014 by the American Society of Neuroimaging.

Normal-range verbal-declarative memory in schizophrenia.

Science.gov (United States)

Heinrichs, R Walter; Parlar, Melissa; Pinnock, Farena

2017-10-01

Cognitive impairment is prevalent and related to functional outcome in schizophrenia, but a significant minority of the patient population overlaps with healthy controls on many performance measures, including declarative-verbal-memory tasks. In this study, we assessed the validity, clinical, and functional implications of normal-range (NR), verbal-declarative memory in schizophrenia. Performance normality was defined using normative data for 8 basic California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT-II; Delis, Kramer, Kaplan, & Ober, 2000) recall and recognition trials. Schizophrenia patients (n = 155) and healthy control participants (n = 74) were assessed for performance normality, defined as scores within 1 SD of the normative mean on all 8 trials, and assigned to normal- and below-NR memory groups. NR schizophrenia patients (n = 26) and control participants (n = 51) did not differ in general verbal ability, on a reading-based estimate of premorbid ability, across all 8 CVLT-II-score comparisons or in terms of intrusion and false-positive errors and auditory working memory. NR memory patients did not differ from memory-impaired patients (n = 129) in symptom severity, and both patient groups were significantly and similarly disabled in terms of functional status in the community. These results confirm a subpopulation of schizophrenia patients with normal, verbal-declarative-memory performance and no evidence of decline from higher premorbid ability levels. However, NR patients did not experience less severe psychopathology, nor did they show advantage in community adjustment relative to impaired patients. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

The implications of being implicated. Individual responsibility and structural injustice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ronald Tinnevelt

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Within the global justice debate the demandingness objection is primarily aimed at utilitarian theorists who defend a version of the ‘optimizing principle of beneficence’ to deal with the problem of global poverty. The problem of demandingness, however, is hardly ever raised within the context of the dominant institutional theories of global justice that see severe poverty as a human rights violation. Nor are the fundamental underlying questions posed by most of these theorists. Which specific responsibilities do individual moral agents have regarding institutional and structural forms of injustice (1? Which political spheres, organized public spaces, or political practices are necessary to create a setting in which these responsibilities can be discharged (2? Does a ‘defensible and psychologically feasible conception of responsibility’ (Scheffler 2002, 62 exist that is restrictive – yet demanding – enough to deal with the complex challenges of our globalizing age (3. This paper addresses questions (1 and (3 on the basis of a critical analysis of Iris Marion Young’s social connection theory of responsibility.

Biomechanics of normal and pathological gait: implications for understanding human locomotor control.

Science.gov (United States)

Winter, D A

1989-12-01

The biomechanical (kinetic) analysis of human gait reveals the integrated and detailed motor patterns that are essential in pinpointing the abnormal patterns in pathological gait. In a similar manner, these motor patterns (moments, powers, and EMGs) can be used to identify synergies and to validate theories of CNS control. Based on kinetic and EMG patterns for a wide range of normal subjects and cadences, evidence is presented that both supports and negates the central pattern generator theory of locomotion. Adaptive motor patterns that are evident in peripheral gait pathologies reinforce a strong peripheral rather than a central control. Finally, a three-component subtask theory of human gait is presented and is supported by reference to the motor patterns seen in a normal gait. The identified subtasks are (a) support (against collapse during stance); (b) dynamic balance of the upper body, also during stance; and (c) feedforward control of the foot trajectory to achieve safe ground clearance and a gentle heel contact.

Heme oxygenase and the immune system in normal and pathological pregnancies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maide eOzen

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Normal pregnancy is an immunotolerant state. Many factors, including environmental, socioeconomic, genetic, and immunologic changes by infection and/or other causes of inflammation, may contribute to inter-individual differences resulting in a normal or pathologic pregnancy. In particular, imbalances in the immune system can cause many pregnancy-related diseases, such as infertility, abortions, pre-eclampsia, and preterm labor, which result in maternal/fetal death, prematurity, or small-for-gestational age newborns. New findings imply that myeloid regulatory cells and regulatory T cells (Tregs may mediate immunotolerance during normal pregnancy. Effector T cells (Teffs have, in contrast, been implicated to cause adverse pregnancy outcomes. Furthermore, feto-maternal tolerance affects the developing fetus. It has been shown that the Treg/Teff balance affects litter size and adoptive transfer of pregnancy-induced Tregs can prevent fetal rejection in the mouse. Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1 has a protective role in many conditions through its anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic, antioxidative, and anti-proliferative actions. HO-1 is highly expressed in the placenta and plays a role in angiogenesis and placental vascular development and in regulating vascular tone in pregnancy. In addition, HO-1 is a major regulator of immune homeostasis by mediating crosstalk between innate and adaptive immune systems. Moreover, HO-1 can inhibit inflammation-induced phenotypic maturation of immune effector cells and pro-inflammatory cytokine secretion and promote anti-inflammatory cytokine production. HO-1 may also be associated with T-cell activation and can limit immune-based tissue injury by promoting Treg suppression of effector responses. Thus, HO-1 and its byproducts may protect against pregnancy complications by its immunomodulatory effects, and the regulation of HO-1 or its downstream effects has the potential to prevent or treat pregnancy complications and

Physical activity opposes the age-related increase in skeletal muscle and plasma endothelin-1 levels and normalizes plasma endothelin-1 levels in individuals with essential hypertension.

Science.gov (United States)

Nyberg, M; Mortensen, S P; Hellsten, Y

2013-03-01

Endothelin-1 has potent constrictor and proliferative activity in vascular smooth muscle, and essential hypertension and aging are associated with increased endothelin-1-mediated vasoconstrictor tone. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of physical activity, hypertension and age on endothelin-1 levels in plasma and skeletal muscle and endothelin receptors in skeletal muscle in human subjects. In study 1, normotensive (46 ± 1 years, n = 11) and hypertensive (47 ± 1 years, n = 10) subjects were studied before and after 8 weeks of aerobic exercise training. In study 2, young (23 ± 1 years, n = 8), older lifelong sedentary (66 ± 2 years, n = 8) and older lifelong endurance-trained (62 ± 2 years, n = 8) subjects were studied in a cross-sectional design. Skeletal muscle and plasma endothelin-1 levels were increased with age and plasma endothelin-1 levels were higher in hypertensive than normotensive individuals. Eight weeks of exercise training normalized plasma endothelin-1 levels in the hypertensive subjects and increased the protein expression of the ET(A) receptor in skeletal muscle of normotensive subjects. Similarly, individuals that had performed lifelong physical activity had similar plasma and muscle endothelin-1 levels as the young controls and had higher ET(A) receptor levels. Our findings suggest that aerobic exercise training opposes the age-related increase in skeletal muscle and plasma endothelin-1 levels and normalizes plasma endothelin-1 levels in individuals with essential hypertension. This effect may explain some of the beneficial effects of training on the cardiovascular system in older and hypertensive subjects. © 2012 The Authors Acta Physiologica © 2012 Scandinavian Physiological Society.

Normal movement selectivity in autism.

Science.gov (United States)

Dinstein, Ilan; Thomas, Cibu; Humphreys, Kate; Minshew, Nancy; Behrmann, Marlene; Heeger, David J

2010-05-13

It has been proposed that individuals with autism have difficulties understanding the goals and intentions of others because of a fundamental dysfunction in the mirror neuron system. Here, however, we show that individuals with autism exhibited not only normal fMRI responses in mirror system areas during observation and execution of hand movements but also exhibited typical movement-selective adaptation (repetition suppression) when observing or executing the same movement repeatedly. Movement selectivity is a defining characteristic of neurons involved in movement perception, including mirror neurons, and, as such, these findings argue against a mirror system dysfunction in autism. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Associations between postprandial insulin and blood glucose responses, appetite sensations and energy intake in normal weight and overweight individuals: a meta-analysis of test meal studies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Flint, Anne; Gregersen, Nikolaj T.; Gluud, Lise L.

2007-01-01

is unclear whether postprandial blood glucose or insulin exerts a regulatory function in short-term appetite regulation in humans. The aim of this study was to investigate, by use of meta-analysis, the role of blood glucose and insulin in short-term appetite sensation and energy intake (EI......) in normal weight and overweight participants. Data from seven test meal studies were used, including 136 healthy participants (ALL) (92 normal weight (NW) and 44 overweight or obese (OW)). All meals were served as breakfasts after an overnight fast, and appetite sensations and blood samples were obtained...... frequently in the postprandial period. Finally, an ad libitum lunch was served. Data were analysed by fixed effects study level (SL) meta-regression analysis and individual participant data (IPD) regression analysis, using STATA software. In SL analysis, postprandial insulin response was associated...

Mechanisms of radiation-induced normal tissue toxicity and implications for future clinical trials

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Jae Ho; Jenrow, Kenneth A.; Brown, Stephen L. [Dept.of Radiation Oncology, Henry Ford Health System, Detroit (United States)

2014-09-15

To summarize current knowledge regarding mechanisms of radiation-induced normal tissue injury and medical countermeasures available to reduce its severity. Advances in radiation delivery using megavoltage and intensity-modulated radiation therapy have permitted delivery of higher doses of radiation to well-defined tumor target tissues. Injury to critical normal tissues and organs, however, poses substantial risks in the curative treatment of cancers, especially when radiation is administered in combination with chemotherapy. The principal pathogenesis is initiated by depletion of tissue stem cells and progenitor cells and damage to vascular endothelial microvessels. Emerging concepts of radiation-induced normal tissue toxicity suggest that the recovery and repopulation of stromal stem cells remain chronically impaired by long-lived free radicals, reactive oxygen species, and pro-inflammatory cytokines/chemokines resulting in progressive damage after radiation exposure. Better understanding the mechanisms mediating interactions among excessive generation of reactive oxygen species, production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and activated macrophages, and role of bone marrow-derived progenitor and stem cells may provide novel insight on the pathogenesis of radiation-induced injury of tissues. Further understanding the molecular signaling pathways of cytokines and chemokines would reveal novel targets for protecting or mitigating radiation injury of tissues and organs.

Mechanisms of radiation-induced normal tissue toxicity and implications for future clinical trials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Jae Ho; Jenrow, Kenneth A.; Brown, Stephen L.

2014-01-01

To summarize current knowledge regarding mechanisms of radiation-induced normal tissue injury and medical countermeasures available to reduce its severity. Advances in radiation delivery using megavoltage and intensity-modulated radiation therapy have permitted delivery of higher doses of radiation to well-defined tumor target tissues. Injury to critical normal tissues and organs, however, poses substantial risks in the curative treatment of cancers, especially when radiation is administered in combination with chemotherapy. The principal pathogenesis is initiated by depletion of tissue stem cells and progenitor cells and damage to vascular endothelial microvessels. Emerging concepts of radiation-induced normal tissue toxicity suggest that the recovery and repopulation of stromal stem cells remain chronically impaired by long-lived free radicals, reactive oxygen species, and pro-inflammatory cytokines/chemokines resulting in progressive damage after radiation exposure. Better understanding the mechanisms mediating interactions among excessive generation of reactive oxygen species, production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and activated macrophages, and role of bone marrow-derived progenitor and stem cells may provide novel insight on the pathogenesis of radiation-induced injury of tissues. Further understanding the molecular signaling pathways of cytokines and chemokines would reveal novel targets for protecting or mitigating radiation injury of tissues and organs.

Modularity of action programs in normal and Down syndrome individual / Modularidade de programas de ação em indivíduos normais e portadores da síndrome de Down

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roberto Gimenez

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Motor skills are represented as abstract form by action programs that once formed constitutes modules that ease the demand of motor control in complex tasks. The present study investigated whether modules are formed in the acquisition of motor skills in normal individuals and individuals with Down syndrome. Twelve individuals took part in the study, they were assigned equally to three groups: children, adults and adults with Down syndrome. They practiced the manual reproduction of a graphic pattern composed by five linear strokes that was added to another graphic pattern after 100 trials. Down syndrome individuals had difficult to form modules and their performance was similar to that of the children. The lack of modularity in the behavior of Down syndrome individuals may explain the difficulty they face many times while performing motor skills.

The normal function of a speciation gene, Odysseus, and its hybrid sterility effect.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Sha; Ting, Chau-Ti; Wu, Chung-I

2004-07-02

To understand how postmating isolation is connected to the normal process of species divergence and why hybrid male sterility is often the first sign of speciation, we analyzed the Odysseus (OdsH) gene of hybrid male sterility in Drosophila. We carried out expression analysis, transgenic study, and gene knockout. The combined evidence suggests that the sterility phenotype represents a novel manifestation of the gene function rather than the reduction or loss of the normal one. The gene knockout experiment identified the normal function of OdsH as a modest enhancement of sperm production in young males. The implication of a weak effect of OdsH on the normal phenotype but a strong influence on hybrid male sterility is discussed in light of Haldane's rule of postmating isolation.

Individual and Household Willingness to Pay for Public Goods

OpenAIRE

John Quiggin

1998-01-01

The issue of whether willingness to pay (WTP) for the benefits generated by a public good should be elicited on an individual or on a household basis is addressed. Differences between individual and household WTP may arise when members of the household are mutually altruistic. It is shown that, for general specifications of altruism, household WTP is less than the sum of household members' individual WTP. Implications for the choice between household and individual measures of WTP are conside...

Ghrelin modulates testicular germ cells apoptosis and proliferation in adult normal rats

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kheradmand, Arash; Dezfoulian, Omid; Alirezaei, Masoud; Rasoulian, Bahram

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Spermatogenesis is closely associated with the balance between germ cells proliferation and apoptosis. ► Numerous studies have documented the direct action of ghrelin in the modulation of apoptosis in different cell types. ► Ghrelin may be considered as a modulator of spermatogenesis in normal adult rats. ► Ghrelin may be potentially implicated for abnormal spermatogenesis in some testicular germ cell tumors. -- Abstract: Under normal condition in the most mammals, spermatogenesis is closely associated with the balance between germ cells proliferation and apoptosis. The present study was designed to determine the effects of ghrelin treatment on in vivo quality and quantity expression of apoptosis and proliferation specific indices in rat testicular germ cells. Twenty eight adult normal rats were subdivided into equal control and treatment groups. Treatment group received 3 nmol of ghrelin as subcutaneous injection for 30 consecutive days or vehicle to the control animals. The rats from each group (n = 7) were killed on days 10 and 30 and their testes were taken for immunocytochemical evaluation and caspase-3 assay. Immunohistochemical analysis indicated that the accumulations of Bax and PCNA peptides are generally more prominent in spermatocytes and spermatogonia of both groups. Likewise, the mean percentage of immunoreactive spermatocytes against Bax increased (P 0.05). Upstream of Bax substance parallel to down-regulation of PCNA demonstrate that ghrelin may prevent massive accumulation of germ cells during normal spermatogenesis. These observations also indicate that ghrelin may be considered as a modulator of spermatogenesis in normal adult rats and could be potentially implicated for abnormal spermatogenesis in some testicular germ cell tumors.

Prognostic value of normal exercise myocardial perfusion imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lin Jinghui; Zhu Mei; Wu Shuyan

1996-01-01

To assess the prognostic implications, patients with a normal exercise myocardial imaging were followed up. 54 patients underwent exercise myocardial perfusion imaging and exercise ECG test. The images of all of them were normal. Coronary arteriography was performed in 50 patients. Among them 4 patients had single vessel lesion. Follow-up period of all the patients was >1 year (12∼90 Mo.). Likelihood of coronary artery disease (CAD, CAD LK) was estimated before and after test by Bayesian analysis. Mean of the pretest CAD LK was 19% and after test decreased to 13%. The difference between the CAD LK pre- and after test was significant (U = 6.0198, P<0.01). During the follow-up period cardiac event (CE) occurred in only one patient. The CE rate was 0.2% per year. No CE occurred in the 4 patients with CAD and in the 55 patients with positive exercise ECG. The data confirm that a normal stress myocardial imaging predicts an excellent prognosis even in patients with CAD or a high pretest CAD LK or a positive exercise ECG

Normal stresses in semiflexible polymer hydrogels

Science.gov (United States)

Vahabi, M.; Vos, Bart E.; de Cagny, Henri C. G.; Bonn, Daniel; Koenderink, Gijsje H.; MacKintosh, F. C.

2018-03-01

Biopolymer gels such as fibrin and collagen networks are known to develop tensile axial stress when subject to torsion. This negative normal stress is opposite to the classical Poynting effect observed for most elastic solids including synthetic polymer gels, where torsion provokes a positive normal stress. As shown recently, this anomalous behavior in fibrin gels depends on the open, porous network structure of biopolymer gels, which facilitates interstitial fluid flow during shear and can be described by a phenomenological two-fluid model with viscous coupling between network and solvent. Here we extend this model and develop a microscopic model for the individual diagonal components of the stress tensor that determine the axial response of semiflexible polymer hydrogels. This microscopic model predicts that the magnitude of these stress components depends inversely on the characteristic strain for the onset of nonlinear shear stress, which we confirm experimentally by shear rheometry on fibrin gels. Moreover, our model predicts a transient behavior of the normal stress, which is in excellent agreement with the full time-dependent normal stress we measure.

Expert and crowd-sourced validation of an individualized sleep spindle detection method employing complex demodulation and individualized normalization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laura eRay

2015-09-01

Full Text Available A spindle detection method was developed that: 1 extracts the signal of interest (i.e., spindle-related phasic changes in sigma relative to ongoing background sigma activity using complex demodulation, 2 accounts for variations of spindle characteristics across the night, scalp derivations and between individuals, and 3 employs a minimum number of sometimes arbitrary, user-defined parameters. Complex demodulation was used to extract instantaneous power in the spindle band. To account for intra- and inter-individual differences, the signal was z-score transformed using a 60s sliding window, per channel, over the course of the recording. Spindle events were detected with a z-score threshold corresponding to a low probability (e.g., 99th percentile. Spindle characteristics, such as amplitude, duration and oscillatory frequency, were derived for each individual spindle following detection, which permits spindles to be subsequently and flexibly categorized as slow or fast spindles from a single detection pass. Spindles were automatically detected in 15 young healthy subjects. Two experts manually identified spindles from C3 during Stage 2 sleep, from each recording; one employing conventional guidelines, and the other, identifying spindles with the aid of a sigma (11-16 Hz filtered channel. These spindles were then compared between raters and to the automated detection to identify the presence of true positives, true negatives, false positives and false negatives. This method of automated spindle detection resolves or avoids many of the limitations that complicate automated spindle detection, and performs well compared to a group of non-experts, and importantly, has good external validity with respect to the extant literature in terms of the characteristics of automatically detected spindles.

Study on the insulin resistance and β-cell function in individuals with normal and those with abnormal glucose metabolism

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wei Zikun

2006-01-01

Objective: To study the insulin resistance and β-cell function in individuals with normal glucose tolerance (NGT) and those with glucose metabolism dysfunction. Methods: Insulin resistance and β-cell function were studied with oral glucose tolerance test and the following parameters: 2h insulin/2h plasma glucose (2hIns/2hPG), insulin resistance index (IRI), insulin sensitivity index (ISI) and 30 min net increment of insulin/30min net increment of glucose (AI 30 /AG 30 ) were examined in 44 individuals with NGT, 45 subjects with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), 66 recently diagnosed diabetics and 175 well-established diabetics. Results: The insulin resistance index (IRI) increased progressively from that in NGT individuals to that in recently diabetics (20 ± 1. 5→3.1 ± 1.6→4.1 ± 1.8), while the 2hIns/2hPG, ΔI 30 /ΔG 30 and ISI decreased progressively with significant differences between those in successive groups (P 30 /ΔG 30 and ISI kept decreasing (values in patients with disease history less than 3 yrs vs those in patients with disease over 3yrs: 2.9 ± 3.2 vs 2.4 + 2.3, 30.2 + 1.1 vs 23.4 ± 2.3, P 30 /ΔG 30 were significantly correlated with ISI (F =96.3, 58.4 and 47.5 respectively). For principal component analysis display, the cumulative contribution rate of four parameters (2hIns/2hPG, ISI, ΔI 30 /ΔG 30 and 2h C-peptide) exceeded 85% (86.5%). Conclusion: As the dysfunction of glucose metabolism proceeded from IGT to well established diabetes, the IR increased first with decrease of β-cell secretion followed. The parameters 2hIns/2hPG, ISI, 2h C-peptide ΔI 30 /ΔG 30 were especially useful for the investigation . (authors)

Potential clinical impact of normal-tissue intrinsic radiosensitivity testing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bentzen, Soeren M.

1997-01-01

A critical appraisal is given of the possible benefit from a reliable pre-treatment knowledge of individual normal-tissue sensitivity to radiotherapy. The considerations are in part, but not exclusively, based on the recent experience with in vitro colony-forming assays of the surviving fraction at 2 Gy, the SF 2 . Three strategies are reviewed: (1) to screen for rare cases with extreme radiosensitivity, so-called over-reactors, and treat these with reduced total dose, (2) to identify the sensitive tail of the distribution of 'normal' radiosensitivities, refer these patients to other treatment, and to escalate the dose to the remaining patients, or (3) to individualize dose prescriptions based on individual radiosensitivity, i.e. treating to isoeffect rather than to a specific dose-fractionation schedule. It is shown that these strategies will have a small, if any, impact on routine radiotherapy. Screening for over-reactors is hampered by the low prevalence of these among otherwise un-selected patients that leads to a low positive predictive value of in vitro radiosensitivity assays. It is argued, that this problem may persist even if the noise on current assays could be reduced to (the unrealistic value of) zero, simply because of the large biological variation in SF 2 . Removing the sensitive tail of the patient population, will only have a minor effect on the dose that could be delivered to the remaining patients, because of the sigmoid shape of empirical dose-response relationships. Finally, individualizing dose prescriptions based exclusively on information from a normal-tissue radiosensitivity assay, leads to a nearly symmetrical distribution of dose-changes that would produce a very small gain, or even a loss, of tumor control probability if implemented in the clinic. From a theoretical point of view, other strategies could be devised and some of these are considered in this review. Right now the most promising clinical use of in vitro radiosensitivity

Privacy, the individual and genetic information: a Buddhist perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Hongladarom, Soraj

2009-09-01

Bioinformatics is a new field of study whose ethical implications involve a combination of bioethics, computer ethics and information ethics. This paper is an attempt to view some of these implications from the perspective of Buddhism. Privacy is a central concern in both computer/information ethics and bioethics, and with information technology being increasingly utilized to process biological and genetic data, the issue has become even more pronounced. Traditionally, privacy presupposes the individual self but as Buddhism does away with the ultimate conception of an individual self, it has to find a way to analyse and justify privacy that does not presuppose such a self. It does this through a pragmatic conception that does not depend on a positing of the substantial self, which is then found to be unnecessary for an effective protection of privacy. As it may be possible one day to link genetic data to individuals, the Buddhist conception perhaps offers a more flexible approach, as what is considered to be integral to an individual person is not fixed in objectivity but depends on convention.

Evaluation of normalization methods in mammalian microRNA-Seq data

Science.gov (United States)

Garmire, Lana Xia; Subramaniam, Shankar

2012-01-01

Simple total tag count normalization is inadequate for microRNA sequencing data generated from the next generation sequencing technology. However, so far systematic evaluation of normalization methods on microRNA sequencing data is lacking. We comprehensively evaluate seven commonly used normalization methods including global normalization, Lowess normalization, Trimmed Mean Method (TMM), quantile normalization, scaling normalization, variance stabilization, and invariant method. We assess these methods on two individual experimental data sets with the empirical statistical metrics of mean square error (MSE) and Kolmogorov-Smirnov (K-S) statistic. Additionally, we evaluate the methods with results from quantitative PCR validation. Our results consistently show that Lowess normalization and quantile normalization perform the best, whereas TMM, a method applied to the RNA-Sequencing normalization, performs the worst. The poor performance of TMM normalization is further evidenced by abnormal results from the test of differential expression (DE) of microRNA-Seq data. Comparing with the models used for DE, the choice of normalization method is the primary factor that affects the results of DE. In summary, Lowess normalization and quantile normalization are recommended for normalizing microRNA-Seq data, whereas the TMM method should be used with caution. PMID:22532701

Perceived discrimination among men and women with normal weight and obesity. A population-based study from Sweden.

Science.gov (United States)

Hansson, Lena M; Näslund, Erik; Rasmussen, Finn

2010-08-01

We examined whether men and women with obesity reported different types of discrimination to a greater extent than those with normal weight, and explored whether these associations were modified by socioeconomic position. National representative sample of men and women, with normal weight (n = 2,000), moderate obesity (n = 2,461) and severe obesity (n = 557). Participants were identified in a yearly population-based survey (1996-2006) and data on perceived discrimination and potential confounding factors were measured in 2008. Logistic regression models tested whether obesity was associated with perceived lifetime, workplace, healthcare and interpersonal discrimination. The overall response rate was 56%. For men, moderate obesity was associated with workplace discrimination, while severely obese women were more likely to report this sort of discrimination than normal weight women. Severely obese individuals were twice as likely to report healthcare discrimination than normal weight individuals. Women, regardless of weight status group, were in turn twice as likely to report healthcare discrimination as men. Women with severe obesity were significantly more likely to report interpersonal discrimination compared with normal weight women. Socioeconomic position modified the association between weight status and healthcare discrimination. Highly educated individuals with moderate and severe obesity were more likely to report healthcare discrimination than their normal weight counterparts, whereas low educated individuals with normal weight, moderate and severe obesity were equally likely to report discrimination. In this large, population-based study, discrimination was more likely to be reported by obese individuals compared with those of normal weight. The associations, however, varied according to gender and socioeconomic position.

Association Between Thyroid Hormones, Thyroid Antibodies, and Cardiometabolic Factors in Non-Obese Individuals With Normal Thyroid Function

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jia Liu

2018-04-01

Full Text Available BackgroundHypothyroidism is an important risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, and autoimmune thyroiditis (AIT is the leading cause of hypothyroidism. Recent studies showed that even AIT patients with euthyroidism still had an increased number of early atherosclerotic lesions. However, the precise mechanism is not yet known. This study aimed to investigate the association of thyroid function, thyroid autoimmunity, and cardiometabolic risk factors in non-obese AIT patients with euthyroidism.MethodsA total of 5,608 non-obese individuals including 1,402 AIT patient and 4,206 sex-, age-, and body mass index (BMI-matched healthy controls were recruited.ResultsThe AIT patients had significantly lower free T3 and free T4 levels, and higher TSH, antithyroid peroxidase antibodies (TPOAb and TgAb levels. The elevated levels of high sensitivity C reactive protein (hsCRP and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR were observed in the AIT patients than the controls [hsCRP: 0.65 (0.27–1.33 vs. 0.20 (0.03–0.74 mg/L; HOMA-IR: 2.78 ± 1.60 vs. 2.33 ± 1.49; all P < 0.05]. Thyroid function was not associated with metabolic parameters and inflammatory makers, while the TPOAb titer was positively associated with the HOMA-IR and hsCRP levels after adjustment for confounding factors (all P < 0.05. Multivariate regression analysis demonstrated that the TPOAb level was an independent influencing factor for the HOMA-IR and hsCRP levels (HOMA-IR: β = 0.058, P < 0.05; hsCRP: β = 0.108, P < 0.05.ConclusionThe TPOAb level is associated with HOMA-IR and hsCRP levels independently of thyroid function in non-obese individuals. Mild deviation of thyroid function within the normal range, chronic inflammation, and insulin resistance may be the links between AIT and atherosclerosis in the non-obese population.

The Normalization of Cannabis Use Among Bangladeshi and Pakistani Youth: A New Frontier for the Normalization Thesis?

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, Lisa; Ralphs, Rob; Gray, Paul

2017-03-21

The Asian population in Britain has grown, representing the second largest ethnic group; Bangladeshi, Pakistani, and Indian nationalities are prevalent (Jivraj, 2012 ; Office for National Statistics, 2013 ). Yet, we know relatively little about the nature and extent of their substance use. Jayakody et al. ( 2006 ) argue ethnic minority groups may be influenced by the norms and values of the dominant culture. Given recreational drug use has undergone a process of normalization in Britain (Aldridge et al., 2011 ; Parker et al., 1998 , 2002 ), we explore the degree to which this is occurring in a Bangladeshi and Pakistani community of Muslim faith in Northern England; a group typically assumed to reject substance use because of robust religious and cultural values. To examine the extent, frequency, and nature of substance use, and associated attitudes. A cross-sectional study collecting qualitative data from a sample (N = 43) of adolescents accessing a drug service and a range of professionals working with them during 2014. We also present analyses of routinely collected quantitative client data. Adolescent interviewees reported extensive personal experience smoking skunk cannabis, and professionals working in the community confirmed many young Asians smoked it. Its consumption appeared to be accommodated into the daily lives of young people and the supply of it also showed signs of acceptance. Skunk cannabis may be undergoing a process of normalization within some Asian communities in Britain. Our study has significant implications for the normalization thesis, finding evidence for normalization within a subpopulation that is typically perceived to resist this trend.

"Ser diferente é normal?"/"Being different: is it normal?"

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Viviane Veras

2007-01-01

Full Text Available A pergunta título deste trabalho retoma o slogan “Ser diferente é normal”, que é parte da campanha criada para uma organização não-governamental que atende portadores de Síndrome de Down. O objetivo é a inclusão social da pessoa com deficiência e o primeiro passo foi propor a inclusão de um grupo de diferentes no grupo dito normal. No vídeo de lançamento da campanha, o diferente, identificado como normal, é mostrado por meio de exemplos – um negro com cabelo black-power, um skin-head, um corpo tatuado, um corpo feminino halterofílico, uma família hippie, uma garota com síndrome de Down. A visão da adolescente dançando reduz, de certo modo, o efeito imaginário que vai além da síndrome, uma vez que apenas o corpo com seus olhinhos puxados se destacam, e não se interrogam questões cognitivas. Minha proposta é refletir sobre o estatuto paradoxal do exemplo, tal como é trabalhado nesse vídeo: se, por definição, um exemplo mostra de fato seu pertencimento a uma classe, pode-se concluir que é exatamente por ser exemplar que ele se encontra fora dela, no exato momento em que a exibe e define. The question in the title of this paper refers to the slogan "ser diferente é normal" ("It´s normal to be different", which is part of a campaign created for a NGO that supports people with Down syndrome. The objective of the campaign is to promote the social inclusion of individuals with Down syndrome, and the first step was to propose the inclusion of a group of "differents" in the so-called normal group. The film launching the campaign shows the different identified as normal by means of examples: a black man exhibiting blackpower haircut, a skin-head, a tattooed body, an over-athletic female body, a hippie family and a girl with Down syndrome. The vision of the dancing teenager lessens the imaginary effect that surpasses the syndrome, since only her body and her little oriental eyes stand out and no cognitive issues are

Perceived risk of reinfection among individuals treated for sexually ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Perceived risk of reinfection among individuals treated for sexually transmitted infections in Northern Ethiopia: implication for use in clinical practice. Mache Tsadik, Yemane Berhane, Alemayehu Worku, Wondwossen Terefe ...

Experiments on transference in interpersonal relations: Implications for treatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Andersen, Susan M; Przybylinski, Elizabeth

2012-09-01

Ordinary interpersonal encounters with new people involve more than what meets the eye, and transference readily arises in such encounters, affecting everyday social perception and interpersonal responding, as well as perceptions of the self. Transference provides a mechanism whereby past relationships can play out in new ones. Research on the social-cognitive process of transference and the relational self clearly shows that transference occurs as a "normal" nonclinical process outside of the therapy setting. In this article, we review the theoretical framework and research approach to understanding transference, as well as what the evidence says about what triggers transference, how, why, and what the consequences of transference are as they occur, for better or for worse, in the context of daily living and in treatment. The clinical implications of the findings are also addressed, with a focus on how problematic transference patterns might be changed if they lead to personal suffering for the individual. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved.

CELL RESPIRATION STUDIES : II. A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE OXYGEN CONSUMPTION OF BLOOD FROM NORMAL INDIVIDUALS AND PATIENTS WITH INCREASED LEUCOCYTE COUNTS (SEPSIS; CHRONIC MYELOGENOUS LEUCEMIA).

Science.gov (United States)

Daland, G A; Isaacs, R

1927-06-30

1. The oxygen consumption of blood of normal individuals, when the hemoglobin is saturated with oxygen, is practically zero within the limits of experimental error of the microspirometer used. 2. The oxygen consumed in a microspirometer by the blood of patients with chronic myelogenous leucemia with a high white blood cell count, and of one with leucocytosis from sepsis, was proportional to the number of adult polymorphonuclear neutrophils in the blood. 3. No correlation could be made between the rate of oxygen absorption and the total number of white blood cells in the blood, or the total number of immature cells, or the number of red blood cells, or the amount of oxyhemoglobin. 4. The blood of patients with chronic myelogenous leucemia continued to use oxygen in the microspirometer longer than that of normal individuals, and the hemoglobin, in the leucemic bloods, became desaturated even though exposed to air. 5. In blood in which the bulk. of the cells were immature and the mature cells few, the oxygen consumption was lower than in blood in which the mature cells predominated. The rate of oxygen consumption of the immature cells was relatively low as compared to the mature. 6. The slower rate of oxygen absorption by the immature leucocytes in chronic myelogenous leucemia as compared to the mature cells, places them, in accord with Warburg's reports, in the class of the malignant tissues in this respect rather than in the group of young or embryonic cells.

Proteoglycans in Leiomyoma and Normal Myometrium: Abundance, Steroid Hormone Control, and Implications for Pathophysiology.

Science.gov (United States)

Barker, Nichole M; Carrino, David A; Caplan, Arnold I; Hurd, William W; Liu, James H; Tan, Huiqing; Mesiano, Sam

2016-03-01

Uterine leiomyoma are a common benign pelvic tumors composed of modified smooth muscle cells and a large amount of extracellular matrix (ECM). The proteoglycan composition of the leiomyoma ECM is thought to affect pathophysiology of the disease. To test this hypothesis, we examined the abundance (by immunoblotting) and expression (by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction) of the proteoglycans biglycan, decorin, and versican in leiomyoma and normal myometrium and determined whether expression is affected by steroid hormones and menstrual phase. Leiomyoma and normal myometrium were collected from women (n = 17) undergoing hysterectomy or myomectomy. In vitro studies were performed on immortalized leiomyoma (UtLM) and normal myometrial (hTERT-HM) cells with and without exposure to estradiol and progesterone. In leiomyoma tissue, abundance of decorin messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein were 2.6-fold and 1.4-fold lower, respectively, compared with normal myometrium. Abundance of versican mRNA was not different between matched samples, whereas versican protein was increased 1.8-fold in leiomyoma compared with myometrium. Decorin mRNA was 2.4-fold lower in secretory phase leiomyoma compared with proliferative phase tissue. In UtLM cells, progesterone decreased the abundance of decorin mRNA by 1.3-fold. Lower decorin expression in leiomyoma compared with myometrium may contribute to disease growth and progression. As decorin inhibits the activity of specific growth factors, its reduced level in the leiomyoma cell microenvironment may promote cell proliferation and ECM deposition. Our data suggest that decorin expression in leiomyoma is inhibited by progesterone, which may be a mechanism by which the ovarian steroids affect leiomyoma growth and disease progression. © The Author(s) 2015.

Learning pathology using collaborative vs. individual annotation of whole slide images: a mixed methods trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Sahota, Michael; Leung, Betty; Dowdell, Stephanie; Velan, Gary M

2016-12-12

Students in biomedical disciplines require understanding of normal and abnormal microscopic appearances of human tissues (histology and histopathology). For this purpose, practical classes in these disciplines typically use virtual microscopy, viewing digitised whole slide images in web browsers. To enhance engagement, tools have been developed to enable individual or collaborative annotation of whole slide images within web browsers. To date, there have been no studies that have critically compared the impact on learning of individual and collaborative annotations on whole slide images. Junior and senior students engaged in Pathology practical classes within Medical Science and Medicine programs participated in cross-over trials of individual and collaborative annotation activities. Students' understanding of microscopic morphology was compared using timed online quizzes, while students' perceptions of learning were evaluated using an online questionnaire. For senior medical students, collaborative annotation of whole slide images was superior for understanding key microscopic features when compared to individual annotation; whilst being at least equivalent to individual annotation for junior medical science students. Across cohorts, students agreed that the annotation activities provided a user-friendly learning environment that met their flexible learning needs, improved efficiency, provided useful feedback, and helped them to set learning priorities. Importantly, these activities were also perceived to enhance motivation and improve understanding. Collaborative annotation improves understanding of microscopic morphology for students with sufficient background understanding of the discipline. These findings have implications for the deployment of annotation activities in biomedical curricula, and potentially for postgraduate training in Anatomical Pathology.

Integrating normal and abnormal personality structure: a proposal for DSM-V.

Science.gov (United States)

Widiger, Thomas A

2011-06-01

The personality disorders section of the American Psychiatric Association's fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) is currently being developed. The purpose of the current paper is to encourage the authors of DSM-V to integrate normal and abnormal personality structure within a common, integrative model, and to suggest that the optimal choice for such an integration would be the five-factor model (FFM) of general personality structure. A proposal for the classification of personality disorder from the perspective of the FFM is provided. Discussed as well are implications and issues associated with an FFM of personality disorder, including validity, coverage, feasibility, clinical utility, and treatment implications.

Chimpanzees copy dominant and knowledgeable individuals: implications for cultural diversity.

Science.gov (United States)

Kendal, Rachel; Hopper, Lydia M; Whiten, Andrew; Brosnan, Sarah F; Lambeth, Susan P; Schapiro, Steven J; Hoppitt, Will

2015-01-01

Evolutionary theory predicts that natural selection will fashion cognitive biases to guide when, and from whom, individuals acquire social information, but the precise nature of these biases, especially in ecologically valid group contexts, remains unknown. We exposed four captive groups of chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes ) to a novel extractive foraging device and, by fitting statistical models, isolated four simultaneously operating transmission biases. These include biases to copy (i) higher-ranking and (ii) expert individuals, and to copy others when (iii) uncertain or (iv) of low rank. High-ranking individuals were relatively un-strategic in their use of acquired knowledge, which, combined with the bias for others to observe them, may explain reports that high innovation rates (in juveniles and subordinates) do not generate a correspondingly high frequency of traditions in chimpanzees. Given the typically low rank of immigrants in chimpanzees, a 'copying dominants' bias may contribute to the observed maintenance of distinct cultural repertoires in neighboring communities despite sharing similar ecology and knowledgeable migrants. Thus, a copying dominants strategy may, as often proposed for conformist transmission, and perhaps in concert with it, restrict the accumulation of traditions within chimpanzee communities whilst maintaining cultural diversity.

The Spatial Musical Association of Response Codes does not depend on a normal visual experience: A study with early blind individuals.

Science.gov (United States)

Cattaneo, Zaira; Lega, Carlotta; Rinaldi, Luca; Fantino, Micaela; Ferrari, Chiara; Merabet, Lotfi B; Vecchi, Tomaso

2018-02-26

Converging evidence suggests that the perception of auditory pitch exhibits a characteristic spatial organization. This pitch-space association can be demonstrated experimentally by the Spatial Musical Association of Response Codes (SMARC) effect. This is characterized by faster response times when a low-positioned key is pressed in response to a low-pitched tone, and a high-positioned key is pressed in response to a high-pitched tone. To investigate whether the development of this pitch-space association is mediated by normal visual experience, we tested a group of early blind individuals on a task that required them to discriminate the timbre of different instrument sounds with varying pitch. Results revealed a comparable pattern in the SMARC effect in both blind participants and sighted controls, suggesting that the lack of prior visual experience does not prevent the development of an association between pitch height and vertical space.

Alanine aminotransferase is associated with an adverse nocturnal blood glucose profile in individuals with normal glucose regulation.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jian Zhou

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: Although the association between alanine aminotransferase (ALT levels and risk of type 2 diabetes is well-studied, the effects of slightly increased ALT levels within the normal range on the temporal normal glucose profile remains poorly understood. METHODS: A total of 322 Chinese subjects without impaired glucose tolerance or previous diagnoses of diabetes were recruited for study from 10 hospitals in urban areas across China. All subjects wore a continuous glucose monitoring (CGM system for three consecutive days. The diurnal (06∶00-20∶00 and nocturnal (20∶00-06∶00 mean blood glucose (MBG levels were calculated. Subjects were stratified by ALT quartile level and correlation analyses were performed. RESULTS: The median ALT level was 17 IU/L, and subjects with ALT ≥17 IU/L had higher nocturnal MBG level than those with ALT 0.05. Multivariate stepwise regression analysis of elevated nocturnal MBG identified increased HOMA-IR, elevated ALT levels, and decreased homeostatic model assessment of ß-cell function as independent factors (all, P<0.05. CONCLUSIONS: Mildly elevated ALT levels, within the normal range, are associated with unfavorable nocturnal glucose profiles in Chinese subjects with normal glucose regulation.

Metabolic inflexibility in individuals with obesity assessed by near-infrared spectroscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Soares, Rogério Nogueira; Reimer, Raylene A; Doyle-Baker, Patricia K; Murias, Juan M

2017-11-01

To non-invasively evaluate differences in oxidative metabolism in individuals with obesity compared to normal weight using the near-infrared spectroscopy and vascular occlusion technique during hyperglycaemia. In all, 16 normal-weight individuals (body mass index: 21.3 ± 1.7 kg/m 2 ) and 13 individuals with obesity (body mass index: 34.4 ± 2.0 kg/m 2 ) had five vascular occlusion tests (pre, 30, 60, 90 and 120 min after glucose ingestion). Oxygen utilization was estimated from the area under the curve of the deoxyhemoglobin [HHb] signal during occlusion. Muscle reperfusion was derived from the area above the curve after cuff release. The deoxyhemoglobin area under the curve during occlusion of the normal-weight individuals increased from 15,732 ± 2344 (% . s) at pre to 18,930 ± 3226 (% . s) ( p obesity. This study confirmed in vivo and non-invasively the metabolic inflexibility of skeletal muscle in individuals with obesity during hyperglycaemia.

Absorption of orally administered 65Zn by normal human subjects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aamodt, R.L.; Rumble, W.F.; Johnston, G.S.; Markley, E.J.; Henkin, R.I.

1981-01-01

Despite studies by several investigators of human gastrointestinal 65Zn absorption, implications of these data for evaluation of functional zinc status are unclear because limited numbers of normal subjects have been studied. To evaluated zinc absorption in normal humans, 75 subjects (31 women, 44 men, ages 18 to 84 yr) were given 10 micro Ci carrier-free 65Zn orally after an overnight fast. Absorption calculated from total body retention measured 7, 14, and 21 days after administration of tracer was 65 +/- 11% (mean +/- 1 SD), range from 40 to 86%. Comparison of these results with those for patients with a variety of diseases indicate that patients exhibit a wider range of absorption and, in four of six studies patients exhibit decreased mean zinc absorption. These results of gastrointestinal zinc absorption in a large number of normal humans offer a basis for a clearer comparison with data from patients who exhibit abnormalities of zinc absorption

Single Cell Chemical Cytometry of Akt Activity in Rheumatoid Arthritis and Normal Fibroblast-like Synoviocytes in Response to Tumor Necrosis Factor α.

Science.gov (United States)

Mainz, Emilie R; Serafin, D Stephen; Nguyen, Tuong T; Tarrant, Teresa K; Sims, Christopher E; Allbritton, Nancy L

2016-08-02

The etiology of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is poorly understood, and 30% of patients are unresponsive to established treatments targeting tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα). Akt kinase is implicated in TNFα signaling and may act as a barometer of patient responses to biologic therapies. Fluorescent peptide sensors and chemical cytometry were employed to directly measure Akt activity as well as proteolytic activity in individual fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) from RA and normal subjects. The specificity of the peptide reporter was evaluated and shown to be a valid measure of Akt activity in single cells. The effect of TNFα treatment on Akt activity was highly heterogeneous between normal and RA subjects, which was not observable in bulk analyses. In 2 RA subjects, a bimodal distribution of Akt activity was observed, primarily due to a subpopulation (21.7%: RA Subject 5; 23.8%: RA Subject 6) of cells in which >60% of the reporter was phosphorylated. These subjects also possessed statistically elevated proteolytic cleavage of the reporter relative to normal subjects, suggesting heterogeneity in Akt and protease activity that may play a role in the RA-affected joint. We expect that chemical cytometry studies pairing peptide reporters with capillary electrophoresis will provide valuable data regarding aberrant kinase activity from small samples of clinical interest.

Mutation Detection in Patients With Advanced Cancer by Universal Sequencing of Cancer-Related Genes in Tumor and Normal DNA vs Guideline-Based Germline Testing.

Science.gov (United States)

Mandelker, Diana; Zhang, Liying; Kemel, Yelena; Stadler, Zsofia K; Joseph, Vijai; Zehir, Ahmet; Pradhan, Nisha; Arnold, Angela; Walsh, Michael F; Li, Yirong; Balakrishnan, Anoop R; Syed, Aijazuddin; Prasad, Meera; Nafa, Khedoudja; Carlo, Maria I; Cadoo, Karen A; Sheehan, Meg; Fleischut, Megan H; Salo-Mullen, Erin; Trottier, Magan; Lipkin, Steven M; Lincoln, Anne; Mukherjee, Semanti; Ravichandran, Vignesh; Cambria, Roy; Galle, Jesse; Abida, Wassim; Arcila, Marcia E; Benayed, Ryma; Shah, Ronak; Yu, Kenneth; Bajorin, Dean F; Coleman, Jonathan A; Leach, Steven D; Lowery, Maeve A; Garcia-Aguilar, Julio; Kantoff, Philip W; Sawyers, Charles L; Dickler, Maura N; Saltz, Leonard; Motzer, Robert J; O'Reilly, Eileen M; Scher, Howard I; Baselga, Jose; Klimstra, David S; Solit, David B; Hyman, David M; Berger, Michael F; Ladanyi, Marc; Robson, Mark E; Offit, Kenneth

2017-09-05

Guidelines for cancer genetic testing based on family history may miss clinically actionable genetic changes with established implications for cancer screening or prevention. To determine the proportion and potential clinical implications of inherited variants detected using simultaneous sequencing of the tumor and normal tissue ("tumor-normal sequencing") compared with genetic test results based on current guidelines. From January 2014 until May 2016 at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 10 336 patients consented to tumor DNA sequencing. Since May 2015, 1040 of these patients with advanced cancer were referred by their oncologists for germline analysis of 76 cancer predisposition genes. Patients with clinically actionable inherited mutations whose genetic test results would not have been predicted by published decision rules were identified. Follow-up for potential clinical implications of mutation detection was through May 2017. Tumor and germline sequencing compared with the predicted yield of targeted germline sequencing based on clinical guidelines. Proportion of clinically actionable germline mutations detected by universal tumor-normal sequencing that would not have been detected by guideline-directed testing. Of 1040 patients, the median age was 58 years (interquartile range, 50.5-66 years), 65.3% were male, and 81.3% had stage IV disease at the time of genomic analysis, with prostate, renal, pancreatic, breast, and colon cancer as the most common diagnoses. Of the 1040 patients, 182 (17.5%; 95% CI, 15.3%-19.9%) had clinically actionable mutations conferring cancer susceptibility, including 149 with moderate- to high-penetrance mutations; 101 patients tested (9.7%; 95% CI, 8.1%-11.7%) would not have had these mutations detected using clinical guidelines, including 65 with moderate- to high-penetrance mutations. Frequency of inherited mutations was related to case mix, stage, and founder mutations. Germline findings led to discussion or initiation of

Within-individual variation in bullfrog vocalizations: implications for a vocally mediated social recognition system.

Science.gov (United States)

Bee, Mark A

2004-12-01

Acoustic signals provide a basis for social recognition in a wide range of animals. Few studies, however, have attempted to relate the patterns of individual variation in signals to behavioral discrimination thresholds used by receivers to discriminate among individuals. North American bullfrogs (Rana catesbeiana) discriminate among familiar and unfamiliar individuals based on individual variation in advertisement calls. The sources, patterns, and magnitudes of variation in eight acoustic properties of multiple-note advertisement calls were examined to understand how patterns of within-individual variation might either constrain, or provide additional cues for, vocal recognition. Six of eight acoustic properties exhibited significant note-to-note variation within multiple-note calls. Despite this source of within-individual variation, all call properties varied significantly among individuals, and multivariate analyses indicated that call notes were individually distinct. Fine-temporal and spectral call properties exhibited less within-individual variation compared to gross-temporal properties and contributed most toward statistically distinguishing among individuals. Among-individual differences in the patterns of within-individual variation in some properties suggest that within-individual variation could also function as a recognition cue. The distributions of among-individual and within-individual differences were used to generate hypotheses about the expected behavioral discrimination thresholds of receivers.

Histomorphometric study of basilar artery in normal and suicide persons.

Science.gov (United States)

Parmar, Suresh Kumar; Prasad, V Satya

2016-10-01

Depression in association with cerebro-vascular risk factors and white matter lesions is increasingly referred to as 'vascular depression'. There are several brain areas known for playing a role in patho-physiology of depression which may lead to suicidal tendencies, are fed by basilar artery. Therefore, the arterial histoarchitecture was studied in the normal and suicide individuals to establish a relationship between the vascular structural changes and depression. 40 post-mortem samples (both sexes) of basilar artery have been collected and were grouped into normal and suicide groups. Samples were measured for arterial, lumen diameter and the thickness of tunica intima, media and adventitia using H & E stained sections. While, Orcein stained sections were used to estimate the volume fraction of elastic fibres, and Van Gieson stained sections to estimate the volume fraction of collagen fibres. The mean thickness of tunica media of basilar artery in suicide individuals (1.08 microns) showed a statistically significant decrease when compared to normal person (1.33 microns). Further, volume fraction of collagen (0.06 mm 3 /mm 3 ) and elastic fibres (0.06 mm 3 /mm 3 ) in suicide persons showed a statistically significant decrease when compared to normal person (collagen fibres 0.08 mm 3 /mm 3 ; elastic fibres 0.09 mm 3 /mm 3 ). This study establishes a probable causative relationship between vascular structural abnormality and depression which may drive the individual to commit suicide. Copyright © 2016 Chang Gung University. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Self-image and eating disorder symptoms in normal and clinical adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Forsén Mantilla, Emma; Bergsten, Katja; Birgegård, Andreas

2014-01-01

Eating disorders (ED) are psychiatric disorders of multifactorial origin, predominantly appearing in adolescence. Negative self-image is identified as risk factor, but the association between self-image and ED in adolescents or sex differences regarding such associations remains unclear. The study aimed to investigate the relationship between specific self-image aspects and ED symptoms in normal and clinical adolescents, including sex differences. Participants included 855 ED patients (girls=813, boys=42) and 482 normal adolescents (girls=238, boys=244), 13-15 years. Stepwise regression demonstrated strong associations between self-image and ED in normal adolescents (girls: R(2)=.31, boys: R(2)=.08), and stronger associations in patients (girls: R(2)=.64, boys: R(2)=.69). Qualitative sex differences were observed in patients. Connections between specific self-image aspects and ED have implications for clinical management of ED. The strong link between self-image variables and ED symptoms in normal girls, but not boys, is discussed in terms of the continuity-discontinuity hypothesis. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

End-Stage Renal Disease After Renal Surgery in Patients with Normal Preoperative Kidney Function: Balancing Surgical Strategy and Individual Disorders at Baseline.

Science.gov (United States)

Capitanio, Umberto; Larcher, Alessandro; Terrone, Carlo; Antonelli, Alessandro; Volpe, Alessandro; Fiori, Cristian; Furlan, Maria; Dehò, Federico; Minervini, Andrea; Serni, Sergio; Porpiglia, Francesco; Trevisani, Francesco; Salonia, Andrea; Carini, Marco; Simeone, Claudio; Montorsi, Francesco; Bertini, Roberto

2016-10-01

Although nephron-sparing surgery (NSS) has demonstrated benefit in terms of renal function preservation, it is unclear whether NSS might also decrease the risk of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) relative to radical nephrectomy (RN). In the current paper, we aimed to report the rate and the predictors of ESRD after surgery, accounting for detailed individual baseline characteristics and comorbidities. A multi-institutional collaboration among five European tertiary care centers allowed study of 2027 patients with normal preoperative renal function and a clinically localized T1abN0M0 renal mass. Cox regression analyses were used to predict the risk of ESRD (defined as the onset of a postoperative estimated glomerular filtration rate kidney disease. Univariable ESRD rates at 5 and 10 yr of follow-up were virtually equivalent for patients who underwent NSS (1.5% and 2.5%, respectively) versus RN (1.9% and 2.7%, respectively; hazard ratio [HR]: 0.8; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.4-1.6). However, diabetes, smoking, uncontrolled hypertension, and other comorbidities were consistently more frequent in the NSS group relative to their RN counterparts. After adjusting for detailed baseline individual characteristics, NSS was shown to have an independent protective effect relative to RN (HR: 0.4; 95% CI, 0.2-0.8; p=0.02) at multivariable analyses. After accounting for individual baseline characteristics, such as age, diabetes, uncontrolled hypertension, or other comorbidities, partial nephrectomy independently protects against end-stage renal disease and the consequent need for dialysis relative to radical nephrectomy. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Urology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Cineradiography in normal and abnormal pharyngo-esophageal deglutition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ekberg, O.

1981-01-01

With the aid of high-speed cineradiography the pharyngeal stage of deglutition was examined among 150 volunteers without dysphagia in order to evaluate the radiographic pattern of normal deglutition. In order to evaluate the dignostic result of cineradiographic examinations of the pharyngeal stage of deglutition among dysphagial patients 250 such patients were consecutively examined with an identical technique as the volunteers. The result of the investigation has shown that high-speed cineradiography is a convenient radiologic method for studying normal and abnormal deglutition. In nondysphagial individuals the pharyngeal stage of deglutition is executed with precision, smoothness and obviously with efficiency. In a few individuals without swallowing complaints circumscribed functional aberrations can be registered. In the majority of patients with dysphagia high-speed cineradiography is able to detect functional abnormalities during deglutition. An examination of such patients with this techique is therefore indispensable in order to disclose a probable cause of their complaints. (Auth.)

Surface morphology of active normal faults in hard rock: Implications for the mechanics of the Asal Rift, Djibouti

Science.gov (United States)

Pinzuti, Paul; Mignan, Arnaud; King, Geoffrey C. P.

2010-10-01

Tectonic-stretching models have been previously proposed to explain the process of continental break-up through the example of the Asal Rift, Djibouti, one of the few places where the early stages of seafloor spreading can be observed. In these models, deformation is distributed starting at the base of a shallow seismogenic zone, in which sub-vertical normal faults are responsible for subsidence whereas cracks accommodate extension. Alternative models suggest that extension results from localised magma intrusion, with normal faults accommodating extension and subsidence only above the maximum reach of the magma column. In these magmatic rifting models, or so-called magmatic intrusion models, normal faults have dips of 45-55° and root into dikes. Vertical profiles of normal fault scarps from levelling campaign in the Asal Rift, where normal faults seem sub-vertical at surface level, have been analysed to discuss the creation and evolution of normal faults in massive fractured rocks (basalt lava flows), using mechanical and kinematics concepts. We show that the studied normal fault planes actually have an average dip ranging between 45° and 65° and are characterised by an irregular stepped form. We suggest that these normal fault scarps correspond to sub-vertical en echelon structures, and that, at greater depth, these scarps combine and give birth to dipping normal faults. The results of our analysis are compatible with the magmatic intrusion models instead of tectonic-stretching models. The geometry of faulting between the Fieale volcano and Lake Asal in the Asal Rift can be simply related to the depth of diking, which in turn can be related to magma supply. This new view supports the magmatic intrusion model of early stages of continental breaking.

Standardized uptake values of fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose: the value of different normalization procedures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schomburg, A.; Bender, H.; Reichel, C.; Sommer, T.; Ruhlmann, J.; Kozak, B.; Biersack, H.J.

1996-01-01

While the evident advantages of absolute metabolic rate determinations cannot be equalled by static image analysis of fluorine-18 fluorodexyglucose positron emission tomographic (FDG PET) studies, various algorithms for the normalization of static FDG uptake values have been proposed. This study was performed to compare different normalization procedures in terms of dependency on individual patient characteristics. Standardized FDG uptake values (SUVs) were calculated for liver and lung tissue in 126 patients studied with whole-body FDG PET. Uptake values were normalized for total body weight, lean body mass and body surface area. Ranges, means, medians, standard deviations and variation coefficients of these SUV parameters were calculated and their interdependency with total body weight, lean body mass, body surface area, patient height and blood sugar levels was calculated by means of regression analysis. Standardized FDG uptake values normalized for body surface area were clearly superior to SUV parameters normalized for total body weight or lean body mass. Variation and correlation coefficients of body surface area-normalized uptake values were minimal when compared with SUV parameters derived from the other normalization procedures. Normalization for total body weight resulted in uptake values still dependent on body weight and blood sugar levels, while normalization for lean body mass did not eliminate the positive correlation with lean body mass and patient height. It is concluded that normalization of FDG uptake values for body surface area is less dependent on the individual patient characteristics than are FDG uptake values normalized for other parameters, and therefore appears to be preferable for FDG PET studies in oncology. (orig.)

The relationship between recognition memory for emotion-laden words and white matter microstructure in normal older individuals.

Science.gov (United States)

Saarela, Carina; Karrasch, Mira; Ilvesmäki, Tero; Parkkola, Riitta; Rinne, Juha O; Laine, Matti

2016-12-14

Functional neuroimaging studies have shown age-related differences in brain activation and connectivity patterns for emotional memory. Previous studies with middle-aged and older adults have reported associations between episodic memory and white matter (WM) microstructure obtained from diffusion tensor imaging, but such studies on emotional memory remain few. To our knowledge, this is the first study to explore associations between WM microstructure as measured by fractional anisotropy (FA) and recognition memory for intentionally encoded positive, negative, and emotionally neutral words using tract-based spatial statistics applied to diffusion tensor imaging images in an elderly sample (44 cognitively intact adults aged 50-79 years). The use of tract-based spatial statistics enables the identification of WM tracts important to emotional memory without a priori assumptions required for region-of-interest approaches that have been used in previous work. The behavioral analyses showed a positivity bias, that is, a preference for positive words, in recognition memory. No statistically significant associations emerged between FA and memory for negative or neutral words. Controlling for age and memory performance for negative and neutral words, recognition memory for positive words was negatively associated with FA in several projection, association, and commissural tracts in the left hemisphere. This likely reflects the complex interplay between the mnemonic positivity bias, structural WM integrity, and functional brain compensatory mechanisms in older age. Also, the unexpected directionality of the results indicates that the WM microstructural correlates of emotional memory show unique characteristics in normal older individuals.

Characteristics of global organic matrix in normal and pimpled chicken eggshells.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Z; Song, L; Zhang, F; He, W; Linhardt, R J

2017-10-01

The organic matrix from normal and pimpled calcified chicken eggshells were dissociated into acid-insoluble, water-insoluble, and facultative-soluble (both acid- and water-soluble) components, to understand the influence of shell matrix on eggshell qualities. A linear correlation was shown among these 3 matrix components in normal eggshells but was not observed in pimpled eggshells. In pimpled eggshells, the percentage contents of all 4 groups of matrix (the total matrix, acid-insoluble matrix, water-insoluble matrix, and facultative-soluble matrix) were significantly higher than that in normal eggshells. The amounts of both total matrix and acid-insoluble matrix in individual pimpled calcified shells were high, even though their weight was much lower than a normal eggshell. In both normal and pimpled eggshells, the calcified eggshell weight and shell thickness significantly and positively correlated with the amounts of all 4 groups of matrix in an individual calcified shell. In normal eggshells, the calcified shell thickness and shell breaking strength showed no significant correlations with the percentage contents of all 4 groups of matrix. In normal eggshells, only the shell membrane weight significantly correlated with the constituent ratios of both acid-insoluble matrix and facultative-soluble matrix in the whole matrix. In pimpled eggshells, 3 variables (calcified shell weight, shell thickness, and breaking strength) were significantly correlated with the constituent proportions of both acid-insoluble matrix and facultative-matrix. This study suggests that mechanical properties of normal eggshells may not linearly depend on the organic matrix content in the calcified eggshells and that pimpled eggshells might result by the disequilibrium enrichment of some proteins with negative effects. © 2017 Poultry Science Association Inc.

Metabolomic analysis of urine samples by UHPLC-QTOF-MS: Impact of normalization strategies.

Science.gov (United States)

Gagnebin, Yoric; Tonoli, David; Lescuyer, Pierre; Ponte, Belen; de Seigneux, Sophie; Martin, Pierre-Yves; Schappler, Julie; Boccard, Julien; Rudaz, Serge

2017-02-22

Among the various biological matrices used in metabolomics, urine is a biofluid of major interest because of its non-invasive collection and its availability in large quantities. However, significant sources of variability in urine metabolomics based on UHPLC-MS are related to the analytical drift and variation of the sample concentration, thus requiring normalization. A sequential normalization strategy was developed to remove these detrimental effects, including: (i) pre-acquisition sample normalization by individual dilution factors to narrow the concentration range and to standardize the analytical conditions, (ii) post-acquisition data normalization by quality control-based robust LOESS signal correction (QC-RLSC) to correct for potential analytical drift, and (iii) post-acquisition data normalization by MS total useful signal (MSTUS) or probabilistic quotient normalization (PQN) to prevent the impact of concentration variability. This generic strategy was performed with urine samples from healthy individuals and was further implemented in the context of a clinical study to detect alterations in urine metabolomic profiles due to kidney failure. In the case of kidney failure, the relation between creatinine/osmolality and the sample concentration is modified, and relying only on these measurements for normalization could be highly detrimental. The sequential normalization strategy was demonstrated to significantly improve patient stratification by decreasing the unwanted variability and thus enhancing data quality. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Normal weight obesity among young adults in Trinidad and Tobago: prevalence and associated factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Ramsaran, Cherrita; Maharaj, Rohan G

2017-04-01

Patients with normal weight obesity (NWO) have a normal body mass index (BMI) but elevated body fat percentage (BF%), thereby increasing their risk of cardiovascular and metabolic disorders. The purpose of this research was to determine the prevalence of NWO and its associated factors in a sample of young adults in Trinidad and Tobago (T&T). A cross sectional study involving a convenience non-voluntary sample of participants with a normal BMI of 18.5-24.9 kg/m2 was conducted. The following information was collected: history, basic anthropometric measurements, including BF% via the Tanita Ironman Body Composition Analyzer (BC554), physical examination and basic blood investigations. Participants were divided into two groups; normal BF% (young adult population was found to have NWO. Long-term studies are recommended to study the full implications of these findings.

Incremental health expenditure and lost days of normal activity for individuals with mental disorders: results from the São Paulo Megacity Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Chiavegatto Filho, Alexandre Dias Porto; Wang, Yuan-Pang; Campino, Antonio Carlos Coelho; Malik, Ana Maria; Viana, Maria Carmen; Andrade, Laura Helena

2015-08-05

With the recent increase in the prevalence of mental disorders in developing countries, there is a growing interest in the study of its consequences. We examined the association of depression, anxiety and any mental disorders with incremental health expenditure, i.e. the linear increase in health expenditure associated with mental disorders, and lost days of normal activity. We analyzed the results from a representative sample survey of residents of the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo (n = 2,920; São Paulo Megacity Mental Health Survey), part of the World Mental Health (WMH) Survey Initiative, coordinated by the World Health Organization and performed in 28 countries. The instrument used for obtaining the individual results, including the assessment of mental disorders, was the WMH version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview 3.0 (WMH-CIDI 3.0) that generates psychiatric diagnoses according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) criteria. Statistical analyses were performed by multilevel generalized least squares (GLS) regression models. Sociodemographic determinants such as income, age, education and marital status were included as controls. Depression, anxiety and any mental disorders were consistently associated with both incremental health expenditure and missing days of normal activity. Depression was associated with an incremental annual expenditure of R$308.28 (95% CI: R$194.05-R$422.50), or US$252.48 in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP). Anxiety and any mental disorders were associated with a lower, but also statistically significant, incremental annual expenditure (R$177.82, 95% CI: 79.68-275.97; and R$180.52, 95% CI: 91.13-269.92, or US$145.64 and US$147.85 in terms of PPP, respectively). Most of the incremental health costs associated with mental disorders came from medications. Depression was independently associated with higher incremental health expenditure than the two most prevalent chronic

Individual and organizational predictors of depression in general practitioners.

OpenAIRE

Firth-Cozens, J

1998-01-01

BACKGROUND: High levels of stress and depression are seen in both general practitioners (GPs) and hospital doctors, and this has implications for patient care. It is therefore important to discover the individual and organizational causes of elevated symptoms so they can be tackled. AIM: To discover the relative importance of individual characteristics measured 10 years earlier compared with current organizational stressors in predicting depression in GPs. METHOD: Longitudinal questionnaire s...

Identification of Patient Benefit From Proton Therapy for Advanced Head and Neck Cancer Patients Based on Individual and Subgroup Normal Tissue Complication Probability Analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jakobi, Annika; Bandurska-Luque, Anna; Stützer, Kristin; Haase, Robert; Löck, Steffen; Wack, Linda-Jacqueline; Mönnich, David; Thorwarth, Daniela

2015-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine, by treatment plan comparison along with normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) modeling, whether a subpopulation of patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) could be identified that would gain substantial benefit from proton therapy in terms of NTCP. Methods and Materials: For 45 HNSCC patients, intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) was compared to intensity modulated proton therapy (IMPT). Physical dose distributions were evaluated as well as the resulting NTCP values, using modern models for acute mucositis, xerostomia, aspiration, dysphagia, laryngeal edema, and trismus. Patient subgroups were defined based on primary tumor location. Results: Generally, IMPT reduced the NTCP values while keeping similar target coverage for all patients. Subgroup analyses revealed a higher individual reduction of swallowing-related side effects by IMPT for patients with tumors in the upper head and neck area, whereas the risk reduction of acute mucositis was more pronounced in patients with tumors in the larynx region. More patients with tumors in the upper head and neck area had a reduction in NTCP of more than 10%. Conclusions: Subgrouping can help to identify patients who may benefit more than others from the use of IMPT and, thus, can be a useful tool for a preselection of patients in the clinic where there are limited PT resources. Because the individual benefit differs within a subgroup, the relative merits should additionally be evaluated by individual treatment plan comparisons

Identification of Patient Benefit From Proton Therapy for Advanced Head and Neck Cancer Patients Based on Individual and Subgroup Normal Tissue Complication Probability Analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jakobi, Annika, E-mail: Annika.Jakobi@OncoRay.de [OncoRay-National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Dresden (Germany); Bandurska-Luque, Anna [OncoRay-National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Dresden (Germany); Department of Radiation Oncology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden (Germany); Stützer, Kristin; Haase, Robert; Löck, Steffen [OncoRay-National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Dresden (Germany); Wack, Linda-Jacqueline [Section for Biomedical Physics, University Hospital for Radiation Oncology, Eberhard Karls Universät Tübingen (Germany); Mönnich, David [Section for Biomedical Physics, University Hospital for Radiation Oncology, Eberhard Karls Universät Tübingen (Germany); German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg (Germany); German Cancer Consortium, Tübingen (Germany); Thorwarth, Daniela [Section for Biomedical Physics, University Hospital for Radiation Oncology, Eberhard Karls Universät Tübingen (Germany); and others

2015-08-01

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine, by treatment plan comparison along with normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) modeling, whether a subpopulation of patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) could be identified that would gain substantial benefit from proton therapy in terms of NTCP. Methods and Materials: For 45 HNSCC patients, intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) was compared to intensity modulated proton therapy (IMPT). Physical dose distributions were evaluated as well as the resulting NTCP values, using modern models for acute mucositis, xerostomia, aspiration, dysphagia, laryngeal edema, and trismus. Patient subgroups were defined based on primary tumor location. Results: Generally, IMPT reduced the NTCP values while keeping similar target coverage for all patients. Subgroup analyses revealed a higher individual reduction of swallowing-related side effects by IMPT for patients with tumors in the upper head and neck area, whereas the risk reduction of acute mucositis was more pronounced in patients with tumors in the larynx region. More patients with tumors in the upper head and neck area had a reduction in NTCP of more than 10%. Conclusions: Subgrouping can help to identify patients who may benefit more than others from the use of IMPT and, thus, can be a useful tool for a preselection of patients in the clinic where there are limited PT resources. Because the individual benefit differs within a subgroup, the relative merits should additionally be evaluated by individual treatment plan comparisons.

Genetic and epigenetic features in radiation sensitivity. Part II: implications for clinical practice and radiation protection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bourguignon, Michel H.; Gisone, Pablo A.; Perez, Maria R.; Michelin, Severino; Dubner, Diana; Giorgio, Marina di; Carosella, Edgardo D.

2005-01-01

Recent progress especially in the field of gene identification and expression has attracted greater attention to the genetic and epigenetic susceptibility to cancer, possibly enhanced by ionising radiation. This issue is especially important for radiation therapists since hypersensitive patients may suffer from adverse effects in normal tissues following standard radiation therapy, while normally sensitive patients could receive higher doses of radiation, offering a better likelihood of cure for malignant tumours. Although only a small percentage of individuals are ''hypersensitive'' to radiation effects, all medical specialists using ionising radiation should be aware of the aforementioned progress in medical knowledge. The present paper, the second of two parts, reviews human disorders known or strongly suspected to be associated with hypersensitivity to ionising radiation. The main tests capable of detecting such pathologies in advance are analysed, and ethical issues regarding genetic testing are considered. The implications for radiation protection of possible hypersensitivity to radiation in a part of the population are discussed, and some guidelines for nuclear medicine professionals are proposed. (orig.)

Towards adapting a normal patient database for SPECT brain perfusion imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, N D; Soleimani, M; Mitchell, C N; Holmes, R B; Evans, M J; Cade, S C

2012-01-01

Single-photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT) is a tool which can be used to image perfusion in the brain. Clinicians can use such images to help diagnose dementias such as Alzheimer's disease. Due to the intrinsic stochasticity in the photon imaging system, some form of statistical comparison of an individual image with a 'normal' patient database gives a clinician additional confidence in interpreting the image. Due to the variations between SPECT camera systems, ideally a normal patient database is required for each individual system. However, cost or ethical considerations often prohibit the collection of such a database for each new camera system. Some method of adapting existing normal patient databases to new camera systems would be beneficial. This paper introduces a method which may be regarded as a 'first-pass' attempt based on 2-norm regularization and a codebook of discrete spatially stationary convolutional kernels. Some preliminary illustrative results are presented, together with discussion on limitations and possible improvements

Culture and error in space: implications from analog environments.

Science.gov (United States)

Helmreich, R L

2000-09-01

An ongoing study investigating national, organizational, and professional cultures in aviation and medicine is described. Survey data from 26 nations on 5 continents show highly significant national differences regarding appropriate relationships between leaders and followers, in group vs. individual orientation, and in values regarding adherence to rules and procedures. These findings replicate earlier research on dimensions of national culture. Data collected also isolate significant operational issues in multi-national flight crews. While there are no better or worse cultures, these cultural differences have operational implications for the way crews function in an international space environment. The positive professional cultures of pilots and physicians exhibit a high enjoyment of the job and professional pride. However, a negative component was also identified characterized by a sense of personal invulnerability regarding the effects of stress and fatigue on performance. This misperception of personal invulnerability has operational implications such as failures in teamwork and increased probability of error. A second component of the research examines team error in operational environments. From observational data collected during normal flight operations, new models of threat and error and their management were developed that can be generalized to operations in space and other socio-technological domains. Five categories of crew error are defined and their relationship to training programs in team performance, known generically as Crew Resource Management, is described. The relevance of these data for future spaceflight is discussed.

A new selective developmental deficit: Impaired object recognition with normal face recognition.

Science.gov (United States)

Germine, Laura; Cashdollar, Nathan; Düzel, Emrah; Duchaine, Bradley

2011-05-01

Studies of developmental deficits in face recognition, or developmental prosopagnosia, have shown that individuals who have not suffered brain damage can show face recognition impairments coupled with normal object recognition (Duchaine and Nakayama, 2005; Duchaine et al., 2006; Nunn et al., 2001). However, no developmental cases with the opposite dissociation - normal face recognition with impaired object recognition - have been reported. The existence of a case of non-face developmental visual agnosia would indicate that the development of normal face recognition mechanisms does not rely on the development of normal object recognition mechanisms. To see whether a developmental variant of non-face visual object agnosia exists, we conducted a series of web-based object and face recognition tests to screen for individuals showing object recognition memory impairments but not face recognition impairments. Through this screening process, we identified AW, an otherwise normal 19-year-old female, who was then tested in the lab on face and object recognition tests. AW's performance was impaired in within-class visual recognition memory across six different visual categories (guns, horses, scenes, tools, doors, and cars). In contrast, she scored normally on seven tests of face recognition, tests of memory for two other object categories (houses and glasses), and tests of recall memory for visual shapes. Testing confirmed that her impairment was not related to a general deficit in lower-level perception, object perception, basic-level recognition, or memory. AW's results provide the first neuropsychological evidence that recognition memory for non-face visual object categories can be selectively impaired in individuals without brain damage or other memory impairment. These results indicate that the development of recognition memory for faces does not depend on intact object recognition memory and provide further evidence for category-specific dissociations in visual

Histomorphometric study of basilar artery in normal and suicide persons

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suresh Kumar Parmar

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Background: Depression in association with cerebro-vascular risk factors and white matter lesions is increasingly referred to as ‘vascular depression’. There are several brain areas known for playing a role in patho-physiology of depression which may lead to suicidal tendencies, are fed by basilar artery. Therefore, the arterial histoarchitecture was studied in the normal and suicide individuals to establish a relationship between the vascular structural changes and depression. Methods: 40 post-mortem samples (both sexes of basilar artery have been collected and were grouped into normal and suicide groups. Samples were measured for arterial, lumen diameter and the thickness of tunica intima, media and adventitia using H & E stained sections. While, Orcein stained sections were used to estimate the volume fraction of elastic fibres, and Van Gieson stained sections to estimate the volume fraction of collagen fibres. Results: The mean thickness of tunica media of basilar artery in suicide individuals (1.08 microns showed a statistically significant decrease when compared to normal person (1.33 microns. Further, volume fraction of collagen (0.06 mm3/mm3 and elastic fibres (0.06 mm3/mm3 in suicide persons showed a statistically significant decrease when compared to normal person (collagen fibres 0.08 mm3/mm3; elastic fibres 0.09 mm3/mm3. Conclusions: This study establishes a probable causative relationship between vascular structural abnormality and depression which may drive the individual to commit suicide. Keywords: Histomorphometry, Basilar artery, Suicide, Depression

Cdx2 modulates proliferation in normal human intestinal epithelial crypt cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Escaffit, Fabrice; Pare, Frederic; Gauthier, Remy; Rivard, Nathalie; Boudreau, Francois; Beaulieu, Jean-Francois

2006-01-01

The homeobox gene Cdx2 is involved in the regulation of the expression of intestine specific markers such as sucrase-isomaltase and lactase-phlorizin hydrolase. Previous studies performed with immortalized or transformed intestinal cell lines have provided evidence that Cdx2 can promote morphological and functional differentiation in these experimental models. However, no data exist concerning the implication of this factor in normal human intestinal cell physiology. In the present work, we have investigated the role of Cdx2 in normal human intestinal epithelial crypt (HIEC) cells that lack this transcription factor. The establishment of HIEC cells expressing Cdx2 in an inducible manner shows that forced expression of Cdx2 significantly alters the proliferation of intestinal crypt cells and stimulates dipeptidylpeptidase IV expression but is not sufficient to trigger intestinal terminal differentiation. These observations suggest that Cdx2 requires additional factors to activate the enterocyte differentiation program in normal undifferentiated cells

Optimization of the wearing time for passive individual dosimeters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aleinikov, V.E.; )

1998-01-01

A cost-benefit equation was derived for the optimum wearing time of passive individual dosemeters. This equation was applied to the long-normal distribution of occupational individual doses. A plot of the optimum wearing time in dependence on the lower detection limit is reproduced. It is shown that the optimum wearing time depends on the dose distribution as well as on the quotient of the cost assigned to the unit collective dose, α, the cost of the dosemeter, C, and the lower detection limit, D. If the C/α ratio is infinitesimal, the optimum wearing time is directly proportional to the square root of the DL product (L is the dose limit) and inversely proportional to the average annual individual dose for the log-normal distribution. (P.A.)

Serum concentrations of apelin-17 isoform vary in accordance to blood pressure categories in individuals with obesity class 3.

Science.gov (United States)

Cano Martínez, Luis Javier; Coral Vázquez, Ramón Mauricio; Méndez, Juan Pablo; Trejo, Silvia; Pérez Razo, Juan Carlos; Canto, Patricia

2018-04-13

The aim of this study was to investigate if serum concentrations of apelin-36, apelin-17, apelin-13 or apelin-12 were different in obesity class 3 individuals with hypertension, when compared to those without hypertension (normal or high-normal). Twenty six individuals with obesity class 3-related hypertension and thirty three individuals without hypertension, who were divided in individuals with normal (n = 23) or with high-normal (n = 10) blood pressure (BP) were analyzed. All individuals presented obesity class 3, without diabetes mellitus. Measurements of all apelin isoforms were performed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits. Analysis of differences between groups of Apelin isoform concentrations was performed by a One-way ANOVA, with a Tukey test post hoc. The individuals of the hypertensive group presented a slightly lower serum concentration of all apelin isoforms, but these differences were not statistically significant. These results were more evident when the group of patients without hypertension were divided based in normal and high-normal BP, observing that apelin-17 isoform were higher in individuals with high-normal BP in comparison to subjects with normal BP (P = 0.018); concentrations were also higher when compared to subjects with hypertension (P = 0.004). To our knowledge, this is the first study regarding the differences of apelin-17 isoform concentrations in individuals pertaining to different categories of BP, who presented obesity class 3. The group of patients that presented hypertension showed a lower concentration of all isoforms. This observation could be due to the fact that these patients were taking antihypertensive medication.

Regional magnetic resonance spectroscopy of the brain in autistic individuals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hisaoka, S.; Harada, M.; Nishitani, H.; Mori, K.

2001-01-01

We studied the variations in the concentration of metabolites with brain region and age in autistic individuals and normal controls using multiple analysis of covariance. We examined 55 autistic individuals (2-21 years old, 47 male and eight female) and 51 normal children (3 months-15 years old, 26 boys and 25 girls). Single volumes of interest were placed in the frontal, parietal and temporal region on both sides, the brain stem and cingulate gyrus. The concentration of each metabolite was quantified by the water reference method. The concentration of N-acetylaspartate in the temporal regions (Brodmann's areas 41 and 42) in the autistic individuals were significantly lower than those in the controls (P < 0.05), but concentrations in other regions were not significantly different between the autistic individuals and controls. This suggests low density or dysfunction of neurones in Brodmann's areas 41 and 42 in autistic individual, which might be related to the disturbances of the sensory speech centre (Wernicke's area) in autism. (orig.)

Regional magnetic resonance spectroscopy of the brain in autistic individuals

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hisaoka, S; Harada, M; Nishitani, H [Dept. of Radiology, School of Medicine, University of Tokushima (Japan); Mori, K [Dept. of Paediatrics, School of Medicine, University of Tokushima (Japan)

2001-06-01

We studied the variations in the concentration of metabolites with brain region and age in autistic individuals and normal controls using multiple analysis of covariance. We examined 55 autistic individuals (2-21 years old, 47 male and eight female) and 51 normal children (3 months-15 years old, 26 boys and 25 girls). Single volumes of interest were placed in the frontal, parietal and temporal region on both sides, the brain stem and cingulate gyrus. The concentration of each metabolite was quantified by the water reference method. The concentration of N-acetylaspartate in the temporal regions (Brodmann's areas 41 and 42) in the autistic individuals were significantly lower than those in the controls (P < 0.05), but concentrations in other regions were not significantly different between the autistic individuals and controls. This suggests low density or dysfunction of neurones in Brodmann's areas 41 and 42 in autistic individual, which might be related to the disturbances of the sensory speech centre (Wernicke's area) in autism. (orig.)

Studying the effect of different elements in gastric emptying that produce normal variations in `healthy` individuals

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hauser, L. [Sydney University, Sydney, NSW (Australia)

1999-06-01

Maintaining the rate of emptying solids and liquids at normal levels, is an essential component for the correct functioning of the entire gastro-intestinal tract. There is no single-test available which provides a `baseline` for all gastric emptying studies. This problem arises due to many elements which normally effect the rate of gastric emptying, such as those dealing with patient factors, the composition of the liquid/solid meal used and also which radiopharmaceutical is chosen. It is therefore recommended that each Nuclear Medicine practice needs to set-up guidelines which are able to be consistently reproduced. One such guideline may be in the form of a `liquid glucose meal` which provides consistent and accurate results for gastric emptying studies 18 refs., 2 figs.

The pedagogical implications of information and communication ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The pedagogical implications of information and communication technology on adult education: a case study of the osun state colleges of ... Finally, the department should give individual students access to the use of 1C1 equipment.

Knowledge Management: Individual versus organizational learning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Noemí Martínez Caraballo

2007-07-01

Full Text Available During the last two decades, there has been a profusion of articles dealing with the topics organizational learning and knowledge management, on the academic and managerial side. For this reason, the present paper is focused on further analysing these concepts. In particular, the purpose is studying the link between individual and organizational learning, taking into account the literature about knowledge management, and trying to establish the application field and the intersection of them. Finally, it is pursued to point out several managerial implications for the companies that must have in consideration that individual and organizational learning are two phenomena different but indissolubly united

Modulation of the Genome and Epigenome of Individuals Susceptible to Autism by Environmental Risk Factors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Costas Koufaris

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Diverse environmental factors have been implicated with the development of autism spectrum disorders (ASD. Genetic factors also underlie the differential vulnerability to environmental risk factors of susceptible individuals. Currently the way in which environmental risk factors interact with genetic factors to increase the incidence of ASD is not well understood. A greater understanding of the metabolic, cellular, and biochemical events involved in gene x environment interactions in ASD would have important implications for the prevention and possible treatment of the disorder. In this review we discuss various established and more alternative processes through which environmental factors implicated in ASD can modulate the genome and epigenome of genetically-susceptible individuals.

Dream content: Individual and generic aspects.

Science.gov (United States)

Hobson, Allan; Kahn, David

2007-12-01

Dream reports were collected from normal subjects in an effort to determine the degree to which dream reports can be used to identify individual dreamers. Judges were asked to group the reports by their authors. The judges scored the reports correctly at chance levels. This finding indicated that dreams may be at least as much like each other as they are the signature of individual dreamers. Our results suggest that dream reports cannot be used to identify the individuals who produced them when identifiers like names and gender of friends and family members are removed from the dream report. In addition to using dreams to learn about an individual, we must look at dreams as telling us about important common or generic aspects of human consciousness.

ISSUES ABOUT THE EVALUATION OF THE FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS AND TAX IMPLICATIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Camelia-Catalina, MIHALCIUC

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Accounting assessment is a process with tax implications on accounting figures. In fact, when it comes to evaluation, we need to clarify exactly what is being refered to: it s about the individual assessment of an asset or liability, or about the global assessment of a business. So, in a narrower approach, in accounting we are particularly interested in the individual assessment of assets and liabilities. In the evaluation, the concept of value is the primary element, accounting, especially along with the application of the principle of economic prevalence over the juridic, managed to convey the best measure those interested, information about how to create, to mesure and how to comunicate to business partners the value. The tax implication that arise after the evaluation of the individual elements of the asset, influence the result of the exercise by including the expenditure in the total expenses generated by the evaluation. The main asset elements, which following the evaluation generate tax implications are the tangible fixed asset, financial and stocks. Based on this consideration, one of the main objectives of this paper is to highlight the tax implications arising from the evaluation of financial instruments that generate tax liabilities.

Interaction of osteopontin with IL-18 in obese individuals: implications for insulin resistance.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rasheed Ahmad

Full Text Available BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: Osteopontin (OPN and IL-18 are known inflammatory mediators and both participate in a wide range of biological processes linked to immunological disorders. Since an interaction between OPN and IL-18 has not been studied in obesity, we investigated whether: (i their levels were simultaneously elevated in obese individuals; (ii OPN was associated with IL-18 in obese individuals and (iii their levels associated with fasting blood glucose (FBG and BMI. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: PBMCs and plasma samples were isolated from 60 individuals including lean as well as overweight and obese individuals. Subcutaneous adipose tissue samples were obtained. OPN and IL-18 were measured by ELISA. OPN and IL-18 mRNA expression was quantified by real time quantitative RT-PCR. RESULTS: Obese individuals exhibited significantly increased circulating OPN levels as compared with lean individuals (obese 2865±101; lean 1681±116 pg/ml; P<0.0001. IL-18 levels were also high in obese individuals (obese 491±39, lean 301±26 pg/ml; P = 0.0009. OPN and IL-18 expression were simultaneously up-regulated (OPN: 5.4-Fold; IL-18: 8.9-Fold; P<0.05 in PBMCs from obese individuals compared to lean group. Adipose tissue from obese individuals had high expression of OPN (7.3-Fold and IL-18 (9.6-Fold. Plasma OPN levels correlated positively with FBG levels (r = 0.32, P = 0.02. Similarly, IL-18 correlated positively with FBG levels (r = 0.406, P = 0.0042. Stepwise multiple regression analysis showed an independent association of BMI with OPN and IL-18. Interestingly, OPN levels increased progressively with an increase in IL-18 levels (r = 0.52, P = 0.0004. We also examined the regulatory role of IL-18 in OPN secretion from PBMCs. Neutralizing anti-IL-18Rα mAb reduced OPN secretion. CONCLUSION: These findings represent the first observation that plasma, PBMC and adipose tissue OPN and IL-18 are simultaneously increased and correlate with each

The Comparison of Three Dimensions of Personality in Self Referred Addicted and Normal Men

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zahra Sarialghadam

2010-05-01

Full Text Available Aims: This research was aimed to compare the three dimensions of personality in self referred addicted men and normal one. Method: The research design was causal-effect research method and 30 self referred addicted men selected by available sampling, and 30 normal men (non-addicted who were matched on sex, age, marital status, and level of education were selected. Results: The results showed that the addicted men were scored higher on neurotic but there were not any significant differences on two other dimensions of personality. Conclusion: These results can have applied implications in clinics.

Individualism, Collectivism, and Cultural Compatibility: Implications for Counselors and Teachers.

Science.gov (United States)

Yamauchi, Lois A.

1998-01-01

Culture influences expectations about classroom goals. The cultural distinction between individualism and collectivism is one factor that affects students' adjustment from home to school. Article suggests teachers and counselors may want to capitalize on students' cultural tendencies, but also plan for ways to expand students' repertories of…

Normal personality, personality disorder and psychosis: current views and future perspectives.

Science.gov (United States)

Balaratnasingam, Sivasankaran; Janca, Aleksandar

2015-01-01

The purpose of this article is to review recent literature examining the occurrence of psychotic experiences in normal population and those with personality disorders. Up to 15% of individuals in the general population report some type or degree of psychotic experience. Most of these individuals function adequately, do not require psychiatric treatment and do not receive diagnosis of a psychotic illness. A significant number of individuals diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (25-50%) also report psychotic symptoms. These are not easily differentiated from the psychotic symptoms reported by individuals with schizophrenia, nor are they always transient. However, emerging research has confirmed that individuals with schizotypal personality disorder are dimensionally related to those with schizophrenia and are at an increased risk of transition to psychosis. Psychotic symptoms are best considered as 'trans-diagnostic' entities on a continuum from normal to pathological. There is a large body of evidence for a dimensional relationship between schizotypal personality disorder and schizophrenia. There is also a significant amount of research showing that psychotic symptoms in borderline personality disorder are frequent, nontransient and represent a marker of illness severity. This review highlights the need to move beyond traditional assumptions and categorical boundaries when evaluating psychotic experiences and psychopathological phenomena.

Individual Differences in Online Spoken Word Recognition: Implications for SLI

Science.gov (United States)

McMurray, Bob; Samelson, Vicki M.; Lee, Sung Hee; Tomblin, J. Bruce

2010-01-01

Thirty years of research has uncovered the broad principles that characterize spoken word processing across listeners. However, there have been few systematic investigations of individual differences. Such an investigation could help refine models of word recognition by indicating which processing parameters are likely to vary, and could also have…

A Network-Individual-Resource Model for HIV Prevention

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Blair T.; Redding, Colleen A.; DiClemente, Ralph J.; Mustanski, Brian S.; Dodge, Brian M.; Sheeran, Paschal; Warren, Michelle R.; Zimmerman, Rick S.; Fisher, William A.; Conner, Mark T.; Carey, Michael P.; Fisher, Jeffrey D.; Stall, Ronald D.; Fishbein, Martin

2014-01-01

HIV is transmitted through dyadic exchanges of individuals linked in transitory or permanent networks of varying sizes. To optimize prevention efficacy, a complementary theoretical perspective that bridges key individual level elements with important network elements can be a foundation for developing and implementing HIV interventions with outcomes that are more sustainable over time and have greater dissemination potential. Toward that end, we introduce a Network-Individual-Resource (NIR) model for HIV prevention that recognizes how exchanges of resources between individuals and their networks underlies and sustains HIV-risk behaviors. Individual behavior change for HIV prevention, then, may be dependent on increasing the supportiveness of that individual's relevant networks for such change. Among other implications, an NIR model predicts that the success of prevention efforts depends on whether the prevention efforts (1) prompt behavior changes that can be sustained by the resources the individual or their networks possess; (2) meet individual and network needs and are consistent with the individual's current situation/developmental stage; (3) are trusted and valued; and (4) target high HIV-prevalence networks. PMID:20862606

Removal of spurious normal polarity directions in the Kanapoi Formation with progressive thermal demagnetization: implications for dating Pliocene hominin fossils from the Turkana Basin of Kenya

Science.gov (United States)

Lepre, C. J.; Kent, D.

2017-12-01

The Kanapoi Formation is a 75-m-thick sedimentary unit in northern Kenya whose fossil record documents the evolution of the genus Australopithecus and habitual bipedalism in Pliocene hominins. Published 40Ar/39Ar dates of 4.20 to 4.10 Ma for three aqueously reworked tuffs from the lower and middle stratigraphic intervals of the formation and a whole-rock K-Ar date of 3.4 ± 0.1 Ma on the Kalokwanya Basalt, which caps the succession, coupled with paleomagnetic data from an unpublished thesis have been used to constrain the age of the unit (McDougall+2012 J Geol Soc). Normal polarities at the base of the formation were correlated to normal subchron C3n.1n (Cochiti Subchron) and would extend the Kanapoi chronostratigraphy back to between 4.29 and 4.18 Ma. The credibility of the normal polarities at the base and elsewhere in the formation as records of the geomagnetic field at the time of deposition, however, is called into question by the ubiquity of the high-coercivity mineral hematite in the Kanapoi sediments and the alternating field demagnetization methods exclusively used to generate the polarity directions. We tested this proposed chronostratigraphy of the Kanapoi Fm by collecting nearly 70 independently orientated block samples from 10 outcrop localities, which sampled roughly two-thirds of the total stratigraphic thickness of the formation and covered the entire vertical extent of the supposed basal normal polarity magnetozone. For most every specimen, stepwise thermal demagnetization (TD) resolved well-defined characteristic magnetizations of uniformly reverse polarity and were carried by a high-temperature component consistent with hematite. TD of the Kalokwanya Basalt confirmed its reverse magnetic polarity, which implies emplacement most likely prior to the base of normal Chron C2An (Gauss Chron) at 3.58 Ma. Kanapoi sediments thus accumulated sometime during reverse subchron C2Ar (4.18-3.58 Ma) but over a period of much less than 600 kyr. Basal age control

Individual Differences in Cognitive Control Circuit Anatomy Link Sensation Seeking, Impulsivity, and Substance Use

Science.gov (United States)

Hollinshead, Marisa O.; Roffman, Joshua L.; Smoller, Jordan W.; Buckner, Randy L.

2016-01-01

Individuals vary widely in their tendency to seek stimulation and act impulsively, early developing traits with genetic origins. Failures to regulate these behaviors increase risk for maladaptive outcomes including substance abuse. Here, we explored the neuroanatomical correlates of sensation seeking and impulsivity in healthy young adults. Our analyses revealed links between sensation seeking and reduced cortical thickness that were preferentially localized to regions implicated in cognitive control, including anterior cingulate and middle frontal gyrus (n = 1015). These associations generalized to self-reported motor impulsivity, replicated in an independent group (n = 219), and correlated with heightened alcohol, tobacco, and caffeine use. Critically, the relations between sensation seeking and brain structure were evident in participants without a history of alcohol or tobacco use, suggesting that observed associations with anatomy are not solely a consequence of substance use. These results demonstrate that individual differences in the tendency to seek stimulation, act on impulse, and engage in substance use are correlated with the anatomical structure of cognitive control circuitry. Our findings suggest that, in healthy populations, covariation across these complex multidimensional behaviors may in part originate from a common underlying biology. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Impaired cognitive control may result in a tendency to seek stimulation impulsively and an increased risk for maladaptive outcomes, including substance abuse. Here, we examined the structural correlates of sensation seeking and impulsivity in a large cohort of healthy young adults. Our analyses revealed links between sensation seeking and reduced cortical thickness that were preferentially localized to regions implicated in cognitive control, including anterior cingulate and middle frontal gyrus. The observed associations generalized to motor impulsivity, replicated in an independent group

Alterations in right posterior hippocampus in early blind individuals

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chebat, Daniel-Robert; Chen, Jan-Kai; Schneider, Fabien

2007-01-01

This study compares hippocampal volumes of early blind and sex/age-matched sighted controls through volumetric and localization analyses. Early blind individuals showed a significantly smaller right posterior hippocampus compared with controls. No differences in total hippocampal volumes were fou...... of the posterior hippocampus in early blind individuals suggests the implication of this region in visual spatial memory. Udgivelsesdato: 2007-Mar-5......This study compares hippocampal volumes of early blind and sex/age-matched sighted controls through volumetric and localization analyses. Early blind individuals showed a significantly smaller right posterior hippocampus compared with controls. No differences in total hippocampal volumes were found...

A comparison of vowel normalization procedures for language variation research

Science.gov (United States)

Adank, Patti; Smits, Roel; van Hout, Roeland

2004-11-01

An evaluation of vowel normalization procedures for the purpose of studying language variation is presented. The procedures were compared on how effectively they (a) preserve phonemic information, (b) preserve information about the talker's regional background (or sociolinguistic information), and (c) minimize anatomical/physiological variation in acoustic representations of vowels. Recordings were made for 80 female talkers and 80 male talkers of Dutch. These talkers were stratified according to their gender and regional background. The normalization procedures were applied to measurements of the fundamental frequency and the first three formant frequencies for a large set of vowel tokens. The normalization procedures were evaluated through statistical pattern analysis. The results show that normalization procedures that use information across multiple vowels (``vowel-extrinsic'' information) to normalize a single vowel token performed better than those that include only information contained in the vowel token itself (``vowel-intrinsic'' information). Furthermore, the results show that normalization procedures that operate on individual formants performed better than those that use information across multiple formants (e.g., ``formant-extrinsic'' F2-F1). .

Normal stress databases in myocardial perfusion scintigraphy – how many subjects do you need?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Trägårdh, Elin; Sjöstrand, Karl; Edenbrandt, Lars

2012-01-01

) for male, NC for female, attenuation‐corrected images (AC) for male and AC for female subjects. 126 male and 205 female subjects were included. The normal database was created by alternatingly computing the mean of all normal subjects and normalizing the subjects with respect to this mean, until...... convergence. Coefficients of variation (CV) were created for increasing number of included patients in the four different normal stress databases. Normal stress databases with ...Commercial normal stress databases in myocardial perfusion scintigraphy (MPS) commonly consist of 30–40 individuals. The aim of the study was to determine how many subjects are needed. Four normal stress databases were developed using patients who underwent 99mTc MPS: non‐corrected images (NC...

The Professional-Bureaucratic Conflict: Origins, Implications, Resolution.

Science.gov (United States)

Angona, Judith; Williams, Leonard B.

1981-01-01

Examines the literature on the inevitable conflict in modern organizations between the professional's training for self-administration and bureaucratic denial of individual initiative and draws implications for administrative techniques that can help win the loyalty of a professional staff. (Author/WD)

miRNAs in inflammatory skin diseases and their clinical implications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Løvendorf, Marianne B; Skov, Lone

2015-01-01

biological processes. The clinical implications of miRNAs are intriguing, both from a diagnostic and a therapeutic perspective. Accordingly, there is emerging evidence for the clinical potential of miRNAs as both biomarkers and possible therapeutic targets in skin diseases. Future studies will hopefully...... incomplete; however, it is known that miRNAs are implicated in various cellular processes of both normal and diseased skin. Some miRNAs appear to be consistently deregulated in several different inflammatory skin diseases, including psoriasis and atopic dermatitis, indicating a common role in fundamental...

Digital Twins in Health Care: Ethical Implications of an Emerging Engineering Paradigm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Koen Bruynseels

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Personalized medicine uses fine grained information on individual persons, to pinpoint deviations from the normal. ‘Digital Twins’ in engineering provide a conceptual framework to analyze these emerging data-driven health care practices, as well as their conceptual and ethical implications for therapy, preventative care and human enhancement. Digital Twins stand for a specific engineering paradigm, where individual physical artifacts are paired with digital models that dynamically reflects the status of those artifacts. When applied to persons, Digital Twins are an emerging technology that builds on in silico representations of an individual that dynamically reflect molecular status, physiological status and life style over time. We use Digital Twins as the hypothesis that one would be in the possession of very detailed bio-physical and lifestyle information of a person over time. This perspective redefines the concept of ‘normality’ or ‘health,’ as a set of patterns that are regular for a particular individual, against the backdrop of patterns observed in the population. This perspective also will impact what is considered therapy and what is enhancement, as can be illustrated with the cases of the ‘asymptomatic ill’ and life extension via anti-aging medicine. These changes are the consequence of how meaning is derived, in case measurement data is available. Moral distinctions namely may be based on patterns found in these data and the meanings that are grafted on these patterns. Ethical and societal implications of Digital Twins are explored. Digital Twins imply a data-driven approach to health care. This approach has the potential to deliver significant societal benefits, and can function as a social equalizer, by allowing for effective equalizing enhancement interventions. It can as well though be a driver for inequality, given the fact that a Digital Twin might not be an accessible technology for everyone, and given the fact

Digital Twins in Health Care: Ethical Implications of an Emerging Engineering Paradigm

Science.gov (United States)

Bruynseels, Koen; Santoni de Sio, Filippo; van den Hoven, Jeroen

2018-01-01

Personalized medicine uses fine grained information on individual persons, to pinpoint deviations from the normal. ‘Digital Twins’ in engineering provide a conceptual framework to analyze these emerging data-driven health care practices, as well as their conceptual and ethical implications for therapy, preventative care and human enhancement. Digital Twins stand for a specific engineering paradigm, where individual physical artifacts are paired with digital models that dynamically reflects the status of those artifacts. When applied to persons, Digital Twins are an emerging technology that builds on in silico representations of an individual that dynamically reflect molecular status, physiological status and life style over time. We use Digital Twins as the hypothesis that one would be in the possession of very detailed bio-physical and lifestyle information of a person over time. This perspective redefines the concept of ‘normality’ or ‘health,’ as a set of patterns that are regular for a particular individual, against the backdrop of patterns observed in the population. This perspective also will impact what is considered therapy and what is enhancement, as can be illustrated with the cases of the ‘asymptomatic ill’ and life extension via anti-aging medicine. These changes are the consequence of how meaning is derived, in case measurement data is available. Moral distinctions namely may be based on patterns found in these data and the meanings that are grafted on these patterns. Ethical and societal implications of Digital Twins are explored. Digital Twins imply a data-driven approach to health care. This approach has the potential to deliver significant societal benefits, and can function as a social equalizer, by allowing for effective equalizing enhancement interventions. It can as well though be a driver for inequality, given the fact that a Digital Twin might not be an accessible technology for everyone, and given the fact that patterns

Beyond individual-centric privacy : Information technology in social systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pieters, W.

2017-01-01

In the public debate, social implications of information technology are mainly seen through the privacy lens. Impact assessments of information technology are also often limited to privacy impact assessments, which are focused on individual rights and well-being, as opposed to the social

Domain Specificity and Everyday Biological, Physical, and Psychological Thinking in Normal, Autistic, and Deaf Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Peterson, Candida C.; Siegal, Michael

1997-01-01

Examined reasoning in normal, autistic, and deaf individuals. Found that deaf individuals who grow up in hearing homes without fluent signers show selective impairments in theory of mind similar to those of autistic individuals. Results suggest that conversational differences in the language children hear accounts for distinctive patterns of…

Regional magnetic resonance spectroscopy of the brain in autistic individuals

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hisaoka, S.; Harada, M.; Nishitani, H. [Dept. of Radiology, School of Medicine, University of Tokushima (Japan); Mori, K. [Dept. of Paediatrics, School of Medicine, University of Tokushima (Japan)

2001-06-01

We studied the variations in the concentration of metabolites with brain region and age in autistic individuals and normal controls using multiple analysis of covariance. We examined 55 autistic individuals (2-21 years old, 47 male and eight female) and 51 normal children (3 months-15 years old, 26 boys and 25 girls). Single volumes of interest were placed in the frontal, parietal and temporal region on both sides, the brain stem and cingulate gyrus. The concentration of each metabolite was quantified by the water reference method. The concentration of N-acetylaspartate in the temporal regions (Brodmann's areas 41 and 42) in the autistic individuals were significantly lower than those in the controls (P < 0.05), but concentrations in other regions were not significantly different between the autistic individuals and controls. This suggests low density or dysfunction of neurones in Brodmann's areas 41 and 42 in autistic individual, which might be related to the disturbances of the sensory speech centre (Wernicke's area) in autism. (orig.)

Contrast sensitivity abnormalities in deaf individuals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Masoud Khorrami-Nejad

2018-01-01

Conclusion: Hearing impaired boys are at a greater risk for contrast sensitivity abnormalities than boys with normal hearing. The larger frequency of contrast sensitivity abnormalities in high spatial frequencies than in other frequencies may demonstrate greater defects in the central visual system compared with the periphery in individuals with hearing loss.

Wnt/β-catenin Signaling in Normal and Cancer Stem Cells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kenneth C. Valkenburg

2011-04-01

Full Text Available The ability of Wnt ligands to initiate a signaling cascade that results in cytoplasmic stabilization of, and nuclear localization of, β-catenin underlies their ability to regulate progenitor cell differentiation. In this review, we will summarize the current knowledge of the mechanisms underlying Wnt/β-catenin signaling and how the pathway regulates normal differentiation of stem cells in the intestine, mammary gland, and prostate. We will also discuss how dysregulation of the pathway is associated with putative cancer stem cells and the potential therapeutic implications of regulating Wnt signaling.

Are individual differences in appetitive and defensive motivation related? A psychophysiological examination in two samples.

Science.gov (United States)

Sarapas, Casey; Katz, Andrea C; Nelson, Brady D; Campbell, Miranda L; Bishop, Jeffrey R; Robison-Andrew, E Jenna; Altman, Sarah E; Gorka, Stephanie M; Shankman, Stewart A

2014-01-01

Appetitive and defensive motivation account for a good deal of variance in personality and mental health, but whether individual differences in these systems are correlated or orthogonal has not been conclusively established. Previous investigations have generally relied on self-report and have yielded conflicting results. We therefore assessed the relation between psychophysiological indices of appetitive and defensive motivation during elicitation of these motivational states: specifically, frontal electroencephalogram asymmetry during reward anticipation and startle response during anticipation of predictable or unpredictable threat of shock. Results in a sample of psychopathology-free community members (n=63), an independent sample of undergraduates with a range of internalising symptoms (n=64), and the combination of these samples (n=127) revealed that differences in responding to the two tasks were not significantly correlated. Average coefficients approached zero in all three samples (community: .04, undergraduate: -.01, combined: .06). Implications of these findings for research on normal and abnormal personality are discussed.

Exploration of transitional life events in individuals with Friedreich ataxia: Implications for genetic counseling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Farmer Jennifer M

2010-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Human development is a process of change, adaptation and growth. Throughout this process, transitional events mark important points in time when one's life course is significantly altered. This study captures transitional life events brought about or altered by Friedreich ataxia, a progressive chronic illness leading to disability, and the impact of these events on an affected individual's life course. Methods Forty-two adults with Friedreich ataxia (18-65y were interviewed regarding their perceptions of transitional life events. Data from the interviews were coded and analyzed thematically using an iterative process. Results Identified transitions were either a direct outcome of Friedreich ataxia, or a developmental event altered by having the condition. Specifically, an awareness of symptoms, fear of falling and changes in mobility status were the most salient themes from the experience of living with Friedreich ataxia. Developmental events primarily influenced by the condition were one's relationships and life's work. Conclusions Friedreich ataxia increased the complexity and magnitude of transitional events for study participants. Transitional events commonly represented significant loss and presented challenges to self-esteem and identity. Findings from this study help alert professionals of potentially challenging times in patients' lives, which are influenced by chronic illness or disability. Implications for developmental counseling approaches are suggested for genetic counseling. Background Human development can be described in terms of key transitional events, or significant times of change. Transitional events initiate shifts in the meaning or direction of life and require the individual to develop skills or utilize coping strategies to adapt to a novel situation 12. A successful transition has been defined as the development of a sense of mastery over the changed event 3. Transitions can be influenced by a variety

Individual differences in conflict detection during reasoning.

Science.gov (United States)

Frey, Darren; Johnson, Eric D; De Neys, Wim

2018-05-01

Decades of reasoning and decision-making research have established that human judgment is often biased by intuitive heuristics. Recent "error" or bias detection studies have focused on reasoners' abilities to detect whether their heuristic answer conflicts with logical or probabilistic principles. A key open question is whether there are individual differences in this bias detection efficiency. Here we present three studies in which co-registration of different error detection measures (confidence, response time and confidence response time) allowed us to assess bias detection sensitivity at the individual participant level in a range of reasoning tasks. The results indicate that although most individuals show robust bias detection, as indexed by increased latencies and decreased confidence, there is a subgroup of reasoners who consistently fail to do so. We discuss theoretical and practical implications for the field.

Reduced Inhibition of Return to Food Images in Obese Individuals.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Megan A Carters

Full Text Available Previous research has shown that obese individuals may be biased towards attending to food over non-food information, and this bias may contribute to the development and/or maintenance of obesity. The present study sought to extend our understanding of maladaptive attentional processing in this population by investigating whether obese individuals have difficulty in disengaging attention from food compared with non-food images, relative to normal-weight controls. To address this question, we measured inhibition of return (IOR in an attentional cueing task. The participants were 29 obese and 35 normal-weight satiated females without eating disorders. The obese group displayed less IOR to food images than the normal-weight group, while there was no difference in IOR between the groups for non-food images. This suggests that obese females have greater difficulty disengaging attention from food than normal-weight females. Our findings provide a new focus for studies investigating maintenance factors in obesity and are discussed in relation to a theory of incentive-sensitisation.

Is the performance of acceleromyography improved with preload and normalization? A comparison with mechanomyography

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Claudius, Casper; Skovgaard, Lene Theil; Viby-Mogensen, Jørgen

2009-01-01

to mechanomyography during recovery (e.g., from 0.15 to 0.05 at TOF 0.90); when the mechanomyographic TOF values were normalized as well, the bias was eliminated. However, normalization did not exclude wide individual differences between acceleromyography and mechanomyography (+/- 0.10-0.20 at TOF 0.90). CONCLUSION...

The Research Results of the Individual Competences Influence on Direct Sales

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Barbara A. Sypniewska

2009-10-01

Full Text Available The article presents the influence of individual competences on the effects of sales consultants efforts working at few well-known cosmetic companies specializing in direct sales multi-level marketing. The research proves dependence between individual competences and the level of effects. The competences profile derived from the analyses, characteristic for each study group, stresses the benefits and practical implications of this research.

Patterns of DNA methylation in the normal colon vary by anatomical location, gender, and age

Science.gov (United States)

Kaz, Andrew M; Wong, Chao-Jen; Dzieciatkowski, Slavomir; Luo, Yanxin; Schoen, Robert E; Grady, William M

2014-01-01

Alterations in DNA methylation have been proposed to create a field cancerization state in the colon, where molecular alterations that predispose cells to transformation occur in histologically normal tissue. However, our understanding of the role of DNA methylation in field cancerization is limited by an incomplete characterization of the methylation state of the normal colon. In order to determine the colon’s normal methylation state, we extracted DNA from normal colon biopsies from the rectum, sigmoid, transverse, and ascending colon and assessed the methylation status of the DNA by pyrosequencing candidate loci as well as with HumanMethylation450 arrays. We found that methylation levels of repetitive elements LINE-1 and SAT-α showed minimal variability throughout the colon in contrast to other loci. Promoter methylation of EVL was highest in the rectum and progressively lower in the proximal segments, whereas ESR1 methylation was higher in older individuals. Genome-wide methylation analysis of normal DNA revealed 8388, 82, and 93 differentially methylated loci that distinguished right from left colon, males from females, and older vs. younger individuals, respectively. Although variability in methylation between biopsies and among different colon segments was minimal for repetitive elements, analyses of specific cancer-related genes as well as a genome-wide methylation analysis demonstrated differential methylation based on colon location, individual age, and gender. These studies advance our knowledge regarding the variation of DNA methylation in the normal colon, a prerequisite for future studies aimed at understanding methylation differences indicative of a colon field effect. PMID:24413027

Role of the normal gut microbiota.

Science.gov (United States)

Jandhyala, Sai Manasa; Talukdar, Rupjyoti; Subramanyam, Chivkula; Vuyyuru, Harish; Sasikala, Mitnala; Nageshwar Reddy, D

2015-08-07

Relation between the gut microbiota and human health is being increasingly recognised. It is now well established that a healthy gut flora is largely responsible for overall health of the host. The normal human gut microbiota comprises of two major phyla, namely Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes. Though the gut microbiota in an infant appears haphazard, it starts resembling the adult flora by the age of 3 years. Nevertheless, there exist temporal and spatial variations in the microbial distribution from esophagus to the rectum all along the individual's life span. Developments in genome sequencing technologies and bioinformatics have now enabled scientists to study these microorganisms and their function and microbe-host interactions in an elaborate manner both in health and disease. The normal gut microbiota imparts specific function in host nutrient metabolism, xenobiotic and drug metabolism, maintenance of structural integrity of the gut mucosal barrier, immunomodulation, and protection against pathogens. Several factors play a role in shaping the normal gut microbiota. They include (1) the mode of delivery (vaginal or caesarean); (2) diet during infancy (breast milk or formula feeds) and adulthood (vegan based or meat based); and (3) use of antibiotics or antibiotic like molecules that are derived from the environment or the gut commensal community. A major concern of antibiotic use is the long-term alteration of the normal healthy gut microbiota and horizontal transfer of resistance genes that could result in reservoir of organisms with a multidrug resistant gene pool.

The antidepressant fluoxetine normalizes the nuclear glucocorticoid receptor evoked by psychosocial stress

Science.gov (United States)

Mitić, M.; Simić, I.; Djordjević, J.; Radojčić, M. B.; Adžić, M.

2011-12-01

Dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis has been implicated in the pathophysiology of depression and stress disorders. Glucocorticoids, key regulators of the stress response, exert diverse effects on cellular processes in the hippocampus. Beside non-genomic pathways, glucocorticoid effects are mediated through activation of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR), a ligand activated transcriptional factor that belongs to the nuclear hormone receptor superfamily. We analysed the GR protein levels both in the cytoplasmic and nuclear compartments of the hippocampus of Wistar rats exposed to chronic psychosocial isolation stress upon chronic fluoxetine (FLU) treatment. Under chronic stress, corticosterone levels (CORT) were decreased compared to the control, and treatment with FLU did not change its level in the stressed rats. At the molecular level, FLU normalized the level of nuclear GR protein in the hippocampus of the stressed rats. Discrepancy between normalization of nuclear GR in the hippocampus and lack of normalization of HPA axis activity judged by CORT, suggests that other brain structures such as the amygdale and prefrontal cortex that also regulate HPA axis activity, seem not to be normalized by the FLU treatment used in our study.

Ultrasound demonstration of distal biceps tendon bifurcation: normal and abnormal findings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tagliafico, Alberto; Capaccio, Enrico; Derchi, Lorenzo E.; Martinoli, Carlo; Michaud, Johan

2010-01-01

We demonstrate the US appearance of the distal biceps tendon bifurcation in normal cadavers and volunteers and in those affected by various disease processes. Three cadaveric specimens, 30 normal volunteers, and 75 patients were evaluated by means of US. Correlative MR imaging was obtained in normal volunteers and patients. In all cases US demonstrated the distal biceps tendon shaped by two separate tendons belonging to the short and long head of the biceps brachii muscle. Four patients had a complete rupture of the distal insertion of the biceps with retraction of the muscle belly. Four patients had partial tear of the distal biceps tendon with different US appearance. In two patients the partial tear involved the short head of the biceps brachii tendon, while in the other two patients, the long head was involved. Correlative MR imaging is also presented both in normal volunteers and patients. US changed the therapeutic management in the patients with partial tears involving the LH of the biceps. This is the first report in which ultrasound considers the distal biceps tendon bifurcation in detail. Isolated tears of one of these components can be identified by US. Knowledge of the distal biceps tendon bifurcation ultrasonographic anatomy and pathology has important diagnostic and therapeutic implications. (orig.)

Mechanisms for greater insulin-stimulated glucose uptake in normal and insulin-resistant skeletal muscle after acute exercise

Science.gov (United States)

2015-01-01

Enhanced skeletal muscle and whole body insulin sensitivity can persist for up to 24–48 h after one exercise session. This review focuses on potential mechanisms for greater postexercise and insulin-stimulated glucose uptake (ISGU) by muscle in individuals with normal or reduced insulin sensitivity. A model is proposed for the processes underlying this improvement; i.e., triggers initiate events that activate subsequent memory elements, which store information that is relayed to mediators, which translate memory into action by controlling an end effector that directly executes increased insulin-stimulated glucose transport. Several candidates are potential triggers or memory elements, but none have been conclusively verified. Regarding potential mediators in both normal and insulin-resistant individuals, elevated postexercise ISGU with a physiological insulin dose coincides with greater Akt substrate of 160 kDa (AS160) phosphorylation without improved proximal insulin signaling at steps from insulin receptor binding to Akt activity. Causality remains to be established between greater AS160 phosphorylation and improved ISGU. The end effector for normal individuals is increased GLUT4 translocation, but this remains untested for insulin-resistant individuals postexercise. Following exercise, insulin-resistant individuals can attain ISGU values similar to nonexercising healthy controls, but after a comparable exercise protocol performed by both groups, ISGU for the insulin-resistant group has been consistently reported to be below postexercise values for the healthy group. Further research is required to fully understand the mechanisms underlying the improved postexercise ISGU in individuals with normal or subnormal insulin sensitivity and to explain the disparity between these groups after similar exercise. PMID:26487009

Culture's Impact on Technology Mediated Learning: The Role of Horizontal and Vertical Individualism and Collectivism

OpenAIRE

Steven Hornik; Anna Tupchiy

2006-01-01

The horizontal and vertical dimensions of individualism and collectivism are an important characteristic of cultures. These dimensions have many implications for the ways in which individual learners use and respond to interactive technologies. This article reports on a study that investigated the impact of culture, specifically horizontal individualism (HI), vertical individualism (VI), horizontal collectivism (HC), and vertical collectivism (VC) on the effectiveness of technology mediated l...

Indentation stiffness does not discriminate between normal and degraded articular cartilage.

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Cameron P; Crawford, Ross W; Oloyede, Adekunle

2007-08-01

Relative indentation characteristics are commonly used for distinguishing between normal healthy and degraded cartilage. The application of this parameter in surgical decision making and an appreciation of articular cartilage biomechanics has prompted us to hypothesise that it is difficult to define a reference stiffness to characterise normal articular cartilage. This hypothesis is tested for validity by carrying out biomechanical indentation of articular cartilage samples that are characterised as visually normal and degraded relative to proteoglycan depletion and collagen disruption. Compressive loading was applied at known strain rates to visually normal, artificially degraded and naturally osteoarthritic articular cartilage and observing the trends of their stress-strain and stiffness characteristics. While our results demonstrated a 25% depreciation in the stiffness of individual samples after proteoglycan depletion, they also showed that when compared to the stiffness of normal samples only 17% lie outside the range of the stress-strain behaviour of normal samples. We conclude that the extent of the variability in the properties of normal samples, and the degree of overlap (81%) of the biomechanical properties of normal and degraded matrices demonstrate that indentation data cannot form an accurate basis for distinguishing normal from abnormal articular cartilage samples with consequences for the application of this mechanical process in the clinical environment.

Measuring Service Individuality in Third Party

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hsuan, Juliana; Prockl, Günter

2013-01-01

Purpose - 3PL services are more or less individually designed bundles of logistics operations that are provided on the basis of a long term relationship between logistics service providers and their clients mostly in industry and retail. The appropriate degree of the individuality is however...... offerings and how to replicate or (re)design the new services offered. Depending on the level of complexity of the TPL services, firms need also to consider the implications of the replication and/or (re)design on the configuration of the supply chain, especially downstream. Originality/value - The paper...... crosses disciplinary boundaries and combines relevant research streams to provide a sound foundation for the categorization and classification of TPL services and for new service design/development (NSD) and supply chain configuration....

Preserved sleep microstructure in blind individuals

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Aubin, Sébrina; Christensen, Julie A.E.; Jennum, Poul

2018-01-01

, as light is the primary zeitgeber of the master biological clock found in the suprachiasmatic nucleus of the hypothalamus. In addition, a greater number of sleep disturbances is often reported in blind individuals. Here, we examined various electroencephalographic microstructural components of sleep, both...... during rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep and non-REM (NREM) sleep, between blind individuals, including both of early and late onset, and normal-sighted controls. During wakefulness, occipital alpha oscillations were lower, or absent in blind individuals. During sleep, differences were observed across...... electrode derivations between the early and late blind samples, which may reflect altered cortical networking in early blindness. Despite these differences in power spectra density, the electroencephalography microstructure of sleep, including sleep spindles, slow wave activity, and sawtooth waves, remained...

Spectral Ripple Discrimination in Normal-Hearing Infants.

Science.gov (United States)

Horn, David L; Won, Jong Ho; Rubinstein, Jay T; Werner, Lynne A

B depth suggesting that variability of infants' use of within-channel intensity cues, rather than better frequency resolution, explained the results of experiment 1. In experiment 3, age effects were seen with both groups of infants showing poorer SRD than adults but, unlike experiment 1, no significant interaction between age and depth was seen. Measurement of SRD thresholds in individual 3 to 7-month-old infants is feasible. Performance of normal-hearing infants on SRD may be limited by across-channel intensity resolution despite mature frequency resolution. These findings have significant implications for design and stimulus choice for applying SRD for testing infants with CIs. The high degree of variability in infant SRD can be somewhat reduced by obscuring within-channel cues.

Individual differences in learning predict the return of fear.

Science.gov (United States)

Gershman, Samuel J; Hartley, Catherine A

2015-09-01

Using a laboratory analogue of learned fear (Pavlovian fear conditioning), we show that there is substantial heterogeneity across individuals in spontaneous recovery of fear following extinction training. We propose that this heterogeneity might stem from qualitative individual differences in the nature of extinction learning. Whereas some individuals tend to form a new memory during extinction, leaving their fear memory intact, others update the original threat association with new safety information, effectively unlearning the fear memory. We formalize this account in a computational model of fear learning and show that individuals who, according to the model, are more likely to form new extinction memories tend to show greater spontaneous recovery compared to individuals who appear to only update a single memory. This qualitative variation in fear and extinction learning may have important implications for understanding vulnerability and resilience to fear-related psychiatric disorders.

The 'new normal': relativity of quality of life judgments in individuals with bipolar disorder-a qualitative study.

Science.gov (United States)

Morton, Emma; Michalak, Erin; Hole, Rachelle; Buzwell, Simone; Murray, Greg

2018-06-01

Quality of life (QoL) is increasingly a target of interventions for bipolar disorders (BD). While the subjective experience of consumers is often elevated as central to the construct of QoL in BD, limited investigation in this area means subjective QoL remains poorly understood. The present qualitative study seeks to address this by investigating how people with BD appraise the quality of their lives in the context of a QoL self-management intervention. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 43 individuals who had participated in a self-management intervention for improving QoL in BD. Individuals were questioned about experiences of the intervention and perceptions of their QoL. Thematic analysis was used to explore participants' appraisal of their QoL. An overarching theme concerned the intrinsic relativity of subjective QoL: individuals located QoL as relative to self, others and possible futures. Incorporating illness-related reference points for QoL ('given my circumstances…') was associated with perceptions of improved QoL. Deliberately modifying reference points for QoL was perceived as self-compassionate. The present study generates novel hypotheses about how individuals with BD make sense of their QoL. Data suggest that individuals located their QoL relative to a variety of reference points, use of which was flexible. In accord with gap theories of QoL, individuals experienced acceptance of illness impacts as improving subjective sense of QoL. Rather than 'settling for' a lower standard of QoL, individuals experienced these changes as adaptive and positive. Findings are discussed in relation to the measurement and amelioration of QoL in BD.

Contrasting the effects of duration and number of syllables on the perceptual normalization of lexical tones

Science.gov (United States)

Ciocca, Valter; Francis, Alexander L.; Yau, Teresa S.-K.

2004-05-01

In tonal languages, syllabic fundamental frequency (F0) patterns (``lexical tones'') convey lexical meaning. Listeners need to relate such pitch patterns to the pitch range of a speaker (``tone normalization'') to accurately identify lexical tones. This study investigated the amount of tonal information required to perform tone normalization. A target CV syllable, perceived as either a high level, a low level, or a mid level Cantonese tone, was preceded by a four-syllable carrier sentence whose F0 was shifted (1 semitone), or not shifted. Four conditions were obtained by gating one, two, three, or four syllables from the onset of the target. Presentation rate (normal versus fast) was set such that the duration of the one, two, and three syllable conditions (normal carrier) was equal to that of the two, three, and four syllable conditions (fast carrier). Results suggest that tone normalization is largely accomplished within 250 ms or so prior to target onset, independent of the number of syllables; additional tonal information produces a relatively small increase in tone normalization. Implications for models of lexical tone normalization will be discussed. [Work supported by the RGC of the Hong Kong SAR, Project No. HKU 7193/00H.

Integration of Individual Processes and Information Demand Patterns: A Conceptual Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael Leyer

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Individuals need a variety of information when performing their personal processes. However, companies typically know little about the underlying individual demand patterns in these processes. Conceptualizing information demand patterns of individuals is expected to allow for using these as foundation to extend the traditional internal information logistic perspective of companies. Digital options could then be used to align individual and organizational information leading not only to new product and service offers, but also to new work structures in organizations. Thus, we extend prior literature regarding business process management and information logistics by highlighting how information demand patterns (IDP have to be adapted to individual processes. Our exploratory approach is to demonstrate conceptually the conditions and implications of individual IDPs.

Individual spatial responses towards roads: implications for mortality risk.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Clara Grilo

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Understanding the ecological consequences of roads and developing ways to mitigate their negative effects has become an important goal for many conservation biologists. Most mitigation measures are based on road mortality and barrier effects data. However, studying fine-scale individual spatial responses in roaded landscapes may help develop more cohesive road planning strategies for wildlife conservation. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We investigated how individuals respond in their spatial behavior toward a highway and its traffic intensity by radio-tracking two common species particularly vulnerable to road mortality (barn owl Tyto alba and stone marten Martes foina. We addressed the following questions: 1 how highways affected home-range location and size in the immediate vicinity of these structures, 2 which road-related features influenced habitat selection, 3 what was the role of different road-related features on movement properties, and 4 which characteristics were associated with crossing events and road-kills. The main findings were: 1 if there was available habitat, barn owls and stone martens may not avoid highways and may even include highways within their home-ranges; 2 both species avoided using areas near the highway when traffic was high, but tended to move toward the highway when streams were in close proximity and where verges offered suitable habitat; and 3 barn owls tended to cross above-grade highway sections while stone martens tended to avoid crossing at leveled highway sections. CONCLUSIONS: Mortality may be the main road-mediated mechanism that affects barn owl and stone marten populations. Fine-scale movements strongly indicated that a decrease in road mortality risk can be realized by reducing sources of attraction, and by increasing road permeability through measures that promote safe crossings.

Aberrant intestinal microbiota in individuals with prediabetes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Allin, Kristine H.; Tremaroli, Valentina; Caesar, Robert

2018-01-01

microbiota profiles are associated with prediabetes (defined as fasting plasma glucose of 6.1–7.0 mmol/l or HbA1c of 42–48 mmol/mol [6.0–6.5%]) and a range of clinical biomarkers of poor metabolic health. Methods: In the present case–control study, we analysed the gut microbiota of 134 Danish adults...... with prediabetes, overweight, insulin resistance, dyslipidaemia and low-grade inflammation and 134 age- and sex-matched individuals with normal glucose regulation. Results: We found that five bacterial genera and 36 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were differentially abundant between individuals...... with prediabetes and those with normal glucose regulation. At the genus level, the abundance of Clostridium was decreased (mean log2 fold change −0.64 (SEM 0.23), padj = 0.0497), whereas the abundances of Dorea, [Ruminococcus], Sutterella and Streptococcus were increased (mean log2 fold change 0.51 (SEM 0...

Determination of indices of the corpus callosum associated with normal aging in Japanese individuals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takeda, S.; Hirashima, Y.; Ikeda, H.; Yamamoto, H.; Endo, S.; Sugino, M.

2003-01-01

Indices of the corpus callosum with normal aging and their sex differences were elucidated using quantitative MRI. We studied 94 Japanese men (mean±SD 57.3±20.8 years, range 6-90 years) and 111 Japanese women (mean±SD 61.2±17.6 years, range 9-86 years) who had no intracranial lesions on MRI and no history of neurological illness. The widths of the rostrum, body and splenium, the anterior to posterior length, and the maximum height in the midsagittal image were selected for measurement. The Evans index, which is the relative ratio of lateral ventricle expansion, and the maximum width of the third ventricle in the axial image were also estimated for comparison. The widths of rostrum, body and splenium of the corpus callosum became thinner with age. Conversely, the anterior to posterior length and the maximum height of the corpus callosum increased with age. The ratio of the width of the body to the length of the corpus callosum and the ratio of the width of the body to the height of the corpus callosum are best correlated with age. No sex differences in regional size of corpus callosum, including these two ratios, were observed in any raw measures, although ventricular indices were larger in men than women. Evaluation of the ratio of the width of the body to its length and the ratio of the width of the body to its height may enable accurate estimation of normal or pathological changes of the corpus callosum. Aging and pathological atrophy of corpus callosum can be evaluated without any adjustment for gender. (orig.)

Determination of indices of the corpus callosum associated with normal aging in Japanese individuals

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Takeda, S.; Hirashima, Y.; Ikeda, H.; Yamamoto, H.; Endo, S. [Department of Neurosurgery, Toyama Medical and Pharmaceutical University, Sugitani 2630, Toyama-shi, 930-0194, Toyama (Japan); Sugino, M. [Department of Neurosurgery, Sugino Hospital, Sengoku-cho 6-3-3, 930-0066, Toyama (Japan)

2003-08-01

Indices of the corpus callosum with normal aging and their sex differences were elucidated using quantitative MRI. We studied 94 Japanese men (mean{+-}SD 57.3{+-}20.8 years, range 6-90 years) and 111 Japanese women (mean{+-}SD 61.2{+-}17.6 years, range 9-86 years) who had no intracranial lesions on MRI and no history of neurological illness. The widths of the rostrum, body and splenium, the anterior to posterior length, and the maximum height in the midsagittal image were selected for measurement. The Evans index, which is the relative ratio of lateral ventricle expansion, and the maximum width of the third ventricle in the axial image were also estimated for comparison. The widths of rostrum, body and splenium of the corpus callosum became thinner with age. Conversely, the anterior to posterior length and the maximum height of the corpus callosum increased with age. The ratio of the width of the body to the length of the corpus callosum and the ratio of the width of the body to the height of the corpus callosum are best correlated with age. No sex differences in regional size of corpus callosum, including these two ratios, were observed in any raw measures, although ventricular indices were larger in men than women. Evaluation of the ratio of the width of the body to its length and the ratio of the width of the body to its height may enable accurate estimation of normal or pathological changes of the corpus callosum. Aging and pathological atrophy of corpus callosum can be evaluated without any adjustment for gender. (orig.)

Conceiving "personality": Psychologist's challenges and basic fundamentals of the Transdisciplinary Philosophy-of-Science Paradigm for Research on Individuals.

Science.gov (United States)

Uher, Jana

2015-09-01

Scientists exploring individuals, as such scientists are individuals themselves and thus not independent from their objects of research, encounter profound challenges; in particular, high risks for anthropo-, ethno- and ego-centric biases and various fallacies in reasoning. The Transdisciplinary Philosophy-of-Science Paradigm for Research on Individuals (TPS-Paradigm) aims to tackle these challenges by exploring and making explicit the philosophical presuppositions that are being made and the metatheories and methodologies that are used in the field. This article introduces basic fundamentals of the TPS-Paradigm including the epistemological principle of complementarity and metatheoretical concepts for exploring individuals as living organisms. Centrally, the TPS-Paradigm considers three metatheoretical properties (spatial location in relation to individuals' bodies, temporal extension, and physicality versus "non-physicality") that can be conceived in different forms for various kinds of phenomena explored in individuals (morphology, physiology, behaviour, the psyche, semiotic representations, artificially modified outer appearances and contexts). These properties, as they determine the phenomena's accessibility in everyday life and research, are used to elaborate philosophy-of-science foundations and to derive general methodological implications for the elementary problem of phenomenon-methodology matching and for scientific quantification of the various kinds of phenomena studied. On the basis of these foundations, the article explores the metatheories and methodologies that are used or needed to empirically study each given kind of phenomenon in individuals in general. Building on these general implications, the article derives special implications for exploring individuals' "personality", which the TPS-Paradigm conceives of as individual-specificity in all of the various kinds of phenomena studied in individuals.

Association between individual fat depots and cardio-metabolic traits in normal- and overweight children, adolescents and adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Hübers, M; Geisler, C; Plachta-Danielzik, S; Müller, M J

2017-05-08

To determine age-related associations between fat mass (FM), regional fat depots and cardiometabolic traits in normal- and overweight children, adolescents and adults. Detailed body composition (regional subcutaneous and visceral adipose tissue; SAT, VAT) by whole-body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), FM and fat-free mass by air-displacement plethysmography, systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP, DBP), triglycerides (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL), plasma glucose and plasma insulin were measured in 433 subjects (BMI: 23.6 (21.0-27.7); 151 children and adolescents, aged 6-18 years, 150 young adults, aged 18-30 years and 132 adults, aged 30-60 years). Data were derived from pooled data of the 'Reference Center for Body Composition' in Kiel, Germany. Insulin resistance was determined by the homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR). Partial correlations and multivariate linear regression analyses were used to evaluate the associations between body composition and cardiometabolic traits. A descriptive approach was used to demonstrate age-dependent differences in associations between body fat depots and insulin resistance, independent of BMI. FM, SAT, and VAT increased from childhood to adulthood with low VAT in children and adolescents. When compared to children, TG was higher in adults. HDL and DBP did not differ between age groups. Insulin resistance was highest in male adolescents and female young adults. Associations between body fat depots and cardiometabolic traits were seen after puberty with no associations in pre- and intrapubertal children. When compared to FM, SAT and VAT had the strongest association with insulin resistance in adults. This association was independent of BMI. Associations between individual body fat depots and most cardiometabolic traits became evident after puberty only. The strongest associations were observed between insulin resistance and abdominal fat in adults. The impact of VAT was independent

The individual teacher in lesson study collaboration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Skott, Charlotte Krog; Møller, Hanne

2017-01-01

used in lesson study research. Design/methodology/approach The authors use collective case studies. By being participant observers the authors provide detailed descriptions of two selected teachers’ lived experiences of lesson study collaboration. In addition to gain first-hand insights, the authors...... in the participation of each of the two teachers during a two-year lesson study project. By comparing these shifts the authors identify significant conditions for their individual learning. Research limitations/implications Although the study is small scale, both the insights into the different ways in which teachers...... participated and the theoretical insights might be valuable for other lesson study research approaches. Practical implications This paper provides valuable insights into conditions that might influence teachers’ participation in lesson study activities, especially in cultures with little experience of lesson...

The Comparison of Risky Decision Making in Opium Abuser and Healthy Matched Individuals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vahid Nejati

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Objective: Risky decision making is one of the most basic mechanisms of impulsive and addictive behaviors. The purpose of present study was the comparison of risky decision making in opium abuser and healthy matched individuals. Method: In present cross sectional study, 50 opium abusers compared to 50 healthy who were matched on age and gender. Balloon Analogue Risk Taking Task was used for evaluation of risk taking in participant of both groups. Results: The results showed that opium abusers have had higher scores on number of plumbing balloon and exploded balloon in BART task than normal individuals. Conclusion: Opium abusers have higher risk taking than normal individuals.

The variability problem of normal human walking

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Simonsen, Erik B; Alkjær, Tine

2012-01-01

Previous investigations have suggested considerable inter-individual variability in the time course pattern of net joint moments during normal human walking, although the limited sample sizes precluded statistical analyses. The purpose of the present study was to obtain joint moment patterns from...... a group of normal subjects and to test whether or not the expected differences would prove to be statistically significant. Fifteen healthy male subjects were recorded on video while they walked across two force platforms. Ten kinematic and kinetic parameters were selected and input to a statistical...... cluster analysis to determine whether or not the 15 subjects could be divided into different 'families' (clusters) of walking strategy. The net joint moments showed a variability corroborating earlier reports. The cluster analysis showed that the 15 subjects could be grouped into two clusters of 5 and 10...

Federal Tax Implications of Charitable Gift Annuities

Science.gov (United States)

Teitell, Conrad

1975-01-01

Surveys the federal tax implications of "immediate" charitable gift annuities (annuity payments beginning within one year of transfer) and "deferred payment" charitable gift annuities (beginning at a specified date), both of which enable individuals to make a charitable gift, retain a form of life income, and achieve federal…

Volume and dimensions of angiographically normal coronary arteries assessed by multidetector computed tomography

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Samuel Kiil; Kühl, Jørgen Tobias; Fuchs, Andreas

2017-01-01

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to determine normal values for coronary artery volume (CAV) and individual vasculature and segment dimensions. METHODS: We examined 200 healthy volunteers with an Agatston score of 0 and a normal, high quality coronary CTA. Using 320 slice multidetector...... administration and left ventricular mass. The respective contribution of the left and right coronary vascularture is influenced by coronary dominance....

Executive Functioning in Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities and Autism Spectrum Disorders

Science.gov (United States)

Roelofs, R. L.; Visser, E. M.; Berger, H. J. C.; Prins, J. B.; Van Schrojenstein Lantman-De Valk, H. M. J.; Teunisse, J. P.

2015-01-01

Background: Executive functioning (EF) is important for adequate behavioural functioning and crucial for explaining symptoms of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in individuals with normal intelligence, but is scarcely studied in individuals with ASD and intellectual disabilities (ID). We therefore study EF in an ID population by comparing…

Adrenocorticotropin, beta-endorphin, and beta-lipotropin in normal thyroid and lung: possible implications for ectopic hormone secretion.

Science.gov (United States)

Clements, J A; Funder, J W; Tracy, K; Morgan, F J; Campbell, D J; Lewis, P; Hearn, M T

1982-12-01

The expression of the proopiomelanocortin (POMC) gene by normal lung and thyroid was examined by measurement of the content of ACTH, beta-lipotropin (beta LPH), and beta-endorphin (beta EP) in porcine lung and thyroid tissue. Acid extracts of normal porcine lung and thyroid tissue each contained appreciable amounts of immunoreactive (ir) ACTH, ir-beta LPH, and ir-beta EP. The content of ir-beta LPH in both tissues exceeded by severalfold, on a molar basis, the content of ir-ACTH and ir-beta EP, suggesting that the common precursor POMC was processed predominantly to peptides other than ir-ACTH and ir-beta EP. A porcine thyroid extract (Calcitare, porcine calcitonin, Armour) showed equivalent levels of beta EP-like immunoreactivity and bioactivity, measured by opiate radioreceptor assay; in contrast, ACTH-like bioactivity, measured by rat zona fasciculata steroidogenesis, was only 4% of ACTH-like immunoreactivity. On reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography, Calcitare showed multiple peaks of ACTH-like immunoreactivity, one of which coeluted with porcine ACTH-(1-39), and two much smaller peaks of beta EP-like immunoreactivity, of which the smaller coeluted with porcine beta EP. These data suggest that both lung and thyroid gland synthesize POMC, which in normal tissue is usually predominantly processed to species other than ACTH and beta EP. Ectopic secretion of ACTH and beta EP by lung and thyroid neoplasms may thus represent the loss of a system(s) normally responsible for processing the precursor beyond ACTH and beta EP.

Ureterocolonic anastomosis in clinically normal dogs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stone, E.A.; Walter, M.C.; Goldschmidt, M.H.; Biery, D.N.; Bovee, K.C.

1988-01-01

Ureterocolonic anastomosis was evaluated in 13 clinically normal dogs. Urinary continence was maintained after surgery, and the procedure was completed without technique errors in all but 2 dogs. Three dogs died within 5 weeks (2 of undetermined causes and 1 of aspiration pneumonia and neurologic disease), and 1 dog was euthanatized 4 months after surgery because of neurologic signs. Two healthy dogs were euthanatized 3 months after surgery for light microscopic evaluation of their kidneys. Five dogs were euthanatized 6 months after surgery for light microscopic evaluation of their kidneys. Gastrointestinal and neurologic disturbances developed in 4 dogs at various postoperative intervals. Plasma ammonia concentration measured in 2 dogs with neurologic signs was increased. Plasma ammonia concentration measured in 5 dogs without neurologic signs was within normal limits. All 5 dogs, in which metabolic acidosis was diagnosed, had high normal or above normal serum chloride concentration. Serum urea nitrogen values were increased after surgery because of colonic absorption of urea. Serum creatinine concentration was increased in 1 dog 6 months after surgery. Individual kidney glomerular filtration rate was reduced in 38% (3/8) of the kidneys from 4 other dogs at 6 months after surgery. Of 5 dogs euthanatized at 3 to 4 months after surgery, 4 had bilateral pyelitis, and 1 had unilateral pyelonephritis. Six months after surgery, pyelonephritis was diagnosed in 40% (4/10) of the kidneys from 5 dogs. The ureterocolonic anastomosis procedure is a salvage procedure that should allow complete cystectomy. However, variable degress of metabolic acidosis, hyperammonemia, and neurologic disease may result

Regulating a health insurance exchange: implications for individuals with mental illness.

Science.gov (United States)

McGuire, Thomas G; Sinaiko, Anna D

2010-11-01

Under the newly enacted health reform law, millions of lower- and middle-income Americans will purchase individual or family health insurance through state-based markets for private health insurance called insurance "exchanges," which consolidate and regulate the market for individual and small-group health insurance. The authors consider options for structuring choice and pricing of health insurance in an exchange from the perspective of efficiently and fairly serving persons with mental illness. Exchanges are intended to foster choice and competition. However, certain features-open enrollment, individual choice, and imperfect risk adjusters-create incentives for "adverse selection," especially in providing coverage for persons with mental illness, who have higher overall health care costs. The authors review the experience of persons with mental illness in insurance markets similar to the exchanges, such as the Massachusetts Connector and the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program, and note that competition among health plans for enrollees who are "good risks" can undermine coverage and efficiency. They review the possible approaches for contending with selection-related incentives, such as carving out all or part of mental health benefits, providing reinsurance for some mental health care costs, or their preferred option, running the exchange in the same way that an employer runs its employee benefits and addressing selection and cost control issues by choice of contractor. The authors also consider approaches an exchange could use to promote effective consumer choice, such as passive and active roles for the exchange authority. Regulation will be necessary to establish a foundation for success of the exchanges.

Fostering Corporate Entrepreneurship: Cross-Cultural Comparisons of the Importance of Individualism Versus Collectivism

OpenAIRE

Michael H Morris; Duane L Davis; Jeffrey W Allen

1994-01-01

This study reports on results of a cross-cultural, empirical investigation designed to assess the impact of individualism/collectivism upon organizational entrepreneurship. The findings indicate individualism/collectivism is an important factor in understanding entrepreneurial behavior in the firm. Implications of these findings are discussed.© 1994 JIBS. Journal of International Business Studies (1994) 25, 65–89

Chinese version of the separation-individuation inventory.

Science.gov (United States)

Tam, Wai-Cheong Carl; Shiah, Yung-Jong; Chiang, Shih-Kuang

2003-08-01

The importance of the separation-individuation process in object relations theory is well known in disciplines of psychology, counseling, and human development. Based on the Separation-Individuation Inventory of Christenson and Wilson, which measures the manifestations of disturbances in this process, a Chinese version of the inventory was developed. For college students Cronbach coefficient alpha was .89, and test-retest reliability over 28 days was .77. The scores of the inventory had positive correlations with both the number of borderline personality characteristics and the Individualism-Collectivism Scale, respectively. Also, the mean score on the inventory of patients diagnosed with borderline personality disorder was significantly higher than that of the two normal control groups (ns = 564). Thus the inventory possessed satisfactory construct validity. Cultural differences regarding the separation-individuation process need to be investigated further.

The return-to-work process of individuals sick-listed because of whiplash-associated disorder

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Biering-Sørensen, Sarah; Møller, Anne; Stoltenberg, C.

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND: The chronic course of whiplash-associated disorder (WAD) has implications for both the individual and society. It has been shown that up to 50% of patients have not yet returned to work six months after a whiplash injury. We wanted to study the return-to-work (RTW) process in individu...

Dosimetry implications of BSH biodistribution study at OSU

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gupta, N.; Albertson, B.J.; Gahbauer, R.A.; Barth, R.F.; Goodman, J.H.

2000-01-01

A BSH biodistribution study was performed at Ohio State University, where tumor, normal brain, and blood boron concentrations of patients undergoing tumor debulking surgery were acquired. The results of this biodistribution study are subjects of other presentations in this meeting. In this paper, we present an overview of the dosimetry implications of this biodistribution data. The analysis for this paper assumed that the tumor boron RBE was factor of two higher than the normal brain boron RBE. Our conclusions from this analysis were that with the tumor/blood ratios observed in our patients for times of up to 14 hours post commencement of boron infusion, one could not successfully treat patients with BNCT using BSH. (author)

Skin flora: Differences between people affected by Albinism and those with normally pigmented skin in Northern Tanzania - cross sectional study.

Science.gov (United States)

Kiprono, Samson K; Masenga, John E; Chaula, Baraka M; Naafs, Bernard

2012-07-30

Skin flora varies from one site of the body to another. Individual's health, age and gender determine the type and the density of skin flora. A 1  cm² of the skin on the sternum was rubbed with sterile cotton swab socked in 0.9% normal saline and plated on blood agar. This was cultured at 35 °C. The bacteria were identified by culturing on MacConkey agar, coagulase test, catalase test and gram staining. Swabs were obtained from 66 individuals affected by albinism and 31 individuals with normal skin pigmentation. Those with normal skin were either relatives or staying with the individuals affected by albinism who were recruited for the study. The mean age of the 97 recruited individuals was 30.6 (SD ± 14.9) years. The mean of the colony forming units was 1580.5 per cm2. Those affected by albinism had a significantly higher mean colony forming units (1680  CFU per cm²) as compared with 453.5  CFU per cm² in those with normally pigmented skin (p = 0.023). The skin type and the severity of sun- damaged skin was significantly associated with a higher number of colony forming units (p = 0.038). Individuals affected by albinism have a higher number of colony forming units which is associated with sun- damaged skin.

General anesthesia suppresses normal heart rate variability in humans

Science.gov (United States)

Matchett, Gerald; Wood, Philip

2014-06-01

The human heart normally exhibits robust beat-to-beat heart rate variability (HRV). The loss of this variability is associated with pathology, including disease states such as congestive heart failure (CHF). The effect of general anesthesia on intrinsic HRV is unknown. In this prospective, observational study we enrolled 100 human subjects having elective major surgical procedures under general anesthesia. We recorded continuous heart rate data via continuous electrocardiogram before, during, and after anesthesia, and we assessed HRV of the R-R intervals. We assessed HRV using several common metrics including Detrended Fluctuation Analysis (DFA), Multifractal Analysis, and Multiscale Entropy Analysis. Each of these analyses was done in each of the four clinical phases for each study subject over the course of 24 h: Before anesthesia, during anesthesia, early recovery, and late recovery. On average, we observed a loss of variability on the aforementioned metrics that appeared to correspond to the state of general anesthesia. Following the conclusion of anesthesia, most study subjects appeared to regain their normal HRV, although this did not occur immediately. The resumption of normal HRV was especially delayed on DFA. Qualitatively, the reduction in HRV under anesthesia appears similar to the reduction in HRV observed in CHF. These observations will need to be validated in future studies, and the broader clinical implications of these observations, if any, are unknown.

Clarifying Normalization

Science.gov (United States)

Carpenter, Donald A.

2008-01-01

Confusion exists among database textbooks as to the goal of normalization as well as to which normal form a designer should aspire. This article discusses such discrepancies with the intention of simplifying normalization for both teacher and student. This author's industry and classroom experiences indicate such simplification yields quicker…

Proportional and functional analogical reasoning in normal and language-impaired children.

Science.gov (United States)

Nippold, M A; Erskine, B J; Freed, D B

1988-11-01

Teachers often use analogies in classroom settings to clarify new concepts for their students. However, analogies may inadvertently confuse the youngster who has difficulty identifying the one-to-one comparisons underlying them. Although analogical reasoning has been studied extensively in normal children, no information was available concerning this construct in children having a specific language impairment. Thus, it was unknown to what extent they might be deficient in analogical reasoning. Therefore, in the present study, 20 children ages 6-8 years (mean age = 7:6) having normal nonverbal intelligence but deficits in language comprehension were administered tasks of verbal and perceptual proportional analogical reasoning and a problem-solving task of functional analogical reasoning. Compared to a normal-language control group matched on the basis of chronological age and sex, the language-impaired group was deficient in all three tasks of analogical reasoning. However, when the factor of nonverbal intelligence was controlled statistically, the differences between the groups on each of the tasks were removed. Additional findings were that verbal proportional analogical reasoning was significantly correlated to perceptual proportional analogical reasoning and to functional analogical reasoning. Implications for assessment and intervention with young school-age language-impaired children are discussed.

Comparison of Reading Literacy in Hearing Impaired and Normal Hearing Students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dr. Ali Asghar Kakojoibari

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Background and Aim: listening, speaking, reading and writing are considered the lingual skills. These skills are in direct relation with each other. Listening is the first skill learnt by the individual through development. If damaged by hearing impairment, listening can cause serious defect to lingual skills. The goal of our research was to study the effect of hearing loss on reading literacy in hearing impairment students in comparison with normal hearing students.Methods: Study was performed using the examination booklets of Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS 2001. 119 hearing impairment students of 4th grade primary school, last year guidance school, and last year high school levels in schools providing exceptional student education were included. These individuals were compared to 46 normal hearing students of 4th grade primary school of ordinary schools. Comparative statistical analysis was performed using t-test.Results: Reading literacy and literal contents understanding was shown to have a significant difference between normal hearing and whole hearing impaired student (p<0.05, except the ones in high school level with moderate hearing loss. There was also seen a significant difference between normal hearing and hearing impairment students in understanding of information contents (p=0.03.Conclusion: Hearing loss has a negative effect on reading literacy. Consequently, curriculum change and evolution of educational programs in exceptional centers is needed, in order to promote reading literacy and to enhance rest hearing

Individual Creativity and the Influence of Mindful Leaders on Enterprise

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ray R. Gehani

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Creativity and innovation drive competitiveness in the 21st century enterprises. Dynamic hyper-intensive competitive markets demand widespread innovations from all employees in most global enterprises. Leaders influence and set the contextual environments under which their employees express creativity. This paper will examine how different lea- dership models relate with individual creativity. It is noted that the mindful consciousness of individuals, including their leaders, play significant roles in the individuals’ creativity. This exploratory research study first defines creativity and individual creativity, and then examines the five different orientations of leaders’ influences on the individuals’ creativity. In conclusion, selected managerial and educational implications are suggested.

THE BACTERICIDAL ACTIVITY OF NORMAL GUINEA PIG SERUM AGAINST LISTERIA MONOCYTOGENES AND ITS INHIBITION BY A LISTERIAL CELL EXTRACT,

Science.gov (United States)

Normal guinea pig serum contains bactericidins active against Listeria monocytogenes. The listeriocidal activity of the serum did not increase after...factor. Lysozyme was not implicated in the bactericidal system. It was suggested that the bactericidal activity of guinea pig serum might be due either to

The Integrative Psychotherapy Alliance: Family, Couple and Individual Therapy Scales.

Science.gov (United States)

Pinsof, William M.; Catherall, Donald R.

1986-01-01

Presents an integrative definition of the therapeutic alliance that conceptualizes individual, couple and family therapy as occurring within the same systemic framework. The implications of this concept for therapy reserach are examined. Three new systematically oriented scales to measure the alliance are presented along with some preliminary data…

Compensatory internet use among individuals higher in social anxiety and its implications for well-being

OpenAIRE

Weidman, Aaron C.; Fernandez, Katya C.; Levinson, Cheri A.; Augustine, Adam A; Larsen, Randy J.; Rodebaugh, Thomas L.

2012-01-01

The social compensation hypothesis states that the internet primarily benefits individuals who feel uncomfortable communicating face-to-face. In the current research, we tested whether individuals higher in social anxiety use the internet as a compensatory social medium, and whether such use is associated with greater well-being. In Study 1, individuals higher in social anxiety reported greater feelings of comfort and self-disclosure when socializing online than less socially anxious individu...

Automatic Sleep Scoring in Normals and in Individuals with Neurodegenerative Disorders According to New International Sleep Scoring Criteria

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Peter S.; Sørensen, Helge Bjarup Dissing; Leonthin, Helle

2010-01-01

The aim of this study was to develop a fully automatic sleep scoring algorithm on the basis of a reproduction of new international sleep scoring criteria from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. A biomedical signal processing algorithm was developed, allowing for automatic sleep depth....... Based on an observed reliability of the manual scorer of 92.5% (Cohen's Kappa: 0.87) in the normal group and 85.3% (Cohen's Kappa: 0.73) in the abnormal group, this study concluded that although the developed algorithm was capable of scoring normal sleep with an accuracy around the manual interscorer...... reliability, it failed in accurately scoring abnormal sleep as encountered for the Parkinson disease/multiple system atrophy patients....

Automatic sleep scoring in normals and in individuals with neurodegenerative disorders according to new international sleep scoring criteria

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Peter S; Sorensen, Helge B D; Jennum, Poul

2010-01-01

The aim of this study was to develop a fully automatic sleep scoring algorithm on the basis of a reproduction of new international sleep scoring criteria from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. A biomedical signal processing algorithm was developed, allowing for automatic sleep depth....... Based on an observed reliability of the manual scorer of 92.5% (Cohen's Kappa: 0.87) in the normal group and 85.3% (Cohen's Kappa: 0.73) in the abnormal group, this study concluded that although the developed algorithm was capable of scoring normal sleep with an accuracy around the manual interscorer...... reliability, it failed in accurately scoring abnormal sleep as encountered for the Parkinson disease/multiple system atrophy patients....

Individualism in plant populations: using stochastic differential equations to model individual neighbourhood-dependent plant growth.

Science.gov (United States)

Lv, Qiming; Schneider, Manuel K; Pitchford, Jonathan W

2008-08-01

We study individual plant growth and size hierarchy formation in an experimental population of Arabidopsis thaliana, within an integrated analysis that explicitly accounts for size-dependent growth, size- and space-dependent competition, and environmental stochasticity. It is shown that a Gompertz-type stochastic differential equation (SDE) model, involving asymmetric competition kernels and a stochastic term which decreases with the logarithm of plant weight, efficiently describes individual plant growth, competition, and variability in the studied population. The model is evaluated within a Bayesian framework and compared to its deterministic counterpart, and to several simplified stochastic models, using distributional validation. We show that stochasticity is an important determinant of size hierarchy and that SDE models outperform the deterministic model if and only if structural components of competition (asymmetry; size- and space-dependence) are accounted for. Implications of these results are discussed in the context of plant ecology and in more general modelling situations.

The diurnal variation in urine acidification differs between normal individuals and uric acid stone formers

Science.gov (United States)

Cameron, Mary Ann; Maalouf, Naim M.; Poindexter, John; Adams-Huet, Beverley; Sakhaee, Khashayar; Moe, Orson W.

2012-01-01

Many biologic functions follow circadian rhythms driven by internal and external cues that synchronize and coordinate organ physiology to diurnal changes in the environment and behavior. Urinary acid-base parameters follow diurnal patterns and it is thought these changes are due to periodic surges in gastric acid secretion. Abnormal urine pH is a risk factor for specific types of nephrolithiasis and uric acid stones are typical of excessively low urine pH. Here we placed 9 healthy volunteers and 10 uric acid stone formers on fixed metabolic diets to study the diurnal pattern of urinary acidification. All showed clear diurnal trends in urinary acidification but none of the patterns were affected by inhibitors of the gastric proton pump. Uric acid stone formers had similar patterns of change through the day but their urine pH was always lower compared to healthy volunteers. Uric acid stone formers excreted more acid (normalized to acid ingestion) with the excess excreted primarily as titratable acid rather than ammonium. Urine base excretion was also lower in uric acid stone formers (normalized to base ingestion) along with lower plasma bicarbonate concentrations during part of the day. Thus, increased net acid presentation to the kidney and the preferential use of buffers, other than ammonium, result in much higher concentrations of un-dissociated uric acid throughout the day and consequently an increased risk of uric acid stones. PMID:22297671

Does the central limit theorem always apply to phase noise? Some implications for radar problems

Science.gov (United States)

Gray, John E.; Addison, Stephen R.

2017-05-01

The phase noise problem or Rayleigh problem occurs in all aspects of radar. It is an effect that a radar engineer or physicist always has to take into account as part of a design or in attempt to characterize the physics of a problem such as reverberation. Normally, the mathematical difficulties of phase noise characterization are avoided by assuming the phase noise probability distribution function (PDF) is uniformly distributed, and the Central Limit Theorem (CLT) is invoked to argue that the superposition of relatively few random components obey the CLT and hence the superposition can be treated as a normal distribution. By formalizing the characterization of phase noise (see Gray and Alouani) for an individual random variable, the summation of identically distributed random variables is the product of multiple characteristic functions (CF). The product of the CFs for phase noise has a CF that can be analyzed to understand the limitations CLT when applied to phase noise. We mirror Kolmogorov's original proof as discussed in Papoulis to show the CLT can break down for receivers that gather limited amounts of data as well as the circumstances under which it can fail for certain phase noise distributions. We then discuss the consequences of this for matched filter design as well the implications for some physics problems.

Correlated random sampling for multivariate normal and log-normal distributions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Žerovnik, Gašper; Trkov, Andrej; Kodeli, Ivan A.

2012-01-01

A method for correlated random sampling is presented. Representative samples for multivariate normal or log-normal distribution can be produced. Furthermore, any combination of normally and log-normally distributed correlated variables may be sampled to any requested accuracy. Possible applications of the method include sampling of resonance parameters which are used for reactor calculations.

Implicit and explicit self-esteem in currently depressed individuals with and without suicidal ideation.

Science.gov (United States)

Franck, Erik; De Raedt, Rudi; Dereu, Mieke; Van den Abbeele, Dirk

2007-03-01

In the present study, we have further explored implicit self-esteem in currently depressed individuals. Since suicidal ideation is associated with lower self-esteem in depressed individuals, we measured both implicit and explicit self-esteem in a population of currently depressed (CD) individuals, with and without suicidal ideation (SI), and in a group of non-depressed controls (ND). The results indicate that only CD individuals with SI show a discrepancy between their implicit and explicit self-esteem: that is, they exhibit high implicit and low explicit self-esteem. CD individuals without SI exhibit both low implicit and low explicit self-esteem; and ND controls exhibit both normal implicit and normal explicit self-esteem. These results provide new insights in the study of implicit self-esteem and the combination of implicit and explicit self-esteem in depression.

Cortical and Sensory Causes of Individual Differences in Selective Attention Ability among Listeners with Normal Hearing Thresholds

Science.gov (United States)

Shinn-Cunningham, Barbara

2017-01-01

Purpose: This review provides clinicians with an overview of recent findings relevant to understanding why listeners with normal hearing thresholds (NHTs) sometimes suffer from communication difficulties in noisy settings. Method: The results from neuroscience and psychoacoustics are reviewed. Results: In noisy settings, listeners focus their…

African American Transgender Women's Individual, Family, and Organizational Relationships: Implications for Nurses.

Science.gov (United States)

Cornelius, Judith B; Whitaker-Brown, Charlene D

2017-06-01

Guided by the relational cultural theory, we conducted a qualitative study to examine the relationship experiences of African American transgender women living in North Carolina. A convenience sample of 15 transgender women participated in the study. Semi-structured interviews, guided by an investigator-developed interview guide, were used to explore the personal experiences of transgender women on individual, family, and organizational levels. The findings provide a scheme for understanding the process through which transgender women's relationships hinder or enhance their ability to connect with individuals, family, and organizations. Nurses can use these findings to better understand the connectedness that occurs or does not occur in transgender women's relationships and provide culturally competent care to empower them to become resilient.

Predictors of Suicidal Ideation in a Statewide Sample of Transgender Individuals.

Science.gov (United States)

Rood, Brian A; Puckett, Julia A; Pantalone, David W; Bradford, Judith B

2015-09-01

Transgender individuals experience violence and discrimination, which, in addition to gender transitioning, are established correlates of psychological distress. In a statewide sample of 350 transgender adults, we investigated whether a history of violence and discrimination increased the odds of reporting lifetime suicidal ideation (SI) and whether differences in SI were predicted by gender transition status. Violence, discrimination, and transition status significantly predicted SI. Compared with individuals with no plans to transition, individuals with plans or who were living as their identified gender reported greater odds of lifetime SI. We discuss implications for SI disparities using Meyer's minority stress model.

Materials effects and design implications of disruptions and off-normal events in ITER

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hassanein, A.; Federici, G.; Konkashbaev, I.; Zhitlukhin, A.; Litunovsky, V.

1997-01-01

Damage to plasma-facing components (PFCs) and structural materials during abnormal plasma behavior such as hard disruptions, edge-localized modes (ELMs), and vertical displacement events (VDEs) is considered a serious life-limiting concern for these components. The PFCs in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), such as the divertor, limiter, and parts of the first wall, will be subjected to high energy deposition during these plasma instabilities. High erosion losses on material surfaces, high temperature rise in structural materials (particularly at the bonding interface), and high heat flux levels and possible burnout of the coolant tubes are critical constraints that severely limit component lifetime and therefore degrade reactor performance, safety, and economics. Recently developed computer models and simulation experiments are being used to evaluate various damage to PFCs during the abnormal events. The design implications of plasma-facing and nearby components are discussed, and recommendations are made to mitigate the effects of these events

Areas of normal pulmonary parenchyma on HRCT exhibit increased FDG PET signal in IPF patients

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Win, Thida; Thomas, Benjamin A.; Lambrou, Tryphon; Hutton, Brian F.; Endozo, Raymondo; Shortman, Robert I.; Afaq, Asim; Ell, Peter J.; Groves, Ashley M.; Screaton, Nicholas J.; Porter, Joanna C.; Maher, Toby M.; Lukey, Pauline

2014-01-01

Patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) show increased PET signal at sites of morphological abnormality on high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT). The purpose of this investigation was to investigate the PET signal at sites of normal-appearing lung on HRCT in IPF. Consecutive IPF patients (22 men, 3 women) were prospectively recruited. The patients underwent 18 F-FDG PET/HRCT. The pulmonary imaging findings in the IPF patients were compared to the findings in a control population. Pulmonary uptake of 18 F-FDG (mean SUV) was quantified at sites of morphologically normal parenchyma on HRCT. SUVs were also corrected for tissue fraction (TF). The mean SUV in IPF patients was compared with that in 25 controls (patients with lymphoma in remission or suspected paraneoplastic syndrome with normal PET/CT appearances). The pulmonary SUV (mean ± SD) uncorrected for TF in the controls was 0.48 ± 0.14 and 0.78 ± 0.24 taken from normal lung regions in IPF patients (p 18 F-FDG on PET in areas of lung with a normal morphological appearance on HRCT. This may have implications for determining disease mechanisms and treatment monitoring. (orig.)

Spatially tuned normalization explains attention modulation variance within neurons.

Science.gov (United States)

Ni, Amy M; Maunsell, John H R

2017-09-01

Spatial attention improves perception of attended parts of a scene, a behavioral enhancement accompanied by modulations of neuronal firing rates. These modulations vary in size across neurons in the same brain area. Models of normalization explain much of this variance in attention modulation with differences in tuned normalization across neurons (Lee J, Maunsell JHR. PLoS One 4: e4651, 2009; Ni AM, Ray S, Maunsell JHR. Neuron 73: 803-813, 2012). However, recent studies suggest that normalization tuning varies with spatial location both across and within neurons (Ruff DA, Alberts JJ, Cohen MR. J Neurophysiol 116: 1375-1386, 2016; Verhoef BE, Maunsell JHR. eLife 5: e17256, 2016). Here we show directly that attention modulation and normalization tuning do in fact covary within individual neurons, in addition to across neurons as previously demonstrated. We recorded the activity of isolated neurons in the middle temporal area of two rhesus monkeys as they performed a change-detection task that controlled the focus of spatial attention. Using the same two drifting Gabor stimuli and the same two receptive field locations for each neuron, we found that switching which stimulus was presented at which location affected both attention modulation and normalization in a correlated way within neurons. We present an equal-maximum-suppression spatially tuned normalization model that explains this covariance both across and within neurons: each stimulus generates equally strong suppression of its own excitatory drive, but its suppression of distant stimuli is typically less. This new model specifies how the tuned normalization associated with each stimulus location varies across space both within and across neurons, changing our understanding of the normalization mechanism and how attention modulations depend on this mechanism. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Tuned normalization studies have demonstrated that the variance in attention modulation size seen across neurons from the same cortical

G{sub 2} radiosensitivity of cells derived from cancer-prone individuals

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Darroudi, F.; Vyas, R.C.; Vermeulen, S.; Natarajan, A.T. [J.A. Cohen Institute of Radiopathology and Radiation Protection, Interuniversity Institute, Leiden (Netherlands)

1995-04-01

The potential of enhanced chromatid damage, observed after X-irradiation of G{sub 2} phase, has been used to detect individuals genetically predisposed to cancer, utilising fibroblasts/lymphocytes from these patients as well as fibroblasts derived from human tumours. Fibroblasts and/or lymphocyte samples of two autosomal recessive syndromes (xeroderma pigmentosum (XP), Fanconi`s anaemia (FA)) and one congenital or acquired disorder, aplastic anaemia (AA), were employed for the G{sub 2} radiosensitivity assay. In addition, we have estimated the frequencies of spontaneously occurring chromosomal aberrations as well as G{sub 2} radiosensitivity of eight samples of fibroblasts/fibroblast-like cells (two normal, two colorectal carcinoma, two Wilms` tumour, one retinoblastoma and one polyposis coli), and three samples of lymphocytes (two normal and one from a lymphoma patient). The results obtained indicate that there were no differences between fibroblast cells derived from patients or tumours, except FA patients, in the frequency of spontaneously occurring chromosomal aberrations when compared to normal cells. Following X-irradiation we did not observe any significantly increased G{sub 2} radiosensitivity in FA and XP cells. Lymphocytes from AA and lymphoma patients, and all tumour cell lines except retinoblastoma, responded with increased frequencies of aberrations following G{sub 2} X-irradiation in comparison to cells derived from normal individuals. In our hands, the G{sub 2} sensitivity assay could not always discriminate cells from cancer-prone individuals from those of controls.

Astrophysical implications of periodicity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Muller, R.A.

1988-01-01

Two remarkable discoveries of the last decade have profound implications for astrophysics and for geophysics. These are the discovery by Alvarez et al., that certain mass extinctions are caused by the impact on the earth of a large asteroid or comet, and the discovery by Raup and Sepkoski that such extinctions are periodic, with a cycle time of 26 to 30 million years. The validity of both of these discoveries is assumed and the implications are examined. Most of the phenomena described depend not on periodicity, but just on the weaker assumption that the impacts on the earth take place primarily in showers. Proposed explanations for the periodicity include galactic oscillations, the Planet X model, and the possibility of Nemesis, a solar companion star. These hypotheses are critically examined. Results of the search for the solar companion are reported. The Deccan flood basalts of India have been proposed as the impact site for the Cretaceous impact, but this hypotheisis is in contradiction with the conclusion of Courtillot et al., that the magma flow began during a period of normal magnetic field. A possible resolution of this contradiction is proposed

Examination of Automation-Induced Complacency and Individual Difference Variates

Science.gov (United States)

Prinzel, Lawrence J., III; DeVries, Holly; Freeman, Fred G.; Mikulka, Peter

2001-01-01

Automation-induced complacency has been documented as a cause or contributing factor in many airplane accidents throughout the last two decades. It is surmised that the condition results when a crew is working in highly reliable automated environments in which they serve as supervisory controllers monitoring system states for occasional automation failures. Although many reports have discussed the dangers of complacency, little empirical research has been produced to substantiate its harmful effects on performance as well as what factors produce complacency. There have been some suggestions, however, that individual characteristics could serve as possible predictors of performance in automated systems. The present study examined relationship between the individual differences of complacency potential, boredom proneness, and cognitive failure, automation-induced complacency. Workload and boredom scores were also collected and analyzed in relation to the three individual differences. The results of the study demonstrated that there are personality individual differences that are related to whether an individual will succumb to automation-induced complacency. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

The SCA1 (Spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 and MJD (Machado-Joseph disease CAG repeats in normal individuals: segregation analysis and allele frequencies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cláudia Emília Vieira Wiezel

2003-01-01

Full Text Available Spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 (SCA1 and Machado-Joseph disease (MJD/SCA3 are autosomal dominant neurodegenerative diseases caused by expansions of a CAG trinucleotide repeat in the SCA1 and MJD genes. These expanded sequences are unstable upon transmission, leading to an intergeneration increase in the number of repeats (dynamic mutation. The transmission of the CAG repeat was studied in normal mother-father-child trios, referred for paternity testing (SCA1, n = 367; MJD, n = 879. No segregation distortion was detected. The CAG allele frequencies were determined in 330 unrelated individuals (fathers from couples tested for paternity. The allele frequency distributions did not differ from those previously reported for European populations. The estimated values for the statistic parameters indicating diversity at the SCA1 locus did not differ much from those reported previously for other STRs in the Brazilian population, while those for the MJD locus were close to or higher than the maximum values of previous reports. This shows that SCA1 and MJD are highly informative loci for applications in genetic and population studies and for forensic analysis.

Job crafting: Towards a new model of individual job redesign

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria Tims

2010-12-01

Research purpose: The purpose of the study was to fit job crafting in job design theory. Motivation for the study: The study was an attempt to shed more light on the types of proactive behaviours of individual employees at work. Moreover, we explored the concept of job crafting and its antecedents and consequences. Research design, approach and method: A literature study was conducted in which the focus was first on proactive behaviour of the employee and then on job crafting. Main findings: Job crafting can be seen as a specific form of proactive behaviour in which the employee initiates changes in the level of job demands and job resources. Job crafting may be facilitated by job and individual characteristics and may enable employees to fit their jobs to their personal knowledge, skills and abilities on the one hand and to their preferences and needs on the other hand. Practical/managerial implications: Job crafting may be a good way for employees to improve their work motivation and other positive work outcomes. Employees could be encouraged to exert more influence on their job characteristics. Contribution/value-add: This article describes a relatively new perspective on active job redesign by the individual, called job crafting, which has important implications for job design theories.

[Imaging evaluation on adaptability of proximal humeral anatomy after shoulder replacement with individualized shoulder prosthesis].

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Youxing; Tang, Kanglai; Yuan, Chengsong; Tao, Xu; Wang, Huaqing; Chen, Bo; Guo, Yupeng

2015-03-24

Modern shoulder prosthesis has evolved through four generations. And the fourth generation technology has a core three-dimensional design of restoring 3D reconstruction of proximal humeral anatomy. Thus a new shoulder prosthesis is developed on the basis of the technology of 3D prosthesis. Assessment of whether shoulder prosthesis can restore individualized reconstruction of proximal humeral anatomy is based on the adaptability of proximal humeral anatomy. To evaluate the adaptability of proximal humeral anatomy through measuring the parameters of proximal humeral anatomy after shoulder replacement with individualized shoulder prosthesis and compare with normal data. The parameters of proximal humeral anatomy were analyzed and evaluated for a total of 12 cases undergoing shoulder replacement with individualized shoulder prosthesis. The relevant anatomical parameters included neck-shaft angle (NSA), retroversion angle (RA), humeral head height (HH) and humeral head diameter (HD). And the anatomical parameters were compared with the data from normal side. All underwent shoulder replacement with individualized shoulder prosthesis. The postoperative parameters of proximal humeral anatomy were compared with those of normal side. And the difference of NSA was 0.05). Individualized shoulder prosthesis has excellent adaptability to shoulder. All core parameters are freely adjustable and specification models may be optimized. With matching tools, individualized shoulder prosthesis improves the accuracy and reliability in shoulder replacement.

Individual differences in the shape bias in preschool children with specific language impairment and typical language development: theoretical and clinical implications.

Science.gov (United States)

Collisson, Beverly Anne; Grela, Bernard; Spaulding, Tammie; Rueckl, Jay G; Magnuson, James S

2015-05-01

We investigated whether preschool children with specific language impairment (SLI) exhibit the shape bias in word learning: the bias to generalize based on shape rather than size, color, or texture in an object naming context ('This is a wek; find another wek') but not in a non-naming similarity classification context ('See this? Which one goes with this one?'). Fifty-four preschool children (16 with SLI, 16 children with typical language [TL] in an equated control group, and 22 additional children with TL included in individual differences analyses but not group comparisons) completed a battery of linguistic and cognitive assessments and two experiments. In Experiment 1, children made generalization choices in object naming and similarity classification contexts on separate days, from options similar to a target object in shape, color, or texture. On average, TL children exhibited the shape bias in an object naming context, but children with SLI did not. In Experiment 2, we tested whether the failure to exhibit the shape bias might be linked to ability to detect systematicities in the visual domain. Experiment 2 supported this hypothesis, in that children with SLI failed to learn simple paired visual associations that were readily learned by children with TL. Analyses of individual differences in the two studies revealed that visual paired-associate learning predicted degree of shape bias in children with SLI and TL better than any other measure of nonverbal intelligence or standard assessments of language ability. We discuss theoretical and clinical implications. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Life cycle, individual thrift, and the wealth of nations.

Science.gov (United States)

Modigliani, F

1986-11-07

One theory of the determinants of individual and national thrift has come to be known as the life cycle hypothesis of saving. The state of the art on the eve of the formulation of the hypothesis some 30 years ago is reviewed. Then the theoretical foundations of the model in its original formulation and later amendment are set forth, calling attention to various implications, some distinctive to it and some counterintuitive. A number of crucial empirical tests, both at the individual and the aggregate level, are presented as well as some applications of the life cycle hypothesis of saving to current policy issues.

A review of shear strength models for rock joints subjected to constant normal stiffness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sivanathan Thirukumaran

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The typical shear behaviour of rough joints has been studied under constant normal load/stress (CNL boundary conditions, but recent studies have shown that this boundary condition may not replicate true practical situations. Constant normal stiffness (CNS is more appropriate to describe the stress–strain response of field joints since the CNS boundary condition is more realistic than CNL. The practical implications of CNS are movements of unstable blocks in the roof or walls of an underground excavation, reinforced rock wedges sliding in a rock slope or foundation, and the vertical movement of rock-socketed concrete piles. In this paper, the highlights and limitations of the existing models used to predict the shear strength/behaviour of joints under CNS conditions are discussed in depth.

Stigmatization of obese individuals by human resource professionals: an experimental study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giel Katrin E

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Weight-related stigmatization is a public health problem. It impairs the psychological well-being of obese individuals and hinders them from adopting weight-loss behaviors. We conducted an experimental study to investigate weight stigmatization in work settings using a sample of experienced human resource (HR professionals from a real-life employment setting. Methods In a cross-sectional, computer-based experimental study, a volunteer sample of 127 HR professionals (age: 41.1 ± 10.9 yrs., 56% female, who regularly make career decisions about other people, evaluated individuals shown in standardized photographs regarding work-related prestige and achievements. The photographed individuals differed with respect to gender, ethnicity, and Body Mass Index (BMI. Results Participants underestimated the occupational prestige of obese individuals and overestimated it for normal-weight individuals. Obese people were more often disqualified from being hired and less often nominated for a supervisory position, while non-ethnic normal-weight individuals were favored. Stigmatization was most pronounced in obese females. Conclusions The data suggest that HR professionals are prone to pronounced weight stigmatization, especially in women. This highlights the need for interventions targeting this stigmatization as well as stigma-management strategies for obese individuals. Weight stigmatization and its consequences needs to be a topic that is more strongly addressed in clinical obesity care.

Collaboration enhances later individual memory for emotional material.

Science.gov (United States)

Bärthel, Gwennis A; Wessel, Ineke; Huntjens, Rafaële J C; Verwoerd, Johan

2017-05-01

Research on collaborative remembering suggests that collaboration hampers group memory (i.e., collaborative inhibition), yet enhances later individual memory. Studies examining collaborative effects on memory for emotional stimuli are scarce, especially concerning later individual memory. In the present study, female undergraduates watched an emotional movie and recalled it either collaboratively (n = 60) or individually (n = 60), followed by an individual free recall test and a recognition test. We replicated the standard collaborative inhibition effect. Further, in line with the literature, the collaborative condition displayed better post-collaborative individual memory. More importantly, in post-collaborative free recall, the centrality of the information to the movie plot did not play an important role. Recognition rendered slightly different results. Although collaboration rendered more correct recognition for more central details, it did not enhance recognition of background details. Secondly, the collaborative and individual conditions did not differ with respect to overlap of unique correct items in free recall. Yet, during recognition former collaborators more unanimously endorsed correct answers, as well as errors. Finally, extraversion, neuroticism, social anxiety, and depressive symptoms did not moderate the influence of collaboration on memory. Implications for the fields of forensic and clinical psychology are discussed.

Reference ranges of HOMA-IR in normal-weight and obese young Caucasians.

Science.gov (United States)

Shashaj, Blegina; Luciano, Rosa; Contoli, Benedetta; Morino, Giuseppe Stefano; Spreghini, Maria Rita; Rustico, Carmela; Sforza, Rita Wietrzycowska; Dallapiccola, Bruno; Manco, Melania

2016-04-01

Insulin resistance (IR) may develop very early in life being associated with occurrence of cardiometabolic risk factors (CMRFs). Aim of the present study was to identify in young Caucasians normative values of IR as estimated by the homeostasis model assessment (HOMA-IR) and cutoffs diagnostic of CMRFs. Anthropometrics and biochemical parameters were assessed in 2753 Caucasians (age 2-17.8 years; 1204 F). Reference ranges of HOMA-IR were defined for the whole population and for samples of normal-weight and overweight/obese individuals. The receiver operator characteristic analysis was used to find cutoffs of HOMA-IR accurately identifying individuals with any CMRF among total cholesterol and/or triglycerides higher than the 95th percentile and/or HDL cholesterol lower than the 5th for age and sex, impaired glucose tolerance, and alanine aminotransferase levels ≥40 U/l. Overweight/obese individuals had higher HOMA-IR levels compared with normal-weight peers (p HOMA-IR index rose progressively with age, plateaued between age 13 and 15 years and started decreasing afterward. HOMA-IR peaked at age 13 years in girls and at 15 years in boys. The 75th percentile of HOMA-IR in the whole population (3.02; AUROC = 0.73, 95 % CI = 0.70-0.75), in normal-weight (1.68; AUROC = 0.76, 95 % CI = 0.74-0.79), and obese (3.42; AUROC = 0.71, 95 % CI = 0.69-0.72) individuals identified the cutoffs best classifying individuals with any CMRF. Percentiles of HOMA-IR varied significantly in young Caucasians depending on sex, age, and BMI category. The 75th percentile may represent an accurate cutoff point to suspect the occurrence of one or more CMRFs among high total cholesterol and triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol, and ALT ≥ 40 UI/l.

Latino Demographics, Democratic Individuality, and Educational Accountability: A Pragmatist's View

Science.gov (United States)

Martinez Aleman, Ana M.

2006-01-01

In an era of heightened teacher and school accountability, what are the implications of standards-based reform for individual Latino children and their democratic self-realization? The educational demography of the fastest-growing and largest ethnic group in the United States suggests that the future of Latino self-realization is in jeopardy.…

Standard heart and vessel size on plain films of normal children

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stoever, B.

1986-01-01

Standards of heart size, i.e. heart diameters and heart volume of normal children aged 4-15 years were obtained. In all cases requiring exact heart size determination, heart volume calculation is mandatory in children as well as in adults. Statistical work to date has provided precise calculation of heart volume plain films in the upright position. Additional plain films in prone position are unnecessary because no evident orthostatic influence on heart volume in children can be found. Percentiles of normal heart volume related to body weight representing the best correlation to the individual data are given as well as percentiles related to age. Furthermore ratios of normal vessel size to the height of the 8sup(th) thoracic vertebral body, measured on the same plain film, are given. In addition the ratio of upper to lower lung vessel size is calculated. These ratios are useful criteria in estimating normal vessel size and also in cases with increased pulmonary venous pressure. (orig.) [de

Neural correlates to food-related behavior in normal-weight and overweight/obese participants.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alan Ho

Full Text Available Two thirds of US adults are either obese or overweight and this rate is rising. Although the etiology of obesity is not yet fully understood, neuroimaging studies have demonstrated that the central nervous system has a principal role in regulating eating behavior. In this study, functional magnetic resonance imaging and survey data were evaluated for correlations between food-related problem behaviors and the neural regions underlying responses to visual food cues before and after eating in normal-weight individuals and overweight/obese individuals. In normal-weight individuals, activity in the left amygdala in response to high-calorie food vs. nonfood object cues was positively correlated with impaired satiety scores during fasting, suggesting that those with impaired satiety scores may have an abnormal anticipatory reward response. In overweight/obese individuals, activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC in response to low-calorie food cues was negatively correlated with impaired satiety during fasting, suggesting that individuals scoring lower in satiety impairment were more likely to activate the DLPFC inhibitory system. After eating, activity in both the putamen and the amygdala was positively correlated with impaired satiety scores among obese/overweight participants. While these individuals may volitionally suggest they are full, their functional response to food cues suggests food continues to be salient. These findings suggest brain regions involved in the evaluation of visual food cues may be mediated by satiety-related problems, dependent on calorie content, state of satiation, and body mass index.

Interpretation bias towards vague faces in individuals with paranoid personality disorder traits

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohsen Doustkam

2017-10-01

 Conclusion: Individuals with paranoid personality traits have more biases than normal individuals in terms of interpreting vague faces. The results of this study indicated the importance of attention to cognitive biases among individuals with paranoid personality traits or paranoid personality disorder because such biases can significantly influence behavioral patterns in individuals, and consequently degrade their functioning. Also, bias towards the processing of negative signs appears to be the most important cognitive element is involved in interpersonal relationships.

Spirituality and religion among HIV-infected individuals.

Science.gov (United States)

Szaflarski, Magdalena

2013-12-01

Spirituality and religion are important to many people living with HIV (PLWH). Recent research has focused on special populations (ethnic-minorities, women, and youth), spirituality/religion measurement, mediating/moderating mechanisms, and individual and community-level interventions. Spirituality/religion in PLWH has been refined as a multidimensional phenomenon, which improves health/quality of life directly and through mediating factors (healthy behaviors, optimism, social support). Spirituality/religion helps people to cope with stressors, especially stigma/discrimination. Spiritual interventions utilizing the power of prayer and meditation and addressing spiritual struggle are under way. Faith-based community interventions have focused on stigma and could improve individual outcomes through access to spiritual/social support and care/treatment for PLWA. Community engagement is necessary to design/implement effective and sustainable programs. Future efforts should focus on vulnerable populations; utilize state-of-the-art methods (randomized clinical trials, community-based participatory research); and, address population-specific interventions at individual and community levels. Clinical and policy implications across geographic settings also need attention.

Intra-individual gait pattern variability in specific situations: Implications for forensic gait analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Ludwig, Oliver; Dillinger, Steffen; Marschall, Franz

2016-07-01

In this study, inter- and intra-individual gait pattern differences are examined in various gait situations by means of phase diagrams of the extremity angles (cyclograms). 8 test subjects walked along a walking distance of 6m under different conditions three times each: barefoot, wearing sneakers, wearing combat boots, after muscular fatigue, and wearing a full-face motorcycle helmet restricting vision. The joint angles of foot, knee, and hip were recorded in the sagittal plane. The coupling of movements was represented by time-adjusted cyclograms, and the inter- and intra-individual differences were captured by calculating the similarity between different gait patterns. Gait pattern variability was often greater between the defined test situations than between the individual test subjects. The results have been interpreted considering neurophysiological regulation mechanisms. Footwear, masking, and fatigue were interpreted as disturbance parameters, each being a cause for gait pattern variability and complicating the inference of identity of persons in video recordings. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Individual differences in fundamental social motives.

Science.gov (United States)

Neel, Rebecca; Kenrick, Douglas T; White, Andrew Edward; Neuberg, Steven L

2016-06-01

Motivation has long been recognized as an important component of how people both differ from, and are similar to, each other. The current research applies the biologically grounded fundamental social motives framework, which assumes that human motivational systems are functionally shaped to manage the major costs and benefits of social life, to understand individual differences in social motives. Using the Fundamental Social Motives Inventory, we explore the relations among the different fundamental social motives of Self-Protection, Disease Avoidance, Affiliation, Status, Mate Seeking, Mate Retention, and Kin Care; the relationships of the fundamental social motives to other individual difference and personality measures including the Big Five personality traits; the extent to which fundamental social motives are linked to recent life experiences; and the extent to which life history variables (e.g., age, sex, childhood environment) predict individual differences in the fundamental social motives. Results suggest that the fundamental social motives are a powerful lens through which to examine individual differences: They are grounded in theory, have explanatory value beyond that of the Big Five personality traits, and vary meaningfully with a number of life history variables. A fundamental social motives approach provides a generative framework for considering the meaning and implications of individual differences in social motivation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Spiritually Competent Practice with Individuals and Families Dealing with Medical Conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Sperry, Len

2011-01-01

Counselors and psychotherapists are increasingly expected to provide services that are spiritually competent. Those counseling individuals and families where medical concerns are a focus would do well to consider the implications of spiritual competence in their work. The article defines spiritual competence, describes spiritual competencies, and…

Developing TOPSIS method using statistical normalization for selecting knowledge management strategies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amin Zadeh Sarraf

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Purpose: Numerous companies are expecting their knowledge management (KM to be performed effectively in order to leverage and transform the knowledge into competitive advantages. However, here raises a critical issue of how companies can better evaluate and select a favorable KM strategy prior to a successful KM implementation. Design/methodology/approach: An extension of TOPSIS, a multi-attribute decision making (MADM technique, to a group decision environment is investigated. TOPSIS is a practical and useful technique for ranking and selection of a number of externally determined alternatives through distance measures. The entropy method is often used for assessing weights in the TOPSIS method. Entropy in information theory is a criterion uses for measuring the amount of disorder represented by a discrete probability distribution. According to decrease resistance degree of employees opposite of implementing a new strategy, it seems necessary to spot all managers’ opinion. The normal distribution considered the most prominent probability distribution in statistics is used to normalize gathered data. Findings: The results of this study show that by considering 6 criteria for alternatives Evaluation, the most appropriate KM strategy to implement  in our company was ‘‘Personalization’’. Research limitations/implications: In this research, there are some assumptions that might affect the accuracy of the approach such as normal distribution of sample and community. These assumptions can be changed in future work. Originality/value: This paper proposes an effective solution based on combined entropy and TOPSIS approach to help companies that need to evaluate and select KM strategies. In represented solution, opinions of all managers is gathered and normalized by using standard normal distribution and central limit theorem. Keywords: Knowledge management; strategy; TOPSIS; Normal distribution; entropy

Impact of increasing alanine aminotransferase levels within normal range on incident diabetes

OpenAIRE

Chong-Shan Wang; Ting-Tsung Chang; Wei-Jen Yao; Shan-Tair Wang; Pesus Chou

2012-01-01

Abnormal alanine aminotransferase level (ALT) levels might be associated with type 2 diabetes, but whether higher ALT levels within the normal range predict the risk is unknown. Methods: We followed a community-based cohort of 3446 individuals who were ≥35 years old without diabetes and hepatitis B or C in southern Taiwan for 8 years (1997–2004) to study the risk for type 2 diabetes with different normal ALT levels. Results: Among the 337 incident diabetes cases, 16.0% were from those w...

Higher levels of albuminuria within the normal range predict incident hypertension.

Science.gov (United States)

Forman, John P; Fisher, Naomi D L; Schopick, Emily L; Curhan, Gary C

2008-10-01

Higher levels of albumin excretion within the normal range are associated with cardiovascular disease in high-risk individuals. Whether incremental increases in urinary albumin excretion, even within the normal range, are associated with the development of hypertension in low-risk individuals is unknown. This study included 1065 postmenopausal women from the first Nurses' Health Study and 1114 premenopausal women from the second Nurses' Health Study who had an albumin/creatinine ratio who did not have diabetes or hypertension. Among the older women, 271 incident cases of hypertension occurred during 4 yr of follow-up, and among the younger women, 296 incident cases of hypertension occurred during 8 yr of follow-up. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to examine prospectively the association between the albumin/creatinine ratio and incident hypertension after adjustment for age, body mass index, estimated GFR, baseline BP, physical activity, smoking, and family history of hypertension. Participants who had an albumin/creatinine ratio in the highest quartile (4.34 to 24.17 mg/g for older women and 3.68 to 23.84 mg/g for younger women) were more likely to develop hypertension than those who had an albumin/creatinine ratio in the lowest quartile (hazard ratio 1.76 [95% confidence interval 1.21 to 2.56] and hazard ratio 1.35 [95% confidence interval 0.97 to 1.91] for older and younger women, respectively). Higher albumin/creatinine ratios, even within the normal range, are independently associated with increased risk for development of hypertension among women without diabetes. The definition of normal albumin excretion should be reevaluated.

Individual Readiness for Organizational Change and Its Implications for Human Resource and Organization Development

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Myungweon; Ruona, Wendy E. A.

2011-01-01

Individual readiness for organizational change reflects the concept of "unfreezing" proposed by Lewin (1947/1997b) and is critical to successful change implementation. Understanding the conditions conducive to individual readiness for organizational change, instead of the more traditional focus on resistance to change, can be useful for designing…

Empirical evaluation of data normalization methods for molecular classification.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Huei-Chung; Qin, Li-Xuan

2018-01-01

Data artifacts due to variations in experimental handling are ubiquitous in microarray studies, and they can lead to biased and irreproducible findings. A popular approach to correct for such artifacts is through post hoc data adjustment such as data normalization. Statistical methods for data normalization have been developed and evaluated primarily for the discovery of individual molecular biomarkers. Their performance has rarely been studied for the development of multi-marker molecular classifiers-an increasingly important application of microarrays in the era of personalized medicine. In this study, we set out to evaluate the performance of three commonly used methods for data normalization in the context of molecular classification, using extensive simulations based on re-sampling from a unique pair of microRNA microarray datasets for the same set of samples. The data and code for our simulations are freely available as R packages at GitHub. In the presence of confounding handling effects, all three normalization methods tended to improve the accuracy of the classifier when evaluated in an independent test data. The level of improvement and the relative performance among the normalization methods depended on the relative level of molecular signal, the distributional pattern of handling effects (e.g., location shift vs scale change), and the statistical method used for building the classifier. In addition, cross-validation was associated with biased estimation of classification accuracy in the over-optimistic direction for all three normalization methods. Normalization may improve the accuracy of molecular classification for data with confounding handling effects; however, it cannot circumvent the over-optimistic findings associated with cross-validation for assessing classification accuracy.

Compensatory internet use among individuals higher in social anxiety and its implications for well-being.

Science.gov (United States)

Weidman, Aaron C; Fernandez, Katya C; Levinson, Cheri A; Augustine, Adam A; Larsen, Randy J; Rodebaugh, Thomas L

2012-08-01

The social compensation hypothesis states that the internet primarily benefits individuals who feel uncomfortable communicating face-to-face. In the current research, we tested whether individuals higher in social anxiety use the internet as a compensatory social medium, and whether such use is associated with greater well-being. In Study 1, individuals higher in social anxiety reported greater feelings of comfort and self-disclosure when socializing online than less socially anxious individuals, but reported less self-disclosure when communicating face-to-face. However, in Study 2, social anxiety was associated with lower quality of life and higher depression most strongly for individuals who communicated frequently online. Our results suggest that, whereas social anxiety may be associated with using the internet as an alternative to face-to-face communication, such a strategy may result in poorer well-being.

Conceptual Analysis and Implications of Students' Individual Differences to Curriculum Implementation in Technical Education

Science.gov (United States)

Akpan, Godwin A.; Essien, Emmanuel O.; Okure, Okure S.

2013-01-01

Individual differences refer to the unique ways each human being differs from another human being as expressed in behaviour or perceived in the physical appearance. Three factors of individual differences identified to be closely related to learning/acquisition of skills and performance of tasks. These are personality dimensions, self-efficacy and…

Siblings of Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Theoretical Perspectives on Sibling Relationships and Individual Adjustment

Science.gov (United States)

McHale, Susan M.; Updegraff, Kimberly A.; Feinberg, Mark E.

2015-01-01

A burgeoning research literature investigates the sibling relationships of youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and their implications for individual adjustment. Focusing on four relationship domains-- behaviors, emotions, cognitions and involvement—and toward advancing this generally atheoretical literature, we review and apply tenets from a range of theoretical perspectives in an effort to illuminate the mechanisms underlying sibling relationship experiences and their adjustment implications. Our review suggests new directions for research to test theoretically-grounded hypotheses about how sibling relationships develop and are linked to individual adjustment. In addition, we consider how identifying underlying bio-psycho-social processes can aid in the development of interventions to promote warm and involved sibling relationships and positive youth development. PMID:26476737

Health promotion and the freedom of the individual.

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Gary; Hawley, Helen

2006-03-01

This article considers the extent to which health promotion strategies pose a threat to individual freedom. It begins by taking a look at health promotion strategies and at the historical development of health promotion in Britain. A theoretical context is then developed in which Berlin's distinction between negative and positive liberty is used alongside the ideas of John Stuart Mill, Charles Taylor and T.H. Green to discuss the politics of health promotion and to identify the implications of conflicting perspectives on freedom. The final section looks at current health promotion policy in Britain and beyond and argues that, if freedom is seen in terms of empowerment, health promotion can enhance individual freedom.

Life expectancy in individuals with type 2 diabetes: implications for annuities.

Science.gov (United States)

Price, Hermione C; Clarke, Philip M; Gray, Alastair M; Holman, Rury R

2010-01-01

Insurance companies often offer people with diabetes ''enhanced impaired life annuity'' at preferential rates, in view of their reduced life expectancy. To assess the appropriateness of ''enhanced impaired life annuity'' rates for individuals with type 2 diabetes. Patients. There were 4026 subjects with established type 2 diabetes (but not known cardiovascular or other life-threatening diseases) enrolled into the UK Lipids in Diabetes Study. Measurements. Estimated individual life expectancy using the United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS) Outcomes Model. Subjects were a mean (SD) age of 60.7 (8.6) years, had a blood pressure of 141/83 (17/10) mm Hg, total cholesterol level of 4.5 (0.75) mmol/L, HDL cholesterol level of 1.2 (0.29) mmol/L, with median (interquartile range [IQR]) known diabetes duration of 6 (3-11) years, and HbA(1c) of 8.0% (7.2-9.0). Sixty-five percent were male, 91% white, 4% Afro-Caribbean, 5% Indian-Asian, and 15% current smokers. The UKPDS Outcomes Model median (IQR) estimated age at death was 76.6 (73.8-79.5) years compared with 81.6 (79.4-83.2) years, estimated using the UK Government Actuary's Department data for a general population of the same age and gender structure. The median (IQR) difference was 4.3 (2.8-6.1) years, a remaining life expectancy reduction of almost one quarter. The highest value annuity identified, which commences payments immediately for a 60-year-old man with insulin-treated type 2 diabetes investing 100,000, did not reflect this difference, offering 7.4K per year compared with 7.0K per year if not diabetic. The UK Government Actuary's Department data overestimate likely age at death in individuals with type 2 diabetes, and at present, ''enhanced impaired life annuity'' rates do not provide equity for people with type 2 diabetes. Using a diabetes-specific model to estimate life expectancy could provide valuable information to the annuity industry and permit more equitable annuity rates for those with type 2

Oral methylphenidate normalizes cingulate activity in cocaine addiction during a salient cognitive task

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goldstein, R.Z.; Woicik, P.A.; Maloney, T.; Tomasi, D.; Alia-Klein, N.; Shan, J.; Honorario, J.; Samaras, D.; Wang, R.; Telang, F.; Wang, G.-J.; Volkow, N.D.

2010-01-01

Anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) hypoactivations during cognitive demand are a hallmark deficit in drug addiction. Methylphenidate (MPH) normalizes cortical function, enhancing task salience and improving associated cognitive abilities, in other frontal lobe pathologies; however, in clinical trials, MPH did not improve treatment outcome in cocaine addiction. We hypothesized that oral MPH will attenuate ACC hypoactivations and improve associated performance during a salient cognitive task in individuals with cocaine-use disorders (CUD). In the current functional MRI study, we used a rewarded drug cue-reactivity task previously shown to be associated with hypoactivations in both major ACC subdivisions (implicated in default brain function) in CUD compared with healthy controls. The task was performed by 13 CUD and 14 matched healthy controls on 2 d: after ingesting a single dose of oral MPH (20 mg) or placebo (lactose) in a counterbalanced fashion. Results show that oral MPH increased responses to this salient cognitive task in both major ACC subdivisions (including the caudal-dorsal ACC and rostroventromedial ACC extending to the medial orbitofrontal cortex) in the CUD. These functional MRI results were associated with reduced errors of commission (a common impulsivity measure) and improved task accuracy, especially during the drug (vs. neutral) cue-reactivity condition in all subjects. The clinical application of such MPH-induced brain-behavior enhancements remains to be tested.

Oral methylphenidate normalizes cingulate activity in cocaine addiction during a salient cognitive task

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Goldstein, R.Z.; Goldstein, R.Z.; Woicik, P.A.; Maloney, T.; Tomasi, D.; Alia-Klein, N.; Shan, J.; Honorario, J.; Samaras, d.; Wang, R.; Telang, F.; Wang, G.-J.; Volkow, N.D.

2010-09-21

Anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) hypoactivations during cognitive demand are a hallmark deficit in drug addiction. Methylphenidate (MPH) normalizes cortical function, enhancing task salience and improving associated cognitive abilities, in other frontal lobe pathologies; however, in clinical trials, MPH did not improve treatment outcome in cocaine addiction. We hypothesized that oral MPH will attenuate ACC hypoactivations and improve associated performance during a salient cognitive task in individuals with cocaine-use disorders (CUD). In the current functional MRI study, we used a rewarded drug cue-reactivity task previously shown to be associated with hypoactivations in both major ACC subdivisions (implicated in default brain function) in CUD compared with healthy controls. The task was performed by 13 CUD and 14 matched healthy controls on 2 d: after ingesting a single dose of oral MPH (20 mg) or placebo (lactose) in a counterbalanced fashion. Results show that oral MPH increased responses to this salient cognitive task in both major ACC subdivisions (including the caudal-dorsal ACC and rostroventromedial ACC extending to the medial orbitofrontal cortex) in the CUD. These functional MRI results were associated with reduced errors of commission (a common impulsivity measure) and improved task accuracy, especially during the drug (vs. neutral) cue-reactivity condition in all subjects. The clinical application of such MPH-induced brain-behavior enhancements remains to be tested.

Continentward-Dipping Normal Faults, Boudinage and Ductile Shear at Rifted Passive Margins

Science.gov (United States)

Clerc, C. N.; Ringenbach, J. C.; Jolivet, L.; Ballard, J. F.

2017-12-01

Deep structures resulting from the rifting of the continental crust are now well imaged by seismic profiles. We present a series of recent industrial profiles that allow the identification of various rift-related geological processes such as crustal boudinage, ductile shear of the base of the crust and low-angle detachment faulting. Along both magma-rich and magma-poor rifted margins, we observe clear indications of ductile deformation of the deep continental crust. Large-scale shallow dipping shear zones are identified with a top-to-the-continent sense of shear. This sense of shear is consistent with the activity of the Continentward-Dipping Normal Faults (CDNF) that accommodate the extension in the upper crust. This pattern is responsible for an oceanward migration of the deformation and of the associated syn-tectonic deposits (sediments and/or volcanics). We discuss the origin of the Continentward-Dipping Normal Faults (CDNF) and investigate their implications and the effect of sediment thermal blanketing on crustal rheology. In some cases, low-angle shear zones define an anastomosed pattern that delineates boudin-like structures that seem to control the position and dip of upper crustal normal faults. We present some of the most striking examples from several locations (Uruguay, West Africa, South China Sea…), and discuss their rifting histories that differ from the classical models of oceanward-dipping normal faults.

Quantification of pulmonary thallium-201 activity after upright exercise in normal persons: importance of peak heart rate and propranolol usage in defining normal values

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brown, K.A.; Boucher, C.A.; Okada, R.D.; Strauss, H.W.; Pohost, G.M.

1984-01-01

Fifty-nine normal patients (34 angiographically normal and 25 clinically normal by Bayesian analysis) underwent thallium-201 imaging after maximal upright exercise. Lung activity was quantitated relative to myocardial activity and a lung/myocardial activity ratio was determined for each patient. Stepwise regression analysis was then used to examine the influence of patient clinical characteristics and exercise variables on the lung/myocardium ratio. Peak heart rate during exercise and propranolol usage both showed significant negative regression coefficients (p less than 0.001). No other patient data showed a significant relation. Using the regression equation and the estimated variance, a 95% confidence level upper limit of normal could be determined for a give peak heart rate and propranolol status. Sixty-one other patients were studied to validate the predicted upper limits of normal based on this model. None of the 27 patients without coronary artery disease had an elevated lung/myocardial ratio, compared with 1 of 8 with 1-vessel disease (difference not significant), 6 of 14 with 2-vessel disease (p less than 0.005), and 6 of 12 with 3-vessel disease (p less than 0.0001). Thus, lung activity on upright exercise thallium-201 studies can be quantitated relative to myocardial activity, and is inversely related to peak heart rate and propranolol use. Use of a regression analysis allows determination of a 95% confidence upper limit of normal to be anticipated in an individual patient

Normal CT anatomy of the spine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Quiroga, O.; Matozzi, F.; Beranger, M.; Nazarian, S.; Salamon, G.; Gambarelli, J.

1982-01-01

To analyse the anatomo-radiological correlation of the spine and spinal cord, 22 formalized, frozen anatomical specimens corresponding to different regions of the spinal column (8 cervical, 5 dorsal, and 9 lumbar) were studied by CT scans on axial, sagittal and coronal planes and by contact radiography after they were cut into anatomical slices in order to clarify the normal CT anatomy of the spinal column. The results obtained from CT patient scans, performed exclusively on the axial plane, were compared with those obtained from the anatomical specimens (both CT and contrast radiography). High resolution CT programs were used, enabling us to obtain better individualization of the normal structures contained in the spinal column. Direct sagittal and coronal sections were performed on the specimens in order to get further anatomo-radiological information. Enhanced CT studies of the specimens were also available because of the air already present in the subarachnoid spaces. Excellent visualization was obtained of bone structures, soft tissue and the spinal cord. High CT resolution of the spine appeares to be an excellent neuroradiological procedure to study the spine and spinal cord. A metrizamide CT scan is, however, necessary when a normal unenhanced CT scan is insufficient for diagnosis and when the spinal cord is not clearly visible, as often happens at the cervical level. Clinical findings are certainly very useful to ascertain the exact CT level and to limit the radiation exposure. (orig.)

Mediterranean diet adherence in individuals with prediabetes and unknown diabetes: the Di@bet.es Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Ortega, E; Franch, J; Castell, C; Goday, A; Ribas-Barba, L; Soriguer, F; Vendrell, J; Casamitjana, R; Bosch-Comas, A; Bordiú, E; Calle-Pascual, A; Carmena, R; Castaño, L; Catalá, M; Delgado, E; Gaztambide, S; Girbés, J; López-Alba, A; Martínez-Larrad, M T; Menéndez, E; Mora-Peces, I; Pascual-Manich, G; Rojo-Martínez, G; Serrano-Rios, M; Urrutía, I; Valdés, S; Vázquez, J A; Gomis, R

2013-01-01

Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) is causally related to diabetes and is a dietary pattern recommended to individuals with diabetes. We investigated MedDiet adherence in individuals with prediabetes and unknown (PREDM/UKDM) or known diabetes (KDM) compared to those with normal glucose metabolism (NORMAL). This was a national, population-based, cross-sectional, cluster-sampling study. MedDiet adherence was scored (MedScore, mean ± SD 24 ± 5) using a qualitative food frequency questionnaire. Logistic regression was used to examine the association between MedScore and PREDM/UKDM or KDM versus control subjects. We evaluated 5,076 individuals. Mean age was 50 years, 57% were female, 826 (582/244) were PREDM/UKDM, 478 were KDM and 3,772 were NORMAL. Mean age increased across MedScore tertiles (46, 51 and 56 years, p < 0.0001). Higher age-adjusted adherence to MedDiet (5-unit increment in the MedScore) was associated with lower and nondifferent odds (OR, 95% CI) of prevalent PREDM/UKDM (0.88, 0.81-0.96, p = 0.001) and KDM (0.97, 0.87-1.07, p = 0.279), respectively, compared to individuals in the NORMAL group. In a representative sample of the whole Spanish population, MedDiet adherence is independently associated with PREDM/UKDM. Therapeutic intervention may be, in part, responsible for the lack of differences in adherence observed between the KDM and NORMAL groups. However, reverse causation bias cannot be ruled out in cross-sectional studies. Copyright © 2013 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Individual differences in the influence of task-irrelevant Pavlovian cues on human behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Garofalo, Sara; di Pellegrino, Giuseppe

2015-01-01

Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer (PIT) refers to the process of a Pavlovian reward-paired cue acquiring incentive motivational proprieties that drive choices. It represents a crucial phenomenon for understanding cue-controlled behavior, and it has both adaptive and maladaptive implications (i.e., drug-taking). In animals, individual differences in the degree to which such cues bias performance have been identified in two types of individuals that exhibit distinct Conditioned Responses (CR) during Pavlovian conditioning: Sign-Trackers (ST) and Goal-Trackers (GT). Using an appetitive PIT procedure with a monetary reward, the present study investigated, for the first time, the extent to which such individual differences might affect the influence of reward-paired cues in humans. In a first task, participants learned an instrumental response leading to reward; then, in a second task, a visual Pavlovian cue was associated with the same reward; finally, in a third task, PIT was tested by measuring the preference for the reward-paired instrumental response when the task-irrelevant reward-paired cue was presented, in the absence of the reward itself. In ST individuals, but not in GT individuals, reward-related cues biased behavior, resulting in an increased likelihood to perform the instrumental response independently paired with the same reward when presented with the task-irrelevant reward-paired cue, even if the reward itself was no longer available (i.e., stronger PIT effect). This finding has important implications for developing individualized treatment for maladaptive behaviors, such as addiction.

Individual differences in the influence of task-irrelevant Pavlovian cues on human behavior

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sara eGarofalo

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer (PIT refers to the process of a Pavlovian reward-paired cue acquiring incentive motivational proprieties that drive choices. It represents a crucial phenomenon for understanding cue-controlled behavior, and it has both adaptive and maladaptive implications (i.e., drug-taking. In animals, individual differences in the degree to which such cues bias performance have been identified in two types of individuals that exhibit distinct Conditioned Responses during Pavlovian conditioning: Sign-Trackers (ST and Goal-Trackers (GT. Using an appetitive PIT procedure with a monetary reward, the present study investigated, for the first time, the extent to which such individual differences might affect the influence of reward-paired cues in humans. In a first task, participants learned an instrumental response leading to reward; then, in a second task, a visual Pavlovian cue was associated with the same reward; finally, in a third task, PIT was tested by measuring the preference for the reward-paired instrumental response when the task-irrelevant reward-paired cue was presented, in the absence of the reward itself. In ST individuals, but not in GT individuals, reward-related cues biased behavior, resulting in an increased likelihood to perform the instrumental response independently paired with the same reward when presented with the task-irrelevant reward-paired cue, even if the reward itself was no longer available (i.e., stronger PIT effect. This finding has important implications for developing individualized treatment for maladaptive behaviors, such as addiction.

Individual differences in the influence of task-irrelevant Pavlovian cues on human behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Garofalo, Sara; di Pellegrino, Giuseppe

2015-01-01

Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer (PIT) refers to the process of a Pavlovian reward-paired cue acquiring incentive motivational proprieties that drive choices. It represents a crucial phenomenon for understanding cue-controlled behavior, and it has both adaptive and maladaptive implications (i.e., drug-taking). In animals, individual differences in the degree to which such cues bias performance have been identified in two types of individuals that exhibit distinct Conditioned Responses (CR) during Pavlovian conditioning: Sign-Trackers (ST) and Goal-Trackers (GT). Using an appetitive PIT procedure with a monetary reward, the present study investigated, for the first time, the extent to which such individual differences might affect the influence of reward-paired cues in humans. In a first task, participants learned an instrumental response leading to reward; then, in a second task, a visual Pavlovian cue was associated with the same reward; finally, in a third task, PIT was tested by measuring the preference for the reward-paired instrumental response when the task-irrelevant reward-paired cue was presented, in the absence of the reward itself. In ST individuals, but not in GT individuals, reward-related cues biased behavior, resulting in an increased likelihood to perform the instrumental response independently paired with the same reward when presented with the task-irrelevant reward-paired cue, even if the reward itself was no longer available (i.e., stronger PIT effect). This finding has important implications for developing individualized treatment for maladaptive behaviors, such as addiction. PMID:26157371

Lifetime analysis of the ITER first wall under steady-state and off-normal loads

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mitteau, R; Sugihara, M; Raffray, R; Carpentier-Chouchana, S; Merola, M; Pitts, R A; Labidi, H; Stangeby, P

2011-01-01

The lifetime of the beryllium armor of the ITER first wall is evaluated for normal and off-normal operation. For the individual events considered, the lifetime spans between 930 and 35×10 6 discharges. The discrepancy between low and high estimates is caused by uncertainties about the behavior of the melt layer during off-normal events, variable plasma operation parameters and variability of the sputtering yields. These large uncertainties in beryllium armor loss estimates are a good example of the experimental nature of the ITER project and will not be truly resolved until ITER begins burning plasma operation.

Individual differences in selective attention predict speech identification at a cocktail party.

Science.gov (United States)

Oberfeld, Daniel; Klöckner-Nowotny, Felicitas

2016-08-31

Listeners with normal hearing show considerable individual differences in speech understanding when competing speakers are present, as in a crowded restaurant. Here, we show that one source of this variance are individual differences in the ability to focus selective attention on a target stimulus in the presence of distractors. In 50 young normal-hearing listeners, the performance in tasks measuring auditory and visual selective attention was associated with sentence identification in the presence of spatially separated competing speakers. Together, the measures of selective attention explained a similar proportion of variance as the binaural sensitivity for the acoustic temporal fine structure. Working memory span, age, and audiometric thresholds showed no significant association with speech understanding. These results suggest that a reduced ability to focus attention on a target is one reason why some listeners with normal hearing sensitivity have difficulty communicating in situations with background noise.

Regional cerebral blood flow and anxiety: a correlation study in neurologically normal patients

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rodriguez, G.; Cogorno, P.; Gris, A.; Marenco, S.; Mesiti, C.; Nobili, F.; Rosadini, G.

1989-01-01

Regional CBF (rCBF) was evaluated by the 133 Xe inhalation method in 60 neurologically normal patients (30 men and 30 women) and hemispheric and regional values were correlated with anxiety measurements collected by a self-rating questionnaire before and after the examination. Statistically significant negative correlations between rCBF and anxiety measures were found. rCBF reduction for high anxiety levels is in line with results previously reported by others and could be related to lower performance levels for moderately high anxiety scores as those reported in the present population. This could perhaps be explained by rearrangement of flow from cortical zones to deeper areas of the brain, classically known to be implicated in the control of emotions. However, these results should be interpreted cautiously, since they were obtained in patients and not in normal subjects

The use of stereotypes and individuating information in political person perception.

Science.gov (United States)

Crawford, Jarret T; Jussim, Lee; Madon, Stephanie; Cain, Thomas R; Stevens, Sean T

2011-04-01

This article introduces the political person perception model, which identifies conditions under which perceivers rely on stereotypes (party membership), individuating information (issue position), or both in political person perception. Three studies supported the model's predictions. Study 1 showed that perceivers gave primacy to target information that was narrowly relevant to a judgment, whether that information was stereotypic or individuating. Study 2 found that perceivers relied exclusively on individuating information when it was narrowly relevant to the judgment and relied on both stereotype and individuating information when individuating information was not narrowly relevant to the judgment but did imply a political ideology. Study 3 replicated these findings in a more ecologically valid context and showed that people relied on party information in the absence of narrowly relevant policy positions and when individuating information did not imply a political ideology. Implications for political person perception and theories of stereotyping are discussed.

Challenges in microarray class discovery: a comprehensive examination of normalization, gene selection and clustering

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Landfors Mattias

2010-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Cluster analysis, and in particular hierarchical clustering, is widely used to extract information from gene expression data. The aim is to discover new classes, or sub-classes, of either individuals or genes. Performing a cluster analysis commonly involve decisions on how to; handle missing values, standardize the data and select genes. In addition, pre-processing, involving various types of filtration and normalization procedures, can have an effect on the ability to discover biologically relevant classes. Here we consider cluster analysis in a broad sense and perform a comprehensive evaluation that covers several aspects of cluster analyses, including normalization. Result We evaluated 2780 cluster analysis methods on seven publicly available 2-channel microarray data sets with common reference designs. Each cluster analysis method differed in data normalization (5 normalizations were considered, missing value imputation (2, standardization of data (2, gene selection (19 or clustering method (11. The cluster analyses are evaluated using known classes, such as cancer types, and the adjusted Rand index. The performances of the different analyses vary between the data sets and it is difficult to give general recommendations. However, normalization, gene selection and clustering method are all variables that have a significant impact on the performance. In particular, gene selection is important and it is generally necessary to include a relatively large number of genes in order to get good performance. Selecting genes with high standard deviation or using principal component analysis are shown to be the preferred gene selection methods. Hierarchical clustering using Ward's method, k-means clustering and Mclust are the clustering methods considered in this paper that achieves the highest adjusted Rand. Normalization can have a significant positive impact on the ability to cluster individuals, and there are indications that

Challenges in microarray class discovery: a comprehensive examination of normalization, gene selection and clustering

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

Background Cluster analysis, and in particular hierarchical clustering, is widely used to extract information from gene expression data. The aim is to discover new classes, or sub-classes, of either individuals or genes. Performing a cluster analysis commonly involve decisions on how to; handle missing values, standardize the data and select genes. In addition, pre-processing, involving various types of filtration and normalization procedures, can have an effect on the ability to discover biologically relevant classes. Here we consider cluster analysis in a broad sense and perform a comprehensive evaluation that covers several aspects of cluster analyses, including normalization. Result We evaluated 2780 cluster analysis methods on seven publicly available 2-channel microarray data sets with common reference designs. Each cluster analysis method differed in data normalization (5 normalizations were considered), missing value imputation (2), standardization of data (2), gene selection (19) or clustering method (11). The cluster analyses are evaluated using known classes, such as cancer types, and the adjusted Rand index. The performances of the different analyses vary between the data sets and it is difficult to give general recommendations. However, normalization, gene selection and clustering method are all variables that have a significant impact on the performance. In particular, gene selection is important and it is generally necessary to include a relatively large number of genes in order to get good performance. Selecting genes with high standard deviation or using principal component analysis are shown to be the preferred gene selection methods. Hierarchical clustering using Ward's method, k-means clustering and Mclust are the clustering methods considered in this paper that achieves the highest adjusted Rand. Normalization can have a significant positive impact on the ability to cluster individuals, and there are indications that background correction is

Cognitive Deficits in Healthy Elderly Population With "Normal" Scores on the Mini-Mental State Examination.

Science.gov (United States)

Votruba, Kristen L; Persad, Carol; Giordani, Bruno

2016-05-01

This study investigated whether healthy older adults with Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores above 23 exhibit cognitive impairment on neuropsychological tests. Participants completed the MMSE and a neuropsychological battery including tests of 10 domains. Results were compared to published normative data. On neuropsychological testing, participants performed well on measures of naming and recall but showed mild to moderate impairment in working memory and processing speed and marked impairment in inhibition, sustained attention, and executive functioning. Almost everyone (91%) scored at least 1 standard deviation (SD) below the mean in at least 1 domain. The median number of domains in which individuals scored below 1 SD was 3.0 of 10.0, whereas over 21% scored below 1 SD in 5 domains or more. With the strictest of definitions for impairment, 20% of this population scored below 2.0 SDs below the norm in at least 2 domains, a necessary condition for a diagnosis of dementia. The finding that cognitive impairment, particularly in attention and executive functioning, is found in healthy older persons who perform well on the MMSE has clinical and research implications in terms of emphasizing normal variability in performance and early identification of possible impairment. © The Author(s) 2016.

Brahmanical idealism, anarchical individualism, and the dynamics of Indian negotiating behavior

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kumar, Rajesh

2004-01-01

The article analyzes the implications of the Indian mind set on the dynamics of the Indian negotiating behavior. I argue that the constructs of Brahmanical idealism and anarchical individualism capture the nature of the Indian mind set. Brahmanical idealism reflects the tendency of the decision...... focuses on the purity of the mental world, anarchical individualism lays primacy of attaining the ideal solution through absolutist forms of interpersonal behavior. That is to say, since each individual is engaged in searching for the ideal solution , and furthermore as each individuals ideal solution...... is either no better or worse than that of their counterpart, the attainment of this ideal is problematical because under these conditions cooperative behavior is a rarity. In this sense anarchic individualism fragments rather than enhances total effort, thereby draining energy away from the system. I...

Physical activity patterns and estimated daily energy expenditures in normal and overweight tunisian schoolchildren.

Science.gov (United States)

Zarrouk, Fayçal; Bouhlel, Ezdine; Feki, Youssef; Amri, Mohamed; Shephard, Roy J

2009-01-01

Our aim was to test the normality of physical activity patterns and energy expenditures in normal weight and overweight primary school students. Heart rate estimates of total daily energy expenditure (TEE), active energy expenditure (AEE), and activity patterns were made over 3 consecutive school days in healthy middle-class Tunisian children (46 boys, 44 girls, median age (25(th)-75(th)) percentile, 9.2 (8.8-9.9) years. Our cross-section included 52 students with a normal body mass index (BMI) and 38 who exceeded age-specific BMI limits. TEE, AEE and overall physical activity level (PAL) were not different between overweight children and those with a normal BMI [median values (25(th)-75(th)) 9.20 (8.20-9.84) vs. 8.88 (7.42-9.76) MJ/d; 3.56 (2.59-4.22) vs. 3.85 (2.77-4.78) MJ/d and 1.74 (1.54-2.04) vs. 1.89 (1.66-2.15) respectively]. Physical activity intensities (PAI) were expressed as percentages of the individual's heart rate reserve (%HRR). The median PAI for the entire day (PAI24) and for the waking part of day (PAIw) were lower in overweight than in normal weight individuals [16.3 (14.2-18.9) vs. 20.6 (17.9-22.3) %HRR, p spend more time in moderate activity and less time in sedentary pursuits than overweight children.

Interuncal distance measurements in normal controls and patients with dementia. MR imaging study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ishii, Kazunari; Kitagaki, Hajime; Sakamoto, Setsu; Yamaji, Shigeru; Kono, Michio.

1995-01-01

To evaluate the utility of measuring interuncal distance (IUD) as a reflection of the limbic system, we compared the IUD of 60 dementia patients with that of 10 normal controls. We also measured the width of the intracranial compartment (W1 and W2) to correct for differences in individual brain size, and calculated the ratio of IUD/W1 and IUD/W2. IUD could not separate patients with dementia from normal controls, but there were significant differences in IUD/W1 and IUD/W2 between patients with dementia and normal controls. IUD, IUD/W1 and IUD/W2 did not correlate with Mini-Mental Examination score or ADAS score in patients with dementia. We conclude that IUD measurement is not helpful in distinguishing patients with mild stage dementia from normal aged people or as a scale for dementia. However, we suggest that IUD/W1 and IUD/W2 can discriminate between cases of mild dementia and normal aged people. (author)

Variable corneal compensation improves discrimination between normal and glaucomatous eyes with the scanning laser polarimeter.

Science.gov (United States)

Tannenbaum, Dana P; Hoffman, Douglas; Lemij, Hans G; Garway-Heath, David F; Greenfield, David S; Caprioli, Joseph

2004-02-01

The presently available scanning laser polarimeter (SLP) has a fixed corneal compensator (FCC) that neutralizes corneal birefringence only in eyes with birefringence that matches the population mode. A prototype variable corneal compensator (VCC) provides neutralization of individual corneal birefringence based on individual macular retardation patterns. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relative ability of the SLP with the FCC and with the VCC to discriminate between normal and glaucomatous eyes. Prospective, nonrandomized, comparative case series. Algorithm-generating set consisting of 56 normal eyes and 55 glaucomatous eyes and an independent data set consisting of 83 normal eyes and 56 glaucomatous eyes. Sixteen retardation measurements were obtained with the SLP with the FCC and the VCC from all subjects. Dependency of parameters on age, gender, ethnic origin, and eye side was sought. Logistic regression was used to evaluate how well the various parameters could detect glaucoma. Discriminant functions were generated, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was determined. Discrimination between normal and glaucomatous eyes on the basis of single parameters was significantly better with the VCC than with the FCC for 6 retardation parameters: nasal average (P = 0.0003), superior maximum (P = 0.0003), ellipse average (P = 0.002), average thickness (P = 0.003), superior average (P = 0.010), and inferior average (P = 0.010). Discriminant analysis identified the optimal combination of parameters for the FCC and for the VCC. When the discriminant functions were applied to the independent data set, areas under the ROC curve were 0.84 for the FCC and 0.90 for the VCC (PFCC and 0.90 for the VCC (P<0.016). Individual correction for corneal birefringence with the VCC significantly improved the ability of the SLP to distinguish between normal and glaucomatous eyes and enabled detection of patients with early glaucoma.

EMG normalization method based on grade 3 of manual muscle testing: Within- and between-day reliability of normalization tasks and application to gait analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Tabard-Fougère, Anne; Rose-Dulcina, Kevin; Pittet, Vincent; Dayer, Romain; Vuillerme, Nicolas; Armand, Stéphane

2018-02-01

Electromyography (EMG) is an important parameter in Clinical Gait Analysis (CGA), and is generally interpreted with timing of activation. EMG amplitude comparisons between individuals, muscles or days need normalization. There is no consensus on existing methods. The gold standard, maximum voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC), is not adapted to pathological populations because patients are often unable to perform an MVIC. The normalization method inspired by the isometric grade 3 of manual muscle testing (isoMMT3), which is the ability of a muscle to maintain a position against gravity, could be an interesting alternative. The aim of this study was to evaluate the within- and between-day reliability of the isoMMT3 EMG normalizing method during gait compared with the conventional MVIC method. Lower limb muscles EMG (gluteus medius, rectus femoris, tibialis anterior, semitendinosus) were recorded bilaterally in nine healthy participants (five males, aged 29.7±6.2years, BMI 22.7±3.3kgm -2 ) giving a total of 18 independent legs. Three repeated measurements of the isoMMT3 and MVIC exercises were performed with an EMG recording. EMG amplitude of the muscles during gait was normalized by these two methods. This protocol was repeated one week later. Within- and between-day reliability of normalization tasks were similar for isoMMT3 and MVIC methods. Within- and between-day reliability of gait EMG normalized by isoMMT3 was higher than with MVIC normalization. These results indicate that EMG normalization using isoMMT3 is a reliable method with no special equipment needed and will support CGA interpretation. The next step will be to evaluate this method in pathological populations. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Normalization: A Preprocessing Stage

OpenAIRE

Patro, S. Gopal Krishna; Sahu, Kishore Kumar

2015-01-01

As we know that the normalization is a pre-processing stage of any type problem statement. Especially normalization takes important role in the field of soft computing, cloud computing etc. for manipulation of data like scale down or scale up the range of data before it becomes used for further stage. There are so many normalization techniques are there namely Min-Max normalization, Z-score normalization and Decimal scaling normalization. So by referring these normalization techniques we are ...

Chromosomal Damage and Apoptosis in Exfoliated Buccal Cells from Individuals with Oral Cancer

Science.gov (United States)

Dórea, Lavínia Tércia Magalhães; Meireles, José Roberto Cardoso; Lessa, Júlia Paula Ramos; Oliveira, Márcio Campos; de Bragança Pereira, Carlos Alberto; Polpo de Campos, Adriano; Cerqueira, Eneida de Moraes Macílio

2012-01-01

This study aimed to investigate cytological abnormalities indicative of chromosome damage (micronuclei) and apoptosis (karyorrhexis, pyknosis, and condensed chromatin) in exfoliated cells from the buccal mucosa of patients with oral cancer and control subjects. The sample included twenty individuals with oral cancer and forty individuals with normal buccal mucosa. Material was collected from the cheek epithelium in areas with lesions and areas without abnormalities. A minimum of one thousand cells was analyzed. Micronuclei were found significantly more frequently in cells collected from lesions than in cells from normal areas, independent of the presence/absence of cancer (P < 0.0001). They were also significantly more frequent in smokers and in mouthwash users (P < 0.0001). Apoptosis occurred significantly less frequently in individuals with oral cancer (P < 0.0001). These results show that oral cancer is associated with higher frequency of chromosomal damage and suggest that apoptosis is compromised in the buccal cells of individuals with this kind of neoplasia. PMID:22315605

Prevalence of sedentary lifestyle in individuals with high blood pressure.

Science.gov (United States)

Guedes, Nirla Gomes; Lopes, Marcos Venícios de Oliveira; Moreira, Rafaella Pessoa; Cavalcante, Tahissa Frota; de Araujo, Thelma Leite

2010-01-01

To identify the prevalence of a sedentary lifestyle in individuals with high blood pressure. This cross-sectional study was conducted among 310 individuals with high blood pressure. The prevalence of the diagnosis of sedentary lifestyle was 60%. The more common defining characteristics were "lack of physical conditioning" and "lack of practice for physical exercises." The nursing diagnosis was associated with age and presence of diabetes. Individuals who presented with a sedentary lifestyle related to lack of motivation were significantly younger. This study showed a high prevalence of "sedentary lifestyle" and its associations with age and the presence of diabetes. IMPLICATIONS TO NURSING PRACTICE: The acknowledgement of "sedentary lifestyle" contributes to the choice for nursing interventions that promote physical activity centered on the subject and the surroundings.

Specificity and multiplicity in the recognition of individuals: implications for the evolution of social behaviour.

Science.gov (United States)

Wiley, R H

2013-02-01

Recognition of conspecifics occurs when individuals classify sets of conspecifics based on sensory input from them and associate these sets with different responses. Classification of conspecifics can vary in specificity (the number of individuals included in a set) and multiplicity (the number of sets differentiated). In other words, the information transmitted varies in complexity. Although recognition of conspecifics has been reported in a wide variety of organisms, few reports have addressed the specificity or multiplicity of this capability. This review discusses examples of these patterns, the mechanisms that can produce them, and the evolution of these mechanisms. Individual recognition is one end of a spectrum of specificity, and binary classification of conspecifics is one end of a spectrum of multiplicity. In some cases, recognition requires no more than simple forms of learning, such as habituation, yet results in individually specific recognition. In other cases, recognition of individuals involves complex associations of multiple cues with multiple previous experiences in particular contexts. Complex mechanisms for recognition are expected to evolve only when simpler mechanisms do not provide sufficient specificity and multiplicity to obtain the available advantages. In particular, the evolution of cooperation and deception is always promoted by specificity and multiplicity in recognition. Nevertheless, there is only one demonstration that recognition of specific individuals contributes to cooperation in animals other than primates. Human capacities for individual recognition probably have a central role in the evolution of complex forms of human cooperation and deception. Although relatively little studied, this capability probably rivals cognitive abilities for language. © 2012 The Author. Biological Reviews © 2012 Cambridge Philosophical Society.

Mind over matter? The role of individual perceptions in understanding the social ecology of housing environments for individuals with psychiatric disabilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Townley, Greg; Kloos, Bret

2014-12-01

There is a disagreement in place-based research regarding whether objective indicators or individual perceptions of environments are better predictors of well-being. This study assessed environmental influences on well-being for 373 individuals with psychiatric disabilities living independently in 66 neighborhoods in the southeastern United States. Three questions were examined utilizing random effects models: (1) How much variance in personal and neighborhood well-being can be explained by neighborhood membership? (2) What is the relationship between participant perceptions of neighborhood quality and researcher ratings of neighborhood quality? and (3) What is the relative influence of individual perceptions, perceptions aggregated by neighborhood, and researcher ratings of neighborhood quality in predicting personal and neighborhood well-being? Results indicate that individual perceptions of neighborhood quality were more closely related to well-being than either aggregated perceptions or researcher ratings. Thus, participants' perceptions of their neighborhoods were more important indicators of their well-being than objective ratings made by researchers. Findings have implications for measurement approaches and intervention design in placed-based research.

Euthanasia and normality in Romania or Being reluctant to a good death

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alina Petra Marinescu-Nenciu

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The present paper explores the perspectives of introducing human euthanasia on the Romanian public agenda by using the realm of normality as framework for argumentation. When choosing the topic I was inspired by the growing debate regarding physician-assisted suicide in the context of the global population aging on the one hand and by a recent Romanian public opinion’s strong opposition to the organization of a national referendum regarding stray dogs’ euthanasia. The premises of the paper are based on the findings of various studies underlining 1 the traditional feature of the Romanians and 2 their poor health condition prone to make them anxious and also more preoccupied with their well-being. The argumentation points to the fact that in a modern society as the Romanian one, the concepts of euthanasia and normality are prone to enter a complex relationship with various displays and implications that are discussed further on in the paper.

Implicit Attitudes towards Children with Autism versus Normally Developing Children as Predictors of Professional Burnout and Psychopathology

Science.gov (United States)

Kelly, Amanda; Barnes-Holmes, Dermot

2013-01-01

Tutors trained in applied behaviour analysis (n = 16) and mainstream school teachers (n = 16) were exposed to an Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP) designed to assess implicit attitudes towards individuals with autism versus normally developing individuals. Participants also completed a range of explicit measures, including measures…

Making nuclear 'normal'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haehlen, Peter; Elmiger, Bruno

2000-01-01

The mechanics of the Swiss NPPs' 'come and see' programme 1995-1999 were illustrated in our contributions to all PIME workshops since 1996. Now, after four annual 'waves', all the country has been covered by the NPPs' invitation to dialogue. This makes PIME 2000 the right time to shed some light on one particular objective of this initiative: making nuclear 'normal'. The principal aim of the 'come and see' programme, namely to give the Swiss NPPs 'a voice of their own' by the end of the nuclear moratorium 1990-2000, has clearly been attained and was commented on during earlier PIMEs. It is, however, equally important that Swiss nuclear energy not only made progress in terms of public 'presence', but also in terms of being perceived as a normal part of industry, as a normal branch of the economy. The message that Swiss nuclear energy is nothing but a normal business involving normal people, was stressed by several components of the multi-prong campaign: - The speakers in the TV ads were real - 'normal' - visitors' guides and not actors; - The testimonials in the print ads were all real NPP visitors - 'normal' people - and not models; - The mailings inviting a very large number of associations to 'come and see' activated a typical channel of 'normal' Swiss social life; - Spending money on ads (a new activity for Swiss NPPs) appears to have resulted in being perceived by the media as a normal branch of the economy. Today we feel that the 'normality' message has well been received by the media. In the controversy dealing with antinuclear arguments brought forward by environmental organisations journalists nowadays as a rule give nuclear energy a voice - a normal right to be heard. As in a 'normal' controversy, the media again actively ask themselves questions about specific antinuclear claims, much more than before 1990 when the moratorium started. The result is that in many cases such arguments are discarded by journalists, because they are, e.g., found to be

Individual differences in selective attention predict speech identification at a cocktail party

Science.gov (United States)

Oberfeld, Daniel; Klöckner-Nowotny, Felicitas

2016-01-01

Listeners with normal hearing show considerable individual differences in speech understanding when competing speakers are present, as in a crowded restaurant. Here, we show that one source of this variance are individual differences in the ability to focus selective attention on a target stimulus in the presence of distractors. In 50 young normal-hearing listeners, the performance in tasks measuring auditory and visual selective attention was associated with sentence identification in the presence of spatially separated competing speakers. Together, the measures of selective attention explained a similar proportion of variance as the binaural sensitivity for the acoustic temporal fine structure. Working memory span, age, and audiometric thresholds showed no significant association with speech understanding. These results suggest that a reduced ability to focus attention on a target is one reason why some listeners with normal hearing sensitivity have difficulty communicating in situations with background noise. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.16747.001 PMID:27580272

Normal urinary albumin excretion in recently diagnosed type 1 diabetic patients

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lind, B; Jensen, T; Feldt-Rasmussen, B

1989-01-01

of diabetes. Urinary albumin excretion (median and 95% confidence interval) was similar in the diabetic patients and normal control subjects (8 (6-11) vs 8 (6-11) mg 24-h-1, NS). Four diabetic patients had urinary albumin excretion in the microalbuminuric range of 30-300 mg 24-h-1. There was no significant...... difference between the two groups in urinary excretion of retinol binding protein. The distribution among the individuals of both urinary proteins was positively skewed and similar in the two groups. In conclusion, no significant differences in the urinary excretion of albumin and retinol binding protein...... were found between recently diagnosed Type 1 diabetic patients and normal subjects....

Ghrelin modulates testicular germ cells apoptosis and proliferation in adult normal rats

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kheradmand, Arash, E-mail: arashkheradmand@yahoo.com [Department of Clinical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, Lorestan University, P.O. Box: 465, Khorram Abad (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Dezfoulian, Omid [Department of Pathobiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, Lorestan University, Khorram Abad (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Alirezaei, Masoud [Division of Biochemistry, School of Veterinary Medicine, Lorestan University, P.O. Box: 465, Khorram Abad (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Rasoulian, Bahram [Razi Herbal Medicine Research Center, Lorestan University of Medical Sciences, Khorram Abad (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

2012-03-09

Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Spermatogenesis is closely associated with the balance between germ cells proliferation and apoptosis. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Numerous studies have documented the direct action of ghrelin in the modulation of apoptosis in different cell types. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Ghrelin may be considered as a modulator of spermatogenesis in normal adult rats. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Ghrelin may be potentially implicated for abnormal spermatogenesis in some testicular germ cell tumors. -- Abstract: Under normal condition in the most mammals, spermatogenesis is closely associated with the balance between germ cells proliferation and apoptosis. The present study was designed to determine the effects of ghrelin treatment on in vivo quality and quantity expression of apoptosis and proliferation specific indices in rat testicular germ cells. Twenty eight adult normal rats were subdivided into equal control and treatment groups. Treatment group received 3 nmol of ghrelin as subcutaneous injection for 30 consecutive days or vehicle to the control animals. The rats from each group (n = 7) were killed on days 10 and 30 and their testes were taken for immunocytochemical evaluation and caspase-3 assay. Immunohistochemical analysis indicated that the accumulations of Bax and PCNA peptides are generally more prominent in spermatocytes and spermatogonia of both groups. Likewise, the mean percentage of immunoreactive spermatocytes against Bax increased (P < 0.01) in the ghrelin-treated group on day 10, while despite of 30% increment in the Bax level of spermatocytes in the treated rats on day 30, however, it was not statistically significant. During the experimental period, only a few spermatogonia represented Bax expression and the changes of Bax immunolabling cells were negligible upon ghrelin treatment. Likewise, there were immunostaining cells against Bcl-2 in each germ cell neither in the control nor in the treated animals. In fact

The Role of Affective and Cognitive Individual Differences in Social Perception.

Science.gov (United States)

Aquino, Antonio; Haddock, Geoffrey; Maio, Gregory R; Wolf, Lukas J; Alparone, Francesca R

2016-06-01

Three studies explored the connection between social perception processes and individual differences in the use of affective and cognitive information in relation to attitudes. Study 1 revealed that individuals high in need for affect (NFA) accentuated differences in evaluations of warm and cold traits, whereas individuals high in need for cognition (NFC) accentuated differences in evaluations of competent and incompetent traits. Study 2 revealed that individual differences in NFA predicted liking of warm or cold targets, whereas individual differences in NFC predicted perceptions of competent or incompetent targets. Furthermore, the effects of NFA and NFC were independent of structural bases and meta-bases of attitudes. Study 3 revealed that differences in the evaluation of warm and cold traits mediated the effects of NFA and NFC on liking of targets. The implications for social perception processes and for individual differences in affect-cognition are discussed. © 2016 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

Multiple Intelligence Theory for Gifted Education: Criticisms and Implications

Science.gov (United States)

Calik, Basak; Birgili, Bengi

2013-01-01

This paper scrutinizes giftedness and gifted learners under the implications of multiple intelligence theory with regard to coaching young scientists. It is one of the pluralistic theories toward intelligence while supporting to view individuals as active participants during teaching and learning processes which correspond with the applications of…

Chronic suppurative otitis media: Socio-economic implications in a ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Chronic suppurative otitis media: Socio-economic implications in a tertiary hospital in Northern Nigeria. ... This paper highlights the socio-economic burden of chronic suppurative otitis media on a ... minimum wage for individuals in our environment where the cost of health care is the sole responsibility of the patient.

Comparison of Gated Audiovisual Speech Identification in Elderly Hearing Aid Users and Elderly Normal-Hearing Individuals

Science.gov (United States)

Lidestam, Björn; Rönnberg, Jerker

2016-01-01

The present study compared elderly hearing aid (EHA) users (n = 20) with elderly normal-hearing (ENH) listeners (n = 20) in terms of isolation points (IPs, the shortest time required for correct identification of a speech stimulus) and accuracy of audiovisual gated speech stimuli (consonants, words, and final words in highly and less predictable sentences) presented in silence. In addition, we compared the IPs of audiovisual speech stimuli from the present study with auditory ones extracted from a previous study, to determine the impact of the addition of visual cues. Both participant groups achieved ceiling levels in terms of accuracy in the audiovisual identification of gated speech stimuli; however, the EHA group needed longer IPs for the audiovisual identification of consonants and words. The benefit of adding visual cues to auditory speech stimuli was more evident in the EHA group, as audiovisual presentation significantly shortened the IPs for consonants, words, and final words in less predictable sentences; in the ENH group, audiovisual presentation only shortened the IPs for consonants and words. In conclusion, although the audiovisual benefit was greater for EHA group, this group had inferior performance compared with the ENH group in terms of IPs when supportive semantic context was lacking. Consequently, EHA users needed the initial part of the audiovisual speech signal to be longer than did their counterparts with normal hearing to reach the same level of accuracy in the absence of a semantic context. PMID:27317667

Individual Differences in Human Reliability Analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jeffrey C. Joe; Ronald L. Boring

2014-06-01

While human reliability analysis (HRA) methods include uncertainty in quantification, the nominal model of human error in HRA typically assumes that operator performance does not vary significantly when they are given the same initiating event, indicators, procedures, and training, and that any differences in operator performance are simply aleatory (i.e., random). While this assumption generally holds true when performing routine actions, variability in operator response has been observed in multiple studies, especially in complex situations that go beyond training and procedures. As such, complexity can lead to differences in operator performance (e.g., operator understanding and decision-making). Furthermore, psychological research has shown that there are a number of known antecedents (i.e., attributable causes) that consistently contribute to observable and systematically measurable (i.e., not random) differences in behavior. This paper reviews examples of individual differences taken from operational experience and the psychological literature. The impact of these differences in human behavior and their implications for HRA are then discussed. We propose that individual differences should not be treated as aleatory, but rather as epistemic. Ultimately, by understanding the sources of individual differences, it is possible to remove some epistemic uncertainty from analyses.

MR of the normal and ischemic hip

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mitchell, D.G.

1988-01-01

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) appears to be more sensitive than traditional radiographic and radionuclide methods for detecting early avascular necrosis (AVN) of the femoral head. The authors have found that in addition to its proven value for early detection, MRI can help us characterize individual lesions and understand the pathophysiology of AVN. This chapter reviews the clinical and pathological features of AVN of the femoral head, and describes recent contributions of MRI toward understanding the normal and ischemic hip. This review summarizes the 5-year experience of the MR group at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania

Quantifiable biomarkers of normal aging in the Japanese medaka fish (Oryzias latipes.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lingling Ding

2010-10-01

Full Text Available Small laboratory fish share many anatomical and histological characteristics with other vertebrates, yet can be maintained in large numbers at low cost for lifetime studies. Here we characterize biomarkers associated with normal aging in the Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes, a species that has been widely used in toxicology studies and has potential utility as a model organism for experimental aging research.The median lifespan of medaka was approximately 22 months under laboratory conditions. We performed quantitative histological analysis of tissues from age-grouped individuals representing young adults (6 months old, mature adults (16 months old, and adults that had survived beyond the median lifespan (24 months. Livers of 24-month old individuals showed extensive morphologic changes, including spongiosis hepatis, steatosis, ballooning degeneration, inflammation, and nuclear pyknosis. There were also phagolysosomes, vacuoles, and residual bodies in parenchymal cells and congestion of sinusoidal vessels. Livers of aged individuals were characterized by increases in lipofuscin deposits and in the number of TUNEL-positive apoptotic cells. Some of these degenerative characteristics were seen, to a lesser extent, in the livers of 16-month old individuals, but not in 6-month old individuals. The basal layer of the dermis showed an age-dependent decline in the number of dividing cells and an increase in senescence-associated β-galactosidase. The hearts of aged individuals were characterized by fibrosis and lipofuscin deposition. There was also a loss of pigmented cells from the retinal epithelium. By contrast, age-associated changes were not apparent in skeletal muscle, the ocular lens, or the brain.The results provide a set of markers that can be used to trace the process of normal tissue aging in medaka and to evaluate the effect of environmental stressors.

How Team-Level and Individual-Level Conflict Influences Team Commitment: A Multilevel Investigation

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Sanghyun; Kwon, Seungwoo; Shin, Shung J.; Kim, MinSoo; Park, In-Jo

2018-01-01

We investigate how two different types of conflict (task conflict and relationship conflict) at two different levels (individual-level and team-level) influence individual team commitment. The analysis was conducted using data we collected from 193 employees in 31 branch offices of a Korean commercial bank. The relationships at multiple levels were tested using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM). The results showed that individual-level relationship conflict was negatively related to team commitment while individual-level task conflict was not. In addition, both team-level task and relationship conflict were negatively associated with team commitment. Finally, only team-level relationship conflict significantly moderated the relationship between individual-level relationship conflict and team commitment. We further derive theoretical implications of these findings. PMID:29387033

How Team-Level and Individual-Level Conflict Influences Team Commitment: A Multilevel Investigation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sanghyun Lee

2018-01-01

Full Text Available We investigate how two different types of conflict (task conflict and relationship conflict at two different levels (individual-level and team-level influence individual team commitment. The analysis was conducted using data we collected from 193 employees in 31 branch offices of a Korean commercial bank. The relationships at multiple levels were tested using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM. The results showed that individual-level relationship conflict was negatively related to team commitment while individual-level task conflict was not. In addition, both team-level task and relationship conflict were negatively associated with team commitment. Finally, only team-level relationship conflict significantly moderated the relationship between individual-level relationship conflict and team commitment. We further derive theoretical implications of these findings.

Birkhoff normalization

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Broer, H.; Hoveijn, I.; Lunter, G.; Vegter, G.

2003-01-01

The Birkhoff normal form procedure is a widely used tool for approximating a Hamiltonian systems by a simpler one. This chapter starts out with an introduction to Hamiltonian mechanics, followed by an explanation of the Birkhoff normal form procedure. Finally we discuss several algorithms for

Unifying ecology and macroevolution with individual-based theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Rosindell, James; Harmon, Luke J; Etienne, Rampal S

2015-05-01

A contemporary goal in both ecology and evolutionary biology is to develop theory that transcends the boundary between the two disciplines, to understand phenomena that cannot be explained by either field in isolation. This is challenging because macroevolution typically uses lineage-based models, whereas ecology often focuses on individual organisms. Here, we develop a new parsimonious individual-based theory by adding mild selection to the neutral theory of biodiversity. We show that this model generates realistic phylogenies showing a slowdown in diversification and also improves on the ecological predictions of neutral theory by explaining the occurrence of very common species. Moreover, we find the distribution of individual fitness changes over time, with average fitness increasing at a pace that depends positively on community size. Consequently, large communities tend to produce fitter species than smaller communities. These findings have broad implications beyond biodiversity theory, potentially impacting, for example, invasion biology and paleontology. © 2015 The Authors. Ecology Letters published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd and CNRS.

The Media's Influence on Female Relational Aggression and Its Implications for Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Virtanen, Crystal

2013-01-01

The author of this paper explores the media's role in the normalization of relational aggression of females and the implications this can have in schools. It is important that those who teach, support, and develop curricula for students be aware of the media's role in the use, and the effects, of indirect aggression and have information on how to…

Damaging and protective bystander cross-talk between human lung cancer and normal cells after proton microbeam irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Desai, Sejal; Kobayashi, Alisa; Konishi, Teruaki; Oikawa, Masakazu; Pandey, Badri N.

2014-01-01

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Proton-microbeam irradiated A549 cells send damaging signals to bystander A549 cells. • Irradiated A549–A549 bystander response is through gap junctional communication. • Bystander WI38 cells exert protective signalling in irradiated A549 cells. • Rescue of irradiated A549 cells by WI38 cells is independent of gap junctions. - Abstract: Most of the studies of radiation-induced bystander effects (RIBE) have been focused on understanding the radiobiological changes observed in bystander cells in response to the signals from irradiated cells in a normal cell population with implications to radiation risk assessment. However, reports on RIBE with relevance to cancer radiotherapy especially investigating the bidirectional and criss-cross bystander communications between cancer and normal cells are limited. Hence, in present study employing co-culture approach, we have investigated the bystander cross-talk between lung cancer (A549) and normal (WI38) cells after proton-microbeam irradiation using γ-H2AX foci fluorescence as a measure of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). We observed that in A549–A549 co-cultures, irradiated A549 cells exert damaging effects in bystander A549 cells, which were found to be mediated through gap junctional intercellular communication (GJIC). However, in A549–WI38 co-cultures, irradiated A549 did not affect bystander WI38 cells. Rather, bystander WI38 cells induced inverse protective signalling (rescue effect) in irradiated A549 cells, which was independent of GJIC. On the other hand, in response to irradiated WI38 cells neither of the bystander cells (A549 or WI38) showed significant increase in γ-H2AX foci. The observed bystander signalling between tumour and normal cells may have potential implications in therapeutic outcome of cancer radiotherapy

Damaging and protective bystander cross-talk between human lung cancer and normal cells after proton microbeam irradiation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Desai, Sejal [Radiation Signalling and Cancer Biology Section, Radiation Biology and Health Sciences Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085 (India); Kobayashi, Alisa; Konishi, Teruaki; Oikawa, Masakazu [Radiation System and Engineering Section, Department of Technical Support and Development, Research, Development and Support Center, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Chiba 263-8555 (Japan); Pandey, Badri N., E-mail: badrinarain@yahoo.co.in [Radiation Signalling and Cancer Biology Section, Radiation Biology and Health Sciences Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085 (India)

2014-05-15

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Proton-microbeam irradiated A549 cells send damaging signals to bystander A549 cells. • Irradiated A549–A549 bystander response is through gap junctional communication. • Bystander WI38 cells exert protective signalling in irradiated A549 cells. • Rescue of irradiated A549 cells by WI38 cells is independent of gap junctions. - Abstract: Most of the studies of radiation-induced bystander effects (RIBE) have been focused on understanding the radiobiological changes observed in bystander cells in response to the signals from irradiated cells in a normal cell population with implications to radiation risk assessment. However, reports on RIBE with relevance to cancer radiotherapy especially investigating the bidirectional and criss-cross bystander communications between cancer and normal cells are limited. Hence, in present study employing co-culture approach, we have investigated the bystander cross-talk between lung cancer (A549) and normal (WI38) cells after proton-microbeam irradiation using γ-H2AX foci fluorescence as a measure of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). We observed that in A549–A549 co-cultures, irradiated A549 cells exert damaging effects in bystander A549 cells, which were found to be mediated through gap junctional intercellular communication (GJIC). However, in A549–WI38 co-cultures, irradiated A549 did not affect bystander WI38 cells. Rather, bystander WI38 cells induced inverse protective signalling (rescue effect) in irradiated A549 cells, which was independent of GJIC. On the other hand, in response to irradiated WI38 cells neither of the bystander cells (A549 or WI38) showed significant increase in γ-H2AX foci. The observed bystander signalling between tumour and normal cells may have potential implications in therapeutic outcome of cancer radiotherapy.

Variability of fasting and post-menthionine plasma homocysteine levels in normo- and hyperhomocysteinaemic individuals

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van den Berg, M.; de Jong, S.C.; Devilli, W.; Rauwerda, J.A.; Jakobs, C.A.J.M.; Pals, G.; Boers, G.H.J.; Stehouwer, C.D.A.

1999-01-01

To assess the variability of plasma homocysteine levels, fasting and post-methionine homocysteine levels were measured twice, at baseline and after follow-up of 1-4 months, in 16 individuals with normal and 26 with elevated homocysteine levels after methionine loading. The intra-individual

Mathematical analysis of the normal anatomy of the aging fovea.

Science.gov (United States)

Nesmith, Brooke; Gupta, Akash; Strange, Taylor; Schaal, Yuval; Schaal, Shlomit

2014-08-28

To mathematically analyze anatomical changes that occur in the normal fovea during aging. A total of 2912 spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) normal foveal scans were analyzed. Subjects were healthy individuals, aged 13 to 97 years, with visual acuity ≥20/40 and without evidence of foveal pathology. Using automated symbolic regression software Eureqa (version 0.98), foveal thickness maps of 390 eyes were analyzed using several measurements: parafoveal retinal thickness at 50 μm consecutive intervals, parafoveal maximum retinal thickness at two points lateral to central foveal depression, distance between two points of maximum retinal thickness, maximal foveal slope at two intervals lateral to central foveal depression, and central length of foveal depression. A unique mathematical equation representing the mathematical analog of foveal anatomy was derived for every decade, between 10 and 100 years. The mathematical regression function for normal fovea followed first order sine curve of level 10 complexity for the second decade of life. The mathematical regression function became more complex with normal aging, up to level 43 complexity (0.085 fit; P < 0.05). Young foveas had higher symmetry (0.92 ± 0.10) along midline, whereas aged foveas had significantly less symmetry (0.76 ± 0.27, P < 0.01) along midline and steeper maximal slopes (29 ± 32°, P < 0.01). Normal foveal anatomical configuration changes with age. Normal aged foveas are less symmetric along midline with steeper slopes. Differentiating between normal aging and pathologic changes using SD-OCT scans may allow early diagnosis, follow-up, and better management of the aging population. Copyright 2014 The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, Inc.

Individual renal function study using dynamic computed tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fukuda, Yutaka; Kiya, Keiichi; Suzuki, Yoshiharu

1990-01-01

Dynamic CT scans of individual kindneys were obtained after an intravenous bolus injection of contrast agent. Time-density curves measured from the renal cortex, medulla and pelvis revealed the changes in density produced by the contrast agent reflecting the differential phase of renal function. Renal cortical density increased rapidly after bolus administration and then renal medullary and pelvic density increased continuously. In analyzing time-density curve, the cortico-medullary junction time, which is the time when the cortical and medullary curves cross was 57±8 seconds in patients with normal renal function. The cortico-medullary junction time was delayed in patient with decreased glomerular filtration rate. The cortico-pelvic junction time, which is the time when the cortical and pelvic curves cross was 104±33 seconds in patients with normal renal function. The cortico-pelvic junction time was delayed in patients with declined urinary concentrating capacity. In patients with unilateral renal agenesis and patients who were treated surgically by ureteral sprits, the relationship between individual renal functions and these junction times was examined. As a result of study there were inversely significant correlations between C-M junction time and unilateral GFR and between C-P junction time and urinary concentrating capacity. These studies indicate that dynamic CT scanning is an effective way that individual renal function can be monitored and evaluated. (author)

Developmental perspectives on personality: implications for ecological and evolutionary studies of individual differences.

Science.gov (United States)

Stamps, Judy A; Groothuis, Ton G G

2010-12-27

Developmental processes can have major impacts on the correlations in behaviour across contexts (contextual generality) and across time (temporal consistency) that are the hallmarks of animal personality. Personality can and does change: at any given age or life stage it is contingent upon a wide range of experiential factors that occurred earlier in life, from prior to conception through adulthood. We show how developmental reaction norms that describe the effects of prior experience on a given behaviour can be used to determine whether the effects of a given experience at a given age will affect contextual generality at a later age, and to illustrate how variation within individuals in developmental plasticity leads to variation in contextual generality across individuals as a function of experience. We also show why niche-picking and niche-construction, behavioural processes which allow individuals to affect their own developmental environment, can affect the contextual generality and the temporal consistency of personality. We conclude by discussing how an appreciation of developmental processes can alert behavioural ecologists studying animal personality to critical, untested assumptions that underlie their own research programmes, and outline situations in which a developmental perspective can improve studies of the functional significance and evolution of animal personality.

Impact of physical activity on ovarian reserve markers in normal, overweight and obese reproductive age women.

Science.gov (United States)

Surekha, T; Himabindu, Y; Sriharibabu, M; Pandey, Anil Kumar

2014-01-01

Physical inactivity is a leading risk factor for overweight and obesity in the society. Prevalence of overweight and obesity in the reproductive age group women not only affects maternal health but also the health of the off spring. Infertility is a common problem in India affecting 13-19 million people at any given time. Even though it is not life threatening, infertility causes intense mental agony and trauma that can only be best described by infertile couples themselves. Infertility is more common in overweight and obese individuals compared to normal weight individuals. Decreasing ovarian reserve is an important factor for infertility in women. This study examined the impact of physical activity on ovarian reserve markers in normal, overweight and obese reproductive age women. The observations made in this study reveal that physical activity improves ovarian reserve markers in all reproductive age women but this improvement is more distinct and statistically significant in overweight and obese women compared to normal weight women.

Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus (NPH)

Science.gov (United States)

... local chapter Join our online community Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus (NPH) Normal pressure hydrocephalus is a brain disorder ... Symptoms Diagnosis Causes & risks Treatments About Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus Normal pressure hydrocephalus occurs when excess cerebrospinal fluid ...

Auditory, Visual, and Auditory-Visual Perception of Emotions by Individuals with Cochlear Implants, Hearing Aids, and Normal Hearing

Science.gov (United States)

Most, Tova; Aviner, Chen

2009-01-01

This study evaluated the benefits of cochlear implant (CI) with regard to emotion perception of participants differing in their age of implantation, in comparison to hearing aid users and adolescents with normal hearing (NH). Emotion perception was examined by having the participants identify happiness, anger, surprise, sadness, fear, and disgust.…

MR imaging of the bone marrow using short TI IR, 1. Normal and pathological intensity distribution of the bone marrow

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ishizaka, Hiroshi; Kurihara, Mikiko; Tomioka, Kuniaki; Kobayashi, Kanako; Sato, Noriko; Nagai, Teruo; Heshiki, Atsuko; Amanuma, Makoto; Mizuno, Hitomi.

1989-02-01

Normal vertebral bone marrow intensity distribution and its alteration in various anemias were evaluated on short TI IR sequences. Material consists of 73 individuals, 48 normals and 25 anemic patients excluding neoplastic conditions. All normal and reactive hypercellular bone marrow revealed characteristic intensity distribution; marginal high intensity and central low intensity, corresponding well to normal distribution of red and yellow marrows and their physiological or reactive conversion between red and yellow marrows. Aplastic anemia did not reveal normal intensity distribution, presumably due to autonomous condition.

Reframing Resolution - Managing Conflict and Resolving Individual Employment Disputes in the Contemporary Workplace

OpenAIRE

Saundry, Richard Arthur; Latreille, Paul; Dickens, Linda; Irvine, Charlie; Teague, Paul; Urwin, Peter; Wibberley, Gemma

2014-01-01

The resolution of individual workplace conflict has assumed an increasingly important place in policy debates over contemporary work and employment. This is in part due to the decline in collective industrial action and the parallel rise in the volume of employment tribunal applications. It reflects a growing concern over the\\ud implications of individual employment disputes for those involved but has perhaps been driven by concerns over the cost of litigation and the perceived burden that th...

Normal ground state of dense relativistic matter in a magnetic field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gorbar, E. V.; Miransky, V. A.; Shovkovy, I. A.

2011-01-01

The properties of the ground state of relativistic matter in a magnetic field are examined within the framework of a Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model. The main emphasis of this study is the normal ground state, which is realized at sufficiently high temperatures and/or sufficiently large chemical potentials. In contrast to the vacuum state, which is characterized by the magnetic catalysis of chiral symmetry breaking, the normal state is accompanied by the dynamical generation of the chiral shift parameter Δ. In the chiral limit, the value of Δ determines a relative shift of the longitudinal momenta (along the direction of the magnetic field) in the dispersion relations of opposite chirality fermions. We argue that the chirality remains a good approximate quantum number even for massive fermions in the vicinity of the Fermi surface and, therefore, the chiral shift is expected to play an important role in many types of cold dense relativistic matter, relevant for applications in compact stars. The qualitative implications of the revealed structure of the normal ground state on the physics of protoneutron stars are discussed. A noticeable feature of the Δ parameter is that it is insensitive to temperature when T 0 , where μ 0 is the chemical potential, and increases with temperature for T>μ 0 . The latter implies that the chiral shift parameter is also generated in the regime relevant for heavy ion collisions.

Simple Methods for Scanner Drift Normalization Validated for Automatic Segmentation of Knee Magnetic Resonance Imaging

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dam, Erik Bjørnager

2018-01-01

Scanner drift is a well-known magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) artifact characterized by gradual signal degradation and scan intensity changes over time. In addition, hardware and software updates may imply abrupt changes in signal. The combined effects are particularly challenging for automatic...... image analysis methods used in longitudinal studies. The implication is increased measurement variation and a risk of bias in the estimations (e.g. in the volume change for a structure). We proposed two quite different approaches for scanner drift normalization and demonstrated the performance...... for segmentation of knee MRI using the fully automatic KneeIQ framework. The validation included a total of 1975 scans from both high-field and low-field MRI. The results demonstrated that the pre-processing method denoted Atlas Affine Normalization significantly removed scanner drift effects and ensured...

A Discussion of Individual, Institutional, and Cultural Racism, with Implications for HRD

Science.gov (United States)

Scott, Chaunda L.

2007-01-01

The problem highlighted in this qualitative inquiry is that literature in HRD exploring racism in the United States in the forms of individual, institutional, and cultural racism is scant. This inquiry serves to encourage research and dialogue in HRD for the purpose of getting HRD more involved in developing strategies that can be used to…

Aquatic noise pollution: implications for individuals, populations, and ecosystems.

Science.gov (United States)

Kunc, Hansjoerg P; McLaughlin, Kirsty Elizabeth; Schmidt, Rouven

2016-08-17

Anthropogenically driven environmental changes affect our planet at an unprecedented scale and are considered to be a key threat to biodiversity. According to the World Health Organization, anthropogenic noise is one of the most hazardous forms of anthropogenically driven environmental change and is recognized as a major global pollutant. However, crucial advances in the rapidly emerging research on noise pollution focus exclusively on single aspects of noise pollution, e.g. on behaviour, physiology, terrestrial ecosystems, or on certain taxa. Given that more than two-thirds of our planet is covered with water, there is a pressing need to get a holistic understanding of the effects of anthropogenic noise in aquatic ecosystems. We found experimental evidence for negative effects of anthropogenic noise on an individual's development, physiology, and/or behaviour in both invertebrates and vertebrates. We also found that species differ in their response to noise, and highlight the potential underlying mechanisms for these differences. Finally, we point out challenges in the study of aquatic noise pollution and provide directions for future research, which will enhance our understanding of this globally present pollutant. © 2016 The Author(s).

Role of oxidants/inflammation in declining renal function in chronic kidney disease and normal aging.

Science.gov (United States)

Vlassara, Helen; Torreggiani, Massimo; Post, James B; Zheng, Feng; Uribarri, Jaime; Striker, Gary E

2009-12-01

Oxidant stress (OS) and inflammation increase in normal aging and in chronic kidney disease (CKD), as observed in human and animal studies. In cross-sectional studies of the US population, these changes are associated with a decrease in renal function, which is exhibited by a significant proportion of the population. However, since many normal adults have intact renal function, and longitudinal studies show that some persons maintain normal renal function with age, the link between OS, inflammation, and renal decline is not clear. In aging mice, greater oxidant intake is associated with increased age-related CKD and mortality, which suggests that interventions that reduce OS and inflammation may be beneficial for older individuals. Both OS and inflammation can be readily lowered in normal subjects and patients with CKD stage 3-4 by a simple dietary modification that lowers intake and results in reduced serum and tissue levels of advanced glycation end products. Diabetic patients, including those with microalbuminuria, have a decreased ability to metabolize and excrete oxidants prior to observable changes in serum creatinine. Thus, OS and inflammation may occur in the diabetic kidney at an early time. We review the evidence that oxidants in the diet directly lead to increased serum levels of OS and inflammatory mediators in normal aging and in CKD. We also discuss a simple dietary intervention that helps reduce OS and inflammation, an important and achievable therapeutic goal for patients with CKD and aging individuals with reduced renal function.

Seasonal variation of imipramine binding in the blood platelets of normal controls and depressed patients

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arora, R.C.; Meltzer, H.Y.

1988-01-01

Imipramine binding (IB) was studied in the blood platelets from normal controls and depressed patients over a 4-year period (1981-1984) to determine if seasonal variation was present in Bmax or KD. Bimonthly variation in the Bmax of IB was found in normal controls studied longitudinally. No such variation was found when individual values from normal controls were examined on a monthly or seasonal basis. Bmax in depressed patients showed a significant seasonal, but not monthly, variation. KD of IB varied in normal controls using monthly or seasonal data, but not in the probably more reliable bimonthly data. These results suggest that IB studies comparing groups of subjects should match groups for season of the year or, for greater accuracy, month of the year

Relations between social-perceptual ability in multi- and unisensory contexts, autonomic reactivity, and social functioning in individuals with Williams syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

Järvinen, Anna; Ng, Rowena; Crivelli, Davide; Arnold, Andrew J; Woo-VonHoogenstyn, Nicholas; Bellugi, Ursula

2015-07-01

Compromised social-perceptual ability has been proposed to contribute to social dysfunction in neurodevelopmental disorders. While such impairments have been identified in Williams syndrome (WS), little is known about emotion processing in auditory and multisensory contexts. Employing a multidimensional approach, individuals with WS and typical development (TD) were tested for emotion identification across fearful, happy, and angry multisensory and unisensory face and voice stimuli. Autonomic responses were monitored in response to unimodal emotion. The WS group was administered an inventory of social functioning. Behaviorally, individuals with WS relative to TD demonstrated impaired processing of unimodal vocalizations and emotionally incongruent audiovisual compounds, reflecting a generalized deficit in social-auditory processing in WS. The TD group outperformed their counterparts with WS in identifying negative (fearful and angry) emotion, with similar between-group performance with happy stimuli. Mirroring this pattern, electrodermal activity (EDA) responses to the emotional content of the stimuli indicated that whereas those with WS showed the highest arousal to happy, and lowest arousal to fearful stimuli, the TD participants demonstrated the contrasting pattern. In WS, more normal social functioning was related to higher autonomic arousal to facial expressions. Implications for underlying neural architecture and emotional functions are discussed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Comparing Executive Function and Behavioral Inhibition in Schizophrenia, Bipolar Mood Disorder Type I and Normal Groups

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marziye Khodaee

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Cognitive performance in patients with schizophrenia and Bipolar I disorder seems to be different from the normal individuals, that these defects affect their treatment results. Therefore, this study aimed to compare executive function and behavioral inhibition within patients suffering from schizophrenia, bipolar type I as well as a normal group. Methods: In this descriptive-comparative study, out of all patients hospitalized in daily psychiatric clinic in Najafabad in 2014 due to these disorders, 20 schizophrenia and 20 bipolar type I as well as 20 normal individuals were selected via the convinience sampling. All the study participants completed the computerizing tests including Tower of London and Go-No Go. The study data were analyzed utilizing SPSS software (ver 22 via MANOVA. Results: The study findings revealed a significant difference between the two patient groups and the normal group in regard with executive function and behavioral inhibition (p<0.05, whereas no differences were detected between schizophrenics and bipolar patient groups. Furthermore, patients suffering from schizophrenia and bipolar I mood disorder demonstrated significantly poor performance in cognitive function and behavioral inhibition compared to the normal group. Conclusion: The present study results can be significantly applied in pathology and therapy of these disorders, so as recognizing the inability of such patients can be effective in developing cognitive rehabilitation programs in these patients.

The Relation between Navigation Strategy and Associative Memory: An Individual Differences Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Ngo, Chi T.; Weisberg, Steven M.; Newcombe, Nora S.; Olson, Ingrid R.

2016-01-01

Although the hippocampus is implicated in both spatial navigation and associative memory, very little is known about whether individual differences in the 2 domains covary. People who prefer to navigate using a hippocampal-dependent place strategy may show better performance on associative memory tasks than those who prefer a caudate-dependent…

Implications of incorporating N cycling and N limitations on primary production in an individual-based dynamic vegetation model

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, B.; Wårlind, D.; Arneth, A.; Hickler, T.; Leadley, P.; Siltberg, J.; Zaehle, S.

2014-04-01

The LPJ-GUESS dynamic vegetation model uniquely combines an individual- and patch-based representation of vegetation dynamics with ecosystem biogeochemical cycling from regional to global scales. We present an updated version that includes plant and soil N dynamics, analysing the implications of accounting for C-N interactions on predictions and performance of the model. Stand structural dynamics and allometric scaling of tree growth suggested by global databases of forest stand structure and development were well reproduced by the model in comparison to an earlier multi-model study. Accounting for N cycle dynamics improved the goodness of fit for broadleaved forests. N limitation associated with low N-mineralisation rates reduces productivity of cold-climate and dry-climate ecosystems relative to mesic temperate and tropical ecosystems. In a model experiment emulating free-air CO2 enrichment (FACE) treatment for forests globally, N limitation associated with low N-mineralisation rates of colder soils reduces CO2 enhancement of net primary production (NPP) for boreal forests, while some temperate and tropical forests exhibit increased NPP enhancement. Under a business-as-usual future climate and emissions scenario, ecosystem C storage globally was projected to increase by ca. 10%; additional N requirements to match this increasing ecosystem C were within the high N supply limit estimated on stoichiometric grounds in an earlier study. Our results highlight the importance of accounting for C-N interactions in studies of global terrestrial N cycling, and as a basis for understanding mechanisms on local scales and in different regional contexts.

Areas of normal pulmonary parenchyma on HRCT exhibit increased FDG PET signal in IPF patients

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Win, Thida [Lister Hospital, Respiratory Medicine, Stevenage (United Kingdom); Thomas, Benjamin A.; Lambrou, Tryphon; Hutton, Brian F.; Endozo, Raymondo; Shortman, Robert I.; Afaq, Asim; Ell, Peter J.; Groves, Ashley M. [University College London, Institute of Nuclear Medicine, University College Hospital, London (United Kingdom); Screaton, Nicholas J. [Papworth Hospital, Radiology Department, Papworth Everard (United Kingdom); Porter, Joanna C. [University College London, Centre for Respiratory Diseases, University College Hospital, London (United Kingdom); Maher, Toby M. [Royal Brompton Hospital, Interstitial Lung Disease Unit, London (United Kingdom); Lukey, Pauline [GSK, Fibrosis DPU, Research and Development, Stevenage (United Kingdom)

2014-02-15

Patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) show increased PET signal at sites of morphological abnormality on high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT). The purpose of this investigation was to investigate the PET signal at sites of normal-appearing lung on HRCT in IPF. Consecutive IPF patients (22 men, 3 women) were prospectively recruited. The patients underwent {sup 18}F-FDG PET/HRCT. The pulmonary imaging findings in the IPF patients were compared to the findings in a control population. Pulmonary uptake of {sup 18}F-FDG (mean SUV) was quantified at sites of morphologically normal parenchyma on HRCT. SUVs were also corrected for tissue fraction (TF). The mean SUV in IPF patients was compared with that in 25 controls (patients with lymphoma in remission or suspected paraneoplastic syndrome with normal PET/CT appearances). The pulmonary SUV (mean ± SD) uncorrected for TF in the controls was 0.48 ± 0.14 and 0.78 ± 0.24 taken from normal lung regions in IPF patients (p < 0.001). The TF-corrected mean SUV in the controls was 2.24 ± 0.29 and 3.24 ± 0.84 in IPF patients (p < 0.001). IPF patients have increased pulmonary uptake of {sup 18}F-FDG on PET in areas of lung with a normal morphological appearance on HRCT. This may have implications for determining disease mechanisms and treatment monitoring. (orig.)

Socio-Economic And Psychological Implications Of Burn Injury In ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Burn is a global problem with a magnitude of chains of psychological effects on surviving victims and socio economic implications for the individual, the immediate family and the society at large. This paper seeks to highlight the major consequences of burn injuries in the Nigerian society. There is a growing evidence of ...

Coupling regularizes individual units in noisy populations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ly Cheng; Ermentrout, G. Bard

2010-01-01

The regularity of a noisy system can modulate in various ways. It is well known that coupling in a population can lower the variability of the entire network; the collective activity is more regular. Here, we show that diffusive (reciprocal) coupling of two simple Ornstein-Uhlenbeck (O-U) processes can regularize the individual, even when it is coupled to a noisier process. In cellular networks, the regularity of individual cells is important when a select few play a significant role. The regularizing effect of coupling surprisingly applies also to general nonlinear noisy oscillators. However, unlike with the O-U process, coupling-induced regularity is robust to different kinds of coupling. With two coupled noisy oscillators, we derive an asymptotic formula assuming weak noise and coupling for the variance of the period (i.e., spike times) that accurately captures this effect. Moreover, we find that reciprocal coupling can regularize the individual period of higher dimensional oscillators such as the Morris-Lecar and Brusselator models, even when coupled to noisier oscillators. Coupling can have a counterintuitive and beneficial effect on noisy systems. These results have implications for the role of connectivity with noisy oscillators and the modulation of variability of individual oscillators.

Unconscious Processing of Facial Expressions in Individuals with Internet Gaming Disorder

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaozhe Peng

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD is characterized by impairments in social communication and the avoidance of social contact. Facial expression processing is the basis of social communication. However, few studies have investigated how individuals with IGD process facial expressions, and whether they have deficits in emotional facial processing remains unclear. The aim of the present study was to explore these two issues by investigating the time course of emotional facial processing in individuals with IGD. A backward masking task was used to investigate the differences between individuals with IGD and normal controls (NC in the processing of subliminally presented facial expressions (sad, happy, and neutral with event-related potentials (ERPs. The behavioral results showed that individuals with IGD are slower than NC in response to both sad and neutral expressions in the sad–neutral context. The ERP results showed that individuals with IGD exhibit decreased amplitudes in ERP component N170 (an index of early face processing in response to neutral expressions compared to happy expressions in the happy–neutral expressions context, which might be due to their expectancies for positive emotional content. The NC, on the other hand, exhibited comparable N170 amplitudes in response to both happy and neutral expressions in the happy–neutral expressions context, as well as sad and neutral expressions in the sad–neutral expressions context. Both individuals with IGD and NC showed comparable ERP amplitudes during the processing of sad expressions and neutral expressions. The present study revealed that individuals with IGD have different unconscious neutral facial processing patterns compared with normal individuals and suggested that individuals with IGD may expect more positive emotion in the happy–neutral expressions context.Highlights:• The present study investigated whether the unconscious processing of facial expressions is influenced by

Unconscious Processing of Facial Expressions in Individuals with Internet Gaming Disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Peng, Xiaozhe; Cui, Fang; Wang, Ting; Jiao, Can

2017-01-01

Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) is characterized by impairments in social communication and the avoidance of social contact. Facial expression processing is the basis of social communication. However, few studies have investigated how individuals with IGD process facial expressions, and whether they have deficits in emotional facial processing remains unclear. The aim of the present study was to explore these two issues by investigating the time course of emotional facial processing in individuals with IGD. A backward masking task was used to investigate the differences between individuals with IGD and normal controls (NC) in the processing of subliminally presented facial expressions (sad, happy, and neutral) with event-related potentials (ERPs). The behavioral results showed that individuals with IGD are slower than NC in response to both sad and neutral expressions in the sad-neutral context. The ERP results showed that individuals with IGD exhibit decreased amplitudes in ERP component N170 (an index of early face processing) in response to neutral expressions compared to happy expressions in the happy-neutral expressions context, which might be due to their expectancies for positive emotional content. The NC, on the other hand, exhibited comparable N170 amplitudes in response to both happy and neutral expressions in the happy-neutral expressions context, as well as sad and neutral expressions in the sad-neutral expressions context. Both individuals with IGD and NC showed comparable ERP amplitudes during the processing of sad expressions and neutral expressions. The present study revealed that individuals with IGD have different unconscious neutral facial processing patterns compared with normal individuals and suggested that individuals with IGD may expect more positive emotion in the happy-neutral expressions context. • The present study investigated whether the unconscious processing of facial expressions is influenced by excessive online gaming. A validated

Normal or abnormal? 'Normative uncertainty' in psychiatric practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Bassett, Andrew M; Baker, Charley

2015-06-01

The 'multicultural clinical interaction' presents itself as a dilemma for the mental health practitioner. Literature describes two problematic areas where this issues emerges--how to make an adequate distinction between religious rituals and the rituals that may be symptomatic of 'obsessive compulsive disorder' (OCD), and how to differentiate 'normative' religious or spiritual beliefs, behaviours, and experiences from 'psychotic' illnesses. When it comes to understanding service user's 'idioms of distress', beliefs about how culture influences behaviour can create considerable confusion and 'normative uncertainty' for mental health practitioners. In the absence of clear diagnostic and assessment criteria on distinguishing between 'culture' and 'psychopathology', practitioners have had to rely on their own intuition and seek out possible 'strategies' or 'procedures' from a contradictory and cross-disciplinary evidence base. Decontextualisation of service users' experiences may result in the pathologisation of culturally 'normative' phenomenon, 'category fallacy' errors, and poor health care experiences and outcomes for service users.This paper situates this dilemma within a wider debate that has concerned both the biomedical and social sciences, namely, the unresolved question of 'normality' or 'abnormality'. Indeed, issues that arise from dilemmas surrounding the question of 'culture' or 'psychopathology' are intimately tied to wider cultural ideas about what is considered 'normal'. The disciplines of psychiatry, psychology, and medical anthropology have struggled to establish workable criteria against which to judge behaviour as 'normal', 'abnormal', or 'pathological'. Three models for understanding mental 'abnormality' are evident in 'transcultural psychiatry' (what is now commonly known as 'cultural psychiatry'), and these models have corresponded closely to the interpretive models used by anthropologists attempting to make sense of the apparent diversity of

Life Satisfaction Among Mothers of Individuals with Prader-Willi Syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

Shivers, Carolyn M; Leonczyk, Caroline L; Dykens, Elisabeth M

2016-06-01

Mothers of individuals with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) often experience numerous stressors, even when compared to mothers of children with other intellectual and developmental disabilities. Despite this, these mothers show great variability in self-reported life satisfaction. Using data from a longitudinal study of individuals with PWS and their families, the present study analyzed factors related to maternal life satisfaction, both cross-sectionally and over time. Results show that both child factors (e.g., behavior problems, hyperphagia) and maternal factors (e.g., stress, coping style) were significantly related to maternal life satisfaction. However, none of the tested variables predicted change in life satisfaction over time. Research and practice implications are discussed.

Immune responses to Epstein-Barr virus in individuals with systemic and organ specific autoimmune disorders

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kannangai R

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose: Autoimmune diseases usually manifest in genetically predisposed individuals following an environmental trigger. There are several viral infections including Epstein-Barr virus (EBV implicated in the pathogenesis of autoimmune disorders. The aim of this study was to look at the antibody pattern to EBV proteins in the plasma of both systemic and organ specific autoimmune disorders, estimate pro-inflammatory plasma cytokines (IL-8 and TNF-α among these autoimmune patients and compare the observations with those in normal healthy controls. Materials and Methods: Samples from 44 rheumatoid arthritis patients, 25 Hashimoto′s thyroiditis patients, appropriately age and sex matched healthy controls were tested for EBV IgM antibodies by an immunoblot assay and two cytokines (IL-8 and TNF-α by commercial assays. Results: Among the rheumatoid arthritis patients, 23 (52% were positive for EBNA1 antibody, while 13 (52% of the Hashimoto′s thyroiditis patients and 12 (30% of the healthy controls showed similar bands. The intensity of the bands was high in the autoimmune patients when compared to the bands seen in control samples. The difference in the EBNA1 reactivity between rheumatoid arthritis patients and controls were significant (P = 0.038. There was a significant difference in the IgM reactivity to VCAp19 protein between patients and controls (P = 0.011. Conclusion: Our study showed an increased EBV activation among the autoimmune patient groups compared to the normal healthy controls. Further studies are required to delineate the association between the aetiology of autoimmune disorders and EBV.

Healthy lifestyle habits and mortality in overweight and obese individuals.

Science.gov (United States)

Matheson, Eric M; King, Dana E; Everett, Charles J

2012-01-01

Though the benefits of healthy lifestyle choices are well-established among the general population, less is known about how developing and adhering to healthy lifestyle habits benefits obese versus normal weight or overweight individuals. The purpose of this study was to determine the association between healthy lifestyle habits (eating 5 or more fruits and vegetables daily, exercising regularly, consuming alcohol in moderation, and not smoking) and mortality in a large, population-based sample stratified by body mass index (BMI). We examined the association between healthy lifestyle habits and mortality in a sample of 11,761 men and women from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III; subjects were ages 21 and older and fell at various points along the BMI scale, from normal weight to obese. Subjects were enrolled between October 1988 and October 1994 and were followed for an average of 170 months. After multivariable adjustment for age, sex, race, education, and marital status, the hazard ratios (95% CIs) for all-cause mortality for individuals who adhered to 0, 1, 2, or 3 healthy habits were 3.27 (2.36-4.54), 2.59 (2.06-3.25), 1.74 (1.51-2.02), and 1.29 (1.09-1.53), respectively, relative to individuals who adhered to all 4 healthy habits. When stratified into normal weight, overweight, and obese groups, all groups benefited from the adoption of healthy habits, with the greatest benefit seen within the obese group. Healthy lifestyle habits are associated with a significant decrease in mortality regardless of baseline body mass index.

Creep behaviour and creep mechanisms of normal and healing ligaments

Science.gov (United States)

Thornton, Gail Marilyn

Patients with knee ligament injuries often undergo ligament reconstructions to restore joint stability and, potentially, abate osteoarthritis. Careful literature review suggests that in 10% to 40% of these patients the graft tissue "stretches out". Some graft elongation is likely due to creep (increased elongation of tissue under repeated or sustained load). Quantifying creep behaviour and identifying creep mechanisms in both normal and healing ligaments is important for finding clinically relevant means to prevent creep. Ligament creep was accurately predicted using a novel yet simple structural model that incorporated both collagen fibre recruitment and fibre creep. Using the inverse stress relaxation function to model fibre creep in conjunction with fibre recruitment produced a superior prediction of ligament creep than that obtained from the inverse stress relaxation function alone. This implied mechanistic role of fibre recruitment during creep was supported using a new approach to quantify crimp patterns at stresses in the toe region (increasing stiffness) and linear region (constant stiffness) of the stress-strain curve. Ligament creep was relatively insensitive to increases in stress in the toe region; however, creep strain increased significantly when tested at the linear region stress. Concomitantly, fibre recruitment was evident at the toe region stresses; however, recruitment was limited at the linear region stress. Elevating the water content of normal ligament using phosphate buffered saline increased the creep response. Therefore, both water content and fibre recruitment are important mechanistic factors involved in creep of normal ligaments. Ligament scars had inferior creep behaviour compared to normal ligaments even after 14 weeks. In addition to inferior collagen properties affecting fibre recruitment and increased water content, increased glycosaminoglycan content and flaws in scar tissue were implicated as potential mechanisms of scar creep